Coming Full Circle
Page 2
Ralph nodded again. “You know the story?”
“Yeah,” I agreed, thinking back. “Each time one head was lopped off, two more grew.” I snorted. “Pretty fucking apt.”
“You remember how Hercules defeated Hydra?”
I closed my eyes and dug through the memories back to my college days. “I think so. Each time Hercules cut a head off, his nephew cauterized the wound so the replacement heads couldn’t grow back,” I recited. “Then, it was a simple matter of lopping off the main head and burying it under a rock, right?”
I reopened my eyes in time to see Ralph nod. “Right. So, what does that tell you?”
“That we’ve been going about this all wrong,” I sighed. “We’re going to have to split into teams and attack multiple fronts at one time to get to the main head.”
“Sounds about right,” Ralph agreed, reaching for the glass of sweet tea in front of him. “Put together your teams and get back to me by the end of the shift.”
“You got it.” I rose to follow Ralph back to the car. “Hey, boss?”
He turned slightly, one brow raised.
“Thanks. I needed that.”
Ralph just chuckled. “It’s my job, Rafe. Gotta earn that paycheck somehow.”
***
“You want to run that by me one more time, Rafael?”
Ralph remained as relaxed as he’d been at the start of our end-of-shift meeting, leaning back in the old-style wooden slat office chair with his fingers laced behind his head, but his piercing blue eyes met mine hard over the desk that separated us.
I sighed.
“As you know, the Omega traffickers, the Alpha Zoo, and the murder house in Salem all track back to the same criminal enterprise.” I waited for Ralph to nod his agreement. “The only way we are going to shut it down completely is going to be a multipronged sting that attacks them all simultaneously, the way we discussed at lunch.”
Another nod.
“I’ve got Alrich heading up to Cordova with a team. They’ll meet up with Clark to do some recon. Colt is taking a team out to Salem to sniff around for any sign of Cal or the other missing creeps. Zade is going to pay a visit to the Alpha Zoo grounds. Connor is running point on the rehoming center recon.”
Ralph continued to wait in silence, one brow slowly creeping up.
“I’m running out of Alphas that can be brought into the investigation undercover,” I explained. “Everyone on the Council’s payroll in an investigative role has interacted with the Omega Auction House at one time or another. They’d be recognized.”
Ralph’s grunt assured me that he was following along.
“After the publicity of the Omega rescues, anyone who even smells a werewolf at this point assumes they’re working with me, so that leaves the Coruscation boys out. Ditto for the dragons. Drey is much too well known to be able to blend in, and, after the Wolfsrudel Times published that human interest story on the Böxenwolf Brigade, every unsavory prick out there now knows to look for the compass tattoo before trusting a bad guy.” I shrugged. “You’re the only Alpha I can think of who can handle the job.”
I held my breath, not releasing it until Ralph huffed out a sigh of his own.
“Fine.”
“You’ll do it?” I forced back the triumphant cheer that I knew would annoy my boss.
“I’ll do it,” Ralph growled. “But I don’t have to like it.”
I laughed. “Nope. You don’t.” I rose to my feet, anxious to escape his office before the Alpha on the other side of the desk changed his mind. “Leave everything to me.”
“Rafe.”
“Yeah?”
“What team is Colby running?”
I swallowed. “He, ah, isn’t,” I admitted.
“Does he know that?”
I shook my head slowly. “Not yet. Since we don’t really know what we’re up against, I, um, think this is going to be one of those times when we need to keep the Omegas off the playing field as much as possible.”
Ralph visibly winced. “Colby isn’t just your Omega, Rafe. He’s a member of this department and he is not going to like that.”
“I know,” I agreed unhappily. “The truth is that I don’t even like it, but I think it’s the best call, for now, anyway.”
“I hope you’re right, Rafe,” Ralph said as the door began to close behind me. “I really hope that you’re right.”
