Chapter 418 Chapter 418
Noah stared at the phone, then looked at Blair, who had an expression that said he wasn’t seeing the connection either. They were on a call with Illias, Devin, and the King.
“The third message is pretty much the same,” Illias said, “again it’s from a public phone in a little town I could barely pinpoint on the map.”
“The clan has to be nearby.” The King summarized.
The call had started with Illias telling them they couldn’t find Blair’s brother’s clan’s location. They’d been moved and had been off the radar for a few years. The men that had been with Lindon Elden were being less than helpful with its location as if they weren’t sure of it. None of it made sense. If they came and went with Lindon, how did they not know where it was located?
“The things in the photos fit, mostly.” Illias said in an annoyed tone, “but I can’t be sure.”
Illias had stumbled across three messages left on a system that hadn’t been used by the Alliance for a few years, but the line was still active. Only a clan that wasn’t in constant contact with the organization would use it.
“Play the first message again,” Blair said as he zeroed in on Calum’s phone.
“One sec.”
Noah moved closer, like being a foot closer to the phone was going to make some sort of difference.
“Here we go,” Illias said in a hushed voice.
“I hope this is the right number. My grandmother had it.” A woman’s whisper came over the phone. “My name is Mckenna Stein, I am from the Elden clan—we need help. We can’t continue like this. I go on supply runs Tuesday, every week, and can meet someone behind the general store in Dastin. Please send help.” The line went quiet.
“I did some digging and when the Elden clan were with the Alliance there was the family name of Stein on the list,” Illias said. “As you heard, message two she’s getting, uh, annoyed and the third message has some very colorful language in it.” Illias cleared his throat.
“When was the third one left?” Calum asked in a quiet voice.
“Two weeks ago.”
Calum turned to look at Blair as he spoke, “let’s hope she’s still watching for us, it may be our only way to find them.”
“And Emersyn’s daughter.” Kobie leaned closer to Blair.
Noah crossed his arms over his chest. “When can we go?”
“Can you send the location of Dastin to everyone, Illias? I can’t even find it on a map.” The king said.
“Yeah. It’s not on most maps, I used the public phone to figure out where it was.” He chuckled, “not many public phones left out there.”
“That’s good, sounds like a pit stop on a road and won’t be filled with people to sound the alarm.” Blair hugged Kobie against his side.
“Calum, you think we should send a team in?” Devin asked.
Calum was silent for a moment, “no, I don’t think we should go barging in with a whole team, at least not at the start.”
“What are you thinking?” The king asked.
Noah looked at Calum, he respected the man a great deal, and it seemed everyone else did as well.
Calum’s jaw clenched a few times, “Shaelan wants to go back to Konner’s and check on the twins, so we’ll be without medical assistance if it’s required.”
“We can send someone else with training,” the King said, “I was already looking over the teams before this call,” he cleared his throat, “Blaise Morgan from the special ops team has field training for medical needs, and having her team training on-site might not be a bad idea.”
Calum nodded his head slowly, “I know Blaise, she’s also from a tiger clan, so that fits well.”
Blair stiffened, “I don’t think we should take...”
“I’m going.” Kobie said before he could finish, “my people are now yours and that goes the other way too, Blair. These are your people, even if you hated your brother, so they’re mine now too.”
Blair looked down at her, a lot of emotions going through his eyes. Noah didn’t know how he managed not to voice any of them. He simply inclined his head. “Okay.”
The King made a muffled sound that to Noah’s ear sounded like a chuckle. “I will leave the selection of who is going up to you.”
“I’ll get back to you with the details.” Calum said, “but let’s arrange to have more of Kenzo’s team nearby for backup.” He motioned to the phone, “I can only figure there are more that followed Lindon there or this woman wouldn’t be trying to find help instead of the clan walking away.”
“Agreed.” The King said.
“I’ll call Kenzo once we get a map and location.” Devin said, “what’s the travel time, Illias?”
Illias blew out a breath into the phone, “I’d say, a day and a half, maybe two from Blair’s location. At least if you want to stay off the radar everywhere, otherwise, twenty-four hours with some tag team driving.”
Calum nodded, “we’ll start making the arrangements.” He glanced at the door, “I have to call Konner to come to pick up Shaelan before we go.”
There was a note in his voice, that Noah had never heard before. Worry. As far as he could figure out it was the first time the mated pair would be separated.
“If you’d like to go with her...”
Calum cut off the king, something Noah would never do. “No, I’ll be with Blair and Noah, we don’t know what we’re walking in on and I wouldn’t feel comfortable not going.”
“Very well. Keep me informed.”
Calum nodded. “I will, Shep.”
Noah didn’t hear the goodbyes; he was too busy trying to keep his cat on the inside. They had a location that Aspyn was likely at and from the sounds of it more than just that little girl needed help. He felt he owed it to Emersyn and all those living in that clan to bring them—what? Justice or freedom, he couldn’t decide.
“Noah.”
He blinked to see Calum looking at him.
“Are you going to tell Emersyn we found the clan’s location?”
Noah opened his mouth and then looked at Blair, not sure why they were all staring at him.
“I’ll come with you,” Kobie said, her facial expression switched to that understanding look women got.
Noah just nodded, feeling like he missed something important in the last few minutes.
Blair smirked, “relax, you’re bringing her good news.” He glanced at Calum for a second, “the look on your face is like you’re telling her the family dog got run over by a car.”
Noah scowled, “And what if her daughter isn’t there?”
“Illias said the pictures lined up.” Calum offered.
“Even if she’s not, you’re giving her hope, Noah, and that’s the most important thing right now,” Kobie said as she opened the door and held it open for him.
Noah swallowed the lump in his throat, she was right, even if she didn’t understand that hope was something that lead to disappointment and pain more often than not.