Page 117 of Their Knotty Pack
"I'm sure," my voice wavers slightly as I eye the board again. "We can even go back and look at their files. I won't be on any of them."
"How did we miss this?" Hunter is pacing, running a hand through his hair. "How could we have missed that every single missing omega met with Pack fucking Hansen at some point?"
I shake my head. "Some of these girls…Heather Ortega for instance, she went missing six months ago, but Pack Hansen met with her over a year ago."
"Do you remember…" Georgia trails off, looking worriedly at Hunter. "Do you remember what the meetings were about, exactly?"
"I don't, I'm sorry. A lot of it was just…talking. Getting to know them. They told me they were trying to build trust with the client so they would be hired." My hands run over my face. "I can't believe I was so stupid."
"You were notstupid," Damien squeezes my hand. "Those assholes did a number on you."
"Bluebell, can you tell me exactly what kind of questions they asked?" Hunter kneels down in front of me, taking my hands in his. "Close your eyes, envision the meeting."
I do as he asks, filling my mind with the mindless chatter of the restaurant.
"They would…" my nose scrunches my eyes still closed, "they would bring me to show they already had an omega, so they weren't trying to hit on them. It was just…questions like their living situation, if they had any pets, what they do for work…now that I'm saying it out loud, it seems so obvious, but they just had this…this way of making it seem normal."
Hunter's hands squeeze mine "None of this is your fault, Bethany. What else?"
"They'd work it into natural conversation, like 'oh, Bethany has always wanted a dog but I'm allergic. What about you, do you have any pets?' or 'Bethany's hair always gets caught in the shower drain, isn't that the worst? Oh? You live alone so you don't have to deal with that?'" My hands tighten in his. They used me so much and I never even realized. Am I partially to blame for these women going missing?
"Anything else?" Georgia hedges, and my eyes pop open as a memory hits me. Always the same last words.
"They…when we would leave dinner, they'd always say something about appreciating their discretion because 'not all clients get an hour of free time with Pack Hansen'." I had always brushed it off, but now I realize…were they trying to keep the meetings a secret? Not from me, but from any other prying eyes? Like the police?
"So they sold it as a privilege," Hunter murmurs, his eyes scanning the board. He stands, suddenly. "Bethany, were you and Lanie the only two at the OMS who helped omegas with scent cards?"
"At the Starbrook City OMS," I confirm with a nod. "But if they all moved here from out of town, they could have gone to the OMS local to where they came from."
"We'll have to go back and look at the victims' phone records again," Georgia mutters, pulling out her phone. "Unless we can get proof that Pack Hansen met with all these omegas before they disappeared, we won't have any reason to hold them beyond questioning. And then they'll know we're onto them."
"Do you think…" My mouth goes dry, and Damien hands me my bottle of water. I feel like I'm going to be sick. "Do you think Chris, Tucker, Grayson, and Preston…do you think they're the ones kidnapping them?"
Hunter immediately shakes his head. "No. I don't think they're the ones physically picking them up off the streets, but…it does look like they're canvassing targets."
His words make my stomach turn. "I…I can't believe I…"
"Hey. No.No,Bethany." My face is in Hunter's hands as he presses a quick, fierce kiss to my lips. "No. This is not on you, bluebell. It's on them. Only them. There's no way you could have known" His fingers flex slightly. "None. Don't you for one second try to shoulder any of the burden that istheirsto bear."
I swallow roughly. "I want…I want them to pay for what they've done."
"They will, bright eyes," Damien presses a kiss to my temple. "Our fearless leader will make sure of that."
"And everyone else involved with this…travesty." Hunter's eyes flash dark before he stands, brushing himself off. Georgia is looking between Hunter and I with a little smile on her face, like she can't quite believe what she just saw but she's glad she did.
"I'm going to…I'll be back." Georgia heads for the door before turning back to us. "Coffee? Anyone?"
We all decline, and she gives another one of those smiles before leaving and shutting the door behind her. Hunter stands, running a hand through his hair. "We'll search through the records again, looking for any phone numbers that line up."
"They won't," I realize, my stomach sinking again, "they…fuck, I feel so fucking stupid!" I stand my hands clenching into fists. "They had burner phones. They would tell me they were 'special work phones' but now…" I shake my head, ready to tear out my hair. "They saidit was to keep better call logs for time spent on the phone with clients, but now I realize they were burner phones. They wouldn't risk having any of their contact information on their real phones."
"Hold on there, bluebell," Hunter rubs my arms, "the omegas…they would have had to reach out to the Hansen Law Firm first. We'll get them there, okay? If each of the missing omegas made a call to the firm before disappearing, that's enough to let us look into it further."
"Gods, I'm so fucking glad we filed that restraining order," Damien mutters, running a hand over his face.
The restraining order. Gods, I had been so happy when Hunter told me it finally went through. Now, all I feel is anger. I still have no idea why they were so intent on getting me back. Was it just so their egos wouldn't be bruised? Or did they have something more sinister planned?
"Wait." I huff a breath, closing my eyes. When I lived with them, there was an office I was never allowed to go in. Because Grayson is "particular" and didn't want me to mess anything up. But now I wonder… "What if…what if we bugged them? They have an office, if we got a recording device or something in there…"
