Chapter 21 Callisto
Chapter twenty-one
Callisto
I curl my hand up so tight my nails dig into my skin as a bitter sensation consumes me. Red, Rickon, and Zack huddle on the bed, unable to stop touching each other. And it’s clear as day they belong together. In his arms, Red’s finally emerged from her emotionless cocoon.
Yeah, I said a bunch of shit about Rickon and Zack bonding, but that was in the heat of the moment because I was worried for my best friend.
Honestly, the wild alpha’s absorbing information at a frightening speed, so much so I’m not sure we can consider him feral anymore.
He’s learning, understanding logic, and asking intelligent questions.
And it feels like each time he learns something new, I lose something old.
And as I stare at the three of them, giggling and running hands over each other in reunion while knotted together, the name for this unsettling emotion makes itself known: jealousy.
They have a special bond, literal and metaphysical, and I don’t have an invitation to the party.
But Red’s scent still lingers on my skin, a ghostly reminder of how she asked me to hold her just hours ago. Her existence stamped itself on my soul so deep I can’t look away. Ever. Even if she’s not mine.
The man behind me chuckles. “You know, I didn’t believe the mongrel when he tried to tell me Red Jones was his omega.
” Al rests his head on one fist as he watches them, a thoughtful look on his face.
His eyes rove over the trio. Red ditched her shorts, Zack’s all but lost his hospital gown, and Rickon’s entirely naked body glows under the hospital lights.
They’re too beautiful for a filthy criminal’s eyes—which is exactly why I covered them with a blanket.
I whip the privacy curtain closed again and drag a chair close to Al’s bed. “We have things to discuss.”
He chuckles. “Sure do, and some danger money to collect.” Al rubs his fingers together expectantly.
“What happened?” I ask, ignoring his antics.
Al grows sober, and his gaze bores into me. “You didn’t tell me you were mixed up with the Tax Collector.”
I stare at him, waiting for something more.
Al hisses and leans close. “Not a single penny of blood money moves in this state without his say-so. I just didn’t know his real name was Ray.
” He swears under his breath. “He turned up in the prison today, and Zack says he’s the one who ordered the hit.
Now you, my dear lawyer, had better tell me the full story, because if the Tax Collector says someone needs to die, thugs around here fall over themselves to obey. You get my drift?”
A chill creeps down my spine. Ray’s this well known in the crime world, and yet the OCB searches turned up nothing? His shit must be as well hidden as the Holy Grail. Or someone with power keeps covering for him.
Alhedy snaps his fingers toward the curtain. “Hurry up. I’ma have my work cut out for me to keep that spunky boy alive from now on, so I’d better fucking know what the drill is, or my hands get tied way behind my back.”
I glance at the privacy curtain, which doesn’t stop the happy murmur of voices. Thanks to Zack’s knot lodged deep inside Red, we’ll be here awhile.
A sigh escapes me, and I nod. “Red was Ray’s unwilling haze source.
The OCB broke the trafficking center and rescued her back in that big raid in January.
We just put Ray on trial for his crimes and got him convicted, but as we left the courthouse, we were attacked by some kind of alpha-scent chemical weapon and Zack went crazy.
Seems it was pre-planned because the police were on standby to snatch him up and send him to prison before I could bail him out. ”
Al’s gaze flits as he mentally tracks the story. “And how exactly does Zack fit into the picture? He was in the Darinian prison.”
I shake my head. “They started here in Laversham but he was rescued from the pit fights in an OCB raid down in Darinian. Red sensed her missing scent-mate and broke him out of prison.”
He laughs, clearly impressed. “That’s one capable omega.”
“Clearly, but keep your grubby eyes off her,” I snarl, inexplicable anger flaring in my chest.
Al snorts. “Easy! Sexy as she is, she’s not my type. I prefer them small and trembling.”
I level him with a fierce glare. “That kind of talk is precisely the reason I have no intention of trying to get you out of prison.”
Al’s alpha scent flares darkly in warning, and he stabs his finger toward my chest. “Hey, now. Maybe I’ve dabbled in haze, but never from an unwilling omega.
That shit doesn’t fly with me either.” His lip curls in disgust before he shakes his head.
