Chapter Twenty
They finished working on the shed roof and went inside for dinner. Mark grabbed his food and left for his room while Beau stayed and ate with Ronan, Noah, and their son. Griffin hadn’t called again, and Beau felt a little on edge, moving the food around his plate.
“Has he called you?” he asked Ronan.
“Griffin? No. Did you speak to him?”
“Earlier, he said he’d just arrived.”
“You want me to call him, see if he’s on his way home?”
Beau nodded.
Ronan pulled out a phone with a shake of his head, holding it to his ear. After a minute, he frowned, pressed a button, and started again.
“What’s wrong?” Noah asked.
“He’s not answering.”
Beau sat forward. “Why wouldn’t he answer?”
“He might be busy,” Noah said. “Or he’s not with his phone.”
“He always keeps it on him,” Ronan said, trying to call him again. “He’s never out of contact unless we’re on a job.”
Shaking his head, the alpha looked down at his phone, trailing along the screen with his finger before making another call.
“Who are you calling now?” Noah asked.
“Griffin gave me Louis’ number before he left.”
A moment later, with a growl of frustration, Ronan threw his phone to the table. “Straight to voicemail. I don’t like this.”
He got to his feet, and Beau followed suit.
“No, Beau, stay here. I need to go get some people, and we’ll head out and track Griffin down.”
“No.”
Ronan raised an eyebrow.
“I’m coming with you,” Beau said.
“I think it would be—”
“I’m coming.” If Griffin was in trouble, Beau needed to be there.
Ronan shared a look with Noah, the omega giving him a small nod.
“Fine. But you need to hold your shit together. We don’t have time to mind you and find Griffin.”
“If Griffin is in trouble, finding him is all that matters.”
“Agreed,” Ronan said, moving to the door. “Go find Quinn, he’s probably downstairs in the gym. Meet us at the front door.”
They went their separate ways, Beau running downstairs to find the other alpha.
“Griffin’s in trouble,” he told him. “Ronan said we’re going to find him.”
“Shit, really?” Quinn tore the gloves off his hands. “He’s what? Two hours away? We need to get on the road.”
Beau had a moment of hesitation when they got to the vehicle. An enclosed space like that would be tough for him. But Griffin might be in trouble, so he’d just have to suck it up.
He climbed in the back beside Quinn, the other alpha showing him how to lower the window, so a breeze blew across him.
“Don’t worry, Beau. We’ll find him,” Quinn said. “This might all be a misunderstanding, he might call before we even get there.”
“We can hope,” Ronan added, Mark nodding. All three looked grim, fueling Beau’s concern that something wasn’t right.
They pulled to a stop in front of a house. Ronan turned in his seat, looking back at him and Quinn.
“Quinn, you and Mark look around outside. Beau, you stick with me.”
Climbing out of the car, Beau followed Ronan to the house. The alpha knocked on the door and waited, listening. Beau listened too.
“There’s someone inside,” he said. “Just one person. Not Griffin.”
Ronan glanced back at him. “I can hear them too, but how do you know it’s not Griffin?”
“The sound of the heartbeat is wrong.”
Ronan raised an eyebrow at that but stayed silent, turning back to the door. He reached for the handle, turned it, and forced the door open when it didn’t budge.
“Let’s go say hi.”
The scent of omega hit Beau as they entered. Both Griffin’s scent and that of another.
“Hello?” Ronan called, making his way toward the back of the house. They were following Griffin’s scent, which grew stronger as they walked. Ronan threw open a door and they both rushed inside. The other omega was there, curled up in a chair. He stared up at them, cautious and wary.
“Who are you—Wait, Ronan?”
“Where’s Griffin, Louis?”
The omega looked at Beau and back to Ronan. “He left, hours ago.”
“Left to go where?” Ronan asked at the same time as Beau spoke up. “He’s lying.”
“What? No, I’m not,” Louis said, but his face was pale and he looked… scared.
Ronan glanced at Beau, and Beau nodded. He was certain the omega was lying. His heartbeat gave it away.
“Beau here says you are. So, this here is your one chance to come clean. Tell us the truth, and you won’t suffer any consequences. Lie to us again, and I swear your fate will be far worse than Griffin’s.”
Louis’ eyes went wide with fear.
“They didn’t give me a choice,” he burst out.
“Who didn’t?” Ronan demanded.
“They said they worked for his old employers.”
Beau didn’t understand. Who would that be?
Ronan seemed to know what Louis was talking about.
“What else did they say?”
“They mentioned two names. Antoine and Vinny… no, Virgil. And something about unfinished business.”
“Did they say where they were taking him?”
Louis shook his head. “No. They… they made me call Griffin, get him to come here. They were right there when I made the call.”
“They never said why?”
“No. Griffin tried to fight them, stabbed one of them with a knife. But they put a needle in his arm and knocked him out.”
“What happened to the car Griffin was driving?”
“They put the body of their friend inside and drove it away. I don’t know where. They said they had a long journey ahead of them.”
Louis burst into tears; loud, messy sobs, burying his face in his hands. Beau could see faint bruising on his arms and under his jaw.
“They hurt you,” he said.
Louis shrugged. “I didn’t want to do it, but they said if I didn’t they…” He dissolved into sobs again. Ronan crouched beside him. “It’s okay, we’re going to find him. But I think you should come with us, we’ll find somewhere safe for you to stay.”
The omega nodded, getting slowly to his feet.
As they walked from the house, Beau paused, taking in Griffin’s scent for one final time.
“Beau?” Ronan called.
“How do we find him now?” Beau wondered.
Ronan clapped a hand on his shoulder. “We have contacts in lots of places, high and low. We’ll put the word out. Someone knows something, and soon, we’ll know it too.”
“Why would Griffin’s old employers have taken him? What would they want with him?”
“What did Griffin tell you about them?”
“Not a lot.”
“He was probably trying to protect you. They’re not good people. And they weren’t exactly his employers. They were alphas who bought him from his pack when he was a kid and trained him.”
“Trained him to do what?”
Ronan held Beau’s gaze for a moment before replying.
“To kill.”