Chapter Three
Rafe
“This is some serious shit,” Colt growled as he scanned the array of documents that had been found at the Omega Auction House and were currently taped up around the perimeter of the small conference room.
Spaced out around the oval table, Lachlan, Zade, Alrich, and Connor nodded in agreement. Clint, the Coruscation werewolf Alpha who’d just learned of the potential plan to kidnap his Omega, simply snarled, blood dripping from where his gums that had been slashed when his inner beast forced his way out at word of the threat against Trevor.
“Take it easy, Clint,” Colby said calmly, laying his hand over his best friend’s husband’s. “You know we won’t let anything happen to Trevor.” He smirked. “Assuming the dumb bastards actually get past you and your weres in one piece.”
“Are you ready to pull the trigger?” Alrich asked me, his voice tight.
“Yeah.” I looked around at the group of Alphas assembled before me. “You’ve already received your assignments.” I ignored the surprised look on my mate’s face at the announcement. “Clint, with the threat against Trevor, it doesn’t make sense to dispatch your weres out, unless we have no choice. If you don’t mind, I’d like to ask you to take on providing protection for the Omegas while their Alphas are out on assignment.” Beside me, Colby’s breath hissed and I rushed on. “With Colby representing the COPSD, of course.”
Clint gave a silent nod, still fighting to regain control over his inner monster.
I quickly ran through the game plan, more to bring Colby up to speed than because I thought any of the fighters before me might have suddenly forgotten what part they’d agreed to play. It wasn’t until I got to the sting on the Omega Auction House that Colby finally spoke.
“Who are you sending in on that?”
I couldn’t quite hold back a smirk. “Ralph.”
“Ralph Coraine? As in our boss, Ralph?” When I nodded, he gave me a clearly skeptical look. “He doesn’t do undercover work. Ever.”
“He’ll do it,” I assured Colby. “He’s not thrilled, but he will do it.”
“Good,” Colby said, using the squeaky red dry erase marker to scratch Ralph Coraine across the empty line at the top of the list of players we’d spent weeks vetting for the final sting. “It’s kind of amazing that he’s made it all the way to the Director of Council of Packs, Security Division without ever working undercover before.”
I laughed. “You’ve known him long enough to know that he hates lying,” I said, nudging my mate with my shoulder. “To him, it’s never a matter of the ends justifying the means, and that doesn’t make him a very good candidate for undercover work.”
“What changed his mind this time?” Petey wondered out loud, reminding me that the key members of my Blood Valley pack were all lined up against the far wall.
“I didn’t ask,” I admitted, “but if I had to guess, I’d suspect that it’s out of concern for the Omegas. Ralph is a huge Omega’s rights advocate. If it were any other case, I think he’d probably tell me to keep on looking, maybe check with other states.”
“Well,” Colby interjected with a pointed look at the clock, “since he didn’t, let’s get back on track with the logistics. I promised Vlad that we’d try to have Jackal home in time for date day.”
The Beta down the table from me cleared his throat and blushed but didn’t comment.
“Sounds good,” I agreed. “Besides, you and I have another stop to make on the way home.”
“Casen?” Whiner asked, a wide grin splitting his face.
“Casen,” I confirmed w
ith a chuckle. “He loves to give me shit, but he’s actually a pretty great person. As long as we find him, I’m pretty sure he’ll be on board.”
Chapter Four
Casen
“Well, fuck de da,” I huffed, rolling my eyes dramatically when I flung the motel room door open to find the Blood Valley Alpha standing on the rickety wooden stoop, a grin on his face and his Omega, Colby, by his side. “You better not be my three o’clock appointment.”
Rafe just laughed and Colby smirked. “Sorry, Casen, duty calls.”
“Unless duty has a nine-inch dick and a gold card, I’m not interested,” I snapped back. “Even a fuck boy has to make a living!”
“Hard to do if we started following you around, huh?” Rafe said, fake sympathy dripping from his words. “It’d almost be worth your while to hear us out to keep that from happening, wouldn’t it?”
