Page 117 of Torment Me Knot
“Real professional, Vidal,” I mutter into the dirt.
The dirt doesn't answer. I press my forehead into it for a second, then put the binoculars back up.
My phone buzzes against my thigh.
LEVI
ETA 4.5 hours. Ronan's team adding 6 from Canton. Don't do anything stupid.
I almost smile. Levi texts the way he runs a scene: short, declarative, no wasted words, and always one step ahead of what I'm about to do wrong. I can't even be mad about it. He's not wrong.
ME
Hope Ronan brought coffee this time. Last op his team showed up with that gas-station sludge.
LEVI
He did. I told him you'd shoot someone if he didn't.
ME
Smart man.
Just watching. Holding position.
LEVI
Sure you are. Remember Tacoma.
I remember Tacoma. Three traffickers dead, a warehouse on fire, and Levi standing in the parking lot sayingthis is why you wait for backup, Vidalwhile I bled through my sleeve.
I pocket the phone and go back to watching the dock. Four and a half hours is a long time in the dark with my own company. Perimeter patrol runs on a twenty-minute rotation. Two alphas at the dock, one on the south fence, but their bulk sits off.
A black SUV enters the dock. The driver performs a perfect three-point turn before the engine cuts. Two over-bulked males alight. One of them opens the back door and wrenches out a female.
She is young and thin, stumbling, dark hair stuck to her forehead, wearing a gray institutional gown with bare feet on cold concrete. She tries to pull back and one of them slaps her so hard she spins to the ground and lies there unmoving. Every muscle in my body locks.
The girl lifts her head just enough for the floodlights to catch her face.
Blonde hair gone dirty with grime. Green eyes.
Isla Wilson.
Fuck.
Levi was right.
The bulked-out males move to the SUV and pull out four more women. The wind brings me their sweet scents. Under the dirt, grime and misery, they are omega. The males shove the omegas toward the building. One of the males moves to Isla and throws her over his shoulder and they all make their way to the building.
I check my watch. Backup is four and a half hours out. Nobody is coming for Isla, or any of these omegas, except me.
I pull out my phone and text Levi.
ME
I'm going in.
I hit send. The phone rings immediately and I turn it off.
