Shepherd's Moon (38 page)

One by one, the others reluctantly agreed. All except Billy, who sulked silently near the door. Seconds slipped by, marked by the repeated tick-tock, tick-tock of the grandfather clock in the corner. I waited for his response, for the one simple word that would let me know he still had my back, but he remained silent. And I wouldn’t force it, no matter how much it hurt. This was a decision that he needed to make…

Finally, Aida whispered, “Billy…”

I hissed softly, warning her not to continue. Without saying a word, Billy opened the door and slipped through, leaving us in stunned silence. I bit my lip as I half-considered calling him back.

“He’ll be back,” I whispered softly as the doors closed behind him. Taking a deep breath, I turned back to my pack and in a stronger voice said, “Caleb and Victor are sending several enforcers down for backup.”

“Who are they sending?” Brock asked. We’d had problems several years before with new enforcers coming into town, and as head of security, Brock wasn’t anxious to repeat the experience. We had quickly learned that not every pack shared a respect for human life. But those enforcers had belonged to Adolfo, not Victor or Caleb.

I shrugged. “Caleb’s sending Jeffrey and Mark. I’m not sure who Victor is sending, but whoever it is, we need to focus on training and tolerance. We have one goal and that is to figure out a way to infiltrate Parallax and find out who is behind the new creatures that are being created and how to stop them.” Nods accompanied my comments.
Good.
Afterwards, we go hunting to locate the remaining strays, and on that note, I have some other news—”

Doc knocked softly, then entered the office, interrupting our meeting. “I apologize for interrupting, but I thought you would like to know I have finally stabilized Modnik. She has a rough road ahead of her, but she’s going to be fine.”

A collective sigh of relief echoed through the kitchen.

Jace spoke first. “What happened to her, Benjamin? I’ve never seen her lose control of a situation like that.”

“I think I know,” I said guiltily. Having most of the night to think about the situation had brought me not only added stress, but also a little clarity. “She hadn’t broken the cougar’s skin when I went up to talk with Tristan. After I left, the situation must have escalated and she drew blood. It was the memory of Diego’s blood that triggered the panic, and that gave the stray the advantage.

Doc nodded. “Her experience is similar to a form of PTSD. She hasn’t been lucid long enough to concur, but this theory seems the most likely. She suffered dearly at the hands of that monster only two years ago, and the memory of his blood may have been enough to shut her down completely.

Brock shook his head. “That doesn’t make sense. Modnik takes the cubs out hunting at least three times a week. So why would blood from the Were cause that type of reaction? Diego’s dead.”

Doc met my eyes and frowned. “You didn’t tell them yet.”

It was a statement, not a question.

“I was just about to explain when you walked in,” I answered, feeling guilty as twelve sets of eyes met mine. I took a deep breath. “Okay. We all know that Diego is dead and rotting somewhere in the jungles of South America. However, we have learned that the cats we brought in last night are genetic matches to Diego.”

“Clones?” Billy asked, as he walked back through the door. Apparently his tantrums were decreasing in intensity. “Now we’re dealing with clones? When did this come up?”

“We just found out,” I said, smiling softly at him. He gave me a quick nod, then pushed himself up on the desk, scattering the papers that sat there. “Caleb expedited the DNA tests and we just got the results.”

Brock shook his head as Billy lowered his to his hands. “Jesus — it’s always something with this pack. It’s not enough that Bren has disappeared, which in my opinion is no big loss, but then we have cougars that you can’t communicate with attacking, animals that you can communicate with,” he glanced suspiciously at Daniel who sat quietly in the corner. “And now we have Diego’s clones running around? Unbelievable…”

“Enough, Billy,” Jace said coldly. “It’s not like this was planned.”

“Maybe that’s the problem,” Billy responded. “Nothing is
ever
planned!”

Brock stood up, his face red, but I stopped him with an almost imperceptible shake of my head. “Billy, I know we’re all frustrated. But, we can’t turn on each other. That won’t solve a thing.”

“It’ll make me feel better,” he said.

