Chapter 25 #2
Shadow hated men. He hated if they got closer to one of us. And he did not hesitate to bite their hand off. And Dominic was no different.
Before I could pull him back, Shadow chomped down the treat from Dominic’s hand, gave a sniff to his fingers, and— was I seeing this right? —gave him a long, wet lick, making Dominic laugh.
“What the actual fuck?” Tara stole the words right out of my mouth.
“I can’t believe it,” Lena mumbled, looking at our big black Doberman being putty and playful in Dominic’s hands.
Dominic turned to look at us. “What’s wrong?”
Sloane was the only one who had words for him. “He likes you. He actually fucking likes you.”
Dominic rubbed Shadow’s head, caressing his ear, getting a ridiculously low whine of pleasure from him as he jumped into his lap, pushing him down on the floor.
Dominic’s loud chuckle filled the room as he happily petted Shadow, giving him another treat and cooing at him.
“Who’s a good boy? Who’s my new best friend? ”
“Marry him,” Naomi said, and I turned to find her looking at me with gleeful eyes.
“Maybe next year,” Dominic answered casually, getting loud cheers from all the ladies.
“He’s kidding,” I told them, glaring at Dominic.
He only gave me a flying kiss and turned to the girls. “Not kidding.”
I turned to Tara, who was still sitting shell-shocked at Shadow’s display of affection for a man. “Tara, you called us. What did you find?”
Her eyes were glued in shock at Shadow on the floor, on his back, giving happy little grunts at Dominic’s petting. “My dog likes a man.”
Tara had always felt unsafe around men, especially after she was attacked.
Ever since she’d found Shadow, she relied on Shadow’s hatred of men to keep them away.
Every time they went out for a walk or a run, Shadow was quick to bark at any man who got too close to them.
Never had he shown an inkling of trust or affection for a man.
To find him so enamored with Dominic seemed to have shaken her trust in Shadow.
I bent closer to her face. “Dominic must smell like me. That’s the only reason Shadow would trust a man.”
Her eyes turned to me and widened in understanding. “Yes. That’s the only reason.”
“Now, can you please tell me what you found?”
She straightened in her chair and turned on her monitor, getting serious. “Did you bring the hit man’s phone?”
I pulled it out of my pocket and handed it to her. “I checked, but it was dead. And neither Dominic nor I had the right charger for it.”
She plugged the phone into the charger. “Thought so. Otherwise, you’d have definitely reached out to me.”
“Why? What happened?” My heart started to beat faster at the way Tara’s eyes glinted with excitement.
Dominic must’ve sensed my impatience because he was right next to me. Shadow jumped to Sophie, where she sat on the couch between Sloane and Naomi.
She pulled up the recording software that we used to listen to the conversations.
“Well, I was going through the conversation of the state attorney from where you left off. And I heard him talking to his son in yesterday’s recording, telling him that he had a plan.
That he’d hired someone to get rid of the problem.
He also called him again later in the day, frustrated that his phone calls and messages were going unanswered.
Now, they’re planning to bring his son into the media spotlight by announcing that he’s going to be joining the state attorney’s office tomorrow. He’s reaching the city tonight.”
My temper flared. “Fuck. He can’t go out in public. It would make kidnapping him much more high-profile. ”
Dominic thrummed with anticipation beside me. “Did the phone switch on?”
Tara pressed the button on the side of the phone as we all waited for the phone to turn on. Before she could even tell us it was on, the ping-ping-ping of the notifications on the phone told us all we needed to know.
Tara handed me the phone before I even had to ask.
I opened the Messages app and found several messages.
Unknown number: Status update?
Unknown number: You said the job would be done in 24 hours. It has been 72 hours now.
Unknown number: You are fired.
I went to the recent calls and found four missed calls at intervals of a few hours.
Dominic was right beside me as I went through the phone. His jaw was clenched tight as he gritted out, “It’s the state attorney’s son, isn’t it? He’s our culprit. We’ve got all the proof we need.”
I held his jaw and gave him a small smile. “Let me just check one more thing.”
I looked at Tara. “Wear your headphones and turn on the live audio feed of the state attorney’s office.” I handed the phone to Dominic. “I want you to talk to Thomas Cooper. I just want to confirm he’s the one who picks up the call. This is all the confirmation we’d need.”
A savage smile came over Dominic’s face as he hit call on the phone and pressed the speaker button.
The dial tone rang three times before we heard the click. Before Dominic could even speak a word, a voice from a modulator came over the speaker. “I fired you already. You’ve obviously not finished your job. Consider our deal over. Don’t call this phone again.”
The call dropped without Dominic having to utter a word .
We all turned our eyes to Tara, and she played the recording from the attorney's office of the last two minutes. The sound of Thomas Cooper saying the exact words played on the screen, and we finally got all the proof that we needed.
My eyes turned to Sophie, and I walked up to where she sat. Her eyes glistened with tears, yet she got up and stood strong in front of me. I cupped the side of her face and gave her a reassuring smile. “You ready to rain down hell upon the motherfuckers that dared to touch you?”
Dominic came and stood beside her, his face shrouded with a dangerous lethality that only managed to turn me on. He wrapped his arm around Sophie, pulling her close to his body.
Sophie simply looked at me and nodded. “I’m ready.”
Dominic pressed a kiss to her head and gave her a small smile, rubbing her arm in comfort. “I’m right here with you, Soph.”
With a sigh, she leaned her head against him. “I know.”
