Prickly Business (35 page)

Avery checked the seal on the cap of the bottle. It was unbroken and the water passed a sniff test, so he drank it. The fruit he ignored.

Across the way, Veronica picked listlessly at her apple. Avery wanted to offer some words of comfort, but he didn’t know what to say. How could he console anyone when he was trapped himself? She didn’t know he could get out. That he planned to escape as soon as the warehouse quieted down.

Last night, he’d spent hours tossing and turning on that poor excuse for a mattress, trying not to contemplate what type of bug infestation might be living inside, or what these men might do to him if they changed their minds about auctioning him off.

Instead, he thought of Dylan. Of his dark eyes and the way Dylan touched him. His smell. Avery missed that scent.

Avery had sniffed away tears and fallen into a fitful sleep, interrupted by waves of fierce desperation and a longing that made his chest ache. He knew the emotions weren’t entirely his own. Somehow, he sensed Dylan—
felt
him. Which gave Avery hope. Surely, they were still in Oregon. Dylan must be near if Avery could sense him even through their incomplete bond. Could Dylan use that same connection to find him?

Avery hoped not. Who knew what kind of situation Dylan might be walking into?

Dylan didn’t know what type of environment Avery was being held in or that he could escape at any time. Avery had debated going the night before. If he had, he might’ve been reunited with Dylan by now. He could’ve assured himself of Dylan’s safety. The problem was, it would have meant leaving with little more information than he already had. Sure, he would’ve known where the girls were being held, but this was an opportunity he wouldn’t—or at least hoped not to—have again. A chance to find out who some of the higher-ups were or even who was in charge of the entire operation.

So after a bout of inner turmoil, he’d crossed his fingers, hoped they had no plans to move him yet, and decided to stay for the day, see what he could learn. It was a gamble, but the risk seemed worth the potential reward. Because while it would be great to take out some of these small fries, they were probably easily replaceable to whoever had masterminded this.
That
was whom Avery needed to find. Someone whose arrest could help them shut this whole thing down. Otherwise, he would’ve put himself in danger and worried his mate for nothing.

He spent the day watching—and listening.

There were a couple of guys who wandered the corridor throughout the day, evidently keeping watch over the prisoners. Avery knew, by sight as well as smell, he was the only male captive there. All the others were female and some so young Avery wanted to cry simply looking at them. It was imperative he leave tonight, whether he found out anything new or not. He had to get to the police or the Feds and get help in here before morning. Before these girls could be taken elsewhere.

When the guards passed through again, they were midconversation.

“Why didn’t Melnyk kill the fag’s boyfriend?” one of them asked. “He said they both came down to the precinct.”

Avery’s ears perked up.

“Can’t. His father is a retired cop. Guy like that disappears, it’ll draw a lot of attention.”

Retired cop?
They had to be talking about Dylan’s father. About Dylan.

Panic shot through Avery. He almost jumped to his feet and screamed at them for even thinking of killing his mate, but through a miraculous burst of restraint, he managed to hold himself still. Heart thundering, he bit his inner cheek and squeezed his eyes shut. Let them assume he was asleep.
Please, God, keep talking….

“Besides, Melnyk said he don’t know nothin’,” the guy continued. “He wasn’t at the auction, just that prissy little fag, and he ain’t local. No one is gonna notice him missin’. His family probably doesn’t give a shit. Probably they kicked him out for being queer. Not like you can’t see the flames comin’ off him from a mile away. Fuckin’ cock gobbler.”

“He’s pretty. He could pass for a girl.”

A snort. “Maybe if you squint real hard. That what you’re into, Kozlov? You a shit stabber?”

“No! I was just saying, is all. He’s not so bad. In the dark, a hole’s a hole. I don’t….”

Their voices faded as they turned the corner at the end of the corridor. Avery unclenched his jaw and swallowed hard, tasting blood from where his teeth had shredded his skin. He couldn’t even acknowledge all the homophobic comments they’d made about him. His brain was fixated on the rest of it.

So, Melnyk had looked into both him and Dylan, probably after their visit to the Central Precinct. Avery’s stomach churned. What else did Melnyk know? Had he been watching Avery ever since? Would he hurt Jaden? Or worse, grab him for some rare ginger collector. With Jaden’s fiery red hair and peaches-and-cream skin, they might make a killing.

