Liam kept pacing.
Luke was screaming at someone on the phone.
Angela was even trying to reach her team.
His father, Razan, was calling in every available team.
Liam walked over to Vince. “How are you?”
“How the hell do you think I am. We chose to send my daughter out of here with your team and now she’s MIA. Well I fucking called in Rick and he’s bringing over the whole fucking Minneapolis Police Department. We’re going to tear this motherfucker’s place apart.” Vince was a power to be reckoned with. Liam knew the man just reached his boiling point.
“I’m sorry. We all thought it was the best choice. I’m hoping the girls are just stuck in the snow storm. We’ll hear from them soon. I’m confident in my team.” Liam couldn’t be for sure, but his gut told him this was bad.
“I told Rick about the crawl space.”
“Okay, that’s good. I can’t believe he could use the vent system to go from this apartment over to that one. He had to have gotten the blue prints from the city?” Liam wanted a calm Vince to think rationally and help instead of just yelling and losing touch to reality.
“I just can’t believe that sweet old lady over there, her son is the stalker?” Vince rubbed his day growth beard.
They waited another half an hour and Rick and the police arrived. They walked over to Mrs. Anderson’s apartment and banged on the door.
The old lady answered the door. Her eyes widened when she saw all the men and the uniformed police standing with them. “Mrs. Anderson. I’m Valorie Thorp’s father, Vince. We’ve found some very disturbing information and we believe it has come from this apartment. Do you mind if we look around?” Vince was convincing enough.
Mrs. Anderson smiled and nodded, “Certainly.”
As the police and everyone bombarded the apartment, Liam and Vince stayed with Mrs. Anderson. “Ma’am, have you spoken with Valorie at all in the past few weeks?” Vince asked.
“Yes, certainly she is such a sweet girl. She stopped over Thanksgiving night and brought me a plate of food she said her mom had cooked.”
“That would be my girl. Have you seen her tonight?”
“No, matter of fact, my son, Charlie, said he was surprised Valorie hadn’t come home for the past couple of days.” Liam’s anger boiled inside. The man had even used his own mother.
A couple of uniform cops walked into the living room. The older one walked forward, “Mrs. Anderson. Do you know why your guest bedroom has a crawl space above the bed.”
She shook her head, her eyes widened and shock pinched her lips together. “No, sir,” she whispered.
“Can you come with me?” The cop had Mrs. Anderson follow him. Liam and Vince trailed behind.
When they reached, what appeared to be a guest bedroom, the ceiling panels were gone and there appeared to be a makeshift tunnel. “What is that, I wonder,” Mrs. Anderson spoke softly.
“Who uses this bedroom?” Liam asked her.
“Only my son, Charlie. I never knew this existed in here. What a weird place to have a large vent system like that.” Mrs. Anderson pointed to the ceiling.
Rick walked into the bedroom, his phone to his ear, “Thank you, detective.” Rick placed his cell in his back pocket and walked back over to them. “Vince, Liam, come with me. I have something to show you.”
“What could possibly be worse then what we already found?” Liam asked the detective.
“That’s about as worse as it could get I would gather. Unless we found the girls and Valorie, which we have not yet. I’m praying they’re just stuck in this nasty ass storm.” Rick had them follow them to Valorie’s apartment. Rick turned to the uniformed officer, “Mrs. Anderson, we suspect your son to be a stalker who has preyed on Valorie Thorp.” He handed her a piece of folded paper, “This is a search warrant and you are hereby ordered to let us search the entire apartment.”
“I don’t believe this.” She cried into a handkerchief. Liam felt bad for her. But, if they could find any clues at all it would be worth this old lady’s tears. “I just can’t believe my Charlie could have done something like this.” She sobbed.
Liam walked up to her. “Mrs. Anderson, where is Charlie?”
“I don’t know. I last saw my son two hours ago. He said he was going home.”
Liam turned to Rick, “I appreciate how you’re getting all this done immediately. Doesn’t a person have to be missing twenty-four hours before an all alert is sent out?”
Vince turned on him, “Not when it’s my fucking daughter.”
The man was seriously losing his cookies or so Liam thought. He wasn’t sure how to calm the older man down. This was Valorie’s father and his future father-in-law. He prayed maybe his father would have something to give them.
The walked into the Valorie’s and Razan and the others had all arrived. The apartment was full of people. His father walked up to him, “Liam, son, you doing okay?”
“Honestly, no not really. Thanks for calling in the team.”
“No problem. We need to find the girls. Can’t lose any of the three.” Razan was right. Amber and Randi both had been with the company far too long to lose to some little pipsqueak who had it out for his girlfriend.
Rick got a call on his cell and he looked upset, he spoke into the phone then hung up.
“What’s going on? Rick, did they find the girls. My daughter?” Vince was trying to maintain his professionalism but he was clearly rattled.
