“The bloke doesn’t have to kill her,” Danny interjected. “He could be hired to kidnap her. That’s what I’d do if I wanted her. Pardon me, Jessica, but who better for a heist than a psycho killer with a penchant for playing mind games?”
“Yes, that’s exactly why he called her and announced to the world he was here,” Tyler scoffed. “If he was going to grab her, he wouldn’t go through the trouble of setting up a meet first. Hell, he most certainly wouldn’t have given her his real name. My bet is he’s hired to do a job, but doesn’t want to stir up trouble in Pack. He’s playing both sides. Smart bastard. If he arranges a meet, he can cover his ass if we catch on, claiming he was just here to chat. If we don’t catch on, he’s scot-free, back out of town before we even knew he was here.”
Most of the wolves agreed. Grady appeared deep in thought again, his brows drawn in a frown, eyes aimed at nothing in particular. Hank, of all people, stared blankly into his coffee cup. I couldn’t decide if he looked guilty or just defeated, but I was happy he kept his mouth shut.
My father listened to the back-and-forth, a vein throbbing in his temple. When he spoke again, the room quieted. “If Colin Rourke has legitimate business with my daughter, the protocol would’ve been to call me first. This is my territory and he knows that. He’s playing with us. If he had important news to share, aboveboard, he would’ve shared it with me first.”
“But maybe coming to you would’ve shown his hand,” I argued. “Maybe he had to contact me first because others are watching?” That made sense to me. If Rourke was playing both sides, contacting the Alpha when you’re hired to kidnap his daughter would be the wrong move.
The protocol for entry into this city was not dialing up the Alpha of the U.S. Northern Territories on your cell phone to chitty-chat, the protocol was to take your ass up the Compound and beg for permission to be seen and subsequently allowed to stay.
My father growled. “I still don’t like it.”
“I know it doesn’t make much sense,” Nick said, coming to my defense once again. “But I think I have to agree with Jessica. If Rourke is as lethal as you say, then calling Jessica and announcing his presence would negate a serious threat. At least right now. I think we should go ahead with the meeting as planned. It sounds like there’s too much at stake to pass it up.”
Tyler added, “We could put every available wolf on the outside once Jessica was on the inside. He won’t kill her in a public place. Not his style. If he tried to grab her, we’d be waiting.”
“Tracking me won’t be a problem,” I said, solidifying my part. “Not that I think he’s going to snatch me.” I glanced at my father to see if he was warming to the idea. His stony expression said otherwise. “Nick and I use small button vibrators to communicate when we work together.” The vibrators were actually called “panic buttons,” but who could take you seriously when you called it that? “If I sense any trouble, I’ll push it to ring the alarm. If we head in prepared, there’s very little chance he can follow through with an evil plot to snatch me.” I sighed. How many more targets were going to be on my back? Too fucking many.
My father’s features didn’t flicker with any emotion. He remained stony and unmoving in his seat.
I knew if I didn’t win this, I was on my way back to the Compound to be kept underground until the traitor was found and this mess with Rourke was resolved. Meeting with Colin Rourke and keeping our suspicions about a traitor quiet was the best chance I had to solve this quickly, without being kept under lock and key. No one was really speaking, so I continued, “Listen, we don’t really have much of a choice here. If Rourke is as good as you all say, he’s going to hunt me down eventually. Even if you try your best to squirrel me away. I don’t think Compound boundaries are going to keep him out. Going into this meet with him, and being as prepared as we can be, is our best shot at trying to gain the upper hand in this situation—and while we’re at it, figuring out why in the hell he’s here and who in the hell sent him. It can’t be a coincidence that he wants to meet with Molly Hannon to discuss a real case so soon after my change. He knows, and whoever hired him knows too. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I want to know who that is.”
“Sir, I think your daughter’s correct on this one. This is too dangerous to ignore,” Devon added meekly. “If what’s listed on file is the truth, ignoring Colin Rourke’s request for a face-to-face meeting could be very bad indeed. It seems this might be his way of waving a flag of truce for the time being. It’s in her best interest to go and meet with him—with protection, of course. Otherwise he comes to us.”
I held my breath.
My father looked around the room at his wolves. “Then we go.”
16