Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Wren
How was it possible for Marcos to be out of the hospital and be well enough to have gotten to Kingston's sister? Something wasn't adding up because someone who had just lost an arm less than a week before and had been in a coma would not get one over on a wolf shifter.
"Let me call Trevor." I reached for my phone in my back pocket, but Kingston grabbed my arm to stop me. "He needs to know. We can't go after him alone."
"I don't trust him. How is Marcos even..." He stared past me, his face a mixture of anger and fear. "He wants me to bring you and Zayn."
My mind was already running through the ways this could go with only the four of us. "We'll need backup and-"
"I'll go alone then, and Marcos will have to be good with that." He let go of my arm and went back into the exam room, where Zayn was grinning from ear to ear as he looked down at the vet.
I'd told him he could have one hit, but in my brief absence, it looked like he'd taken about ten. Matthew was passed out, and although I couldn't see his face, the blood on the floor was enough to know his face wasn't pretty.
"Give me my keys." Kingston held out his hand to Sullivan.
"You aren't going alone. Don't give them to him.
" Kingston was absurd if he thought he could handle the situation on his own.
"We need to be smart about this. Marcos isn't going to be alone; he lost an arm and was in a coma.
What do you think he's going to do once we're there? Hand your sister over?"
He didn't respond. It was like all his common sense had flown out the window. He was panicking, and in a panic, the mind makes decisions that make things worse. The same thing most likely happened when Marcos had first discovered Lillian could shift.
My phone rang, and I pulled it out. "Trevor. We have the information we need and-"
"There's a problem." Trevor sounded almost out of breath, like he'd been running. "Fuck. Damn it! I got confirmation that Marcos is gone. We are en route." The sound of a door slamming and then a vehicle starting came through the phone.
"How? He was in a coma." It sounded like Trevor fumbled with his phone and I waited patiently, still blocking the door from Kingston trying to leave. Not that he had a car to leave in since Sullivan had his key.
"It had to have been a cover. We were going off what was on security footage and in the medical records. Our guys couldn't get close enough since he was in the ICU. We need to locate him, and fast. If he was able to pull off something like this..."
"He has Kingston's sister." I was stuck between a rock and a hard place.
I didn't want to upset Kingston but also knew we'd be stupid not to get help from a team of highly trained agents.
I'd played a part in recovery operations before, but always with a team to back me up.
"Send in the team to clean up this vet mess and send another team to follow us. He wants me, Zayn, and Kingston."
Kingston's scowl made me want to cringe, but I squeezed my phone tighter, waiting for Trevor's response. "I'll track your phone and my two teams will follow. We'll move in behind you once you're inside."
He hung up, and I slid my phone back into my pocket. "Let's go. Trevor is coming with two teams and will move in behind us."
"Are you sure I can't rip this guy's throat out?" Zayn kicked the vet's leg, and he groaned as he started to wake up. "He deserves it."
"I don't think he'll be fucking with wolves again." Sullivan clamped a hand on Zayn's shoulder and steered him out of the room.
Kingston followed and stopped in front of me outside the exam room. "I don't need backup. I can handle this." He looked so lost, and all I wanted to do was hug him.
I wrapped my arms around him, and he stiffened. "We're in this together. You don't have to handle this shit alone anymore."
He hesitated for a moment and then wrapped his arms around me, burying his face in my neck. "What if-"
"No what ifs. We'll get your sister and take Marcos out and whoever else is helping him." I stepped back and took his hand. "Let's go."
Sullivan and Zayn were already outside, and we crossed to the lot where we were parked. Sullivan took the driver's seat and Zayn sat up front with him. Kingston didn't argue and slid into the backseat with me.
"Where are we headed?" Sullivan pulled out of the parking spot just as another SUV circled around to the back of the vet clinic. "Those were coalition men, right?"
"Yes." I buckled my seatbelt and took Kingston's hand. "Kingston, where to?"
"Port Trinity. Zayn knows the way." Kingston squeezed my hand. "It's where Marcos handles international shipments."
"That's two hours from here. We'll be on his turf. How many are left in his inner circle? This seems like a spur of the moment decision on his part, so he probably didn't plan it out and gather an army of rich pricks."
Zayn quickly gave directions to Sullivan and turned to look at me. "Most of the guys that watch the fights are harmless… well, as harmless as men who pay to watch wolves fight can be. Marcos usually brings five men when we have our meetings, and four of those are dead or the coalition has them."
Kingston squeezed the back of his neck. "There are at least five more that have the potential to be involved based on their backgrounds, but it could be more than that. Just because they had clean records and nothing sketchy when I looked into them, doesn't mean anything."
"We'll assume we're outnumbered. He's expecting me, you, and Zayn, but didn't say a word about Sullivan. He probably thinks Sullivan died or is still recovering. What's the address of this place?" I pulled up a satellite view on my phone.
Kingston grabbed my phone and typed the address into the search bar before handing it back to me. "I don't know why he would want to meet there."
Zayn snorted. "An advantage. Far enough away from here in the hope we don't have time to gather the help of other wolves. Your sister was closer to that location too, wasn't she?"
"It's the summer. She wouldn't have been on campus... but maybe she was in summer session." Kingston put his head back against the seat and shut his eyes. "We don't exactly talk much."
We rode in silence for a while, the sky turning a brilliant shade of pink and orange as the sun set.
Where we were headed was near Monterey, and from the maps I pulled up, the warehouse was on the main dock and had rows and rows of shipping containers waiting to be loaded onto ships.
