The Artist

Chapter 15

“How long was she alone for?” I demanded, pulling up the security feed from the parking garage. Using Cass’s desk as my command center.

"More than an hour,” Cass said, pacing the floor behind me. I punched keys on the computer. Over-riding the security codes. Henley had more than enough time to exit the building and disappear into the night. The streets outside the building were busy. Heavy traffic was a major downfall of this location. I backed up the recorded feed to the time I left the garage. Noting the time, I slowed the video down. Watching the high-resolution video frame by frame was brutal. Minutes of nothing passed. In her current state, I found it amazing that she had been able to get out the bed under her own power. Henley had not eaten or drank anything for days. Her strength had all but evaporated before our eyes. More minutes passed as I waited for her to appear on the screen. I’d dispatched the garage security team to canvas the area, looking for anything of worth. Time was moving, taking with it the hope of recovering Henley quickly. Each minute put her farther away from home. Twenty minutes into the video and still nothing.

“Sir!” An excited voice spoke to me through my earpiece.

“Update,” I ordered, nervous to hear what information he had for me.

“We found something.”

“Location?” I shot up out of my chair.

“Delivery door, southwest corner.” Cass and I raced to the elevator, dropping to the garage level in less than thirty seconds.

“What is it?” Cass demanded, stalking to the group of men by the over-sized doors. Vital information had not been given out. Henley was a secret. Her being Omega had not been shared. Security had been told there was an unauthorized entry into the building, and that something of worth had been gone missing.

“Mr. Castillo, we have surveillance of the alley.” A tall, brown-eyed man named Dane spoke. Video of two men exiting an older model pick-up truck unnerved me. The men stopped at the door before someone inside the building let them in. Tense seconds passed as they left the camera’s range. When they re-appear, they are carting out huge black bags. “We are running the plates on the truck now,” Dane said.

“Who let them inside the building?” Cass was understandably angry and worried. Dane snapped to attention.

“Letterman, Mr. Castillo, he is being brought in.” The security supervisor said.

Keeping my eyes on the video, I saw the men re-enter the building for a second time. Neither one of them ever looked up at the camera. Identifying them could be a challenge. Both men entered the side door wearing gloves. The uneasiness I had earlier exploded into pure dread when the men worked in tandem to load the last bag. Henley was not heavy. One of them could have easily carried her by themselves. It was the care they took in placing the bag into the bed that made me sick. Fifteen minutes, that was the length of time they were here. A time that could be used to remove Henley. With no cameras on the floors themselves. I had no idea how or when they had met up with Henley. More than likely, contact had been made through Monica. I did not doubt for a second that Monica had made this arrangement. Henley never had access to anything other than a landline. She was far too smart to trust me. The small office behind the service elevator was used as a break room for the security staff. A functional place that normally would have been a comforting spot to relax. That was not the feeling that filled the space now. Letterman was an older man, balding and robust. He was a Beta that had been employed here for years. Forced into a chair by Dane, the man grew incredibly uneasy. Worried and nervous, he looked wild-eyed.

“Speak,” Cass ordered, moving closer to the cornered Beta.

“Sir?” Letterman squirmed, confused by the tense predicament he found himself in.

“Two men entered the building, men that you let in,” Cass said, motioning for Dane to give him the tablet. Letterman looked confused, casting his eyes from Cass to the screen.

“I did... but only because I was told to.” He sounded like a man facing the firing line.

“Who told you too?” Cass demanded.

“You did, sir,” Letterman said, stumbling over himself. “These are the men that are remodeling the floor below yours,” Letterman said the words as they might save his life. “They had to park in the alley; there was a moving van blocking the main entrance.”

I felt my heart sink and soar, dread and relief tossing it around. Henley had not been abducted; she’d left on her own. I could have found her if she’d been taken. People loyal to Henley, it would have been too easy to make them talk. But Henley was too smart for that. She’d never risk another’s life to save her own. Out foxing me was her talent.

