Page 123 of Faith and Fury

“Everything okay?” she asks at last. “I noticed Caleb in the parking lot. He seemed a little tense.” She hesitates. “More than normal.”

“He’s waiting for someone,” I explain.

“Maverick,” Micah adds. “And, uh, Faith.”

Sirena softens. “I see. I’ll leave you guys to it, then—”

As she moves to her desk, her phone pings. She takes it out, her expression instantly changing when she sees the screen.

“What?” I demand. “Something wrong?”

“Uh … an APB just went out not far from here—some big collision on the freeway. Witnesses saw three masked alphas dragging an omega into an unmarked van.”

Even before she offers more details, I have a sinking feeling in my gut. Sirena wouldn’t be getting this antsy if there wasn’t something more. Something bad.

The back door rattles, and Caleb comes marching into the bullpen. Everyone straightens to attention as his sharp pheromones fill the space.

“Jaxon, Hector, Delia—” he calls us out, “gear up.” His jaw clenches. “We've got a lead.”

Instantly the three of us are moving. Micah also springs to his feet.

“Caleb,” he says, chasing us down the hall. “What’s going on? Is this about the APB?”

Caleb growls, shouldering the back door open. “I want you to stay here, Micah. You and Sirena can man the phones.”

“The phones?” he demands. “What are we waiting for?”

“If we’re lucky, a ransom call.”

That awful feeling in my gut solidifies. “Someone took her,” I manage to grind out, “didn’t they?”

Caleb all but throws his car door open. Delia and Hector climb into the back seat. He stops for barely a second, sliding his phone across the hood of the car.

Female omega. Mid-twenties. Black hair. Approximately 5’5”.

There’s a video embedded at the bottom of the report—footage from the nearest speed cameras. My blood already eating through my bones like acid, I dare to press ‘play’.

A waste truck slams into the side of a black car—Maverick’s black car. A van in the adjoining lane bursts open, three masked figures ripping open the passenger door and dragging out …

Faith.

My Faith.

“Fuck,” I snarl, watching as they stick her in the back of the van.

“Oh my god,” Micah whispers.

“Jaxon,” Caleb growls, “get in. Now.”

He doesn’t have to tell me again. Looking at Micah one last time, my lingering gaze telling him, Don’t worry, we’ll get her back, I climb into the car. We’re going to have move fast if we want to catch up with that van.

It won’t give me much time to think of exactly how I’m going to annihilate the fuckers who took Faith.

Oh well.

I’ll improvise.

***

---