I could feel my jaw clenching. I’d had enough of his quick temper and angry outbursts. “You’re either with us or you’re not. Make a fucking decision and stop playing these games. We’re all tired of them.”

He glanced around the room, meeting everyone’s eyes before slowly turning back to me. “I’ve always been in for the long haul, Alex.”

Our eyes locked and held for a long moment, the air thick with tension. I didn’t know how else to convey my frustration with his mood swings, his ongoing outbursts, his excess of emotion, but somehow we had to get past this. Brock came to my rescue.

“Tell us what you know, Alex,” Brock said quietly.

I repeated everything I had learned during the Council meeting and what had transpired during my conversation with Richard and Tristan. When I finally finished with the details, I had their complete attention.

“That’s motivation enough for me to go after these guys,” Brock said firmly, as the others nodded. “So, what’s the plan?”

That was a very good question and one I couldn’t answer.

As if on cue, the door opened and Tristan entered the office. He took everyone in with a single glance.

“The plan is to infiltrate Parallax, get the evidence we need, and get the hell out of there without being killed in the process.”

I stared dumbly at his sudden entrance, my jaw slack, and would have been no less surprised if a unicorn had pranced in after him. He seemed more than amused at our shock and casually motioned towards the door. “You guys should really get the lock on that front door fixed. It’s not safe, you know. Anyone could waltz in here.”

“That’s a military grade Cypher lock,” I said. “And it wasn’t broken.”

Was there anything this man did that wasn’t annoying?

“Well, it’s broken now.” He smiled, glancing over at Billy who growled softly. “Now, don’t get your hackles up. I’m here to help, remember?”

“Guys,” I motioned half-heartedly to Tristan, “this is Tristan. Most of you have already met him.”

He grinned at everyone. “We’ve got a lot to do so we’d best get to it. The first issue at hand is figuring out how we’re going to slide into the most closely guarded facility in the world without getting killed.”

“The ‘not getting killed’ part of that statement is the most important piece,” I said.

“No, it’s really not,” he said. “But luckily, you have me on your side. So the chances of you not dying are pretty good if you follow instructions.”

He motioned to the iPad he held and I casually waved a hand at him, too tired to care who was in charge of who. “Carry on, oh fearless leader.”

“Thank you,” he smiled pleasantly. “We have two points of entry tomorrow. There’s a big gala tomorrow night at the Four Seasons. Parallax is honoring several of their scientists, so most of the staff, all of the investors and most importantly, Keenan Fa’al, will be on location. That’s point one. The second is entry into Parallax itself. The company will have a skeleton crew running the night shift at the facility. We need a team to gain entry to the main building, access the on-site files, scope out the buildings, then get the hell out of there without anyone knowing they were there.”

Tristan leaned back against the wall as all the seats were currently occupied. “We need a four-man team to get into that building and scout it before the guards pick up on what’s going on. That team will not include Alex or myself as we’ll be at the dinner gathering information.”

“Well, how convenient for you and Alex,” Billy sneered.

“Actually,” Tristan continued amicably, “it sort of is…but then, that’s one of the advantages of being the guy who plans the mission. I get to choose where I want to be — and who I want to be with — and it won’t be at the Parallax headquarters with your team.”

“Can you just get to the point already?” I said.

Clearing his throat, he continued, “I suspect that whoever Alex decides to send over to Parallax is going to see some things down there that they’ll wish they could un-see. So if you don’t feel like you can handle it, speak up now.”

“I’ll run point on Parallax,” Billy said sharply.

“No,” Brock’s voice held a slight edge that made it clear he wouldn’t be argued with, and again, I sensed more frustration running through Billy.

“Brock runs point,” I agreed.
Sorry Billy, it’s for your own safety and one day I hope you’ll see that.
“But he’ll take Billy and the enforcers that are coming in tonight. Jace, Aida and Zack will stay here to watch over Modnik and the cubs. Zack was Jace’s partner and as a hawk-shifter, I knew he would be able to spot trouble from miles away. He would also defend Jace to the death.

