49. The Painful Truth II

Chapter forty-nine

The Painful Truth II

*ARDEN*

W e ensured the girls are attended to, and Nox is accompanying Meg to the Council so that she can get the best medical help possible. Val is waiting for her there together with Annette. Fortunately, Annette's father has been so helpful and allowed his daughter to stay longer to meet the woman who saved her life.

However, now I'm pacing around nervously in front of Eric and Aurelia.

"Tell us what you think?" Eric says.

"Night dumped Sky with the girls," I say. "He hoped he would either kill them or hurt them or that we would come and kill him. He sacrificed him because he was the weakest link."

"You think he knew we were coming?" Aurelia asks.

"I believe the moment he saw Tori kicking up a fight, he knew something was off," I point out. "Maybe he noticed that Léna and Coralie recognized Tori. This guy is incredibly smart and organized. I think he caught on pretty fast."

"And then took Junior and ran?" Eric asks. "Where to?"

"That's what unsettles me," I admit.

"You mean that he will go back into hiding?" Aurelia asks.

I look at her anxiously. "No, we took everything from him. His hideout, his business, even his sister; his gem , his obsession. He is not going to hide and sit it out."

"But what other options does he have?" Eric asks.

"I don't know," I say. "We need to make sure that Meg is constantly guarded and never alone, not even for a second. He is certainly plotting something."

Eric brushes through his hair. "Fuck," he curses.

"He is obsessed with Meg," Aurelia says. "And he wants to get back at us. Arden is right, he is going to do something."

"Arden, what do you think is going on in this psycho's head now?" Eric asks. "You said he is very organized. Isn't lashing out the opposite of it?"

"Not necessarily," I say. "He has nothing to lose anymore, but he certainly has a few more cards up his sleeve. From what I know and from what I can predict, he is the type of person who would rather die than have us catch him and imprison him. He is also not going down quietly."

"Coralie said that his last words were towards Meg," Aurelia points out. "Something about coming back for her. I don't think he meant coming back here."

"Sounds like it," Eric says. "It was probably a warning for her. Goddess," he groans.

"I will call Nox," Aurelia says. "He needs to know to watch out."

She steps to the side to call her beta while Eric and I continue to discuss our options. The first trackers are returning, telling us they were able to follow Night's footsteps up to a road where he had parked another car. Then, the traces disappear.

I hate how cunning this guy is. He has not just one but several backup plans.

I gaze at my phone, noticing that Gustave has sent me several messages. My heart sinks instantly. "Fuck," I curse.

Eric spins around to look at me. "What?"

"Gustave," I mutter while already pressing the call button. "Something happened."

I start pacing around again, waiting for my call to go through. Thankfully, it doesn't take long for Gustave to answer.

"Arden," Gustave blurts out, not even greeting me. "Fuck! I'm so sorry! It's your brother. He isn't here."

I freeze. "What do you mean?"

"He was here at the start of the mission until Aurelia found the girls, then he excused himself to go to the bathroom. He didn't return."

"Is he maybe somewhere else in the building?" I ask against better judgment, just clinging to the hope. "He knew Léna was safe, so maybe he went to his room to wait for her call?"

"I sent someone to check," Gustave hurries to explain. "But they didn't find him. Arden, maybe I'm making a big deal out of nothing. I… I don't want to upset you, but I needed to tell you. I don't know where he is. I have searched everywhere. Then I got scared he followed you, but it doesn't sound like he is with you."

"No, he isn't here," I say blandly. "Thank you, Gustave. I…I know exactly where he is."

Eric stares at me, waiting for me to put my phone aside before taking a deep breath. "We ran out of luck again, didn't we? Bad news?"

"It's my stupid brother," I groan. "Why did he have to do that? Damn it!" I punch the wall next to me. "I should have seen it coming. He was way too compliant when he offered to stay behind."

"Arden, take a deep breath and calm down," Eric commands. "Where is he?"

"If he isn't here to meet Léna," I say. "There is only one other place he can be; at the pack to face off with our father."

"Fantastic!" Eric exclaims sarcastically.

"Fuck, I should have known," I groan.

"Arden, you couldn't have seen this coming," Eric says seriously. "You had your head on the mission, as you should have. The same goes for Gustave. It was not your task to babysit your brother. You had to stay focused for the girls' sake."

"I need to go there before he does something stupid," I say. "If he didn't already."

Eric nods, grabbing his phone. "Wait, I will call some of my warriors to send them there, too."

"What happened?" Aurelia steps closer again, frowning when she notices our tense mood. I make sure to fill her in on what I heard. Her reaction is similar to Eric's and mine, ranging from disbelief to worry to cursing herself for not thinking of that option.

