Abandoned (24 page)

She set her palm on his cheek and waited for him to meet her gaze. “I’m fine.”

“I know.”

“You’re shaking.”

“Yep.” He kissed her palm and then stood upright. “Don’t scare me like that again.” He pulled her into his chest and hugged her tight.

“I’ll keep it in mind.” Her voice was muffled by his shirt, but she wrapped her arms around his waist and held him just as close. “I’m starving.”

“You’re going to have to stick to mild foods for a few hours.”

“Well, find some of them and feed me. I don’t care what it is right now. I just need to eat.”

While Allison slept off the last of the anesthesia, Daniel stepped outside their room and called Evan. He paced on the sidewalk while he listened to the ringing from his end.

“Hey,” Evan answered. “How are things in Seattle?”

“Well, interesting.”

“What happened?”

“Last night I found a small scar on Allison’s neck.”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah. I took her to the clinic this morning
,
and they removed a tracking device.”

Daniel could hear Evan’s heavy breathing as he continued.

“A team of men immediately left Seattle with the chip. We’re hoping it was soon enough that the Romulus hasn’t already descended on this location. It’s a long shot, but maybe if they see it moving, they will think she and I are on the move again.”

“Perhaps. It’s worth the effort
,
anyway.”

“They’re going to keep moving until we come up with a plan about where they should stop, assuming a nice battle will ensue at that final destination
,
and it’s conveniently under our control now as long as the Romulus doesn’t catch on.” Daniel leaned against the outside wall, keeping his voice low.

“Shit. These other women…”

“Exactly. The Head Council is sending a team there on the next flight to check out each of them and determine the best course of action. Don’t say anything yet. No need to cause a panic.”

“God no. Didn’t Allison go through the roof with worry?”

“I didn’t give her a chance. I never told her what I was thinking until we were in the medical building about to remove the damn thing.”

Evan chuckled wryly. “Bet she loved that.”

“Yeah. She’s not super pleased with me right now, but I can handle it. Imagine what she would have done all night if she’d known it was there?”

“Probably would have clawed it out of her neck.”

“Exactly… Anyway, I just spoke with Jerard. He’s coming up with a plan, but as it stands, he’s thinking we remove any devices we find on the other eleven women, separate the chips from the women and send them away from the ranch in different directions.”

“Should work, at great risk to your family and their home,” he reminded Daniel.

“Yeah, at this point there’s no way they would do anything less than that to save those women. You won’t hear any dissention among members of my family.”

“I know. They’ve been a godsend. But I hate having to do this to them. This was only supposed to be a retreat for abused women, not Fort Sumter.”

“No one could have foreseen any of this. It’s not anyone’s fault. We’ll do what we have to do for justice.” Daniel righted himself once again and stepped across the path to avoid the ears of a few soldiers walking by. “Did my brother’s wife get away?”

“Yes, she and the baby went to her mom and dad’s.”

“Good. And how’s your mate?”

“Stubborn,” Evan said.

Daniel chuckled. “Really? I’ve never met a stubborn woman. How shocking.”

“Yeah, we moved in with your parents
,
so at least she’s with your mom most of the time instead of alone at Drake and Kenzie’s place. But now that you’ve informed me about the tracking devices, I won’t give her an option. I’ll get her out of here.”

“Evan…” Daniel began. He bit his lip before continuing. He hated what he needed to say next. “Make sure she doesn’t have anything on her
,
either.”

Evan sucked in a deep breath. “Yeah. You’re right. Fuck.”

“I know it’s been over a year since she was rescued, but we don’t know when these chips were put into place. I’m telling you
,
the incision site was so small it’s a miracle I noticed it.”

“On her neck, you said?”

“Yeah, right at the base of the skull, under the hairline. But that doesn’t mean everyone would have it in the same place. That’s why three guys are coming out there equipped to investigate each person. They have a wand that works like a metal detector with them. Just to be certain they don’t miss anything.”

“Good. Well, I won’t say anything to anyone until they get here.”

“Good plan. They should be there later this afternoon. I’ll keep you posted, either me or Jerard or Wightman.”

“’K, later.”

“Bye.” Daniel hung up the phone and stuffed it in his pocket. When he slipped back in the room, Allison was just waking up.

She moaned and pulled to a sitting position. “I feel like I’ve slept twenty hours a day since we met.”

“You need to. You’ve been through tremendous trauma.” He eased onto the bed next to her. “How do you feel?”

“Fine.” She prodded the back of her neck, wincing, but not too bad. “It’s sore, but nothing more than what a cut would feel like. I’ll be fine.”

“We’re going to move into the large housing facility in the middle of the base this afternoon.”

She nodded. “My being here has put the entire base at risk.”

