Chapter One #2
“That fucking bitch. I’m going to destroy her,” Riley sobbed.
“We’ll make sure that Adriana pays for stabbing Spencer, and whatever the fuck she did to baby Grace,” Jett assured, rubbing her shoulder.
“Good,” Riley mumbled.
“I feel bad for those kids though, seeing their mom dragged off like that,” Jett added.
I’d tried my best to make sure that the little one didn’t see everything. But I’m sure she was still traumatized because she not only had a big sister she never knew about, but one of her mothers was the reason. Not to mention the older ones knew what was going on.
Shit, I hoped those kids got therapy.
“Do you know anything about Grace? Is she okay? They wouldn’t tell me anything.” Jett asked.
“No. But I think she’s awake. And pissed.” I rubbed my chest. “Someone from the Blanket Brigade is here, and she’s going to see what she can find out about Grace.”
Brennan came in. He’d already been wearing a shirt with his swim trunks when we’d left the beach. “Good. Grace should be next to Spencer, not in some other part of the hospital. They wouldn’t tell me anything about Grace, but I know that Spencer should be fine.”
“Good.” I sighed with relief.
“You okay, Love? They wouldn’t let me be with you, I’m sorry.” Brennan hugged me, squishing Riley between us.
“I’m right here, Fucker,” Riley grumbled, though she made no attempt to struggle out of his grasp.
“It was fine. I still don’t know what’s happening.” I relished in my alpha’s touch.
“If I had my laptop, I could figure it out.” Riley still didn’t scoot out of Brennan’s arms.
“Are you okay, Dear? Thanks for waiting for Riley,” Brennan said to Jett.
“I’m fine, Honey,” Jett replied. “But I also want to know what’s going on.”
Brennan sighed, his pine scent anxious. “I got some information. In my understanding, Grace is Cassidy. It was a separate record created so that Rosalind could pass Grace off as her biological child. Which could be why Grace was tagged as a misfiled child because it was suspected they were duplicate records but couldn’t prove anything because they couldn’t find Grace.
Everything else was sort of lost in the bureaucratic shuffle because no one was looking too hard for the lost baby of someone with an illegal designation.
Adriana was arrested for Cassidy, not Grace, because that’s where the money trail leads.
Though I think they’ve managed to confirm that Grace is Cassidy which is something they’ll have to do to actually prosecute Adriana. ”
“Got it.” I suspected as much.
“I’m sure the professor’s alphas also kept Nate from looking too hard,” Jett added.
Riley wiggled out of our arms, eyes focusing on the snack bag on the bedtable. “Can I have the rest of the snacks?”
“Sure. Maybe when she comes back, she’ll give you some, too,” I suggested.
Jett nodded. “Baby records don’t have much on them either, so they’re pretty easy to fake. The police were looking for a single woman, not a young mother. Smart.”
“Yeah. I guess Rosalind’s plan was to move somewhere else, have new identities made, and start over with the money Adriana gave her to take baby Grace and never be heard from again,” I added.
This was why advocates and integration teams existed, so alphas didn’t get rid of their omega’s kids or omegas didn’t ghost their pregnant girlfriends because they found their scent match.
“Right, only somehow Grace ended up in another world. We may never know how they got there.” Brennan glanced over at Spencer.
Riley sat on the couch eating snacks and texting.
Jett plopped down next to Riley and made a play for the food.
“Mine.” Riley hissed at him and held them to her chest. She rolled her eyes and handed him a fruit bar.
“Thank you.” Jett unwrapped it.
Brennan eyed them. “The hospital has a cafeteria.”
“You can go if you want. But I’d like to wait for an update on Grace,” I replied, still clinging to my alpha, as I got annoyance from Wes and anger from Grace through the bond. No, not really interested in food right now.
“Do we know what crime Rosalind committed?” Jett asked.
“Rosalind and her brother helped rob a federal vault. They never found all the money, and they never apprehended everyone,” Brennan explained.
Jett whistled. “Fucking shit. That’s crazy.”
“If she robbed a bank, why did she take money for Grace?” I frowned.
“Amateur.” Riley rolled her eyes. “She might have needed funds to hide until it was safe to use the money. She might have had to go get her share or whatever. Someone could have taken her share. Also, Brennan said vault. They might not have stolen money.”
“True. I don’t know what’s in the vault.” Brennan shook his head. “Riley’s right. It could have been anything. I was lucky they told me what they had.”
“Damn alpha privilege. They asked me very different things. Also, they gave me a stuffed animal, juice, and cookies. They had a social worker there with me.” Riley stuffed crackers in her mouth.
“Did they? I didn’t notice that. But yeah, I didn’t get cookies and juice.” Jett laughed.
“I got tea. No social worker,” I replied. “What did they ask you?”
“Mostly if I was okay being with you fuckers. They also asked me about Grace, and I had to recount watching that bitch stab Spencer. But it’s fine.” She brushed crumbs away.
Sure. I’d check in with her later.
“Where’s Wes?” I glanced at my phone, worried.
“Still being questioned, I guess.” Brennan shrugged.
After a while, there was a knock on the door.
“Hey, it’s me. Oh, your pack is here.” Liz waved.
“Well, everyone but Wes and Grace. What did you find out?” I asked her.
“Grace is in the Omega Ward. But there’s an officer there in front of her door. She wouldn’t let me in because people were talking to Grace. She was mean.” Liz made a face. “Really, they should let someone in with Grace.”
“I’m sorry that they were mean. She’s awake, that’s good.” But I still was worried. Grace had blacked out, probably from Spencer’s pain, then had a seizure.
“Maybe the other alpha mated to her can ask to have her brought here when the police are done,” Liz told us.
“Thank you,” Brennan replied.
Liz looked over at the couch and waved at Riley. “Hi, want some snacks?”
“Do you have good snacks? Though I’ll take any snacks.” Riley held out her hands.
“You know what? I have these that I keep for kids. How’s this?” She rummaged in her duffle and tossed something colorful at Riley, who caught it.
“Ooh, I’ll take it. There’s even a coloring book. Thanks.” Riley tore it open and took out a candy bar.
“I’ll be here for a little longer if you need me. I’ll also be here tomorrow so I can answer all your questions about my job.” Liz waved and left.
“That’s what you want to be, right?” Riley stuffed the rest of the candy bar in her mouth.
“Yep.” I frowned and rubbed my chest. “Now, where the fuck is Wes?”