Chapter 44

Asher set the laptop on the dash and then checked out the window again. At least with it being this time of day, he could see if there was any movement around them. He’d driven faster to find a spot that allowed him clear sight in all directions.

“Signal good?” Illias’ voice came out of the laptop.

“Screen is still blank, but we can hear you clearly.”

“Yeah. Picture will go live when they’re going in. It’s going to be three windows on the screen. Use the arrow keys to bounce one to the top so it’s bigger, okay?”

Asher glanced at Journee. She looked anxious. “Okay. I’m going to mute us until we need to be heard.”

“Perfect. I was just going to say that. Sit tight I’m patching the coms through.”

“Got it.” He reached up and hit the space bar to mute them. “Are you okay?” The anxiety coming off her was close to crippling.

“It’s just...” She exhaled. “It’s exciting that people will be free, but” —she looked at him— “I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

“They know what they’re doing.” That much he knew for sure.

“Can I hold your hand?” Her eyes were huge, and there was no mistaking the fear in them.

“Yeah.” He held out his.

“Thank you.” She clasped his hand tight.

Closing his fingers around hers, he noticed that it fit perfectly in his. None of that awkward positioning, trying to find the right placement of fingers.

“It’s working.” She moved to sit on the front of the seat.

Asher looked at the screen to see three windows now. “Space bar to talk.” He pointed to it. “Arrow keys, right here to change windows.” He showed her the keys.

“Okay.” She touched one of the arrow keys, and the window cycled to the top.

“Team one ready.” It was Wynter on the com.

“Team two in place.” He recognized Deacon’s voice.

“Team three, good to go.” That one was York, for sure.

Asher was a little excited that he’d get to see it instead of just holding his breath while listening.

“Griffin and Journee are patched in. Remember to pause on faces so they can look. You are cleared to go.” Illias announced.

“Let’s kick some ass.” Wynter sounded happy.

“Amen to that.” There was no mistaking Amari’s voice.

He grinned. She was probably in heaven being on one of the ops instead of sitting in a van waiting.

He wasn’t sure how many were on each team or of the locations, but two looked like houses, and the third looked like some sort of office building or apartments. The only thing he had time to note was that there was a lot of snow at two of the locations.

“We’re in,” a male voice said in a hushed way.

Asher leaned forward and watched the screen. Journee had a death grip on his hand, but if it made her feel better, he was okay with that.

Two of the screens had a lot of motion, he wasn’t sure who had the camera’s attached to them, but they were moving quickly.

“Going through the back.”

His gaze darted between the windows, trying to see which one it was.

“All set on the upper floor,” Deacon said quietly.

“Go in two.” Konner’s voice was easy to distinguish. Even on an op, his enunciation was perfect. Asher wondered for a second if Konner flew to where he was needed because he knew he’d been headed home when they left the factory.

There were several talking at once when and all three windows showed people in them. Illias must have it so only they could all of them at once. Otherwise, the teams wouldn’t know what each other was doing.

“Two for the center,” someone announced.

Asher pointed to the screen that had two men with collars on. He glanced to see her shake her head.

“Three ladies in need of a good meal,” Wynter reported.

Journee hit the arrow key, so the women were on the upper window. He wondered if she was looking for her sister.

“They’re not very old,” she whispered.

Asher knew why they weren’t but didn’t want to tell her that they had to move the to the breeding houses before they could shift.

“You move a muscle, and my mate is going to use you for target practice,” Tripp warned someone.

Asher leaned over and hit the arrow key, so the screen moved to the top. There were three men, no collars, and even though it wasn’t in low light, he could see they were decently dressed.

“Let’s get some light on them so they can be seen,” Amari said in a sweet voice.

Journee squeezed his hand as the camera moved from one male to the next. She jolted and smacked the space bar when they moved to the third one. “Wait. Go back.” She was almost on top of the dash now. “To the second man,” she added quickly.

“Hold it so Journee can study him, York,” Illias said.

When the camera moved back to the second man, she let go of his hand and sat there. Asher watched her to see if she recognized the man. Her face blanched, and she turned and grabbed his arm with both hands.

“Asher.” Her voice was strained. “It’s him. It’s the wolf.”

Asher held her look for a moment and then turned to look back at the screen. He hadn’t seen the man in two-leg form, but she had. She had followed them and seen him in that form.

“Did I hear that right?” York asked. “You know this one?”

Asher blinked. They’d forgotten the mic was open. He cleared his throat. “He’s a wolf.” He could barely speak.

“He was there the day our families were killed,” Journee supplied and then leaned over and rested her head against his shoulder.

“All right, boys,” Amari didn’t sound as chipper now, “no one touches this one. He’s all for my pal, Asher.” She appeared in the camera, and then the man was shoved back against a counter. “Turn around, or I’ll make you suffer in ways you can’t even imagine.”

Asher put his arm around Journee and opened the window with his other hand. He needed air on his face.

“Team three on hold until we’re given the all-clear for images.”

He didn’t know who said it, but he was thankful. Reaching over, he tapped the space bar so they wouldn’t be heard. “Are you okay to look more?” He wasn’t sure he was, but they didn’t have a lot of options.

“Do you know him, Griffin?” It sounded like Raymond Hardy.

