“But that’s not why you’re here.” She fought the urge to sigh when Jael nodded.
“I showed Mac the picture of the man who rented the van used by the shooter. Before I tell you what she said, I have a question or two for you.”
“All right.”
Not really but what choice did she have? She needed to know what her granddaughter told Jael. Whatever it was, she had no doubt that was why Jael showed up unannounced at her apartment. Hopefully, it wasn’t an indication everything was about to blow up in their faces.
“Has Pat shown you the picture yet?”
Ellen shook her head. “No.”
Jael reached into her pocket and pulled out her cellphone. A moment later, she handed it to Ellen. When she did, she didn’t say anything. She didn’t need to. Not when one look at the picture on the display said it all.
“Lycan,” Ellen growled.
Jael cursed once. Then she stood and paced across the room to the balcony door. For a long moment she stared outside. Ellen waited, giving her time to accept what she said. What she probably had been thinking herself. As she did, Ellen reached for her own phone. This was the confirmation she prayed wouldn’t come. Now that it had, steps had to be taken to protect her family and her kind.
“You’re sure?” Jael asked without turning.
“I am.”
“How?”
“I recognize him from the video taken when Mac fought that bastard who tried to turn her.”
Jael stiffened. When she turned away from the balcony door, her expression was cold and hard. One hand fisted at her side and her eyes flashed dangerously.
“What do you mean ‘tried to turn her’?” She ground out the words
Ellen closed her eyes and silently cursed. Very few knew the truth behind the lycan’s attack on Mac, Mac included. Fortunately, the plan hadn’t gone as planned. Not only had the lycan not managed to turn Mac but he’d triggered her latent abilities as a pure and she finally had her first shift.
“Sit.” Without waiting to see if Jael complied, she stood and moved into the kitchen. She returned a moment later with whiskey for them both. Before Jael could protest, she shook her head. She knew they’d need it before she finished. “Sit down,” she repeated.
“Ellen, you’re worrying me,” Jael said.
“Good. You need to know exactly what we’re up against. I wasn’t sure until I saw that picture. Now I am.” Her phone buzzed and she glanced at it, relaxing as she read the text message. “General Flynn will be in contact shortly. He knows you’re here and why.”
Only the slight widening of her eyes betrayed Jael’s surprise. “All right.” She leaned back and crossed her legs. Then she waited.
“You know my family’s history, at least when it comes to our role with the Conclave and now with the Tribunal.”
Jael nodded.
“You are also aware of how I’ve been working with Flynn and others, Michael King included, over the years in an attempt to find a way to make our existence known to the normals without causing widespread panic or, worse, war between our kind.”
Another nod.
“What you don’t know—” At least she didn’t think Jael did.—“is that the lycans, and even some of our kind, have been working along those same lines but for a different purpose. They want us to go public and to assume dominance over the normals. For the last twenty years or so, we have worked hard to prevent that from happening.”
Jael swallowed hard and paled slightly. Then she nodded for Ellen to continue.
“I’m not going to go into it all right now.” Before Jael could protest, she continued. “I promise to brief all of you later. Flynn will be sending you information about it as well. But for now, I’ll give you the bare bones.”
“I don’t like not having all the facts, Ellen.”
“I know, Jael, but I need you to trust me right now.” She waited, giving the woman time to decide if she would trust her or not. When Jael finally nodded, she smiled. “Thank you.”
To her surprise, Jael bowed her head. A moment later, Jael knelt at her feet, much as any of the pures would when recognizing Ellen’s dominance over them.
“Elder, I have followed in my family’s tradition of serving and protecting your kind. I long ago swore to do all I could to protect the Dallas pride. Your granddaughter is my friend, my sister by choice. We have fought and bled together. I will give my life to protect her. She has recognized your dominance over her and so do I.”
Touched, Ellen reached out and drew Jael to her feet.
“And I will tell you what I have told my granddaughter many times. You do not have to show submission to me.” She tilted her head to one side and gently brushed a lock of Jael’s hair back from her face. “You are family, as dear to me as those of my blood. I trust you with my granddaughter’s life and with my own. Never doubt that.”
“You honor me.” Jael smiled. “But that won’t get you out of telling me what’s going on.”
Ellen threw her head back and laughed. As close as Mac and Pat were, she knew Jael was the foil her granddaughter needed. Someone who wouldn’t hesitate to tell her she was acting the fool or to brace her up when she needed it.
“All right, here’s the short version.” She sipped her whiskey and gathered her thoughts. “The Conclave had been keeping a close eye on the Dallas pack long before Michael became pride leader. His predecessor warned us the pack was chafing at the restrictions against hunting normals. More than once, the pack and pride had come close to conflict in an attempt to keep the pack under control.
“Things seemed to calm some when Ferguson took over the pack. We hoped he believed us when we, the members of the Conclave, warned we’d put the pack down if they continued down the road they’d been on. Then Michael took over the pride and helped enforce our position.
“Except Dallas wasn’t the only place where such conflicts were happening. From the time the first lycan appeared, the Conclave knew they would be trouble. Perhaps it was a mistake not to wipe them out when it could be done without bringing attention to what happened. But the Conclave chose not to and now we have to deal with the consequences.”
