Twin Wolf Trouble (Shifter Squad Six 2) (15 page)

Silence. Her finger hovered above the screen, wondering when it would lock on her and hide the message.

What if they’re in trouble somehow?
she wondered.

A second more and she committed to it. She could always apologize later, but she’d hate herself if she allowed something to happen to either of the two men she was growing so attached to because they were busy trying to save her. Madeline opened the messages and read a dozen similar ones, confirming drop-off locations and dates for exorbitant amounts of money. The amounts were so big that she couldn’t believe that Thatch could obtain it all very easily.

Then the breadcrumbs took her to his e-mails, and she found one from the same person, a Blake Wilby, detailing his so-called proof. Every line that Madeline read filled her with dread. Apparently, Blake Wilby had worked on an explosives disposal unit after Tex’s last official mission in Iraq as part of the Navy SEALs. During what was supposed to be a routine sweep, Blake had found an unexploded bomb left behind by Tex as a trap.

During the dismantling process, the bomb had gone off, costing Blake a leg and his left arm. He claimed that it was because the explosive was put together in a faulty manner. Though the official inquiry into the matter had found nothing, never even reaching Tex by the looks of it, Blake was adamant that it was Tex’s fault and he had the paperwork to prove it.

Madeline paged through stacks of lab reports, burn patterns, and explosion descriptions, and dread slowly took hold of her. She was sitting up now, staring at the phone as she read through all of it as quickly as she could. While she never really worked with explosives herself, she knew plenty of people at Xavian that did. She’d even helped out a few times doing spectro analysis work for them. As she flipped through the virtual stacks of data, one thing kept catching her eye.

The chemical composition of the explosion didn’t seem right. There had been several samples taken from the area of the explosion that left Blake wounded, but when she looked at the compounds involved, they didn’t make sense. One of the chemicals, SEH-985, was not something usually seen in common mixtures and she couldn’t think of a reason why a highly volatile, very unstable compound like that would be involved in official SEAL armaments.

Chewing her lower lip, Madeline thumbed the settings on the phone and set the screen to allow her access without Thatch’s pass code. It wasn’t a big stretch to imagine that whoever had done this work for Blake’s case had simply missed the mostly insignificant, small dose of an unregulated chemical present at the site. She would have missed it too, had she not heard her supervisor, Charlie, discussing it once when she’d popped by the office after having Raze and Rhone.

You shouldn’t be snooping, Madeline,
she told herself, pushing the blankets off and slowly getting dressed.

Still, she kept sneaking glances at the phone and when it buzzed again with another threatening message, she jumped up a little in fright.

“I mean it, you son of a bitch. Today or I fucking end your brother. Get me my money.”

Guilt pooled in the pit of her stomach. Madeline didn’t need to guess why Thatch had been ignoring this guy. It was all because of her. She could see that they’d agreed on an exchange that was supposed to take place the previous day, but he’d missed it because he was babysitting her. And now it could mean that Tex’s record could be put in danger. Even the appeal going under review with the Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals could spell trouble for him. That was the last thing she wanted.

Madeline paced back and forth, looking at the phone over and over again. What could she do? If she didn’t say anything, she knew Thatch would just let it go and he and Tex would try to sort it out later. Did Tex even know? Probably not.

This is screwing everything up… I should have never gone to Chicago that day,
she thought desperately, knowing very well that feeling sorry for herself wouldn’t help anyone, but she did it for a minute anyway.

Finally, she grabbed the phone and tucked it in her back pocket, walking into the bathroom to clean up a little. She combed her hair and took a good look at herself in the mirror, giving a small grimace seeing her messed-up makeup. But her skin was positively glowing and despite the worried frown she was wearing, she looked younger than she had in a good long while. The things two hot ex-SEALs could do to a girl.

Resting her hands on the sink, she took a deep breath, giving herself a moment to talk things over with the arguing sides residing in her head.

You can do nothing and trust that they will get this fixed. Or you can try to help… those chemical patterns make no sense. But they probably would to Charlie. Could I just call him? Ask him about it? He’d never answer a question so potentially delicate over the phone, so… I’d have to go see him. But I can’t leave here. Could I?

An idea sparked and Madeline straightened up. Thatch and Tex were not around. She knew it wasn’t very safe sneaking out of the protective folds of the Bear Den, but her kids would be safe here. Maybe she could duck out for an hour or so, talk to Charlie and be back before anyone even knew what happened? In any case, didn’t she owe that much to Thatch and Tex—to at least try and help them while they were doing so much for her?

Taking a deep breath, Madeline pulled on her shoes and walked out of the bedroom. She went to her room and found Mary there, playing with Raze and Rhone. Both of the boys immediately looked up and reached out their hands for her, smiling brightly. She grinned, crouching down and giving both of her boys big hugs.

“Are you two having a good morning? I’m so sorry I left them with you, Mary! I, um…”

“No apologies necessary,” Mary laughed, sitting in the middle of the floor and building what looked like a castle made out of building blocks. “I’ve been having a fine time with the young gents and I think their mommy needed a little R & R… or is it T & T?” Mary asked with a tittering giggle.

Madeline blushed madly, standing back up.

“Do you know where Thatch and Tex went?”

