Chapter 39 Do you trust me

Chapter 39 Order
Well." Kimara blew out a breath.
" Is she always like this?” I hadn't taken my eyes off the front door.
" Yes. And we'd better get off her porch. The last time we didn't, We got sprayed." She took a step back, eyeing the door like something was about to jump out.
“With what?"
“Some sort of tick repellent." She answered through gritted teeth like she was replaying the memory. She sniffed and turned around to head back to the car.

" Tick repellent? What's with all the canine insults anyway?” I followed behind Kim.
"Marlene has some sort of resentment towards us……”
" Yeah, that much was clear. Question is why.” I opened the car door and turned to give the house one last glance.
Kim shrugged, " beats me.”

The house looked still but I could hear faint movements from within. The children creeping around and whispering, waiting for Kim and I to leave. The soft rustle of curtains drew my attention to the upstairs window facing the street. Peeking through the tiny space in the curtains was Ruby. She caught me eye, gasped and drew the curtain closed.
I felt my heart lurch a little. If never been able to fully connect with Ruby. A big contribution to this was the fact that I was more focused on caring for Marissa and the triplets while making sure I kept it all a secret.

I hated the fact that Diana wormed her way into Zayne's life but I had nothing against her daughter. Ruby was innocent in all of this. Or at least she was. Now I couldn't shake the feeling that she knew more than we gave her credit for.

I got into the car with Kim and started the engine.
“This is the first time I'm seeing her since the incident you know." Kimara said, bending to look at the window where we'd seen Ruby.
“First time? How many times have you and your men been here?"
“Three times. The third time was when we got sprayed. So I placed scouts around the perimeter instead. That didn't work either.”
“It didn't work, why?"
“Marlene called the cops on them. As for how she knew she was being scouted, the men were discreet enough, but it's easy to forget Marlene, for all her animosity towards us, is still a wolf. She could sense them."

I chuckled in spite of myself. The police force and any other human system didn't mix in with werewolves. We had an understanding. We couldn't interfere with them and they us. But Marlene identifying as human must've muddled things up. Technically she was under their jurisdiction so we had to stay away.

I slowed down to let a boy and his dog cross the street, " And all three times, you never saw her.”
" No. She was in but this is the first time she's sneaking out against Marlene's orders.” Kimara fell silent for a heartbeat, " You think it means something? Maybe she doesn't like living there?”

" Her living conditions aren't exactly our concern anymore.” I commented sadly. There'd been a terrified look in Ruby's eyes when Marlene had yelled. She wasn't happy there but remembering how spoiled she'd been thanks to Zayne and Diana, I had a feeling the new environment would be good for her.
" Ok. Then,...what is our concern?” Kim asked carefully.
" I don't follow.”
" I mean why are we here?”
I shrugged, " To be honest…I don't know.”

“You don't know or you don't think it's necessary that I know about your reasons?” There was a set to her jaw that told me she was more upset than she was letting on.
“Kim…..”
“Not to sound disrespectful Beta but you haven't been completely forthcoming with information."
" Is that so?” I gave an amused smirk.
“You showed up suddenly with no prior heads up, went on a bender for two days, asked questions about the ongoing investigation, locked yourself in your quarters for another two days and came out saying you wanted to go to Marlene's."

I went quiet, contemplating how much I needed to let her know. I actually didn't know much myself. I was mostly going on speculation and instinct.
She was still staring at me, face unreadable, waiting for an answer.

"All I can do is promise I'll let you know everything once I have more information. I honestly don't know exactly what I'm doing. Yet.” I replied finally.
Her forehead creased for a moment before she apparently decided that was a good enough answer for her.
“Alright then," she said with a sigh, “So where are we headed to next?"

“A hotel. I have a feeling I'll be seeing Ruby really soon. Besides, it's a Sunday. How does barbecue sound?"
Kimara rolled her eyes

Kim insisted on different rooms. I wouldn't have minded sharing one but I obliged. Two rooms, both on a low price range so as not to draw attention.
Alone in the room, I brought out the file and notes I'd made. There wasn't much to go on for now. Diana's whereabouts was the key to everything. She'd managed to slip completely off grid. With the money and resources at her disposal, that wasn't as surprising as it normally would be. But disappearing with a daughter in tow was more difficult to do and who better to leave in charge of said daughter than a cousin who was sworn off werewolves and so was not duty bound to tell us anything?

There had to be another way to find Diana. Ruby might know something or nothing at all. The only other option now would be to abduct her from Marlene.
That would be a last resort.

I sighed and picked up my phone. There was a missed call from Marissa during the wee hours of the morning. I had been awake. I'd watched it ring.
She might've been in trouble or unable to sleep due to worry. Either way, I didn't want to pick up just yet. If she were in trouble, there wasn't much I could do about it. Zayne's instructions had been once a week so I was free to talk to her now. But a call now meant no calls till next Sunday.

My chest constricted as I stared at her name o
n my screen.
With a resigned sigh, I dialed the number.