I turned to Cass, speaking to him in Spanish. “She is still in the building.”

Henley-

Sick, my stomach was churning with fear. I waited behind the door in the housekeeper’s old room. Ear pressed to it, waiting for anything to happen. When I’d heard them leave, I froze -looking at my surroundings for help. It had been days since Inna had been in here. In her angry haste to leave, she’d left a lot of her things. Ransacking her clothing, escape seemed viable. Was it possible to shake any harder? My body racked with violent tremors; I was grateful that Inna’s clothes were baggy. That and the fact that they masked my scent. The older Beta was a fan of heavy perfumes. Playing the part of an older woman, I pulled my shawl over my head, eyes to the floor. Not risking looking at anything but the numbers on the elevator. Hope rose as it descended; each floor brought me closer to the front door of the building. Huge metal panels opened, showing me the darkened street outside. The only thing that blocked me was the huge glass doors and the doorman. Walking like a sixty-year-old housekeeper was not hard. My knees knocked with fear, my heart helping to move the wild panic through every inch of my weakened body. Breathing was a chore; I had never had an anxiety attack before, assume this was what it felt like. Hyperventilating as I moved forward. Time started to move slower. Freedom was only feet away; interaction with the doorman would be unavoidable. I could hang back, try to wait. A chance I would have taken if I wasn’t worried about the devil’s hound. Jamison was not an Alpha to underestimate. He had more skill and foresight than anyone I knew. Stalling now would be a huge mistake. Keeping my shit together would be a miracle. My frantic prayers were answered. The doorman bolted forward from his post. Lunging forward, grabbing at the leash of an excited puppy.

“Thank you, Miles!” The embarrassed voice of a woman distracted everyone.

“No worries, Mrs. Rolland.” The man chuckled, stooping down to pet the energetic puppy. “He is getting big.” He commented as the wiggly thing jumped up to lick his face.

“He is a monster.” The woman complained. “How my kids talked me into this, I will never know.” I didn’t look, keeping my eyes down as I thanked whatever celestial being had just saved my life.

Jamie

Henley made it out of the building, walking out the front door. I watched the recorded scene again. Forty minutes, forty fucking minutes. That’s how much of a head start she had on us. More than enough time for someone like Henley to disappear. I honed in on Monica. Henley had taken the lead here as well. Monica had closed the studio two days before Henley started her hunger strike. Monica had not touched the social sites. The last confirmed sighting of her was less than 24 hours ago. Her cell binged off a tower near the upstate studio before it went silent. Monica Reed had gone ghost. No doubt, under the tutelage of the great Henley Allred. Cass had not been able to really extract personal information from Henley. She was not accommodation on any front. Abandoned by her mother as a child, there had never been any attempt by either woman to reconnect. Henley had never even contacted her twin sister. Her only family was Monica and Akita Harper. Henley loved him, but not enough to make him a target. The Omega was in the wind. I need to find her. That left me one reasonable option, Rain Stark. I did not doubt she would help Henley. Getting to the freeborn rebel Omega was a huge issue. Repeated calls, email, text messages, they all went unreturned. Cass and I were ready to break down her front door. Not wanting to get us both arrested, I took it upon myself to a position outside her home.

“Ms. Stark, I need to speak with you," I called out, beating hard on the door, not caring that it was 8:00 on a Sunday evening. We’d already spent two days frantically calling her.

“Ms. Stark, I am not leaving until I speak with you.” I banged the door again. She had four Alpha’s who may be a problem. I’d gladly fight them all to find Henley. Raising my fist to beat on the door again, I was surprised when it flung open.

“You got a death wish?” A frazzled looking Alpha asked, glaring at me from the entryway. The smell that clung to his skin hit me like a thunderbolt. Rain was in estrous. I shook my head, trying to stay focused on my reason.

“I have to talk to Rain, it’s imperative.”

