SWNOVELS Chapter 13 ~ I Know Where She Is
Third Person ~
All five of Maddox’s ranks were already in the conference room with him…when Venom and Delaney walked in with their four..
Everyone was seated.. with Gizmo and Geek at the head of the table to give their presentation. Delaney asked where Delilah was.. and Brock snarkily responded “I told her she wasn’t allowed in here. I mean.. why would she? She’s not a member of the club.. certainly not an officer.. She’s barely even pack. All of y’all cater to her like she’s somebody.. when in reality.. she’s nobody.”
Derek said “What the fuck, Brock? Is this because she said what you are doing with all those girls will ultimately come back to bite you in the ass when you meet your mate?” Brock growled “My life is none of her business.”
Derek hissed “She apologized, you fucking ass! And agreed her opinions didn’t mean shit in your life.” They all heard a bump in the hall.. and Maddox hurried to the door to make sure they weren’t being spied on.. only to catch a glimpse of long brown curly hair rounding a corner.. in a dead run. Looking down, he saw a vase on the floor beside the small hall table.
He went back inside and said “I think it was Delilah.. she may have heard us.” Brock laughed and told them “Serves her nosy ass right! Shouldn’t eavesdrop if you don’t want to hear what people think of you.”
Venom looked at Maddox “Best get a handle on your boy, here. Until he figures out we don’t treat any woman that way.. especially not MY adopted daughter.. Delilah will be moving home to our clubhouse.”
Maddox was dumbfounded.. Brock had never treated anyone like that. Something else is going on.. and he planned on getting to the bottom of it.
Valerie was glaring daggers at Brock.. causing Maddox to sigh. Only a few weeks into being Alpha, and already there was dissension in the ranks. Delaney hadn’t said anything yet.. and that, in itself, was worrisome.
Gizmo quietly asked “Shall we begin?” And then, Delaney spoke up “By all means, Gizmo.. However.. do not discuss anything that pertains to Lilah.. Or her father.. Or President Thor.. or Eric.. because we all know that CONCERNS HER! Goddess forbid we discuss the dangers presenting themselves in her life without her present.. I mean.. it’s what we do.. right!?.. especially when it comes to women alone.. with no one to protect them..Doesn’t our oath require we defend and protect anyone in unfortunate circumstances? That’s who we are, isn’t it? What we stand for? Right?? Or did someone change our purpose and nobody saw fit to send me the memo?”
Venom pulled her onto his lap and tucked her head into his neck.. letting her breathe him in to calm Lexi. All the while, never taking his eyes off Brock.
Geek smirks “Okay.. Gonna be a short meeting, then.. But here goes.. The view from this camera.. is on the east side of town.. That blue SUV? It’s carrying the two Alphas.. Cabot Stone and Dylan Burdette.. we lose sight of it.. apparently, traveling out of the view of cameras.. Picked it up here.. passing the library.. and parking in the lot behind the diner.”
Gizmo picked it up “Here.. south of where Cabot and Dylan drove into town.. this black sedan.. Carrying Max Unger.. a retired Marine Captain.. now working in an advisory position for the defense department. I was pretty much able to maintain a timeline of his approach because there are more cameras on this end of town. His vehicle parked in the underground parking garage.. and his driver lets him out of the car. The cameras then followed him out of the garage.”
Geek said “Watch the ATM camera.. following Cabot and Dylan as they enter the bank… then watch….. exactly two minutes and thirteen seconds later.. that same camera follows Max inside.”
Gizmo grins “Now.. the fun part. I hacked the banks cameras.. and their files.. but you didn’t hear that from me.. All three men.. are shown into this little meeting room.. We can’t hear what they are saying.. so we can only speculate what this is all about.. But watch…”
A bank employee walked in.. carrying two long, deep safety deposit boxes.. one was set in front of Unger.. the other, in front of Cabot. Unger removed three file folders.. Gizmo whispered “Watch” and he zoomed in on the folders.. only one could be seen.. and read legibly.. “Captain Tiberius Stone.”
