Page 159 of Captive Omega

I study his expression, and I nod. “Okay.”

“It wasn’t a simple surveillance case. The alpha CEO, Len Magnussen, who hired us to watch his CFO, was the one up to no good. He’d been stealing money from the company and the board of the directors were getting suspicious. We didn’t know about this until after, of course. We all thought this case was boring enough for Violet to dip her toe into field work. It wasn’t. See, the CFO saw a car parked near his home, was afraid Lens Magnussen had hired someone to get rid of him, panicked and rammed Blaine’s car off the road, down a steep hill and into a ravine where it set on fire.”

I stare at him, stunned.

“We got there too late to save Violet, but we got Blaine out and to the hospital.”

Where, presumably, Sadie’s dad saved his life and in return, Garrison set him up with his own private practice.

“Then what happened?”

Vaughn lifts his head from his gun. “What happened to Lens Magnussen and the CFO who killed my sister?”

I eye him warily. “Yeah?”

“Garrison handed over all the evidence to the cops, but prosecuting alphas ain’t easy when cash is king and they have friends in places so high it’s like they’re birds floating in the wind. The CFO got off with a slap on the wrist for ramming Blaine’s car off the road and killing my sister. Blaine spent months in the ICU undergoing countless operations and skin grafts. He nearly died so many times we lost count. The business nearly folded. And me?”

I wish I hadn’t asked now.

I really fucking wish I’d kept my mouth shut.

He snaps the chamber shut and I jump as he lines up his shot. Like it’s the easiest thing in the world, he puts two bullets right in the center of the target. “I went to work.”

Vaughn flashes me a grin, and for the first time, I see behind his easygoing nature to the pain beneath. He’s hurting too. He’s just better at hiding it than me and Blaine. “You ready for me to show you how this works, bloodthirsty omega?”

Learn to put down more alphas who don’t deserve to breathe?

I thrust my hands out to take the gun. “Gimme.”

After target practice with Vaughn and a pasta salad lunch in the kitchen that Lex ordered from an Italian restaurant, I’ve finally found my way to the computer room to work on my list when a soft throat clearing pulls my gaze from the computer.

Garrison.

I rub my bleary eyes. Between the bright screen, learning how to shoot, and the three hours I’ve spent adding more names to my list, I need a break. But I’m a step closer to dragging more rats onto a sinking ship.

“Do you have time?” he asks.

“For?”

“Closing up a case. You played a big part of it, and it’s important you see it through.”

“But I didn’t…” My voice trails off when I realize what case he must be talking about. I’m out of my chair in a second. “Jerome Walker. You found him?”

He retreats from the room, holding the door open for me. “You did that.”

“Me?” I hesitate, debating whether I should take my notepad with me. A list of names isn’t going to mean anything to anyone in this house but me, yet I’m not sure I want to leave it just lying around.

Garrison’s gaze flicks to the notebook I’m hesitating over. “You can bring it. Or leave it. This won’t take long.”

“I’m working on a list of names,” I tell him, watching his reaction. “It’s of alphas in Asylum.”

“No one will…” He pauses. “Maybe Vaughn might flick through it, but I can’t see it holding his attention him for long. When you’re ready to do something with that list, I’d like to look at it.”

“Why?” I follow him out of the room, down the hallway and, if I’m right, toward the meeting room with the whiteboard.

“You told me the world needs to change. I’d like to help with that.”

I haven’t been in the room since I came face to face with a million photographs and maps of the courthouse. On the way back from the clinic, he told me that if I still wanted to speak at the trial, then he’d make it happen, but he’s said nothing else since.

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