Would he change his mind about harming Dylan?

If Avery escaped, no one in his life would be safe. Not unless he made sure Melnyk and his cronies were locked away forever.

There was nothing he could do right now, though. He might be able to shift and sneak out during the daytime, but his disappearance wouldn’t go unnoticed for long. No one had appeared to be patrolling last night—or if they had been, they hadn’t wandered down this particular corridor. The darkness and lack of security would work in his favor. Maybe the evening guards were lazier or more complacent. Where would their captives go, after all, while locked in their cages? But Avery wouldn’t be there to see another morning.

As soon as the activity died, he would take off and go straight to the authorities. He’d bring them back to the warehouse so these perverted fucks could be caught red-handed. And hopefully they’d find enough information to rescue those kids he’d seen at the Lake Oswego house too. It was all he could think to do. Avery had no idea if the auction had continued or if they’d shut it down when Melnyk had spotted him. The memories from after he’d walked out the door still eluded him.

He only hoped the guard had been right, and Dylan was out of danger. There was nothing he could do from here without revealing himself as a shifter—and that wouldn’t make the situation any better. No. They’d probably try to sell him off to black market scientists to be experimented on.

His only option was to wait. Too bad Avery had never possessed much patience outside of his yoga routines. Today he’d be learning it the hard way.

D
YLAN
BLINKED
up at the ceiling, his hand automatically reaching out for Avery and coming up empty. Something had snapped him out of his exhausted haze, which bordered on the world of sleep without ever quite reaching. He didn’t think sleep would be possible right now. Hadn’t been for the past however-many-hours he’d been here. He didn’t know how long he’d been in bed, tossing and turning, but the sun was up, even though constant rain and sickly clouds still shadowed the sky.

“Let him sleep.” That was Lucas’s voice, low and irritated.

“Dude, he’s gonna be pissed if you don’t wake him up to tell him.” Kirk’s soft rumble rolled over the partition into the bedroom.

“There’s nothing he can do about it now that he won’t be able to do with a couple more hours sleep. Leave him alone for now. He’s been through hell.”

“We all have,” Kirk groused.

With a sigh, Dylan pushed himself up. It wasn’t like he was getting rest any time soon. It had been hours—felt like days—since he’d crashed into the bed, but the heaviness of his loss threatened to consume him, and having Avery’s scent, his warmth, surrounding him was the only thing that was keeping him from losing his goddamned mind.

Still, it sounded like he should probably go find out what they were whispering about.

When he slid the screen open, Kirk and Lucas stood on opposite sides of the kitchen island holding mugs. Kirk was glaring.

“Even if I had been asleep you would’ve woke me up with your bickering.” The last of his sentence was spoken around his yawn as he made his way to the espresso machine and flipped it on.

“Sorry, man,” Kirk mumbled over the top of his mug. “Didn’t mean to wake you.”

“Wasn’t asleep.”
Just wasn’t here either
. He turned to check the time—barely after one. Jesus, where had the day gone? The waiting around pissed him off. His spine tensed with the need to hunt for his mate. The ache in his chest bloomed anew like a fire-hot poker piercing his heart. He pressed his fist over the pain, but it didn’t help one bit. “You got something to tell me?” he asked when he could breathe again.

At Lucas’s heavy sigh, Dylan looked at him. “We heard from Sawyer. Melnyk is MIA. Didn’t show up for work. He confirmed he’s not at home either. He’s got someone keeping an eye on the house to see if the guy shows. But your boy Harris has been busy running around town. He was at the precinct for a couple of hours this morning, but since then he’s made several stops at various businesses, which may or may not be part of the job. Don’t know.” He lifted a shoulder.

“So you’re saying you’ve got nothing.” He crashed his fist against the cabinet behind him.

Lucas glanced away, but Dylan didn’t miss the look that passed between him and Kirk.

“What?” he demanded, frustration growing. “Fucking tell me.”

“Sawyer followed Harris to a warehouse out by the river.” Lucas swallowed. From the looks of it, he was uncomfortable, unsure. “Look, D, we don’t know, but he thinks Avery is there. If he’s not, then he’s been there. Sawyer scented him, but he was too far away to tell if he was actually
in
the building.”

