Page 136 of Retribution
“I can hunt down the address to Ophelia’s auction house, but we may need some extra support if they don’t take her there,” I explain. “We also have a baby girl. One of us will need to stay behind which limits our numbers.”
“She has a baby,”Quinn says. I can hear tears in her voice, and I swallow back my own.
“Leila is two months old,” Alesso adds. If we have to be manipulative, then we will.
Isolde means everything to us.
“That’s just cruel,”Callum groans. “She’s too hormonal for this.”
“What’s cruel is that we’ve been talking for this long about this before you agreed to help,” Quinn sniffs.
“Looks like you’re sleeping on the couch,”Linus says. “Either way, I’d throw whatever weight I have behind Christian and his boon if you refused, and then tell Kane you made Quinn cry.”
“Kane?” I ask.
“He’s part ofPack Dresmond,”Duncan sighs. “They’ve been bored. They’ll probably be willing to help too. Where are you right now?”
“I’m headed home from work, which is where they grabbed her,”Lucas says. “It’s a nine hour drive to Minneapolis. We’ll probably fly if we’re certain that’s where they’re taking her.”
“Okay. Hang tight. I’ll do some research as well. I may have a contact that can sniff around Jefferson City Auction under the guise of looking for an omega,”Duncan says. “She’s very good at pulling info out of the dark web.”
My eyes narrow, wondering who she is. I’m typically the one who parcels out information.
“Thanks guys,” I say. Any help, even if it’s muscle when we find her, is appreciated. “I’m going to get back to it.”
Saying goodbye, I keep a browser open so that I can continue to run my image recognition program, and then log into the dark web.
“Lucas, I’m going to do some really shady shit for the next few hours,” I say conversationally since his call is still connected. “I need to see if they plan to sell her or not.”
“Keep your location jammed and do what you need to,”Lucas says easily. “I don’t like that these assholes have disappeared. The police commissioner just called Grant to apologize that they lost the van.”
“If I was handling this job, I would have changed vehicles,” Alesso admits. “As soon as they got rid of the cops on their asses, I’d ditch the van.”
“You’ll have to tell me what else you’d do with how paranoid your mind is,” I mutter.
“I’ll see you at home, guys,” Lucas says. “I am crossing my fingers and toes that the forced heat suppressant works.”
“And I’m crossing everything possible that we find her before that shit wears off,” I say, hanging up.
“I’m going to make you a smoothie so you actually eat something,” Alesso grunts, standing. “If you can get into Ophelia’s accounts, see what deposits she’s received. Following the money can bring answers that we need.”
With that last remark, he walks away.
Thank God that I’m surrounded by such brilliant minds.
Digging into my research, I take a sip of water and begin looking for any open contracts on Isolde. I can’t simply go all in on the theory that it’s Ophelia without looking at other possibilities.
Shaking my head when I don’t see any, I begin looking for anyone who is looking for an omega with her features that wants to buy her. If Ophelia went after her for a buyer looking for my girl’s features and the payout was high enough, this person may have put out a request and acceptable form of compensation.
Over and over, I continue to hit dead ends.
Next, I open up any posts that may have been posted by Jefferson City Auction for any upcoming events. While I’m finding that they primarily focus on auctions, it doesn’t hurt to look.
Blowing out a breath, I find that I’m striking out again. A straw appears in front of my mouth, and I dutifully take a sip before releasing it. The glass disappears again, and I continue my search.
“If I won’t step on your toes, I’ll start looking into the financial aspect,” Alesso says quietly.
“I’m being a bear,” I wince, glancing at him.
