BK 3 - Chapter 10 - Trust
*"Don't move or make a sound. We've been drugged and kidnapped."* Melanie was semiconscious when she heard what Chika said. She quickly became fully awake but didn't move.
*"Do you know where we are?"* She asked, trying to get her bearings as the pounding in her head subsided. Melanie wondered what they drugged them with that would work on shifters and vampires?
*"We're in a warehouse. Not the one we were in before. The so-called rescuers are the ones that kidnapped us. The drug didn't affect me as much as it did you. The cubs were able to hide, and they left Saxon behind. After they took us from the hotel, I passed out and woke up when they brought us here. I don't know how long I was out, though, so I don't know how far we traveled."* Chika was mad at herself for letting them get the better of her. She should have tasted the drug after the first bite.
*"Don't blame yourself, Chika. Neither one of us picked up on the drug. Neither did Saxon. Thank goodness the cubs did before they ate more than one bite. Do you know what they want with me?"* Melanie didn't understand why they took such elaborate measures to get her. Why pretend to be something they weren't? It didn't make sense.
*"They said they have a buyer for you. He wants you because you're a werelion caladrius hybrid. I don't know what this man plans to do with you, but it sounds like they plan to keep us here until tomorrow."* Melanie felt her heart sink. Tomorrow morning, their families would be arriving. She kept her breathing steady, so it still appeared as though she was sleeping. All she could hope for was that Saxon and their families found her before it was too late.
_______________
Saxon looked at his phone. He didn't want to call Cat and Trey, but he had to. They needed to know that Lanie was kidnapped, most likely to be sold. He stopped his tears and sat with the cubs on his lap. They hadn't stopped crying since he woke up. He took a deep breath and pressed Cat's number.
"Saxon, what happened?" Cat answered frantically. He wondered how she knew.
"I'm so sorry they took her. Cat, they took Lanie. We were drugged, and they kidnapped her." Saxon couldn't hold back his sobs anymore. He could hear Cat talking to the others.
"Saxon, we're on our way. I could feel that something happened, so we left Sacramento a couple of hours ago. We're getting ready to catch our flight from San Francisco. Unfortunately, we still won't arrive until early morning, but we're coming. Hang in there; we'll get her back. We're bringing lots of reinforcements." Cat hung up, and Saxon let his phone fall to the ground. He felt numb. How could Cat seem so calm when he felt like he was going out of his mind with fear? If he didn't have the cubs to worry about, he'd be out there searching for Lanie. He knew she'd never forgive him if something happened to Alex and Lisa.
"Are we going to find her?" Lisa asked, hugging him tight. Saxon looked into her sweet little face. She reminded him a lot of Lanie when she was that age.
"We're going to find her. Do you guys remember anything else from when you were hiding?" Saxon asked them. He'd caught on that Lisa did a lot of the talking for the both of them.
"The housekeeper that knocked on our door was in the hallway too. She was cleaning the room where we were hiding." Something about that woman seemed suspicious when she came to their door earlier. He didn't understand why she would show up to clean when they had just checked in.
"How about we go downstairs and see if we can talk to the housekeeper? I want to see if she saw anything." The cubs looked at each other before nodding at Saxon. A young man was standing behind the counter when they got to the front desk.
"Excuse me. Can you tell me if the housekeeper cleaning the rooms on the sixteenth floor is still here?" Saxon asked the man, who smiled at him.
"Sure, let me check. Is there a problem?" The man glanced at Saxon before looking at his computer screen.
"No problem. One of my kids lost something in the hallway, and we wanted to see if she picked it up while she was cleaning." Lisa nodded, looking up at the man with her eyes filled with tears. Saxon saw the man melting in front of him.
"She's on the eighteenth floor now. I hope you find what you're looking for, little one." They got back in the elevator and pushed number eighteen.
"You did a good job making him think you really lost something," Lisa looked up at Saxon sadly.
"I did lose something. I lost my future mommy, and I want to get her back," He squatted in front of the cubs and hugged them tightly. They were too precious for words.
When the elevator stopped, they got out and saw the housekeeper entering a room down the hall. When they approached her cart, she came out of the room, and her eyes widened when she saw them.
"Wh...what are yo...you doing up here?" She asked nervously, looking past them as though someone could help her. Saxon glared at her.
"We need to talk, and we're not taking no for an answer." The woman nodded and walked into the empty room with her head down. Saxon and the cubs followed her and shut the door behind them.
"What do you know about the woman taken from our suite?" Saxon asked with his arms crossed. He towered over the young woman, and for once, he was glad. She needed to see that he meant business.
"Vincent asked me to tell him if you two checked into this hotel. When I saw you in the lobby, I called him. He had Julia give you the suite and let him know when you ordered food. He stopped the waiter and sprinkled something on the cookies before they were brought to you. He sent me to your room. If you didn't answer, I was to let him know. However, when you did answer, I saw you were preparing to eat the cookies, so I told him." She stopped as the tears began running down her face.
"How does he have so much power over everyone at this hotel?" Saxon asked her.
"His family is wealthy. They own this hotel and several resorts in the area. Vincent is the black sheep in the family, but that doesn't stop him from throwing his weight around when he wants something. I don't know what they will do with your mate. He has places all over Rio where he could hide her. His mate, Karlee, is even worse. She was a rogue until they met and mated. She kidnapped cubs and other young shifters to be sold. Karlee puts on a good front and acts sweet, but once you get to know her, she's worse than the devil himself." Saxon actually felt sorry for the young woman. She looked terrified, but not of him. He glanced at her name badge.
"Ana, are you a shifter?" He asked softly, and she nodded.
"Yes, I'm a werewolf. Vincent and Karlee are holding my mate hostage, so I'll do what they want. They promised after I helped this time, they'd let him go. I swear I never wanted your mate to get hurt." Ana started sobbing as she sat on the side of the bed. He looked at the cubs, who were glaring at her with their little arms crossed.
"If you help me, I'll help you get your mate back. Melanie and I came here to rescue shifters that were being trafficked. I have to get her back. Can I trust you?" Ana looked up at him with relief and fear.
"I thought you were going to kill me. I can help you, but they watch me all the time. What do you want me to do?" She asked, looking between the vampire and the cubs.
"I just want you to tell me if you find out anything about where they are or who they may be in contact with. I also don't want you to tell Vincent I know anything about him. If you can do that, I'll help you get your mate back." Saxon didn't like putting his trust in her, but he had no one else to help him that knew Vincent and the others.
"How am I going to reach you?" She asked nervously. Saxon pulled out his phone.
"What's your phone number? I'll text you so you'll have mine. You can call or text me, whichever's easier for you." Ana gave him her number, and he sent her a text, feeling slightly relieved when he heard a ding in her pocket. For a moment, he feared she would give him a fake number.
"I'm trusting you, Ana. If you do anything to betray me or cause my mate to be injured, I guarantee I can be worse than those you're scared of." Saxon looked at her coldly. She nodded her head before he and the cubs left. When they got into the elevator, Lisa pulled on Saxton's hand.
"What are we going to do now?" She asked with a little quiver in her voice. He leaned over and picked her up with one arm and Alex with the other.
"We'll go to our suite and wait for the families to arrive. We can't be running all over Rio until we have help. I don't want to leave this hotel yet. At least here, we already know we're being watched." Saxon noticed Alex was being quiet, and he had a strange look on his face.
"Alex, is everything okay?" He asked, and the little cub smiled slightly.
"Yeah. I think today's my birthday." He answered softly.
"Why do you say that?" Saxon asked.
"I just got my bear. His name is Remy."
