There was a long pause. Jackie’s eyes filled with tears. “They call us freaks.” Charles instantly pulled her into his arms and held her.
“Luke, take your phone off speaker.” Jeremy yelled over the phone.
“Luke, it’s General Blackburn. Remember? His kid called us freaks and was killed in Iraq. I have the newspaper clipping stating he was killed by friendly fire, by us. I just sent it to you. He was the sniper that killed the five.”
Luke put him back on speaker and pulled up the text. “Son of a bitch. Luke, you’re a genius.” As he talked, he walked over to Donald. “Donald, say hello to Jeremy Long, he was your fathers best friend. You only have a minute.”
“Hello sir, you knew my dad?”
“Call me Jeremy. Yeah kid, he was a great man and he loved you very much. He always carried a picture of you and your mom next to his heart. Get my number from Luke. You can call me anytime. Okay Luke, you got this?”
“Yeah, I got this. Thanks, Jeremy. Kiss Andrea for me. Talk to you soon.” And hung up.
*****
They all sat there waiting for Luke to explain what just happened. “Everyone sit down, please. I will explain as much as I can. First off, I have a pretty good idea who is behind this. I’ll give you the abbreviated version.” Luke picked up a water bottle and took a drink. He cleared his throat.
“There was a soldier in Iraq that found out about the special shifter force. He called us freaks. He asked his father, who was a General, to kick us out of the service, but he couldn’t. That soldier was the sniper that killed the five special force soldiers in Iraq. Fathers to some of you. We killed him, we didn’t know who it was, we thought it was an enemy soldier. I suspect, because the General lost his son to shifters, he is trying to get even by taking out the children of those responsible for his son’s death.”
“But why did he kill our parents?” someone asked.
“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out. Now, if you will excuse me, I have some calls to make.”
Everyone sat there quietly, they didn’t know what to say. Charles took over the meeting while all Luke’s men followed Luke into the other conference room.
“All right, everyone, let’s do a Q&A. You ask questions and I’ll answer what I can. Then I get to ask questions. He knew what the first question would be.
Beth was the one to ask. “What kind of shifter are you?”
“I’m a grizzly bear. I already know you’re a wolf, right?
“Yes, a grey wolf I think, right Jackie?”
“Yes, Beth. You’re a grey wolf. There is a whole family of grey wolves near Charles home. They are some of my best friends now; when this is over, you should come and visit, you and Cane.”
Questions went on and on. Why couldn’t they shift with clothes on, where did shifters come from? Charles told them about the backpacks that Bill and Mack created and would make arrangements for them to each receive one. He also suggested that they all go out in the hills together and shift. Charles would talk to Mr. Cox and the sheriff to find out where they could go and not be seen. They were surrounded by State parks. It would do them all good to get out.
“What about being naked, Mr. Charles?” A young girl with red hair and was from some southern state asked.
“We can shift in the different areas and then get together. The boys won’t see you naked and you won’t see the boys. What’s your name sweetheart and what kind of shifter are you?”
“My name is Janette Stone,” she said in the cutest southern accent. “I’m a red fox, and I’ve already seen those boys naked, I wouldn’t mind seeing them naked again.” She blushed almost as red as her hair. Charles laughed, he couldn’t help it. The two boys just smiled.
“Well, Janette, you’ll have to take that up with the boys. A red fox, that explains the red hair. My adopted niece is an Arctic fox and her hair is snow white. You’d like her.”
“I’d like to meet her someday. Mr. Charles, can I ask one more question?”
“You can ask as many question as you want, that’s why we’re here.”
“What if we don’t have any family to go home to? Where are we going to go?”
That stopped Charles in his tracks. He hadn’t thought about that. “Well, let me think about that for a while. We won’t leave any of you behind with no one to go to. You have my word. If I have to take some of you home with me, I will.”
They asked a few more questions and it was getting late. “Let’s call it a night, all of you head off to bed. Jackie and I have a funeral to attend in the morning. We’ll catch up with all of you tomorrow and we’ll head out into the back country to have some fun.”
