BirthMark (12 page)

“This way.” Silas led them to the room where Siseria lay in an induced coma. The team looked at her through a large window as Tyrese spoke of Boggs and gave them folders with pictures from the aftermath of the explosion and some before. They looked at the x-rays of Siseria and all agreed there was something inside her that shouldn’t be there.

“I am borrowing some equipment from the hospital,” Silas said. “It should be here within the hour. It’s a robotic x-ray machine. It will be operated from outside the room so you can get a better idea of the shape and size of the object. I believe you have her blood work and preliminary lab work. Any questions?”

“Yes, Sir. What is our primary task?” Passen, one of the lead doctors asked.

“It’s two-fold. Find a way we can detect this device without a scanner. And find a way to neutralize it before it’s triggered.”

“That can take months, years,” another tech said.

“You don’t have months, let alone years. We are all prisoners here until you unravel this mystery. I have an Alpha challenge to preside over in a month. You have until then. If you need help, bring them in. Understand, anyone who enters this area must be personally cleared by me.” He looked at the shocked faces of the people in the room. “As Patron, I have chosen you because I am certain you can do this, was I wrong?”

“No, Sir, we…we will get started right away. We must outline our strategy, where is the blood work?” Passen asked, taking the papers and walking toward the monitors.

Silas nodded and left the room, waving at Tyrese to follow him. When they stepped into the hall, Hank joined them. Silas pointed at Hank. “You’re lead on this project and security detail. I want it tight. No leaks, no mistakes. Everything goes through you to me. Make sure you introduce yourself to Passen and everyone in that room.”

Hank nodded. “Yes, Sir.”

“Where is Brad?” Silas asked, looking around; the man should be fully healed by now.

“We rotated out at lunch,” Hank answered.

Silas nodded. “When he comes down, work out a schedule with him, I want eyes and ears on this crew around the clock. Use Jaree at night when he’s not guarding my mate if you need to. Any other guards you use must be personally vetted by me. Your job is to make sure they have everything they need to find a solution to this problem. I want it done quietly and efficiently, but quickly. They need to make a schedule and give it to you so we know where everyone is at all times. Two connecting rooms have been outfitted with twin beds, trunks and a few desks for their use. The cams are active there and in the bathroom as well. No outgoing calls. I’ve disabled their mental links, nothing in without a security check, got it?”

“Yes, Sir,” Hank said. He nodded and returned to the lab with the techs. Silas and Tyrese walked down the corridor in silence. Security guards stood in the halls to insure no one left or entered the area without Silas’ permission. They rode the elevator in silence.

Silas shuffled his priorities and by the time they entered his office he had called Tyrone in to join them. The twins each took a seat in front of his desk and waited for him to give instructions. It dawned on Silas he had never had this level of assistance before. He'd always had his Alphas and they’d do jobs for him as needed, but they’d be away from their primary responsibilities of handling their state matters. Jacques was his administrator, not someone he sent on jobs. Maybe this family thing his mate talked about was good. He looked at the twins. This
was
good, he decided.

He waved them to seats at the table as the large monitor flicked on. Within moments, the camera was active. Roll call would begin momentarily. Silas went over in his mind what he wanted to say and what he planned to keep in reserve.

“Alpha Theron reporting, Sir.” Silas nodded as the next Alpha checked in. These were men he'd personally trained, each had taken his last name, Knight, and wore his crest on their shoulders. That one had betrayed him cut deep.

“Alpha Jayden reporting, Sir.” Silas nodded, glad to see the man.

Within five minutes, roll call was complete.

“Up until last year, we met on these conference calls once every two months, or if a special situation arose that needed my attention. Now it seems as though we are meeting weekly. Times are changing quickly and we, no I, was caught off guard. The human breeding phenomenon was bigger than any of us imagined.”

There was some nods and verbal agreements from the monitor.

“My job as Patron is to all wolves. I control the wolf, so if a person shifts into a wolf, he merits my concern and protection.” He had said those words before, but it bore repeating every time they talked because there was still some reluctance. With the overwhelming number of half-breeds being reported, most of the Alphas agreed those wolves needed to be accepted into the packs. Some merely gave lip service and did nothing to ease the way of the half-breeds. Those were the Alphas he addressed with his declaration.

“Is that understood?”

“Yes, La Patron,” the Alphas and the twins said.

“Good, now to bring you current, we have run into some problems.” Over the next hour Silas explained about the bomb, eased concerns over his security, and had to defend his staff.

“This was not a security breach. Focus on what I’m saying. Someone has invested money to make an undetectable bomb. Think suicide bombing on steroids.”

No one spoke as his words penetrated. “Think full-bloods or half-breeds with wolves so weak they are undetectable. How the hell did that happen? I need each one of you to see the bigger picture. Someone is fucking with us and I want to know who and I want to know why. That…” he pointed at the Alphas, “is what we should be discussing, not that other bullshit.”

“Yes, La Patron.”

Silas watched the monitor and realized they were beginning to see the enormity of the problem, and felt better. “Now I’m going to open the floor for discussion. Let’s take the wolf issue first.”

An hour and a half later, Silas and the twins left his office with an outline of a sketchy plan. Everyone agreed Dr. Passen and his team should look at Jenkins' wolf and make a diagnosis. More information was needed before they could go further. The tone of the meeting was a lot different at the end as the discussion peeled away layers of what these new threats meant to their nation.

“Change of plans, I want Detective Jenkins bought in as soon as possible and kept beneath the gym. After I pull his wolf, I want Froggy to work with him. I don’t care how long it takes. I want his wolf healthy so I can have better access to find out why he’s in my town.”

“Rose says he’s talking to a lot of humans, they are going to notice when he goes missing,” Tyrone said.

