BK 3 - Chapter 38 - In A Cage
Cat and Trey walked down the sidewalk to the next hotel. They hadn't had any luck finding Raul's location. Wesley had checked for credit card use, but so far, there was nothing.
"How can we have so many shifters looking and not find any sign of Raul? Sacramento isn't that big of a city." Cat said with frustration. They had been at it for hours. So many people were out looking that they were tripping over each other, yet there was no sign of him anywhere.
"You're right. It's not big, and we have better senses than humans, so someone should have picked up on something. Wesley has to be right; he's got to have help from someone. How are you feeling?" He asked, putting his arm around Cat's shoulders. Trey knew that when she took on the feelings of others, sometimes they stuck with her for a while.
"I'm better, but my heart breaks for Mindy. She's more broken than she appears, and it's from something other than the rape. Melanie will help her, but what she's really going to need is Wesley. I just hope she accepts him being her mate. Learning about our world can be overwhelming for a human. Although, I sometimes think those of us who were broken can accept it better than those who weren't because we've seen the real monsters of the world. They don't come in the form of a shifter, vampire, or witch. They come in the form of the people who were supposed to love and care for us." Cat smiled up at Trey.
"I personally think humans make the best mates. You saw how she was with Wesley in the lobby. I think she'll take it well, and we'll have another family member for you to fuss over." Cat giggled as he held open the door to the hotel for her. She really did like having a large family, and Trey was right; she loved fussing over them. They approached the counter, and Atlas started growling softly. The man stared at Cat a little too much for her mate's comfort.
"Can I help you?" He asked, keeping his eyes on Trey when he saw the look on his face.
"I'm hoping you can help us find my uncle. He has dementia and wanders off sometimes. The last time he did this, we found him in a hotel. Can you tell me if you've seen this man here?" Cat pulled up a picture of Raul on her phone and showed it to the clerk. He glanced at it and then between her and Trey.
"He's confused? That makes sense. When he was walking through earlier, he was mumbling something about people turning into animals. It didn't make sense." The man laughed as he looked between the couple.
"What room is he in?" Trey asked, trying to rein in his temper. Atlas was ready to come out and start searching room by room.
"He's in 210. You can use this key card. Just make sure to drop it off when you come back." He handed it to Trey.
"We need to call someone," Cat whispered as they waited for the elevator.
"No, we don't. Atlas can take care of him. It's time to end this slimeball once and for all." Trey said as the doors opened. They took the elevator to the second floor and went to room 210.
*"I'm going to open the door at the count of three. Are you ready?"* Trey mindlinked Cat. She nodded.
*"One, two, three,"* He put the keycard in the door, and they ran into the room. They had been ready for guns or other men, some kind of resistance, but all that greeted them was Raul lying on the bed. He appeared to be sleeping.
"Is he alive?" Cat asked, walking over to the man who hadn't moved. She lightly touched his wrist and felt for a pulse. He was alive, but they could smell alcohol on him; he seemed to be passed out drunk.
"Well, I don't want to kill him when he's like this. I want him to know he's going to die. Let's take him back to our hotel. There will be fewer witnesses, and we can get some information from him." Trey threw Raul over his shoulder, and the man didn't move.
"We need to be careful. I'm sure he has men here somewhere. I will have Wesley send us a car so no one sees us carrying him down the street." Cat pulled out her phone and texted Wesley, who replied, saying a car would be there within ten minutes. He also said he'd have everyone go back to the hotel. They may have found Raul, but their work was far from over. They had a lot more people that needed to be hunted down.
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Wesley asked Aiden and Kitty to pick up Cat, Trey, and Raul at the hotel. He then sent a mass text to everyone that Raul was found and they needed to return to home base. He had found out a few possible associates of Raul, but now that they had him, they would interrogate him themselves. Wesley closed his laptop and ran to the elevator. He had to see Mindy.
He knocked on the door when he got to Melanie and Saxon's suite. Saxon answered and let him in.
"They're in the bedroom watching movies. You can go in if you'd like." Saxon pointed to the room where Wesley could hear laughter.
"Thanks. Do you know how she's doing?" He asked him.
"Melanie said she's acting like she feels better but thinks it's a mask. There's something that she's not ready to talk about yet." Saxon answered quietly. Alex and Jade were snuggled together, sleeping on the couch.
"Melanie said the same thing to me. I'm hoping I can get her to talk. Cat and Trey have Raul, and they're bringing him here." Wesley said as he reached the bedroom door.
"He's coming willingly, or did Trey let Atlas have a bite first?" Saxon asked, surprised the man was still alive, with Trey being the one to find him.
"Neither. He's drunk and passed out. Trey was going to kill him, but since he won't be able to terrorize him, he wants to bring him here to get information first. After he sobers up, everyone can get a piece of him." Saxon nodded as Wesley knocked on the bedroom door.
"Come in," Melanie said from inside the room. Wesley opened the door slowly, not wanting to interrupt. His heart melted at his feet when he saw Mindy and Melanie sitting on the bed with Lisa between them. They were watching one of the Twilight movies, but he wasn't sure which one.
"Why don't you ask Wesley?" Mindy said, looking at Lisa, who had a smirk on her little face.
"Ask me what?" Wesley asked nervously as he walked into the room.
