Enticing Their Mate(68)

The ring of the pay phone in the front of the gas station interrupted their musings. Adrenaline charged through Jay. This was it.

The General eased out of the SUV and answered on the eighth ring. His back stiffened but he didn’t look around, acting instead as if there might be cameras trained on the phone, but if Statler had planted a camera somewhere, he would have already spotted the rest of the Pack.

General Armand hung up and walked back to the car. Connolly strode toward him and they conferred for at least five minutes. The General then hopped in Ford’s SUV and took off, and Connolly motioned the rest of the team to assemble.

“Jay, you were right. Statler asked the General to meet him about thirty miles from here at some old farm.”

“Why did he go alone? It has to be a trap.”

“He’s well aware of the danger.”

Jay blew out a breath. “What does he want us to do?”

“Have his six. I’ll drive Ford there, and Tyson can go with you and Riley. When we near the farm, we’ll stash our vehicles and go in as wolves. Depending on the number of men, we’ll eliminate the threat from the outside and then aid the General.”

“What about Sarah?” Riley asked.

“We’ll find her.”

As much as Jay wanted to go over the plan again, there wasn’t time. The men rushed to their vehicles, and Connolly took the lead. Jay’s thoughts spun. Sarah was out there, alone and afraid.

“Do you think any of Statler’s men know where he’s keeping Sarah?” Jay asked Tyson. There was no reason why he’d know, but perhaps when he’d worked at Statler’s lab, the man had mentioned a place where he might have taken her.

“No. You know better than I do that Statler isn’t a chatty man.”

Jay slapped his wheel. “True. If we manage to take out his support, I’m guessing you and Ford can easily get to Statler?”

“We can, but the General won’t be happy about it. For the last two weeks, while we were training him, he pounded into our heads that he wanted Statler for himself.”

That made two of them.

“If Statler dies without revealing Sarah’s location,” Riley said, “we might never find her in time.”

“Let’s not think so negatively,” Tyson said. “Jay, you can probably confirm this, but when Ford and I worked with the man, he liked to delegate. He might have been a lawyer, but there are some things he believed were beneath him—like worrying about details. Let’s focus on eliminating his back-up team. Then we’ll torture Statler until he reveals her location.”

“Sounds good.” He and Riley were probably too emotionally invested to decide how to take down the man anyway.

Twenty minutes later, Tyson received a call. “Good. I’ll tell them.” He pocketed his phone. “When we come to the next crossroad, we need to park and move in on foot.”

Normally, Jay wasn’t nervous when he was about to take down some scum, but this was bigger than Statler. It involved Sarah, the woman he’d fallen in love with. Sure, his wolf had recognized her as his mate right away, and he’d yearned to be with her, but his human side had seen what a wonderful woman she was, and he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. Jay wouldn’t fail her.

Connolly pulled down a dark road and Jay followed then drove on by, finding a spot a hundred feet away that would hide his truck. They all met back at Connolly’s vehicle.

“Let’s have Ford and Tyson lead,” Connolly said. “If Statler brought in extra men, those two might be able to identify if any of them are enhanced.”

Apparently, the General had selected Connolly to lead the charge because he’d dealt with tactical strategies in the service.

“We can’t tell by looking,” Tyson replied, “but it’s best if we lead, especially if an ambush is planned. Ford and I each can handle two wolves easily.”

That helped even the odds. “Riley and I are ready,” Jay told him.

Ten minutes later, the five of them made it to the perimeter of the farm. In the distance sat two cars—one belonged to Statler and the other was the one the General had driven. An old, half collapsed barn sat off to the side.

“Where are his men?” Riley telepathed.

“That’s what I want to know. They have to be here,” Jay answered. They must have been pretty far from the barn or they would have sensed them.

Ford motioned that they spread out and surround the barn. Jay was to come in from the south, Riley from the east, Connolly from the west, and Tyson from the north. Ford would search the area for any evidence of Sarah. As Jay skirted the property, he sensed another wolf nearby and stilled, trying to decide his next move. The best way to draw him out was to act as if he didn’t know the animal was there. Once the wolf charged, the rest would probably attack in full force.