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Iris sucked in a sharp breath, fire flashing across her eyes. “I assume the traitor hasn’t been caught yet.”
I flashed her a dark smile. “You think it’s a traitor, too, huh?”
“How else would someone know where Remus’ facility was, much less that Billy had been brought there? It’s been less than a day since you went to the hideout,” she replied, scowling. “I mean, I guess there’s a possibility someone hacked into his security system and saw Billy there, but they’d still have to know to even look for this place, and it seems unlikely that they’d be able to get someone out there fast enough to eliminate him.”
I nodded; I had assumed it was a traitor, but I enjoyed listening to Iris’s thought process. It had taken her seconds to come to that conclusion, and mine was…what? A gut feeling?
Iris tapped her fingers against the table’s surface and I glanced back at her. “What is it?”
“You think this person sold Ryan out, too?”
“Maybe.” I shrugged. “I’m hoping that they’re the one who took Ashley Sanders. She probably wouldn’t have been very suspicious of a packmate approaching her, especially if she had no idea what her father had been tangled up in.”
Iris gave a small nod, pursing her lips. “You really think Ashley is still alive?”
I sighed, shrugging again. There were so many things I didn’t know, and it was exhausting constantly having to admit that. “Maybe. But can we afford to assume she’s not? Until we see proof…”
Iris paused for a moment, nodding slowly. “Yeah…good point,” she finally said, sighing heavily. “You know, I was thinking…if theyaregoing in order with their numbering, that means there’s 295 wolves before me, and at least…275 bodies. I have no idea how many they’re able to hold in that facility at once, but I can’t imagine it’s more than twenty.” Her expression turned grim. “That’s a lot of bodies, Eli.”
I thought about that for a moment, my gut tightening a little. That number was bigger than some packs. “Someone would have found a mass grave,” I agreed, my mouth going dry at saying it out loud.
“They could be cremating the dead, too,” Iris said quietly, shaking her head. “But I assume you need some sort of permission to run a crematory.”
I snorted. “You also need ethical approval to run any sort of study on people, and they clearly don’t give a single shit about that.”
“Touché,” she replied. “I think they must have been in other cities first, though.”
“What do you mean?”
“Let’s say they’ve cremated every single body, right? So no one would find any evidence. There are still 295 missing people. That’sa lotof people. Even if they were at risk, and even if the police really don’t want to look into it, I have a hard time believing they could look over that many missing people. Austin is a big city, but it’s notthatbig, and surely a reporter or concerned citizen would start making a fuss.”
I nodded as she spoke, rolling the idea in my head. She had a good point; that was just too many people to ignore. “I suppose that would also help them get around the cremation issue. It’s easier to break the law if you don’t do it for long periods of time. Even if someone noticed, if you disappeared, what are they going to do?”
“Exactly,” Iris said. “I have no idea how much money they’ve had in the past, but it’s possible they’ve been all over the United States. Or maybe they cross borders, too, and they’ve been all over North America. It would be so much harder to track them down if they did that. It makes sense, right? As soon as someone starts looking into you, just bail.”
I paused, a cold feeling starting to settle into my gut at her last statement. “That makes sense,” I said slowly, “but if that’s true, wouldn’t they be getting ready to bail now?”
Iris froze. “What do you mean? The police clearly don’t give a shit about this situation.”
“That’s true,” I said, looking at her. “But you do. You found them, and then youescapedthem. While I’m sure they’re probably trying to find you and Bella, I would bet money they’re also getting their shit together to get the hell out of here, regardless of whether they find you. They can’t risk getting caught by someone with authority.”
Iris went quiet, and I could feel the room get colder as the realization settled over her. “You’re right,” she murmured, her expression going steely. “We can’t let them disappear again, Eli. We can’t.”
“We won’t,” I agreed. “There’s no—”
My phone rang, cutting me off. I picked it up and saw Remus’ name on the screen.
“Pick it up,” Iris urged. “Maybe he’s got more information.”
“Hey Remus,” I said a moment, later, tapping on the screen. “You’re on speaker. Iris is with me.”
“Hello Iris,” he said.
“What’s the news? Did Bane already get to Oklahoma?” I asked.
Remus snorted. “No. Even Bane isn’t that efficient. Something else has come up.”
“Seriously?” I huffed. “When it rains, it pours.”