Bradley stepped forward. “Charles, if you and Jackie wouldn’t mind, we would like to attend the funeral.” They all nodded their heads.
“That’s very kind, you are more than welcome. It’s at ten in the morning in the old cemetery not far from my uncle’s house. The service will be held at the grave side. Are all of you planning to attend?” Jackie asked. They all said yes.
“Okay, I’ll arrange for transportation to take you all there. Until we’ve caught the man behind the kidnappings, I want all of you stay together; you are safer if you all stay in a group.” That was Charles last word. Everyone got up and headed for their rooms. Charles waited for them to all file out of the room and turned out the lights.
Chapter 23
Charles and Jackie weren’t far behind Beth. Cane was in the meeting with the rest of the FBI agents. Beth decided to stop by Franny’s room. Just as she was about to knock on the door, she heard something crash in Franny’s room. Beth started banging on the door and yelling.
“Franny, what’s going on, open the door. Franny, open the door.”
Charles and Jackie were just about to go into their room when he heard Beth. He ran down the hall.
“I heard a crash and a bunch of noise. Franny won’t answer.” Beth was frantic.
Charles hit the door with his shoulder and broke in the door. As he entered the room, he saw a man wrestling with Franny. “Get away from her, let her go.”
The man pulled a knife, but before he could hurt Franny, Charles shifted as he charged at him. Suddenly, there was a giant grizzly bear coming for him. The man viciously pushed Franny into the bear, thinking that would stop it and tried to get out of the room. The bear blocked his way. The man tried to stab the bear. There was so much yelling and banging, everyone came out of their rooms to see what was going on.
Bradley and Donald instantly went to Charles aid. Bradley grabbed a chair and broke it over the man’s head. The man crumpled to the floor. Donald went to help Charles. There was blood everywhere.
“Someone get Luke, get the agents.” Donald yelled. “Jackie, get the girls out of here.”
“What the hell happened?” Luke yelled as he came through the broken door. The man on the floor was coming around. “Somebody puts some cuffs on that man and get him out of here. Call the sheriff and get him over here.”
Jackie wanted to go to Charles, but Luke stopped her.
“Charles will be alright, but he has to shift so we can check out his injuries.” He told Jackie. “When he does, there’s going to be a lot more blood. I’ll have someone come and get you when we have him patched up. Where’s Franny?”
Jackie didn’t want to leave, but she trusted Luke knew what he was talking about. She looked around and saw Franny huddled in the corner. She went to her. “Come on Franny, let’s go to my room.” She helped her to her feet.
Luke looked at Franny. “Are you okay?”
“I think so.” Franny said with a shaky voice.
“She will be, Beth and I will stay with her in my room.” Jackie told him. “Will you let me know when I can come back to Charles?” She looked over just as Charles shifted and he was right, the blood was much worse. Galen, the team’s medic, was tending to his wounds.
“I’ll come and get you when we’re done here. Remember, you won’t even know he was hurt by mornin
g.” Luke ushered her out of the room. “Go take care of Franny and I’ll come and talk to all of you later.”
Jackie nodded and led Franny down the hall to her room, followed by Cane and Beth. Cane went into her room first to make sure no one was hiding in her room. He gave the all clear. He gave Beth a hug and a kiss and told her he’d come for her later. He had a feeling it was going to be a long night.
“Franny, are you alright?” Jackie asked after closing the door.
“Yes, I think so, he didn’t hurt me. He knocked on the door and said it was room service. He must have known I was in the room alone. I haven’t seen anyone in the halls, have either of you? The FBI has the whole floor, right?”
“Beth, could you call Cane and get him to come back? I want to ask him something,” Jackie asked.
“Yeah, sure.” She pulled out her phone and sent a text to Cane. He was at the door moments later and they let him in.
“What do you need?” He gave Beth a hug. He used every opportunity to have her in his arms.
