Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Ledger
Surveillance vans always seemed cooler in movies. Right now, we were crammed inside a tiny, stifling box on wheels. There was one tech guy next to me, communicating with Sanchez. Ares up front with the driver.
My hands flexed and unflexed, working the muscles, unable to calm myself. There was so much riding on this. So fucking much.
What else could I do but wait?
“What about the other omegas?” I finally asked, breaking the silence. It was a sad attempt at distracting myself. At the risk of sounding callous, I currently couldn’t think about the other omegas.
Not while Audrey was being bid off like prize cattle.
Jethro, the tech guy, startled at the sound of my voice. I’d been so quiet that I think he forgot about me.
“We’ve got a small army waiting to swoop in the moment he has possession of Audrey,” he said. “She’s currently the top priority. And then we protect everyone else.”
“Really? Just like that?”
He looked at me, a little confused. “Yes? There are a ton of omegas and likely betas, too, that need help.”
“I’m just surprised… not really used to anyone doing the right thing,” I admitted a bit sheepish. Clearly, I’d lost any and all sense of social skills while inside ARC.
He sighed softly. “I imagine not. But we’re not like the Board.
Unfortunately, there are just evil people in this fucking world, and you’ve encountered your fair share.
We want to do what we can to make sure nobody else suffers that same fate.
ARC will be shut down and we will rescue the others.
It may not stop them completely, but it will be one hell of a blow. ”
God, I wanted to believe him.
“Have you found the Chief’s daughter yet?” I asked.
“No,” he admitted. “We’re still trying to get eyes on the inside.
We have two teams going at once, one for Audrey before she suffers more, mainly because we all owe Ares our lives for one reason or another.
And two, because she’s our best bet for knowing what and who, we’re up against. She’s seen their faces.
No one else who’s been there is probably coherent enough to give us the kind of inside knowledge we need to truly end this group. ”
“As long as they didn’t give her heat meds yet. Otherwise you’ll have to wait,” I said in warning.
He nodded. “We’ll wait. We also have someone going in to strike their tech. Computers and cameras, specifically.”
“You don’t think they’re going to have a failsafes on those computers?” I asked.
“Oh, for sure. They absolutely will. They’re not amateurs, but neither are we,” he reminded me.
“All I have to do is get my bug on their computer, stop their failsafes and shutdowns, and we’ll be golden.
I’m not saying we’re gonna get access to their entire operation, but sometimes men like this, they get cocky. We have to try.”
“Don’t I know it,” I muttered.
Sometimes it felt like my dad was just daring someone to be brave enough to try. The man was vicious and vindictive enough to earn his reputation and wasn’t afraid to prove a point. As often as he could.
“Our contact is here,” Ares’s voice echoed out from the front.
“Once our guy gets on the inside, he can’t have comms,” the tech explained quickly. “These men aren’t fucking stupid. They’re going to make sure he has nothing on him, running bug detectors, the works. You have to trust us and not try to burst out of here and follow.”
“Why does everybody keep warning me about that? Like I’m some kind of volatile alpha who’s gonna lose his fucking mind?”
“It’s not that we think you have no control,” he said carefully. “It’s that we know damn well if our omega was on the inside, we’d be going crazy to get her out no matter the cost. But you have to know he’s going to do everything he can. We won’t be leaving today without her.”
“You’re right,” I said, evenly. “We won’t.” There was no way in hell I’d walk away without her. I’d tear this place apart if I had to, guns blazing and alpha in full control.
“There,” he said, tapping his screen. He pointed to a dark SUV pulling into the lot. The windows were so tinted you couldn’t see anyone inside.
It wasn’t until a man stepped out with two armed guards that I saw just how big he was. I had to wonder if he was dominant, like Rydell and Cooke.
“Jameson’s probably the best agent we have,” the tech said. “He’s been undercover for so long he simply gets paid to exist at this point.”
“And what? We just sit here a few blocks down the road waiting?” I questioned.
His eyes met mine, hard and serious. “Yes. That’s exactly what we’re going to fucking do.”
I hated everything about this plan. All I wanted to do was get Audrey out of there, and instead it felt like I was sitting on my ass doing nothing while some unknown man did all the work.
Audrey
“Up!” the barked command had me curling in on myself.
I was in far too much pain to move. Heat had burrowed into every cell in my body.
The fog was tinging at the edges of my vision but because it was forced, that part was slower than the physical aspect.
I wanted a knot but my omega was still fighting it and my mind was strangely clear.
“You heard him,” my captor said, clearly enjoying himself. Two of his men tugged me to my feet but the moment I was upright, another wave of cramps hit and I nearly folded in half.
“Why is she covered in blood? Is that how you keep your merchandise clean for high-paying customers?”
“There was a bit of a misunderstanding with the alpha who thought he won her. He didn’t want to give up his chance, so I had to use force,” my captor said with a shrug. I shuddered and rubbed at my face but it only smeared it around more.
Fuck, I wanted a shower and my pack more than anything.
“We can get her cleaned up for you,” he reassured his customer, but the alpha wasn’t having it, either.
The new alpha scooped me up and tossed me over his shoulder. “I don’t need anyone else touching what’s mine,” he ground out.
“Of course, my friend,” my captor said.
“Cut the bullshit, Seamus. Get me out of here so I can bury my knot into this sweet omega pussy,” the man holding me rumbled, the deep echo of it reminding me of Rydell. Of course, thoughts of my mate had my body reacting. Unfortunately, they both let out a sick laugh, thinking it was for them.
