Page 86 of Omega Tricked

Gabriele shook his head and moved away. “Stupid, stubborn fool.”

Hank went at Charles again, jolting the alpha until he was nearly unconscious. I couldn’t take it anymore, and I stopped Hank. “Wait. Give him a minute to breathe.”

“If you two can’t handle this part, you need to not be here,” Hank grumbled. “I can’t be effective if you keep stopping me.”

He was right. I knew he was spot-on. Gabriele and I had no stomach for torture, and we were doing more harm than good. But I didn’t want to kill Charles; I just wanted a name. Someone I could punish. I sank onto my haunches next to the quivering, groaning alpha. He didn’t want to tell me who killed Dad, but maybe he’d tell me why they’d been killed. “Charles, why did my dad have to die?”

“He wouldn’t stop,” he wheezed. “He just wouldn’t stop coming after Jack and Carter.”

I knew that to be true. Dad had been obsessed with those two. “Were you there when Dad died?”

“No,” he whispered.

Gabriele raked a shaky hand through his dark hair. “If he wasn’t even there, come on, Lex. Why would we kill him?”

“I’m not trying to kill him,” I said softly. “I’m looking for answers.”

Giving Hank an uneasy glance, Gabriele said, “He’s already weak. If you keep shocking him, he’s probably going to die of a heart attack.”

“So what?” Hank’s face was flushed and angry.

Charles’s color was kind of gray and his breathing uneven. I could hear Dylan swearing and yelling upstairs, and my natural disgust for Hank’s techniques took over. “Let’s take a break.”

“I’m sorry?” Hank looked about ready to murder. “That isn’t how this works. You don’t get fucking lunch breaks during an interrogation.”

Gabriele had left the room, and when he returned, he knelt beside Charles with a damp washcloth. He smoothed it over the alpha’s slack features, a worried line between his dark brows. “I believe him when he says he didn’t kill Corbin.”

“That’s not the point,” Hank snapped. “He’s supposed to tell us who did kill Corbin.”

“If you kill him, he can’t talk.” I met Hank’s resentful gaze. “We’re taking a break until tomorrow. He’ll be stronger then.”

“Un-fucking-believable.” Hank strode from the room, his expression grim. The front door slammed.

Gabriele and I looked at each other.

“Do you have it in you to kill Charles and Dylan?” Gabriele looked bewildered. “I don’t think Charles killed your dad, and I know Dylan didn’t.”

I rubbed my face roughly, my gut churning. “If I let them go, they’ll go straight to the cops.”

“But we’d be long gone by then, and they couldn’t prove shit. Do you really have it in you to…killDylan?” He didn’t look convinced. “You seem to have a soft spot for him.”

“When the hell did this get so complicated?” I shouted in frustration, feeling bad when he winced. I sucked in a deep breath and said more calmly, “Do you believe in the Ancients?”

He frowned. “I do in theory.”

“But do you believe they would come and kill my dad because he was hunting Jack and Carter? Why would they even care about Jack and Carter that much?”

“Special,” mumbled Charles.

We both looked at him in surprise. Charles was semiconscious, but he’d responded to my question. I met Gabriele’s startled gaze, and he widened his eyes. “Ask him something else,” he mouthed at me.

I addressed Charles, “Special how?”

Charles groaned, and his lips moved a few times before he whispered, “Babies. Have to protect them and the babies.”

I frowned at Gabriele, and he looked equally confused. “What babies?” he asked softly.

“S.E.O. babies.” Charles opened his eyes suddenly, and he looked confused. He sat up, his expression dazed. “What’s happening?”