"Are we not worried the authorities will use the same tech you did and find out you were the one who called both times?" Riley asked.
"They can't afford our friends," Nash replied, the cocky arrogance thick.
"Hollister," Sam whispered urgently. "Look."
I followed his gaze to the sidewalk across the street. A man stood with another man, shorter and smaller than he was. The shorter man stood close to his side, his head down so I couldn't see his face. "Is it him? Is that the guy keeping him?"
Branson moved to my side, peering across the street. I wished Aver was here, not just so he could be my support, but because I knew leaving on the day I had was going to hurt him. But he would understand. Just like how he believed the others would understand after he became Alpha, he would have to understand that I'd gotten a call for help, literally. And I'd tried contacting him. His mother must've still had his phone. I wondered if she was crafty enough to delete the evidence of my calls.
"Do you have something that belonged to your friend?" Branson asked Jorge and Sam. He knew I didn't. I had only had my phone and was wearing Aver's pants with a belt that kept them over my stomach and one of his t-shirts.
"I do," Jorge said, unwrapping the cloth square he had tied around his wrist like a bracelet. "I thought if I wore something he'd given me, it would bring us luck." He handed the cloth to Branson, who sniffed it.
I watched Sam and Jorge, and while they might not have known I could turn into a wolf or could smell the shot of tequila Jorge had taken before coming out to join us, they were good with not making other people feel weird.
Jorge frowned only briefly. "Can you…smell him?"
"It would've been impossible trying to search the hallways, but out in the open, maybe." Branson handed Jorge back his makeshift bracelet and turned around to where the two men stood, his nostrils flaring. "That's him."
We tore across the street. People jumped out of our way until there was no one between us and the man. They were facing the building, the older man saying something to the other. Before, I wouldn't have been able to hear the hissed whisper.
"Say nothing. Do nothing," he snarled. "They're saying it's a false alarm. Don't mess this up."
Though we were still several feet away, Sprinkles's whimper found my ears, and I saw red.
I forgot I was pregnant. I forgot we were trying to keep a low profile. All I could think about was that my friend was being hurt, and I was finally strong enough to tear the aggressor apart. "Get away from him," I ordered. My growl drew the attention of those around us, but the people were smart and gave us room instead of crowding in.
The two turned our way. Sprinkles's eyes found me, and they widened with relief before darting up to his captor. He looked back at me, shaking his head fearfully.
He was trying to save me. Save us. From the man standing beside him.
That was the only thing I needed to see to know that this wasn't the first time this man had made Sprinkles whimper in fear. He was trapped. He wasn't deliriously in love, and this hadn't been an overreaction. I couldn't enjoy being correct as much as I normally did.
"Excuse me? Who are you? Do you know these people, honey?" he asked, looking down.
My stomach turned. I couldn't think about what Sprinkles might have been through, only that we were here to help him now. My phone rang, but I pushed it to silent.
"You have our friend," Sam said, coming to my right while Jorge took the space to my left. "We're here to take you home, Sprinkles," he said gently, offering his hand forward.
The man jerked Sprinkles back and against the wall. "Your friend is my boyfriend, and he doesn't want to—"
Nash and Branson breezed through our standoff. In a coordinated maneuver, Nash grabbed the other man by the arms while Branson lifted Sprinkles gently, prying the two apart like they were nothing more than opposite pieces of Velcro.
Branson deposited Sprinkles in our circle. "I'm sorry. I'm sure you would've gotten him to do what you wanted, but we don't have time."
Nash still held the other man, who now fought uselessly to get free while he screamed for help, drawing the attention of everyone waiting on the street.
"What am I doing with this one?" Nash asked like he was holding an item we were all deciding whether to sell or keep.
"Throw it away," I told him, wishing I could instruct Nash to do much worse. But we had an audience. "Only Sprinkles can press charges. We can't do anything now to jeopardize that." I didn't want this dipshit getting off on a legal technicality.
Sam had his phone out, taking a close up picture of the man's face. "I have you now, fucker. There won't be a bar in this town that doesn't know your face. Try picking up a victim again with your picture plastered all over your hunting grounds." Sam had the means to make good on his threat too. He'd developed many connections over the years, and his social network spread across the country.
Sirens wailed in the distance as my phone rang again.
"Someone called the police," Riley said. "We should leave this area."
We didn't have time to stand and chat, and I hadn't thought as much about what we would do after we found Sprinkles. We hurried down the street, putting Sprinkles's attacker and all those people behind us before I asked, "Are you in pain or hurt? Do you need to go to the hospital?"
He shook his head. "He didn't… It wasn't like how you're thinking. It was…" His breath shuddered as he inhaled.
"It's okay." I touched his arm. "You don't have to talk about anything until you're ready. I'm just glad we could find you."
Since we only had the one car, we piled in, Jorge and Sam sitting on either side of Sprinkles in the back while Phin, Riley, and I took up the middle row.
Though no one had pushed him for information, Sprinkles started filling in the blanks of what we already knew. "I thought he was nice, you know? I met him at the park the day after we all went out. We just sat and talked for hours. Those first texts I sent were actually me."
Which meant the others hadn't been. I cursed silently. I'd known something was wrong. I should've come out here sooner. My phone rang again, and though I sent Aver's call to voicemail, I texted a reply telling him what we'd had to do. I told him his mother had answered his phone but wouldn't give him the message, and I told him I was here with his cousins, who had made sure everyone remained safe the whole time.
He called back immediately after. I wanted to talk to him, but we were driving back to the docks, and I wouldn't be able to talk to my other friends after that. This was the only time we had for a face-to-face conversation.
"I've got our way back booked," Phin said. He patted Nash on the shoulder. "You had to pay extra since there was only one car slot left."
"What are you guys rushing back to?" Sprinkles asked.
"My engagement party," I said, receiving double-looks from my Seattle friends. I rushed to explain before any of them could get their feelings hurt. "It isn't a normal one. That's why I didn't invite you guys. It's like…a Walker County thing."
I shrugged, trying to make it seem like there was nothing odd about what I'd just said, but Sam watched me the entire time and for several seconds after.