Page 21 of Verses and Blooms
“Ha!” Sanchez said, a flash of triumph in his voice. “They just closed down the bets after I put in our bid for one million.”
“Hold on, onemillion dollars?” Ledger’s eyes widened. Maybe he was finally seeing that our reach was far bigger than he expected.
“Like I said, we have the funds. And nowyouhave the lead you need. But you’re not leaving this fucking building,” Sanchez said as he stood, kicking back his chair and going toe to toe with Ledger. “Unless you can calm your alpha instincts down and let our men work, you could ruin everything if you let him take the lead. It’s not just your girl in there. There are a lot of omegas waiting for someone to rescue them. All of them deserve the same peace Audrey does.”
Ledger was breathing hard as he faced off with the beta, his nostrils flaring with each angry breath. This time, no argument fell from his lips.
“Get the rest of the pack up to date for me,” I said to Sanchez, stepping between them. “Tell them to wait here for more info. We can’t risk all of us coming. And speak to Chief on how to handle her heat.”
“I will,” he promised, going back to his screens to see the auction through.
“Ledger, come with me. They’ll get us to the drop zone,” I said quickly.
“I’d never do anything to harm my mate,” Ledger growled as we stalked out, a delayed response.
“Then prove it.”
Chapter Nine
Ledger
Surveillance vans always seemed cooler in movies. Right now, we were crammed inside a tiny, stifling box on wheels. There was one tech guy next to me, communicating with Sanchez. Ares up front with the driver.
My hands flexed and unflexed, working the muscles, unable to calm myself. There was so much riding on this. So fucking much.
What else could I do but wait?
“What about the other omegas?” I finally asked, breaking the silence. It was a sad attempt at distracting myself. At the risk of sounding callous, I currently couldn’t think about the other omegas.
Not while Audrey was being bid off like prize cattle.
Jethro, the tech guy, startled at the sound of my voice. I’d been so quiet that I think he forgot about me.
“We’ve got a small army waiting to swoop in the moment he has possession of Audrey,” he said. “She’s currently the top priority. And then we protect everyone else.”
“Really? Just like that?”
He looked at me, a little confused. “Yes? There are a ton of omegas and likely betas, too, that need help.”
“I’m just surprised… not really used to anyone doing the right thing,” I admitted a bit sheepish. Clearly, I’d lost any and all sense of social skills while inside ARC.
He sighed softly. “I imagine not. But we’re not like the Board. Unfortunately, there are just evil people in this fucking world, and you’ve encountered your fair share. We want to do what we can to make sure nobody else suffers that same fate. ARC will be shut down and we will rescue the others. It may not stop them completely, but it will be one hell of a blow.”
God, I wanted to believe him.
“Have you found the Chief’s daughter yet?” I asked.
“No,” he admitted. “We’re still trying to get eyes on the inside. We have two teams going at once, one for Audrey before she suffers more, mainly because we all owe Ares our lives for one reason or another. And two, because she’s our best bet for knowing what and who, we’re up against. She’s seen their faces. No one else who’s been there is probably coherent enough to give us the kind of inside knowledge we need to truly end this group.”
“As long as they didn’t give her heat meds yet. Otherwise you’ll have to wait,” I said in warning.
He nodded. “We’ll wait. We also have someone going in to strike their tech. Computers and cameras, specifically.”
“You don’t think they’re going to have a failsafes on those computers?” I asked.
“Oh, for sure. They absolutely will. They’re not amateurs, but neither are we,” he reminded me. “All I have to do is get my bug on their computer, stop their failsafes and shutdowns, and we’ll be golden. I’m not saying we’re gonna get access to their entireoperation, but sometimes men like this, they get cocky. We have to try.”
“Don’t I know it,” I muttered.