“So, Zack’s collateral in the Tax Collector’s grudge against Red? ”
I nod and tell him about the text messages. Got nothing to lose at this point.
“Fuck me sideways.” He grumbles some more under his breath, and then lies back, staring unseeing at the roof.
“I don’t think you understand the real problem with the Tax Collector,” he says after a long pause.
“He’s estimated to be worth a billion dollars in black-market money.
” He turns his head and glares at me. “You got any idea the power that kind of moolah gives a person?”
Strangely enough, I do know. Not only have I represented some of the wealthiest business owners in the country, but I have personal experience.
Al makes a strangled noise and curls his hands into fists.
“He’s got too much influence in the prison.
Not sure when he got sentenced, but he only turned up this morning, looking fresh as spring daisies, all dolled up in a dress shirt and smiles.
” He shakes his head and lowers his voice to a whisper.
“A few broken ribs are nothing compared to what the Tax Collector can do in there. Zack’ll be dead before we blink. ”
My heart sinks. I’ve given the legal system my blood, sweat, and tears. Poured out my soul, neglected my best friend and family, and abandoned my omega for this career. I always knew this profession had a dark side where money spoke more than law and I even used it to my advantage a few times.
But now everything I’ve done feels dirty and . . . twisted. More and more, I’m questioning exactly what I sacrificed my life for.
I run one hand roughly through my hair. “So the money’s the problem?” I mutter.
Al nods grimly.
I grunt. Really, the solution is simple. “And if I cut off the money supply?”
He cocks his head and scoffs quietly. “That’s a big ask, but if you freeze that cash faucet, I can isolate Ray enough to keep him away from your boy.”
Funny enough, I don’t mind the reference to Zack as my boy. Ever since he got arrested, I’ve felt oddly protective of him. Maybe because I saw how much his absence affected Red.
Maybe for some other reason.
Al rocks his hand, making the cuff links jingle. “Go ahead and try, I guess. But you need to do it loudly, so everybody and their brother knows his funding’s cut.”
I nod. I’m not an agent, but Hale and I are both pretty good at digging stuff up. And now I’ve got an entire OCB task force just itching for leads to follow. “Give me the names of anyone you saw piling on Zack. We’ll find that money.”
Another thought strikes me. The moment we catch a whiff of the dollars, I’ll file a restitution claim on behalf of Red.
God knows most of those profits came from her haze.
The street value for the amount of omega pheromone I’ve calculated will be in the hundreds of millions.
It won’t take away from the pain she’s suffered, but it might sweeten her future.
“I can get you some names.” Al eyes me up and down. “I’ve already stuck my neck out for that psycho, but I’m not doing it again for nothing.” He nods toward the curtain. “Do we have a deal?”
I offer my hand without hesitation. Something tells me Zack won’t hold back next time, but if nothing else, we owe Al for breaking up the first fight.
If we lost Zack and I was comforting a grieving omega right now, instead of protecting her dignity while she enjoys her lover’s knot, well . . . I can’t bear to imagine it.
Al grins. “All right, into the fray, men. Nothing quite like staking your life on a kindergartner trapped in a dominant’s body.” He rumbles at his own joke.
But oddly enough, that’s not how I see Zack. Clumsy speech, yes, but he’s more like a bamboo plant that’s lain dormant for years. Now he’s growing at superhuman speed, and it makes me wonder just how far he’ll go. I’m excited to see it.
“You know,” Alhedy says, “it wouldn’t hurt to buy a few more people to put on his protection detail, if you know what I mean.” He rubs his thumb and index finger together, indicating money. “Being a Wren and all, I’m sure you can do it.”
I stare him down.
He doesn’t flinch. Instead he shrugs. “That’s just how prison is, Callisto. I’m good, but I’m only one man. I’ll get one of my guys to come over from Darinian and we’ll do everything in cash.”
“Fine,” I grumble. “But you have to keep Zack safe.”
Alhedy nods.
In the following silence, the man in question raises his voice. “Ohm-ga, what Ray do to you?” The ominous tone in his voice makes my soul quiver.
I tense, straining to hear.
Red clears her throat. “We’ll talk about that another time, Zack. Not today.”