“Has anyone been on this floor while we’ve been gone?” Jackie asked.
“Not that I know of, other than housekeeping, why?”
“That man knew Franny was alone in her room. We haven’t seen anyone in the hall other than the agents and the other shifters.”
“I’ll go and talk to Luke, see what he thinks. Keep the door locked.” He gave Beth a quick kiss and he was out the door.
“Wow, aren’t you the lucky one.” Jackie remarked. “I still can’t get over how fast it happens. I mean, when they’re your mate, there is no room for doubt. At least you’ll be able to have kids.”
“What do you mean, Jackie, you can’t have kids?” Franny was surprised. “That’s awful.”
“Oh no, Franny. It’s not what you think. There’s nothing wrong with me, it’s because Charles and I are different animals. He’s a bear and I’m a cat. We could have kids, but it’s very rare.”
“Well, I for one, think you and Charles will get lucky.” Franny told her. “And you’ll have a whole lot of fun trying.” That made them all laugh.
“Franny, are you sure you’re okay?” Beth asked.
Franny gave them a big smile. “Yeah. If you hadn’t come in when you did, I was going to shift and claw his eyes out. Before, when I couldn’t shift, I had no way to fight back, now I do.”
“Now we all do.” Jackie remarked. She thought for a moment. “They got rid of our parents before they could teach us how.” There was a knock at the door. Jackie looked through the peep hole, it was Charles and Luke. She threw open the door and hugged Charles.
“Baby, easy.” Charles cringed as she hugged him.
“Oh, sorry. Are you okay?”
“I’ll be fine by morning. Are you girls alright?” They all nodded.
“Charles, we’ve been talking,” she guided him over to a chair so he could sit down. “Now that Franny can shift, she had a way to fight back, you just got there before she had a chance.”
“Not that I didn’t need you, because I did.” Franny quickly added.
“Charles, all our parents were killed before they could teach us about shifters and shifting. Someone must have planned this for years. Someone knew about the shifters in the service long before that sniper.” Jackie looked at Luke. “What do you think?”
“I think you’re absolutely right. You want to join my crew?” He laughed. He was trying to lighten the mood. “You’ve come up with more venues to research than most of my men.”
“No, that’s okay. Once this mess is figured out and my personal business is concluded, we are going home.” She sat next to Charles on the arm of the chair and he put his arm around her.
“I don’t think you will have to wait much longer as far as this case is concerned.” Luke told them. “We’ve made all our calls and contacted all the right people. Apparently, General Blackburn wanted to be in special forces when he first became a soldier over thirty years ago, except he wanted to join a shifter squad. When they told him no and wouldn’t explain why, he must have thought it was something personal. He changed course and went into officer training. That is when he must have started planning his revenge. He must have known about the shifters long before his son ever told him.”
“The government had known about shifters back then?” Beth asked.
“The government has known and used shifters for as long as there has been military. The only problem was, the military never shared it with the civilian part of the government. That’s why they were always hunting us and the military would never do anything about it. Blackburn used it to his advantage. He had access to the records once he became a General.” Everyone was quiet.
“Alright everyone, my men and I still have a long night ahead making arrangements to clear this all up. Franny, Beth can spend the night with you so you won’t be alone. Cane is going too busy, helping wrap up this case. The sheriff is posting guards in the hall. Good night everyone, see you at the funeral.” With that, he turned and left.
Franny and Beth were taken to a new room; all their things had been moved. Charles and Jackie climbed into bed and curled up together. His wounds needed time to heal, he’d be fine by morning.
Luke was back on the phone. He spent most of the night planning and making arrangements to apprehend the General. They had to set up a way to stop all the rest of the people that were working with him. It would take a lot longer to stop them.
Chapter 24
It was just getting light when Jackie woke up. She was cuddled up to Charles with her head resting on one of his bandages. She slowly raised her head and looked at him. He was asleep. She carefully lifted the side of the bandage to look at one of his wounds. It was completely healed. Charles shifted his weight and rolled toward her and opened his eyes.
