“Let’s hear how you’re getting her back and how we are going to help.”
Parker set up her laptop at the end of the table, eyes gone wild as she hacked into the city’s camera grid. Wrecker prowled the perimeter, pausing at the door to sniff the air, then mapping out the nearest exits on a wrinkled city map. Papa parked Nanette at the table, wrapped her in a blanket, and poured twofingers of vodka into a chipped mug. She didn’t even flinch as she knocked it back.
I paced the living room, unable to sit, unable to stop moving. My shirt was a mess of dried blood and sweat, my hands still shaking from adrenaline. Wrecker stalked in, gestured with his chin toward the closed window.
“Luc’s trail ends at a warehouse near the Nanterre industrial park,” he said. “Lots of trucks, lots of noise. They’re prepping a transfer.”
“To Steiner?” I asked.
He nodded. “Or worse. We need to get there before the crate leaves the yard.”
Parker swiveled in her chair, dark circles under her eyes. “I’m running facial on every angle from the last camera hit. The van dumped near a loading dock at 10:17, and three people carried out two bodies. Then the feed glitches.” She slammed the keys, teeth bared. “Someone’s jamming the next block, or else they’re running it off the books.”
I stopped behind her, fingers digging into my jaw. “Can you get past it?”
She snorted. “Give me thirty. I’ll be running in their veins.”
Nanette set her mug down, her voice paper-thin. “I didn’t know. I thought—” She broke off, cradling her head in her hands.
Papa hovered at her side, gentle as he could manage. “You did what you had to,” he rumbled.
She looked up, face ravaged. “But Brie—she betrayed us. She set us up. My own daughter set us up.”
The words hit me like a backhand. I wanted to argue, to tell her Brie was just a pawn, but I didn’t have the energy to lie. Instead, I turned and drove my fist into the wall. The plaster split with a satisfying crunch, pain radiating up my arm. For a second, everything in the room froze. Even Parker looked up, startled.
“Sorry,” I muttered, shaking the dust from my knuckles.
Wrecker grunted. “We need that temper. Just not yet.”
We crowded around the laptop as Parker piped a feed to the flat screen. Rows of cameras, city blocks flicking past in green-tinged night vision. Wrecker pointed to a side street. “There. The van’s gone, but a white Sprinter picked up something at 10:30. Tag matches to a shell company tied to the Renaults.”
Parker zoomed in. “Warehouse is here. Satellite shows three ways in: loading bay, south gate, and the canal.”
Papa straightened, eyes on me. “What’s the move, Arsenal?”
I drew a long breath, let it out slow. “We hit it from all sides. Parker on over watch. Wrecker and I take the gate. Papa, you stay with Nanette and keep the van hot. Marcel, Etienne, your team will take every other opening.”
Marcel cracked his knuckles. “Sounds like fun.”
Doc’s phone buzzed, and he snatched it up. “Gwen,” he said, listening. His face eased a fraction. “Gwen’s out of surgery. She’s stable. Says the glamour will hold for another twelve hours, but after that, we’re all on the grid. Also—she says good luck.”
I nodded, something in my chest loosening. “Let her know we’ll bring Harper back.”
Doc set his jaw. “Damn right.”
We spent the next ten minutes mapping the warehouse on the big screen, marking entry points, sight lines, fallback routes. Every muscle in my body wanted to sprint the whole way, tear the place down brick by brick, but I held the line. Wolves didn’t get second chances, and we had to do it right.
At 12:40, a member of the French team checked in: “Six guards at the canal lock. Light armament, local pack. No demons, but Steiner just arrived. Be quick.”
Wrecker loaded up, checking his sidearm with practiced ease. “Remember what Bronc said. Let the French team take outSteiner. Or at least incapacitate him so he can be brought back to Rafe.”
I wanted his head. But I had to honor my Alpha’s wishes. “Understood.”
I took one last look at Nanette, slumped at the table, blanket wrapped tight. Her eyes met mine, hollow and pleading.
“Bring them home,” she whispered.
I promised, though I didn’t know if I could keep it.
