Page 69 of The Union
Junior whipped off his ball cap, shoved his fingers through his dark-red hair, and watched Tripp with a stark intent.
I didn’t detect any nerves or that Junior was hiding anything. I was the stronger empath over Tripp. Just the same, I opened up a telepathic connection.Do you sense he has anything up his sleeve?
No. But I’m on edge as it is, and this asswipe is lucky we let him in,Tripp replied as he read through Junior’s texts.
“These are mostly to Carly, with one to your father, Jack.” Tripp pocketed Junior’s phone. “I’ll return this when you leave.”
Junior straightened. “You can’t keep my phone.”
Tripp eased into a seat at the head of the table. “You’re on my turf. I can do whatever the fuck I want.”
Junior looked at me for help.
I raised my hands. “He’s being nice. If his boss was here, I doubt you would ever see your phone again. So, where’s Carly? Your grandmother? Rianne? Why are you here?”Might as well cut to the chase.
A heavy coat of silence hung over the three of us.
“Speak,” Tripp barked. “It’s late, and I have shit to do.”
Junior clammed up, studying Tripp and me as if we fascinated him. I would bet my dick he wasn’t enamored with us.
“You’re right. It’s late,” Junior finally said. “I would’ve been here sooner, but my plane had issues. I’m also tired, hungry, and dying for something cold to drink. And I want Jordyn and Layla to hear what I have to say. My dad also has a message for Layla.”
“You’ve been texting Carly,” I said. “Does that mean you’re conspiring with her? Is she in town with you?” I glared at him, hoping he would say yes.
His lips spread into a thin line. “No.” He tipped his head at Tripp. “He saw my texts. She hasn’t answered them. I don’t know if she’s alive.” He slumped in his chair. “After I chased her from the loading dock to the lab, the place was filled with too much smoke. She insisted on getting her notebook. I guess the data she had from taking samples from you and that shifter was on a table in the lab. She complained she hadn’t entered the DNA mapping sequences into the computer. Before I could stop her, she ran into the smoke. Then an explosion rocked the lab. I managed to backtrack to the loading dock. But no one was there. That’s when my father called me. He was in Chicago looking for Noah, so he picked me up.”
I thought maybe the winds were turning in our favor until an icy chill crept along my spine. It didn’t matter if Carly was alive or not. We had other assholes who were hungry to get their hands on me, or worse, Jo or Abbey.
“Did you find Noah?” I asked.
Junior frowned. “Nope. He’s probably with my grandmother and Rianne.”
Tripp scrubbed a hand along his jaw. “Why should we believe you?”
“You shouldn’t,” Junior said. “I wouldn’t if the tables were turned. But I’m also here because I want to help. Like my father, I don’t want genetically made bloodsuckers and shifters or whatever the fuck else comes out of the experiments to roam the earth.” His tone was rife with anguish.
I draped my forearms over the back of the chair. “How would you help us?” This, I had to hear. He was in shape. I would give him that. But he didn’t strike me as a soldier. Not that we would accept him into our ranks or trust him. Layla, however, believed we could convince Junior to side with us. Whatever that meant.
“I’m a hunter,” Junior said. “The best one in my family. I’m also a good tracker.”
Tripp rubbed his chin. “Then why aren’t you out there tracking Carly or your cousin and brother?”
“After my father and I gathered our family and got them into a safe hiding place, he and I returned to Chicago.” Junior fidgeted in his seat. “We’ve been watching my house, Intech, and Camden Industries. Intech’s lab was gutted. A buddy of mine at Camden told me Adam and his brother, Fred Emery, had 18-wheelers packing up most of Intech after the fire. He didn’t know where they were headed. But my dad and I spotted my grandmother, Rianne, and Noah coming out of my house. They’d loaded up a car with a ton of supplies. Then we followed them onto the highway, going east. We lost them outside of Toledo.”
“When was this?” Tripp asked.
“About two weeks ago,” Junior responded. “We would’ve kept looking, but my dad had to return to the family. My mom got spooked, but it was a false alarm. So he recommended I come here.”
I could see Tripp’s wheels turning.
“If they were going east, maybe they’re here in the city,” I said. Sure, we had other areas we were watching, like Cleveland and the Catskills. But as badly as Harriet wanted Layla in her grasp, I couldn’t shake the feeling she was close by.
Junior shook his head. “I think they were meeting Carly, which was why I think they were at my house. When they were packing up the car, I saw Rianne carrying out Carly’s clothes on hangars and stuffing them into the trunk along with a computer bag of Carly’s.”
“So Carly is alive?” I said with too much excitement. I didn’t want her dead. Not until I had a chance to play.
“I’m hoping so,” Junior added. “I need answers from her.”
