Her eyes landed on Noah again. She needed to find Chance for him. Yeah, he’d said to wait on the search, but she figured she could multitask. There was no reason she couldn’t plug Chance’s name into the program she used for that type of thing and let it run in the background while she focused on the dragon case.
Noah might feel nervous about finding his twin, but he needed it, too. She’d seen it in his eyes the night before. She wasn’t going to let him keep stalling.
But it looked like the search just got that much harder.
Blake walked into the bar and she lifted a hand, waving him over. As he walked toward her, he called for the others to join them. He looked a little better after a full night’s sleep, but she could still clearly see the worry he felt weighing him down.
“Did you find something?” he asked, taking a seat across from her at the large table.
“The mansion in Idaho just went up for sale. Fernandez won’t be back. And it might be a long shot, because running the kind of operation he does means he has to be pretty thorough about not leaving anything behind. But I was thinking Noah and I could go back over there. We can pretend to be interested in the property and have a look around. Maybe we could find something.”
Noah frowned as he sat down next to her. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. We don’t know that he doesn’t still have people in the area, watching things, and we’ve been there before. We could be recognized.”
“Luke and I haven’t been,” Tarun said. “We could go. It might be a long shot, but it’s better to make sure.”
Blake nodded as he rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “Agreed that we should check it out. But I also agree with Noah, Lily. I don’t want to risk you being recognized. Besides, I need you here. Luke, you and Tarun head to Idaho and see if you can get a tour of the house. When you’re done, you can meet up with Dmitri and Liam. I’m about to head that way myself.”
Luke leaned forward as he looked at Blake. “Did something happen?”
“Liam called. They weren’t able to keep eyes on the van Damara was in, but they’re still in listening distance. Fernandez’s men made her ditch her clothes, including her shoes, so we don’t have access to the tracking device. Fernandez’s camp was just crossing the state line into Oregon when they lost her exact location. But she says they’ve stopped now, and she’s been placed with the other women. They must be in Oregon.”
Lily frowned as she pulled the tech’s laptop closer. “Oregon? Hmmm. If I’m remembering right…”
Noah glanced over at where she was doing a search in the files. “What is it?”
“I’m pretty sure I saw Oregon in the properties—yes! Here it is. According to this, it’s a large property. And the only one Fernandez owns in the state.”
Blake straightened with interest. “Email all that information to me. That might be the break we’re looking for. And we need to move fast. Damara said they’re preparing the four women who were bought. We have them covered even if they’re taken away—I have Enforcers from other crews watching the buyers. But I’d prefer to stop this before they’re sent away, and we need a little time to get the lay of the land before we go barging in.”
Noah looked at him questioningly. “And you’re sure you don’t need me with you?”
“You guys are better off here, finding any other information we can use. And I want to move quickly, but something’s telling me it’ll take time to resolve this. If that happens, we’re going along with Damara’s plan—getting the women out one by one. And we’ll be sending them here. We need you and Lily here for that.”
Lily felt her eyes widen. She was supposed to help dragons who’d been held captive? How was she, a human, going to be able to help with that? Glancing over, she eyed Noah. Then again, at least she was another woman. She couldn’t see the kidnapped women looking kindly on men after this. She knew she wouldn’t.
“Okay. We have somewhat of a plan set in place,” Blake said as he stood. “Luke, Tarun, you two go to Idaho and see if there’s anything to learn there. I’ll text you the address where Fernandez and Damara are, and you guys can meet us close by. Lily, Noah, you guys stay here and hold down the fort. Keep looking through those files and see if you can find anything else we can use, Lily. We’ll let you know how things are going and when we start sending the female dragons over. I’m going to go join Dmitri and Liam now. Everyone—be careful and stay safe, okay?”
“You too,” Lily said softly, watching as everyone left to do their part.
Blake paused and looked back at her with a smile. “Oh, and welcome to our Enforcer family, Lily. This has been one hell of an introduction to us, but I hope it hasn’t scared you off.”
She shook her head, fighting the urge to tear up as her sense of belonging intensified. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Good,” he replied with a nod before striding away.
Noah put his hand on her thigh and squeezed. “You sure this isn’t too much for you?”
“Underestimating me again, are you?”
He chuckled as he held his hands up. “Never. Just checking on you. I’ll leave you to your work. Just don’t forget to take a break, okay? I’ll be in the office.”
Leaning over, he kissed her softly as he stood. She watched him stride away, full of so many conflicting emotions. The sense of belonging she felt, of being exactly where she was meant to be. Love for Noah, so potent that she felt overwhelmed by it. Worry for the other Enforcers. Urgency to find the kidnapped women and get them away from Fernandez.
She had a feeling Blake was right, though. The dragon case wasn’t going to be solved any time soon. She just hoped they could get the women out before they were lost forever, or hurt worse than they already had been.
A part of her felt guilty for finding so much happiness while they might be suffering, but she still couldn’
t bring herself to regret any of it. Maybe it made her a bad person, maybe it didn’t, but there was nothing in this world that could make her regret loving Noah.