Wolf in League

by A. F. Henley

  Matthew shrugged. "I don't know." He clicked on the penlight. "Can I...?" He bit his lip, looked at Gavin directly. "I don't want to hurt anything, but I'd like to have a look."

  Gavin gave the penlight an uneasy glance. "I'm not sure about that, Matthew. I don't have much in the way of vision now, if you know what I mean. Manufactured light isn't sunlight, but I'd hate to find out it causes damage that would be irreparable. Especially on my eyes."

  He offered Matthew a nervous smile. "I have too many good things to look at these days."

  It was a point that Matthew could understand, but the suggestion of an idea had begun to wake in the far corner of his brain that he wasn't willing to let go back to sleep. He didn't really know what it was, or even what it could be, but when things started to creep out of the darkness, he tended to let them come. They usually proved to be the start of something big.

  They weren't his eyes, however, and Gavin had every right to question the risk.

  Matthew clicked the penlight off and tucked it away. "All right. Keep a watch on it, though. Let me know if it gets worse. " He stopped, rethinking. "Or maybe I should say 'if it gets any better.'"

  Gavin nodded. "All right."

  "Or if anything else changes," Matthew added.

  "You betcha."

  "Anything at all," Matthew insisted.

  "Yes, Doctor." Gavin's expression was one of absolute amusement.

  "Good boy." Matthew blinked at Gavin and sent him a mock 'I-mean-it' glare.

  Then he turned to Chuckles. He was all for being upfront and honest, but if the GDBCG was doing something sinister with Gavin's name on it, and if this twinge of whatever-it-was with Gavin's eyes ended up actually being something deserving of concern, then he would cover all of his bases while attempting to uphold his character. "What do we have to do to get you in?"

  "Be in the right place at the right time," Chuckles said. He held up a thumb drive. "And use this."

  *~*~*

  They weren't going to the GDBCG alone, and Matthew wasn't sure if he was nervous about that or relieved. While Henry, Rafe and Roly (who was one heck of a good-sized man and no doubt one heck of a good-sized wolf when the time came around) would be staying back at the house with the kids, the rest of the group would be going to the Center together. That made nine of them, and to Matthew that felt like an entire army. He wasn't even sure they'd get past security with that many outsiders. Especially at the end of the business day. Unfortunately traveling so late was a necessity in order to avoid the sunlight.

  Of course, the wolves of Wolf weren't exactly outsiders to the GDBCG. They were 'people of interest' and, perhaps—hopefully—their presence would be welcomed. It had, after all, been a while since the Center had heard from any of them. And that had been the point of his and Gavin's mission... to track down and find out what was going on with the O'Connells' mighty pack of shifters. If worse came to worst, Matthew figured he'd present them with a "bird in the hand is better than two in the bush" perspective, but he could only hope he wasn't leading the men to their own slaughter.

  They travelled in two vehicles: Vaughn's pickup and Matthew's car. The pickup held Vaughn and Randy in the cab. Jim and Abe sat in the box, not seeming to be too concerned about the jostling or the slight bite in the wind. Matthew's car, which comfortably sat two men and a briefcase at the most, had the two of them in the front—him and Gavin—and two others in the back: David and Chris. Even with the seats drawn up far too closely for safe driving, causing him and Gavin to perch with folded knees and elbows like praying mantises, the guys behind looked to be worse off. They both sat with their awkwardly cocked knees pointing at each other and their arms tucked against their torsos.

  Neither man complained, however. No one did. No one really said anything at all. Only the falling leaves kept up any chatter, sweeping across the windshield and flinging themselves at the side of the car. The wind, it seemed, had decided it was time to move them on. It had been well after two that afternoon before the weather had started to change, and although the wind had only been fussing for a couple of hours, more than a few branches had been stripped free of all but the clingiest of its damaged foliage. Thick, dingy clouds hung low in the sky, making sly threats about snow that would most likely prove to be nothing more serious than rain.