"I'll be heading there," I tell them once more.

"Yes, you go to your brother. We have it covered here," Aurelia reassures me.

"Are you sure?"

"Definitely. We have plenty of people here," she tells me. "We will thoroughly look through everything."

"Do so. Night left in a hurry. There is no way he could have taken along everything when he ran," I tell them while already grabbing my bag and keys.

Eric approaches me before I can leave. "Gustave and some of my warriors went ahead," he tells me. "Take Emilien with you and go."

"Thank you, Eric," I blurt out. "Aurelia…"

She grabs me to kiss me swiftly. "Don't yell at him too much."

"I will try not to," I mutter before taking off.

*AURELIA*

With Eric's help, I search the whole building. Lion and Tori are still here, helping as much as they can. Actually, I have a newfound respect for Tori. She is still making sure that Léna and Coralie are attended to. Meanwhile, Lion lets her do what she needs to while he follows her around, just to be close to her.

She looks flustered and happy whenever he gazes at her. Seems like they both, finally, stopped fighting the mate bond.

"Do we believe that Night did all this without help?" I ask Eric.

"Well, he is a genius. That much is certain," he points out. "But you are right. For certain things he would have needed more men to help him. The victims he sold needed to be brought to places, and there had to be some sort of transfer. He also had to spy on certain victims and places."

"That's what I mean. As long as he can't duplicate himself, he needed more help than just his three minions," I say.

"The three, and later four, of them were his close group," Eric agrees. "But you are right, he probably has a whole group of men at his disposal." He approaches me. "And look at this. There is a folder with their transactions," Eric says, showing it to me. "And none of our super-brains are here to help us dig through it."

"Well, we can't always rely on them," I say while Eric hands me the first half of the papers. "What are we searching for?"

"Either, steady regular transactions," he says, "or sudden large ones."

I look at the first page, my eyes catching a transaction of 10k in euros. "Like this?" I ask.

"Don't tell me you already found something," Eric says, looking at what I'm showing him. "But yes, like this. It was pretty recent, too."

"According to the date it's only been a couple of days ago. There is another one, same amount."

Eric takes a closer look. "That's roughly the date when Juliet was abducted."

"Are we thinking the same?" I mutter.

"I can't believe it." Eric frowns. "It looks like someone paid him to kidnap Juliet."

"And this, here," I point at the first transaction. "If what you said is right, then that was for Coralie and Léna."

"Do we know where the transaction came from?" Eric asks.

"I have seen the account number somewhere," I admit.

"No kidding!? Then, use those brain cells of yours and think!"

"Fine, but if you tell me that I need to visit my memory palace, I might have to punch you," I say. I have no idea how to search my memory. Arden told me how he does it, but I have no training and never did it before. I just know I saw the account number before.

When I last transferred money or received it? No, that was before I came to Paris. And I haven't done any transactions here.

The only thing I saw was—

"Wait a moment," I blurt out, my heart sinking. "Do you know the account number of Arden's dad?"

Eric raises his head and looks at me. "Did you just say what I think you said?"

"There was no time to talk about it," I say. "It was right when Léna and Coralie got abducted, and our focus was on saving them. Arden said he had no proof, just a feeling and a logical string of events that led him to it. I am sure he told you about it."

"He did. But we had no time to look into it because Léna and Coralie disappeared at that time," Eric says. He looks sad. "No way."

"I just know that he showed me the caller log and, also, some transactions. The account number was the same," I say. "Arden thinks his dad is involved with Night, and I am sure he is right."

Eric slams his hand down on the table. "Fuck," he curses. "I had a feeling something was off when Arden told us that Vander went to his pack. That's why I sent warriors with him. That asshole! Selling off his own pack members to traffickers. And for what? For some petty revenge on his own children? I swear this is going to be his end."

"Eric." I stand up. "Arden said Night will want to go down with a bang. He can't get to Meg because the council building is one of the most watched places. And Night has not come here, either."

"And this mess here, it's just thanks to Arden's father," Eric says. "In a way he ruined Night's business."

For a split second we just look at each other wordlessly, then we jump up at the same time. "Can you drive my car as fast as you did the motorbike?" Eric blurts out his question.

"Yes!"

He tosses the keys at me before bellowing commands at his warriors. "Team A stays here to guard the hideout. Everyone else follows me to Alpha Matthieu's pack. Prepare for a possible attack happening there!"

Meanwhile, I frantically try to reach Arden or Gustave, but neither of them pick up their phone. Please, let them be alright!