Page 48 of Gavin

“I’m not devoting anymore resources to you trying to capture the rare tigers when what I want is for the entire tiger town to goup in flames with them in it. If something happens and you can’t get the white tigers, you bail.”

“Brent,” he said, protesting. “They’re valuable. Money helps your organization because you can hire good men to work for you.”

“The only good shifter is one who isn’t breathing anymore, period. There are far too many shifter groups in Northern Ohio for you to spend any more of my manpower on the tigers than necessary. I’ll send you a handful more men for your tiger extraction, but I want immediate proof they’re dead.”

The man was an idiot times ten.

“Fine. I’ll send you my location.”

“Good. I mean it, Victor. This fails, we switch to another group.”

Since Victor couldn’t really get into the other groups without Brent’s resources, he was at a disadvantage, so he’d toe the line until he had what he needed from him. In the meantime, the white tigers were calling and he had plans to make.

But first, the albino wolf.

Gavin rushedafter Vaughn into the conference room.

“What’s the lead?” he asked.

Vaughn sat at the large table and tapped a keyboard. The screen on the wall showed an image of a line of vehicles driving away.

“So after Ryan found out that the sniper who shot you and your family was a half mile away, I did a search of the traffic cameras in the towns surrounding Whisper Creek. In Hobbs Mill, I found a group of vehicles that rushed out of an alley.”The screen showed a line of vehicles speeding away from an alley between two buildings.

The screen switched as the vehicles left one camera’s view and entered another. “I can’t see in the vehicles from the camera angles,” Vaughn said, “and the plates are turning out to be stolen from other cars so they won’t help us find out who’s driving.”

“Where are they now?” Gavin asked.

“A half hour from us,” Vaughn said. “They entered Bluffton, and it unfortunately doesn’t have traffic cameras.”

“So we don’t know where she is,” Midas said. “But we believe she’s there. Vaughn has been watching the surrounding areas, and those vehicles haven’t left.”

“I can find her if I’m in the town,” Gavin said. “I’ll shift when we get there.”

“We’ve got a team ready to go with you,” Midas said. “Good luck.”

Gavin rushed out of the room. His dad wanted to help find Sadie, so he followed them outside and into the vehicles that were already waiting.

Ryan put the lead SUV into gear and looked at Gavin seated in the passenger seat. “We’ll find her and get her back safely.”

“Thanks,” he said.

He wasn’t going to accept anything less than getting Sadie back in his arms. He couldn’t believe she’d been taken from him.

Hold on, Sadie. I’m coming.

Sadie had just reachedthe next floor when she heard footsteps coming toward her. In her haste, the ladder squeaked loudly and the footsteps rushed.

“Hey! She’s getting away!” a male yelled.

She shoved the ladder away from the steel beam she was balancing on, enjoying that the males had to jump out of the way to avoid getting hit. She walked carefully but quickly along the beam to the portion of the floor that was finished and looked around. It was mostly open and unfinished, and the support beams looked like a skeletal structure. She could see the sky beyond the beams and hurried to the edge.

Peering down, she saw she was indeed on the second floor and it was definitely too far for her to jump unless she wanted to break her legs in the process. She looked left and right, hoping she might be able to find something to climb down on, but there was nothing.

Which meant she’d have to make her way down to the first floor and get out that way. Except she’d just shoved the ladder away and she was now trapped. At least until the males put the ladder back up.

She looked around the space and decided to find a place to hide since she had no way down right now.

A haphazard pile of wood pallets in the far corner beckoned her. She raced to it, gripping the rebar tightly just as the ladder was put back up against the steel beam and clanged loudly.

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