Page 74 of Remington’s Mate

Brandon tapped his fingers on the desktop. “I’d like to keep Jaeda out of it, if I can,” he said. “Her animal is unstable, and hell only knows what it would do in a life-threatening situation. Not to mention the fact that she’s still recovering from the bullet wound. But you’re right, she shouldn’t be alone, for those same reasons.”

“She won’t agree to stay out of it,” Colt said. “You know what she’s like. She’s pissed off at Sutcliffe and she’s not going to listen to anyone. She’ll get herself there somehow.”

Unfortunately, Remy knew he was right. “Then bring her with you,” he said. “She can stay with you at the hotel, and then come in hidden in your truck. That way she’ll be there for the takedown.”

Brandon tightened his lips. “I don’t like it, but you’re right. I can alpha all I want, but if she doesn’t have a permanent animal, it may not affect her any more than it would any other human. At least, if she comes in with Colt, I’ll know where she is and what she’s doing.”

Jaeda hated being stuck at the hotel with Colt while Remy and the rest of the crew were setting up the ambush for Sutcliffe.

The only person who hated it more than she did was Colt. He was restless and antsy as they watched the hotel security feeds on his laptop.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Jaeda asked him finally, as he jumped up to pace the room for the forty-eleventh time.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Something’s off, and I don’t know what. I just feel it.”

Nothing seemed wrong, though. There had been no calls from the others, even though both their phones were lying there on the night tables, mocking them.

And Sutcliffe had three guys on the hotel, like always.

Finally, they saw all of them get calls on their headsets almost simultaneously.

“They’re being called out to the meeting site,” Colt said. “They’ll probably leave one in a vehicle near my truck, to tail me out to the meeting. Good thing that’s a decoy. We’ll go out by the loading dock to the primary vehicle.”

“How much time do we have before we leave?” Jaeda asked. “I’d kill for a Coke.”

“Too much time,” Colt snapped, pacing again. “I should be there right now, not here babysitting.”

“Hey!” She smacked him with the back of her hand as he passed. “You think I like this?”

He sighed. “No.” After a minute he said, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I know Brandon wanted me here to make Sutcliffe think I’m not planning anything.”

He perched on the edge of the TV stand. “But I can’t shake the feeling something’s not right. And I hate being separated from Remy like this. Neither of us has ever been in a major fight without the other one at our back. If something goes sideways and I’m not there…”

Oh.

Jaeda knew their twin bond was something special, but she was still learning how deep it went. “This must be hard for you,” she said tentatively.

“It’s weird. But then, this whole thing is kind of weird, with us having mates—other people to protect. Neither of us knows how it works, you know?”

She didn’t, but she nodded.

Maybe he needed some breathing room. “Anyway, I’m going to the vending machine get that Coke, and some snacks,” she said. “You want anything?”

Colt frowned. “I don’t like you going outside the room by yourself.”

Jaeda rolled her eyes. “We just saw them all leave. I’ll be fine.”

Colt still picked up his gun and checked the hallway before she went out. Jaeda walked down the hall to the little recessed area where the vending machines and were and perused the snack choices.

It was good to get away from Colt for a few minutes. His foreboding was making her anxious, too.

She made her choices and was about to go back to the room when she heard the stairwell door open and close, and then, faintly, the one at the other and of the hall.

Jaeda froze, back against the wall, pressed into a corner where no one passing by the vending machine area could see her.

She heard the footsteps of three or four big, heavy people go by, and then stop. There was a whispered count of ‘three, two, one,’ and then a click of an electronic key and a door being kicked open.

Colt! And she had no weapons. She didn’t even have her phone.