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“Exactly. I was in Riverton, New York, and Adeline was traveling from California to bum-fuck nowhere when they took her.”
“I thought you were in Silver City?” Adeline cocked her head.
“Yeah, but I was trying to distance myself from my family, remember? I hoped a fresh start in a new town might increase my chances of finding a match.”
I had so many questions, and I could tell the others did too. I figured we’d let that blow past and stick to the more pressing topics, but Ronan couldn’t seem to contain himself.
“Why couldn’t you find a match?” His brows were drawn down in utter confusion. I understood. Hearing that an Omega struggled to find mates when there were thousands of packs waiting to be chosen was mind-blowing.
Julia scoffed. “That’s none of your business.”
“It might be helpful,” Lawson added objectively.
“Julia.” Demi shifted on the couch to face the other two women. “He’s right. These men are on our side. I think we should give them all the information we have and see if they find any of it useful. If we could help save the other girls or even stop this from happening to others, it’s worth it, don’t you think?”
Adeline worried her lip nearly to the point of making it bleed as she exchanged a heavy look with Julia. Finally, their shoulders sagged, and the fight bled away.
“Fine,” Julia said at the same time Adeline whispered, “You’re right.”
Demi was tense as she helped fill in the gaps, explaining the other Omegas’ backgrounds to the group. I wrapped my fingers around her ankle and stroked her smooth skin. I couldn’t stop a proud smirk when she relaxed, the tension seeping out of her little by little.
When she was done, Jamison sighed and shoved a hand through his black curls. “I don’t know how they’re getting their information, but it’s clear they’re targeting vulnerable Omegas.”
“Ones with no perceived families to cause a scene when they go missing.” Knox stroked a hand down his beard. “The question is, how are they erasing them from the registry? I can’t imagine vanishing Omegas would go unnoticed.”
Tension stole back through Demi, and I gave her ankle a reassuring squeeze. I wondered if she was thinking about her own screwed-up family situation. If I ever met her father face to face, I was going to punch him so hard, he’d be shitting teeth.
“Anton is bribing people at the OMA for the information,” Demi said, and the entire room grew quiet. Blushing from the attention, she shrugged uncomfortably. “When he drugged me, I tried to use the time I had left to get details out of him.”
“Smart thinking, Baby,” Hades praised.
“He all but bragged that money is a powerful motivator. I have no doubt that’s where he’s getting his information from. He’s targeting Omegas he doesn’t think anyone will miss and then paying to have their names scrubbed off the Omega Registry, essentially making them disappear.”
“Then he’s selling them on the black market and lining his fucking pockets.” Hades was a beat away from going on a murderous rampage. I knew my best friend, and he couldn’t take the idea that someone he loved had been so close to danger. Especially someone as vulnerable as Demi. It brought his own trauma right back to the surface, and when he got scared, he got angry.
“He’s using the money he makes from the Omegas to fund his run for the governorship. I heard Reed and Huck talking about it.”
“Fucking sick bastard.”
“Well, we can tell you that the missing Omegas aren’t disappearing unnoticed,” Enoch chimed in, sharing a look with Lawson, who leaned back in his chair and gave his packmate a silent nod. “The director of the OMA, Chaddrick Hurst, hired us to look into the vanishing Omegas. The authorities have been working on the case for a while now, but there’s only so much they can accomplish legally.”
“It’s all that damn red tape,” Knox grumbled.
“Exactly. When they weren’t getting results fast enough, they reached out to us. We have a reputation for getting shit done.”
“We need to figure out which OMA employees Anton has in his pocket. Felix,” Lawson barked, drawing the attention of the silent man in the corner. “Can you see who accessed the Omega Registry when each of the girls’ names were erased and cross reference the IP to see if they were done by the same person? We need to learn how deep the corruption lies.”
Felix nodded and left the room. I’d seen the man work. He was a whiz with computers and electronics. His happy place was behind a screen, away from people.
“Depending on what we find, that leaves one last important question.” Lawson turned his full attention to Adeline and Julia. “We need to figure out our next move. Who can we call to let them know you’re alright?”
Adeline wrapped her arms around her middle and hugged herself tightly. “I don’t have anyone,” she whispered. “My parents are gone and I don’t have any extended family that I know of.”
Julia, on the other hand, winced. “My father is going to absolutely murder me, but I need to let him know I’m okay before he kills anyone else looking for me. I’m sure enough blood has already been spilled.”
Slade laughed delightedly while Ronan’s brows lifted in surprise, trying to decide if she was being literal or figurative. “Who did you say your father was again?”
Demi chuckled behind me like she was hiding something, and I arched an eyebrow at her, wanting to know all her deep, dark secrets.
