Enticing Their Mate(64)

“I recognized the shorter of the two men as the one who’d visited the warehouse,” Connolly added. “We hadn’t expected the buyers until later in the week, so I figured they were up to no good. I asked Ford and Ty to check it out. I hadn’t meant for them to take them out, but I’m glad they did. It saved us a lot of grief.”

“Did they attack first?” Riley asked.

Ty twisted in his seat and faced them. “No. We were going to pretend we’d been sent by Statler to find out why they were there when the assistant grabbed one of the girls and said he wanted to try her out first to see if she was worthy.” He glanced away. “I’m sorry. I went ballistic.”

Riley would have gone crazy, too. “I’m not criticizing, but why not just subdue him? I’m sure the General would have liked to grill those two.”

“That was the plan. I only intended to do a small amount of damage, but then the buyer entered the fray, and it became a huge clusterfuck. Three of Statler’s goons must have either heard some screams or just came into check us out. Things got uglier after that, but they won’t make that mistake ever again.”

Riley’s admiration for these men grew. “Impressive.”

“We did what he had to,” Ford said.

“You said Elkhart got away?” Jay asked.

Tyson clenched his fist. “Fucker rushed out a side door.”

Connolly shook his head. “I was behind the clinic the whole time. He never showed.”

That didn’t make sense. “Could he have taken Sarah? Did you check the rest of the clinic? He has to be somewhere.”

They both nodded. “Looked everywhere. We found an interior door with an eye scanner on it, but we don’t know where it leads since we couldn’t get in. For all we know, he’s still there—living underground.”

Jay blew out a breath. “I’ll call Trax and Dante. I bet they can figure out a way inside.” A quick phone called confirmed they could be on their way in minutes.

“What did you do with the bodies?” Riley asked, not liking anything about what had gone down. “And where are the women?”

Connolly placed a hand on his shoulder. “The women are safe and the bodies were transported out in body bags. By the time we left, the clinic had closed, so it appeared legit when we rolled them out on gurneys. I even managed to convince our coroner to pick them up in his truck. He’s worked with me before. Trust me, no one will be the wiser.”

Someday, he’d like to find out how Connolly had so many connections—or had the General lent a hand?

“Does the General know?”

“We’ve spoken,” Connolly said.

Jay’s leg was bouncing a million miles an hour. “What about Sarah? Tell me what you saw.”

Ford piped up. “When we entered the lab and spotted the buyer and his minion, I didn’t want Sarah around in case a fight broke out, so I told her to leave.”

“Good thinking,” Riley said.

“I thought she’d left and was with you two when Ty and I wheeled out the bodies. It was then that I saw a purse on the ground. When I looked inside, I learned it belonged to Sarah.”

“Shit.” This was his and Jay’s worse nightmare. “We have to find her. Call the General. He seems to know everything.”

Jay nudged him as if his comment was not appropriate. Fuck that. Sarah was missing, and they needed a plan. The longer they waited, the harder it would be to locate her.

“Do we know where Statler is staying?” Jay asked.

“No,” Connolly said, “but even if we did, and he was the one who kidnapped Sarah, he wouldn’t head back there.”

Tyson slipped an elbow over the seat back. “The buyer said something about Statler meeting him at the clinic, which meant he was either there or on his way. None of us spotted him inside, so either he arrived after the kidnapping or he was the kidnapper.”

That made sense. “Why would he take Sarah, though? She’s been on his side for months.”

Ford snapped his fingers. “He wouldn’t, unless he spotted me or Ty. Damn. We were out in the open, not even thinking that Statler might stop by. He would figure out the General had found him and must have panicked.”

For some reason, that brought Riley comfort. “If he took Sarah, he’d want to use her as leverage to get the women back. Killing Sarah would do him no good.”

Jay scrubbed a hand down his chin. “I’m betting Statler will lure the General up to Canada for a showdown.”

Riley shook his head. “The General would never agree to that.”

“You don’t know him.”