“Did you release inside her?”

“Yes.”

Bestial grimaced. “Then it’s a possibility we need to be aware of and make a contingency plan for.”

Vanni pregnant with my child. Smiley bolted to his feet, unable to remain seated any longer. “We need her brought to Homeland. Where is she?”

“Calm,” Jericho ordered.

“What if she’s carrying my child? She’s out there alone.” Smiley refused to back down. “Our enemies could go after her to steal my son or kill her outright to prevent his birth. Tim said she’s in danger from that church. Someone from there set her up. We need to retrieve her now to secure her safety.”

“Smiley?” Fury drew his attention. “We’ll keep a surveillance team on her but we can’t send a team to pick her up. It would seem as though we’re kidnapping her. That would be bad publicity.”

“They said she was in seclusion at her home. Do we know if that’s true?” Smiley wasn’t even sure if she was okay or not.

“Yes.” Tim nodded. “I have a two-man team outside her apartment masquerading as paparazzi. We went to the wrong address last night. The one listed on her driver’s license was outdated. She moved last month. We have visual confirmation that she and her roommate, an Elisabeth Goss, are holed up inside. They are refusing to take incoming calls or answer the door. The only reason we know for sure she’s there is because someone called the cops reporting a possible suicide.”

“What?” Smiley snarled.

“She’s fine. It’s a bullshit ruse some of the paparazzi pull to draw out whomever they want to photograph. It’s standard procedure for the cops to do a wellness check and interview the residents to make sure there isn’t a real problem. My men verified the call didn’t come from inside the residence. In this case the police had Travanni and Elisabeth talk to them on the doorstep after the apartment manager unlocked the door for them. They weren’t opening it up for anyone.”

“Your team actually saw her? They are certain?” Smiley needed confirmation.

Tim nodded. “Yeah.”

That calmed Smiley a bit. “Did she look well?”

“I don’t know.” Tim frowned. “She was talking to the cops and they left without calling an ambulance so I assume so.”

Fury drew Smiley’s attention. “I can only imagine the stress you are under right now but this isn’t the time to pull her into Homeland for questioning. This is a media frenzy and all focus is on her. We need to wait for things to blow over a little before we make a move.”

“She’ll pay for what she did,” Bestial promised. “We’re good with patiently waiting when we need to.”

“Pay?” Smiley glared at him. “I’m not even sure if she did it. She denied drugging us.”

Bestial blew out a breath. “She’s associated with a group that hates us. She also escaped rather than come here.” He paused. “How many Species ate and drank in that bar when she wasn’t there, yet nothing happened? She comes in and you’re drugged. Do I need to continue? It all points to her.”

Smiley hated to admit that it did sound bad. He kept silent.

“We aren’t certain if she was aware of the danger but no good comes of dumping a drug into someone’s drink. That female had to know it was potentially harmful.” Bestial inhaled and blew out a deep breath. “She’ll be prosecuted under New Species law.”

Jericho cut Smiley off before he could speak. “Either way, she needs to be brought in for questioning at the first opportunity.” He flashed Smiley a warning look to keep him silent. “She can link this crime to the Woods Church. We have to locate that drug and make certain all of it is destroyed, otherwise none of us are safe in the out world. They could launch more attacks.”

“Agreed,” Fury stated. “We’ll wait until the media hype dies down and have Tim’s team grab her.”

Smiley stewed in anger. The meeting broke up and he stormed out, needing time to think. Jericho caught up with him and gripped his arm.

“She did drug you. Don’t forget that.”

“Vanni was frightened and she suffered. I don’t want her sent to Fuller. She paid enough even if she was the one who did it.”

“I spoke to Ned. He said the three of you entered the bar and you sat alone at the counter. No one approached you except her. That female was the only one who sat next to you. He noticed you turn in your seat a few times and it would have given her an opportunity to dope your soda.”

He couldn’t deny that. “There can be no crime if there is no victim. I’ll refuse to state otherwise.”

“You can’t deny what happened, Smiley. You weren’t hurt this time but who will be the next victim if we don’t stop this now? This concerns all Species.”

“Perhaps she was forced. Just consider that possibility.”

“Stubborn male,” Jericho grumbled under his breath. “You’re going to pull a True, aren’t you? Should I prepare for that? Will you take her from our custody when she’s brought here and make your home her sanctuary?”

It was a good idea. “Are you going to try to stop me if I do?”

“Damn.” Jericho’s expression softened. “I don’t want you hurt. I’ll make a deal with you.”

“What kind?”

“You don’t sign mate papers if they ask you to.”

Smiley frowned.

“They asked True to sign mate papers when he kept Jeanie in his home. I’ll argue your case if you take her. Just promise not to do anything rash. I don’t trust this female and I don’t believe you’re being completely rational. I want to make sure you get to know her before you possibly make a mistake.”

“I agree.”

Jericho nodded. “She also needs to help with discovering where more of that drug is. I doubt the Woods Church only had two doses for your drinks.”

“She’s kind, Jericho. I know she’ll help. She wouldn’t want what happened to us to happen to others.”

“You hope she’s kind. You barely know her, Smiley.”

He couldn’t argue but his gut instinct screamed that she was.

Chapter Seven

“I’ll go with you. He’s a dick. Who knows how he’ll react after seeing that video clip.”

“He’s not going to hit me, Beth.”

“I wouldn’t put anything past that asshole.”

“You’ve never liked him.”

“With good cause. He’s selfish and never thinks about you. That thing he has going on with his dad is creepy as shit too. He’s a grown man but it’s as if he’s so far up his dad’s ass he can’t think for himself. He said he wasn’t part of that church but he’s never publically opposed them either. I checked online. He was photographed a lot with his daddy before you dated him. I think he hid the association because he knew you wouldn’t date him otherwise. He sure as hell wouldn’t want to marry one of those insane groupies that hang with that church.”

“What does that mean?”

Beth sighed, looking frustrated. “They are a bunch of paranoid idiots. You were perfect, Vanni. Your brother is a cop, your sister is the poster child for housewives and your parents have been married forever. You clean up nice and have no criminal history. The perfect wife, image wise.”

Vanni shrugged. “He did ask me to marry him against his father’s wishes.”

“I bet that old son of a bitch is happy as shit this happened.”

“Maybe.”

“Is he going to be there? He’s so nasty.” Beth frowned.

“No, Gregory isn’t there. Carl said his dad is too busy at the church to get away. This is a nightmare for them too, with all the reporters. I’m just going to drop off the ring, grab my stuff and get out. He said he had to hide there from reporters.”

Beth lifted one hand, fisted it by her shoulder and pinched the thumb and forefinger of her other hand together, swinging it back and forth. “That’s me playing the violin.” She dropped her hands to her side.

Vanni laughed. “You’re so mean.”

“He’s holding your shit for ransom.”

“I owe him the courtesy of doing this in person.”