AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Even your medication?”
She gave me a long look. “That was the first thing I grabbed,” she replied carefully, and I mentally scolded myself. I needed to be careful. It was apparent she wasn’t used to someone caring for her, much less trying to take care of her. If I smothered her, I had no doubt she’d vanish without a trace. “And I took it already before you ask.”
“That’s good,” I said mildly, nodding towards the wall. “Want to help me take the rest of this down, then?”
We made quick work of it, and the boxes were filled in no time. Iris grabbed her computer bag and one box while I slung her duffel over my shoulder and grabbed the other. A pang of sadness hit me as we put everything in the back seat of my car — this was all she owned. I knew owningthingsdidn’t equate to happiness, but it still bothered me that she didn’t have a place to stay. That she was a nomad, and it wasn’t entirely by choice.
I wanted to give her a pack — a family.
It didn’t even have to bemypack ormyfamily, as long as she hadsomeoneshe could count on when she wanted to.
“I’ll be right back,” Iris said, holding her key. “Just gotta turn this in.”
I watched her go, trying to banish the melancholy thoughts without much success.I hope she stays in Austin even after we wrap up this case.
When we returnedto my condo, we put Iris’ things in the guest room and began to reassemble the evidence wall. The open concept of the apartment didn’t leave me much workable space, so we went for the largest wall in the living room. Fortunately, I didn’t have much in the way of art to take down, and what there was easily stored in the office.
We had almost gotten everything back up when Remus and Nic returned with lunch. Remus whistled as he walked by the wall, brows shooting up as he took in the massive web of information.
“I know,” I rumbled, feeling mildly gratified by the impressed look on his face. “That was my reaction the first time, too — and we’ve only added more since then.”
Nic made his way over to the kitchen table, putting down the brown paper bags.Chinese. That was easy to determine from the smell alone — my stomach grumbled, and my mouth watered at the idea of fresh dumplings.
My father simply stared at the wall, his expression mirroring Remus’. “Those are all the missing wolves?” he asked, sounding a little shocked.
“These, yes,” Iris confirmed, motioning to a large part of the wall.
“How long has this been going on?” My father looked like he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing.
Iris pursed her lips. “My best guess is six months, give or take, based on the missing person reports that were filed — but remember, not everyone reports someone missing right away.”
My father blinked and then blinked again, but he couldn’t seem to wipe the look off his face. When he finally spoke, he sounded far away. “How did so many shifters slip through the cracks?” he wondered, as much to himself as to the rest of us.
“Well, this Project Night Moon was smart about it,” Iris said, sighing. “Which is a very bad sign on its own, but… as far as I’ve been able to tell, not all of these wolves were from Silverstreak. Some were from surrounding areas and came to Austin for various reasons. They also seemed to target people who were already more at risk, usually — either they were runaways, had a history of drug use, or there were even one or two wolves, I believe, that are lone wolves in there. It would have been harder for someone to realize they were missing — or at least take them longer to realize it was out of the ordinary for the missing individual.” She added something else after another moment. “Besides, these are police reports. How many shifters do you know want to interact with human authority if they can avoid it?”
My dad shook his head as he sat in one of the chairs around the table, all of us slowly filtering over to join him. Remus wore a stormy look, his jaw clenched. “Something has to change. This is…” He made a disgusted noise and shook his head. “We cannot tolerate this. I’ll make sure something is set in place once all of this is wrapped up, especially if shifters are avoiding the police.”
We began to eat as Remus, and my father caught us up on any headway they’d made while Iris and I had gone for a run and gotten her things.
“I had been trying to get into the finances,” I admitted at some point, making a face. “It seems like all the businesses within that abandoned building are related, though not at first glance. Unfortunately, most of them are locked behind LLCs and shell companies, some overseas. Some not. It’s an entire web. I’ll get there, but it’s taking longer than I want.”
My father made a thoughtful noise. “If you share your files with me, I’ll see if I can make any additional headway. A money trail is usually some of the most important evidence.” He frowned. “I’ll look at Ryan’s too, and see if any of it is related to these LLCs.”
“There’s something that’s been bothering me,” Remus said, mouth still pulled into a frown. “Why was Ryan helping them in the first place? It’s a human operation.”
I sighed, leaning back in my chair. “Well, he told us he hadn’t realized it had anything to do with shifters until very recently when he tried to get out. That’s when Ashley was taken.”
Remus’ scowl deepened. “So, what the hell was he doing with the military in the first place, shifters involved or not?”
“His brother was military and was killed overseas.” I took a breath, aware Ryan had mentioned that Remus had not approved of that. “I guess he knew that he would be banished from the pack for being involved, but felt strongly enough about the cause to enlist anyway. Ryan and his brother had fought about it and never made up. He felt a lot of guilt, as far as I could tell.”
“You know,” Iris piped up, still picking at her lo mein, “it would be helpful if we could get some reports on some of the older bodies. Not to be crude, but I can’t imagine they’re still alive based on what we’ve observed and read in those ‘subject’ files.” She looked over at Remus. “Would you be able to get police reports from the local precincts?”
Remus hummed thoughtfully. “I have a few contacts, yes,” he nodded. “I have no sway over the police force itself, but… I should be able to get at least some information. Could you make a list of names and relevant information for my contacts?”
“Yeah, definitely,” Iris said, already pulling out her notepad to start on the list.
Nic’s eyes drifted back to the wall again and he frowned, rubbing at his chin. I was beginning to suspect he was forming a nervous tic. “We must figure out where they could be holding people — especially Ashley. Given everything you’ve said, if she was just being held to coerce Ryan into agreement…” He grimaced and shook his head. “She’s in serious danger now that her father is no longer useful.”
