Chapter 26
Kaden
God, turning state’s evidence is boring.
After I was arrested, it took some convincing to get the cops to realize that I wasn’t the perpetrator of the altered contracts.
Then it took more convincing to get them to realize that I was a victim in all this.
I had to do some creative storytelling, which I suck at. That’s Mags’s forte, not mine.
Finally, on the second day, enough of the real victims of the Langleys had given their witness accounts that the feds realized I wasn’t part of the trafficking. Unfortunately, they decided that I am a crucial part of their investigation, so they won’t let me go.
No phone calls. No outside contact.
I debated reopening the twin and pack bonds so everyone back home knows I’m okay, but I don’t know if the federal agents can track that.
Mags undoubtedly gave them false contact information and a bogus address when she gave her statement, and I don’t want to be the reason the feds discover their location.
I miss Mags. I miss my twin. Hell, I even miss Nik. Kip and Mags have been my family my whole life, and Nik’s been with us for years. We’ve built a unit, created a safe space with each other, and I feel empty without that space.
This stupid sequestration slash witness protection or whatever would be more tolerable if there was something to watch on TV.
There’s nothing but bad daytime programming and worse evening programming.
From eleven o’clock until the morning news at six, there’s nothing but static.
I guess the motel manager doesn’t spring for cable.
Sleeping is an issue, too. I can’t sleep without Mags or Kip breathing in the room with me. Kip snores, yeah, but hearing them breathing … It provides a certain feeling of security.
I don’t feel secure here. The lead agent in charge, Agent Elgin, told me that they’re still hunting down the owners of the shell company, DeltaCorp, which means my life is still in danger.
I can’t leave the motel room, I can’t open the curtains, and I can’t even open the door unless the agent on the other side gives the code word.
My replacement towels come from the agents; my little motel soaps and shampoos come from them.
Even the ice bucket gets filled by them.
To her credit, Agent Elgin offered to extend her protection to my pack, but the timing of that offer was suspicious, so I didn’t take the bait.
Why would she wait until my fourth day in custody to offer? It doesn’t make any sense.
It’s also a little weird that she showed up this morning wearing a temporary ID badge. I’m starting to wonder if maybe I’m in a little over my head. Is Agent Elgin even a fed? Like, what happened to the badge she was wearing yesterday? Is she a DeltaCorp plant?
I wish Mags was here. She could tell if Agent Elgin was legit just by looking at her. Mags has a sixth sense when it comes to authority figures.
Checking the time, I see that it’s almost eleven: lights out. The TV will be static soon, and I’ll have another night of staring at the ceiling ahead of me. They could at least provide a poster or something up there.
Like a poster of Mags.
Full body.
Nude.
Sadly, there’s no poster, but I have my memory. I also have a small bottle of motel lotion, some tissues, and enough imagination to place a ghost Mags in bed with me.
Mags straddles my lap, her glistening pussy already wet with her slick. As she pulls her thick pink curls into a ponytail, I reach out to stroke her round, full breasts. She sighs and leans into my touch, and her nipples pebble under my palms.
“Finally alone,” I say. “We can finally enjoy each other without Nik or my brother here.”
She giggles and lowers herself onto my cock. “What? You don’t like pack life?”
“I love my brother, and I tolerate Nik, but I’m in love with you. We haven’t had a chance to learn how our bodies work together yet. I want that.”
Before Ghost Mags can answer, a sudden knock at the motel room door jerks me back to reality—before I’ve even started jerking in earnest.
I scramble to throw off the covers, grab my borrowed sweats, and get into them, falling off the bed in the process and landing uncomfortably on my side. I lie there, groaning in pain, wriggling into my pants and waiting for the required password.
No one says the password.
Instead, the lock starts making weird clicking sounds.
Someone’s trying to break in.
Fuck. I am not prepared for this. Not only is my cock still at full mast, but I’m shirtless and barefoot, without a damn thing in the room that I can use as a weapon, unless the clunky nineteen hundreds universal remote counts as a blunt object.
