Chapter 44
As he sat stunned by what he’d accepted as inevitable, his phone rang. The police. He accepted the call and put the phone on speaker so Siegel could hear as well. “Tenereth, here”
“Hello, Director. This is Sergeant Martin. I wanted to let you know we found a match to the sketch you provided. The guy’s name is Juan Chavez. We’re bringing him in now.”
Grant was grateful for something concrete he could handle. “Excellent. Keep him for me.”
“Are we charging this one with anything?” The man’s voice held a mocking note Grant chose to ignore.
“Not yet. Just hold him as a material witness. I’ll be there to interrogate him.”
Siegel signaled he wanted Grant’s attention.
“One moment, Sergeant.” Grant muted the phone and aimed a questioning look toward the beta.
“Let me handle this for you. I’ll go to the station and explain Juan Chavez’s options to him: terrorist kidnapper and target of alpha vengeance or hero rescuing abused children. I’m sure I can convince him to cooperate and give up the location of the kids, especially if I offer amnesty for the families sheltering them. If I find the children are safe, it might be best to leave them right where they are for the time being and keep them out of the whole mess.”
It made sense. And it was getting late. Grant still had to make arrangements, pack a bag for Rafael and him, and get to the auction house. “Okay. Thank you. But you’ll call if there are any problems?”
“Of course.”
Grant took the phone off mute and explained that Siegel would be taking his place in the interrogation and insisted the man be given every courtesy. He ended the call and stood, eager to be on his way. Assisting the beta in rising from the chair, Grant said, “I can’t thank you enough for your help.”
“Thank me by being happy. You deserve it. Now, get out of here and tend to your omega.”
What a delightful phrase—hisomega.
Giddy with anticipation, he almost floated to his vehicle. Grant had an omega to woo. A traumatized, wary omega who didn’t trust his alpha to get coffee much less father a child with him.
Well, Grant had pulled off more than a few miracles that day—what was one more? 24
With hours to go before he could attempt his escape, Rafe took the opportunity to rest. Unsure of his balance, he leaned on the chair to rise, then took cautious steps to the bare mattress. He stretched out and furiously scratched his neck, again cursing the sadist who’d designed the itchy gray scrubs.
At least they’d taken the obscene stripper’s robe off him. Rafe thought the revealing costume was absurd, but Grant had seemed to appreciate it. A wave of heat flooded his face—not embarrassment this time—arousal. Rafe’s ass still tingled from the sense memory of the alpha’s hand squeezing and kneading flesh, seeking out his center.
With regret, Rafe set those images aside and pretended to sleep. He wanted to offer nothing but boredom to anyone monitoring him on surveillance cameras. What seemed like hours later, someone entered the room. Rafe half opened one eye and watched as a guard dropped a brown paper bag through the cell bars and left. Abandoning his pretense of sleep, he got up to see what was in it. Maybe Grant had arranged for something else he could use.
He brought the bag to the mattress and opened it: a bottle of water and a plastic-wrapped sandwich. Excellent! He gazed longingly at the sandwich—his stomach had at last settled enough for him to think of food. And after two days of not eating, he was ravenous. But no matter how delicious it looked, he didn’t dare taste the food or water—these folks had no compunction about drugging their guests. The bag, however, was a godsend to camouflage the tablet.
Taking care to shield it, he slipped the tablet into the bag and switched it on. He turned toward the wall to hide any stray light, curled himself around the bag, and got to work. The clock read eight P.M.—should be dark outside and late enough for the day shift to be long gone. If his luck held, the night shift should be much easier to get past.
Rafe typed in the password and paused, his thumb hovering over the enter key. If they had any sense, security would have added an alert for a high-level admin password being used after hours. If so, guards would be soon pointing guns and hypodermic needles at him. He bit his lip, dismayed at how much all this crap had affected him. These jerks had him second guessing all his choices. Time to trust his instincts again.