Silas pinched the bridge of his nose and counted to five. Once done, he inhaled. “Fix it so that isn’t a problem. Do not bring the police to my door. This discussion is about what I want to see. I expect you to work out the details, the implementation, and get him here. No fuck ups. No excuses.” He looked at each one with an arched brow.

“Yes, Sir,” Tyrone said.

“Yes, Sir,” Tyrese said.

Glad they understood, Silas pulled open his desk and placed a key in a lock. The blinds closed. The curtains moved inward blocking the residual sunlight. He slid back in his seat and typed a few keys on his keyboard. The screen he used for Alpha conferences rolled down and clicked into place.

A few minutes later, the interior of a large room filled with people appeared. The initial picture quality was poor. After playing with the keys for a while, the picture quality improved well enough that you could see the various eye colors of the people milling about the room.

“What was the date you were at the club and the time?” Silas asked Tyrese, who stared at the images on the screen.

Tyrese told him and Silas typed in the dates and the blocks of time. The screen went black and after a minute or so, the picture returned. Silas used the knob to pan the room and stopped on Tyrese and Boggs. They watched in silence as the black female with the long braids walked up to them.

“Hold on, can you check and see what she was doing before she met them, was she talking to someone?” Tyrone asked.

Silas split the screen so they could watch what she was doing while Tyrese and Boggs were talking.

“She’s talking into a head piece and laughing. You see that.” Tyrone pointed to the screen.

“Hold it,” Tyrese said. “That’s Leonidas. He was in the club, standing not too far from her and I never saw him.”

“Do you see any of the others?” Silas asked, searching the room.

Tyrese quickly identified the four other wolves. “I didn’t see or scent them inside the club and I was constantly filtering scents. In the corridor, I knew there were wolves outside but they were unfamiliar.”

Silas panned to the conference room and the first discussion. “Seriously, Boggs was a joke,” Tyrone said, listening to the conversation.

“Watch this,” Silas said. He zeroed in on Tyrese’s and the female’s faces when she mentioned killing the breed during the Alpha challenge. Tyrese’s eyes flashed gold, and although the woman was facing Boggs, she noticed the flash and her lips pulled up at the corner in a grin.

“See that?” Silas asked. “She was deliberately baiting you. Look at this when you mention the pups.”

Tyrese’ jaw was so tight it was amazing the words passed through his lips. But her eyes glowed. “They knew who you were,” Silas said. He fast forwarded to the fight and was impressed by the speed and agility Tyrese displayed as he whipped five full-blooded wolves.

“I should’ve killed them,” Tyrese said in a tight voice.

“No. You did right. They overplayed their hand. And even though they backpedaled at the end after identifying you, they spoke words of treason and I will now deal with them,” Silas said as a burst of satisfaction flowed through him. He rewound the tape and placed the cursor on the face of each person Tyrese identified and immediately the screen filled with data about that person. Silas saved the information and sent it to his computer.

“I’m creating a file on these six people. I want to have a conversation with them. They have a problem with how I am governing, they think I’m soft.” He chuckled. “Maybe I am, but they will never know.” He typed in the dates from the two previous nights and had the computer search the crowd for the five faces.

“No results” flashed across the screen.

“They have not returned to the club since that night, but I am certain they have others hanging around watching. Neither of you are to visit that place until I clear it, is that understood.”

“Yes, Sir,” they said simultaneously.

“I sent their files to your tablets, open them.” The curtains slid back and the blinds opened so that natural sunlight flooded the room. There was a knock on the door.

“Come in, Rose,” Silas said, looking up as she entered the room balancing a tray filled with food.

“Jasmine sent this.”

Honeyed warmth filled him. He hadn’t eaten anything since this morning and seeing the platters of steaks, chicken and ribs, he was suddenly ravenous. “Thank you.” He pulled the tray in front of him and glanced at the twins as Rose left the room.

“I know both of you had lunch.”

“Actually you called me in the middle of my meal,” Tyrone said, looking at the meat with a ravenous gleam in his eyes.

“And I had just sat down with mom to eat when you called me,” Tyrese said, licking his lips as Rose returned with another tray filled with over-stuffed sandwiches, plates and cutlery.

“She said you have drinks in your office refrigerator,” Rose said as she placed the second tray next to the first. Silas watched her wink at Tyrone before she left again.

“I thought this was all for me,” Silas grumbled as he filled his plate with a steak and half a chicken. He pushed the platter to the twins and watched open-mouthed as they filled their plates, leaving him very little for seconds. Tyrese reached for the sandwich platter and Silas slapped his hand. “Mine.”

Tyrese looked at the meat-filled delicacies with longing and leaned back into his seat. They ate in silence until every morsel was gone. Silas relented and allowed them to take a half sandwich each. He polished off the rest.

Tyrone rose and went to the small refrigerator in the back of the office. “What do you want to drink?” he asked Silas.

“A bottle of water.”

“A beer,” Tyrese said, looking at his electronic pad. “Hmm, they aren’t from around here. Now why am I not surprised by that bit of information?”

Silas swallowed and glanced at the bios of the rebels. “They have been all over the place, haven’t they?” He read through Leon’s travel record; the man had been in five different countries and six different states within the past three years. “I wonder if Leon is a courier of some type, he’s traveled to some interesting places.”

Tyrese bit into his sandwich, nodding. “The female has him beat, though. She’s been in more places, most of them hot. Plus look at her list of aliases, I wonder if she knows who she really is.”

Silas whistled as he read her travel record. Tyrese had been right. She’d been to Greece, Israel, Italy, Iraq, and quite a few other Middle Eastern countries. He needed to delve deeper into her past. Brushing the crumbs from his fingertips, he sent her file to Jayden with instructions to complete a high level background check. Being situated in Maryland had its benefits when it came to dealing with human government secrets, and something told him she had plenty.