Electricity raced up Dylan’s spine and his hair stood on end. Anticipation roiled in his gut and his heart pounded as the first promising news rolled around in his head. “What the fuck are we doing here, then?” He pushed off the counter and stomped toward the door.

“Dylan, wait.” Kirk called.

He spun on his heel, tired of waiting around. “What the fuck for?”

“Well, for one, you have no idea where you’re going.” Kirk looked down. “And you need shoes.”

“And two,” Lucas cut in. “We don’t know how many men are at the warehouse. Harris was seen talking to a couple. With guns, D. But we don’t know how many are inside. Sawyer says he scented more than the two he saw.”

Humans with guns were dangerous and unstable. Guns and
crazy
, the unpredictable element, made the situation all the more difficult.

“Sawyer’s keeping an eye on things,” Kirk continued.

“We can’t go charging in half-cocked in broad daylight.” Lucas’s exasperation was clear. “We need a plan.”

Dylan knew they were right, but motherfuck, the idea of sitting around, knowing where Avery was—and Dylan knew in his bones it was where he’d find Avery—killed him. Was Avery suffering? Did he know Dylan wouldn’t stop until he was safe? Every possible scenario ran though his head and nausea rolled over him with each one. He needed his mate. He needed Avery home.

Trudging back to the island, Dylan slid onto one of the stools. He looked up at the clock again—one sixteen. “Fine, let’s get this over with.”

Lucas nodded, curt and resolute. “I think Kirk and I have a plan.”

G
ODDAMNED
TRAFFIC
was a nightmare on Saturday nights as it was, but add in the rain coming down steadily, and it only increased Dylan’s tension. Fucking glad he was in the Firebird and not his bike. Unease and trepidation ran through him until he shook with it. He felt like he was going to crawl out of his skin. Not the best state of mind to be driving on two wheels.

The closer he got to the industrial district, the more a sense of rightness came over him. Avery was near. He
felt
it. Felt him. Now Dylan just had to get to him.

The area was mostly quiet. Not like during the week when trucks and vans were in and out, speeding down Northwest Front. Some of the plants were still operating at dusk, though most were closed. A couple of blocks down the road from the target, Dylan pulled off the road and into the lot of a warehouse under construction. A few cars were scattered about, probably carpoolers or the guys working overtime to impress the boss. No one was paying attention to Dylan and his crew as they rolled up. That was the important thing.

The plan was cut and dry. Get in, get Avery, and get out. Dylan knew it wasn’t going to be as simple as that. These guys dealt in people and sex. They were ruthless. They were heartless. And they had weapons. Dylan still had no idea of what kind of numbers they were up against, but they were sure to be outnumbered.

Didn’t matter. He was getting his mate back. Tonight.

Waiting until nightfall was key, especially with the cover of darkness and wet weather on their side. It would help them get close to the building undetected.

In the fading daylight, the sky was tinged green with rolling clouds. It gave off an eerie feel. Dylan put the car in park and shut off the engine. By the time he climbed out of the car and joined the guys in the misting rain, Dylan was sure he’d vibrate right out of his fur.

“Okay,” Lucas broke the silence as the final vestige of light was snuffed out by darkness. “You know what to do.”

What to do
. Those three words echoed in his head over and over. Yeah, he knew what to do.

Lucas continued to speak through the thick apprehension. “Sawyer and D, you guys can go ahead and shift. I’ll call Derick, and then we’ll join you.”

Notifying the alpha was about as high on Dylan’s priority list as Avery had been on the alpha’s, but in the end, he’d agreed it would be better to let the pack know. And Dylan’s dad was retired police, sure, but there was no way he’d back Dylan. He’d probably leave them all there and hope they didn’t make it out alive. Which was why Lucas was contacting Broderick. Dylan certainly wasn’t calling his father. And it’s not like they could actually call the cops without knowing if anyone else was in this with Melnyk and Harris. For another thing, Dylan was next to certain that cops would be collateral damage to men like this. Not that Dylan and his crew wouldn’t be, but the wolves had a gift for stealth and they planned on using it to their advantage. At least if anything happened, they would know where to begin looking. Not that Dylan intended on fucking up, but just in case.