“Good morning sweetheart.” He whispered.
She leaned toward him and kissed him. “Good morning, it looks like your wounds are all healed.”
“Is that right?” He pulled her into his arms. “Then it won’t hurt me to do this,” as he rolled them over. She could feel his hardness against her thigh. She wrapped her legs around him as he guided himself into her. “My god, I can never get enough of you.” He rolled into her, hitting all the right places. Jackie kept her legs around him. He slowly increased his thrust, going harder and faster. Jackie started to dig her nails into his back, he knew she was almost there. Charles straightened up and pulled her by the hips up tight against him. She had to let go of him as he did. He reached down and softly ran his thumb over her throbbing clit. Jackie came apart. One more thrust and he did the same. He tried not to roar as Jackie tried not to scream. They were both breathless. As they started to relax, Charles pulled out and flopped down beside her. He pulled her into his arms and held her. “I love you, Jackie Todd.”
“Mmm, I love you.” She lay there resting in his arms. “I hate to say this, but we better get up. We should be at the cemetery by nine-thirty. We need to shower and I’m starving.” She kissed him on the nose and jumped out of bed before he could grab her. “Come on, out of bed.” She laughed and ran to the bathroom.
Charles and Jackie got to the restaurant around eight. To their surprise, everyone was already there. Cane and Beth flagged them to come to their table, they had saved a place for them.
“Good morning you two. How are the wounds, Charles; all better?” Cane asked with a bit of a smirk.
“Yup, all better.” Charles had a big smile. He winked at Jackie. He heard several giggles.
“You’re not exactly quiet, you know, but I do have to thank you.” Cane laughed. “At least with everyone listening to you, we didn’t have to worry about anyone hearing us.”
“Glad we could be of service. We tried to keep it quiet. I guess we need more practice.” That made everyone laugh out loud. “At being quiet, that is.” That made everyone laugh.
Just then Luke walked in. “Alright everyone, keep it down. I need to know how many of you are going to the funeral?”
They all put up their hands, even his agents. “Very good. Get done with breakfast. Apparently, Charles has arranged transportation.” Luke sat down and ordered coffee and looked at a menu, then ordered his meal.
“You look like you were up all night, Luke.” Charles remarked. “Did you get any sleep at all?”
“Afraid not. FBI agents went to pick up Gen. Blackburn. They found him dead. He had committed suicide. Someone must have gotten word to him that the warehouse had been found and the shifters had been rescued. It was only a matter of time before we made the connection. They are going through everything in his house. Hopefully he kept records of his sick fucking clients. If it was just him, then none of these kids or anyone else’s kids will be in danger.”
“What about the clients, what if one of them takes up the business?” Jackie asked.
“We will hunt down every client and make sure that doesn’t happen. You have my word. Besides, they won’t have access to military records of shifters and their families.” He smiled at her. “I think you’ll be safe from now on, plus you have Charles. Heaven help anyone that ever tries to hurt you again.”
“You have a point there, Luke.” Charles kissed Jackie on the forehead. The waitress brought them their breakfast and everyone quieted down to eat.
*****
It was quite a sight that morning. Twenty-two people walked into the cemetery; two by two. Jackie and Charles leading the way. When they got there, Jackie was amazed at the number of people that were waiting at the grave site. It looked like the whole community came to the funeral. With tears streaming down her face, Jackie took her place by the grave. Charles stood next to her, giving what support he could.
The local minister gave a beautiful sermon for her uncle. Jackie said a few words and then half the people there stepped forward to do the same. It was like everyone had forgotten her uncle’s drunken behavior throughout the past year. The small community had always loved her aunt and uncle and they all came to the funeral to show how much they cared. Mrs. Cox had arranged a reception in the back yard of her small home after the service and everyone came to express their sympathy.
Bearly Saved My Heart: Quake Lake Bears (Madison Range Shifters Book 1) Page 12