Chapter 770 Chapter 770
Calla looked at the dash. They’d been driving for over an hour. Her cat was not impressed being closed in with a traitorous wolf and two bear goons. “How much longer?”
Leon glanced over his shoulder. He didn’t resemble the prince at all. He had light hair and a narrow face.
She shrugged. “I’m hungry.”
He turned back around. “Half an hour, and you can eat when we get there.”
“Okay.” She looked out the window, trying to figure out where they were. She hadn’t studied the maps very thoroughly when she’d found out where they were headed. At that time, she had just planned on wandering a mall until they found him. Now, she was driving through a town that she didn’t remember on the map and had no idea where they were going. Of course, it meant nothing if she couldn’t find out if the others knew where she was.
She had that tracker in her hip, but no one told her what the range was on them. After it had healed, they’d had her go for a run to test it, but that had been in a controlled area. She shouldn’t have given up her phone so easily. Glancing at the sky, she hoped to see Gideon or Dane up there but saw nothing flying at all.
Eaton would follow. Zain would make sure of that. All she had to do was get to wherever these losers holed up and wait for the team to bust in and take them. She relaxed in the seat. It was easy to take down these three. She knew Bear was part of the team; she hadn’t seen him in action, but he could easily manage a few bear clan.
~
When the van slowed, Calla looked around. They were in a subdivision still under construction. Leon put the window down and nodded to a couple of guys hanging out beside a car. She looked out through the windshield. There were three large homes spread out around the circular end of the street. She wondered which one they were going to. “Nice neighborhood.” She said, trying to sound impressed. “I guess you have to keep shifting on the down low, huh? So neighbors don’t see.”
The guy beside her chuckled. “Neighbors don’t care.” He grinned at her, and she had to bite her tongue so she didn’t tell him that smiling did not improve his looks. He had a shaved head, a round face, and a black goatee that looked out of place on him.
“Oh?”
He shrugged. “All three belong to Leon.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh. Great.” She smiled and turned her head away—no quick takedown. If Eaton had followed, the eight of them on this op weren’t enough. She gnawed on her lip for a second. She was going to have to find a way to tell Eaton it was all three buildings.
“There’s an empty room in number three, boss.” The driver said.
Leon looked back at her. “Kumar Will show you where that is.” He turned in his seat and looked at the guy beside her. “Explain the basics.”
Kumar nodded.
Leon flicked his gaze back to her. “How many others are you in contact with, that want to be on the right side of this?”
Calla blew out a breath. “That I know personally? Thirty.” She shrugged. That was a good number and around the right amount of Alliance team members that she’d met. “I’m sure there’s more, though.”
Leon nodded slowly. “Housewives? Hunters? What kind of people are we talking about?”
Calla grinned. “The kind that wants action and is tired of BS.”
Leon nodded again and turned back around. “Good. We’ve lost too many lately.” He looked at the driver. “Get in touch with our man and check her story.” He gave her a brief look. “If it checks out, we’ll work on you reaching out to your people.”
Calla shrugged. “Cool.” She looked at the house they pulled up in front of. How were they checking her story? Who was their guy? The hair on the back of her neck stood up. There was still a traitor in the Alliance.
~
Calla followed Kumar into the house. Immediately, her cat picked up the lingering scent of several different clans.
“This is the house you stay in. You don’t go in the others unless you are asked to.” He glanced at her. “The Boss likes the women to stay in the one house.” He gave her a sneering look. “He doesn’t like fraternization between us because it creates drama.”
Calla glanced into a small sitting room. There were no throw pillows or blankets. No TV or anything, just a few pieces of furniture. “Not fond of drama myself.”
He stopped at the bottom of the stairs. “Your room is up there at the end of the hall.”
“Am I sharing it?”
He shook his head. “No. The woman that was there isn’t here anymore.”
Calla wanted to ask where she was but also wasn’t sure if she’d be able to keep her reaction off her face if the answer was bad, so she didn’t ask. “What are the basics I need to know?”
He nodded and turned around.
They went into the kitchen. She noted how clean it was.
Kumar walked over to the sliding glass door and pointed to a switch on the wall. It looked like a normal light switch, but there was a piece of red tape above it. “Don’t touch this.”
She gave him an amused look. “Don’t touch the light switch?”
“It’s not a light switch. It warns the other bases if this one is raided by the Alliance.”
“Wow. Smart.” It was. “How?”
He looked at that switch and then shrugged. “No idea.”
“Other bases?” She went over and looked out the glass door to see it was fields and undeveloped area behind the construction. It was a good place to sneak up when the team got her.
“There’s three of them.”
“Three? Nearby?” He wasn’t the smartest, but as long as he was going to offer up answers to a stranger, she’d take them.
“Two aren’t far. The other is across the border.”
She looked back outside so he wouldn’t see her expression. That changed things. If she could get those locations, that would be a big win. “Cool.” She nodded and looked back at him. “Don’t touch the switch. Anything else?”
“We don’t let our animals out during the day, and if you need to go for a run at night, you have to report it to Finlay. He’s in number two.”
Calla nodded. “Got it.” She looked around. “What do we do all day?”
“Whatever the boss needs. He’ll send someone for you if he needs you.”
“Okay.” She turned around and looked at the kitchen. “Any rules about eating? I’m starving.” She wasn’t overly but knew she had to eat to keep her lioness under control.
“Edda is in charge of food. For all the houses.” He looked at a clock on the wall. “She’ll be resting right now but should be up soon to get dinner going.” He looked her up and down. “You could help her. None of the other women are here right now, so she could use the help.”
Calla shrugged. “Sure. Is that it for the rules?” How many other women? Where were they?
He nodded. “For now. Stay in the house until Boss calls you.” He started walking down the hall toward the door. “If you don’t check out, you’re going to regret it.”
Calla exhaled slowly. “I’m not worried.” She was. “I’ll check out.” How did they go about it? There had to be computers or some way to communicate.
“See you later, Missy.”
She nodded. “I guess I’ll be here until I’m summoned.” She watched him leave and then let her shoulders drop in relief. Some kind of switch that signals places not in the immediate area. Glancing at the switch, she decided she’d figure that out later. Better yet, that was a task for the tech team.
Going up the stairs, she inhaled and tried to pick up what clan the other women were from. There were too many blended to know. The first thing she noticed was the locks on the outside of the doors. Her animal moved close to the surface. We’ve got this girl, she thought, hoping to relay that they needed the information and that they were out of there.
She looked around, trying to see if there was a camera or anything. She didn’t see any tell-tale signs that there was any way to watch her, but she wasn’t taking any chances. There were only two doors open, and one was the bathroom, so she went into the other one.
Inside was a bed and a small dresser. The bedding was folded and sitting on the bare mattress. Going over to the window, she pulled the curtain back and was relieved to see it was wilderness. She scanned it slowly. There were a few good places the team could hide out there. She gnawed on her bottom lip. If she were Eaton, she’d have someone out there now to check out the place. She needed to figure out a way to let them know not to rush in and get her. The other locations were important.
A hawk flew by the window and climbed higher into the sky. She’d seen his feathered form enough to know that the larger-than-normal bird was Gideon. She watched him fly back to the small cluster of trees and land. It was one of the spots she’d hide if she were out there. How was she going to signal him? She looked at her hands and hoped that he or someone watching was going to understand. She needed to keep it brief and move in slow motion, so they’d get it. “Here goes.” She whispered and lifted her hands toward her chest.