“Why use poison darts first?”
Silas
asked.
“Good question. I don’t see the end
game here. Hickle teams up with humans who planned to charge money
to stop poisoning the pack. Lancaster knew that would never work,
chances are he’s using them, the question remains, why? What’s he
up to now that the Liege has fallen?”
“Wish I knew,”
Silas said watching the
men on the ground move slowly. The two he held remained
still.
“Then we are greeted by these lovely
buffoons on drugs with their personal camera crew. I’m not sure if
they wanted to test the effectiveness of the drug in the darts or
whatever these men ingested
,” Hawke said looking around the
lot.
“What do you suggest we do with these?
”
Silas released the men in his hand. They hit the concrete with a
thud and lay still.
“I’d love a sample of their blood. If Melch
is still here, think he’ll give me some needles
?” Hawke
smiled.
“No, he wouldn’t but if we told him
these men were hyped up on some type of super drug that might
endanger humans, he’d have them tested. What about the two in the
van?”
“They ran into the wall and are taking a
nap
.” Hawke shrugged and walked to the elevator. The door
opened and he grabbed the red phone. When he finished the call, he
returned and stood next to Silas. “
They saw nothing; the poor
sap answering the phone sounded shocked when I told him we were
attacked
.”
Moments later, the elevator opened. Melch and
five men quickly strode forward. His gaze took in the five bodies
littering the parking deck. “How’d they get in here?” he
yelled.
“There’s a van with recording equipment over
there,” Hawke said, pointing.
Melch’s eyes widened and then narrowed as he
signaled for the men to check out the van. He stepped around the
two men lying near Silas’ feet. “What happened?”
“We were attacked,” Silas said. “They packed a
hard punch, I think they’ve been altered in some way.”
“Hard punch,” Melch scoffed. “You were leaving
and five, no make that seven men attacked. They are all on the
ground but they packed a hard punch?”
“Listen to what I’m telling you,” Silas said
slowly. “If they had punched you, you wouldn’t be standing
here.”
Melch met his gaze and then looked down at the
men. “Altered? Who? How?” He rubbed his forehead.
“I have no idea, perhaps this was testing day,
there may be some clues in the van. They had to transmit
somewhere,” Silas said. “Consider my alerting you to a possible new
threat payback for the information from Hickle.”
Melch nodded. “And I thought this would be an
easy assignment.”
Hawke chuckled as they moved toward their
vehicle.
“Gather these men.” Melch waved to the men on
the ground. “I want them all tested.”
Chapter 20
Angus and Jasper walked along the sidewalk
listening to loud, heavy metal music escaping from the nearby club.
Men and women strolled about freely, enjoying the cool evening
breeze.
“You hear it
?” Jasper asked.
Angus filtered through the beats from the band,
conversations, and sounds of lusty lovemaking and then he heard the
subtle clicks. His chest constricted with the knowledge of what
those sounds could mean.
“I hear it
.”
Jasper contacted Chase while Angus tracked the
sound. In unison, they crossed the street, walking away from the
crowded area. Relieved there would be some distance between the
main street and the bomb, they continued down a well-lit road. The
clicking grew faint. Angus stopped, backtracked and picked up the
sound again. They turned into a courtyard leading to a
warehouse.
With each step, the clicks became clearer.
Dreaded apprehension filled Angus’ chest as he recalled the last
explosion in the woods. He watched his step and filtered every
sound and smell. When they reached the end of the long and now dark
driveway, they stood in front of an old two-story high, windowless
concrete building. Angus did not sense any heartbeats behind the
walls but wasn’t sure that mattered if the full-bloods ingested the
dampener. One thing they learned from the full-bloods earlier, the
dampener worked both ways. Neither party could sense the other,
that’s why they took the dampener right before an
attack.
Walking the perimeter of the warehouse, the
clicking grew faint. “There may be a way in through here,” Jasper
said pointing to a high chain link fence with a large
padlock.
Angus looked around. The warehouse backed to a
sparsely wooded area. Nothing moved. The absence of night sounds
sent a tingling down his spine. He turned and noticed Jasper moving
toward the fence. Visions of the recent explosion ran through his
mind. Just as Jasper reached for the chain on the fence, Angus
leapt forward taking Jasper down. They rolled apart and lay on the
ground a few seconds.
Chest heaving, Angus looked at the clear sky
and then pushed against the ground knowing he owed Jasper an
explanation for losing it just then.
“Sorry about that, after… well, I didn’t think
touching the fence was a good idea.” He stood and offered Jasper
his hand.
“Actually, it was a damn bad idea,” Jasper
said, his nose to the ground. “Smell this.” He shifted into his
wolf and sniffed the ground.
Curious, Angus knelt and inhaled. The pungent
scents of both the drug Peaches shot into him and the dampening
serum were on the ground. He stood and followed Jasper into the
woods. If they couldn’t scent the rebels, maybe they could follow
the trail of the drugs they used. Moving carefully, stopping
periodically, they continued through the woods. The trail ended in
the backyard of a modest two-story home.
There were five heartbeats inside the house. He
and Jasper inched closer. Laying on his belly, Angus crawled to the
edge of the property intent on identifying the locations of the
occupants.
The front door opened and Angus lay still.
Jasper remained in wolf form watching the movements of the man
walking to the car. Something seemed familiar about the man but
Angus couldn’t pin anything down.
When Jasper moved to follow the car, Angus
stopped him. They would focus on the four inside the
house.
Angus looked at his watch. “
Alpha Chase,
Jasper and I are at these coordinates. Is this the home of one of
your pack members?”
