Chase pulled the human side of the three wolves
who now lay bleeding on the ground. The pack took them inside for
questioning. Peaches cried in earnest now. One of the men captured
had been her lover.
“Thank the Goddess; we got a break and can
get some answers about the hostages
,” Alpha Chase said. Angus
could tell the Alpha’s mood had taken an upswing.
“Tell me what you know about this one
?”
Angus nodded to Peaches.
“I met her 10 years ago. She had
been orphaned and petitioned to join the pack. Jasper thought I
would like her, he was right. We lived together three years before
her wandering eyes got old. I figured if she wanted other men, she
could be with them from another address. She denied everything as
if I couldn’t smell a lie or the semen from other men on her
thighs.”
Angus sensed some residual anger and asked the
same question about the bartender.
“He petitioned to join the pack five years
past, came from New York I think but we’ll have that confirmed
soon. Quiet, never had any problems or complaints from him. Now I
see there’s good reason but I am surprised he tried to drug
Jasper
.
Most of the pack knows he’s Alpha-trained and could
smell the drug no matter how they masked it
.”
They parked in the secured underground area and
took the prisoners to the dungeon. Having read Peaches thoughts,
Angus handed her over to Jasper to process and grabbed the
bartender’s arm. The full-blood struggled to get away. Angus was
surprised this man was aware of mental transference and fought to
keep his thoughts and identity a secret.
Fortunately the bracelet proved stronger and
Angus smiled. Brennan Writ was a leader in the rebellion. Finally
they had caught a big fish.
Chapter 11
Hawke looked at the test results and shook his
head. Some of the components couldn’t be found in any of the
databases he accessed and he was 90 percent sure they killed
Froggy. There simply wasn’t anything else. But he needed proof to
present to La Patron.
Dr. Passen walked into the lab and handed him a
folder. “I couldn’t find anything. Whatever it was, or is,
dissipated before I completed the autopsy.”
Hawke read the file. He whistled. “Cause of
death, asphyxiation?” He looked at the doctor. “No air?”
“Yes. Whatever he ingested stopped his red
blood cells from delivering oxygen and it killed him.”
“Any ideas what could do that?” Hawke asked
reading the rest of the autopsy findings.
“Could be a number of things, all would leave
evidence and I didn’t find anything,” the doctor said. “Something
passed through his system like a ghost leaving death and
destruction behind.”
Hawke looked at him. “Sounds like a
finely-crafted weapon. Have you checked for traces of that poison
found in the lotions Victoria used?”
Passen frowned. “No, Matt has those notes but
he isn’t allowed to return until the quarantine’s lifted. Let me
see if I can find the data to run those tests.” He headed to the
door and stopped. “You think this is some sort of chemical warfare
testing?”
Hawke closed the file and met the doctor’s
gaze. “Maybe, it’s too soon to tell. Either we’re deliberately
being kept in the dark or we have another enemy without a name.
Neither of those are good.”
“You’re right. I’ll go and run those tests.”
Passen closed the door.
Hawke sat at the table to read through the file
again, certain a clue was in the pages. The door opened and Damian
sat across from him.
“You okay?” Hawke asked without looking
up.
“Not really.”
Hawke’s gaze met his son’s tortured stare. “He
was talking to me and fell dead,” Damian said in a ragged voice.
“Who would want to hurt an old guy like that? He was nice to
everybody, would help with anything and always listened when…
whenever.” His eyes filled and he looked down at the table. “I
don’t get it. Why?” He shook his head. “Makes no sense, he
should’ve been safe, we should all be safe but somehow he’s dead.”
He looked at Hawke with a plea in his eyes. “What’s going on? Are
we under attack or something?”
Leaders like La Patron were always under
attack, it came with the job description. “I don’t know. We’re
looking for clues trying to get answers.” He wouldn’t lie to
Damian, especially since he’d been with the man when he died. But
there were things he wouldn’t say.
“So is what he died from…” He paused, looked
around the room. “Is it contagious?”
Hawke’s chest squeezed. He reached across the
table for Damian’s hand. After a few seconds, Damian took his hand
and held it.
“Look at me,” Hawke said, his tone
even.
Damian met his gaze.
“I don’t know. If it is, we’ll work through
this together. Do you hear me?” He shook Damian’s hand.
“Together.”
“Yes, Sir, together.”
“Good. Have you eaten or rested?” Hawke
asked.
“No. Every time I close my eyes, I see him.”
Damian shook his head. “For some reason, I can’t shake it like I
did before.”
“With Gordon?” Hawke mentioned the name of the
individual who cared for Damian while he was with the Liege. Damian
had loved the man as a father and had witnessed his death at the
hands of another Liege Lord.
Damian nodded. “This is different. Froggy was a
good friend. He accepted people for who they were; no expectations.
And he was that way from the first day.” He sat back in the seat
with his head bent forward. “He was a good friend.”
Hawke knew his son hurt for the old man but
other than what he’d already told him, didn’t have more to say on
the matter. Besides, he needed to identify the isolated strains in
Froggy’s blood.
“Have they finished in his office?” Damian
asked.
“Yes, but La Patron doesn’t want anyone in
there, why?”
“Thought I’d take a look around.”
“That’d be good after it’s cleared. You can lay
over there, get some rest.” He pointed to the long leather sofa
against the wall.
Damian looked at it for a few seconds and then
walked over and stretched out. “Maybe for a few
minutes.”
Hawke nodded and continued searching for
answers. He knew La Patron gave him and the doctor space to go over
all the information but would expect answers soon.
A ringing sound went off in the room. Hawke
stared at the phone for a few seconds and then answered.
