BK 3 - Chapter 26 - Rats and Snakes
Everyone stared at Wesley in disbelief. He waited, expecting them to be angry and yell at how stupid he was, but they didn't. Instead, Cat and Kitty ran to his side, wrapping their arms around him. He felt his spirits rise as soon as Cat touched him.
"This wasn't your fault. They just used you to get what they wanted. There was no way you could have known you had a rat working with you." Kitty said as she hugged her brother.
"She's right. Don't blame yourself. Now, what do we need to do to catch them?" Aiden asked, coming to Kitty's side.
Wesley looked around the room in disbelief. He'd been so sure they were all going to hate him for putting people back in danger. However, they weren't angry; they were ready to get back out there and help. If he could have a team made up of this family, Wesley knew they would be taking down people all over the world.
"The agent who sold the information has been arrested. However, he's not giving us any details on the buyers. Most of the traffickers hid under the radar when we first rescued the shifters, so we don't know who they are. Are any of you good at researching online? I could use INTERPOL, but it would all have to be on the books. When we find these animals who are trafficking, I'm not planning on arresting them. I'm done playing games. It's time we shifters take matters into our own hands." Wesley saw the excitement in the eyes of most people in the room, especially those who had just been rescued.
"Lanie and I are good on computers. We know how to hack and find things in the dark web." Saxon said, pulling Melanie with him. He meant it when he said he wasn't letting her go, no matter what. Apparently, the cubs had the same idea because they were right on their heels.
"That's exactly what I need. Use these laptops. They're not connected to any government agency, so you can look for what you need without anyone monitoring you." Saxon, Melanie, and the cubs took the laptops and sat at a small table at the back of the conference room.
"What about the rest of us?" Trey asked. He liked Wesley's way of thinking, but first, he wanted to get to Raul. No one threatens his family and lives to talk about it. Just ask Leo and Caleb.
"We're going to go back out to Raul's locations. We're not done with him. He had Melanie and Cat kidnapped, and he has to pay. Did you notice anything while you were with his men?" Wesley asked Cat.
"They kept us blindfolded on the plane, and we killed everyone once we landed. There's something going on at that warehouse, though. We couldn't see anything, but there was bad energy coming from it. I think you should start there." Cat answered. Wesley nodded in agreement. He'd learned long ago when Cat had a feeling about something, you better listen.
"That's what we'll do. I'll have half of you go to the warehouse. I will split up the other half to check out a few of the other locations I have suspicions about? Cat, I know you must be tired. Do you want to stay here?" Wesley immediately regretted asking as soon as the words were out of his mouth. She looked at him through narrowed eyes.
"I'll forgive you this time, but don't let it happen again. I'm not even fifty yet, and you act like I'm old and crippled with one foot in the grave. Maybe I should start using a walker because I'm too fragile to get around on my own." Everyone erupted into laughter as Cat bent over and started walking like she was pushing a walker. Wesley's face turned bright red.
"I'm sorry I'll never imply you're tired again. I'm assuming you want to stay with Trey and go to the warehouse." Wesley bit his tongue before he could ask if it would be too traumatic for her to return there. That would surely bring Saira out, ready to rip his face off.
Once the first group had left for the warehouse, Wesley split the rest of the people into two groups. He gave them the addresses to check out and told them not to do anything that would put them in danger. After they were gone, Wesley went over to check on Saxon and Melanie.
"I know it's been less than thirty minutes, but how are you doing?" He asked, looking over their shoulders.
"Actually, we've found a site that buys and sells shifters. They buried the site in the deep net under the ruse of offering exotic animals. We've both set up accounts and are going through the verification process, so they'll let us in." Melanie answered as she continued typing. Wesley glanced at the two cubs, who looked bored and got an idea.
"Lisa and Alex, would you like to help me with something?" They both perked up right away.
"You have a job for us, too?" Lisa asked excitedly. Wesley nodded with a smile. They were the sweetest cubs he'd ever met.
"I sure do. You see that big box over there?" He pointed to another table, and they nodded. "Do you know how to read?"
"Yes, we know how to read. We're five, not two. They made us read in the place they kept us." Lisa answered angrily, glaring at him, and Wesley couldn't help but think she was already taking after Cat.
"That box has pictures of people. The back of the picture says what type of shifter they are. Can you separate them into piles of wolves, lions, tigers, bears, and so forth?" He asked.
"Yes, we'll do it," Lisa answered, grabbing Alex's hand and pulling him to the table.
"They're amazing, but you're going to have your hands full with Lisa," Wesley said quietly to Saxon and Melanie while watching the cubs. Lisa looked up and scowled at him.
"I heard that. Remember what my grandma Cat said." She said while trying to look fierce. Wesley held his hands up in surrender. Those female lionesses frightened him.
"Yeah, they're incredible and impress us every day with how smart they are," Saxon answered, glancing over at Lisa and Alex, hard at work with the pictures. "Thanks for giving them something to do."
"No problem, I'm glad to have the help. Any luck getting in?" He asked, looking at their screens.
"I have, but Lanie's having trouble with her alias. They're double-checking her information. I'm just waiting for them to send me a list of merchandise to bid on." Saxon answered while simultaneously looking for additional sites. He and Melanie had always been good at hacking and finding things online that others thought were hidden. When they were younger, they would hack into various things just for fun. Even after Melanie started spending less and less time with Saxon, they kept up their skills.
"I'm in. Now I'm waiting for the list." Melanie said with relief. She'd thought they were on to her. The sellers would shut the site down and start over if they got suspicious. That was time they didn't have.
"I just got the list; look at this," Saxon said, staring in disbelief. There were hundreds of shifters, from newborns to the elderly. Every animal they could think of was available to bid on.
"I recognize some of these people as ones we'd rescued before." Before Wesley could continue, Lisa and Alex screamed, making everyone run to their side.
"What's wrong?" Melanie asked, picking up Alex, who was shaking with fear. He had tears streaming down his face. Saxon picked up Lisa, who was in the same frightened state.
"We know him," Lisa said with a shaky voice clinging to Saxon.
"Who?" Wesley asked, looking at the pictures that they had neatly stacked into piles.
"Him," Alex pointed to a picture that had fallen to the floor. Wesley picked it up and saw a slender man with black hair with a little grey mixed in. He wore glasses and had a serious look on his face. Wesley turned the picture over and saw it was Cole Reynell. He was a werewolf they'd rescued a few months ago but was kidnapped when his location was compromised.
"How do you know him?" Melanie asked, still trying to get Alex to calm down.
"He was at the place where we were kept in cages. He used needles on us that hurt really bad and gave us the yucky stuff to drink. He always called us his little science projects." Lisa answered angrily.
Wesley, Saxon, and Melanie all exchanged a look. The inside agent may not be the only snake. It looked like some of the rescued shifters weren't in need of rescuing at all. They were helping with the trafficking of their own kind while pretending to be captives themselves.
