Technical Threat (Westin Force #4) - Julie Trettel Page 0,58

dedicated to tracking her. Those resources that you’ve been trying to find online, I already have them and more.”

I started to cry, and he pulled me into his arms. It had been lonely. I’d never felt like I could count on anyone before. I was still skeptical about him helping, but I let just a bit of hope into my heart.

His phone rang just as Sage walked in.

Her face dropped. “You’re crying. What’s wrong?”

“I have to take this,” Tarron said getting up and walking into the next room to take his call.

“Tell me what’s going on,” Sage demanded.

She sat down and I went through it all again, but this time, Sapphire was there to help.

Tarron

Chapter 19

“Tarron,” I said as I answered the phone.

“Well at least you’re still alive. We just got back, and I figured I’d check in since I hadn’t heard anything. I’m assuming no news is good news?” Silas asked.

“Yup. All good on this end. How was the mission?”

“In and out, nothing exciting. Yours too?”

I almost laughed. Mine was far from boring.

“I identified our attacker.” For some reason I didn’t want to share the fact that she had been my mate, at least not yet.

“So he’s been dealt with?”

“She, actually.”

“Oh really?” he asked, suddenly sounding interested. “Tell me.”

“Shifter. She’s looking for her sister. I’m going to need to put an inquiry out on one Sonnet—hold on.” I covered the receiver with my hand even knowing Silas would still hear. “Susan, what’s your sister’s last name?”

“Dubois,” she said.

“Dubois,” I told Silas. “Sonnet Dubois. She’s suspected to have been taken approximately four years ago. I can probably get an exact date, but that’s a start.”

“And you think the Raglan have her?”

“Yes,” I said though I really had no idea. I was going strictly off trusting my mate. I knew I should do my due diligence and fact check things, but I could backtrack and do that when I got back to base if Archie hadn’t dug up anything before then. I wasn’t about to admit that to Silas though.

“Age?” he asked.

I peeked my head back into the room. “How old was she when she was taken?”

“Seventeen,” Sapphire answered this time.

“Sev…”

“I heard her,” he sighed. “I’ll get Archie on it right away. He’ll be in touch with a preliminary report in a few hours.”

“Thanks man.”

“Are you bringing the hacker back here?”

“Hope so. I’ll let you know for sure soon,” I said cryptically. “I gotta go. I’ll check in with more tomorrow.”

I hung up the phone before he had a chance to ask anything further.

Before I made it back to the couch my phone was buzzing with an incoming text.

SILAS – You hope so? That was code for help, was it?

ME – LOL

SILAS – When will you be back?

ME – I’ll be at debriefing on Monday as promised.

I was grateful when the phone went silent. I could tell Silas was already getting suspicious and I knew I was going to have to fill him in on everything soon, but I had other things to sort out first.

“Sorry about that. My boss was just checking in. He’s filing a full alert on Sonnet. If she’s with the Raglan, we’ll find her.”

Sage jumped up and started pacing the room. That was never a good sign for a shifter.

“You think Sonnet’s alive?” she blurted out.

Susan remained calm. “I do,” she confessed. “I’ve never stopped looking for her. I stumbled across a possible lead behind a highly encrypted hidden firewall. I hacked into the system last week and was shut out before I could really find anything.”

“You can do that?” she sounded so surprised.

“Yeah, she can. One of the best I’ve ever battled, and trust me that’s a huge compliment,” I praised.

Susan blushed but I could feel her happiness. It was such an off feeling that it freaked me out a little.

“Battled you?”

“It was my system you hacked. That’s why I came here to find whoever and get to the bottom of why.”

Sage’s face dropped. “But I thought you were her true mate?”

“Oh, I am. Her bonded mate, now.”

“You actually took him as a mate?”

I don’t know why I found Sage’s shock so funny. It wasn’t like Susan had even hesitated to seal our bond. If she hadn’t made the first move, I wouldn’t have even done it so soon. Once she offered me her neck I just couldn’t hold back as if something far more powerful than me was at play.

“I did,” she said, and I thought there was a hint of pride in her