Page 29 of Omega on Fire
Well, fuck me sideways.
I grin, unable to help myself. "Noted."
Deacon clears his throat, breaking our little moment. "If we're going up against Senator Blaine, we need to be strategic. He has resources, connections, and protection. This isn't some backwoods trafficker we can just disappear."
"No," Trigger agrees, moving back behind his desk. "We need evidence. Concrete, irrefutable evidence that puts him away for life."
Joker's fingers fly across his tablet. "The compound where we found Charlotte was wiped clean, even with the FBI storming the place right after us. They had their own protocols in place that I didn'tdetect. No digital traces, apparently the FBI agents barely made it out. They triggered the place to blow."
"I can tell you about the doctor," Charlotte volunteers. "Woman, around fifty-five, vampire pale, American, black hair like a schoolmarm. Completely heartless. She introduced herself as Dr. Locke."
"That gives us something," Deacon nods. "And if we can find her?—"
"She'll lead us to others," I finish. "These operations don't run on just one or two people. There's a network."
Charlotte's hand clenches in her lap. "There were other Omegas there. I didn't meet all of them, but there were at least twelve other Omegas held in the same block as me. Different ages, genders. I'm not sure if they were all from the States, the ones I met were American but that doesn't mean anything."
My blood runs cold. "International trafficking ring."
"With a U.S. Senator at the helm, I wouldn't put it past them to make this global," Trigger adds grimly. "This is bigger than we thought."
"The buyers were from everywhere," Joker says from behind his laptop.
"All the more reason to burn it to the ground," I growl, the rage building again. The beast inside me,the one the military tried to tame, the one my pack keeps in check, strains against its mental chains.
Charlotte's eyes meet mine, and I see the same fury reflected there, banked but no less intense. We're alike, she and I. Both familiar with the darker impulses that most people claim don't exist. But something tells me she keeps her shackles behind smiles and good deeds.
"First things first," Trigger says, his tone pulling us back to the present. "Charlotte needs security protocols. Joker, get her set up with comms and tracking. Deacon, run a full background on everyone in her immediate circle—family, friends, colleagues. Anyone who might be compromised. Although, considering you run in the same circles with Mercy Smooth, I'm sure Dez has already done this."
"What about me?" I ask, though I already know the answer.
Trigger's eyes narrow. "You're her shadow until further notice. Where she goes, you go. Twenty-four seven."
Perfect. Exactly what I wanted.
"And me?" Charlotte asks, refusing to be talked about like she's not in the room. "What do I do while you're all playing spy games?"
"You," Trigger says, "start training. And you tellus everything, whatever comes to mind. I know it will be hard to recall those days and we can arrange someone you can talk to when it gets to be too much. But every detail, every memory, every hunch about Blaine and his operation will help us immensely. Because when we move against him, we only get one shot."
Charlotte nods, determination etched into every line of her face. "When do we start?"
I push off the wall, moving to stand beside her. Close enough to feel the heat radiating from her body, not close enough to touch. "Now," I answer before Trigger can. "We start now."
Because if anyone comes for her again, they won’t leave breathing. When we’re done with her, it won’t be by our hands, but hers.
CHAPTER 12
DEACON
Iwatch Charlotte leave Teagan's office, her curves swaying with each step. The burner phone Joker gave her is clutched in her hand like a lifeline. Beaux follows behind her like a loyal guard dog, his eyes never leaving her ass. Can't blame him, I'm guilty of the same.
My fingers drum against my thigh as I fight the urge to follow. Every instinct in my body screams to chase after her, to surround her with my scent, to claim what my soul already recognizes as ours. But I stay rooted in place, knowing that crowding her now would be a mistake.
"The way you're staring holes into her back, I'm surprised she doesn't feel it," Josiah quips, the corner of his mouth twitching up.
I tear my eyes away from Charlotte's retreating form. "She's a ticking time bomb."
The words hang heavy in the room. We all know what that means, what it could trigger in all of us. Teagan's shoulders stiffen, his hazel eyes darkening slightly.
