“I…I don’t really know who I’m supposed to be getting a hold of,” a woman says in a hushed voice. “But do you know…Wren? She’s an omega. She gave me this phone number to call.”
Teddy shoots to his feet, his voice lighting up with excitement. “Is she alrigh’? Where is she? What ‘appened?”
“I don’t know,” the woman says quietly. “I’m a private chef. I went to one of my client’s homes to cook them dinner, and Wren was there. She pretended to write down the name of a food dish she needed help with, but the note just said, ‘They bought me. Help.’ and then this phone number.”
Fuck.
“Fuck!” Teddy curses.
But…this is good, right? This means that Teddy was right about Wren all along, and even if she’s with some pack that bought her, she’s obviously alive and in good enough shape to pass along a message.
“Give me the phone, Theodore,” Maverick says harshly, holding out his hand. Teddy gives him a dirty look, but slaps the phone down in his hand.
“Ma’am,” he starts.
“Beatrice,” she corrects.
“Beatrice,” he huffs, “I need all the information you can give me. Names. An address. And if you’re comfortable with it, any schedule details you know.”
“Shouldn’t I go to the police?” she asks worriedly. “I had no idea this pack wouldbuyan omega—”
“Donotgo to the police,” Maverick orders, a little harshly. “If you do, they’ll just give her right back to the family that sold her to them in the first place.”
“I…” The woman swallows audibly. “Okay. The pack I work for is Pack Caruso—”
Fuck.
“Dammit!” Teddy shouts, his hands reaching for his hair.
Pack fucking Caruso.
The pack we were investigating the night Teddy met Wren. I have a few hours of video saved—courtesy of Teddy’s hidden camera—of two of them watching Wren from the bar. They had talked shit, as alphas tend to do but the third kept approaching her to dance. Each time, I could see her shake her head politely in refusal.
But…I haven’t seen any evidence of them reaching out to the Messina family. How did I miss this?
“We’re familiar,” Maverick says tightly, fury glinting in his eyes. Well, now he seems to be taking the situation seriously. “Is she well? Have they been mistreating her?”
I reach over and take my laptop off the coffee table. We hadn’t risked hacking into their system before, given that the client was looking for evidence they could take to the police, but it should be easy enough to get in.
The woman on the phone sounds like she might faint. “She seemed a bit nervous and shaky, but she didn’t look to be physically harmed.”
I’m in. I flip through the video feeds, looking at a suspiciously empty house. Frowning, I continue to cycle through each room.
Whereisshe?
“You did the right thing, calling us,” Maverick says gruffly. “Thank you. We’ll handle it.”
The line goes dead and Teddy lets out a growl, his hands fisting his hair. “Those fuckin’ arsewipes. Those dead men walkin’. I’m gonna—”
“Stay here,” Mav orders, ignoring Teddy’s indignant look. “You’re too close to this, Ted. Plus, you don’t have a handle on your alpha yet. We can’t risk any stupid mistakes.”
“Stupid mistakes?!” He whirls on us, his eyes going dark. “If you fink I would ever do anyfin’ to put ’er danger—”
“You’re not going.” Brennan’s voice is as calm as ever as he looks at Teddy. “Mav and I will handle it. We’ll get your girl back, you have our word.”
Something about Brennan’s calmness has him pausing, and he blinks, his shoulders slumping. “I need to go,” his voice wavers, “she don’t do well wiff new people.”
“Ted.” Mavericks voice is uncharacteristically gentle as he grasps his shoulder. “We’ll make sure she’s taken care of. Promise.”
