AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“That’s true.” Bella Nova was like a first name and a middle name. It hadn’t generated any hits when we’d tried to find reports of a missing child. “I wonder if Remus’ friend Seff could help us.”
“Likely so,” my father hummed. “He’s quite adept with technology. Between his skills and his packmate Lexi’s government connections, we could probably get something put together to get Bella safely to England in the next few days. We can go through the proper channels to retrieve those documents when we get back — once the Raven Brothers and Project Night Moon are no longer an issue, of course.”
“Of course.” I nodded. I didn’tlovethe idea of trying to return to London with fake documents for Bella, but at least we’d be flying in the family’s private jet. I’d found customs to be…much morepersonablewhen you were arriving that way as opposed to being shuffled through the line like cattle in the main part of the airport. “I’ll let them know. What about Remus?”
My father grimaced. “Well, I suspect he has his hands full with Billy’s death. As much as I would like to help, I can’t abandon Longbow right now.”
“He’ll understand.” It wasn’t as if I knew Remus that closely, but Ididknow that he’d come to London in the first place when his own mother had tried to undermine his authority as alpha.
“We can hope,” my father said, shaking his head. “I know I came over to give you a hand with research, but I think I’ll be heading back out to start getting the jet organized, if you don’t mind.”
“Of course,” I said, nodding. “Just let me know what the travel plans are. Do you need me to get in touch with Seff again?”
“No.” My father shook his head, turning back towards the house. “I’ll organize with Remus to get the documents taken care of. You and Iris focus on getting as much research done as you can before we leave. We can do that for Remus, at least.”
“Sure.” That was what Iris was best at, after all — and I liked to think I was a pretty good student. “Guess we ought to get this show on the road then.”
“Indeed.”
My father left shortly thereafter, and I went back inside to find Iris in the kitchen, nibbling on one of the popsicles that were presumably meant for Bella. She raised a brow, looking at the front door. “Did it really go that badly?” she asked.
I shrugged, sitting down heavily in the seat across from her. “Yes and no.”
When I said nothing else, Iris nudged me beneath the table with her foot. “Go on.”
“Long story short, itispack business. Apparently my Uncle Gage is trying to undermine my father back in London. And that’s just the best-case scenario. Worst case is that he’s actively planning a challenge for pack leadership.”
Iris blinked, clearly taken aback. “Well, shit,” she said, her mouth pulling into a grimace. “That sucks. Do you have to go back?”
“He does, yeah. He told me I could stay, but I think he could use the support right now, especially if my uncle is being as obnoxious in person as he is over the phone.” I sighed and shook my head, looking back up at Iris. “Do you want to come to London with me?”
“I…what?” If she looked surprised before, her confusion was positively comical right now. “Are you serious? In the middle of a case?”
I shrugged. “A case we’re sitting in a holding pattern on?” I replied. I didn’t like the idea of leaving it any more than she did, but the facts were the facts. We were waiting on other people right now. “Besides, I was kind of thinking that being overseas might be safer than sitting around in Austin. We know the facility isn’t that far away.”
“Yeah.” Iris sighed, working on her popsicle for a moment. “Bella probably would be safer if she was further away from those creeps, and we still haven’t gotten any answers from anyone in the Crescent Moon Pack.”
“Exactly.” I sighed again, putting my elbows on the table and my chin in my hands. “Look, I know it’s really sudden, but I can’t just abandon my dad, and I don’t want to leave you and Bella in a lurch, either. I know you can take care of yourself, but…” I frowned. “It’s a lot different when there’s a kid involved.”
Iris looked like she wanted to argue for a moment before her shoulders dropped. She nodded. “You’re telling me,” she sighed. “I don’t really see what else we can do. But how are we going to get Bella to London? I have my passport, but her mom didn’t give me anything at all. We can’t get into another country without a passport.”
I gave her a wry smile. “Yeah, I know. My dad’s going to work with Remus and Seff to get that taken care of.”
Iris scowled. “Seriously? You’re going to forge something?”
“Would you rather leave Bella here and just cross our fingers that we don’t get found before we can shut down Project Night Moon?” I countered. “Look, I don’t love the idea, either, but we don’t have a lot of choices. Maybe we find someone in Bella’s family and get her proper documents, and she’s able to go on and live a normal life, if possible, with her family. Maybe. If not, then we have to wait until we’recertainthat she’s no longer at risk — and that probably means shutting Project Night Moon down — andthenwe can petition to get her proper legal documents. But I don’t want to risk exposing her and getting her captured again before that can happen.”
When Iris made a face, I held up a finger. “Are you seriously going to argue with me about the legality of this when the vast majority of the evidence you’ve collected has been from…what did you call it? ‘A good ol’ B’n’E?’” I said, raising a brow. “Never mind that you’ve collected medical records, which I’m pretty sure are privileged documents.”
Iris scowled and flipped me the middle finger, but I could see the corners of her mouth curling upwards. “How dare you,” she muttered, polishing off her popsicle before she said anything else. “Yeah, fine, fine. I guess we’ll get packed, huh? When are we leaving?”
I shrugged. “I would guess it will take at least forty-eight hours for my father to arrange the jet, and Remus and Seff to get the documents Bella will need.”
“I guess that’s the plan then,” Iris said, stretching out. “We better make these forty-eight hours count.”
27
IRIS
