Chapter Twenty #2
Too quickly, the energy ran out, and she sat on the bed. The collar sat on the table like a dead thing, forgotten, used up and tossed away.
And for the first time, a real tear ran down her cheek.
* * * *
Kyle couldn’t stop pacing. Everything inside him was on edge, frustration eating away at him.
The auction was today, and they still had no damn idea where it was. Clearly, they’d been found out, so it wasn’t as though Geoffrey would be sending them an invite with the details.
And Alison was out there, somewhere, alone, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.
“Sit down,” Kieran snapped from his computer, them having all gathered at Tracy, Sam, Mason and Dylan’s place.
“When your mate is missing, you can sit down. Until then, shut the fuck up,” Kyle snarled back.
Kane responded from his spot in a chair that he balanced on two legs. “Don’t mind him. Trust me, he was a bitch when Tiffany went missing.”
Kyle shook his head and resumed his pacing. They needed to do something.
The FBI had promised to help, but so far hadn’t come up with anything. They were at the same dead stop they’d been at before Alison had agreed to join.
And now Alison was gone. What if the auction went on as normal? What if they sold her? What if he never saw her again, never even knew what happened to her?
He drew his hands into fists, the tension inside him making him want someone to do something to let him lose his temper. Blowing off a little steam would be perfect right about then.
Instead, he kept pacing and let everyone work.
Sam was at the police station trying to find anything he could, especially since the murder was local, and he was on the special division for omega crimes.
Kieran and Joshua were working tirelessly on their computers.
Kane, Kara, Torrin, Liam and Erik had gone after every contact they could, trying to discover anything.
It had led to fuck-all.
The only people who knew about the auction were those attending, and those people wouldn’t be breathing a word of it.
The front door opened, and a moment of stupid, baseless hope made Kyle turn toward it.
Sam.
He was breathless, as if he’d run all the way there. “I’ve got something.” He held up a small bag, then pulled the folded paper from it.
Kyle snatched it from him, unfolding the page and frowning at the messy, sprawling handwriting. “What’s this?”
“Anne wrote it before she passed out, when the clerk was calling nine-one-one. He didn’t find it until after everyone left.”
Red splotches over it could only be blood, but he ignored that as he made out the words. An address?
And a time.
He lifted his gaze to Sam as Daniel snatched the paper from him. “She knew where the auction would be?”
Sam nodded. “It has to be. I bet they didn’t expect her to wake up, let alone be able to tell anyone. She must have wanted to get out one last message.”
Daniel was on his phone a moment later, stepping away from the group, no doubt contacting the FBI for backup.
Suddenly, Kyle wished he’d gotten to know her. He wished he’d had the chance to meet her, because right then, she might have been the only thing that stood between his mate and the same fate that Anne had suffered.
Daniel walked back in, his lips twisted into a grimace. “They won’t do anything.”
“What?” Trent was the one to rise that time, his voice nothing but fury. It was one of those times Kyle had to remember that Trent wasn’t one to push too far.
“They said they would set up outside the auction and wait, picking up people as they left so they could get as many as possible.”
“What if they miss her? What if they miss grabbing the person who has her?”
Daniel ran his tongue along his teeth, his voice calm even though his face wasn’t. “They don’t consider Alison a high priority. She doesn’t have any special information and she isn’t an agent. They see her as an acceptable casualty.”
Kyle bared his teeth at that. Acceptable casualty? It was a good thing no one had said that to his face, or he’d have decked the fucker. “They really expect us to just sit outside and hope they find our mate? That we’re going to leave her there for one fucking second longer than she has to be?”
“They’ve taken us off the case officially. We were ordered to fly back home and let them finish it.”
“Well, fuck that.” Trent’s voice left no room for debate. “There’s no way I’m sitting this out. She’d never do that if it were any of us.”
Kane rose and walked out of the room, silent, which was rare for the man.
Kyle narrowed his eyes, thinking about what Alison would have done if it were Tiffany who was missing.
“I’m not waiting to see if this turns out okay,” Kyle said. “I don’t give a shit about what they want. I’m damn well going to get my mate.”
Trent nodded. “Me too.”
Daniel didn’t move at first, as though it was the hardest choice for him. It was, though., He’d been devoted to his job forever, and now he had to actually pick between it and her. If they went, if they disobeyed the order, they were done as FBI agents. That life was over.
And they had no idea if Alison even wanted them.
Daniel shook his head. “Fuck it. Let’s go.”
Kane walked back in, a bulletproof vest over his black shirt, a gun strapped to his hip. At Kyle’s stare, he lifted an eyebrow. “What? She’s annoying as fuck, and I am constantly afraid she’ll castrate me for funsies, but she’s family.”
It was then that Kyle really looked around. He’d been so focused on his conversation with Trent and Daniel that he’d stopped paying attention to the others. The commotion was quick, but steady.
Anyone able-bodied was already preparing, with the few who were less able to fight helping to pack and prepare.
As he gazed across the room, the alphas and omegas willing to ignore any risk in order to protect one of their own, Kyle sucked in a deep breath.
This was what Alison had created, even if she never realized it, and anyone who dared to hurt her had just called hell down on themselves.