“You can’t think of it like that. You had no way of knowing it. None of us did. Besides, this base was already at risk. There has to be a mole inside. I don’t believe for a moment the Romulus doesn’t know exactly where this base is. I’m sure they’re watching it. I’m more concerned about your safety right now.”

“Why do we need to move?”

“It’s safer. We won’t have a door directly to the outside
,
and we’ll be more sequestered in the middle.”

Allison stood and padded over to the bathroom. “I’m going to shower first, okay?”

“Yeah. No rush. I’ll start gathering our stuff.”

They hadn’t traveled with much. Two large suitcases was all they had when they left the ranch. Allison only had clothes she’d borrowed from Kenzie and what her parents had brought her. Daniel had known he’d not need much in the way of civilian attire in the near future. Getting his mate to a more secure location was the most important thing on his mind. If there was such a place these days…

•●•

Evan stepped up to the front of the room where he’d gathered all twelve women, including his mate. He hated what he had to say. Had dreaded it all day
,
ever since receiving the call from Daniel. But it couldn’t be helped and the three official, somber-looking medical people from Seattle were ominous all by themselves. Every eye in the room was wide and worried.

“There’s no easy way to tell you all this, but it’s come to our attention that some or all of you could have had a GPS tracking device inserted in you somewhere.”

A collective gasp filled the room as the women stiffened. A few grabbed hands.

“Unfortunately
,
they found a chip on Allison this morning. So, these men are here to make sure none of you are bugged and deal with it if so.” Evan held his mate’s gaze as he finished. He hadn’t mentioned anything to her or any of the women so they didn’t have a chance to panic prematurely.

The three men in khaki combat gear organized the women into groups to scan their bodies. Meanwhile Evan stepped up to his mate. He pulled her to standing and wrapped his arms around her. “That includes you, baby,” he murmured against her head.

“I figured.” She shook as she responded to him and gripped his shirt with both hands.

Evan held her close while they waited for all the others to go first. The trauma they’d been through was more recent. They deserved answers as soon as possible. Ashley could go last.

Evan waited, holding his breath. They’d already chased off one shifter in the woods. It was possible in creating this haven for the women, they’d inadvertently led the Romulus right to their door. How bad did those fuckers want these women and why?

The room was quiet considering how many people were gathered. In the end, half of the women had chips in them, all located in the same spot in the neck. Ashley wasn’t among them, thank God. But she kept a strong front through the entire process and worked with one of the other device-free women, Heather, to help calm the six who needed the chip removed.

Heather had been a nurse before she’d been captured. Fortunately she’d only been held for a few weeks. Her mind had cleared faster than the others because she hadn’t received nearly as much of the drug combo. She was sharp and strong and always willing to help the others.

She and Ashley made their way from one woman to the next, holding their hands while the doctor made the tiny incision to remove each chip. Each one was identical
,
and sighs of relief were palpable in the room as they were extracted.

It gave Evan the willies just thinking about having that foreign object inside him and not knowing about it. Such a violation. He couldn’t keep his hands from shaking. Ashley was far stronger than him in this situation, but then he’d never have survived half of what she’d gone through for years under the abuse of her captor.

When it was over, he was exhausted. He helped secure the chips in a plastic bag and then put them in a cardboard box until it could be determined what the next step would be.

The most important thing would be to get the six women affected out of town ASAP.

Evan placed the call to Jerard as he stepped outside, inhaling deeply of the oxygen that had seemed to be depleted in the room. “Sir.”

“How’d it go?” Jerard asked.

“We recovered six. Everyone is clear now.”

“Good God. This is insane.”

“Yeah. I was thinking of a few harsher words than that, sir. But insane will work.” Evan walked as he spoke. Jerard was considerably older than Evan
,
and the man rarely lost his cool.

“Okay, so I’ve arranged a safe house for them. No sense bringing them here since the entire base in Seattle has been compromised.” Jerard sighed. The man had to be tired. “Do you think after sundown you can get them all out safely?”

“Yes. We haven’t had any other unwanted guests lately.”

“Good. Maybe they lost interest when they saw the size of our operation there.”

Evan doubted that. The Romulus had proven to be far more powerful and extensive than he’d ever expected. A dozen shifters from NAR on guard surrounding a dude ranch wasn’t exactly a challenge considering the amount of intel Evan had gathered about the Romulus.

“We’ll make sure the area is secure and get them out of here in the night. Just let me know where and I’ll handle it.”

“Great. And I’ll get back to you in a few hours about moving the chips too. I don’t want the six women left to become targets
,
and I don’t want that ranch to become a battle scene
,
either. We’ll leave about a twelve-hour gap between moving the people and then the chips.”

“Sounds good.” Evan glanced around at the peaceful haven he’d grown to love. The idea of this place being destroyed by the Romulus made him sick to his stomach. Besides capturing women and sticking them with needles, what else was the Romulus capable of? Was it possible they were an otherwise peaceful group of shifters?
Ha.

•●•