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We rode the high of Denny’s discovery all night. I ordered pizzas from Rizzo’s, the family-owned joint in town. We got the extra-large kind that could feed a small army, with toppings to suit. Dylan picked them up for us and brought the garlic-scented tower of cardboard pizza boxes inside. The tower was so tall he kept the top one pinned beneath his chin.
Word got out quickly. Before long, members of my pack were trickling in to join us. Nana Jordan, Connell, Mandy Spencer, and Katie Graves gathered around Felicity like moths to a porch light. Luke Spencer and Ambrose Reed posted up near the window with Dylan and me while Sylvia Abner bustled around the main room, distributing napkins and coasters while bossing Becca Reed around. When Gena showed up, even Kingston eventually emerged. The two of them orbited each other for a while, then eventually drifted to a corner, where they spoke quietly away from everyone else.
A case of beer appeared, and I caught glimpses of a bottle of whiskey being passed around, but to call it a party would have been a stretch. The mood was more tense than it was joyful. We were gathering in honor of the end of the blockade and the potential that Denny’s fresh intel currently held. But more than anything, we were bracing ourselves.
By now, Denny’s agents were already in position on the ranch. I couldn’t stop glancing down at my phone, anxiously checking for a new text or a missed call.
Any car they spotted there could be Melony’s. Any movement could be a sign that she was there, hiding away from the world with our sons.
When a knock sounded on the door, every head in the room snapped toward it.
Felicity and I shared a nervous look before I rose to answer it. I was half expecting to find Denny behind it, half-hoping he would have Melony there with him in handcuffs and our boys nestled in the crooks of his arms.
Instead, I opened to door to Special Agent Cordova. She peered around my shoulder, dark eyes scanning the gathering behind me inside.
“Are we… celebrating?” she asked.
“No, of course not,” I said. “We’re just…”
“We hired a bounty hunter,” Felicity supplied. “A shifter. He thinks he may have tracked Melony to her mother’s ranch. We’re just waiting on confirmation now.”
“The one in Texas?” Cordova asked.
My eyebrows shot up. “You know about it?”
“We’re the FBI, Mr. Miller. Just because we haven’t found your sons yet doesn’t mean we’re entirely incompetent.”
My stomach dropped. It was a difficult pill to swallow.
Apparently, Doris’s intel hadn’t been as novel as we’d thought.
“Then, why haven’t you raided the place already?” Felicity asked.
“We did. No one was there. Yet another dead end.” Cordova lowered her eyes to the ground. “I just wanted to let you know, we’ve been ordered to stop looking into the packs on the East Coast.”
“What?” Felicity blurted. “Why?”
Cordova grimaced. “The order came from above me. I’m sorry. I thought we were making headway. Maybe that’s the problem. We were making too much.”
My voice rose to a near-shout. “Then, shouldn’t you be pushing even harder?”
Cordova regarded me with a tired, battle-hardened stare.
“That decision’s not mine to make anymore. I know this isn’t what you want to hear, but it’s out of my hands.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry. Maybe your bounty hunter will have more luck.”
* * *
“She’s right,” Denny told us, standing at the base of the porch steps the next morning. “My guys watched the house all night. No scents around. No cars outside. No one in, no one out.”
“So you have nothing?”
“Nothing yet.”
Just wait.That was the advice Denny had given us last night. After Cordova left, we’d sent everyone else home. He was the first person I’d called.
And look at what waiting had gotten us.
Literally fuck all.