I heave a sigh of relief. None of us want to explain that to Zack because he’ll blow a fuse for sure. But who would blame him?
After our hospital visitation ends, I head over to the OCB office and slap Al’s list of attackers down on Leroy’s desk. “We assume Ray paid them to attack Zack,” I tell the assistant director. “If we find the money, we can trace it back to his source.”
Leroy’s eyes light up. “Well done.” He stands up and grabs the list. “We’ll find it, Callisto,” he promises. He’s halfway to picking up the phone when he pauses. “I’m sorry to hear about Zack.”
“Thanks.” Maybe it’s strange that I’m barely worried about the unruly alpha, but I know from experience the big guy can handle himself.
Especially now that he knows self-defense is okay.
I felt a dark, simmering intensity the day he rejected me, something that goes beyond the power of regular humans.
Now that he has direct orders from his omega not to get hurt again, and a cellmate to watch his back, my fears have cooled. Zack won’t get caught twice.
Determination to shut Ray’s options down replaces the fear. Red’s saying she’ll camp in front of the prison and Al’s doing what he can inside the walls, so all that’s left is for me to track down the bastard’s slush fund. He dared to threaten my omega, so I’ll destroy his world.
“Let me help with the hunt,” I say.
Leroy looks me up and down. “Thinking of switching careers?”
“No. I . . . I just can’t let him get away with this. Putting him in prison wasn’t enough.”
He smirks. “Well, who am I to turn down an alpha with so much determination in his eyes? And you’ve already got the necessary clearance.” He lifts the list and flaps it. “Let’s go see what the task force makes of this.”
The agents take to my list like hounds with a fresh blood scent in their noses.
Each name on the list gets a team of two or three agents to track, and the special taskforce room whiteboard fills with connections drawn between acquaintances.
Within a matter of hours, we have subpoenas for bank accounts and surveillance orders for the homes of the men involved in attacking Zack.
The frenzy settles into a quiet hunt punctured by clicking keyboards and the occasional phone call.
I go back over my court case notes, looking for financial leads common to the convicted workers from the trafficking hub. Somewhere we missed a link.
“Got a recent ten-grand deposit over here,” one analyst calls. “Made by a company called Rigton Limited in two separate payments.”
My pulse races. I’ve heard that name before. “What services do they offer?” I ask, striding over to the analyst and leaning on his chair.
The man frowns and pulls up the company’s registration number, quoting from the listed details. “Innovation in food transport services.” He leans forward and highlights a row with the mouse. “But according to this, they ceased trading two years ago.”
“Trading name?” I ask, chewing on my lip.
“Hm. It’s listed as Grab.”
I straighten and click my fingers. “The food delivery company.”
“Ah!” The analyst’s partner brightens. “I remember. They were like AlphaDash, home delivering from restaurants and such. Heard the name but forgot all about them.”
The first agent picks up a stress ball and molds it in his bony fingers. “So, how’s a dead company issuing payments?”
I cock my head. “If it went into receivership, it could take that long to dissolve assets and pay creditors.”
“You deal in commerce law?” his partner asks.
“No. Not much. More of a family interest.”
The analyst’s elbow flashes out to dig into his colleague’s ribs. “He’s a Wren, dummy.”
I smile wryly at the look of wonder that blooms on his face.
He shunts glasses up onto the top of his head. “Shit! How did I not put two and two together?”
The analyst rolls his eyes and goes back to his screen. “So much for best and brightest,” he mutters.
I slide my laptop over to look up the company, but it has no record of going under.
“Weird,” the analyst and I say at the same time.
He sighs and flexes his hand around the computer mouse. “I’m afraid we’ll have to pass this one over to the financial crimes team. But they’re terribly slow.”
Zack can’t afford slow. His broken ribs might get him a week or two’s reprieve, but who’s to say Ray can’t touch him in the hospital?
An idea takes root in my mind. “Can I reach out to someone I know to ask about this company, if I don’t mention the details of the case? Someone who’s a wizard at digging through company information?”
The agents share a glance. “Yeah, so long as you don’t mention why. You got a specialist on standby or what?”
I pull out my phone and flick through my contacts. “Something pretty close to that.”
We will track this son of a bitch to the ends of the earth and bring his empire crumbling down.