I didn't know the first thing about the shipping industry, but my gut told me it wasn't a good thing we were meeting there.
After a while, I finally broke the silence that was starting to put me on edge. Everyone was nervous, and it was starting to make me feel nervous. "Marcos doesn't know I'm a fox."
Sullivan glanced in the rearview mirror before focusing back on the road. "I can pretend to be you. To him, we all look the same, right? He wouldn't know unless he was behind me and saw my nuts."
Kingston scooted over to the center seat and slid his arm around my waist. "I don't think you should go in with us."
"This isn't my first rodeo, and you three haven't seen me in all my glory yet. They won't even see me. I'll shift and slip in right behind you. We have the advantage that it will be dark by the time we get there."
"Being naked isn't in all your glory?" Zayn turned and gave me a wink.
"I'm fast, and thanks to you three biting me, I have this... buzz." I tried to search for the right explanation for what I felt. "Like I had a few energy drinks."
"I'd prefer not having to see you use that kind of power at all," Kingston grumbled. "Now instead of only me risking my life, you're all risking yours too."
I put my head on his shoulder and watched the scenery pass out the front window. "Things will work out. The coalition has taken care of the videos and the others that are involved. Marcos will be a piece of cake."
A tense silence fell over us as we drove toward what would hopefully be the end of the past and the start of our future.
We drove down the main road to all the warehouses after we'd gone through a security checkpoint.
We had pulled off the highway shortly before Port Trinity so Kingston could take over driving and Sullivan could move into the backseat to shift.
In case someone was watching, we'd kept Sullivan hidden on the floor of the SUV.
"It's just ahead behind another checkpoint." Kingston slowed outside a security hut and rolled down his window and the one behind him.
The security guard didn't say a word but glanced inside the front and back. He gave Kingston a nod and the metal gate slid open to let us through.
Three SUVs were parked near one of the entrances with two armed men outside the door, waiting for us to arrive.
Zayn let out a whistle. "When did Marcos get a Maserati? Do you think it's to compensate for his missing arm?"
"He didn't own one the last time I checked." Kingston pulled several spots down from the other parked vehicles. "If things go south, I want you three to get out of there. I'll leave my key in the car."
"We aren't leaving you behind, bestie. We're a team." Zayn unbuckled his belt and popped his knuckles. "Now, let's go kick some ass."
Sullivan let out a yip and nuzzled my hand from his spot on the floor. I quickly stripped out of my clothes, thankful for it being dark and the windows being tinted.
"No rash decisions from any of you. Trevor was right behind us, and it should be easy for them to get past all the checkpoints undetected." I curled up on the seat and shifted.
Kingston and Zayn got out and Zayn opened the back door for me and Sullivan. I quickly moved under the vehicle, waiting until the perfect timing to follow them.
The two men at the door stopped them as they approached and searched them for weapons, taking their guns. Both the men eyed Sullivan suspiciously. "Marcos said to expect two males and a female. Is this one of the wolves that fight?"
"This is the female. Did he not tell you we were bringing a female wolf?" Zayn put his hand on Sullivan's head.
"A female wolf? Wow. Does she fight too?" They didn't seem to have the vaguest idea about what Marcos was up to or that wolves were shifters. They were going to be in for a surprise if anyone shifted in front of them. That would be yet another mess to clean up.
"No." Kingston gestured to the single metal door. "Can we enter now, or do you have more burning questions you need to ask?"
"Follow me." One of the guys entered the building while the other waited for the group to pass through the door to take up the rear.
I darted from under the SUV and slipped through the door before it closed. It was dark outside, and the lights were dim in the warehouse, making me practically invisible with my speed and size.
The warehouse was huge, with ceilings at least three stories high, with industrial shelving and pallets filling most of them. It was quiet for the night, besides the occasional echo of a ship's horn coming from the water.
I kept my distance, sticking to the edges of the aisles as the men led Kingston, Zayn, and Sullivan to the far side of the humongous space, where a large door was open.
There were containers stacked outside and as we drew nearer, I could see the water glistening from the lights along the edge of the dock.
So far, there hadn't been any men visible besides the ones leading us, and there were scents everywhere from workers. I hated going into a situation blind, but there wasn't much of a choice.
Voices carried in from outside, and my blood started pumping with adrenaline as the guys exited the building. Peeking outside, I saw there weren't any places I could hide. Before they spotted me, I ran and jumped onto the top of a cargo container.
I jumped along as they made it to the edge of the dock where three men in suits gathered by a large speedboat, and four other men dressed more casually were a short distance away. Marcos was nowhere to be seen.
"Where's Marcos? And who the fuck are they?" Kingston's fists were clenched at his side as they came to a stop several feet from the men.
One of the businessmen's phones rang, and he answered it in a hushed voice. "Vixen, we're in the middle of something... no, don't expect us for dinner... yes, he came behind the boat, no need to worry... love you too."
I sniffed the air and cringed at the pungent ocean scent wafting off the three men. One of them glanced in my direction, his blue eyes narrowing ever so slightly before turning back to the men he was with.
Fuck. He'd seen me, but that wasn't supposed to be possible given the lighting and my positioning on top of the container.
The man that had led the procession through the warehouse pulled a two-way radio off his belt and pressed the button. "Marcos. We have them all here."
"Did they come alone?" Marcos's voice was hard to hear through the radio, but my ears pricked with the faint sound of crying from the other side of the containers.
"Yes." Little did Marcos's men know that at least twelve coalition agents were moving in.
"Chain them up. I'd rather not take any risks."
This was the worst possible scenario. My gut told me things were about to get ugly.