Page 40 of Vendetta

Nico’s forearm flexed, and I was sure he was going to kill this guy for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but he kept it together. “Open your trunk.” Nico pulled back the hammer of his gun, and the scent of urine permeated the air. “Do it now.”

We had to be sure, but knowing Rosa left with Bruna, it seemed unlikely that we’d find anything helpful in this guy’s car. He ducked back into his door, and the trunk popped open. Nico was clearly not done terrorizing the man and kept his gun trained on him. The trunk was full of random trash and a tire iron, but no rebellious omega.

“She’s not here. Let’s go.” I slammed the trunk in frustration and headed back to the Bentley.

The guy’s teeth chattered as he tried to get words out. “I’m so sorry. Please, I’ve got kids at home.”

Nico hesitated, standing there for another breath, watching the guy quiver, his hands raised and the front of his pants growing darker.

This was bad. Really fucking bad.

Nico took one step back, and then another, never taking his gun off the guy until he was inside the car again. “Where the fuck is she?”

“I don’t know. That cunt, Bruna, must have recognized me and figured we’d come after her.” I reached for my phone and realized I’d left it in my jacket.

The jacket I’d put on Rosa when she got out of Nico’s trunk.

Nico was already flipping the car around and getting back on the freeway, leaving the shaken, piss-stained man in our taillights with no idea what had just happened. He had no idea how lucky he was that Nico was in a hurry. I’d seen him kill people for less.

I tapped the phone button on the console. “Dial Oliver.” A woman’s accented voice confirmed my request, and then it was ringing through the speakers.

“What do you want?” Ollie’s annoyed voice picked up on the second ring.

“I need you to track my phone.” I didn’t bother wasting time explaining.

“Ah yes, hello to you, too, Cruz. And why, pray tell, do you need me to track your phone?”

I didn’t want to answer him because I already knew he’d give me shit for it, but I needed him to do his job, and quickly. “Rosa has it, and she’s not with us.” There, that was vague enough.

Ollie scoffed. “You lost her already, did you? That has to be some kind of record.”

“Just fucking do it.”

“Easy, big guy. Check Nico’s phone for real-time updates. Don’t die.” The connection cut off.

Nico’s jaw clenched and unclenched as he handed me his phone while he drove. It didn’t look like that bitch Bruna noticed my phone was in the jacket yet, because the little dot was blipping its way along a back road not far from here.

Chapter 28

Cruz

Even with Nico pushing the 800-horsepower engine to its limit, by the time we backtracked and caught up with the location of the phone, we were met with a gated driveway. That description was far too generous for what blocked our path. It wasn’t a tree-lined avenue. It was an abandoned dirt road with a rusted livestock gate across it.

Before the car even rolled to a stop, I had my gun out, prepared to shoot the padlock off the chain securing the gate to the lopsided fence post. Lucky for us, it was only draped around it, not actually locked. With a noble attempt at remaining quiet, I unhooked the metal links and dragged the rusty blockage across the dusty drive. Nico eased past me with the silent electric motor engaged. Fucking stealth mode.

The satin black paint sucked up the ambient light, making us almost invisible in the shadows of the trees. Ahead of us, on the top of a small hill, the moon shone down on a dilapidated cottage with an equally unkempt barn tucked behind it. In front of the open barn door sat a ratty, tan-colored minivan with the dome light on. A pair of burly alphas were hefting something ominously omega-shaped out of the vehicle and carrying it into the barn.

Omega traffickers.

Nico flipped the car around and backed up the dirt track as far as he dared before the brake lights could give us away. This was getting extremely messy for something that was supposed to be easy…

We both grabbed an extra gun from the center console and headed up the driveway, stalking through the cover of thorny brush.

This omega was turning out to be a pain in my ass.

Once we were close enough to see details, it became more obvious that the alphas were indeed carrying unconscious omegas into the barn. Through the open doors, rows and rows of dog kennels lined the wooden walls. The fetid odor of decaying fruit and flowers was so overwhelming that it reached us all the way across the road.

No one noticed as we rushed across the lane to the shadows along the side of the building. Now that we were closer, the putrid smell lodged in my throat. The look on Nico’s face told me enough to know I wasn’t the only one struggling with it. I hated to think of Rosa anywhere near a place like this. Her smoky rose pheromones were too pure to be corrupted in this rancid cesspool.