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“Well, we’re mates,” she replied. “He has to have known you’d sense my panic; that I wouldn’t be able to hide from you that something’s wrong.”
He shrugged. “Maybe he counted on you to lie about why you were panicking, or maybe he doesn’t know we’ve imprinted on each other enough for me to sense your emotions.” He only really felt flickers of said emotions, and not all the time.
“I guess.” Quinley rubbed at her throat. “I’m supposed to go to a meet-up location alone. I’m sure that kind of thing works out okay in movies. Real life? Unlikely.”
“The pack would kill Raya and Lori even if you did cooperate,” Luke told her. “We have a better chance of saving your sister and her mate if we take on the pack as a pride.”
“I know. I’m trusting you to save them.” Quinley paused. “I tried convincing whoever called me that you have Tommaso in your custody; I put the idea in his head that he could instead trade Raya and Lori for him.”
“Clever,” praised Bailey. “What did he say?”
“He doubted I was being truthful.” Quinley began tapping her foot restlessly on the rung of the stool. “He said he still wants me to come to him but he won’t kill me—he’ll instead propose to Isaiah that he could hand over Tommaso in exchange for me.”
“It was probably Sebastian who made the call,” hedged Aspen.
Quinley’s brow wrinkled. “I’m not so sure about that.”
Isaiah stroked a hand over her hair again. “Why?”
“He never once referred to Tommaso as ‘my brother,’” she explained. “He’d say ‘your sister’ and ‘your mate,’ but he didn’t use similar terminology when talking about Tommaso.”
“I suppose it doesn’t really matter who made the call,” said Deke. “What matters is that we act fast.”
Havana nodded, her gaze sliding to Quinley. “Where exactly are you supposed to meet the pack?”
“The local train station in an hour. You need to be careful how you go about this. He said he’ll kill them if I don’t go alone.” Quinley looked at Isaiah, and whatever she saw on his face made her breath hitch. “You’re thinking they’re already dead,” she sensed.
Isaiah clamped his lips shut, not wanting to confirm her assumption. But the fact that he didn’t—couldn’t—deny it was enough for her face to briefly crumple. He kissed her forehead, silently apologizing for being unable to give her any reassurances.
“What’s the plan, then?” Camden asked no one in particular.
Tate twisted his mouth. “We get to the spot well in advance. We scope it out. We try to anticipate where he may wait for Quinley to appear.” His attention zipped to her. “You’ll stay here.”
She tensed. “I’m submissive, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be of any help here.”
“We know that,” Isaiah assured her. “This isn’t about you not being a dominant. You’re the furthest thing from weak that any person can be.” She was strong, brave, smart, and cool under pressure. “But I’m not using you as bait.”
Her expression went tight. “Isaiah, I can’t do nothing.”
“Baby, I’ve been studying how this pack works. I’ve read up on every job they’ve ever completed. And what I feel right down to my bones is this: They have no intention of doing any trade.”
Her brows flicked together. “What?”
“They took Raya and Lori so they could draw you out into the open and ensure you stay in one spot. They mean to shoot you where you stand; kill you right there and then flee.” Just the idea of it made his chest pang and his cat lash out in fury.
Quinley’s lips parted. “That’s why you think my sister and Lori are probably dead.”
He dipped his chin. “If the pack keeps them alive, it’ll be with an intention to traffic them—nothing more.” He hadn’t wanted to confess that, but she was smart enough to figure it out on her own anyway.
She squeezed her eyes shut and ground her teeth. “Shit.”
“I get that you want to be part of this, Quinley,” Havana cut in, “but it wouldn’t help to throw you out there as bait. The pack hasn’t evaded capture this long by being careless. They’ve already messed up their past three attempts at trying to kill members of our pride; they’re not going to risk it happening again. That means they won’t take the chance that you haven’t told us about the phone call.”
Camden nodded. “They wouldn’t make a grab for you—they wouldn’t risk putting themselves out in the open like that. They’re more likely to decide on a drive-by shooting.”
Quinley let out a long sigh. “Okay.”
Tate frowned, seeming surprised she’d backed down. “Okay?”