Dominic looked at me and then turned to the girls. “What’s the plan?”
Lena and I shared a look, and she gave me a nod.
I stepped forward so I faced everyone and looked at Dominic.
“We get Tommy and his two friends tonight. He would have plenty of security on his way from the airport to his house. We kidnap him and his friends from their homes. My priority is Tommy. His friends wouldn’t have as much security protecting them, nor would they be under the public eye.
If we don’t get them today, we can get them tomorrow when they’re out looking for him.
But if I were a betting woman, I’d bet on his two friends staying with him for the protection they’d get by staying close to him.
Men like Tommy need a lot of scapegoats to keep them safe.
We’ll need to confirm if the two men we’ve seen hanging around with him are indeed the ones who assaulted Sophie. ”
Everyone nodded. Dominic met my eyes, and they were dark with the need for violence. “What do you need me to do?”
This was the hardest part. I looked at Sophie and then at him.
“Nothing. I need you and Sophie to have a solid alibi. Both of you should go to a high-profile bar and be there way past midnight. Ask Kai and other friends to join you. Sophie goes back to her parents’ place for the night after the party since your parents have a full security detail. ”
As expected, Dominic let go of Sophie and took a step closer to me. “Absolutely not, Maira. You can’t put me off the case. We’re supposed to be working on this together.”
I folded my arms at my chest and stood toe-to-toe with him.
“I promised you the rapists. We’ll be delivering them to you tonight.
None of us will touch the three men aside from the kidnapping.
Their fate belongs to Sophie. And then you.
But we won’t risk the two of you getting targeted by the cops.
Our mission is to get them to you without putting you or Sophie in danger.
You both need to get out of this unharmed and undetected.
You will get to do what you please with them tomorrow. Tonight, you and Sophie need alibis.”
Dominic was still breathing hard, probably processing, when my eyes met Sophie’s.
She stepped closer to her brother and clutched his arm.
“You know she’s right, Dominic. As much as I want the rapists punished, I’d never forgive myself if it came at the cost of losing you. Let the Wildcats do their job, Oppa.”
I gave Sophie a big smile and looked at Dominic. “Sophie is definitely the smarter sibling.”
A light chuckle escaped him as he looked between the two of us. “Fine. We’ll party tonight. What’s the plan for you all?”
Lena got up from the couch and moved to stand beside me. “Now, we get to the safe house and plan every minute of the mission. We don’t have much time, but I want every minute planned for each of us. Naomi, you’re joining the mission as well. We need a fighter more than we need a medic tonight.”
Naomi nodded. “Cool. Silver Jaguar’s gonna be in the fucking house.”
Dominic raised his eyebrows at her, a small smile on his lips, while the rest of us cheered loudly.
Lena turned to Dominic and Sophie. “Both of you are welcome to join us at the safe house and be involved in the planning. But I want you both out of there by late afternoon. The more you’re seen out in public places for the evening, the stronger your alibi.”
When they both nodded obediently, we all sprang into action.
We packed our cars with all the necessary gear and equipment and arrived at the safe house within the next hour.
Tara located the state attorney’s and his son’s houses.
Looking at the activity happening at Tommy Cooper’s large, vacant house, it was evident that his father was putting security in place for his arrival.
The audio recordings in his office and Tara’s hacking into Thomas Cooper’s computer and phone also gave us Tommy and his friends’ flight information.
We monitored the area continuously, keeping a close eye on the security measures being implemented at his house.
Every camera they installed, Tara hacked.
Every new car that arrived at either of the Coopers’ houses, Tara kept track of it through the street cameras.
Every new person who entered Tommy’s place was accounted for.
We were dealing with twelve security operatives, each carrying a semi-automatic gun.
Each of us had our targets set and marked.
Every move was planned and plotted to the point where we could recite it in our sleep.
Every i was dotted and every t was crossed as we planned out the mission.
We were ready to get these motherfuckers .
It was late afternoon, and Dominic and Sophie were ready to head out.
I walked them out to the car after getting teased mercilessly by the rest of the girls. Sophie sat in the passenger seat as I stood close to Dominic near the driver’s side door. “It’s going to be okay, Dominic. I promise.”
He clutched my hand and pulled it to his chest. I felt the rapid pounding of his heartbeat against my palm. I slowly caressed the spot, trying to calm it down. “You have to trust me, Dom. I’m going to get those bastards for you and Sophie.”
His warm palm held the side of my neck as his thumb grazed my jaw with an aching tenderness. “I trust you, Maira. You’re my tigress. Fierce and strong and a warrior.”
I nuzzled into his palm and gave him a wink. “Damn right.”
He pulled me closer and lowered his forehead against mine. He took in a deep breath as if he was breathing me in and opened his eyes. He tightened his hold on my neck, his thumb stopping on my lip, forcing me to meet his eyes. “Not a single scratch on you. You understand?”
I gave a slow lick to his thumb, my heart clenching painfully in my chest at his protectiveness. “Yes, sir.”
His eyes darkened to dark pools of hunger, and he pushed his tongue into my mouth, kissing me hard and fast until I was breathless. “Go get ’em, Tiger.”
My heart bloomed in my chest at his encouragement. He said the same thing the last time he was on a mission with me. This time, I knew it was deliberate. It felt like it was his little slogan just for me. And I loved it. Maybe a little too much.
I was his tigress, and I was going to love hunting the bastards who dared to harm my man and his sister. Let the fucking hunt begin.