Page 39 of Operation Wolf: Eli
CHAPTER 21
Eli
“HEY, ELI.” A BLACKMustang pulled up to the curb just as I was walking out of the station, and the driver’s window rolled down to reveal Ian. “Been a long time. Get in.”
Exhausted, I came around and flung myself into the passenger seat, not bothering to look behind me as I tossed my duffel bag into the back seat.
“Ow!” someone yelled from the back. “Watch it!”
“Oh, fuck. Sorry.” As Ian drove off, I twisted around to see Danny, one of my friends from the shifter bar who’d agreed to help, shoving my duffel bag off to the side with one hand and rubbing his face with the other. “Sorry about that, Danny Boy.”
Danny rolled his eyes. “It’s okay.”
“Good to see you.” I smiled a little and then turned to face Ian. “You look good, man.”
“Thanks.” Ian kept his eyes on the road. Eyes that were clearer and steadier than I had ever seen them. There was healthy color in his cheeks now, and he looked like he’d even put on a bit of weight. “Your friends have kept me pretty busy, which has really been helping me to stay clean.”
In exchange for the sanctuary the shifter bar had agreed to provide, Ian had been put to work, bussing tables and helping in the kitchen, far away from the alcohol. It seemed to be doing him a lot of good.
“Got to say though, I’ve seen some pretty weird shit.”
“Yeah, well, welcome to my world, buddy.” I’d had to tell Ian about what I was before we carried out our rescue operation, and while it had initially scared the shit out of Ian, it was clear he’d adapted by now. “Any news?”
Ian nodded, his mouth twisting into a grimace. “It’s pretty bad. Word around town is that the Outfit’s got Olivia, and they’re going to kill her if you don’t turn yourself over to them.”
“Fuck.” I gripped the armrests of my seat, my claws shredding the leather upholstery as they slid out.This was bad. “I thought they were just going to use her to put pressure on her old man to give up the money.”
“Yeah, well, buzz on the street is that her old man’s been whacked. So, that whole game is off the table now, bro. The Outfit’s spotlight is all on you.”
“Shit!” I slammed my fist into the dash, and it cracked like an egg, sending a spider web of fissures across the plastic.
“Jesus!” Ian jerked, accidentally veering us into oncoming traffic. A cacophony of squealing tires and honking horns burst into the air before he managed to right our course. “Calm the fuck down, Eli! This is your car, you know.”
“Yeah,” I muttered. It had been so long I’d nearly forgotten—or at least it felt that way. In reality, it had been less than two months since I last drove around Chicago in this car, half the time with Ian in the passenger seat or passed out in the back. “God, this is just getting worse and worse. We have to get her now.”
I couldn’t even imagine how Olivia must be feeling after coming all this way to rescue her father, only to find out he was already dead. I might not have much love or respect for the man, but Olivia loved him, and his death was probably devastating her right now.
What a fucking waste.
We would have been better off just staying at the cabin, after all, rather than putting ourselves in danger for a dead man. It would have been far easier for me to organize a defense to use if we had ever been found, which I was beginning to think might never have happened if we’d just stayed put and Hunter had never sent that letter.
“Of course we will,” Ian replied, “but first, we have to meet up with the rest of your friends. I believe they’re all here now.”
“Where are we meeting?” I asked, feeling somewhat mollified, knowing that the rest of my comrades were here for me.
“Your apartment.”
* * *
“Stop right there, Eli,” Gunner instructed upon meeting us at the elevator just as I was stepping out of it. He was dressed all in black—from the beanie covering his head to the combat boots on his feet—and he sported a healthy tan that was likely a result of his honeymoon in the Caribbean. “Eli, you don’t want to go in there yet,” Gunner said.
His words didn’t fully register because I was so relieved at seeing his face.
“Gunner,” I grunted before exchanging a brotherly hug with him, “it’s so good to see you, bro.”
“Yeah, you, too.” Gunner released me, and I noticed the worried frown on his face for the first time. “Listen . . . you need to brace yourself before going in there.”
“Why?” I looked over Gunner’s shoulder to see that my apartment door was standing ajar, and light was spilling into the hallway. “What happened?”