Once I can stand again, I position myself behind the door with the remote in hand, ready to bash in the head of whoever is picking the lock. The door creaks open, and a young blonde woman in a motel maid’s uniform creeps in, chewing on a licorice stick.
“Back the fuck off, DeltaCorp creep!”
My hand sails through the air, only to be caught by a familiar male hand.
“Nik?”
He glares at me from behind a wigged Mags, and I stare open-mouthed at the two of them like a total dumbass.
“Were you really going to bludgeon a pregnant woman with a remote control?”
“I didn’t know it was Mags!” I let go of the remote and back away from the door, so they can get in and shut it.
Once we’re all alone, Mags bites her lower lip and snickers.
“What? What’s so funny?”
Nik looks away, taking watch at the window, but Mags just giggles harder and points at my sweats. “Did you miss me, Kaden?”
I look down and curse as I see that I’m still hard as a rock.
The shock of someone breaking into my motel room did nothing to calm my cock down, and with the mussed bedding and the empty bottle of lotion on the nightstand, it’s probably pretty obvious what I was doing.
I cover my crotch with my hands and back a few steps towards the dresser, where the feds keep me stocked with clothes.
If I can just grab a t-shirt, the hem should cover …
“I, uh—Look, it’s been days, and before that we were stuck at the Langleys’ place, and … Hey! Stop laughing!”
While Mags doubles over in hysterical laughter, Nik smirks and jerks his chin at my shoes on the floor. “Finish getting dressed. We’re busting you out.”
“How did you even find me?” If they found me, that means DeltaCorp—or whoever was behind the trafficking—can find me … and them. I’d almost rather Nik and Mags hadn’t found me. That would mean they were safe at home with Kip. And why didn’t Kip come along? Should I be worried about my brother?
Nik answers first. “Mags took matters into her own hands.”
“Yep!” Mags holds up Agent Elgin’s ID badge proudly. “One little trip, and I got this, a cell phone, a wallet, and some car keys. We didn’t get a chance to figure out what cars they go to, though, so that was a waste.”
“You stole a federal agent’s badge?” I hiss through gritted teeth. “Mags, they could arrest you for that.”
“Only if they catch me. Now c’mon. We have to get you out of here before your guards realize that Kip isn’t you. Your brother’s fast, but if they catch up to him, they’ll come straight back here as soon as they realize their mistake.”
“So, you’re trying to get my twin arrested, too?”
“Of course not! He hasn’t done anything wrong. He just walked by the room—” she mimics footsteps with two fingers on her palm “—and the guards gave chase. Nothing to arrest him for because no crime was committed.”
I gape at Mags in wonder. This isn’t our usual simple grift.
She’s orchestrated something with more moving parts, more complexity, more planning.
That means more can go wrong with it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she has contingencies in place.
There’s probably a whole alphabet of plans for the multitude of ways this could go south.
So, so many ways it could go south.
“Shoes. Now. I don’t want to get caught because you stepped on a nail or something.”
Remembering that my pack is risking their freedom to give me mine, I tug a shirt over my head and step into my tennis shoes. With Nik in front of me and Mags behind, we file out of the motel room and down the rickety stairwell to the parking lot.
At least she didn’t make me climb into the cart of dirty laundry. I’ve seen that scheme one too many times on TV, and it always creeps me out. Who knows what’s on those sheets?
We sneak around back to Mags’s waiting car, where we find Kip hiding in the back seat.
“Get in, and get moving!” he hisses, keeping his head low. “They think I—you—ran into the woods over there.”
“How did you double back so fast?” I ask as I climb in beside him and buckle up.
Kip rolls his eyes. “I threw a bunch of rocks into the woods. They chased after the sounds.”
“Talk later. Escape now.”
With that, Nik guns the engine and peels out of the back lot. I turn around and see two federal agents running after us, but they’ll never catch up.
We did it.