“He’s familiar, I just can’t place it right now.”

“Webb, Nox, you are to transport this one to the new holding facility,” Raymond announced.

“Got it,” Nox replied.

“Ash, you two good for more?” Jesse’s voice was one he was glad to hear.

He leaned back and looked at Journee. She was still pale but nodded. Reaching over, he tapped the space bar. “We’re good.” He wasn’t, and he knew she wasn’t, but seeing that bloodied wolf face from so long ago was worth the damage if they found more.

Asher tapped the space bar as they both stared at the screen. Nox was in front of the camera. He put his gun against the side of the man’s head. “Walk. There’s a special place in hell for you.” The man moved and then was gone from view.

Asher felt Journee exhale. One of the men that had destroyed their worlds had been found.

“Illias, you tell which team to do show and tell.” That was Calum’s voice, and Asher was glad for it.

He could barely focus right now, so he knew that Journee must be struggling with it.

“Team two.” Illias’ voice was clipped.

“We have two for the center and three older ladies,” Deacon said.

They both stared at the screen, and Asher hit the arrow key when he saw which screen.

Deacon stopped in front of each. They were outside now, with just streetlights.

Journee moved away from him and closer to the screen. She tapped the space bar. “The last lady, I think she was on the island. It’s hard to tell. She’s a lot older.” She hit it again.

“Ma'am.” Deacon was in front of her. “Were you stuck on an island since being taken?” Her eyes went wide, and she nodded.

“She comes back to the factory.” That was Devin’s voice. Asher was surprised to hear it, but it made sense that he was observing this too.

“Will do.” Deacon moved, and they could see Gia coming toward them.

“Is that it for team two?” Illias asked.

“That’s it. We’re ready for clean up here,” Deacon announced.

“Team one. Go.”

“Other than the two for the center and three ladies, we have this well-dressed gentleman that was barricaded in a back office.” Wynter sounded pleased.

Asher hit the arrow key and put it on top. A man stood there staring at the camera, or he supposed Wynter. The guy didn’t look scared at all or relieved, so that told Asher that he wasn’t a prisoner. He looked at Journee, she was earnestly studying him.

“I’ve seen him,” Griffin said bluntly.

“He goes with the wolf.” Raymond’s voice was loud. “The other two that were found with the wolf can go back to headquarters. Just to keep our spies busy with something to report.”

“Yes, sir,” Wynter answered.

“Team three. Go,” Illias said.

“We have two children, one woman and two collared. No supervision,” York reported.

Journee hit the arrow key this time, and the screen moved to the top. She studied the children briefly. Of course, she wouldn’t know them. She’d been stuck on an island when they would have been born. When the woman was in front of the camera, she leaned closer and then shook her head. Her spine stiffened when the men were on the screen, but after a few seconds, she relaxed a bit. She hit the space bar. “I don’t recognize any of them.”

“Woman and children to safe house x and the two gents to the center,” Raymond stated.

Asher didn’t know about safe house x, but he could surmise that the transport teams knew of certain ones, and the letter designation would tell which team where they went.

“Clean up on route to all three locations,” Raymond announced. “Hold back one pair of two at each for backup and overwatch until they’re clear.”

That was new too. The previous ops he’d been involved with were all loaded up and gone before the clean-up team arrived.

“Anything in the back office that man was in comes back to the factory to me,” Devin told them.

“You got it, sir.” Asher recognized Kaid’s voice.

“Thank you, Journee.” It was Rayne. “That couldn’t have been easy for you.”

“Transmissions need to be cut now,” Illias announced.

“Do it. Great work, everyone,” Devin said, and then the windows went black.

Asher reached up and closed the laptop. Probably a little harder than he should have. picking it up, he set it on the console between them and then turned to look at her. “I just need to step outside for a second.”

She nodded. “Me too.”

He waited at the front of the vehicle for her. “Next ops, I’m telling them to send us pictures instead of being live.” He looked to see she was staring off at nothing. “It will be easier for you then.” He himself as well, but he didn’t want to admit that out loud.

“Thank you.” She put her hand against her chest. “My heart is still pounding.”

His cat basically smacked him from the inside. He jumped and then grasped both her shoulders. “You did amazing.” He leaned down. “Raymond Hardy will get that man to talk, and then we’ll find all of the ones that were there that day.”

“He will?” She looked at him with such hope that he was going to make sure of it.

“He will.” He didn’t know if she needed it, but he sure as hell did, and he wasn’t going to try to fool himself into thinking he didn’t. He put his hands behind her, drew closer to him, and then wrapped his arms around her. She stiffened for a moment and then was squeezing his waist so tight that it should have been uncomfortable, but it wasn’t.

“Why did the lady from the island get to go to the factory?” She rested her cheek against his chest.

“I’m not sure.” He put his chin on the top of her head and closed his eyes. “Maybe she’ll know a more precise location for us to start from.”

“I hope so.”

He didn’t know how long they stood like that, but he didn’t care. Eighteen years of seeking revenge or even a clue, today, they both finally got one small piece of what they sought. He knew they should be on the move again and that staying out in the open like this for too long was a bad idea, but he just needed this. he needed to hold someone and be held for the first time in all those years, he actually wanted it too.