“Fine,” I groused, shoving the door open and spinning toward the mini-fridge. I might have to talk to them, but they couldn’t make me do it sober.
“Hold off on that for now, huh?” Colby’s voice was somewhere between a request and an order as he caught my shoulder in his huge hand.
I wrinkled my nose but let him pull me over to sit on the bed. “I don’t do freebies, Rafe. Not even for cops.”
That made Colby laugh. “Not to worry, Casen,” he assured me, squeezing my shoulder and dropping onto the bed opposite me. “I swear, it’s strictly business.”
“You remember that case you helped us out on a while back?” Rafe began, continuing when I nodded. “Well, we need your help again.” I cocked my head and he rolled his eyes. “Cash pay and no sex,” he assured me. “We need an Omega to go undercover and we think you’re perfect.”
“Doing what?” I asked with a sigh.
“At the Omega Auction House,” Rafe said softly.
I felt my eyes widen. “But I’m emancipated. You can’t sell me. They’ll find that out when they run my ID.”
“Exactly,” Rafe agreed, his eyes serious. “Before I tell you more, I need to know if you’re in.”
I studied him for a minute and shook my head. “I’ll promise that nothing you tell me goes any further,” I said slowly. “But I’m not going to commit to anything until I know who’s involved and who will have my back.”
“That’s fair,” Colby interjected. “We’re trying to take down the Omega smugglers once and for all, and we have reason to believe that the Omega Auction House is selling illegally.”
“Which is why you need an Omega who can’t be legally sold,” I guessed.
Rafe nodded. “Exactly. We’ll implant a temporary tracker under your skin to be sure we always know where you are,” he explained. “Then, an Alpha working with us will offer you for sale.”
I snorted. “Seriously? I’m a forty-year-old hooker. Why would you think they would agree to sell me? It seems risky.”
“Risky doesn’t seem to bother them,” Colby explained. “They’ve already stolen some Omegas and tried to steal others. We’re pretty sure that they’ll be interested.”
“What if they bite?”
“Then, we have a different Alpha waiting to step in with a legal obstacle to purchasing and a list of criteria that you will meet perfectly.”
“I see.” I glanced from one to the other. “What if someone else buys me first? Or outbids your guy on me?”
“It won’t happen,” Rafe assured me. “And we will have eyes on you every minute you’re inside.”
“And the pay?”
“One thousand a day, cash.”
I nodded. “I’m in. When do we do this?”
Colby shrugged. “No time like the present, right?”
Well, shit.
“I suppose.”
Rafe pulled out his cell phone and tapped out a message, waited a minute until the screen flashed, and then grinned. “Quinn says Ernie is on board. Lachlan is bringing him over now.” He ran a critical eye over my lavender see-through marabou trimmed robe. “Maybe we can tone your look down a little.”
Colby promptly shook his head. “Bad call.” When Rafe raised a brow, Colby elaborated. “What could possibly make more sense than a crippled old Alpha having been taken in by a gold-digging Omega? It’s such an obvious story that the punks at the auction house won’t even think to question it.”
“Good point,” Rafe agreed before turning to me. “Do you need to get anything in order before we leave?”
I shrugged. “Room is already paid for the month and I’m guessing you don’t want me to take anything with me?”
“No point,” Colby agreed. “They would just take it.”
“In that case,” I said, stepping forward and raising my arm. “Let’s get that tracker implanted.”
Colby pulled a small black case from the pocket of his jeans and eased what looked like a hypodermic needle out. “It will sting for just a minute,” he said apologetically.
I nodded. “Go for it.”
The needle biting into the muscle of my upper arm more than stung, but it wasn’t much worse than the heat suppressant capsules that the doctor implanted every three months, so I gritted my teeth until the needle slid free.
“What? No Barbie Band-Aid?” I joked, rubbing the sore muscle.
Colby laughed. “Sorry. We don’t want it to be too obvious that you have an injury, or they might inspect you more closely.”
