Page 129 of Pack of Crooks
“What are we going to do about Ellen?” I ask.
“We’ll figure it out.”
Shit. I hope so.
An hour passes. Ellen and Vivian’s voices have grown quiet, and I’m pacing the length of the living room floor, eyeing the bedroom door and wondering if I should check on them. Make sure Ellen hasn’t gone postal and killed Vivian. Worry swims in my gut, and I step toward the room, but the door opens, and I pause, holding my breath.
Ellen comes out first, smiling gently over her shoulder, and Vivian follows, looking tired as hell and worn out. Ellen pulls her into her side and Vivian leans into the embrace.
Okay. That’s a development.
“Kill.”
“On it.” He stands and faces the women. “Vivian, did Ellen use her alpha bark on you?”
Vivian’s cheeks turn pink and she shakes her head. “Uh, no. We’re together again.” She flicks her gaze to mine then looks away, as if afraid of my judgment.
I wish she would have been upset a little longer, but given the circumstances and the danger, I can see how she’d understand why Ellen did it. I can’t fault her for forgiving the alpha she’s clearly in love with. I’m not sure I could be mad at the pack for very long.
“Are you okay?”
She looks at me and nods. “I’m okay.”
“Good.” I glance at Ellen, hoping she sees the clear warning on my face. I’ll still fuck her up if she hurts Vivian again.
The alpha narrows her eyes but shifts her attention to Ezra. “I recognize you.”
He stiffens. “Oh?”
Ellen nods, lips turning down. “Tristan used to keep a picture of you and your mom on his desk while they were dating.”
The guys exchange wary looks, and I step in front of Ezra, blocking Ellen’s view. She lifts her eyebrows and chuckles.
“Relax, Hazel. I’m not going to hurt your beta.”
I clench my jaw. “We need to talk about what you saw?—”
“Do you remember me?” Ellen asks.
Turning, features pinching, I look at my pack. Kill is studying Ellen, head tipped, while Ezra’s gaze is far away, lost in a memory. Maddox clenches his hands into fists. “You were there that night.”
I glance between them. “What night?”
“What are they talking about?” Vivian asks me. I shrug. I have no clue what Ellen is on about.
“I called the police, you know. You all fled, but those disgusting assholes were arrested,” Ellen growls, looking at each of my men. “I always wondered if Tristan knew his friends were using his vacation home for that, but he was so outraged when the news broke, I assumed he had no idea.”
“Who do you think organized the events?” Kill snaps.
Something dark crosses her features, and she pivots, walks to a bookcase, and opens a drawer on the bottom, pulling out a binder. She smooths her hand over the plastic green case, exhales, and strides back to us. “I was saving this for myself in case I needed it.” She offers it to Ezra.
He takes it, forehead wrinkled in confusion. “What is it?”
“Everything you need.” She glances at me. “I know your omega was stealing information. Consider this your shortcut.”
Ezra opens the binder and the pack clusters around him. We skim through the contents. Emails. Pictures. Text messages. Bank transfers. Enough incriminating evidence to show that Tristan Kain has been extorting and bribing high ranking public officials for years. There are pictures of them doing. . . unspeakable things. Disgust coils around me.
My eyes lift to meet hers. “Why did you keep this?”