She took another sip of her whiskey, wondering how she would have voted back then.
“We learned more after the Conclave was disbanded.” She snorted. They didn’t just disband the Conclave, they destroyed it. Most of those who sat on it two years ago either occupied cells in a black site prison or had been executed for their actions against their own kind. “Cassandra knew what was going on and encouraged it. She fomented discord between the packs and those prides and pards that weren’t loyal to her. But she had other plans in play as well.”
Jael inhaled sharply and set her drink down on the lamp table at her elbow. “She ordered Wilcox to attack Mac?”
Ellen nodded. “She did. She knew what it would do to our family, both personally and with regard to our reputation among our kind, if Mac was turned. Fortunately for Mac and for us, her plan failed and that failure led to Cassandra’s downfall.”
“But?” Jael leaned forward, elbows on knees, her expression grim. “I have a feeling there is a very large but in there.”
“I’m afraid there is—or at least I think there is.” And that worried her. “We know we didn’t get everyone who’d been working with Cassandra. We thought after what she did to Ferguson and the other members of the pack when Pat and the others were kidnapped, the pack would side with the pride and the Tribunal. But after what happened to Mac, and after Ferguson said the pack was leaving the area, I contacted Flynn and asked him to dig deep into what the pack has been up to. It’s what he didn’t find that worries me.”
“Tell me.”
“He found nothing to indicate the pack is actually leaving the area. Worse, he found indications that there is growing discontent in the pack with Ferguson’s leadership. But he hadn’t found anything connecting Mac’s shooting directly to them. That picture gives us the connection.”
&nb
sp; “Then we use it to destroy them once and for all.”
Jael’s tone might have been calm but it didn’t fool Ellen. The younger woman was furious and, unless she missed her guess, ready to do whatever it took to protect Mac and the rest of them.
“We will if we find enough evidence to support such action,” Ellen assured her. “And that leads me to what I need you to do.”
Now Jael sat straight, as if waiting for orders from her commanding officer.
“I know you’ve done your best to keep the investigation with DPD and I’ve agreed. But that’s changed with this latest piece of information. Whether the shooter actually looks to the pack for some reason or if they blackmailed him into acting, the pack is involved.” At least some of them. “I know, as do you, that Mateo and his team will be here later today. I’m going to ask Flynn to activate your squad as well. It is time you use the resources you have to get to the bottom of what happened and close the case. Find the evidence we need to take the lycans responsible into custody and deal with them in such a way none of their kind will ever consider moving against us, or the normals, again.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And do not tell Mackenzie what we’ve spoken about, at least not about Wilcox and Cassandra until she’s stronger. I don’t want to give her reason to go after the lycans herself, not now.”
And not ever, if she had her way. Her granddaughter had a stubborn streak a mile wide, one she happened to share. She knew Mac would want to deal with the lycans herself, hurt or not. That couldn’t be allowed to happen, especially not now that she was pregnant.
“I’ll brief the general when I leave here.”
“Do it before you leave. I have some calls to make to the other members of the Tribunal. They need to know what we’ve learned.”
“All right, but you need to promise me something,” Jael said.
“What?” And was it something she could agree to?
“I want you to talk Jackson into postponing the pride meeting until tomorrow night. Give me time to read Mateo in on what’s going on and to set up security. If the pack is involved in what happened, and I agree it seems to be, we shouldn’t take any unnecessary chances.”
Ellen considered her request and then nodded. “Agreed. I’ll explain to Jackson. We’ll think of a reason for the delay that the pride will accept without worrying too much about Mac.”
“Thank you.” She stood and, phone in hand, once more crossed to the balcony doors. “I’ll step outside to contact the general. Let me know when you’re done and I’ll drive you to the hospital.”
Ellen watched as she stepped outside and closed the glass door behind her. Then she reached for her own cellphone. There was a great deal to do and not much time in which to do it.
Damn it, how had they missed this?
* * *
Time is wasting, Julia. Have you decided what you’re going to do?
Wysocki stared at the text message in disbelief. Then, hearing members of her squad outside her office, she stood and closed her door. The last thing she needed was someone walking in just then. No, the last thing she needed was for the bastards holding Roy to think she wasn’t doing as they instructed.
She needed to remember she was a cop. A text message could be traced. Except she knew they hadn’t been foolish enough to use their own phone to text her. It was either a burner phone they tossed out the moment they sent the text and its attached video, or one they’d stolen. One that would be discarded just as easily as a burner phone.
She dropped her cellphone onto the desktop and rested her head in her hands. She had to figure out some way to keep her kids safe and all because their father was an idiot with a drug problem—and a gambling problem, not to mention the whoring problem—and she’d been foolish enough to try to protect him. She should have let the Houston police charge him last year when they picked him up in that damned sting. But no, she’d been more worried about how it would impact her career than thinking through the possible consequences. Now her family might pay the ultimate price.
Lifting her head, she reached for her phone. As much as she didn’t want to, she needed to watch the video attached to the text message. Before pulling it up, she dug in her desk for her Bluetooth headset. She didn’t dare risk someone coming in and overhearing something they shouldn’t.
