by Kian Rhodes
“Well, first off, why don’t you try calling me Ralph?” he suggested with a wink. “We’re in too tight of quarters to stand on formalities, don’t you think?”
I nodded, ducking my head. Something about the directness of his gaze, the clarity of his eyes made me feel absurdly shy. “Yes, Al..Ralph.”
“Good,” he said approvingly. “Next, I think we just wait them out. In their position, I would assume we had made a run for it.”
“Which is why we didn’t,” I guessed.
“Which is why we didn’t,” Ralph confirmed with a chuckle. “From here, we have a clear view of where they are searching, so all we have to do is let them wear themselves out and then make our escape.” He stretched and sent me another small smile. “Now, there is a bathroom through that door,” he pointed to the corner. “Just don’t flush. Then, why don’t we sit down and have a snack to fortify our energy for the adventure to come.”
Chapter Fifteen
Ralph
There was absolutely no way I was going to upset Casen by telling him the real reason that he’d woken up in my arms.
Yeah, he had kneed me in the back a couple of times, but, honestly, after the number of years I’d slept alone, that was almost nostalgic. Unfortunately, when he’d gotten tangled in the sheet and begun to thrash about, shouting for some nameless person to let go of him, I’d had to do something.
Sure, I told myself a nonsense story to justify it - that it was to keep us from being discovered - but the truth was that we were far enough from any signs of life in the large compound that I wasn’t really worried about being heard. I simply couldn’t take the fear in the Omega’s cries and had wrapped him in my arms, holding him until his breaths deepened and he relaxed against my chest.
I decided not to look too closely at the reason I had continued to hold him as he slept. After all, we had an escape to plan. That was all. Not because seeing the vulnerability in the outwardly tough Omega had woken something inside me.
The escape plan. That was all. Maybe if I repeated it enough times, I’d start to believe it.
“Um, Alpha? Are you okay?”
Casen’s voice brought me out of my mental haze. He was back from the bathroom, redressed in the purloined guard uniform, and staring at me, concern on his face.
Mentally shaking off the fog, I smiled. “Of course, I am, Casen. Just got lost in thought for a minute.” I crossed to the bag of supplies and began to rifle through it. “Looks like we have some protein bars and dried fruit to break our fast.” I laid the food out neatly in two piles with the water bottle between them. “Sound good?”
“Sure,” Casen agreed readily, but his brow was still creased with worry as he took a seat at the small table. He peeled back the wrapper on his protein bar and took a small bite. “How did you know that this apartment was up here?”
“Hm?” I tore my gaze away from the sight of his plump red lips closing over the food bar. “Oh, well, this building was part of a case we cracked several months ago,” I said, glossing over the details. “During the investigation, we sent a crew through the entire place with a video camera to document the different rooms.” I looked around with a laugh. “It’s an old caretaker’s apartment that had been sealed up for years, from what we could tell. From the amount of dust, I’m guessing that hasn’t changed.”
Casen nodded and, finished with his protein bar, reached for a handful of the sugar-coated dried pineapple pieces. He chewed them slowly, a smile on his face. “So good.”
I swallowed at the sight, a dark corner of my mind whispering how good something else would taste after he’d eaten the sweetened pineapple.
Stop it! I growled inwardly, seriously annoyed that now would be the time for my dormant libido to have woken up. You’re supposed to be protecting Case, not perving over him.
It wasn’t until the Omega’s expression changed from worried to amused that I realized the change in my scent had given me away.
Fudge buckets!
“Um, Alpha?” Casen’s eyes had brightened and a familiar sweetness began to tease my nostrils.
Oh, crap. We absolutely could not get carnal, no matter how tempting the thought was. No matter whether he was willing. Or that I was desperately hard.
“Yeah, Cass,” I unconsciously shortened his name as I stood abruptly. “Look, we’d better get ready to go.” I nodded unnecessarily out the window. “Those clouds will be blocking the moon soon and that is the perfect time for us to make a run for it.”