"Would you rather be a vampire or a werewolf?" Lisa asked, trying her best not to laugh. Wesley chuckled.
"I think I would like to be a werewolf. Changing from a human to a large wolf would be pretty cool. Don't you think?" Wesley asked the little lioness, who could no longer hold in her laughter.
"If I could change into an animal, I want to be a lion," Lisa answered, narrowing her eyes at Wesley, daring him to argue.
"What about you, Mindy? What did you say you wanted to be?" Wesley asked her and saw her face turn slightly red.
"I said I would like to be a werewolf. I would love to run through the forest with the wind blowing through my fur." She answered, looking into Wesley's eyes. She didn't know why, but she had a feeling that her answer was what he was hoping for.
"I think being a vampire would be nice," Saxon said from the doorway, feeling like the odd man out. Melanie and Lisa burst into fits of giggles.
"Come on, Lisa, let's talk to daddy about how much fun it would be to be a lion." Melanie picked Lisa up and walked out of the bedroom to give Wesley and Mindy some time alone.
"How are you doing?" Wesley asked, keeping his distance. Even though she had wanted to touch him earlier, it didn't mean she was still okay with it.
"I'm doing better. I really like Melanie, and Lisa has got to be the smartest five-year-old I've ever met." Mindy bit her lip nervously. She noticed the way Wesley was staying away from her. She wondered if it freaked him out how clingy she was earlier.
"I knew you'd like them. I have something to talk to you about." Wesley said softly, taking a couple steps toward her.
"I'm sorry if I crossed a line earlier when I hugged you and held your hand. I know agents don't usually do that." Mindy looked down at her hands, feeling foolish. She had just been attacked, yet she was already starting to have feelings for Wesley that she didn't understand.
"Don't apologize. Are you okay with me coming closer?" Wesley asked, itching to touch her again. Mindy looked up and met his eyes.
"Yes. I feel like I need you to, but I was afraid to ask." She figured he wanted to talk to her about how he couldn't be around her anymore because she was a victim, and he was an agent. Wesley took his shoes off and sat on the bed, sliding beside her so his back rested against the headboard. He took her hand in his, and she couldn't help letting her head drop to his shoulder. Why did it feel like she was complete when he was near?
"Don't ever be afraid to ask. Not with me. Okay?" He looked down at her, and she nodded. "I do have something I need to tell you."
"Okay, what is it?" Mindy didn't feel as nervous now that he was next to her.
"The people I sent to find Raul were successful. Melanie's parents, Cat and Trey, found him and are bringing him here now." Mindy's head shot up off his shoulder.
"They're bringing him here? Why here? Why isn't he going to jail?" She felt the fear begin to run through her body. What if he got away and attacked her again? Wesley lifted her face so she would look him in the eyes.
"He won't hurt you. I need to tell you something about my family and everyone else here but now's probably not the best time. They'll be here any minute with Raul. Afterward, you and I will spend some time together so I can tell you everything. Trust me when I tell you that Raul will never hurt you or anyone else ever again." Wesley saw her wild eyes calm down.
"I trust you. Can I stay with you while he's here? I feel the safest when I'm with you." Mindy asked, hoping he'd say yes.
"You can stay with me, but there'll be many people down there, and Raul will be in the middle of them. Are you okay being in the same room with him and that many people?" Wesley asked with concern.
"I'll be okay as long as you're there." Wesley helped her out of bed, and they went to find Melanie to ask her for some clothes for Mindy. After she changed, they all went downstairs.
Mindy looked to the center of the enormous banquet room they were standing in. Raul was there inside what looked like a dog kennel. She studied the people around the room and couldn't help feeling like there was something about them that wasn't normal. When Raul started moaning, everyone went quiet.
Raul's head was throbbing. He groaned as he tried to stretch out on the uncomfortable bed. When he tried to roll over, he couldn't. That's when he felt the cool metal against his face. He tried to open his eyes, but everything was blurry. He hadn't been that drunk in a long time. Whatever that bartender gave him was strong. He'd planned on forcing her to his hotel, but something was telling him she drugged him. There was no way he should feel so groggy after only two glasses of wine.
He brought his hands to his face and rubbed his eyes, trying to clear his vision. Raul noticed his arms kept bumping something, and he couldn't straighten his legs. He tried to sit up, and his head hit something, making him fall back down with a thump. That's when he heard voices around him. He opened his eyes and saw small black bars above him. Looking to the side, beyond the bars, he saw a room full of angry people staring at him. What was going on?
Raul tried sitting up slowly and looked around. He was in a dog cage, surrounded by hundreds of people. At first, he thought he was having a horrible nightmare until his eyes fell on the werelions. The person next to them confused him. What was the little blonde who he'd raped last night doing there? She should still be somewhere trying to recover. When the man beside the blonde looked down at him, Raul sank back to the corner.
"What's going on? Why am I here? Do you know who I am?" Raul asked, looking for someone to help him.
"We went hunting and caught a rat. You're at your sentencing day. Yes, we know who you are. That's why you're here. Now do you have anything to say?" Wesley asked him, trying his best to keep Sankar from killing the man who raped their mate. Raul looked around once more and felt fear take over his body. Realizing he was in a room full of shifters and vampires looking at him like he was their next meal, he knew he wasn't getting out of this. There was only one thing to say.
"Fuck."