“They found the vehicle. It was damaged in an accident. Randi is being life linked her in the helicopter straight to Hennepin County Hospital. She’s bad.” Rick rubbed his face first, then he turned to Razan, “Razan, Amber is Luke’s wife?”
Luke walked up to the detective, “Yes, she’s my wife. Spell it out to me.”
“Amber has cracked ribs, a slight concussion as well as internal injuries, she’s in an ambulance on her way to Hennepin County as well. Valorie is missing.” Rick rushed out the last bit of information.
The room went silent—nobody said a word.
Luke had already bolted for the door.
Liam let him go, he knew the man was going to his wife who was his life link and forever mate.
Liam didn’t know what to do. He stood there frozen. It felt as if he was in shock. Randi had been part of his team for a few years. She’d been badly injured because he’d made the decision to send those three girls out in this snowstorm alone. How could it have been safer than this apartment full of men, cops, and even shifters? He’d made a bad decision and now, he might have lost his mate, Valorie. He had no idea how to keep her safe. He’d failed at the one job she trusted him to do.
Razan walked up to him, “Son.”
His tiger reacted. Liam roared.
Everyone in the room stopped dead in their tracks.
Danny walked over to him. “Come on, man, you have to calm down.”
“How in the fuck am I supposed to handle this shit? How in the hell am I supposed to control this thing inside me?”
Danny and Wayne pulled him into the bedroom. “Dude, there’s cops and shit everywhere out there. You must always protect the shifters. You’re one of us now. Control your shit or leave.”
“Leave me the fuck alone then.” He stood there straight as an arrow. He put his head into his hands. “Oh God, I just can’t lose her again! What the fuck happened?” Liam screamed, a sob escaped as he sagged to the ground next to her bed. He knew he fucked up—she was gone.
Razan didn’t know what to do for his son. He’d called every available shifter, man, and woman. They we’re all doing what they could to find Valorie. Danny and Wayne were with his son now; they were trying to control Liam’s tiger. If it hadn’t been such a traumatic event losing Valorie, he would have been able to celebrate his son’s happiness. The tiger saving him from ever dying from a human sickness, it should have been a time to be happy not saddened and afraid as he knew his son was. This was Valorie his mate and he’d lost her, how nobody knew yet.
Vince had sat down hard in a chair.
Razan felt for the older man. His daughter was missing.
Rick had already left. He had said there was no one who’d seen the accident or the car Valorie had been taken in.
“Well, I can’t just sit here and do nothing!” Liam shouted from the bedroom.
Harvey, Hank, Rodney, Andre, and Mailaki had all been called in the only two that were missing was Sophia and Gabriel and they were almost there. Liam’s whole entire unit, besides Luke, Amber, and Randi. Everyone seemed to be waiting for Liam to man up and give them their orders.
Razan knew his son had fallen apart. What more could happen to Liam?
“Boss, we have to help Liam get a hold of himself. He’s got something a lot of these people don’t.” Mailaki had walked up to him.
“I know, I want to give him a moment to get it together. He’s no good to any of us with that beast going crazy on him.”
Mailaki nodded. “I understand. Let me go talk to him.” Razan nodded.
Liam wasn’t sure how he was going to get the tiger under control. How to handle the pain in his heart. His Valorie was gone, missing.
“Hey, buddy.” Mailaki had walked into the bedroom. “I can’t do this alone. Liam, you need to man up. Get your shit together. You got this, your tiger is only an animal, and he needs you…his human to make him work for you, not against you. Use his strength and his animal senses to go out there and find Valorie. She needs you now more than ever before.”
Mailaki was right, while he was in this bedroom doing the meltdown shit, his girl was out there trying to fight a crazy person who was doing who knows what. The tiger rose again to the surface.
Okay, buddy, either you work with me or get the hell back in the hole you were hiding in before Valorie came into our lives. I need you to help me, not make me into this shriveling nitwit.
The tiger was pissed off and he fought Liam for alpha. He fought back with his brain and cunningness. Liam’s human won for the first time. He stood and patted Mailaki on the back, then turned to Danny. “How in the hell do you do it, is beyond me. I’m good. Let’s go find her.”
The three of them walked out of the bedroom and into the apartment full of people.
Razan walked up to him. “You are strong, my son. This is your mission to handle. Tell us what you want to do to get Valorie back.”
He hugged his dad. He whispered, “Thanks, Dad for making me feel like a man. Let’s do this together?”
His father, tears welled in the corners of his eyes, he nodded. He patted Liam on the back then stepped away. “Liam, you’re in charge, let’s get this done.” Razan cheered him on.
Vince walked up to him. “Liam, I’m sorry. We made a very bad decision we should have kept her with us.”
