Rising Storm (Westin Force #2) - Julie Trettel Page 0,28
at me confused.
“His pups are the children of a pregnant woman that was being held in Raglan captivity. She died during birth, but we were able to save the babies. Triplets.”
“Tell us about Vada,” Kyle said, quickly changing the subject.
“Vada is a saint. She’s been in captivity the longest of anyone I’ve ever met. She’s had so many opportunities to escape them, but she always sacrifices herself. She ensures as many people as possible get out when you guys come to rescue us. I’m assuming it’s you, unless there’s some other group actively tracking them too?”
“As far as we know we’re the only ones tracking the Raglan.”
She nodded. “I thought so. An all-shifter organization definitely has more motivation and invested interest than the humans do on this. If there is ever a way to get in contact with Vada, she would be a great lead for you. She’s the only one in there that I would trust absolutely.”
“That’s good. We’ll keep on the look out for her in the future,” Kyle assured her.
“She won’t come out, not unless you absolutely get them all.”
“That is our goal every time. Silas doesn’t handle it well when we miss even one. Five this time has him beating himself up,” Baine said.
It was true. Any other job he could keep it at arm’s length, but never this one. This was personal. Finding a gorilla shifter among them, especially my mate, made it more personal than ever for me too. Every shifter left behind would remind me of Emma. We had to end this once and for all.
“The Raglan have a strong network, but you’ve weakened it and drawn enough attention that the Verndari is pulling funding.”
“You mentioned that before,” Ben said. “You’re certain Verndari have been funding them?”
“Yeah, some openly and some through hidden accounts.”
“How do you know this exactly?” Baine asked.
Emma smiled. She had a beautiful smile. “It doesn’t matter that they knew what I was, or suspected they did at least because I never let them prove it. They saw me as an animal, a dumb, stupid animal. People relax around animals and don’t monitor what they say.”
“I’ve spoken with Jacob Winthrop and what he’s told me confirms she’s right,” Kyle surprised us all by saying.
“What?” I asked. “You knew?”
“We’ve always known there were pro-Raglan Verndari. Jacob’s team has been weeding them out from the inside. We’ve wondered if these cage fights and the stolen artifacts going on the market were a last attempt to secure funding for their projects. For every mission you guys complete, you weaken their efforts.” He let that sink in a bit. “I think that’s enough for us to digest for one day. You guys have earned a break. Take the next few days off. Emma, thank you. You’ve helped more than you know. I do hope you’ll consider spending more time in your skin. It looks good on you.”
I growled in warning and grunted twice.
He grinned.
Baine laughed. “At least he’s finally acting like an actual mating male. The impenetrable shell has been breeched, me thinks.”
“Shut up,” I said with no malice, because I feared he was right. “Let’s go find you some clothes. Unless you’re shifting again,” I said. I was scared she’d go right back to hiding from me. We needed to talk. I needed to hold her. I wanted so much more, but that would at least be a start.
She sighed. “I’ll try to stay human.”
I could tell that was really hard for her to even say. I didn’t make a big deal though or show my relief. My poker face was locked tight when I nodded and escorted her out.
Patrick and Taylor were still in there talking to Archie in his office. He looked up through the window and blanched when he saw Emma. He was visibly upset and more emotional than I’d ever seen him before. His usual scowl was filled with uncertainty and I knew without it being confirmed that Emma had been right on her suspicions.
Archie wouldn’t take it well knowing he was the breech we were looking for. He prided himself on the security of headquarters which was the real reason he gave Emma and me such a hard time.
“I think you called it,” I whispered nodding to Archie.
Others would have smirked in righteous justice, but not my girl. Emma frowned. “I was afraid so. I wouldn’t have just jumped in and warned you if I didn’t think she was a valid threat.”