Chapter Ten
After an unsuccessful attempt at talking to the first wolf, Andrew filled them in on what Adam had learned about the Omega. Then Ben and James decided to tackle the second wolf together, playing a little good cop, bad cop routine.
Gray Valley’s wolf had a grin on his face that Ben was ready to wipe clean. He let James do the talking.
“Where did you meet Tobias?”
“I’ve never met a Tobias, you must have me confused with someone else.”
“And how do you explain the Omega you were traveling with.”
“He’s no Omega. That’s Gordon’s cousin. All his family are scrawny.”
“We’ve confirmed he’s an Omega. We’re not asking what or who he is, we just want to know where he came from.”
Ben circled behind the man as James spoke. He’d been bound tightly to the chair by Andrew and Susan.
The wolf laughed in response to James’ question. “I have nothing to say to you.”
Ben crouched, putting his mouth very close to the wolf’s ear.
“My son’s scent is all over you, your car, and that blanket.” He pointed to the blanket James held in his hand.
“I’m an ex-Enforcer, you know that, right?”
By the way the wolf swallowed hard at his words, he got the inference Ben was making.
“I know all the tricks of the trade, the ways to make people talk. But I don’t know if I care much what you say. I don’t think you know anything. The only reason I can think for keeping you around is to have someone to take my anger out on, someone I can pretend is Terrance until we get hold of that bastard and I tear him limb for limb. You’ll do for now.”
For effect, he took a penknife from his pocket, flicking it open and dragging the blade lightly across the wolf’s skin. “Some people like to start with fingernails, because you can do them one by one. Me, I start with the eyes. Fingernails heal but I’ve yet to see a shifter regrow an eye.”
He pushed the knife towards the shifter’s face and he panicked.
“I was just the delivery person. Another team was sent in to get the kid. We met them, took the kid, and brought him to the arranged meeting place. Gave Tobias the kid and money, a whole heap of money. Took that scrawny wolf from his trunk and put him in our car. Orders were to take him to the Porters. He was for one of Terrance’s sons. Tobias said he’d told Terrance the boy was too young to be bonded.”
“Then why did Terrance buy him?”
“He was the oldest Tobias had and Terrance was desperate. Gray Valley have had two Omegas in their grasp and lost both. He thought it would strengthen the Pack’s position.”
“And what do you think?” Ben asked.
“Terrance has been blinded by the need for revenge since Benjamin killed Joshua. He heard a rumor one of the kids was an Omega. They were supposed to take him and kill the other but they messed up.”
Ben shared a look of horror with James. It was only luck then that they hadn’t lost both Noah and Xander.
“Where did you meet Tobias?”
Ben let James take over the questioning, maintaining his position so that the wolf would just be able to see him out of the corner of his eye.
“The edge of the Flats. Tobias chose the location. He called us and gave us specific directions once we were nearby.”
“We want Tobias’ number.”
“It’s in the phone you took from me. But I doubt it will help you. Tobias goes through phones like a drunk goes through whiskey. He’ll have dumped it.”
“How did Terrance contact him in the first place?”
“You’ll have to ask Terrance.”
“I’m asking you.”
Ben stepped forward to add weight to James quiet insistence.
“Look, I’m not privy to all of Terrance’s knowledge. They had a contact passed on to them by someone from Eagle Creek. I don’t know any more than that.”
The wolf craned his neck so he could keep Ben in sight, the whites of his eyes flashing in the darkened basement. He was telling the truth, he didn’t know any more.
“I hope your colleague tells us the same story, or you won’t like the consequences.”
“He will,” the shifter assured them quietly.
“Casey comes with us.”
Adam met Ben and James as they came up from the basement.
“Of course,” James said. “He’ll be well taken care of.”
“No, I mean he comes with us, with Ben and I.”
James and Ben exchanged a glance. “You and Ben will have your hands full the next while. We’ll send him back to Eagle Creek. He’ll be safe there.”
“No. He’s coming back to Glenoak with us.”
“Adam, James is right, we need to put all our energy into finding Noah. There are others well capable of taking care of the Omega.”
“His name is Casey. And he was with Tobias up until today. He might be our best chance of finding where Tobias has taken Noah. And he’s not going to talk to just anyone.”
“Luke might—” James started.
“No, it’s not fair to put this on him. Not in his condition.”
“What makes you think Casey will know any more than Luke did when he escaped?”
“There’s another child. Younger than Casey. Tobias seems to keep us in pairs. That’s where he’ll be taking Noah, to stay with Duncan. It doesn’t sound like the same place that Luke and I grew up. I think… I think that means he has more than one location that he keeps Omega. That might mean he has more.”
Ben was shocked but James looked unsurprised.
“We’ve been gathering as much information about the Omega resurgence as we can. We extrapolated based on Adam’s theory that they were being born in family lines that were derived from Omegas two or three generations ago. Based on that, we have numbers of approximately how many Omegas we might expect there to be. We think we’re missing anywhere up to two dozen. If Tobias has even a fraction of those…”
“How would he have them? Where would he be finding them and why would people be giving them to him?” Ben asked.
“Tobias may not be his real name. He may have a number of identities. Or people may simply be so frightened or intimidated by him that they keep quiet.”
“And he might know what we’ve guessed about where the Omegas are being born. It wouldn’t be too hard to target the families you expect to produce Omegas.”
“How do you get them to give up a child, though?”
“If they’re all Asenian, well, the doctrine mandates surrender of Omegas to be raised according to tradition. A lot of those living on the outskirts of the northern and central Packs follow the old doctrines.”
It shook Adam to the core, the idea of parents willingly handing over their children to someone like Tobias. Had his parents given him up, just like that?
“Casey comes with us,” he said again, tears brimming in his eyes. James nodded as Ben stepped forward, taking him into his arms.
“We’ll take him home with us to Glenoak. Help him feel safe.”