Page 42 of Omega Tricked
“Have you ever seen the Ancients?”
“No.” He frowned.
“But you believe in them?”
“Well, yes. Charles talks to them. He wouldn’t lie about that.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Charles may be a hard-ass, but he’s honorable and scrupulously honest.” He gave me an irritable look. “I know you don’t like him any more than he likes you, but he’s a good alpha. He keeps us safe.”
I laughed. “From what? Other than that one supposed animal attack, you say there’s no crime here. What exactly is he protecting you from?”
He leaned toward me, his expression dead serious. “The outside.”
I raised my brows. “Wow. That’s… wow.”
He clenched his jaw. “You don’t understand because you only have half the story.”
“So tell me the whole story.”
He shook his head sharply. “Hell no.”
His unwillingness to talk annoyed me. But I tried to push down my frustrations. If I got him pissed off at me, he wouldn’t want me around, and at the moment, he was my only ally. Without him championing me, Charles would toss my ass out of the compound immediately.
“Suit yourself.” I stood, faking a yawn. “If it’s okay with you, I think I’d like to hit the hay early. I’m exhausted.”
“Of course.” He looked up at me, his expression inscrutable. “I’ll be joining you soon.” He grimaced. “I don’t mean I’ll bejoiningyou… I mean, I’ll be going to bed too. Soon.”
I laughed. “Yeah, I didn’t think you planned on sleeping with me.”
He smirked, and his eyes had a flirty gleam. “I mean, I’m game if you are.”
“Uh, yeah. We’ve been over this.” I was surprised to find his flirting didn’t bother me. I almost liked the fact that he found me attractive. Maybe it was my ego. After all, it was flattering when someone found you attractive, of either sex. “Nothing personal. I’m sure you’re amazing in bed. But I like boobs.”
He laughed and glanced down at his chest. “Well, damn.”
Chuckling, I headed toward the french doors that led into the house. “I’ll see you in the morning, Dylan.”
“Night, Lex.” He gave a careless wave.
Once I was in my room, I closed the door and lay on the bed. I stayed in my clothes, ready for my night of snooping. I thought about my conversation with Dylan concerning the supposed animal attack. Dad had been up here searching for Jack and Carter. But even if Dad had been up here during the time of the animal attack, I couldn’t imagineanyanimal getting the drop on him. Not to mention his driver, Sal, who was a mean son of a bitch. But the fact that neither man had bothered to contact anyone for an entire month was mystifying. Worrisome.
I stared out the window at the inky black sky, watching the stars twinkle like tiny candles. An hour passed, and then another. My eyes grew heavy, and I had to fight the desire to sleep. Since Dad had disappeared, I’d been on edge. I needed closure, one way or the other. Until I had that, I wouldn’t be able to rest. I wanted things to go back to the way they’d been: Dad running his evil empire, and me forging a new, mostly law-abiding, life on my own.
When the light under the door went out, I sat up. Hopefully, Dylan had finally gone to bed. Forcing myself to be patient, I waited another hour after the cabin went dark, just to be sure he was actually asleep. When I felt certain he probably was snoozing, I got off the bed slowly. I opened my door and waited, listening for any sign Dylan was still awake. But the cabin was silent.
I crept across the floor slowly, hoping to avoid any creaking floorboards. I went into the kitchen and grabbed a knife from the holder on the counter, and a pair of latex gloves I’d seen under the sink, when Dylan had grabbed the first aid kit. I slipped out of the cabin quietly, closing the door behind me. I stood on the porch, trying to figure out which direction I should take. I’d have loved a chance to rifle through Charles’s office but didn’t think I had the nerve to do that just yet. Charles was so anal, he probably slept in his office. I decided to go toward the back of the compound, away from the residential part. I stayed in the shadows, moving slowly and deliberately in the opposite direction of where I’d entered the compound. I passed a row of unlocked storage sheds, and I went through them one by one, not even sure what I hoped to find. When they yielded nothing, I continued on. At one point I came upon a large building with the word AUTO BODY painted on the front of the building.
This looks promising.
I moved toward it and peeked in the grimy windows. Some things could be easily hidden, but a car wasn’t one of those things. If Dad’s car was in that building, that would be pretty damning evidence that someone was trying to conceal the fact that Dad had been in the compound. Maybe Dylan trusted Charles, but I had no such faith in that man. He struck me as the type who would do anything to achieve his goals. He was power hungry and liked running this place like his personal kingdom.
There were several vehicles inside the building, but it was hard to get a really good look from the outside. I tried the door and found it locked. I was more than capable of picking a lock, but unsure if I should go that route. I didn’t know if they used alarm systems inside the compound, and if I accidentally set one off, that could be the end of my visit.
I moved around the building, looking for an alarm box. I found one on the south side of the structure, and I examined it carefully. I could simply cut the power line to the box, but odds were there was a backup battery. I decided my best bet would be to find the phone line and cut that. That way, even if an alarm went off, the signal wouldn’t be sent, and that would give me time to look around. What I didn’t know was whether there were people patrolling the grounds. If an alarm sounded, I didn’t think that would be heard as far as the security building at the front. But if anyone was close by, they’d probably hear it.
I felt a bit frozen, and uneasy about taking action. But the sole reason for getting inside the compound was to snoop. If I was too afraid to do anything in case I got caught, I might as well have stayed in town. I hadn’t gone to all the trouble of kidnapping Dylan just so I could chicken out now. I had to figure out if my dad had been inside the compound or somehow involved in that bizarre animal-attack story. If it were even true. Dylan had said Charles didn’t like questions about the animal attack, and that right there seemed suspicious to me. If Charles had had something to do with Dad’s disappearance, I’d have someone to blame. Someone to punish. I needed that. The men needed that. Because not knowing what had happened to Dad had us all in a demoralizing limbo.