  Gavin wore his dark glasses even though the sky looked more early evening than late afternoon, and regardless of the fact that Gavin had continued to have no issues with the overhead lighting at the O'Connells' throughout the day. He was morose, pensive, and seemed to be a million miles away. Not lost in the clouds, though... there were a lot of things going on in that head of his. Matthew blamed Gavin's mood on his distaste at being locked out of certain areas of the GDBCG's database.

  Matthew, on the other hand, was more upset about the fact that a level existed above Gavin's knowledge at all. After all, Gavin was privy to the Center's plans of wiping out the wolf gene through measures up to and including murder. Gavin knew, or believed he did, anyway, about the GDBCG's plan to eradicate vampires—even if it could be said that, through Gavin, they'd proven that vampirism didn't mean becoming something that was any less human—and infect a whole pile of normal civilians with God could only know what kind of disease while doing it. If their feet were already that dirty, and this dirt came from a path that Gavin was more than aware of, exactly what was it they were hiding? How bad did it get?

  Gavin lurched forward, both hands flying to the dash, seeming to stare at the building that had just come into clear view. "Stop here."

  Matthew lifted his foot from the gas, coasted closer to the edge of the road, but didn't press the brake until he remembered that Vaughn was driving behind them and was probably cursing Matthew's lack of brake lights. "Here? Why here?"

  "I'm getting out." Gavin snapped at the door handle and Matthew had no choice but to stop lest Gavin decide he couldn't wait and tumble out into the roadway. Behind them, Vaughn smoothly and swiftly followed suit.

  They were about a mile away from the Center, maybe closer. Though the building loomed into the gray sky to their right, there were still two turns, a good stretch of roadway, and one security entrance to get through before they'd officially be on GDBCG grounds.

  He turned in the seat. He caught Gavin's wrist when Gavin opened the passenger door. "It's a twenty-minute walk from here! The sun..."

  Gavin grinned. "Not for me it isn't. At least, I'm pretty sure it won't be." He pressed his hand over Matthew's and gently worked Matthew's fingers free. When he spoke again, his voice was breathless and oddly light. Amused, perhaps. "Did you see how fast Arius moved, Matthew? He could have covered this distance in... God, what? Five minutes? Less?"

  "You're not Arius," Matthew said. He retightened his grip. "And thank God for that. Besides, why would you even—"

  "The sun isn't even shining anymore. And those clouds aren't going anywhere. I'll be fine for the few minutes I'll be out there. I'm wearing sleeves and pants. Besides, my skin was in direct contact with the sunlight for longer than that when Arius showed up and it healed just fine." Gavin stared hard at the building. "I'm going to go over the fence. I'm going to get that drive in one of those assholes computers, so I don't want them to know I'm with you quite yet. You're going to be my distraction. You can ask them to meet you in the boardroom. Tell them you and the guys want to talk in private."

  "What do you mean you don't want them to know you're there? We said no lies. No pretenses. Besides, there are cameras everywhere. I don't need to tell you—"

  "In the yard, yes. But I think I can outrun them. At least, I can outrun them to the point that the guards would have to stop the cameras and recall the moment in slow motion. If they get suspicious of it at all." He paused, pursed his lips. "They're good, but they're not that good. Especially if I go in through the west lot. We get a lot of deer out that way, as you know. Bats as well. If I go fast enough, they're just going to think the movement is wildlife. For all we know, I might end up looki
ng like nothing more than wind."

  "Yes, but—"

  "And there aren't any cameras operating in the executive offices until the security system gets set, which Volos and Dyball only do when they leave for the day. They insisted on that when the system was getting set up. God knows their asses are too important for anyone to notice them scratching it. Or hell, maybe they like to blow each other on their lunch breaks." Gavin waved at the air and shook his head as if trying to pull himself back into focus. "Either way, they're not going to set the security system just to step out of their offices for a meeting."

  Matthew rolled his eyes. He pulled Gavin back when Gavin tried to step out of the vehicle. "Empty office or not, you still have to get into the office, which means past internal security, into the elevator, through the floor checkpoint and then past the ladies."