“Got it. Now what?”
Rafael shrugged. “Now we wait.”
Chapter Five
Ralph
The best chance for success, Colby had decided when he worked out the logistics of my introduction to the criminal enterprise, was to not give the bad guys the opportunity to investigate me too close. For that reason, I walked onto the presale floor at the Omega Auction House just before the auction was due to begin.
The large arena was crowded with all manner of Alphas and their consorts, talking amongst themselves as they elbowed their way through the throng, some making jokes while the serious shoppers made notes in the small spiral-bound pads that the auction house gave out with the bidding paddles.
Since it wouldn’t do to simply rush in and pick an Omega at random – that would be much too obvious if the creeps in charge went back to review the security footage – I made a production of visiting each available Omega, asking questions and writing down their answers along with miscellaneous notes before I took my spot at the end of the registration line.
“Can I help you?” The receptionist was an older woman, a human Beta, with neatly coiffed red hair sprayed up into a beehive. I recognized her immediately from the suspect board in Rafe’s office.
Beatrice Daulton.
“Yes,” I said smoothly. “I was hoping to inspect these three Omegas.” I passed a page torn from the tiny notebook.
“Bidder number?” she asked, tapping on her keyboard.
“I’m afraid I don’t have one yet,” I said softly, meeting her eyes.
She shook her head. “Sorry, but you have to pass the prescreen before you’re allowed to inspect,” she sighed, shoving a packet of paperwork toward me and nodding to a counter across the room. “Fill this in and I’ll see if I can clear you in time for today’s auction.”
“Beatrice, is it?” I asked, glancing down at her nameplate. “Couldn’t you make one little exception for me?”
She was shaking her head again before I finished talking. “I’m afraid not. I can’t even set up the inspection in the computer without the approval amount,” she explained, her mouth drawn into a disapproving frown.
She was so convincing that, if I hadn’t heard Sky’s testimony identifying her as the person who had sold Alexi on the black market, I would have wondered if we were after the wrong person.
“Not for anyone?” I pushed, sliding a crisp hundred-dollar bill across the counter.
“No,” she said firmly, her frown tightening into a scowl as she glared at the bill. “Now, either fill in the application or I’m calling security.”
Chuckling inwardly at Colby’s insistence that I needed to be quizzed on my cover, I pictured the cover of the dossier in my mind and quickly began to fill in the application with neat, sure pen strokes. Photographic memory was a pretty nifty tool in law enforcement.
Adding my fake government-issued ID and a credit card in the matching name to cover the processing fee, I returned to the back of the line which had shortened significantly.
Beatrice took the paperwork from me and gestured for me to have a seat. “This will take several minutes and I don’t like people hovering over me.”
“Of course,” I agreed pleasantly, lowering myself into a stiff plastic chair that offered no comfort at all. It wasn’t long until I heard a faint gasp and had to bite back a smile. Clearly my criminal history had been located.
“Um, sir?” Beatrice called hesitantly. “Could you come here, please?”
“Certainly.” I rose, forcing myself not to smirk.
“I..I’m afraid I can’t approve your application,” she whispered, her eyes darting around the room. “You..you know you’re under censure? It..it says here that you pled guilty to twenty-three counts of abuse, twelve counts of unlawful imprisonment, and one count of,” she lowered her voice even further as her eyes bugged out, “enticement of unnatural fornication?”
“Of course,” I agreed, giving her a confused smile. “But that only means I can’t claim an Omega, doesn’t it?” I was nearly choking on the laughter I was holding back. Colby had really gone all-in when he dummied up my identity. What on earth was enticement of unnatural fornication, anyway? “I wasn’t wanting to claim an Omega. I simply need to use one for a few weeks. I’m running a, well, entertainment enterprise,” I explained. “And since the COPSD removed all of my Omegas, I don’t have anyone to, well, entertain my clients. There’s no law against that, is there?”