“They said they had an errand to run and that Connor would be here any minute to keep an eye on us. They seem to think I can’t drive that damn tank if I need to,” Mary snorted, looking almost defiant for a moment. Madeline had to admit, if she had to pick a force not to mess with in this household, it would probably be Mary over both the retired Colonel and the twins! “They’ll be back soon enough. But you should go have some breakfast and read a book or something. I don’t intend to give you your boys back today and I think you can use a bit of time for yourself, hmm?”

Madeline perked right up at that. She smiled cautiously and nodded, brushing her hand through the hair of her baby boys one more time before heading for the door.

“You know, I think you’re right. I’ll take a few hours. Thank you so much, Mary!”

“You’re welcome,” Madeline heard Mary call after her as she was already running down the corridor and toward the stairs that led downstairs.

She needed to get out before Connor arrived, and if she knew anything, it was that none of Thatch’s and Tex’s friends would let her go anywhere out in the open. She snatched her coat and one of Tex’s hoodies that was hanging on a hook downstairs, pulling both on and the hoodie over her hair and face. She made it to the back door in time to hear voices, distinctly masculine, discussing something toward the exit that opened to the bar, and when she heard her own name, she knew it was time to run.

She unhooked and unlatched the back door and slipped out, breaking into a run immediately to cross the street and disappear amidst the other factory buildings and forgotten warehouses. When they drove to the area the day before, Madeline had kept a careful eye on where they were driving and memorized the way back to the highway and parts she could recognize.

Determined, she moved the phone into the pocket of her jacket, straining over the thick and oversized hoodie she’d thrown on, and kept moving. The way to Xavian’s main research labs was a long one, but she knew Chicago well enough by now to manage it and she knew time was of the essence.

I just hope Charlie is there today. I really hope I’m right and I’m not wasting everyone’s time and nerves for nothing,
she thought nervously.

The farther she got from the Bear Den, the more confident in her choice she became. It was the right thing to do, in her mind. She could never know what would happen to her when all of this was over with the men going after her, and it would forever haunt her if she hadn’t done something to help one of the men she loved.

Love?
she wondered, taken aback by the sudden, but very strong feeling that the word had not been a simple slip.

Maybe she did love them. Grinning, Madeline picked up her pace. Wasn’t everything allowed in love and war, after all?
 

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Tex

Tex was tense as all hell as they drove back from the Sixth Street bakery, named Little Happy Cupcake, though Tex hadn’t found anything goddamn happy about that place or the conversation they’d just had with Spade. Something about that guy rubbed him the wrong way. There was always an edge to him that made Tex wonder whose side he was really playing on. Like having a rabid, uncontrollable dog in their midst and wondering when it would cut the bullshit and bite someone’s face off.

He could deal with monsters, but guys like Spade, who played with knowledge, power, and control? Hell, those were the worst. Danger he could deal with. If anything, he felt good knowing that there was something tangible that could be done now. An actual problem to solve, a location to hit that could lead them to a solution.

The part about the armaments? That he didn’t like, but he’d have to trust that Spade wasn’t going to do something worse with them than The Arctics would. In any case, Spade knew what he had held over Thatch’s and his heads. He had them by the short hairs and they’d just have to play along.

They were driving back when Tex got a call from Connor, his phone ringing in his jeans. They were a couple of minutes away from the bar, so Tex simply signaled Thatch to gun it and they got there faster instead of stopping to take the call. By the time they were parking and pulling off their helmets, Connor was already walking out of the bar to them, looking grimmer than usual.

“What’s wrong?” Thatch asked, and Tex could feel the air growing tense.

“When I got here, Madeline was gone. Mary said she saw her not too long ago and told her to go get breakfast and relax a while. But her jacket is gone now and the back door was unlocked. I think she left.”

“What the hell?” Tex spat, throwing the helmet on the bike. “She wouldn’t leave her kids like that! And she knows it’s dangerous to be out right now. Any idea where she could have gone?” Tex asked, speaking first and really stopping to react a moment later.

Suddenly, his body got cold and rigid and a deep, foreboding dread wafted through him. It wasn’t that he knew something was wrong with Madeline, but the possibility of her being in danger was something so inconceivably horrific to him now that he couldn’t even function for a second. Looking over at Thatch, he could see the same emotions reflected in his brother.

Shit,
Tex thought softly, rolling back his shoulders.
Keep a cool head.

“I don’t know. Mary said she only felt that Madeline was maybe nervous about something, but that is to be expected with the situation she’s currently in. We’ve scoured through the Bear Den and she’s not here. I’ve called the rest of the guys; they’re putting out feelers to see if anyone’s spotted her in town. She wasn’t taken by anyone. There was a security camera at the door she exited from and it’s clear she left of her own accord. Do you two have any idea why she might run like this?” Connor asked, walking back inside to give them some privacy.

The bar was empty this time of day, with only Barkley leaning on the counter, looking fittingly somber. Tex pulled out his phone, dialing Madeline’s number which he’d swiped from Thatch the day before. It started ringing and at the same time, he heard her ring tone. Connor pulled her phone out of his pocket, holding it up and then tossing it to Thatch.

“Already checked that. She left it here.”

“This isn’t good,” Tex said flatly, looking at his brother.

Thatch’s eyes went wide and without a word, he bolted past Connor and Tex and ran toward the door leading upstairs. Tex and Connor shared a confused look but went after him, echoing his hurried steps up the stairs and then into Thatch’s and Tex’s room. Thatch grabbed the blanket off the bed they’d been sharing with Madeline a few hours ago, tossing through it.

“Where the fuck is it?” he growled.

“What?” Connor asked.