53. Alejandro
Alejandro
S omeone had Ember.
The thought wedged its way into my mind until it was all I could think of. I wasn’t there to protect her. We demanded to see the security footage, in case we could identify something. Anything. We were grasping at straws, but we had to try.
All it showed was Ember hesitating, leaning against the concrete pillar in the parking garage, and in the next moment, someone wearing a black ski mask put a white cloth over her mouth. She struggled but collapsed against the masked person a moment later.
Each second was burned into my mind.
Detective Kelly took over from the officers that had responded to Mr. Arnold’s phone call.
I was happy to have someone familiar with Ember’s history taking over.
I notified Raina of what was going on, and despite the entire Sullivan clan wanting to drive to the office, we decided they would do better looking for her in the Half Moon Bay area.
But I hated sitting still. I kept squeezing West’s hand, more for my comfort than his.
The detective grilled us on the events of the morning and concluded that the stalker probably pulled this stunt at work so we would all be distracted.
West looked ashen.
I rubbed his back. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Your alpha is right, Mr. Sullivan,” Detective Kelly said. “Cases like this, the stalker starts to lash out at those around them.” He looked around the small office around us. “Can any of you think of what might have changed recently? Anything that might explain this escalation.”
“Yeah.” West snorted. “Ember bonded her two alphas.”
The detective frowned. “That will do it.”
“Can we canvass the streets?” I shifted in the chair again, my body screaming at me for staying put when my omega was in danger. “There has to be something we can do.”
“Let’s go over your workplace first,” Detective Kelly said. “If the stalker can get into the computers servers, there might be a connection.”
“We’ve been having issues with them for months,” West muttered.
“We?” I said, feeling like lightning was striking me. “Or just you?”
West frowned, and Ben straightened up.
“It’s only been your work that’s been sabotaged.”
“The son of a bitch works here,” West said with a snarl.
I growled at the same time Ben did.
“Are you sure?” the detective asked, not unkindly.
“He has to,” West said. “He was here to stage this stunt and then able to take advantage of us being distracted.”
It felt right. I also knew he was holding back a final thought. I touched West’s arm. “Go on, mi corazón. Trust your instincts.”
He sighed. “If I’m wrong, it could cost Ember precious time. I already put her in danger.”
“No, you didn’t,” Rian said.
“You’re not wrong,” I told my omega. “Your instincts are dead on. You knew something was wrong when the nest was destroyed.”
The detective straightened up, like a bird dog that had caught a scent. “You have someone in mind?”
West only hesitated for a moment. “Greg. His desk is across from mine. He keeps asking Ember out and acting like an asshole when she turns him down.”
My blood boiled and I was standing before I realized what I was doing.
I waited as my omega talked about Greg, wishing he were in front of me so I could teach him a lesson about laying a hand on my omega.
Through the bond, I felt it the minute Ember woke up. Pain and confusion shot through all of us, and we collectively jumped.
“What?” West said desperately. “What’s happening?”
“She’s awake,” I said. I sent her all of the love I had for her through the bond, reassurance, and desperately tried to shuttle off any worry I felt.
We were coming for her. She just needed to hold on.