“She is not able to see you, leave now.” He growled a warning. The instinct to protect her was understandable. But I wasn’t a threat, and I wasn’t leaving with talking to her.

“Ms. Stark, I have to talk to you. It’s about Henley.” I ignored the agitated male, yelling past his foreboding mass. The male was offended enough that he grabbed for me.

“Don’t start something with me that you will regret," I warned him, side-stepping his attack. It wasn’t much of a contest. I had him restrained and pinned to the door before he blinked. Holding the bastard was a struggle. Still high on the rut, he was unstable.

“Mr. Jamison, let my mate go.” Rain order weakly from the top of the stairs.

I had been in dangerous situations before, but none like this. Four estrous drunk Alpha’s was a bad spot to be in. The males positioned protectively around their Omega — all watching me intensely, unnerving as hell.

“What about Henley?” Rain asked from her perch on her first mate’s laps.

“She’s gone, she left the apartment three days ago," I responded, ignoring the low growls I got for looking at Rain. The Omega was not fully recovered, looking exhausted, but physically content.

“And you thought she might have stopped by for tea?” Her sassy mouth and disrespectful tone were still in working order.

“Henley loves tea, green tea, to be specific," I said.

The Omega smiled at me, chuckling as she sank against her Alpha.

“Your freeborn has not been here.”

“And is she had been?” I asked.

“I would have helped her.” The disappointment Rain’s words filled me with frustrated. The fact that her bond with Cass was half-formed was not important. They were suffering, Henley needed Cass, like it or not.

“What of her love, surely you are smart enough to see the obvious.” Rain popped off. I snorted, laughing at how wrong Rain was. Disappointed that I had wasted my time here.

“Surely, you are smart enough to know that you don’t put a target on what you love most.” I turned, leaving the harem to find Cass’s mate.

Another day past with nothing. How Henley had magically disappeared off the earth was unexplainable. No one in the history of the modern world should be able to do this. For fucks sakes, I had found Monica. Of course, the Beta didn’t know this. She sat in a posh hotel in the city. Believing I had no idea where she was. I could have drug her in and interrogated her. That would be exhausting and pointless. Henley had severed all ties with Monica, making her a millionaire as her parting gift.

I meant what I said to Rain. Henley loved Akita too much to endanger his life. The surveillance I had on him told me as much. But there had to be something in Henley’s world that would give me a clue to where she had gone.

Cass coming to Henley’s house had not been my idea. But the Alpha was desperate to be near her; being in her home was the best he would get.

The confrontation I’d been expecting was about to come. Akita blew out of the front door of the house, looking worse than Cass and ready to fight.

“You fucking thief, where is she?” Akita charged at Cass. A heaving, enraged mass of anger.

“I was going to ask you the same.” Cass knew damn well Akita didn’t know. His reasoning had been poor since Henley had left. Straining and weakening his mental state badly. I didn’t have time for their bullshit, side-stepping the pointless verbal badgering. I went inside. I had been in Henley’s house before. I bounded upstairs to her room, methodically pilfering through her belongings. Henley was a practical woman. She didn’t surround herself with meaningless shit. Her life was an easy read. Things that she loved and cherished sat close to her heart. Forty-five seconds in, I hit pay dirt. Taking the picture out of the dresser drawer, sure I had what I needed. A second look in there made me smile. Henley’s idea of personal defense was cute. I palmed the taser, chuckling at how small it was. No doubt, it was a perfect fit in her tiny hand, small but powerful enough to grab an intruder’s attention. Armed with her taser, I returned to the idiots fighting on the lawn. Cass was an accomplished fighter, but Akita was giving him a run for his money. Love makes men feral. I called out a warning to the brawlers; they didn’t listen. I fired the taser, shocking the shit out of them both. Gods, I loved electricity.

“When your muscles stop convulsing, let me know. I will be in the house.” I said, walking away from the twitching males. “I know where Henley is.”