40. Odie

"Fuck you, Vaila!" Ellie screeched.

"She's not worth it. Not yet. We have to get you out of here, Ellie." Who the fuck was this guy?

"If he helped kidnap her, why is he rescuing her now?" Cy's voice came through the earbud, but I knew she was musing to herself and the rest of our team.

All three of them were just out of sight. If we rounded the corner, they would be right there, but for now, we laid low and quiet.

"The cameras are down. You're free to move."

Iker and Leona didn't budge. They would follow my lead on this. I had to decide if we jumped in and rescued her now or waited to see if more information would be spilled.

On any other mission, I'd wait, but this was Ellie. My judgment was skewed, but I knew what I had to do.

We waited.

"Ellie, let's go."

"Not so fast, Alastor. Did you think I'd let you leave?"

"Wait, why, Vaila? Why are you doing this?"

"You really haven't sorted it out?" Vaila paused. "Payback. Your father's idiocy led to your mother's, my best friend's, death. What better way to torture him than through you? I will admit that wasn't initially the plan, but when I figured out what Lucinda was doing and jumped on board, everything fell into place."

"What do you mean?" Ellie didn't know how her mother died. She never asked, and we never told her.

My nostrils flared as Vaila spilled all our secrets.

"They weren't in love. It was all political. Odie's father was the only person besides his children that Gerard actually cared for. So after you were born, Callie was off, back in her position as one of the top team leaders, just like Odie. Then there was a threat on your life and his. Who showed up out of nowhere? Callie, because despite having no feelings for Gerard, she loved you. She died protecting him. A single headshot took her down that was meant for him."

Silence fell over the hall, and I worried that they'd hear our breathing. I held my breath and waited.

"That's all?" Ellie asked, and I was astonished. "I lived every day knowing someone could kill one of us for the hell of it. We all know that. You're just a pissy bitch, Vaila. Instead of honoring her memory, you tarnished it. I trusted you. I looked up to you, and here you are, a coward, hiding behind my aunt and her operation. You're scum and deserve a painful death."

My jaw dropped open at the same time Alastor stepped back and tried dragging Ellie with him.

He glanced our way, and I knew he saw us. He kept walking back, pulling Ellie to him and covering her mouth so she didn't give away our position.

"He needs to stall for ten more seconds," Sloane ground out.

He waited, expecting us to move, but thankfully, he wasn't an idiot and figured out that we couldn't just yet.

"Agreed, on all counts."

"Shut it, Alastor. As if your motives are any better."

"Joke's on you. I don't have a motive. I simply hate Lucinda."

"Time's up! Go!" Sloane yelled through the coms.

I moved into the hall with my gun pointed at Vaila, placing myself between her and Ellie. Leona stood beside me, blocking the view more, while Iker checked on Ellie.

"I'm fine! Odie!" I could hear her trying to fight through Alastor and Iker to get to me.

"Oh, hello, Odie." Vaila's voice was dry.

"Any more information you'd like to cough up before I kill you? Maybe it will make up for some of the shit you've done."

A chopper sounded from outside, but I ignored it. We would get out of here one way or another.

"No, kill me, and be done with it."

"Gladly," Ellie said, brushing up beside me before grabbing my handgun from the holster. "Bye, Vaila." Before we could stop her, Ellie pulled the trigger, shooting Vaila in the forehead.

We all stopped and stared before chaos ensued around us.

The doors burst in, and an army filtered through.

"What is going on?" I demanded.

"Reinforcements." Cy sounded smug. "Dear old dad brought in everyone."

My shoulders drooped in relief, knowing the entire place would be swarmed and many men would be put behind bars for this. All the women we saw would be saved and who knew who else they were keeping here.

I dropped my gun, letting the strap swing it to my side before pulling Ellie into a hug, ignoring the ridiculous outfit she was wearing.

"I'm so happy you"re safe." She didn't say anything as I held her close. Her body was stiff, and I knew we had been too late.

