Page 36 of Follow Your Instincts (Fairview City Omegaverse)

Soren

A few more days passed without any leads, and Captain Harcourt put Jacobs on the Heitzig case.

Unsurprisingly, it didn’t change a fucking thing.

Greta was still missing, the stolen jewels hadn’t appeared in any pawn shops or surfaced anywhere else, and he’d generated just as many leads as I expected: zero.

None of the employees of the store, or members of the Heitzig family, had any obvious influxes of cash. The store windows and shop cases had been repaired and looked exactly as they had before. With the only witness missing, there wasn’t much we could do.

“It has to be the owner,” Jacobs said. “He did it for the insurance.”

I sighed. “Hasn’t even filed a claim with the insurance company. And he’s running out of time to do it. Doesn’t seem like a criminal mastermind.”

Jacobs glared at me. “The nephew, then. The guy seems like a scumbag.”

“His girlfriend alibied him, but we searched his house, his car, and her house. Nothing.” Which you would know if you bothered to read a report , I thought.

“And no leads on the witness’s ‘pack’? You really are useless, Murray,” he said, and got up from his desk before I could reply. Our desks were adjacent in the bullpen, which only made it more convenient for him to insult me without contributing to any actual police work.

I took three deep breaths.

My phone buzzed. Maggie. Thank god something was going right.

I leapt up from my desk and hurried outside to answer.

“Hey, baby. Everything okay?”

“Hey, Soren! Oh my god, I think we found it,” she said.

“Found what?”

“The bar, the one in the picture Greta posted,” she said impatiently. “Kira went out last night and recognized it. I’m sending you a picture.”

My phone buzzed again and I pulled up the picture she’d sent. Sure enough, there was the brick wall and a pink neon sign that read “Hush.”

“That’s it, right?” she asked, sounding excited.

“Looks a lot like it, yeah,” I said, my excitement mounting. “But don’t get your hopes up. Could be another dead end.”

“Oh my god, stop being so pessimistic and just tell me that my genius sister has solved the case.”

“I’ll have to go check it out,” I replied. “Fuck. I don’t want to bring Jacobs.”

“Ugh, you’re right, he’ll probably take credit for everything,” she said. She was quiet for a moment. “Is it horrible for me to say I wish I could get a little credit?”

I closed my eyes against a surge of impotent anger at Phillips. “I wish you could, too.” I wanted to give Maggie everything; a bump in her solve rate would have been a great gift.

“Well. Maybe next time there’s a jewelry store robbery that turns into a missing person case,” Maggie said ruefully.

“Fuck that. I’ve got a better idea,” I said. “How about we go and check it out?”

“‘We’? Like you and me? ”

I chuckled. “Not sure who else I could be talking about.”

“Are you serious? Isn’t that like… not allowed since I’m technically on medical leave?”

“Could just be a coincidence, going to a bar with my girlfriend,” I said.

“Girlfriend?” Maggie asked. “That’s new.”

“That okay with you, baby girl?”

“It’s more than okay,” she said softly, and I had to adjust myself. Even just her voice could get me hard.

“Then it’s a date,” I said.

“Can I dress up and do an accent?” Maggie asked.

“Absolutely fucking not,” I said.

Maggie was dressed up, but not in a costume. She was wearing a long, black sleeveless dress with a high neckline that showed off her strong arms and back, and hugged the curve of her ass way too well.

“You’re not allowed to wear that ,” I growled when I saw her, and pushed her back into the guest bedroom by her hips.

“What? Kira said it looked good,” Maggie protested.

“Looks too good. We’re trying to be subtle. That dress is not subtle,” I said into her ear, stroking the curve of her lower back.

Maggie snorted. “I think you might be a little biased. I promise you, no one will look twice at me.”

“You don’t see yourself very clearly,” I grumbled.

Maggie sprayed herself with the descenter I’d brought. It wouldn’t work if she started perfuming heavily, but it would help her pass as a Beta if no one got too close.

“You have to behave yourself,” she said as we waited for our rideshare driver. “No being sexy.”

I laughed. “I’ll do my best, baby.”

Hush was across the city, in a much trendier spot than our neighborhood. We were early, trying to come before things got too crowded, but there were already a lot of people on the street. I tried to act as a human shield for Maggie and, to my surprise, she let me.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been around this many people,” she whispered as we walked towards the bar. “And everyone smells so strong.”

I squeezed her hand. “Maybe this wasn’t the best idea. You need a second?”

“No, stop it, I’m fine. I am helping on this investigation whether you like it or not,” she insisted, and pulled me into the front door.

“This was my idea,” I said.

“Yeah, but it feels more fun if I feel like I’m fighting the system,” Maggie said, grinning.

Hush did not live up to its name. A band playing covers of ‘90s music had the small crowd dancing in the main room. I pulled Maggie over by the bar and got us drinks while looking around. There was a smaller, quieter room off the main bar area, and we ducked into it with our drinks.

“This is definitely the place,” Maggie said, pointing to the neon sign from the picture on the wall opposite us.

“Agreed,” I said. “If only Greta would just show up now, that would be perfect.”

