KACELA
We were planning on raiding Jones’ office on Thursday, a day earlier than he would expect us. Breaking in would pose a challenge, but I was pretty good with technology and I had picked up a few illicit skills in my time as a werewolf hunter.
We planned a scouting trip on Wednesday to scope out the place and figure out a plan. Wyatt gave Julie the night off and made lewd suggestions and did a lot of eyebrow wiggling to make her think that we were planning on spending the entire evening in bed. Then he put a few guards on her to follow and keep track of what she was doing.
We had brought Earl and a few of the warriors into our inner circle. It was hard for me to be okay with trusting anyone at this point, but Earl swore that these were good men and that he personally would vouch for them. And I knew that Earl was above suspicions, so I had to trust.
Lia was staying home from the scouting group to handle anyth
KACELA Wyatt greeted me with a hug. “I didn’t like that at all,” he whispered into my hair. I frowned with annoyance. I wasn’t weak. I needed him to quit treating me like a porcelain doll. “The warriors said that Jones stopped at Dumkin’s Brews,” Earl said. “Looks like he’s going to be there for most of the night.” I looked sideways at the men. “How do you feel about another little adventure?” I said with a grin. Wyatt groaned but Jarrett laughed. “What did you have in mind?” I shrugged. “How good are you with technology?” I told them the plan. Earl and Jarrett were enthusiastic, but Wyatt was apprehensive. “I don’t understand why you have to be the one to do the distracting,” he said, quietly. I chuckled. “Do you really think you can hold Jones’ attention?” I snickered. “I don’t think you’re his type.” I could feel his trepidation coming through our mate bond and it really irritated me. I didn’t want our relationship to always be him being worried that I was
KACELAJones looked at me for a second then threw back his head and laughed. We were getting quite the audience at this time which is what I wanted. I needed everyone’s attention to be on me so that Jarrett could sneak in and copy files from the computer. I suspected that this bar was also involved in Jones’ schemes, most likely laundering the money that came from his illicit wares.“What makes you think I’m involved in something like that?” he asked, mildly. I grinned at him.“Oh, Jones. I know so much more than you give me credit for,” I said. I leaned forward to speak to him, conscious of the audience I had. “I broke into your office tonight,” I whispered. “You’ve been a bad, bad boy.”He started for a moment and then shrugged. “Nope. I have a state-of-the-art security system. No way you could have
WYATTI grabbed Kacela and whirled her around in our bedroom. She laughed while I howled with joy, Dex being part of the celebration. I was immediately bombarded with concerned questions from Earl, Jarrett, Lia, and several of the staff that were in the castle.It’s fine! Good news! I mind linked back and then pushed them out. I knew that the rumors were going to be running rampant but I was okay with that. It’s taken us weeks to get to this point and, honestly, I wasn’t sure we would ever be here.She laughed at me and then pushed back, forcing me to put her down. “Wyatt,” she scolded. “I’m exhausted. And we need to be up early tomorrow to figure out what we managed to get from the computers.”I picked her up again. “I want to celebrate,” I said, pouting. “I have the perfect way. . . “+++++++++++
KACELASilence met Lia’s statement. I think we were all in disbelief. Eight locations. The horror of it was overwhelming.I thought about it for a minute and then sorted the girls by their locations. “Okay, locations five, seven and eight are the ones with the most girls. So, they have to be the biggest establishments, right?” I looked around and the other four nodded. I continued.“So I’m guessing a big city. I suppose it could be several medium sized cities, but it makes more sense to keep them together. The more it’s spread out, the harder it is to control and keep track of the money.” They kept nodding. I realized that they didn’t often deal with illicit companies and that I had more experience than they did. They were deferring to me.“So, what’s close? Close enough for Jones to disappear to and be back
WYATTWith those words, the meeting was over. Lia and Jarrett left first, both somber, and Earl followed shortly after, already planning his next move. I hoped he warned Nellie before he had her arrested and thrown into the dungeon.“I need to go down to my office and get a few things done,” I said. I didn’t want to. I wanted to gather Kacela up and take her to our room and not come out for weeks. I didn’t want her leaving for Seattle. I wanted her to stay here, where she was safe.I knew she could feel what I was feeling because she looked sympathetic. “Why don’t we put part of our plan into action?” she suggested. “Supposably I’m going into heat, right? Wouldn’t it make sense for you to spend a lot of your time with me?”I nodded. “It would,” I agreed.“So, give me an hour to get my stuff together.&
KACELAEarl had Nellie arrested, somewhat privately, but we made sure Julie saw it. I stayed in our room for the rest of the day and Wyatt brought up a delicious Italian inspired meal that I thoroughly enjoyed. In between love making sessions, I watched Wyatt pace.I finally blew up at him. “You know I do this for a living, right?” I asked.He looked at me with distain. “Did. It’s different, now.”That made me mad. “Why? Because I’m your mate?”“Yes,” he said, with such finality that I exploded.“Wyatt, this is never going to work if you treat me like a porcelain doll that can break. I’m a big girl, a good fighter, and very smart. I don’t have a death wish. I can take care of myself. Nellie will be there. Earl will be there. Two other warriors will be there. And we’re up
KACELAEarl drove us straight to the Hyatt and parked in the garage. Someone met us at the back elevators and handed him a stack of keycards. That keycard gave us access to the private elevator that took us straight to the penthouse suite. I guess that’s what happens when you have a ton of money. I’ve never experienced that before.“The king visits Seattle a few times a year. They know him,” was all Earl said by way of explanation. The warrior that rode with Nellie grinned at me.“Kind of cool, huh?”I nodded. “Yeah. I’ve not ever had this experience before.” His name was Theo and he was a little bit older than Bob, I gathered. He and Bob were good friends, though, and claimed a room together. Nellie raised her eyebrow at me and snagged a room right off from the living room. Earl pointed me to the master bedroom and took the
KACELABob ordered pizza to be delivered to the room and the five of us worked on a plan. We decided that Earl and I would go in and talk to some of the workers directly. Nellie, Bob and Theo were going to go snooping around.I ate my pizza and listened to Nellie argue with Earl about what would be the best way to go about doing the snooping. I didn’t often go in with a plan, preferring to wing it most of the time. I tentatively offered that opinion up.“Hey guys, I’m kind of new to the whole group project thing, but I generally don’t go in with a plan.” Earl looked at me with outrage. I hurried to continue. “I go in with a general idea, but I find that I can’t have a cut and dry plan. If I do, it limits me thinking on the fly.”Nellie turned to Earl with a look of triumph. “See?” she asked. I snorted.“You had a