“Oh, right. Of course,” Cass agreed, the light leaving his eyes as his lips drew down into a frown. He stood, gathering the trash before neatly brushing some invisible crumbs into his hand. “Let me just throw this away.”
I sighed as he crossed to the bathroom and dropped the debris into the trash can inside the door. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt the brave Omega’s feelings, but danged if I could come up with a way to ease the situation that wouldn’t just make everything more awkward.
“Ready when you are,” Casen said quietly as he came back to stand before me, his eyes lowered.
“Great.” I tucked the remaining supplies back into the bag and carried the empty water bottles to the bathroom to refill from the tap before tucking the bag back inside my shirt. “We’re going to take this slow and careful,” I explained. “Once we get back to the main floor, there is a fire escape ladder that leads to the ground. Unless they stationed someone on it, we should be able to use the darkness as a cover to get down without being seen.”
“Then what?” Casen asked.
“Then we dodge the security cameras that I know of and hope they haven’t added any.” I watched the clouds as they moved, counting silently in my head. “Okay. If we leave now, we should hit the fire escape just as the clouds cover the moon.” I drew in a deep breath. “Once we’re on the ladder, don’t stop for anything, okay? If anything happens to me or we get separated, run as hard as you can for the trees and hide. Then watch for a rescue party in the morning.”
Casen nodded silently but didn’t comment.
I scooted the stack of boxes that I’d blockaded the door with and reached for the rusty knob. “Okay, sweetheart. Showtime!”
Chapter Sixteen
Rafe
I’d barely gotten back from pulling the physical files on Riley and Caldere when my cell phone began to buzz. I swiped the screen without looking at it and jerked the phone to my ear and snarled a greeting. “Borrero.”
“This is fucked up.” The voice on the other end of the line sounded just as pissed as I did.
“Zade?”
“Yeah, it’s me,” he confirmed. “We’re at the Alpha Zoo compound, but you’re not gonna believe this bullshit.”
My breath hissed out. “It’s burned out? Stack of bodies laid neatly by the door?”
Zade barked out a humorless laugh. “Not exactly, but close.”
I dropped the files on my desk and plopped my ass on the chair. “What, then?”
“It’s flooded.”
Flooded?
What the serious fuck?
“This isn’t a good time to fuck with me, Zade,” I warned.
“Scout’s honor,” he huffed back.
“How the hell can the compound be flooded when we haven’t had any rain in weeks?”
“The gravel pit, Rafe. The one they were using to dispose of the bodies, remember?”
“Yeah, the abandoned Amberdine mine pit,” I recalled. “The one that they called the rot pit, yeah?”
“Exactly,” Zade agreed. “The dam failed and released all the water from the retention reservoir. That entire section of the valley is under twenty feet of water.”
“You’ve got to be shitting me,” I groaned.
“I wish,” Zade sighed. “There’s more.”
Well, of fucking course there was.
“Lay it on me.”
“It wasn’t an act of nature, Rafe. Someone with a lot of dynamite blew a massive hole in it. It was flooded in
tentionally.”
“But no bodies?”
“Actually, yeah, too many to count,” Zade groaned. “There are dozens of bodies in various stages of decomposition floating around; just no fresh ones.”
“How did we not know about this?”
“Hell, Rafe,” Zade huffed again. “That valley is private property and the mine is abandoned. Until I got there, even the local cops didn’t know it was flooded.”
“Do they have an estimate on identifying the bodies? Were any of them fresh?”
“No. Everything I saw was consistent with the claims that the dead fighters had been dumped there. We pulled all the fresh bodies during our investigation, but these look like they’d been mired down in the mud for a while. The explosion probably dislodged them from the bottom.”
“Nifty.” I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. “So, really, they managed to destroy two crime scenes at once, huh?”
“Pretty much,” Zade agreed. “What do you want me to do?”