I pulled back and looked down at her. Tears filled her eyes, but we would deal with that when we got home and she was as comfortable as she could be.

I looked up at Alastor who was staring at us. "Who are you?" I glared at him, suspicious of everyone who had their hand in this mess.

"Someone whose family was tarnished by Lucinda. I made it my personal mission to screw her over." There was more to it, so I kept staring, needing him to explain why he chose to expose himself now. "Later. I promise. Let's get her out of here."

He was right. Ellie came first, but that didn't mean I was going to let him out of my sight until I had answers.

"Do we have a ride?" I asked Cy and Sloane as squads came in and out of the front door.

"One chopper at the ready," Sloane responded.

"Are you ready to get out of here?" Ellie nodded, and a heavy sigh escaped her lips.

We all filed out of the building and headed for the helicopter that sat in the field to our right. Cy and Sloane stood in front of it with the pilot ready to go.

Cy made the same mistake I did, hugging Ellie when she was in range. We made eye contact and knew there was going to be a long talk about what happened when she was ready. Ellie had a lot of healing ahead of her, but we would all be by her side the entire time, making sure she didn't crumble under the pressure.

Alastor joined us, but Sloane, Leona, and Iker stayed behind to help clear out the mansion. They promised to give us updates on anything and everything so we didn't have to worry about helping Ellie and handling things that were no longer part of our job descriptions.

The ride was much shorter than the drive here. Alastor gave his jacket to Ellie to cover her nearly bare skin. She accepted it but sat between Cy and me. She kept herself pulled in, refusing to make physical contact if she could help it. We adjusted to give her what little space we could.

Finally, we made it home, landing out back on the helipad.

Mine, Gerard, and Oliver were waiting for us. Their attention was solely on Ellie.

Cy and I walked with her, keeping our distance with Alastor behind us. That caught Mine's eye. She brushed past us and punched him in the face before we could explain why he was here. Of course she had recognized him from the surveillance videos.

"Mine!" Ellie screamed.

Mine turned to look at her with her face scrunched in confusion.

"He helped save her. You know, after kidnapping her," Cy said dryly.

"Basically, he deserved that, so shall we go inside and get Ellie settled?" I suggested.

Mine nodded but got one more shot in by kneeing him. Alastor fell to his knees, cupping his groin, but Mine ignored him, her attention fully on Ellie now.

She didn't touch her but signaled for her to head into the mansion with her. My shoulders slumped again, saddened by the fact that Mine knew Ellie wouldn't want to be touched, and not by intuition. Mine understood where Ellie was coming from without having to have it explained.

I was nowhere near thankful for what happened during the heat, but a small bit seeped in because Ellie would have someone there for her when we couldn't be.

"Now what?" Alastor asked with a groan as he slowly stood up. His face was scrunched in pain, but I held no sympathy for him.

"Now you spill all your secrets, or we let Mine beat them out of you," Cy joked, slapping him on the back, causing him to grunt. They followed behind Mine and Ellie, leaving me alone with Gerard and Oliver.

"Everything went well, then?" Gerard's voice was thick with unshed tears. Vaila was right about one thing. He only cared for us and my Alpha father, Willem. It broke something inside of him when he passed away. It wasn't like it was with Callie. Willem was older and had a hard life but was highly thought of by our family and the council. It simply caught up with him, and his body gave up on him. I was only a toddler when it happened, but they had been together for many years before that.

"As well as can be expected. Thank you for the assistance. Do we have news on how many were arrested and saved yet?"

"Yes, but let's discuss this inside."

Turned out, nineteen men were arrested due to crimes against the Primarchy and their connection to Lucinda and sex trafficking. Over thirty others were rescued. They were a mix of men and women of all designations.

However, Lucinda had vanished once again. Intel showed that she left hours before we got there, right when the party had begun.

I wouldn't rest easy tonight and wouldn't share the news with the others until tomorrow after they got some rest. We would find her one day, but anger coursed through me knowing she was still out there, hiding and waiting to strike again.