“What do we do with Olson’s body?” It was one of the thugs asking the question.

“Leave him. I don’t want him staining my trunk.” Mary sighed. “Write down my disposable cell number and leave it on the couch next to her blood. He won’t miss it there, will he, 140?”

“No,” he growled. “He will not.”

* * * * *

Wrath waited impatiently for the team to gather and leave. He turned his head and stared at Shadow. The male met his gaze and smiled.

“You are impatient.”

“I don’t want to be late. I told Lauren I would be there between seven and eight o’clock.”

“Brass and Tim are arguing again.”

“I’m aware.” Anger surged through Wrath. “He doesn’t want a civilian staying in headquarters and he’s still upset we had her there in the first place. The walls aren’t thick enough to miss most of what is being said.”

“He insisted that a background check be done on her and he’s right for that. She did have a strong tie to ex-Mercile employees. She worked with them.”

Wrath snarled. “Lauren is not my enemy.”

“Tim is worried about the rest of us.” Shadow suddenly grinned. “She’s so dangerous.”

“That is not funny. She couldn’t hurt a fly.”

“I’m aware. I saw her face when you were fighting with Vengeance. She’s not used to brutality. She practically begged us to call an end to it. She worried about your safety.”

He allowed that information to sink in. “She will worry about my duties with the task force. We put our lives in danger constantly when we go out to retrieve our enemies.”

“I wouldn’t mention that aspect to her. Let her believe you mostly do paperwork.”

“I will not lie to her.”

“I didn’t suggest you do but I just wouldn’t offer more information than necessary.”

He thought about that. “Do you regret agreeing to work for the task force?”

“No.” Shadow shook his head. “It’s been good for me. You?”

“The same. I met Lauren.”

Shadow smiled. “You seem more healed since she came into your life. I’m glad. Perhaps one day I’ll meet a female who challenges me to face my fears.”

“I hope so.”

Tim stormed out of the office with Brass behind him. Tim refused to meet their gazes but Brass smiled.

“We’re leaving to pick up your female, Wrath. Tim and his team are going to give us backup support. He’s irritated that we’ve left headquarters so much without more of the human teams backing us up. It makes sense, especially after we were taken prisoner. We came to an agreement.”

“Thank you.” Wrath meant it. He turned his attention on Tim. “Lauren is no threat to us.”

“Women are always bad news.” Tim spun, stormed for the door and yelled over his shoulder. “Don’t let her paint anything pink, damn it! It’s still my building.”

“Pink?” Shadow glanced at Wrath and Brass. “What does that mean?”

“I have no clue,” Brass sighed. “No wonder their females seem to enjoy our company more. Humans are strange.”

Wrath had to agree with that assessment. He didn’t care if Lauren wanted to paint or what color she chose. Just having her at his side was all that mattered.

Chapter Fourteen

Lauren was scared and angry at the same time. The backseat was a tight fit with 140 sharing the limited space. She’d given up playing unconscious after her New Species protector whispered for her to sit up.

Mary and one of her men argued at the front of the car. The other man remaining followed in another vehicle. There was no way Lauren was going to get a chance to escape but she did glance out the windows to track where they were going. She’d learned her lesson to be more aware of her surroundings after leaving the task force headquarters but having no idea where it was located.

“I don’t care what your opinion is, Marvin. Shut up. You’re giving me a headache.”

The thug driving shot the woman in the passenger seat a glare. “We should do some experimenting while we have her.” He glanced back at Lauren and his gaze lowered to her chest before he turned to face the road again. “I’ll warm her up before we hand her over to one of them.”

Mary snorted. “You’re so pathetic. You didn’t work for Mercile for the money, did you? It was the opportunity to grope women who couldn’t stop you. Forget her. You heard the animal about their sense of smell. You aren’t f**king up my chances of getting my sister back because you’re a pervert.”

Lauren stared at the balding head of the man in front of her and hated him instantly. She had a sinking feeling this was the man 140 had warned off about touching her. He was gross and seemed to have the morals of an alley cat.

“Your sister is a bitch and none of them are worth risking our lives over. They got caught so I say screw them.”

Mary reached over and pinched his arm. He howled, jerked away, and the car swerved.

“Don’t do that. I could wreck the car.”

“My sister is worth more alive to me than you are. Don’t you ever forget that.” She paused. “Plus she knows too damn much. She won’t talk but give it a month or two if they lock her up and I bet she’d sell out our own mother. Prison is a nasty place and we all want to avoid it. She could screw us over if we don’t save her ass and that goes for her team too. They know our names, we all worked together, and do you trust any of them not to turn us in to save their own asses if they are offered a deal?”