Chapter 16 - Nathan
“You haven’t heard from her?” I asked Anvi for the fiftieth time. We’d both been calling and texting her, but she hadn’t answered us.
To her credit, Anvi seemed just as concerned as I was. We both knew Bridget wouldn’t miss work for no reason. “Still no response. Do you think we should go, like, check on her?”
I considered that. I knew where she lived. I could talk to the people at the Omega Center and make sure she was okay. “I’ll go today.”
“Can I come with you?” Anvi asked eagerly.
“No. Someone needs to be here.” When her face fell, I remembered Bridget’s many reminders to soften my tone with Anvi. “What I mean is… I appreciate your offer, but I trust you to manage things in my absence.”
“Okay. I’ll hold down the fort.” Her expression cleared slightly. “Are you gonna talk to Lisbeth?”
I’d held off on talking to Lisbeth since Bridget didn’t seem to trust her. It felt wrong discussing her with someone who had been so hostile in their last interaction.
But things had changed. If Lisbeth had answers, I needed to know for my sanity.
“I’ll check in with her before I go.”
Lisbeth was in her office, thankfully. “Good morning! How can I help you, Nathan?” she asked with a hint of her old playfulness.
“Anvi and I are wondering if you’ve heard from Bridget. She hasn’t been at work in a few days and we’re concerned.” I kept my tone as professional as possible.
Lisbeth slapped her forehead. “Oh my goodness, I can’t believe I forgot to tell you. Bridget’s gone. She put in her notice on Tuesday.”
My stomach dropped, but I schooled my face. “Ah. That’s… surprising. She’s incredibly dedicated to the study.”
Lisbeth shrugged. “Who knows? But I’m looking for her replacement already, so don’t worry, you and Anvi will have some help soon.”
“She didn’t give you a reason for leaving?” I fought to keep my tone casual.
“She said it was a 'personal emergency,' but she’s probably off to chase that tennis player,” Lisbeth said dismissively, as if she didn’t know who Andrew St. James was, or didn’t care. “Don’t you have some work to do?”
For a split second, I considered that as a possibility. I had seen the way Andrew looked at her. It was how I would have looked at her if I wasn’t afraid of breaching the tenuous agreement we’d found to never speak about the night of the gala. Had she changed her mind about pack life and bonding?
I dismissed the idea. Even if she had changed her mind and wanted to pursue something with another Alpha, she wouldn’t just disappear on me. Or the study.
Which meant something else was going on, and I would figure out what it was.
I retraced the journey I’d taken with Bridget back to the Omega Center in Brookwood.
We hadn’t talked about the fact that she lived in National Omega Network housing, but naturally I’d been curious.
I’d mulled it over many times since then, in the hours before dawn.
What had forced her into an Omega Center?
Did it have something to do with her estranged mother?
I realized she must have trusted me more than I thought to show me where she lived, especially if she was hiding from something.
The Omega Center was a beautiful old Victorian home. I wasn’t sure how to go about asking for Bridget. What was the etiquette for an Alpha showing up unannounced? I didn’t think it happened very often.
As I approached from the direction of the train stop, I noticed a man standing at the corner. He was tall and broad, wearing a black leather jacket. With his dark hair and beard, he looked intimidating and his presence seemed like an ominous sign. But maybe he was just out for a walk.
I chose to ignore him. If he had some kind of nefarious intention, I doubted he would attack me in broad daylight in a nice Brookwood neighborhood. And I could always use my bark if I needed to.
I did my best to exude self-assurance as I approached the gate. There was a pedestrian entrance, as well as one for vehicles. The black wrought-iron fence was intimidating, and someone had added barbed wire since my last visit.
I stopped at the call box and considered what I would say to whoever answered. Hi, my coworker lives here and I want to know if she’s still alive, seemed a bit too dramatic.
Before I could press the button, the man called out, “Are they expecting you?”
I swallowed my annoyance. “Why is that any of your business?”
He glared, then stalked in my direction. I refused to back down.
He reached into his jacket, and I flinched instinctively. I was sure he registered the moment of weakness. But it was just a badge. “FPD,” he said, flashing it at me. “So it is my business.”
My panic reared back up. A police officer stationed outside the Omega Center was the definition of an ominous sign.
“Why are you here?” he asked. His tone was matter of fact, but there was a hint of aggression, and his Beta scent was sharp, something grassy. It reminded me of my father.
“I’m looking for someone,” I said, trying not to sound defensive.
“Who?”
I considered my answer. Even if he was a cop, that didn’t mean he knew anything about the people living at the Center. I had a feeling I shouldn’t just divulge Bridget’s name.
“I’d like to talk to someone at the Center about that.”
“Too bad. You’re talking to me. Who are you looking for?” The aggression wasn’t a subtext anymore.
“Fine. Bridget Crawford,” I said. “Now can I please—”
He yanked me by the collar of my jacket and pushed me roughly into the fence. “What do you want with her?”
I tamped down the instinctive aggression. The last thing I needed was to be arrested. “She’s my coworker. She hasn’t been to work in three days, and she’s not answering her phone. We were concerned.”
The man’s face remained impassive. “How do you know where she lives?”
“Because I walked her home one day. Can you please tell me what is going on? Is she alright?” Panic had finally edged into my voice. I swallowed it back down.
The man studied me for a moment. “Can you confirm your employment?”
I pulled out my ID badge and thrust it at him. He examined it thoroughly.
“Bridget is safe,” he said, and some of the suspicion had left his tone.
Safe? “Safe from what?”
