Love will find a way through paths
where wolves fear to tread.
Lord Byron
Hugh arrived back at his car to discover he had got a parking ticket, he checked his watch, he had over- stayed by over an hour. Sighing, he pulled the ticket off his car and climbed in. He needed a plan for finding this woman but his information on her was scant, he knew she was called Annie, but he had no surname, she came from North Yorkshire, but he had no address. He wondered if the omega would know her surname, after all he was the one who was assigned to look after them. He pulled his phone out of his pocket to ring the pack house only to see he had two missed calls from Lennox. The phone started to ring while it was in his hand, it was Lyall. He sent the call to voice mail and scrolled his contacts for the number for the pack house. The phone was answered on the second ring and Hugh asked to be put through to the supervising omega. There was a click and the phone started to ring again, once answered Hugh asked to speak to Jamie and once again there was another click. Finally, the voice that answered asked him to wait one moment and after a few minutes he heard Jamie’s voice.
“This is Jamie, how may I help you?”
“Jamie this is Delta Crozier, you know the woman I asked you about this morning, I need her surname, do you know it?” Hugh heard Jamie flicking through some papers.
“Er…yes sir, it says on my inventory that her name is Lovell, Annie Lovell, Lunar Meadows pack.”
“Is there an address?”
“No sir, I’m afraid not, her family are still here would you like me to make some enquiries?”
Hugh thought for a second, the way Annie’s brother and sister looked at him this morning made him think that letting the family know he was looking for her was a bad idea.
“No, thank you Jamie, that will be all.”
As Hugh hung up, he had an idea. His phone beeped with a new voice mail message, ignoring it he scrolled through his contacts looking for a company he had used when negotiating business deals in the past, Guardian Marketing Incorporated. G.M.I was a front for all kinds of covert information gathering used in the world of finance and business. On face value, it looked like a perfectly legitimate market research company, used quite legally by business and social media companies to target products at a particular demographic, behind the scenes however, they sold information for huge profit. Discs of phone numbers obtained through phishing scams were sold to boiler room companies enabling them to target vulnerable people, personal details such as addresses, phone numbers and even bank details were sold on the dark web allowing the unscrupulous to set up fake identities or fleece bank accounts of unsuspecting fraud victims.
Hugh had heard rumours that G.M.I were behind the flood of counterfeit money that hit the whole of the U.K. a few years earlier, as far as he was aware, many of these fake notes were still in circulation to this day, he’d probably even had a few himself such was the quality of the forgeries. They were not the type of people you used when you were playing fair, these were the sort of people you used when you wanted to dig up dirt on someone for blackmail purposes. The Reivers had used them when acquiring dilapidated tenement blocks in Edinburgh from the local authority, the price had fallen dramatically once information obtained from G.M.I had threatened to expose the seventeen-year-old lover of the main local authority negotiator. The Reivers had re-furbished the blocks into luxury apartments which they had sold on a huge profit, even after Hugh had kept one for himself, the pack had made twelve and a half million pounds. G.M.I charged extortionate fees, but they were worth it, plus they were discreet, guaranteeing they would never reveal the buyer of the information at any cost. Hugh had commented to Alpha Armstrong on more than one occasion that they would have made good Reivers had they not been human.
Hugh found the number of the C.E.O’s direct line and pressed call.
“Mr Crozier, how may I be of assistance this fine Sunday?” drawled the soft Edinburgh accent.
“Mr Ridal, I need you to find somebody for me.”
“Email me what details you have on the individual using the usual channels, do you just want an address or full disclosure?”
Hugh thought for a moment, if he was going to pay for this service he might as well get his monies worth. “Full disclosure if you would.”
“Full payment upon receipt under the usual terms?” enquired Ridal.
“As always.” replied Hugh. He hung up.
Now, thought Hugh as he emailed Annie’s name and scant information to Ridal, why would he want full disclosure on a woman he had every intention to reject? He started the engine, shaking his head and ignoring how smug Knox was feeling, he commenced the return journey back to the pack lands.
Hugh didn’t arrive back on pack territory until mid- evening and called in at the pack house to update Alpha Armstrong on the business from the day before. It took another hour before he arrived back at his house and swinging into the driveway he saw both Lennox and Lyall’s cars parked outside.
“Damn.” he hissed, checking his phone he had six missed calls from them. He wasn’t sure he ready to talk to anyone, his head was still a mess and most certainly, he was not ready to talk about not Annie.
“Dad, where the hell have you been, I’ve been calling you all day?” said a worried looking Lyall as he entered the house. “You didn’t even answer my mind link.”
“I’m fine sweetheart, just been in the Lowlands on business, why what’s wrong?” he asked hugging his daughter.
“Nothing’s wrong.” piped up Lennox who remained seated on the sofa. “Apart from you ran out of the wedding last night then went totally radio silent today, it’s really not like you. You usually return our calls or let us know if you’re going to be disappearing for a while.” Lennox studied his father’s face for any sort of reaction.
“I’ve just been busy, you know pack business in Edinburgh. I’m fine, honestly.” lied Hugh.
“You’re not yourself dad.” stated Lyall.
That was the thing about being so close to your kids, they knew when you were lying. It reminded Lennox of the time when he was about twelve and he asked his dad what had happen to their mum, he knew Hugh had lied then, just like he was lying now.
“ You don’t have to protect us dad, we’re adults now, if there’s something wrong you can tell us.” he said as he produced the two empty whiskey bottles from Hugh’s office that he had sunk the night before. “What were you drinking to forget dad?”
Hugh sighed, he knew he had been caught out.