I thought for a minute, smiling at the thudding noise I could hear in the silence. Zade must have been stressed to be tossing and catching his lucky tennis ball. “Offer a hand to the locals and see if you can get a body count or any other information, okay?”
“Of course,” Zade agreed immediately. “I’ll let you know as soon as I have anything.”
I hung up the phone and reached for my notepad, adding a note to identify local demolition experts – bringing down that dam was too big of a job for an amateur. The ink was still drying when my desk phone lit up, reminding me that I had the ringer silenced.
“COPSD. Borrero speaking.”
“Rafael? Is that you?” I didn’t recognize the woman’s voice on the other end of the line. “This is Carol. From CAO?”
Ah. Crimes Against Omegas. At least I could be pretty sure she wasn’t calling to report that another part of my master plan had failed.
“Hi, Carol. What can I do for you?”
“Well, I’m not really sure, to be honest,” she said hesitantly. “I just received the oddest call from the Omega Auction House, of all places.”
“You did? When?”
“Yes,” she confirmed. “I just hung up and called you immediately. They said that someone had delivered an emancipated Omega to them to sell.”
Well, now, that was interesting. Why the hell would the auction house admit their involvement and call us, of all people?
“They did? Is the Omega still there?”
“No, that was why they called,” she said, her voice worried. “Before they could do anything, he was kidnapped right out of their facility!”
It took everything I had not to laugh out loud, but then a thought occurred to me.
“Carol? Why did they call you instead of 911?”
“Oh, ah, I’m not sure,” she stuttered. “I mean, I don’t think they actually called me. I think they called the main line and were transferred to me. Probably because it was about an Omega.”
“I see. Well, you don’t need to worry about it. I’ll send a team out to take the report, okay?”
“Um, yes, that will be fine,” Carol said, her voice calming slightly. “You don’t need me to do anything?”
“No,” I assured her. “I’ll handle it.” I hung up the phone and shook my head. I wasn’t quite sure what Beehive Beatrice was up to but there was no time like the present to find out.
Chapter Seventeen
Casen
Every noise from the squeal of the rusty hinges as Ralph pulled the attic door open to the screech when I stepped on a loose stair tread to the thud of Ralph’s boots as he tested the sturdiness of the ancient wrought iron fire escape made me catch my breath, certain that one of our captors would jump out of nowhere.
By the time our feet were back on terra firma and we were creeping across the wide-open field on bent legs, trying to keep as much of our bodies beneath the overgrown vegetation as possible, my heart was in my throat.
When we finally reached the edge of the clearing and slipped into the trees without trouble, well, I was a little disappointed.
Talk about anticlimactic.
“You okay?” Ralph checked in, stopping to peer over his shoulder at me.
“Yeah, I guess,” I sighed. “That was kind of a boring escape, though. Wasn’t it?”
Ralph snorted before clapping his hand over his mouth. “Sorry. Do you want to go back and try again? Maybe see if we can get them to chase us?”
Realizing how ridiculous I sounded, I snickered. “Sorry. That was really stupid, wasn’t it?”
Ralph gave a quiet laugh. “It’s okay. I’d rather you were bored than panicked. If it helps, the hard part is still ahead. You see that opening ahead?” He pointed to a spot where the vegetation wasn’t as thick.
“Yeah.”
“Okay, that is one of their traps. They intentionally set those areas up to encourage intruders and escapees to take advantage of it. Whatever you do, do not be fooled. It’s going to be much harder, but we’ll cross in the thick brush to the left. That area should be out of the camera range.”
“Okay.” I said a silent prayer and drew in a deep breath. “Lead the way.”
It didn’t take long for me to realize that when Ralph said we hadn’t hit the hard part yet, the man wasn’t fucking kidding.
The brush that he decided we would work our way through wasn’t just thick, it was some kind of hedge with long, sharp barbs that stung like a bitch when they caught your skin.
“What is this shit?” I huffed when a barb caught my wrist.
“Pyracantha,” Ralph grunted as he worked the next branch out of our way. “They call it Firethorn bush.”