Liam shook his head. “Don’t do that to yourself. We didn’t do anything wrong. Let’s go find our girl.”
Harvey Anderson walked up to Liam and held him by both arms in a sign of brotherhood. These guys had been beside him every day for the past three years.
They trusted each other. Liam decided to do something. He had to. They couldn’t sit here and cry like babies. “Okay, guys. I want a meeting over here.” Liam drew his team over into the dining room. There was a large city map spread out on the table.
Razan followed him, Liam felt thankful for his father’s presence. His dad had offered him his own team as well. He felt hopeful as they had years of training. His father and the men and women with him had been together for over ten years.
“What do you have in mind, son? Instruct us. We’ll find her. I know we will.”
Liam patted his father’s arm. “Thanks, Dad. Let’s do this.”
Vince had followed them as well. “Son, I want to help in any way I can. This son-of-bitch is going down.”
Liam didn’t think past that. He just started instructing, “Okay, Rick, I need you to go over to Mrs. Anderson, get that woman to tell you which car that bastard is driving.”
Rick left immediately.
“As soon as we have the make and model, we start a large-scale man hunt.” Liam drew a grid pattern on the city map. They had enough people with cars to fan out and hunt the entire Twin City area. “Mailaki, Danny Boy, and Wayne. Get your people to do what they do best. Use whatever you have at your disposal. I need you all to hunt. Wish I could be a part of you all, but I’m going to lead this search mission.”
“Understood, boss.” Mailaki pounded him on the back. “It’s good to have you back, you sniveling, cow lickin’ old woman.”
Liam chuckled, that man had a screw lose for sure. He split everyone up into teams of two. Each had a grid to start hunting for the car. They called in several other people in the units. One had a helicopter, he was going to land on the roof of Valorie’s building and pick up Rick and Vince, they wanted constant back up from the police departments that had joined them unofficially. Liam couldn’t believe the support the joint task force had created.
Sophia and Gabriel walked in. They walked up to Liam and Razan. “Sorry, Hoss, we had a way to go in that snow. It’s bad outside. We’re here to do what we do best. Someone else also brought her stupid ass out.” Gabriel frowned and pointed to the door.
Mick pushed Mariah in, she was in a wheelchair.
“What are you doing out of the hospital, Mariah?” Liam walked over to his sister.
“It worked, Liam. My baby is going to make it. She’s fine. Everything healed up on the inside. Thank you.” Mariah stood up and hugged him. She sat back down quickly, her face pale.
“You’re good?” Liam asked.
“Yeah, it took a lot to go through that with your niece. I had to come. Dad called. We’re here to help. Gabriel and I will do our magic. If he uses a credit card, we’ll know if he uses a phone, we got him. Now go Liam. Find Valorie.”
Sophia stepped forward. “I have Gabriel now, let me go over and see what I can find out please. I’ll tell you where Valorie is.”
Liam nodded. “Dad!”
Razan walked over and with a scowl he grumbled. “Mariah? Sophia? What is she doing out of the hospital, Mick?”
Mariah laughed. “Ah, Dad, I love you too. The baby is fine, it worked.”
Razan let a tear slip down his cheek. “Thank you, Liam.” He held his hands together and looked up, “Thank you Lord for our prayers answered. Amen. Okay, we’re going to find her, Liam, the best of the best is right here in this room to help you.”
“Take Sophia over to Mrs. Anderson’s, she’ll know where Valorie is.” His father’s brows creased with worry.
“It’s okay, Razan, I have Gabriel now, he helps me with my backlashes.” Sophia grabbed Gabriel’s hand and squeezed. Liam was happy for this couple. They had it together.
Razan nodded. “Let’s go.” He led the way.
Liam was informed they had access to planes, bus drivers, truck drivers, postal employees and vehicles, as well as the entire St. Paul and Minneapolis Police stations around the Twin Cities. This would be an all-out manhunt to find this guy who put two women in the hospital and kidnapped the third. Everyone was going on their own time. This wasn’t employees getting paid…this was a volunteer effort to find his mate, his woman.
Rick came back into the apartment. “I got it. That woman wasn’t going to tell us. She is in denial; her precious son isn’t perfect. He is driving a white Ford Economy Van. No license plate. There is a sticker on the back door of a skull. It’s large, takes up the entire two back doors. Maybe we can get him with a traffic stop.”
They were all getting suited up. The men and women were armed and dangerous. But, so was the perp. His mother, with Sophia’s help, told them he’d taken two riffles as well as a handgun. His mother hadn’t wanted to tell the police, but Sophia had taken the information from her. Gabriel was holding onto a collapsed Sophia and he sat down on the couch. “She okay?”
“No, but she will be. It takes a lot at first. But, she’s getting better at it. That woman over there was as evil as her son. That’s what nearly destroyed Sophia.”