“Hello?”
“Hey, sorry about this interruption; La Patron
doesn’t want mental transmissions while the quarantine is in
effect,” said Matt, the other doctor on staff. He lived in town
with his mate, Davian, Jasmine’s ex-husband.
Hawke chuckled. “I can’t remember the last time
I used a land line phone, it took me by surprise that’s all. What’s
going on?”
“Just got a call from Passen about the
chemicals that were used against Jasmine’s mom. He doesn’t have the
clearance for me to share that with him but you do. Let’s hope this
stuff isn’t being used, it’s deadly but traceable. You’ll be able
to isolate and identify it within an hour.”
Pleased to finally have some good news, Hawke
keyed in his information and accessed the database requiring his
codes.
“Okay I’m in, what am I looking for?” He typed
in the name of the compound and soon read the
description.
“Don’t be surprised if you or La Patron gets a
call over this. Make sure to clear your response, if any with him,”
Matt said.
“Will do, thanks. Says here this enters the
skin on contact, so it’s contagious?” Hawke glanced at Damian,
asleep on the sofa.
“Highly. That’s the reason for the quarantine.
I don’t know how it affects half-bloods fully since the pups
received trace amounts and they were so young but I think it would
kill us. Especially in a concentrated dose.”
“Passen told you about the autopsy. Froggy died
within 30 minutes of contact, even his wolf wouldn’t respond. Does
that sound like this chemical?”
“He didn’t mention Froggy’s wolf not responding
but I should’ve guessed with La Patron in the room. He would’ve
tried to save him through his wolf.”
“Have you ever heard of anything that would
destroy both so quickly?” Hawke asked reading more data about the
poison.
“No. Sounds like someone’s experimenting on
eliminating dual-natured people and understood they must kill both
for death to occur. The question is who would benefit from that and
who would go through the expense to create an extinction drug
against us?”
Hawke could only think of one group but didn’t
mention them. “It’s something to think about.”
Chapter 12
Jasmine and Asia sat in the main room of the
bomb shelter watching the children play games and watch movies. Her
mom and Jacques were in one of the back rooms resting. Jasmine’s
concern for Rose kept her tense. When they received orders from
Silas to move below, she noticed how pale her daughter-in-law
became. How could they be quarantined when Rose could have the baby
any moment? Tyrone left after they were settled and Rose’s fear
skyrocketed. Fortunately, Tyrone returned soon and stayed in the
room with his mate keeping her calm. Being in a crisis situation
didn’t help.
Danielle worked on the laptop scouring through
camera feeds for Tyrese, who worked with Hank, looking for clues on
who killed Froggy. Poor Frogs, every time Jasmine saw him in the
compound, he always sent her a smile and took her teasing in
stride. He had been a perfectionist, demanding but always produced
great results.
Asia looked at her. “
You’re
worried
?”
“Yes, Silas hasn’t contacted me
since he sent us here, which means he doesn’t have any more
information on how Frogs died.”
“It’s only been a few hours
,” Asia
said.
“Six; the kids have already eaten supper and
are ready for bed. I didn’t want them to sleep down here but we
need to fix up the beds,
” Jasmine said looking at the kids. Her
mind was on all the things she needed to handle - her mom, Rose,
the kids.
“I’ll take care of that.”
Asia stood and
left before Jasmine could respond.
David looked over at Jasmine, stood and walked
to her. “Are we staying here?”
Jasmine nodded. “Yes baby. We’re going to sleep
down here tonight.” She ran her hand through his thick dark
hair.
“Is it because of the bad people?”
Her hand stopped. “What bad people,
son?”
“From today.”
Jasmine frowned. “Bad people were here today?
When?” She leaned forward and met his light brown serious
gaze.
“When we were playing, bad people came and
left. But I don’t know them. Just that they were bad or doing
something bad.” He shrugged and turned to leave.
“David, wait.” She hadn’t meant to raise her
voice and surprise him but she needed him to stay with her a little
longer.
“Silas, David says bad people were
here earlier when they were playing outside. I remember him taking
Sarita’s hand and running to the patio. He told Tyrese something
about a bad feeling.”
“What
?”
Jasmine exhaled slowly, waiting for him to calm
down.
“Someone was here while my pups were outside
and you didn’t mention it to me
?”
She didn’t bother responding to his absurd
remark and opened her link so he could hear David’s responses.
“Where were the bad people, son?”
David shrugged. “Somewhere, I didn’t see
them.”
Jasmine frowned. “How did you know they were
here, then?”
“I…felt them.” He frowned and then looked over
his shoulder at the others.
Acting on a hunch, Jasmine waved the other four
over. “Did any of you feel something bad today?”
Sarita nodded.
“Not bad, just different,” Jackie
said.
“No, it was like an ugly picture,” Renee said,
“didn’t feel right.”
Adam stared at the others and then
shrugged.
“You didn’t feel anything, Adam?”
“Yes, but it didn’t bother me,” he
said.
Curious, Jasmine took his hand and met his
gaze. “Why didn’t it bother you?”
“Because you and Nana and Aunty were right
there and then Rese came and my Daddy’s here.”
Touched, Jasmine placed a kiss on his forehead.
“That’s right, none of us would allow anything to happen to you but
I’m happy you had a warning on the inside,” she touched his chest,
“to let you know someone bad was near. The next time you have that
feeling, I want you to let me or one of us know so we can check
things out, okay?”
“Yes, Mama. But David said whatever it was
wouldn’t stay long,” Renee said.
“Oh?” Jasmine looked at him. “Why did you say
that?”
“They were outside and couldn’t come in, so
they had to leave.” He walked off and the others
followed.