“One second, I’ll
check.”
There was movement inside the house. Two bodies
moved upstairs and then went in opposite directions. The other two
remained on the first floor, one moved to the right, while the
other stayed in place.
“Three families in my pack are on
that street. Several more live in that neighborhood. There
shouldn’t be any humans living in that area since a pack member
developed and sold those homes with a strict set of by-laws. That
house is owned by DynaCorp out of California which shouldn’t be the
case. Corporations are not full-bloods or half-breeds and those are
the only approved owners for that area. I’ll be filing a lawsuit in
the morning, what’s going on?”
Angus told him about the sounds and their
subsequent nighttime stroll through the woods tracking a particular
scent.
“Should I evacuate the
pack?”
“Possibly. If these four sense movement,
they may run
.” He thought about the traps of the earlier
explosion. “
Which may not be a bad idea. We’ll catch them when
they run
.”
“Give me 30 minutes to have the area cleared,”
Alpha Chase said.
“As long as these four remain inside, you
have the time. But if they leave we’ll attack
,” Angus
said.
“Understood
.”
Lights came on in the surrounding homes. The
sound of garage doors opening and cars leaving soon filled the air.
One person on the first floor moved but didn’t leave. The woods
behind them slowly returned to life. Jasper lay on his belly with
his head on his paws watching the house.
Alpha Chase contacted him 25 minutes later.
“
All clear. I have two semi-trucks blocking the entrance and
exit into the subdivision. Also, 20 pack members surround the
perimeter of that area in case they try to escape. If you need
them, they’re available. Otherwise, they’ll remain
hidden.”
“Sounds good.
” Angus had been thinking
of ways to test for bombs in the yard. Rather than risk another
surprise, he tossed heavy stones and watched them bounce on the
grass. Inhaling, he tamped down the memories of his previous
failure and exhaled with the knowledge this could be his last
assignment. Jasper stood straight, tense, his body shuddering with
the excitement of the hunt.
“Time to do this
,” Angus said
standing.
Jasper trotted forward, nose to the ground.
When he stopped and looked back, Angus moved to follow. “
Can you
smell bombs or a trip wire?”
Jasper picked his way through the yard in a
weird pattern, often backtracking and then moving forward again.
Angus followed precisely and by the time they reached the side of
the house, his heart slammed inside his chest so hard, he was
certain they heard it inside.
Taking a large gulp of air, Angus leaned on the
house for a few seconds and then stooped as he walked beneath the
first floor windows. Light strands of music with a soft beat played
on the first floor. Jasper kept close to the house and walked
around the front while Angus remained on the side trying to decide
their next action.
Shouts and screams filled the air. “
Come
this way
,” Jasper said, naked in human form as he ran down the
driveway and crossed the street. Angus followed and stood next to
Jasper in the shadows.
The front door flew open. A tall, young man
pulled on a pair of shorts while trying to leave the house. He
hopped on one foot and then the other before his lower parts were
covered. He looked up and down the street as the garage door
opened.
Whoever had been upstairs ran down and headed
toward the cars. Within seconds all four of them were in two
vehicles, pulling out of their driveway, one behind the
other.
“What did you do?” Angus asked
Jasper,
“One of my pack mates rolled a stink ball to
me. I shifted and threw it inside.”
“You opened the front door?” Angus looked at
the front of the house.
“No, they have a doggy door, I threw it in
through there.” He pointed to the bottom of the door. “Works right
away and then I ran over here. Figured if they can’t sense us, we
can hide close and search the house after they leave.”
Angus didn’t want to be ruled by fear but
common sense said no one should enter that house until after the
bomb unit said it was safe. “
Your Alpha is sending in a team to
check things out here first, they have both cars at the exits,
let’s go
.”
He turned and ran in the direction of the
subdivision entrance. When he arrived all four full-bloods lay on
their stomachs on the ground, blood oozing from cuts and open
gashes in their skin. Angus frowned. They should be
healing.
One of the men guarding the four threw Jasper a
pair of pants and then a shirt. Angus knelt next to the first one
and placed his hand on his arm. The next second his bracelet
tingled as he sifted through memories to get an idea who this man
was. “What’s your name?”
The young rebel didn’t respond.
“How come we can’t smell your wolf?” The rebel,
whose name was Harold, stiffened and then relaxed.
“More importantly what kind of damage did it do
to your wolf? You’re still bleeding.”
Angus moved to the next rebel, searched his
memories while asking questions. By the time he reached the fourth
rebel, he didn’t expect any answers but this one bled more than the
others and was afraid.
“What’s your name?” Angus asked.
“Johan. Why am I still bleeding?” he asked, his
voice trembling.
So young and gullible. “I think it’s because of
the drug you took to mask your scent. How much have you
had?”
“Don’t answer that,” Harold snapped.
Angus looked at Jasper. “These three need to be
locked up for now. This one needs a doctor before he bleeds
out.”
Jasper nodded and pulled Harold up roughly and
then walked him to the van. Harold yelled instructions and threats
to Johan until Jasper shut the door in his face. Angus placed his
hand on Johan’s back.
“We need medical assistance now or we’ll
lose him
,” he said to Alpha Chase.
“Two minutes. They’re turning off the
freeway now. I’m preparing a welcome for the ones Jasper’s bringing
in,
” Chase said.
Angus focused on going deeper into Johan’s
memories. Were these four involved with the murder of the
half-breeds? Who was in charge? Blood ran down Johan’s nose as
Angus searched for answers.