“You’re not touching me,” I bit out. My voice sounded too breathless. Fuck, my entire body and even my scent was betraying me at this point.
“Don’t speak unless spoken to,” the alpha barked, the command fusing through my needy body and settling into my chest. The brat in me wanted to respond, but my jaw was clenched shut.
“I should have done that years ago, but I like a little fight in them,” my captor, because I refused to use his name, said as he led us down the hallway.
I laid there, resting on his shoulder. I hated to admit how his body heat and pressure against my abdomen was majorly soothing the cramps. My body was still now, soaking in the heat as I tried to gather my strength for the moment I could fight.
Not with the guards around us. No, I’d wait until he had me loaded into the car. Then I’d crash us if I had to. It’d be the easiest way to escape.
If it killed me, it would still be a better outcome than going home with him in this state.
Thank god I didn’t bite my pack. If I did die before I got there at least they wouldn’t be hurt quite as much in the process.
At least, that was what I was trying to convince myself.
No one found me for ten years and now this asshole was transporting me off site, I’d be impossible to find soon.
My life was over no matter how I looked at it.
A phone ringing had the group pausing.
“What is it?” my captor answered in his usual gruff tone. Then he let out a breath of relief. “Looks like the funds went through. She’s all yours, Jameson. It was a pleasure doing business with you.”
“She’ll be a good fit,” Jameson said. His voice had perked up, a twisted cheerfulness edging his words. Fuck. This was real. I’d been sold off like a fucking possession. An object, not a person.
A snarl escaped me but a sharp smack on the ass was my reminder to keep it together. I let the anger settle, simmering within me but contained as my omega and I held onto it.
In fact, I conjured up every bad thing that happened here, each one a new log for the growing flames. One after the other I fed the pyre as he walked through the halls and out into the rising morning sun. It was that calm, early morning light that meant it was still early.
I’d lost all sense of time but it couldn’t have been a full day, right?
“It was a pleasure, princess. Be good for you new owner,” my captor said as he stopped walking, letting Jameson carry me out without him.
“Fuck you,” I grit out, pushing past the command to give him a parting middle finger and the words I’d wanted to say so often. “I hope you rot in hell for what you’ve done you sick, twisted monster!”
“Enough,” Jameson barked, my jaw snapping shut yet again. My fury had started to burst out and as he dropped me into the back end of the SUV and buckled me in, I glared. “If you want to live, shut your fucking mouth.”
His face was so close now that I could see his dark brown eyes boring into me. They were surprisingly not as menacing as I expected. But they were hard and knowing. I had a feeling he had impeccable control, but he was also used to obedience.
Just wait, I reminded myself. I needed him to drive us off the property before I acted. Otherwise I’d be right at their mercy all over again.
Two men climbed into the front, as Jameson got into the back with me. Fuck. This wasn’t the plan. One I could help crash the car. Not two.
“Drive,” Jameson ordered. “To my safehouse. She’s in heat.”
“Yes, sir,” a deep voice answered back.
The tires crunched over the gravel as we drove out of the compound.
I glanced back, taking in the sight so I could describe it later if I got a chance.
A large, barbed-wire topped fence and an old brick factory.
The tower jutting on top was half-crumbling and from the overgrowth of nature all around, including vines choking the bricks, this wasn’t a place others came to often.
“Whatever you’re thinking. Don’t. Trust me,” Jameson warned in a low voice.
I didn’t bother to answer even as the bark faded. My mind was already calculating a new way to survive this. How I could take on three alphas, two and possible three with weapons.
Fuck, the odds weren’t looking good.
“Keep watch. I don’t trust Seamus to let her go. He was oddly attached,” Jameson said as he glanced behind us.
“After that payday? You think he’d try it?”
“If I’m dead, the money is his and so is the girl,” Jameson said easily. How was he this fucking calm?!
“What?” I shrieked, turning in my seat to watch the building fade. The gates were slowly closing now that we’d left but they stopped, moving back up. “The gates are going back up.”
Jameson cursed. “Drive faster.”
“They picked this road for a reason. The gravel is going to make that harder,” the driver argued as he tried to pick up speed, the car spinning slightly as it tore through the rocks in the road.
My jaw dropped in horror as I watched a fleet of three cars speed out after us, navigating the road like professionals. They were going too fast.
“Stay buckled and brace for impact,” Jameson warned me. “I’m just trying to get you to your pack. I work with Ares.”
The last part was such a low whisper it was meant just for me. I froze, eyes wide, but he had warning in his expression.
This was a secret, even from his men.
Fuck. This guy worked for the Alliance.
He saved me.
“Thank you,” I whispered back just as quietly. He nodded once, then glanced back. He pulled a phone out of his pocket, sending off a message. Hopefully to Ares and my pack.
“If they make impact. Run, omega. Don’t fucking stop for anything until we find you. Do you understand?”
“Y-y-yes,” I stammered out. I knew his ‘we’ meant him or my pack. All I had to do now was make sure I lived through the crash and made it out alive.
“Come here,” he snarled, unbuckling me and pulling me into his lap. “This one’s going to hurt.”
He curled his body around me protectively. I tried not to tense up at the feeling and let him protect me the only way he could.
We were jerked to the side as the other car hit us. Tires squealed, glass shattered, and metal crunched around us.
We’d been hit.