Theirs To Claim (Predatory Desires Book 1) (4 page)

CHAPTER 6

Gabriel made a motion with his hand in the air for Wendy to continue talking, urging her to keep Emily on the line. He was standing across the table from her, looking with Noah at the computer their colleague and dear friend, Braden, was using to triangulate Emily’s location.

After almost seven days of searching and coming up short, he was at his wits end and Gabriel knew Noah was too. But he was also so proud of Emily for staying off the grid as well as she had, that he wanted to sing her praises from on high. She was playing it smart, and her caution was keeping her alive. Because if they were having a hard time finding her with all the resources they had at their disposal, then hopefully so was her stalker.

They’d finally thought to call Wendy two days ago, hoping that one of Emily’s deadlines was approaching. And to their utter relief, they found she was, in fact, past due to touch base with her editor. So, they’d hauled ass to D.C. and had their team converge on Wendy’s house.

She and her husband, Joel, had welcomed them with open arms, hoping that they could play a part in locating Emily before the stalker did. Wendy had been in shock momentarily when Noah gave her a run-down of the basic facts, but she’d quickly rallied and promised them whatever she had, if it meant Emily was found and made safe.

“Almost there,” Braden whispered. “Come on, come on,” he coaxed the computer.

Noah smirked and shook his head, though his eyes never left the screen while Braden worked and talked to the technology. It was something Braden always did, as if the gentle tones of his voice could produce results faster than if he just silently stared at the screen.

“And… We’ve got her!” Braden smiled and nodded his head in satisfaction. “She’s in Kentucky. Remote part, from the looks of it. Hold on,” he said, while his fingers began to clatter across the keyboard.

“Damn, Braden. You’re going to need another one of those if you keep hitting it so hard,” Ross teased. And this was Ross. He always tried to keep the mood light, no matter what dark cases they worked. Just one year younger than Gabriel and Noah, with the same military background, Ross was a much needed breath of fresh air when things got heavy and depressing.

Braden said nothing, only paused long enough to hold up his middle finger and then he resumed typing.

“Love you too,” Ross quipped and blew him a kiss.

“One of these days, he’s going to throw that keyboard right at your head,” Ethan said with a sly smile. He walked over and handed Wendy a cup of coffee, hoping it would keep her alert and focused while she talked with Emily. They couldn’t allow any mistakes at this point, and he was determined that Gabriel and Noah not lose their one shot at finding her.

“I’d like to see that day,” Ross chuckled and crossed his arms over his wide chest.

“Keep at it,” Braden warned, “and you will.”

“Knock it off, guys,” Gabriel muttered and the chatter ceased immediately.

“Okay, I have her exact location now within just a few miles. And from what I’m seeing, it looks sparsely populated. Just a few other dwellings scattered around the mountain. This is probably one of those places where you rent a cabin and get in touch with nature or your inner self, so let me see if I can pinpoint the exact name of the resort,” Braden said, not to anyone in particular.

“Did he just say, ‘get in touch with nature’?” Ross asked incredulously. “I swear, I’ve been insulted. There is nothing wrong with the woods, nor those who come from it.”

Noah held up a hand to silence their banter as Wendy ended her call. She placed the phone on the table and looked up at him as tears filled her eyes.

“She’s okay,” Wendy whispered and then began to cry in earnest.

Noah stepped around the table and pulled Wendy up, wrapping her in a tight hug. “You did good for us, Wendy. So good. And we’ll never be able to thank you enough. I promise you, we’ll have Emily under our guard before you know it, and home as soon as it’s safe.”

“You had better keep my girl safe, Noah Johnston. And that goes for you too, Gabriel McPherson,” she warned. “Get to her, and then get this creep who wants to harm her.”

“On it,” Gabriel said with a genuine smile.

“Do we have transport yet?” Noah asked, looking to Braden.

“Yep. Kaden and Garrett should be here within ten minutes with the helicopter and then you’re good to go. Emily is right outside the Grayson Lake State Park, so it’ll take you guys a few hours in the air to reach her from D.C.,” he replied.

“Was coming to my home a bad idea? Did it make you lose time?” Wendy asked, worry creeping into her voice.

“Not at all,” Noah reassured her. “It was more central for the whole team to come here, than to our home. And we also didn’t want the stalker to get wind of our group working to thwart his efforts. This was perfect, and we thank you for letting us crash here for a couple of days.”

“You can
have
my house if that’s what you need to see to her safety. And I mean that,” she said firmly.

“I don’t doubt you.” Noah grinned and gave Wendy another quick hug.

“Where are we on the photo paper, Lawton?” Gabriel asked, turning his attention to his colleague who was quietly working away on a laptop of his own.

“Getting somewhat closer,” the big man said softly. Though all of the members of their team stood well over six feet tall, Lawton edged over them all by several inches. Yet he was the quietest and most serious, often teased along with Gabriel for being too intense. And though they all answered to one chief supervisor, a discreet and controlled man named Gregory Hollington, it was Gabriel, Noah, and Lawton who most often led their team of eight when they were in the field.

Hollington led two other such teams for the FBI, devoted to tracking the vilest and most determined child predators, and he rotated the three teams in the field so none of them got too beaten down by the filth they had to witness while on a case. It was what he had insisted on when the task force was first established, and his model was well respected and still in place. When Gabriel had called Hollington to apprise him of Emily’s situation, he had promised Gabe and Noah that the full resources of the department were at their disposal without hesitation.

“It’s definitely stock that’s purchased for use in a home printer,” Lawton continued, “so we’re not going to see the perp on any store footage happily churning out his filth. I’ve got the brand name, and I’m currently working with sixteen other techs to track down anyone who might have ordered it within a hundred mile radius of Emily’s home. If that doesn’t give us results, we’ll expand the radius. It may take a little time, but we’ll get him,” Lawton said in a low tone.

