Page 55 of Stolen Omega

“We’re a few minutes behind schedule,” Archer reminds me.

It makes sense that the van already left, then. It only means Zey will need to wait a few more minutes until she’s able to step out of that damned box. It’s not a big deal. I don’t need to let it agitate the hell out of me.

It bothers me anyway.

The bus gets moving, as slow as usual, making me wish I’d brought Archer’s car to the venue.

He brought it on the tour in case Zelena wanted to go back to using the tour bus, and it means we can talk openly on the drive to each tour spot. I should have thought about it earlier, but I was too irritable about being kept away from her.

I barely slept this afternoon, and now I’m stuck in a slow-moving vehicle.

“At least you have a good night to look forward to,” Archer tells me in a low voice that only I can hear.

He has a point. I get to be with our mate.

“Maybe you should make the same plans,” I murmur back a suggestion.

He doesn’t immediately reject the idea, but after a second, he shakes his head.

“It’s better this way.”

It’s better for me, I guess.

“Suit yourself.”

Chapter Twenty

Archer

The first sign that something is wrong is when I call Castle, and he doesn’t answer. He knows he needs to check in with me when he reaches the hotel, and he should have gotten there before now.

“What’s wrong?” Russ asks, keeping his voice low.

“Maybe nothing,” I tell him, taking out my phone and calling Castle’s personal cell phone.

It goes straight to voice mail.

I check through the information Seth sent me on the driver, and I make a call to Dean’s cell phone.

It rings for a bit before someone with a deep, nasally voice answers the line. “Lamont’s Limos. Dean here. How can I help you out?”

Shit. You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.

“This is Dean Lamont I’m speaking to?”

“Yeah, it’s me. From the ads, sure.”

He sounds nothing like the kid who used his ID. That’ll be because it was a fake.

“I don’t suppose you know Brandon Keller?”

“Hmm. I know a Brendan, but no Brandon.”

“Sorry, I think I have the wrong number.”

I look up Lamont’s Limos online to make sure, but I know before I even catch three seconds of the video that I fucked up. The license looked legit. I didn’t question it for a second.

Even if there was something about that blond guy that I couldn’t pin down.

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