Mia rode down the elevator with Claire and Lionel, barely checking herself to keep from leaping out when they reached the bottom. She hustled toward the office’s open door and poked her head in. “Mr. Alton? You mentioned there was never a card with the flowers delivered for Ms. Trienzi. Did you ever see her leave the premises with a date?”
“Nope. Only saw her leave by herself.”
“Thanks.” Mia turned and hustled across the vestibule and into the rainy Seattle day. “I don’t like the mysteriousness of the flowers sent to both Lori Clang and Bobbi Trienze, although supposedly Lori had met up with the sender.” It was still too much of a coincidence. They needed more techs to go through CCTV footage, but scouring the entire city wasn’t possible. At the very least, it wouldn’t stop the next kill. The bastard’s timeline was speeding up.
Once outside, Claire grasped Mia’s arm. “Hey, there’s something off—”
A shot pinged off the building, and then Lionel yelped in pain, slamming to the pavement. Blood splattered across Mia’s jeans. More shots were volleyed as she reached for her weapon, yelling for Claire to duck. Claire cried out and flew back against the building with a sickening thud. Shards of brick flew out, slicing into Mia’s arm. Several pinpricks exploded in Mia’s neck, and then the entire world went dark as she smashed to the pavement—unconscious.
Chapter34
Seth was halfway to the mine when his phone dinged. “Volk,” he answered absently.
“Seth, it’s Claire,” Claire gasped, her voice three octaves higher than usual.
He slammed on the brakes. “Tell me.”
She groaned. “I don’t know what happened. I was shot, knocked out, and started to shift when I came to.” She sobbed. “I’m in a back alley behind a dumpster and struggling not to shift. Mia is gone. I don’t know what happened.”
Fire and ice collided inside him, making something raw and indefinable spiral throughout his entire body. Possibly deeper. To a place he hadn’t realized existed until Mia Stone became a part of him, filled him, forming the center of every cell he’d ever have. “Give me a location,” he ground out, centering into the calm killer at his core.
She rattled off the nearest street corner.
“What are you doing in Seattle?” he asked softly, quietly, already snapping plans in place in his head and hitting the accelerator while spinning back the way he’d just driven.
She let out another pain-filled sob. “We were on a job. Mia said she cleared it with you.”
“She did not,” Seth said, the wolf inside him snapping and growling with the need to be free. “Were you hit with silver?”
“No. Regular bullets, and I’m trying to get them out. I might need to shift.” Claire groaned.
An adult wolf in the city would be an instant target. “Try to wait until we get help to you, but if you have to shift, do it and stay as hidden as possible.” The woman had several children as well as a mate, and he couldn’t let her die. “Concentrate on staying safe and out of the way right now.”
She coughed, and he heard blood spurt onto the pavement. Then the sound of sirens trilled through the phone. Claire hissed. “The FBI agent, the photographer…he was hit, and there was a lot of blood.”
Without question, the authorities would search the vicinity. He had to get Claire out of there. “Shift now, Claire. Get into wolf form, run away from the sirens, and hide. You have to think of your kids.” Seth sped up, mentally going through the city map. “Run in a southeastern direction and avoid people at all costs. We’re coming your way.” He disconnected and dialed his brother, yanking the vehicle to a stop.
“Hey. Thought you were headed to the mine,” Erik said.
Seth quickly caught him up.
“What do you need?” Erik asked, his tone all business.
He needed to shift into a wolf and track his mate, but he couldn’t exactly do that and run into the middle of a city. Yet he didn’t have a choice. Seth thought through the best scenarios as he leaped out of the truck. “Take the plane to Seattle with a squad of six, including Ralph Fulsome. He should have a good connection to his wife.”
“What are you going to do?”
Seth yanked off his shirt and tossed it into the rig. “I’m going to shift and head toward the city.”
“You can’t. That’s insane,” Erik protested, the sound of movement coming across the line.
Yeah, it was, but there was no alternative. He could move faster in wolf form, and his senses were keener. “It’s my best chance of finding Mia. She was taken, and I’m going. If I can’t find her, I’ll meet you at the airfield.”
A truck engine ignited across the phone. “Seth, this is a bad idea.”
“Do you have a better one?”
“Yeah, let me come with you.”
