Page 53 of Captive Omega

Oh, good point.

I didn’t spend all my time this morning getting hung up on. I watched a little TV in my room and even scrolled through news reports on the computer. And I discovered the reason Nathaniel Lang was keeping me in a disused factory, and why O’Brien was pushing the alpha to get rid of me.

News is spreading about the Asylum, but nothing is changing fast enough for me. They say Dexter Pieter launched an investigation, but Nathaniel Lang is still free, so Dexter either doesn’t know what alphas are responsible for the abuses, or he doesn’t care.

“What makes you think his assistant would know?” I ask.

“I’ve done a lot of background research on CEOs. If you can get to the assistant, you can get to the man himself.”

“No one suggested that before.” I don’t mean it to sound like I’m criticizing Garrison or Vaughn since they do seem to be helping me, but it comes out sounding like it. “I mean?—”

“I know what you meant.” His voice is still raspy, but not as aloof. He might even be smiling with his back to me. “Garrison excels at looking at the big picture. Vaughn is good at thinking on his feet, but he can get impatient. He likes quick, easy fixes.”

Despite my eagerness to leave a moment ago, I’m suddenly not in as much of a hurry as I was before. Blaine’s low, raspy voice holds me in a strange fix. “And you? What do you excel at?”

“Research,” he says abruptly. He almost sounds angry. “And some training.” He peers over his shoulder, though his eyes don’t quite meet mine. Rare for an alpha when I’m used to their challenging stares. “That’s all the help I can give you. But I wouldn’t trust me.”

His voice was abrupt before. Now it’s bitter. There’s that same anger that chased me from the kitchen, only this time, it’s directed at himself.

What the hell is going on in this house? And why am I so desperate to know when all I want is a way to get to Dexter Pieter so I can return to my life?

“You signed the NDA.”

I nearly jump out of my skin as Garrison’s soft voice drifts over my shoulder.

It’s a good thing he’s standing feet away because I’m almost positive I’d have stabbed him in the neck.

When my heart is no longer lodged in my throat, I nod. “I did.”

He glances at Blaine as furious keyboard tapping fills the room. “Then perhaps we can discuss this case.”

What I’d like to do is spend the rest of the day finding a number for one or both of Dexter Pieter’s executive assistants. But curiosity pulls at me. About the folder Garrison is holding, Blaine and his self-directed bitterness, and why Garrison seems to think I can help with this case when I have no experience in anything except whacking a photocopier in the right place to get it working again.

“What’s the case about?”

He turns to walk away. “A missing omega. Perhaps you can provide more insight than anyone else can.”

I stare after him as suddenly, I know exactly how a fish must feel to be swimming in a river, minding its own business, when something yanks it to the surface.

Hooked. I am well and truly hooked.

A missing omega? There is no way in hell I cannot help.

I follow.

Chapter 15

Resa

The Lucas Security headquarters meeting room does not have a lock. Garrison twists the handle and steps aside, holding the door open.

It’s windowless, like the computer room, with a massive conference table taking up prime real estate in the center, and gives off the private security vibe I’d expected when Vaughn first brought me here.

On one stark white wall is an almost wall-size noticeboard with not even a hint of pen marring its perfect surface. It smells like them. All of them, and it’s the source of my biggest hesitation in following Garrison into the room.

I might not trust alphas or want any near me, but my god, do these alphas smell like heaven to me.

“We can do this in another room if you prefer?” Garrison offers.

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