Page 12 of Bound By Pain
CHAPTER 8
Hanging up on Shiloh,I immediately video call Porter. Being suspended after we raided the Silverstone black market, Creed should have returned to New York. It is troubling that he apparently never made it back.
“Ferguson.”
“We have a problem.”
“Which is?” The background noise quiets as he steps outside to give me his full attention.
“Did Peterson make it back to New York to check on Creed?”
My question catches him off guard, his lips pulling down into a frown. “He is on his way back now, but hasn’t arrived yet. Why?”
“With Creed suspended, I was going to pull him in to help us with the leads you handed off,” I admit, earning a narrow-eyed glare. “He has answered none of my calls or texts, so I had a friend stop by his place. But he isn’t there. According to his neighbor, Creed hasn’t been home in weeks.”
Porter straightens, concern crossing his expression. I watch as he steps back into their temporary headquarters and orders another agent to call the FCDA’s main building to see if Creed has been staying in his office there.
My feet carry me back and forth across the dirt behind our van as I wait. When they confirm no one there has seen or heard from Creed either, my stomach sinks. Ridley peeks out of the back of the van when I jerk to a stop. He’s been going through the files Porter gave us, searching for the most likely connection between the Eternals and Doctor Harrison, but none of them are solid enough to carry more weight than the others.
Porter clears his throat. “Thank you for bringing this to my attention. It is unlike Creed to disappear without alerting someone at the agency. We must assume an enemy has captured him.”
“Marcus,” I growl. Of course, Creed’s asshole half-brother would target him. Jealous and vengeful are two words to describe the Eternals’ lackey well.
“I-” Porter cuts himself off, his scowl deepening. “Look through the files for one concerning the Wexern anti-designation group.”
Ridley overhears him and digs through the pile. He hands it to me as soon as he finds it, brows drawn together when he comes to read over my shoulder. Inside, we find pictures of Marcus entering the group’s compound.
“What the fuck?!” Ridley exclaims. “How haven’t you taken these assholes down yet?”
“Red tape,” Porter grunts. “As ridiculous as it is, being anti-designation isn’t against the law, so we have no probable cause to raid the compound.”
“Probable cause? You have photo evidence of their connection to a gang we know is involved in the breeding ring!” Ridley is vibrating with barely controlled rage, his Alpha pheromones leaking into the air and sparking my aggression to dangerous levels.
Taking a measured step away from him, I pinch my nose shut with a pointed look in his direction. He throws his arms up and walks away, grumbling the entire way to the tree line.
“We can argue about the bullshit system we’re forced to work around all day long, but it won’t change anything. This is a solid lead on your girl. Follow it. We’ll work on tracking Creed from our end, and Jericho is following your Omega’s trail from New York. Find out what the Wexern group knows, then call me with an update.”
He hangs up, so I toss my phone aside and stare up at the sky. Breaking into the compound will be dangerous, but it shouldn’t be unmanageable. Most of these groups comprise Betas and weaker Alphas, but they have numbers on their side.
“So?” Ridley asks, wandering back over. He looks like shit. We both do.
“We need a plan.”
After two hours of poring over all the information the FCDA and DAU have gathered on the compound’s layout and defenses, we finally have a plan. Entering through the west side, where their guards rotate shifts every six hours, we can make our way to the main house, where the compound leader, Owen Voight, should be sleeping. Once we’re inside, we’ll do whatever it takes to get the information we need.
Fate can damn our souls for eternity, so long as we get our Omega back safely.
Silently inching Voight’s bedroom door open, I double-check to ensure no one inside is awake. What little control I have over my Alpha instincts shatters when I see the small cage at the foot of his bed. Two naked, obviously abused children crammed inside.
A wave of Alpha pheromones sweeps from my body, hitting everyone nearby and jolting them awake. I leap, fist slamming into Voight’s wife’s temple, knocking her unconscious before she can scream. Ridley silences the asshole leader of this cult with a hand around his throat. Watching purple slowly crawl up his face, I’m tempted to let this be the end of his miserable existence.
It is only the chance of having knowledge of our Omega’s whereabouts that buys him extra time.
Slapping Ridley’s biceps, I jerk my head toward the door to the en suite bathroom. Leaning closer to Voight’s face, he bares his teeth, snapping them in warning. “If you scream, I will rip your intestines out and make you jump rope with them until the life leaves your body.”
The blood drains from the weak Beta’s face, and he nods rapidly. Fucking worthless worm of a man.
Ridley follows me to the next room, dragging the cult leader along behind him. When they’re both inside, I kick the door shut. That should muffle the sound of us working inside. Hopefully. If not, overcoming trauma is what therapy is for, isn’t it?