Venom snarled “The fuck?! What the fuck is this? My government file is classified. Even my personal records have pages and pages of redacted information and I lived it!”
This time.. Torin buried his face in Delaney’s neck.. needing the soothing scent of his mate.
Geek said “Keep watching.. it gets better..” After Max slid the folders over to Cabot.. he removed ten stacks of cash in small denominations.. mostly twenty dollar bills.. each stack wrapped with a ten thousand dollar band.
Dylan opened a briefcase.. putting the cash inside, as Cabot removed two files from his safety deposit box.. sliding them over to Max.. Again, Gizmo zoomed in on the files and the top one read Beta Henri Connors and mate. Calypso Dubois… the one underneath showed only a partial name “Delil” and everyone knew it read Delilah’s name.
Derek snarled at Brock “Still think this is none of her concern, Asshole!?” Maddox said “ENOUGH! Let’s get through this meeting. Then I will address other matters!”
Gizmo looked around the room.. stopping at Venom.. then Snake.. he said “Every one of us missed a key component in this whole thing. I know I did! On the fourth time I watched it.. I had an ah-ha moment.. Venom.. Axe.. Snake.. watch the bank employee closely.. it gives us a really good starting point..”
Geek ran through the video again.. the three watching carefully. Axe said “Stop.. back it up.. not there.. a little more.. There! Stop!” When he did.. Venom stood to his feet and roared “Bring him in. I don’t give a fuck where he is! Call his cell and tell him code mother fucking purple!”
Maddox asked “What’s going on? Who is that, Venom?” Snake was staring at the screen and whispered “How could we not know?”
Venom sat down.. looking at Maddox.. “the bank employee? He’s one of ours.. He is a Warrior Wolf.. even though he is human. He has been with us for almost seven years.. and went nomad two years ago. He still wears my colors.. and has now betrayed the club. And that man.. the man most of you know as Gearhead.. is none other than Drake Slate. I took pity on him after what his father had done.. and allowed him to prospect here.”
Delaney sat straight up.. looking closely at the screen. She looked at Brock “Best hope nothing happens with my girl! Swear to Goddess.. you’d better hope!”
The meeting was adjourned.. and as it was very late.. tiptoeing closer to a new day.. saying goodbye to the old one.. everyone headed to bed.
Maddox tossed and turned a couple hours.. concerned about Brock’s attitude.. and finding himself incapable of figuring out any reason for it. He’s always been a bit of a hothead.. and had a really short fuse.. but Maddox was worried something more complex was going on.
Finally dozing off, at nearly four.. Sighing happily into slumber… At six thirty the next morning… Delaney yelled into his mind link “Every fucking one of you get your Goddess damned asses up! Delilah is missing and I hope for your sakes.. NONE OF YOU is responsible!”
Maddox was up and racing down the hallway before realizing he wore nothing but boxer briefs.. He rushed through getting dressed and met up with everyone in the backyard.. Everybody asking questions at once..
Delaney stuck two fingers in her mouth and whistled shrilly… making nearly every wolf in the yard hit their knees. “Shut the fuck up and listen! I got up an hour ago.. to check on Tammy’s condition.. she’s healing.. by the way.. albeit slowly. As long as she doesn’t contract an infection.. she will physically be fine. But.. on the way home.. and for those of you who didn’t know.. Lexi imprinted on Delilah just before her first shift..
On the way home.. Lexi was whining.. When I asked what that was about.. she told me her girl was hurting. Knowing she was referring to Blue.. I went to check on Delilah. She wasn’t in her room. She hasn’t been in her room all night. She’s missing and if Lexi can feel Blue’s pain.. something is very wrong. And I am very pissed!”
Venom said “Split up.. form search parties.. keep an eye out for anything or anyone suspicious.”
Maddox walked over to his team.. hugging Valerie who had huge tears rolling down her face.. He said “Okay.. let’s think a minute. Val.. you and Derek know her best. Where would she go, if she wanted to be alone?”
Valerie gasped “I know where she is!”