My feet were already moving and I opened my mouth to call out to her and warn her to not go into the garden. I never got the chance, however, because the front door of the building burst open and a flaming man tumbled out of the building and began to scream the most blood-curdling scream that I have ever heard in my twenty-nine years on this earth.
The girl turned towards me, her mouth opened to scream and her round eyes were wide open as she bumped into me. Her shrill scream tore through the night air and joined that of the burning man. For a moment I couldn’t understand why she was screaming at the sight of me, and then I remembered that I was still wearing my night vision goggles. To her, I probably did look like a monster.
“Hey, whoa there, Little Bit. It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you.” I tried to keep my voice soothing as she struggled against me and I pulled my goggles off of my head to show her that I was a human being and not the boogeyman. “I’m just here to help, Little Bit.”
At the sound of my voice, she immediately quieted down and looked up at me. In the dim light from the fire, I could see that her eyes were a mix of brown and green, like some kind of gemstone. Freckles covered her face, neck, and arms. She was also carrying the angriest, tiniest kitten that I had ever seen and it mewed plaintively up at me like I could rescue it from her iron grip.
“The building is on fire.” Her voice was shaky and she reached out and gripped the front of my vest with a force that I didn’t think was possible by someone so small, “You have to help them! They’re going to die.”
I couldn’t leave her here by herself and I refused to let her turn around to see the still flaming body that had crumpled to the ground after only making it a few steps out of the door. Making my decision, I swooped her up into my arms despite her protests and started to walk away from the building.
“No, take me back, they’re all going to die!” She screamed in protest as the rest of the team moved in towards the building.
“My team is moving in, Little Bit, it’ll be okay. They are going to try their best to help the people inside.” I soothed and she buried her head into my neck, sending her scent into my nostrils. I realized, with a jolt, that she was an omega. Her strawberry scent was still faint, telling me that she hadn’t gone through her first heat yet. But I could offer her some comfort at least.
“It's okay,” I said again and, this time, I purred the words. The girl melted into my arms with a whimper, but didn’t protest anymore as I carried her away from the burning building.
––––––––
“Isn’t there anythingthat can be done? It isn’t fair to drag those witnesses through this shit again.” I asked, and watched Aria type furiously on her phone with one hand, and tugging on the end of her ponytail with the other. It was one of her nervous ticks, I could always tell when she was working through something if her ponytail became lopsided.
Aria shook her head, “No, this is the name of the game. With a retrial, they will need to talk to the original witnesses and add any new information that we may have learned in the last eight years. The prosecutor’s office is going to have to round up the five again and start prepping them for trial....”
“I think I have one of your five.” A voice came from the doorway of the office as Link strode in wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt, as if he’d just rolled out of bed. He had a folder tucked under one arm and a travel mug of coffee in the other.
“We got a bit of a rude awakening this afternoon by Tibby, Eloise’s friend. She’s an omega who is still at the academy. She was sent a dead kitten in the mail this morning.” He held the file out to me and I took it, already knowing who I was going to find inside.
I flipped it open and was greeted with eyes the color of brown and green jasper. A young woman stood in front of a gray backdrop, she had untamed red hair that floated around her head in a fiery halo. The camera had caught the beginning of a frown curling on her pink lips. She was older now than the teenager I had carried out of that hell hole nine years ago, but it was definitely her.
I brushed my fingers across her face and name: Tibby Sinclair. Her name was different now. She’d gone by Tabitha Williams as a child. The name Tibby suited her.
“Pretty,” Matteo said from over my shoulder as he looked down at her picture.
I closed the file and handed it over to Aria, “Is she alright?” I wanted the bastard who had sent her a dead animal in the mail. Only a sick fuck would do something like that.
“I guess she was handling it okay at first, but then the news of the trial broke and she’s been a mess for the last hour. Ellie has been trying to get her to come and stay with us, but she refuses to put the baby or any of us in danger....” Lincoln’s omega, Eloise, only had a couple of weeks left in her pregnancy. We needed to keep her as far away from this mess as possible. “I came to ask if you could contact Agent Collins again for me and see if he can keep her somewhere safe until the trial? Like witness protection or something?”
I grimaced at the mention of the agent who was my former FBI trainee. When Link had needed my help last year, I had bitten the bullet and finally called him after four years of radio silence. I didn’t want to involve him again, but Tibby needed our help. I opened my cell phone and tapped on his contact to call him.