Maggie smirked at me. “Yeah, sure. We could ask the bartenders if they’ve seen her. I could be a friend from school,” she suggested.

I nodded and took a drink of my beer. Maggie was pressed in close by my side, watching the room and nursing her gin and tonic. Every time she took a sip, she grimaced.

“You don’t like the drink?” I asked.

She blushed. “I don’t really drink much anymore, but G&Ts sound like a classy drink, so I figured I’d try it.”

“Not a fan?”

“It tastes like a Christmas tree,” she said, laughing up at me. She was so beautiful when she laughed. Her hair was down and wild, the way I liked it best. I was too busy staring at her that her sudden grip on my arm caught me completely off guard.

“Holy shit, it’s her,” she whispered, staring across the room .

“Who?” I asked stupidly. There was only one her it could be. And sure enough, there was Greta Heitzig. She was wearing a bright pink dress that barely reached her mid-thigh, and was clinging to the arm of a blonde Alpha I recognized from the photo we’d been working from.

Greta and Maggie caught each other’s gaze and I could tell that Greta was struggling to place her. When she glanced between the two of us, I saw recognition flash in her eyes along with panic.

The Alpha she was with noticed her reaction and immediately directed their steps our way. I squeezed Maggie’s hip in warning, but I had no chance to say anything.

“Hi Greta,” Maggie chirped. “You look amazing tonight! I love that dress.”

Greta foundered for a moment, but recovered. “Oh, yeah, thanks. Paul got it for me,” she said. “It’s great to see you.”

“I’ve been missing you in class! But I think I understand your absences now,” she said with a smirk. “Hi Paul, nice to meet you.”

I kept my arm wrapped firmly around her waist.

“Nice to meet you…” He trailed off. His anise scent was strangely spicy and overpowering, but not completely unpleasant. Maggie wrinkled her nose a little.

“Katie,” Greta jumped in. “I told you about her, we have a ton of classes together.”

“Ah, Katie,” Paul said.

“That’s me! Hey, could you show me where the bathroom is?” Maggie asked. “I think I’m getting my period.”

Paul looked at her, alarmed, and released Greta so the two of them could wander off to the bathroom. I hated letting Maggie out of my sight, but this might be our only chance to talk to Greta away from this Alpha.

“Paul Henchcliffe,” he said, holding out his hand to me. “I own the bar.”

“Soren,” I said. “Nice place.”

“It’s a work in progress,” he said, looking around critically.

He was huge, even for an Alpha, maybe even taller than Lucas and twice as muscular.

His blonde hair was long on top but faded to a close shave on the sides.

He was wearing a tight black t-shirt, black slacks, and the kind of gold chain that screams I have a gambling problem .

“Must help with the girls,” I said, nodding towards where Greta and Maggie had disappeared to.

Paul laughed, a short, harsh sound, and clapped me on the shoulder. “I don’t need any help with the girls. That one is just a placeholder,” he said.

“Damn,” I said, trying to sound jealous.

“You’re not doing too bad yourself, old man,” he said, looking at his huge gold watch.

“Pretty sure she’s using me for a free dinner,” I said, shrugging, even while my skin crawled. “How long have you been with that one?”

“Six months? She’s a good fuck, but we’re waiting for the real deal if you know what I mean.” Paul looked me over, noting my lack of an Alpha scent, and smiled nastily. “You probably don’t, huh?”

“An Omega? Nice. You got one lined up already?”

Paul grinned again. “My packmate has his eye on one. I haven’t met her yet, but she’s supposed to be a firecracker. I bet she’ll be insane in bed.”

A surge of panic and desire to get Maggie out of the building as fast as possible and away from this asshole hit me, but I kept it together. “Good luck, man.”

The Alpha laughed. “Yeah, luck has nothing to do with it.”

Greta and Maggie reappeared in the doorway and I moved towards them. Maggie shook her head slightly, gave Greta a quick hug, and stopped to let me catch up to her.

“We need to go,” Maggie said quickly. “Like, right now.”

I wrapped my arm around her waist and pushed through the crowd, which had grown even in our short stay. I could tell her descenter was wearing off, probably due to the stress of the situation. Once we made it outside, Maggie pulled me down an alley and took several deep breaths.

“Oh, thank god, that’s so much better,” she said. “That asshole smelled like weird licorice or something.”

I was holding my breath since it smelled like garbage in the alleyway. “Is Greta okay?”

“No,” Maggie said, looking up at me. “That pack is holding her hostage. They’re the ones that orchestrated the robbery.”

“You’re sure?” I asked, looking over my shoulder back towards the bar.

Maggie nodded. “Greta said she figured it out the night it happened, and they haven’t let her leave them since. They needed the money to pay back some loan, she’s not sure why they did it, but she saw the jewelry at their pack’s house.”

“If it’s still there, then let’s go get a warrant,” I said, pulling Maggie gently towards the street.

“We can’t,” Maggie said sharply. “They’ll know it was her and she’s scared they’ll hurt her.”

“How would they know?”

“Because Todd Phillips is in their pack,” she said.