Page 11 of Stolen Salvation

Noah grimaced and the familiar gesture made her belly clench. “Urgh, could it be any more clichéd? Is there even a valley in Leeds?”

“When I went it was all very friendly and welcoming, with smiling staff and a painted airy reception, but I couldn’t even get past the receptionist.”

“Is it just a fertility clinic?”

Charlie went to answer Hurricane’s question but Watchdog beat her to it.

“They’re a fertility clinic and offer other Gynaecological services, such as terminations, sterilisations, etcetera, but they also facilitate adoptions. They’re owned by an American company, but I suspect that’s a shell company. Give me a few minutes and I’ll have a name for you.”

“Any dirt on them?”

Noah moved up behind Watchdog, who was typing at the speed of light on a laptop on the conference room table. Charlie moved closer, wanting to see what he found, which she knew was an excuse to be close to Noah.

“Not a single thing, which itself is suspicious. All big medical companies attract complaints of some degree but there’s nothing but glowing references on the web. I’ll need to go darker.”

“Doesn’t mean they go around kidnapping young girls or stealing their babies though.”

Watchdog arched an eyebrow at Val, who by far seemed the most approachable of the group. “No, but when you project an image of perfection, it’s usually to hide some pretty big flaws.”

“True, so what’s your excuse, Watchdog? Flaws and secrets?” Titan clapped his friend on the back and laughed.

“Fuck you, I’m perfection.”

“Yeah of course you are, Mr Walking Encyclopaedia.”

“I can’t help it if I have brains and beauty.”

“And a vision problem too, my friend.” Lotus jumped up to sit on the desk as she joined in the playful banter.

“Focus, children. Honestly, it’s like running a fucking day care around here.”

Bás’ deep voice was short but when Charlie glanced at him it was to see him hiding a smirk. This team were more than friends, they were family, and she was so glad that Noah had that in his life. He’d lost too much in his lifetime, starting when he was just a few days old, and she hoped ending when she’d walked away leaving him bleeding.

“Okay, this may take a bit longer than I thought. They have some pretty impressive firewalls for a medical company.”

“We should go in. A snapshot of the files will only show us so much. I want to take a look around. If this is related to Cradle we need to know, now.”

Charlie looked at Duchess and agreed with her. “I agree.”

“Undercover?” Noah pushed his hands into his back pockets, drawing her eyes to his tight ass in his jeans. That had always been her favourite look on him, relaxed sexy as hell.

“I think it’s our best bet to start with. Go in as a couple wanting fertility treatment and ask about the clinic. We can have a back story of failed attempts or even suggest we’ve been let down in the past, so they work for the business.”

“That will work to get us through the door for sure, not sure what it will show us.”

“It might be they have paper files we can access.”

“Either way, it’s worth a shot,” Bás concluded.

“I want to go in and look around. If I see my sister, she’s more likely to come with me than you.”

“I doubt very much they’d keep her there if they’ve kidnapped her.”

“True, but on the off chance.”

Bás shrugged. “Fine, Hurricane can go with you as your husband.”

“No!”