I didn’t leave the assignments up for discussion, and with a quick glance at my team, I let them know in no uncertain terms that I wouldn’t hesitate to storm their minds on this one. No one was happy with their assignment, including myself, but then — I supposed that was the first step in becoming an effective leader — accepting the fact that you can’t keep everyone happy.

Daniel lifted his hand. “I would like to help.”

Hmmm.
As a chimera, he would be invaluable to us in the field, but his lack of experience could get us killed. I glanced at Tristan, but he appeared to be more interested in the iPad than in issuing any direct orders.

“Let’s see how things shake out in the next few hours, and we’ll see where we need you.” Which led me to another question. “What’s the big plan assuming we even get access to Keenan Fa’al at this event?”

Tristan shrugged. “We could ask him nicely to stop making clones, but I don’t think that’s going to do the trick. You should think up a less direct approach.”

Okay, so we obviously had some kinks to work out before tomorrow came around.

“And you can’t just waltz in wearing body armor and pistols,” Tristan continued. “Not that it isn’t sexy, but you’re going to have to work on a more formal look for tomorrow’s event. Maybe Jace could give you a hand with your makeup.”

“I’m sure I can pull something acceptable together,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“Oh, I’m gay, so automatically I’m your makeup man?” Jace protested. “That’s insulting.”

Tristan shrugged. “You can’t help Alex pass for a socialite?”

“I didn’t say I couldn’t do it — just that I object to the stereotype.” He looked indignant, but I could tell his feelings weren’t too hurt.

“Good,” Tristan said. “Have her ready by eight o’clock tomorrow.”

Jace shook his head. “I don’t think it will take me that long…”

“Where’s this soiree being held?” I asked, smiling.

“The Four Seasons.”

“In Chicago?” I asked, surprised.
How the hell were we going to get to Chicago by eight?

He clicked his tongue. “Well, well. The aristocratic road warrior has never been invited to the most luxurious resort in Arizona? Tell me it ain’t true.” He reached across the table to pat my hand in a consoling gesture.

I pushed it away and slid my chair back. “Some of us actually have to work for a living. We don’t have time for socializing.”

“Whatever you say, darlin’.”

“Can we get back to the subject at hand? We need to figure out the best way to get these guys into Parallax.”

“PETA broke in there a few months ago,” Brock said. “If they can get in, so can we.” He tapped the monitor of the computer. “Building plans are up.” He transferred the file to the wall monitor, which quickly rendered the D images for each of the buildings.

Billy whistled long and low. “Do they have their own zip code?”

“Actually, they do,” I nodded, scooting up on the edge of the desk to make room for Daniel as he stepped forward. After a moment studying the map, he pointed to a building.

“That’s the holding facility for the animals.”

All of us turned to stare at him. “How do you know that?” I asked.

He lifted his shoulders.

Returning my gaze to the building plans, the images began to look even more familiar. Where had I seen them?

And then it struck me. The night I had met Daniel, he had shown me how he arrived at Meg’s home — the fencing, the running, the fields surrounding the property. Daniel had been at this facility. He had run from this facility. The realization made me queasy. What the hell had they done to him in there? Placing my hand on his shoulder, I leaned into him briefly.
Whatever you can remember about this place will help us.

An imperceptible nod of his head signified he had received my message.

I moved away to the screen and evaluated the positioning of the buildings. “Well, it makes sense. It’s in the center of the compound and if they’re holding anyone, it would be a lot harder for them to escape.”

Tossing a pen on the desk, I moved to the door. “Run with that theory for now — I’ve got some things to handle. Brock, why don’t you and Billy scout it out today?”

“I don’t want anyone injured on this run, so safety is the first priority.” I glanced back at Tristan. “Despite what anyone else thinks…”

Tristan shook his head slowly. “From what I’ve heard, it’s your safety precautions that are going to get them killed faster than I will.”

I stared at him. “Then we’ve got 24 hours to get a plan together that won’t get anyone killed…”