Loving Their Vixen Mate (Pack Wars Book 4) Read Free Page B

to one of the techs at his day job, who hopefully would be able to tell him her identity.
    Working for the sheriff’s department had been a stroke of genius on Sam’s part. Not only could he keep better track of the Colters, he had full access to the department’s national databases. In return, he shared some of the intel secured by his Pack, though he didn’t let on where he’d procured that information. He let everyone think he had the best snitches in town.
    No one else on the force was a shifter, so no one had guessed his secret. The biggest drawback to pretending to be fully human was having to fight like one, but that had taught him discipline. It was hard for a werewolf not to shift when adrenaline was coursing through his system, but Sam had learned how to control his body better than most.
    His cell rang less than an hour later. The news was good. “I appreciate it, Vern. I owe you one.”
    His next call was to Chris Williams, The Pack’s technical guru. He answered on the first ring. “Hey, Sam. What can I do for you?”
    “Need a favor.” He gave him Mackenzie Wagner’s name and asked him to pull up the basics on her. “I’m guessing since she and Jay share the same last name, they’re related.”
    “I’ll get right on it. Give me fifteen minutes.”
    While Sam waited, he studied the video again to see if he noticed anything different this time. Jay appeared nervous, almost as if he was expecting trouble, whereas Mackenzie looked curious but frantic. In all honesty, he couldn’t get a read on her. When Chris called ten minutes later, Sam was ready to take notes. He listened carefully, taking down the information.
    “I owe you.”
    “Anytime. That’s what I’m here for,” Chris said.
    Pleased they were one step closer to finding Cheryl, Sam trotted out to the living room. “Her name is Mackenzie Wagner,” Sam announced. “She’s Jay’s cousin on her father’s side.”
    Brandon looked up from his laptop. “The lady at the warehouse with Jay Wagner is his cousin?”
    “Yup.”
    “How did you find out?”
    “Facial recognition software. Seems she was arrested a few years back in Washington DC, demonstrating against the building of the Keystone pipeline.”
    “Do you know what she’s doing in Gulfside? Is she here for a family reunion, or is she here to snoop around the warehouse district for fun?” Brandon asked.
    “Don’t know, but if she’s related to Jay, she can’t be up to much good.”
    Despite still having a ton of unanswered questions, this video provided the first real clue they’d had. Sam snatched a beer from the fridge, unscrewed the top, and tossed back the drink. He returned to the living room. “Chris did a little research for us. Turns out Mackenzie Wagner has another cousin on her mother’s side.”
    “Cheryl Johnson? Are you fucking kidding me?”
    “Nope.”
    “Do you think she had something to do with luring Cheryl down to the warehouse docks?”
    Sam shrugged. “Don’t know. Could be Jay asked her to give him a hand in capturing Cheryl. Perhaps it was her job to convince her cousin to go for the interview. Unfortunately, we don’t have proof that Jay’s boss, Paul Statler, was directly involved in the human trafficking arm of the Colter business, but we can’t rule it out either.”
    Brandon popped up off the sofa and paced. “Why would this woman come down now? Cheryl’s been in captivity for two weeks.”
    “Beats me. Maybe she’s here to blackmail the buyer. Who the hell knows what goes through these bastards’ minds.”
    “Mackenzie Wagner might know Cheryl’s location, which means we need to follow her, see where she goes.”
    “Wouldn’t that be sweet if she led us right to Cheryl?”
    Brandon shoved a hand through his hair. “Do we know where she is now?”
    “No, but I found out where Jay Wagner lives. If they were together once, they might be together again.”
    “Let’s check him out.”
    Sam looked at the clock on the wall.