"But we still have no proof," Henry argued. "And even if I can get Sylair Holden to answer some questions, he'll be surrounded by lawyers and deny everything."

"You have to try anyway. That might be our only chance."

Henry nodded, dialling his department again. From the look on his face, Sheldon could tell it didn't look good.

"There's no judge available at this hour to get us a warrant, and tomorrow is Sunday, so we have to wait," the detective finally told Sheldon with a dark look on his face. "But my colleagues called the tabloids. Seems they already have a lot of juicy information concerning Aravin from an anonymous source. When we called, they had confirmation that everything's true. I guess you were right."

Sheldon felt a bit of satisfaction over this, but he didn't voice it. "That doesn't make it any better. Listen, I've got contacts to Judge Riggs. I helped his son a few years back, and Riggs owns me a favour ever since." He pulled out his cell phone to call the judge, but the little device started to ring. The display showed Cat's number.

"Yes? Any news?" Sheldon asked her without preamble.

"Indeed. It's not exactly what you expect, but I'm sure you won't be disappointed." The female burglar let him stew for a moment, then she continued, "One of my colleagues just came back from a… job at the warehouse district. He saw two black-glad goons getting out of a black car without a licence plate. The warehouse district is known for shady operations, but my colleagues saw that the goons had a blond lashran and a little kid with them."

Sheldon felt his blood run cold. "Where exactly?"

Cat gave him the address, and the investigator thanked her hastily.

"I know where they are, " he told Henry, opening the door of his car. "It's southwest side, the warehouse district, at Malrone Exports. You call Judge Riggs. Tell him I said hello."

Henry nodded. "I'll get backup, but it may take some time… you're not planning on going in there alone, are you?"

Sheldon turned around to look at his friend. "I'm still a civilian, and I may have better chances talking to them. If you storm the warehouse with a squad team, Cerise and Fyn will get hurt for sure."

Henry muttered something, knowing that the private investigator was right. Then he pulled his gun from the holster at his side. "This may cost me my job, but I trust you. Take this with you." He handed Sheldon the firearm. "And keep your cell phone on. If things get ugly, call me and we can find you via GPS."

Sheldon nodded and stuffed the gun into the back of his belt where it was hidden beneath his coat. The cold metal felt reassuring. Usually Sheldon didn’t have a weapon with him, but he had a licence for it and practiced regularly. He had a feeling that this time, he would actually use it.

"Thanks. See you later, Henry." The investigator got in his car and started the engine. While he drove away from the Holden estate, he saw in his rearview mirror Henry making some urgent calls.

The warehouse district was a deserted place at night. Only a few prostitutes paraded under the streetlights of the main road leading through the district, and Sheldon knew first-hand that some thieves were up and about as well. Malrone Exports lay as far away from the road as possible, with only a narrow street leading to the compound. At the end, some bars obstructed the way. There was an intercom system with a camera attached to it.

Sheldon parked his car out of view and hid in the blind angle of the camera to get past the bars, carefully watching out for any more surveillance equipment that could betray his presence.

The warehouse itself was a complex of five buildings in different heights. The gates big enough to admit truck – and cars – where closed, of course, and Sheldon started to surround the smaller buildings to find a staff entrance. The lights where thankfully scarce, and finally the investigator found a metal door without a camera above it.

Sheldon took out some lock picks and started to work on the lock. It was a complicated one, but long practice paid off. Finally the door was open, and Sheldon entered the building.

Darkness greeted him. It took a few moments to adjust; the faint glow from the windows high above were enough for a sire's sensitive eyes. The outlines of crates in various sizes loomed before him. There were two little compartments on the left, no doubt leading to an office and a locker room.

Sheldon crept closer, listening, but everything remained silent. He chose a path between the crates to venture further. As he had hoped, all buildings belonging to Malrone Exports were connected to each other, and he could easily cross over to the adjacent building. It was the garage where he found a sleek black car amidst the trucks – a car without a licence place.

But where on Wyndrah did the gangsters take Cerise and Fyn? They couldn't keep him in the open, so it had to be another compartment… or the cellar.

Sheldon smiled grimly. If the building had a cellar, it would be the perfect hideout. Now he just had to find the entrance.

That task proofed to be fairly easy, now that the investigator knew what to look for. He found a hatch in the floor next to the office compartment and got it open with the help of a crowbar. Only dimly lit stairs stretched down into the dark before him. Sheldon took out his phone, dialed Henry's number and left it hidden in a corner. He'd have no connection anyway down there.

Slowly as not to make any noise on the metal grate stairs, Sheldon went down into the cellar. It seemed to be mainly for maintenance purposes, and Sheldon had to duck under several pipes and cables. The distant hum of an engine and the red auxiliary light reminded Sheldon a bit of the interior of a submarine. He had visited one years ago, and the claustrophobic feeling of being buried alive was exactly the same as here.

He followed the path between engines, tubes and cables until he reached an intersection. There was no sign whatsoever telling him where to go. As he paused to think, another noise suddenly mixed into the humming. It was the sound of voices, and it came from the left corridor.