“You all keep saying
him
, as if you know this is a male suspect. Is that true?” Wendy asked, and watched as all eyes turned towards her. “Sorry, I know I’m not allowed to ask. I’m just concerned, that’s all.”

“And we get that.” Noah nodded sympathetically. “Just know that we’re looking at all prospects and we’ll be vigilant.”

“I know,” she smiled.

“Gabe, Noah, come on and let’s get you loaded up. Garrett just radioed and said that he’s only minutes out now,” Ethan said from the doorway.

Noah gave Wendy one last pat and then he headed out, ready to see Emily’s face after months of separation. And with the challenges they’d faced over the last several days, as they searched endlessly for her, he was also ready to curl up with her in his arms and sleep for twenty-four hours straight. At least. And he knew Gabriel was too.

When they walked outside, Ethan gestured to the SUV waiting curbside for them. He slid in behind the wheel, while Gabriel claimed the front passenger seat and Noah took his place in the second row. Ethan merged with traffic and headed towards the local hospital, one of the few places nearby that had a marked helipad they could use. Their badges and credentials always opened every conceivable door, but you couldn’t squeeze a helicopter through a door very easily. So, they’d had to find a spot and find it quick.

“Got a question for you guys, and if it’s not one you want to answer, then tell me and I’ll let it drop,” Ethan said quietly, never taking his eyes off the road.

“Shoot,” Noah said, thinking that he already knew the question.

“You’re both going after Emily, both vested in her safety and well-being. You always have been, as long as I’ve known you,” he began.

“Where’s the question in all that?” Gabriel asked.

“The question is: what are you really going to do when you find her? Not talking about this pervert who’s made her the center of his or her world, cause we’re all going to have a hand in taking this sick one down. I’m talking about how you two will handle sharing one woman for the long-haul. We’ve all known Emily is the one, for both of you, for years. And you’ve got to know you have our support, one hundred percent, in whatever kind of relationship you work out. But are you really, finally ready to make that leap? Make it real and official?”

Gabriel turned to study Ethan’s profile for a long moment and then he drew in a deep breath and nodded. He cut his eyes back to Noah, and saw a gentle smile playing on his lips. Noah looked calm and at peace, as he had all along with what they were proposing.

“Yes, we’re ready to stake a claim and let her know she’s ours. She always has been, like you said, and we’re not waiting another day to tell her so,” Gabriel finally said in a soft voice.

“Well, good,” Ethan smiled and glanced over at Gabriel. “Because if you two knuckleheads were going to wait any longer, I think Lawton and I might have moved in and asked her out, just to get you two in gear.”

“And you would have been prying my foot out of your ass if you’d attempted it,” Gabriel said in a near growl.

Ethan’s smile grew and he chuckled. But his smile fell away as he signaled to pull into the hospital’s entrance. “And there they come,” he murmured, seeing the solid black helicopter lowering itself onto the red and white helipad.

“And here we go,” Noah smiled from the back seat.

Ethan parked as close to the aircraft as he could, while Gabriel and Noah stepped out and grabbed their luggage from the back. Kaden nodded at them through the windshield, as did Garrett, but neither man left their seats. They waited patiently for the two men to load their gear and then secure the outer door.

Noah strode forward and gave them both a pat on the shoulder, thanking them for coming back in from leave to help them out.

“Get your ass back there and shut up,” Garrett grumbled. “Since when do we not help family out?” He ended the rebuke with a heart-stopping smile that always drew the ladies in like flies. Coupled with his dark brown hair and intense hazel eyes, he was constantly fending women off when they had to go undercover in nightclubs or bars.

“Yeah, get your ass back there,” Kaden echoed him teasingly, with his own roguish grin.

Noah smacked the back of Kaden’s head and returned to the cabin, hearing both men’s laughter as he dropped into a seat. Gabriel chuckled softly and kicked back in his chair.

“You’d better sleep while you can,” Gabriel warned him.

Noah frowned at that comment and sat up a little straighter in his seat. “Oh, really? And just why is that?” he asked and arched an eyebrow.

“Because I don’t plan on us sleeping at all once we get to her.”

“Don’t you think we should at least talk to her and give her the option of whether she wants a relationship with us, before we move to that level? This is Emily we’re talking about. And other than that kid she briefly dated during her sophomore year in college, I’ve never known of another long-term guy in her life. She may need more time, especially with everything that’s swirling around her now,” Noah sighed.

He honestly didn’t want to wait to make Emily theirs any longer either, but he’d be damned if they would scare her more than she already was, by moving too fast.

“Noah, if this is going to work, you and I need to be of one accord,” Gabriel said and released a sigh of his own. “We can’t ever be so divided on major issues that she feels torn between the two of us. Like she has to choose you over me, or vice-versa. Does that mean she’s getting two men who are carbon copies of one another? Absolutely not. She knows us and our personalities.”

“But what it does mean, is that we have to be willing to work together to make major decisions easier for her to accept and then deal with. Make them less stressful. I am only committing to one woman here, as are you. But she will have two men who are very demanding and very set in their ways, who want her as their life partner. Luckily she’s known us practically our whole lives, and so she’ll know full well who she’s getting in this partnership.”

“So, in regards to the physical aspect of our relationship with her, I have to say, yes, I’m ready to offer that to her. If Emily accepts and wants that too, I have no reservations whatsoever taking her into my arms. But if she’s not ready, I’ll wait as long as it takes. She’ll get no pressure from me. Now do you understand what I meant? And are you on the same page with me?” Gabriel said and stared into his friend’s eyes.

“I am,” Noah said with a slow nod. “And I agree that we have to be willing to make some things easier on her. Whether or not we initiate a physical relationship should be the easiest part of it all, and not forced in any way.”