15. Faulty Intel
Faulty Intel
Cassius
I wouldn’t say I use my brother for information, but I also cannot deny that fact.
When I started, it really was a legitimate security company.
The things I experienced in the army made me want to be the world’s protector.
But the more systems I installed gave me glimpses into the dark underbelly of our world, and it changed me.
I started to obsess over what I was seeing.
The shady deals, the way people acted when they thought they were alone, I saw the things they didn’t want seeing.
And I thought, how can I use this power?
Once you start on that train of thought, you can’t ever escape it. Like-minded people found me, and we used our influence, the access we had, for good. Small things at first. But it felt so damn good to see the difference we were making. It made us powerful, and we hungered for more.
Harry might be the only person who knows both sides of me.
She barged her way into the company and carved out a place for herself.
One day she showed up. Ready to take out a mark I had already set my sights on.
After bumping into each other on several other stakeouts, we realised we had the same goals.
It was a sort of unspoken hiring. Though she was quite vocal about her salary expectations, which I have more than provided.
I know I can trust Harry with anything. She’s ruthless both physically and verbally, constantly pushing me to be the best version of myself, or berating me when I do something she disapproves of.
The company, both the legal and illegal sides, wouldn’t be where they are today without her.
Though she can more than keep up in a fight, she prefers to stay behind the computer screen lately, leaving me to do what she calls ‘the dirty work’.
I don’t know much about her past. She prefers to live in the present.
Though I know it has something to do with why she’s so passionate about the job.
The only other person I’ve ever seen as well as her on the computer is Reuben.
With an equally shady past, he has achieved some incredible and terrifying feats in regards to security.
If he hadn’t come forward to make Browen aware of where he was keeping Omega Anna, I’m not convinced I would have ever found her.
More than once I have considered letting him in on my little company secret.
But he was made to be a father, and I wouldn’t want to take him away from that.
But more than that, he would without a doubt tell his pack.
When Browen became a Councillor, I didn’t intend on stealing from him. But sometimes he just has these folders sitting there, waiting to be reviewed, in a never ending pile of other folders waiting for review.
I figure that I’m only helping them, a glance or two. Would he really notice if one went missing? The answer is no.
Alpha Knight caught on. He’s known me my whole life, but I didn’t think that would save me.
I was waiting for him to kill me. Instead, he turned a blind eye.
We’ve never acknowledged it apart from a vague exchange a couple of years ago when he told me that the Council wasn’t free from corruption and often it takes corruption to beat corruption.
I took that as permission to keep doing what I’m doing.
The business has only grown since then, and we no longer rely on my brother’s intel. Our security systems are everywhere. All we have to do is watch.
I wonder what my mate is doing tonight. Nothing reckless, I hope, not that I’m one to talk.
I can’t believe she ran from me again. I want to shake myself for letting her slip away, especially without giving me her name.
Now I’m left waiting for her to make another move, and there’s no way she will fall for the same trick.
She was so adamant that she wouldn’t be able to mate me. I could hear the conviction in her voice. I know if I got a few minutes alone with her, I would be able to convince her otherwise. She has to know that I would do anything for her.
Rain pours over me, rhythmically tapping on my helmet. I didn’t expect the weather to turn. I probably should have taken my truck, but the bike is faster and less conspicuous. If you don’t account for the noise it makes. Thankfully, the rain is thick and has darkened the sky, hiding me in shadows.
I weave between the cars, trailing just far enough away that he won’t spot me following him. Not that I’ll lose him, not in that car.
According to his bank records, he should be dirt broke, nothing to his name, yet here he is flashing his wealth in a brand new sports car.
He drives like a maniac, speeding up only to slam on his brakes.
Even with the rain beating down around us and the sound of my bike, I can still hear his music.
He’s losing control. His anger is taking over, and he’s not hiding it as well as he used to.
My team found him a couple of years back.
With ties to an Omega trafficking group.
But he disappeared. Now he’s back and his grip on reality is slipping.
I’m not surprised. Feral Alphas aren’t born, they’re created.
What better way to twist your instincts, your purpose than to prey on the very thing you were made to protect? It was only a matter of time.
We approach a walled off house, and the gates barely open wide enough before he races through them. I slow to a stop and watch from the other side of the road as rain roars around me. He slams his car door and waits.
The door to the house opens painfully slowly, and I see why. A tiny child pulls at the door, his hand stretched high above his head to even reach the handle. He runs, throwing himself into the bastard’s waiting arms.
A woman races after him, panic clear on her face. But the kid is fast and slippery in the rain, and she’s left to follow behind. I don’t think this woman is his mother, given she’s dressed in a maid uniform, but I can’t be sure.
I slide my phone out and connect with the others on my team. The call rings out, connecting with my helmet. Harry barely finishes saying hello before I rattle off the address.
“I want eyes inside. Do we know if he has a kid?”
I disband the call and watch the horror unfolding in front of me, unable to do a damn thing about it.
He grabs the child by the shoulders, and the look of excitement drains from his face. I have to squeeze my thighs to stop myself from charging in there. But without knowing who else is in that house, I could be walking into a slaughter, or worse, I could cause that child harm.
Painfully, I watch them enter the house.
I wait and I wait and I wait.
It starts getting darker, and any light that was piercing through the thick clouds is gone. He still hasn’t emerged.
My phone rings, and I answer on the second chime.
“That’s his kid, alright.”
“How did we not know this sooner? We’ve been doing recon for weeks.”
“Well, he hasn’t visited the entire time we’ve been watching. Turns out he refuses to claim the kid. He’s a Beta.”
Shit.
We did not need this complication.
Poor kid.
“The other parent?”
“The kid’s mum is an Omega, but her parents are Betas.
She lives in the house. Her parents own it, but they’ve been giving him free rein hoping that he won’t take her or the kid.
Apparently, according to the stream of staff they have in and out of there, he’s violent, to both her and the kid.
But he only shows up once or twice a year. ”
“Fuck. He could be hurting them right now, and I’m just sitting here.”
“We’re working on the security, but it’s not ours, so it might take us a minute. I hate to say it, but you’re probably better off coming back here and helping out. You can go back when we know more.”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!
Every part of my body is screaming at me not to leave.
Not when there could be an innocent Omega and child inside that house being hurt.
Not when he’s right there. I could take him out, no questions asked, and I’m pretty sure no one in that house would give a shit either way.
But if something went wrong, I would never forgive myself.
I flick up my visor and let the cool, wet wind hit my face and douse my growing rage.
I’ve made a lot of gambles in my life, but I will never risk someone else’s life.
No, it’s better to leave, get eyes inside and know what I’m working with. Besides, this was only supposed to be a stakeout. All I have on me is a knife.
But my limbs seem frozen, and even as the rumble of my engine roars to life, there’s something stopping me from leaving. Instinct. It’s never failed me. The hair on the back of my neck stands on end, and every sense I have is telling me not to go.
“Cas? You there?”
Harry pulls me from my dilemma, and I kick the side stand.
“Yeah,” I grunt. “I’m here.”
She sighs. “Look, I know you want to run in there and do your thing, but I really think it would be best if you didn’t.”
That’s her ‘I won’t waste time trying to talk you out of something you’ve already decided you’re doing’ voice.
I trust Harry completely. If she thinks I shouldn’t, she has good reason.
I take one last look at the house. The lights are mostly off now, and the sinister feeling in my gut only grows. His car is still haphazardly parked diagonally on the drive, and there are no signs he’ll be leaving anytime soon.
I take one last deep breath, flick my visor shut, and go.