BK 4 - Chapter 39 - Finding Bailey
**Roseville California**
Everyone was at a loss, not knowing what to do. One of their own had been taken, and whether it was Mick or the hunters, the outcome wouldn't be good.
Cat and Melanie held Mindy as she cried. She was beyond consolable, even with their calming effects. Wesley was making calls to activate Bailey's GPS on her phone so they could find her. Once they did, it showed her phone at the exact location where it had been shut off. Tristen drove to the spot and found the phone lying on the side of the road.
Trey called his contact at the CIA and asked them if they could locate Mick. It was almost impossible with a ghost phone, but he said he would see what they could do. They knew they didn't have that kind of time. They needed to get to Bailey before she was killed.
"Does anyone know if this Mick guy has any aliases?" Jayce asked. He had his laptop open to see if he could find anything about him, but Mick was ex-CIA, so it was proving difficult.
"The CIA would know what his undercover names were, but I don't know if they would be willing to share. I'll ask." Trey picked up his phone again and walked out of the room.
"Uncle Wesley, can you look on the phone records and see who texted Bailey to make her think it was Carlita? Maybe if we know who it was, we'll better know if it was Mick or the hunters." Lisa questioned him. She was anxious to be doing something. Knowing that her cousin was out there in the hands of who knows who made her sick.
"Good idea. I'll check now." Wesley opened his phone and went to the phone provider app to retrieve call and text logs.
Xipil and his grandsons sat to the side, unsure of what they could do to help. Kele and Tom were seated with Kiersten and Alex on the other side of the room. They also felt helpless, not being able to help.
"Okay, I have the number for the phone that texted her," Wesley said, running into the room. Trey took the number down and had someone trace it while Wesley tried to call it. Everyone held their breath and waited to see if someone would answer. The message was directed at them when it went to voicemail, sending a chill down their spines. The voice was distorted, but they could still make out what was said.
*Well done, shifter freaks. You've figured out that one of your children is missing and that this is the number that texted her. Bailey is such a pretty girl. I haven't hurt her yet, but the longer she's with me, the less I'm going to be able to resist. Her long blond hair is super soft, and her skin is so smooth. I suggest you find me soon, or you'll all be dead. However, I won't mind spending an extended amount of time with my new guest.*
The message stopped, but before it shut off, the last thing they heard was the sound of Bailey screaming.
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**Sacramento California**
The men all looked at the frightened girl, and reality set in. They may hunt and kill shifters, but they made sure they were all adults. They drew the line at killing children. However, the look in the man's eyes told them it was probably better not to say anything. He could kill her and them.
"How did you get her?" Joe asked while glancing at Travis, who discreetly pulled out his phone.
"It doesn't matter how I got her. Now that I have her, we can use her as bait. She's such a pretty little thing, too." Travis and the other hunters watched as the man whose name they still didn't know ran his hand over her hair and down her back. They knew that look in his eyes, and it infuriated them. Molestation is not something they would condone, no matter what the species.
Travis found the number for Trey that he had saved in his contacts when he'd first learned of the family. He didn't know whose child the girl was or what animal she was, but he knew Trey would know. He texted him his address and said to come as soon as possible to get the girl.
"Man, we don't do that with kids. Come here, sweetheart." Joe tried to get Bailey to go to him, but the man refused to let her go.
"She's mine, and I can do whatever I want with her. Now, why don't you figure out how we're going to hunt those bastards? I'll be right back." The man dragged the girl to the bedroom in the hallway and shut the door.
"What are we going to do? We can't let him rape her." Joe asked Travis. He had a girl around Bailey's age. Everyone stood up and headed to the bedroom door when they heard her screaming.
"Does anyone know who he is?" Travis asked. Something told them he wasn't your typical asshole, and they needed to be careful. He had his hand on the door while the girl continued to scream. Suddenly, it got quiet, and strange noises came from inside the room. Travis threw open the door, and what greeted them made them all sick.
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**Roseville California**
After hearing Bailey's scream, Mindy fainted. Cat and Melanie were able to bring her around, but she was so frozen with fear that they couldn't get through to her. Wesley sat beside her, doing everything he could not to shift and tear the town apart, looking for his daughter.
Another hour passed with no news and nothing to go on. Trey's contacts were still trying to see if they could release Mick's aliases. They had someone else working on tracking the burner phone he used to text Bailey, but nothing was going fast enough. They also couldn't wander around aimlessly when she'd been missing for over six hours, and they had no clue where to look.
Trey's phone suddenly rang, letting him know he had a text. He looked at the number, and it was one he didn't recognize. When he saw what the message said, he jumped up.
"That hunter Travis just texted me. He said some guy showed up at his house with a girl he assumes belongs to us. He sent his address. Let's go." They decided that Trey, Cat, Lisa, Jayce, Alex, Thatcher, Wesley, and Mindy would go while the rest of the family stayed behind. Jayce refused to let Lisa out of his sight, even though he was basically still human.
Alex had the largest vehicle that could fit all of them, so they all hopped into his SUV. He drove faster than he had ever driven in his life down the highway to Sacramento. When they arrived at the address Travis sent them, they noticed the driveway was filled with cars.
"Is this a trick? Are they really setting a trap for us?" Lisa asked with concern. Mindy was ready to run to the door, but Cat and Wesley stopped her.
"Thatcher, can you check around and see what's going on before we all get killed?" Trey asked, looking at his friend.
"Give me just a minute." Thatcher was gone before any of them could respond. He was back just as quickly.
"There are a lot of men in there, but they don't seem ready to attack us. There was one room I couldn't see into, but I could hear voices. It sounded like Bailey and a man," Thatcher said.
"Okay, let's go. Everyone stay alert. If we need to shift, then do it, but we need to stay calm if we're going to get Bailey out of there safely." Trey looked at Mindy and Wesley, who both nodded. As they walked to the front door, they heard a scream. Mindy and Wesley almost lost it.
Trey kicked the door in, and a group of men were standing in front of a room, looking sick. Some of them were even vomiting. They moved out of the way without any resistance. Travis stood at the front of the group and turned to look at Trey and the others in horror.
"I'm sorry. We didn't know who he was. He'd never been here before. We had nothing to do with taking her." Travis said with fear clear on his face. Trey ignored him and walked into the room, afraid of what he would see. However, what greeted him was not what he expected.
The room had blood everywhere. There was a body lying lifeless in the middle of the mess. Sitting on top of the body growling was a beautiful dark brown wolf. She was smaller than usual due to her age but just as lethal. When she saw her family, the wolf ran over and jumped on Mindy and Wesley, licking their faces. Most wolves don't shift until their early teens, and Bailey was only a few weeks away from being twelve. However, whatever Mick had planned to do to her brought her wolf out early. The screaming they had heard was the pain from her first shift.