“Julia, I wanted you to see that we haven’t hurt Roy, at least not too much,” the man from the night before said from off-screen. “However, you need to understand how serious I am. You will do as instructed or Roy—and your children—will suffer.”
The image shifted from the blank wall. Roy stood in the center of a small room. His hands were chained above his head. His head was bent, hiding his face. At some point, his shirt had been removed. His chest rose and fell in quick, shallow breaths. Blood, some dried and some fresh, stood out against his pale skin. She swallowed hard to see the bruising along his rib cage.
“Roy, don’t be shy. Say hello to your wife.”
As the man spoke, a second man appeared from off-camera. From his build, Wysocki assumed it was the second man from the night before. As he had then, he wore a ski mask and gloves. Her heart pounded and her mouth went dry as the man moved to stand behind Roy. The masked man grabbed and handful of Roy’s hair and forced his head up. Wysocki hissed in a breath at the sight of her husband’s bruised and swollen face.
“J-Julia?”
Tears burned her eyes as the man let Roy’s head drop back until his chin rested on his chest. God, if they’d hurt him that badly, what else were they willing to do?
“The clock is ticking, Julia. Do as instructed or things will only get worse for your husband,” the first man said. “Don’t bother trying to locate where we are. We’ll have moved before you receive this message. And don’t forget, we have eyes on you and know your every move.”
The video ended. For several long moments, she stared at the now blank screen. Anger, born of desperation, flared. She didn’t like not holding the upper hand. She most definitely didn’t like having her family threatened. Most of all, she hated feeling helpless.
There had to be some way out of this mess.
But how?
21
“This way, Master Guns.”
Jael stepped away from the SUV as the warehouse doors slid shut behind her. The Marine who greeted her waited several feet away. With him were two others who kept their attention on the door in case anyone tried to gain entry. Not that they’d succeed. Unless Mateo Santos suddenly lost his mind, security around the warehouse was tighter than around just about anywhere except the White House. Anyone within two blocks of the warehouse would trigger alarms and appear on security cameras.
“Is Major Santos here, corporal?”
“He is, Master Guns. He’s waiting for you in the command center.”
That was all she needed. She reached inside the SUV and grabbed her backpack. A moment later, she entered the elevator that would carry her down to the command center and safehouse Mac and her family occupied during the trouble with Cassandra Wilkinson.
“Master Guns, he’s waiting for you inside,” Sergeant Lee said as she stepped off the elevator.
“The rest of our squad?” she asked.
“In the ready room.”
Satisfied, she rapped twice on the door. A moment later, Mateo Santos called for her to enter. The moment she stepped inside, she stopped and braced to attention. At the same time, she made a mental note to remind the corporal and Sergeant Lee that it wasn’t wise to forget to give her a head’s up that General Flynn was present.
“At ease, Master Guns,” Flynn said as Mateo closed the door behind her. “I thought it best to check in myself and lend support tomorrow when you meet with Chief Culver.”
“Thank you, sir.” She knew his presence would help smooth the way. “If I may, sir, how are you going to explain our stepping in?”
“You may and it is something Mateo and I were discussing when you arrived.”
&nbs
p; He motioned for her to join them. As she did, she realized they had printouts of most, if not all, of her reports spread across the table top. On top of it all were the photos of the shooter and the man who rented the van.
“And to answer your question, we won’t be taking over the investigation but will be joining it. After all, Mac is one of ours, Officially, she is still in the Reserves and is the liaison between DPD and Homeland. That makes her a federal officer and gives us jurisdiction. But we recognize the need for DPD to handle the investigation.”
She considered what he said and then nodded. It might work. It should work. God, let it work.
“And me?”
“You’re going to step up as the interim liaison.” When she started to protest, he arched one brow and she snapped her mouth shut. “I take it you object.”
“Sir, shouldn’t Norwood take point? He outranks me.” Both as a cop and with the squad.
“Under most circumstances, I’d agree. However, since her promotion to captain, you’ve been working as Mac’s aide. You know the investigation better than probably anyone except Lt. Collins and Detective Tanaka—and I’m not sure about that. Ellen also asked that you run point on this and that’s enough for me.”
She inclined her head. She didn’t agree but she knew better than to argue. He was, after all, her commanding officer, at least when she was in her Marine persona.
“Understood, sir.” She thought for a moment. “Uniform?”
“How about we compromise so we aren’t rubbing their noses in it, Master Guns? Go with the alternate uniform of black cargo pants and tee.”
She could live with that. “Yes, sir.”
“How’s my cousin?” Mateo asked as Sergeant Lee appeared with coffee for each of them.
“Recovering. Tired of being in bed and more tired of everyone hovering.” Jael smiled at the memory of the look on Mac’s face when the younger woman learned she was pregnant. “She hadn’t realized until this afternoon how the general here, as well as Culver, exaggerated the seriousness of her condition to everyone outside the inner circle. Nor had she realized how badly she was hurt. She figured the latter out on her own when she tried to get out of bed.”
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