Chapter 20 #2
It was no surprise that Will looked up to his brother. Ben could walk on water as far as his little brother was concerned.
“Come on, they can help,” he insisted, practically dragging me over to them.
Even though I met most of them previously, Will introduced me to everyone—Ben, Grant and his mate Taylor, Painter, Baine, and Jake. Combined with Tarron and Silas, that made up the entirety of Westin force Bravo team.
I shook hands with everyone.
“Thomas really called in the whole calvary for this?” I asked.
My chest constricted. He’d promised to keep my mate safe, and I knew he absolutely meant it.
Grant shrugged. “There was no way any of us were taking the short straw and missing out on this assignment. Plus, it’s Daisy freaking Brooks. The fact that Kelsey wanted to come justified the full team, and we all happily signed on for this.”
“Happily my ass,” Baine said. “Do you have any idea how much shit I got at home for this?”
“Is Olivia a big fan of Daisy?” Taylor asked.
“Sure, but not as big as Macie.”
The others laughed while Will leaned over and whispered, “Macie’s his daughter.”
I had already assumed as much.
“Well, if you guys promise to keep this asshole away from my mate, I’ll gladly see that Daisy signs whatever you’d like to take home to your girls.”
“That’s a deal right there,” Baine said.
Will took charge and showed everyone Ronnie’s picture.
Tarron quickly sent out a text with the picture and instructions to apprehend and hold on site.
“James and his team were copied, as was Thomas, Luke, and Kyle. We’ll all be watching for him. But would you like to explain why?” Tarron asked.
“This is Daisy’s manager. I haven’t met the asshole yet, but what I do know is that he’s been drugging her to keep her wolf suppressed.
And he had her locked out of all of her finances.
I don’t think it’s just me speaking as a mating male because her band more or less confirmed it all and don’t like him either.
Until today, as far as I know, he has had no idea where she was.
It’s confirmed that someone sent him the coordinates.
And I have no doubt he’s on his way here right now. ”
Tarron didn’t appear to be paying attention, but I learned quickly that was just how he functioned.
“Alright, so this guy is in personal debt up to his ears, and I suspect he’s been keeping her away from her money because he’s been stealing from her.
His commission is forty percent higher than average for a manager.
Plus, he takes living and travel expenses from her and an unstipulated convenience fee that varies when he runs out of money. ”
“How the hell is he blowing through that much so quickly?” Ben asked.
“I have no idea. Looks like a possible gambling habit to me, but he’s decent at covering his tracks,” Tarron explained.
“He’s using her as his own personal cash cow?” Baine asked.
“Pretty much.”
“Well, that’s bullshit. We don’t just need to apprehend him; we need to stop this. I could always make him disappear.” He shrugged. “I have my ways. Take him out on the range and blow him up so no one will ever find his body or maybe something more creative for the likes of him.”
“Don’t be absurd, Baine. We’re on a farm. Just feed him to the pigs,” Taylor said.
Grant just stared at her. “Remind me never to truly piss you off.”
We all chuckled.
The band stopped for a break, so I thanked them once more and ran off to find Daisy. My wolf was very much on edge, and I knew I needed her to ground me. But even knowing I was affected by the mating call, I still felt justified in alerting Westin Force to a possible threat against my mate.
“Hey,” she said, her face lighting up when I walked over to her. “I think everything is finally coming together. It was a shaky start, but we got there, and everything seems to be running smoothly now.”
I hugged her and gave her a quick kiss. I didn’t want to embarrass her, but I also didn’t mind making damn sure that everyone present knew she was mine.
My wolf significantly calmed.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“I am now. And I’m glad everything’s going well. Do you need to stick around here or are you done for now?”
She looked to Knox for answers.
“We’re good. We’ll do one last check just before the concert, but you’re not needed for that. You are released and free to get ready or whatever.” He winked at her, and she blushed hard.
It was easy to see that she looked to Knox as the unofficial leader of the group.
“I just need to grab my things. Be back in a minute,” Daisy said.
Once she was gone, the band rounded on me quickly.
“Who was it?” Cash demanded.
He was usually more of the snarky jokester of the band, or at least that was the vibe I was getting at home. But now, his tone was almost lethal in sound. I appreciated that. It told me I had four more people on my team determined to keep her safe.
“They called him Vulture.”
There was no point in playing dumb. They’d done enough of these things to know when something was unusually wrong.
Jonny cursed under his breath.
“Where is he now?” Jed asked.
“Local jail. They’re holding him, and we’ll decide what to do with him later. Daisy doesn’t need to stress about this.”
“Agreed,” Knox said.
“If Vulture was behind it, then Ronnie knows about this event,” Jonny said.
“Yeah, he’s always sucking up to him,” Jed confirmed.
“I gathered as much. And he confirmed he’d already sent the location coordinates to him.”
There was no reason to hide the truth from them. I might not have wanted Daisy worrying about it, but her band would be the closest people to her during the concert, so I was more than happy to keep them in the loop.
“Do we even have security for her here?” Knox asked.
“This was a dumb idea. But she was so excited when she called to tell us. How could we say no?” Cash asked.
“Security is tight. Ronnie’s picture has been distributed. They will apprehend and hold him the second he shows his face here.”
“Are you sure about security? I haven’t seen any yet,” Jonny argued.
“Sure you have. The big guy next to the stage glaring at everyone,” Jed said.
I suspected he was the most observant of them all.
“Silas Granger,” I confirmed. “He’s head of an elite forces team brought in for security.”
“Oh, wow. I figured you just had local police or something,” Cash said.
“They’re around and being kept in the loop too,” I confirmed.
As soon as Daisy rounded the corner and was within my eyeline, the whole band and I shut up and awkwardly changed the subject.