Alex hesitated. He wasn’t sure how much he wanted to get into this, since he still didn’t know what Lacey planned to do with the knowledge she already had about werewolves. But ultimately, she needed something to give her hope, just to give her a reason to keep going.
“Yeah,” he finally admitted. “Brooks has a better nose than I do, but I’m more familiar with Kelsey’s scent. Between the two of us, we were able to follow it outside.”
“Do you think she got in a car?”
“Most likely. Unfortunately, there’s no way to tell if she went willingly or not.”
Lacey absently ran her hand over Leo’s fur as she considered that. “I heard Brooks say that you could probably track her scent even if she was in a car if you did a full shift. What did he mean by that?”
Alex had to bite his tongue to keep from cursing out loud. He’d been so focused on Kelsey that he hadn’t realized Lacey had overheard him talking to Brooks. If he’d known she was listening that closely, he would have chosen his words more carefully. Not because he was worried about spilling the Pack’s secrets, but because he didn’t want Lacey to get her hopes up.
In addition to tracking Kelsey’s scent through the club, he’d been able to pick up traces of it here and there along the road even after she’d gotten in the car. It wasn’t enough to follow, though. Brooks seemed to think that since Alex knew Kelsey’s scent so well, he might be able to track the vehicle purely on trace remnants if he could shift into a full wolf.
“I might be able to,” he admitted. “But unfortunately, I don’t know how to do a full shift.”
She stared at him in confusion. “What I saw in Bensen’s junkyard wasn’t a full shift?”
He snorted. “Not even close.”
She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, the doorbell rang. Hope flared in Lacey’s eyes for a split second but then disappeared just as quickly when she realized her sister wouldn’t need to ring the bell.
Alex walked over to answer it, knowing without looking through the peephole that it was Wendy. He would have recognized her by scent even if he hadn’t called her when Lacey had disappeared off to the ladies’ room.
“Hey. You didn’t have to come over,” Lacey said. “I would have called if we heard anything.”
“I know,” Wendy said. “But Alex asked if I could come over and hang out with you while he took off.”
Lacey turned curious eyes on him. “Where are you going?”
“I need to go see if Becker and Max have found anything on the videos from the bar yet,” he said. “I didn’t want you to be by yourself.”
Lacey jumped to her feet. “I’m going with you.”
Alex cursed silently. Lacey was so tired, she could barely stay awake. She needed to take some time to recharge. He just wasn’t sure how to say that without sounding like a heartless jerk.
Luckily, Wendy beat him to it. “Lacey, honey, you need to let Alex and his teammates do what they do best. He’ll be able to move faster if he doesn’t have to worry about you falling asleep on your feet.”
Lacey chewed on her lower lip, looking doubtfully at him before finally nodding. “Okay. But you’ll call me the second you learn anything, right?”
“I promise,” he said.
Damn, it was hard to walk away from her when she needed him most. But he wasn’t going to find her sister by sitting there holding her hand. He was going to have to leave that to Wendy. Lacey likely preferred it that way.
Chapter 12
Lacey stared at the turkey sandwich Wendy set down on the coffee table in front of her. The thought of eating anything made her feel ill. “Thanks, but I’m not hungry.”
“You don’t have to be hungry to eat,” Wendy said as she sat down in the overstuffed chair that matched the couch. “If you don’t, I’m going to badger you all night.”
Lacey considered arguing, then changed her mind. Her friend was just trying to help. Besides, Leo was looking at her with that same worried look on his face as Wendy. If she didn’t eat soon, the big baby would probably crawl into her lap and lick her face until she gave in.
Shaking her head, she picked up the sandwich and took a big bite. “Happy?”
“Hey, I slaved away in your kitchen for five minutes making that sandwich,” Wendy said. “I expect you to appreciate it and eat at least half.”
Lacey grudgingly took another bite. How was her friend supposed to know she was so sick with worry over Kelsey that it was hard not curling into a ball and just giving up?