“I can see why,” I snapped.
“Did it get you?” Ralph froze, one long branch still in his hands. He worked the branch aside, tangling it into a convenient vine and turning to face me. “Let me see.”
“It’s okay,” I tried to backtrack. “I’m just a complainer.”
“We both know that’s not true,” Ralph said, his voice firm. “Show me.”
I held my arm up so he could see the tear in the fabric and the angry welt underneath.
“Oh, Cass, I’m sorry.” Ralph reached for my arm and shifted the torn fabric out of the way. When he raised my wrist to his mouth and dragged his tongue over the thin line of blood welling up through the broken skin, I shivered. “That should help keep it from getting infected until we can get it cleaned up.”
I knew I was staring at him when he winked at me. “I’m an Alpha shifter. My saliva has healing properties, remember?”
My breath caught and my heart began to beat faster. “You’re a wolf?”
Ralph grinned. “Something like that.”
When I would have asked more questions, Ralph nodded none-too-subtly to the hole he had cleared in the Firethorn bush. “If you’re okay to continue, we should get moving.”
I nodded and picked my way through the spot he indicated and then waited while he released the branches, letting them snap back to their original places.
“Why are you doing that?” I whispered. “Wouldn’t it be faster to leave them?”
Ralph nodded. “But it would also tell them exactly where we went. Better to take a few extra minutes and cover our tracks.”
Of course, I mentally kicked myself. That should have been obvious.
We continued on like that, with Ralph clearing a path, helping me over or waiting patiently for me to make my way through the obstacles, and then returning the terrain to as close to its original appearance as possible.
When Ralph came to a stop on the side of a cliff, I looked at him in surprise. “Is something wrong?”
“Nope,” he disagreed with a smile. “In fact, we’ve covered more ground than I would have believed possible for a..” I narrowed my eyes, expecting the usual for an Omega, but he surprised me again when he concluded with, “civilian.” He clapped my shoulder. “You kicked some butt on that trail, but now we can re
st for a while.”
I looked around. Granted, it was still dark, but we were pretty much sitting ducks if anyone spotted us. I was glad I hadn’t voiced my concern when Ralph braced his palms against the rock face and began to push, not stopping until the boulder shifted slightly, revealing a gap.
“A cave?” I guessed. “You’re sure there are no wild animals in there?”
“Positive,” Ralph assured me, nothing in his expression suggesting I’d annoyed him by questioning the decision. “But if I’m wrong, remember, you’re my responsibility and I take my responsibilities very seriously.” He studied our surroundings for a moment and then smiled at me. “I’m pretty sure we’re free and clear, but I’d rather not leave you out here unprotected. It’s going to be very dark inside. Are you comfortable touching me?”
I stopped my laugh right before it escaped my throat, instead nodding seriously. “Yes, of course.”
“Great.” Ralph took my arm and gently guided me behind him, wrapping my arm around his waist and pressing my front firmly to his back. “Stay close, okay?”
I tried to agree, but there was no denying that it came out as more of a whimper. To his credit, Ralph pretended not to notice as he walked us into the cave. Several long, agonizing minutes later, I’d given up on trying to hold back my reaction to the feel of his muscular ass rubbing my cock through my pants and was settling for simply not moaning like the whore I am at each step. When he came to a sudden stop, I jolted into him and nearly creamed my pants.
“Okay, Cass,” Ralph’s voice seemed a little deeper, maybe even strained as he released his grip on the arm I had around his waist. “We don’t dare build a fire, but we’re safe enough to rest for a while.”
I swallowed hard and accepted the water bottle he’d fished out of the bag tucked into his jacket. Flopping down against the stone wall, I was relieved to find the rock was cold and slightly damp. Pulling up my shirt in the back, I leaned my hot flesh against it, hoping the chill would help to bring my out-of-control hormones back down.
Otherwise, I was in for one really long, very uncomfortable night.