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Prologue
Jake
“Fuck.”
Cooper and I stopped around the corner and left my SUV by the side of the road, engine thrumming.
I wanted, needed, to run. My heart thundered. Fear and adrenaline coursed through my body. Too much.
Reluctantly, I put up a trembling hand to keep Cooper at a slow, careful walk. This was exactly when running in blindly could get us killed.
If there was a chance Ivory was still alive…
No. Shehadto be alive. I wouldn’t accept anything else. She was infuriating as hells at times, but the woman was my whole fucking world. If she was dead, I might as well be too.
I sniffed the air. The scent of her lingered, white wolf and lavender perfume. It was faint. She was long gone. Along with a whole fucking pack of black wolves.
Her white Cobra was parked by the side of the road, the door open.
“What—” Cooper started.
“Shhh.” I sniffed around again. There was no one here. A human or two somewhere nearby, but not Ivory or her bodyguard, Ben, and not Alastair Dagen.
A smear of mostly dried blood was on the road a few metres from her car. Hers. Another smear lay a few metres away. Ben's.
It wasn't enough to indicate that either of them were dead. They were alive when they were taken from here.
I couldn't smell petrol or any sort of accelerant. I also couldn't rule out a bomb rigged to blow if I touched her car. I stepped close enough to peer inside. Her phone and watch lay on the floor, faintly illuminated by the nearby streetlight.
"Her mother's watch," I said softly. I teased her for not wearing a smartwatch, but she preferred the older technology. And the connection with her mother. “She would want us to get it, but not at the risk of our own lives."
"I'll get it," Cooper said.
I raised my eyebrows at him. When he didn’t even flinch, I stood back, hands raised.
"Go for it, Pup." I shouldn’t let him take the chance. Ivory would be pissed when she found out. She’d be equally pissed if there was no bomb and I let her watch get stolen.
He moved closer to the car. "How did you know where to find it anyway?"
"I put a tracker on all of her cars," I said unapologetically. "For just this kind of situation."
"Does she know?" He reached in tentatively.
"I don't know," I said. "Probably. It was always hard to fool her."
Cooper nodded. He snatched up the watch, and her phone for good measure, then leapt back.
The car didn't explode.
"How do we find her?" he asked. I didn’t need to look at his face to know he was as scared as I was. His voice was laced with it and he smelled of worry and fear. A great combination in an enemy, but not so much in a friend. And one of the guys I shared Ivory with. I knew, at some point, Ben would join us in that too. I thanked the gods he was with her. If anyone could protect her until I rescued her, it was him.
"We do what she asked us to do," I said finally.
"But—" He frowned at me.
"We know who took her," I snapped. "The only chance we have of figuring out where, is to do what she asked." I thought for a moment. "How do you feel about driving a Cobra? She won't want it left here."
"Depends. You think it would explode if I turn the engine on?" He looked at it doubtfully.