Sheldon made sure to have his gun ready before he followed the corridor. Finally his way was blocked by a door, and he leaned toward it to listen.

"How long do we have to wait here?" The voice was gruff, male, and sounded like every dumb criminal Sheldon had ever met.

"Until the boss arrives, of course. Now shut up." The second voice was impatient and sharp. Sheldon guess it belonged to the brains of the pair – if there really were only two of them like Cat's colleague had seen.

"I still don't understand why the boss is dealing with this rich brat who has no say in his sire's business." Dumb Goon again.

"That's why he's the boss and you're the muscle," Brains retorted in a condescending voice. "And if you want to do something useful for a chance, go check on our 'guests'."

That was all Sheldon needed to hear. He still had no idea what kind of weapons the gangsters had, but there were only two of them for sure. He had to act before the "boss" they had mentioned arrived…

"Well well, what have we here?"

Sheldon turned around to find himself face to face with Sylair Holden. The lifebearer looked very different compared to the last time they had met. Sylair was now wearing a black business suit, and his hair was short and caramel-brown; the pink curls from last time had obviously been a wig. Without the girlish makeup his face was even prettier, but had a decidedly sharp edge to it.

Behind him stood a portly human man in a silk suit, wearing lots of tasteless golden rings on his fingers. The "boss", no doubt. And to make matters worse, the man had another two gangsters with him.

"Mr. Sheldon, aren't you happy to see me? You're awfully quiet." Sylair's flirty tone was mocking. "Mr. Malrone, would you be so kind to invite our guest in? I'm sure he'll be enjoying our hospitality."

Mr. Malrone broke into an oily grin. "Of course."

Sheldon called himself ten kinds of fool as he was pushed into the room behind the door. The two men he had heard talking looked exactly like he imagined: one big and beefy, the other slim and rat-faced.

Mr. Malrone gruffly told them to tie Sheldon up. Completely outmatched, the investigator had to hold still for the moment. They took his gun and tied his hands behind his back. Sheldon tensed up his wrists, making them wider than they actually were.

"What are you going to do to Cerise and Fyn?" Sheldon fixed his gaze on Sylair.

The lifebearer shrugged. "Wouldn't you like to know."

"Seems I'm a dead man anyway," the investigator dared to guess. "Or are you planning on letting me go?"

"On second thought, I think you're right," Sylair remarked, sitting down on one of the chairs in the room. "Well, Mr. Investigator, before we kill you, you'll get to hear the grand plan. And don't you think knowing it will change anything."

"Sylair dear, you sound like a villain in one of those old spy movies!" Mr. Malrone leered at him. "That's what I like about you."

Sheldon saw disgust cross the lifebearer's face for a second, but then Sylair was back in his role as gloating victor.

"As you've already guessed, " he continued, "I'm behind the kidnapping. I asked Mr. Malrone, and he sent his guys to grab the kid from my uncle's house. Cerise got an anonymous message from me this morning, giving him the alleged location of his brat. He fell for it, of course, and we could catch him as well. We had him under constant surveillance for weeks now. That's how I knew he visited you."

"And everything to discredit your uncle?" Sheldon asked. "So he'll be overlooked when your sire steps down from his position as director of Holden Hotels?"

Sylair smiled. "You found that out on your own, didn't you?"

"The police knows as well," the investigator reminded him. "Even if you kill me, they'll get you for this."

Sylair inspected his fingernails with a bored look. "They have no proof. There are no unexplained transactions in my accounts, nothing that links me to businessmen like Mr. Malrone. That's the beauty of the deal. No money, just an exchange of favors. You'll have an accident, Mr. Sheldon, and Cerise and his brat will disappear as well. Dear uncle Aravin gets his scandal about bribe money and a kept whore as his lover that he sacrificed to the honor of the family – I called the tabloids this morning. Sire is planning to retire in the next few years, and I'll slowly reform from party boy to the perfect son in that time, proving to him that I can take over Holden Hotels. Then I can give my dear business partners a save place to meet."

Some deeply hidden emotion flashed in Sylair's eyes, and Sheldon guessed that there was a lot more to the story than he told.

"But why going to such lengths to discredit your uncle? There are easier ways for sure. It's a personal grudge against Cerise, isn't it?" Sheldon pressed.

Mr. Malrone laughed. "He's a forward one, Sylair dear. I could use a man like him in my business."

"He's too dangerous, " the lifebearer answered him. "You'll have to content with getting the whore back."

Another piece of the puzzle fell into place in Sheldon's mind. "You're the owner of the brothel Cerise worked at, right, Mr. Malrone? And that's how you knew that Aravin Holden isn't Fyn's sire. When you told Sylair, he knew his uncle could never be blackmailed with Fyn's kidnapping. So you chose to discredit him instead."

"Not bad, not bad at all, Mr. Sheldon." Sylair's cold eyes rested on him. "It's really a shame to get rid of you. But I'm not completely heartless, you know. You can spend your last hour among the living with your beloved Cerise."

To be continued...