Chapter 780 Chapter 780
Why Bear thought watching for Calla would be better than waiting with the others, he didn’t know. He was out of positions to sit and places to stand while watching for her. What was she doing? Was she okay? He paused, rolled his neck from side to side, and then looked up at the sky. Those snow clouds looked dark and heavy. A few more hours and he was going to be standing out here in the middle of a storm. How was he going to see the house then?
Rubbing his hand over his face, he lifted the cold metal to rest back against it again. He scanned the back of the houses once to see if anyone was out. There was no one there. When he moved back to check the window, he saw the flashing. Someone was turning her light off and on quickly. “Shit.” He grabbed his phone out of his pocket and looked down at it. Sliding the screen saver off, he clicked on the flashlight. He watched the window, waiting to make sure it was her in there.
When she stepped into his sight, he just stood there and looked at her. His animal prodded him, reminding him that they had something they were supposed to do. Bear lifted his phone and then tapped the flashlight button off and on three times. He counted to thirty in his head and did it again. Was she even seeing it? He did it a third time and then looked through the binoculars again. She wasn’t in the window.
His phone buzzed in his hand and startled him. He checked it. Beck was telling him to get on the call. He dug around in his pocket for the earbud and then stuck it in his ear and dialed in. Lifting the binoculars, he watched the window in case she came back.
“…that’s what it says. Wait, there’s more. She’s sending them faster than I can read them.” Eaton said.
Bear closed his eyes. She’d seen. “Calla’s messaging?”
“Yeah, and dropping some pretty serious shit in them,” Luka said.
Bear checked the window again, hoping he could catch another glimpse of her.
“Locations are in B.C., Yellowknife, and Minnesota,” Eaton said.
“Good girl, Calla,” Beck said quietly.
“They think Aiden is hiding out in Maine.”
Someone snorted. “He wishes,” Dane said.
“We’ll have to get teams to those places and start nosing around,” Gideon said.
“The one that was tracking Zain was named Syrus—only he had the software—oh more.”
“Oh my god. She saw a tank with a water clan woman in it on a video call to a man named Kenric in B.C. Pale eyes and almost white hair. That might tell Konner where she’s from. Uh—other names are Preston in Yellowknife and Waylon in Minnesota. A couple named Taran and Siana are going to Maine to look for Aiden.”
“Jesus, she’s better at getting intel than our surveillance team.”
“Hey,” Gideon warned Beck.
“More—oh, oh my god.”
Bear’s heart was beating so fast he was having trouble breathing. “What?”
“Edda is Griffin’s mother, and she had a daughter after she was freed from Alberto’s clutches.”
Bear blinked and looked back at the window. Griffin’s mother was in there for sure. That changed things a lot.
“She types faster than I can read,” Eaton said.
“What else? I’m writing this shit down so when we call Devin, we remember it all.” Dane said.
“Or we could just send the messages to him,” Beck said.
Bear grinned.
“Shh.”
“The man with scars on his neck is named Zuri. He’s from a leopard clan.”
“Why does that name seem familiar?” Dane asked.
“Look it up after,” Luka told him.
“A woman with an accent was out looking for rogues to recruit.” Eaton made a strange noise. “Leon wants Calla to get in touch with the people she knows who want to join their cause—Dane grab another phone and have the number ready. I’ll answer if it rings.”
“On it.”
“They use chatrooms and emails to communicate.”
“I’ll need one of their computers,” Dane said in a low tone.
“Some of them are going for supplies in the morning. Shit, we need them all there when we go in.”
“One more woman is due back today. I guess they send females to find rogues to join them.” Eaton mused in a hushed voice.
“This one is for you, Dane. She saw a black button like an emergency button in the basement that’s connected to a box with wires coming out of it.”
“Good girl, Calla. Sounds like a relay. I’ll confer with Nate on that and let her know. Make sure she turns the phone off between uses.”
“I’ll tell her in a second, just making sure that’s it.” She growled. “That Kendric man in B.C. was going to go hunt more water clan. Beck, get Konner on the phone and tell him he can reach out to his new friends.”
“On it.”
Bear was holding his breath. “Is she okay? Calla? She’s okay doing this longer?”
“I’ll check on that too, Bear. Dane, give me the number, she’s afraid to be upstairs too long.”
“Here.”
Bear lifted the binoculars and watched the window. She had to be taking too many chances to get that much information in a day, he sighed. Or they were really dumb—there was that possibility, too. His animal moved through him, and Bear nodded. He was proud, too. Their mate is one hell of a woman.
“Set up a time. If I can confirm this information about the button, we could go in tonight.” Dane said.
“Okay. I’ll tell her to check her phone between noon and dinner.” Eaton sounded distracted. “The others will be here by then.”
“Tell her to give us a head count then, too,” Quinn said. “Deacon likes to count them off as we get them.”
“Will do.” Eaton chuckled.
“Better reach out to Kaid and see how close they are and let him know there’s going to be a lot of info to get out of these houses,” Luka said.
“Do I stay here and keep watch?” He wanted to get her out of there. Too many things could go wrong when they went in.
“Okay, she’s going back down.”
Bear was like a statue, his eyes trained on the window she’d been standing in. A few seconds later, she was in it again. She just stood there for a moment and then raised her hand and held it in the air for a few seconds. She turned around and then was gone from his sight.
“Beck is going to come trade with you. Beck, take your gear with you. You might be going in from there, or you will be there to pick up any strays that think they can take off out the back.”
“I can’t wait.” Beck chuckled. “I can only hope Leon is one of them.”
“The king wants him breathing.” Eaton reminded.
“Yeah, well, a few strained breaths a minute are enough to sustain him.” Luka snorted. “If he were a member of my clan, I’d bring my alpha his head.”
Bear nodded. He couldn’t disagree with that. His alpha was a sub that had joined Benny Giles’s clan. They lived separately but were still loyal to one another. The females from both groups would have any traitor strung up faster than a person could blink.
“Beck will be there in ten, Bear. When you get back, we’re going to call Devin and patch in Kaid’s team so we can get a plan ready for tonight. Dane, get off this call and get on the line with your tech team and come up with a plan for that damn warning switch.”
“On it. Hey, did we get the knife to Calla? She might have to cut some wires.”
“She just got us more intel in one day than anyone except Griffin has ever done. Don’t worry about the knife. If she has to use a kitchen fork, she’ll manage it.” Quinn said.
“I’m hanging up now,” Dane said in a tight voice.
“See you in a few, Bear.” The line clicked. Eaton had ended the call.
Bear closed his phone screen and jammed it into his pocket. He took out the earbud and then looked at the house. “A few more hours, and you’re out of there, Calla.” His animal moved through him. Impatience was easy to understand. “Soon,” Bear said and then raised the binoculars and checked the yards again. He wondered for a moment how Griffin was going to take finding out his mother was alive. Bear blew out a breath. Maybe it would be better if they didn’t tell him right away.