  Ladies the executive assistants most certainly were, but only when things were quiet, efficient, pleasant, and to protocol. Step out of place with either of the two of them and they became Dobermans. While Gavin wouldn't raise any alarms just being seen—he was, after all, a card-carrying member of the executive staff— he would stir the attention of the assistants if he tried to get into Volos's or Dyball's office unannounced and while unaccompanied. He certainly wouldn't get through the building without being seen. Matthew couldn't see Gavin getting in or out or any part of the Center without someone knowing he was there.

  Gavin's gaze traveled up the building. He smiled. "I have no intention of going through the offices."

  David spoke from the backseat. "You aren't saying what I think you're saying, are you?"

  "Yes." Gavin cast a quick glance over his shoulder, then turned back to Matthew. "I'm going up. And through the window."

  "Gavin..." Matthew breathed the word more than he spoke it. All those Hollywood images that he'd been told to ignore suddenly rose in his head again: humanoid creatures skittering up sky-high buildings, clinging impossibly to smooth surfaces; men disappearing with puffs of smoke into bats and cats and rats. "I don't know what you're thinking but you're not Arius. If Arius even could do something like that... I mean, can he? Do you even know? And if he can, what does that mean? It still doesn't mean that you can. You said yourself that things weren't quite the... same. That you were different. Remember? You said that the virus 'didn't quite work' for you."

  For a second there was silence as Matthew and Gavin assessed each other. It was Jim that broke it.

  "Guys? We should probably either shit or get off the pot. We're not exactly sitting incognito here, and it's not like this road leads anywhere but up to that fucking crypt. If anyone goes by, they're going to wonder what we're doing pulled over. For that matter, we don't even know if we can be seen by cameras this close or not."

  Gavin reached for Matthew's hand, squeezed it, and then pulled his arm free again. He ignored Jim and spoke to Matthew alone. "That was then. Today I feel like fucking Superman. I can see things so much clearer. Hear things more vividly. Every muscle feels stronger and every nerve is... brighter somehow. I feel..." he paused, took a breath, seemed to try for words and come up empty, "indescribable. Everything has changed."

  His voice had dropped to nothing more than a whisper by the time he reached up and touched Matthew's cheek. "And I'm starting to think that I might know why. I have to find out if I'm right. If I am... Well, we'll worry about that if I am. You need your proof, I need mine, and Vaughn needs his. That's what I'm going to go get. And we're not going to get that if they know I'm looking for it."

  "Then go and fucking get it and let's get this show on the road," David said.

  Matthew scrambled to grab Gavin once again as Gavin finally got out of the car. "Wait—"

  The car door shut. Gavin was gone before Matthew could even lower the window. There was a sinking feeling in his stomach, a pounding in his left temple and an ache in his jaw. He realized he was gritting his teeth.

  He tried to force his body to relax. He took a long breath and peered into the rearview at the two men in the back seat. "Anyone want to sit up here and keep me company?"

  They looked at each other, confusion in their expressions.

  It took everything Matthew had to hold back his sigh. "Don't you think it will look a little odd to have both you big ol' men in the back seat folded up like lawn chairs while I sit up here alone? If that doesn't scream we just let someone out a mile back, nothing does." He shrugged. "But if you both want to sit back there like detainees in a cop car, that's fine by me. I'm just saying that it doesn't exactly look relaxed and congenial, you know?"

  "I got it," David said.

  While David climbed out and then in, Matthew stared through the windshield. His eyes caught everything and yet, at the same time, nothing. What he wanted to see wasn't out there anymore. "You be freaking careful," he whispered.

  *~*~*

  The guard doing security at the entrance to the Center was on the third car heading out of the lot since they'd arrived. There were, for obvious reasons, more people headed out than in at this point in the day, and so Matthew had nodded with a patient, 'yeah, no problem, I totally understand' smile when the guard had given him the palm-out, fingers-spread salute, of 'give me five' as they'd pulled up.

  The interior, trunk, and engine compartment of every single vehicle was checked going in and going out. That meant the drivers had to get out of their car and open both front and back compartments. The guards were not allowed to touch the vehicles themselves, so every pile of blankets and every unopened box had to be pointed at, fiddled with by the driver, and deemed clear, all of which seemed to take an agonizingly long time. License plates were confirmed, even on the outbound traffic that would have already been checked on entry, and notes or checkmarks or whatever were placed on the paper held to the guard's clipboard.