“Don’t worry about it. Go back to work.” He held my badge out to me, but I didn’t take it right away.
I wasn’t going to give up that easily. “That is not exactly reassuring. Can I talk to her?”
“Out of the question.”
I wanted to grab him by the throat and force information out of him, but I suspected that might make things worse.
“Why are you waiting out here?” I asked instead.
“None of your business. I’ll tell Bridget you stopped by,” he looked at my badge again, “Nathan Manalo.”
At that moment, his phone rang, and he thrust my ID card back into my hands. He turned away to answer the call.
I considered ringing the call box anyway and seeing if the Omega Center staff were more helpful, but I didn’t want to antagonize my new cop friend any more than I already had.
Frustration boiled inside me, and my inability to do anything made things infinitely worse. I would cut my losses and head back to the lab before Lisbeth replaced me, too.
I made it back across the street when the man called out to me again. “Wait a second.”
He jogged over as I paused on the sidewalk. He was holding out his phone to me. I looked at it blankly. “It’s Bridget,” he said, as if I was supposed to know that.
I snatched the phone out of his grasp. “Bridget? Are you alright?”
“Hi, Nathan.” She sounded tired. “I’m sorry Soren is such a… He’s just looking out for me.”
“Why is a police officer stationed outside your home? Please tell me you’re alright.”
She paused. “Someone showed up at the Center and threatened me. With a gun. They threatened Anvi, too, actually.”
“What? Who?” I demanded.
“I don’t know. A young guy with brown hair, a Beta. Soren and Maggie are trying to figure it out. But he knew my name and where I worked. He told me to leave the lab, so I called Lisbeth to tell her I had a personal emergency and I’d be out for a while.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “She told me you’d quit.”
I wanted to ask her why she hadn’t called me when this all happened. She doesn’t owe you anything, I reminded myself.
“I’m sorry for not telling you myself. It just… seemed better to keep you out of it. But we aren’t any closer to knowing what’s going on.”
“It’s alright. I’m just glad to hear from you,” I said, even though that wasn’t the full truth. I wanted to be the one who kept her safe.
There was a muffled voice on the other end of the line, then I heard Bridget say quietly, “Shut up. I’m not asking him that.”
I pressed a hand to my forehead. Soren stood in front of me, watching my every move. “But it’s an orthopedic study. Why would someone threaten you over that?” I realized that it sounded like I was dismissing her. “I believe you; I just don’t understand.”
Bridget gave a short laugh. “Me neither. Maggie’s working theory is some kind of corporate espionage, but I’m not sure. It felt very… personal.”
“What can I do?” I asked. I had a crazy impulse to ask her to move in with me, but that was out of the question for many reasons.
“You could quit the lab, get Anvi out, and just let us handle it,” Bridget said.
There was a scuffle on the other end of the line, and I heard Bridget cry out. “Bridget? What’s happening?”
“Hey, it’s Maggie,” another voice said. “Bridget is too nice to ask you, but I’m not.
And I’m the one in charge of the investigation, so it’s not really her call, anyway.
Well… it’s not an official investigation, but I’m still in charge.
Soren was there to see if anyone suspicious came sniffing around for Bridget. ”
I paused. “What are you asking me?”
“Oh, right. How would you feel about doing a little undercover work? Would you be up for that?”
“Of course,” I said immediately. “If it helps find out who’s threatening her, of course I’ll do it.”
“Good. You can meet Soren again, and he’ll give you instructions on what to do. Okay?”
“Yes, alright,” I said. “Can I speak to Bridget?”
There was another rustling sound.
“You don’t have to do this. You shouldn’t do this,” she said. I imagined her expression: how her brows were probably furrowed, her lips pressed together in disapproval.
“If I can help, I will. Now, can you please tell me how you’re feeling? I promised Anvi a detailed update.” It was as good an excuse as any.
“She’s going to be so disappointed to quit the lab.”
“Bridget,” I growled. “I need to know if you are alright.”
“Hold on.” There was another pause in which I could hear footsteps.
Then she sighed. “I’m… hanging on. But I’m honestly scared.
Lachlan said they have to be really serious to spend the time and money tracking me.
I don’t want to be the reason anyone gets hurt.
” She paused again. “Please, don’t put yourself in danger on my account. ”
My heart was pounding. I wanted to tell her I would do anything to keep her safe.
That I would die to protect her if that’s what it took.
That she was precious and lovely. That I loved everything about her, even her conviction to do what she thought was right, no matter how much it might hurt her in the long run.
But Soren was still watching me. And the timing was terrible.
“I’ll be fine. Just please promise me you will be careful.”
Bridget sighed. “If you end up dying, I’m going to be really, really annoyed with you.”
I almost smiled. I turned away from Soren slightly. “If you ever want to… talk about things, you can call me. Or text me. I would like to know you’re still alive, too.”
“They took away my phone to look for tracking. But I’ll try,” she said.
A black car, the only one that had passed since I arrived, drove slowly past us. I made eye contact with the driver before he drove away. Soren watched it roll out of sight.
“I’ll talk to you soon, then,” I said.
Soren took his phone back.
“Give me your cell number and I’ll text you with a location and time to meet up.
It shouldn’t take more than a couple days for Lachlan to cook up some kind of hacking shit,” Soren said.
He adjusted his jacket, and I spotted a faint bite mark on his neck.
A bondmark. “Thanks for helping, anyway. Maggie is pissed Bridget won’t make an official statement, but we’re doing the best we can. ”
We shook hands, and I walked back to the train station alone while Soren remained at his post.