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Eli grunted. “Well, what’s the downside of letting them go?”
“They talk. Or worse.” I nodded back towards the other room. “Dave told Ryan he had higher-ups he answered to, but that doesn’t make it true. Or, he could warn them that someone was on to them, and they might make everything disappear before we ever find Ashley or Cyn.”
“So, we hold them,” Eli answered as if that were a simple proposition.
I snorted. “Where are we going to keep them, my motel room?”
Eli didn’t roll his eyes, but only just. I could see it on his face. “As far as I know, the Silverstreak pack has a holding facility in Oklahoma City.”
I raised both brows. “A holding facility? Seriously?”
He shrugged. “It was previously in possession of Marnet Claw before Remus assumed the Oklahoma territory and folded it in the Lupus Claw pack. As far as I know, he didn’t renovate it in the past year. Higher priorities.”
“All right…” I didn’t know that, but it sounded better than anything else I could come up with.
Eli’s mouth scrunched up for a moment. “Wewillhave to speak with Remus, however. The Sanders family is rather high ranking within the pack. We can’t just spirit Ryan away without saying anything. Plus…” His frown deepened. “Having a human in that facility could be incredibly risky. What if Dave sees something he shouldn’t? We could make matters much, much worse.”
“That’s true.”
Man, I had no idea I was getting wrapped into something so intense. I just thought I was looking for a runaway sister. At worst, I thought she’d gotten involved with a bad crowd and didn’t want Demi to know, not… Not whatever this is.
I folded my arms over my chest, rubbing my arms. It was a lot, but — I was in it now. I couldn’t just walk away. I couldn’t leave Ashley and Cyn to their own devices, especially if they were being experimented on. “What if we make Ryan our spy?” I suggested, an idea starting to unfold in my mind.
Eli tipped his head to one side. “Isn’t that risky? What if he blows our cover?”
“He won’t.” I shook my head. “He wants his daughter back, whole, alive, and well. He won’t risk exposing us. We’re the best chance he has.”
“And what about them? What if they hurt her?”
I shook my head again. “Then they’ll lose their financial help. And they know he could pull their funding if he had nothing to lose. That would be too risky for them.”
Eli hummed thoughtfully, and then he gave a small nod. “I don’t see a better option,” he decided after a moment. “It’s better than putting them in a holding facility.”
I gave a nod and he hummed again, motioning with one hand towards the kitchen’s entrance. Eli took the lead and I followed one step behind as he marched back over to where we had left Ryan.
“Ryan,” he rumbled, and the man’s face snapped up, his attention rapt. “You will keep working for them as if nothing has changed. You will listen carefully and report anything and everything you hear to us.”
Ryan went a little paler, and he swallowed hard. “I only work with Miller,” he said quietly, eyes flicking back to the slumped form on the floor. “And he’s not the top. He’s just someone else’s dog.”
Eli growled softly. “Then figure it out,” he murmured. “Because your other choice is a holding cell with Miller until we sort it out ourselves, and that could be a very long time.”
Ryan watched him for a moment, his tongue wetting his lips again. And then he licked his lips a second time. Werewolves didn’t squirm often, but I could see his resolve crumbling under Eli’s steady gaze. A moment later, his eyes flicked to me, something a little wild in his gaze, and then he looked at Eli again. “Okay,” he replied quietly. “But what do I tell him?” He glanced back down at Miller’s body.
“Tell him your wife hired us to look for Ashley, and we suspected you.” Eli shrugged. “We thought you were working against your wife.”
“But I’d never—” Ryan’s shoulders slumped. “Right. Okay.”
“Good.” Eli nodded firmly and looked at me. I gave him a slight nod of approval, and he looked back at Ryan. “We’ll be in touch.”
When we got backin the car, the engine rumbling to life, Eli glanced over at me. “I can fight, you know.”
“What?” I pinched my brows together.
“When you saw me handle Miller. You were surprised.”
I laughed and shook my head. “I haven’t seen an alpha work in a long time,” I replied, shrugging one shoulder. “Young alpha or not.”
Eli snorted softly. “How old are you?”