  And all the while, a mental image of Bruce Lee was playing through Matthew's head. Except instead of telling Matthew to "Be water, my friend," Bruce's instructions had changed: Be mouse, my friend. Be mouse.

  "The grammar of that is horrifying," Matthew mumbled. And the thought was hardly helpful, either. Every time Matthew glanced in the rearview he expected to see himself with a twitching nose and whiskers. That wasn't exactly a power image.

  "Afternoon, Doc," the guard said when he finally reached Matthew's car. His voice was casual but his eyes never stopped roaming. Front seat, back seat, passenger side, driver side. "You still keeping up with God Eater?"

  Matthew's cheeks felt like plastic as he twisted his lips into a smile. "Oh, come on. I had ten episodes in before you'd even watched two. I've said it before and I'll say it again: you just don't know how to binge watch."

  "Yeah, well, I have a job where I actually have to work." The guard smiled, tapped the driver's door. "Not to mention a wife and two kids. Hop out, my friend. Let's check 'er out and get you signed in." He nodded back at Vaughn's truck, stepping out of the way so Matthew could get out. "You all together? I don't show any preregisters."

  "We are. And no, you wouldn't." Matthew moved closer to the booth and nodded toward it. With a frown, the guard followed him, leaning closer when Matthew lowered his voice. "You know that special project I've been on?"

  There was no way the guard would know, that he could know, even. But they'd been associates of a sort, sharing anime and the odd gaming session, and Matthew was hoping that the man—Miller, or so Matthew knew him by, with a first name that started with a 'T' according to his badge but that wouldn't come to Matthew's head no matter how hard he tried to remember—would assume that made them pals. If Matthew was lucky, Miller was at that moment wracking his brain trying to remember something Matthew might have told him in confidence that had slipped his mind.

  It wasn't that Matthew didn't want anyone to know he was there—that was Gavin's gig. He just wanted to give Gavin as much time as he possibly could. If he could delay having Volos or Dyball suspect anything until he and his allies were in the building, that might just postpone, perhaps even prevent, any
one from becoming too tensely wound up. It might mean that they could all stand in the boardroom without the shifters being chained up and out of commission. At the very least, it might mean that the executives wouldn't have time to figure a way out of the meeting.

  "Well, these guys are that project," Matthew murmured. "And I'm bringing them in. I'd like to keep them friendly for as long as I can, if you know what I mean."

  Miller's left eyebrow rose a fraction of an inch. "Yeah, yeah, of course I do. Who are they? What'd they do?"

  Matthew touched Miller's arm to regain his attention. "It's not about what they did. It's about what they can do if things get... well, awkward. And I, for one, would really like to be around to catch that eleventh episode, if you get my drift."

  Miller's face fell. "I got kids, man. What are you trying to say?"

  "I'm not trying to say anything, buddy." He caught Miller's gaze and gave Miller what he could only hope was his best I'm-just-looking-out-for-you look. "Just that I don't know how much they pay you, or if they pay the guys inside any more than you, but being as I know you and I like you and we're kind of friends here, if there's going to be a scene, maybe it might be better if it happened inside."

  "Fuck me," Miller whispered. His face told Matthew everything Matthew needed to know about how much the staff around this place knew about the weird things that went on beyond the Center's doors. Or, if they didn't know outright, how much they suspected.

  "I got kids," Miller repeated. His voice was hollow. His eyes were wide. "And a wife. She doesn't work, you know. I'm all they got."

  "So, you just let us in," Matthew said. "You checked the cars—I mean, you can, there's nothing in either of them—and I told you we had a meeting inside and you didn't think twice about it. What with me being on staff and how you've seen me around for as long as you have, right? Besides, the guys inside will have to call up anyway when I get there."

  "Right," Miller nodded. As if Matthew was, somehow, right. As if saying any of that would save Miller's butt if the Center found out that Miller had been lax in his duties in any way. And Matthew was pretty sure Miller knew that just as well as he did. "Good luck with your meeting, Doc. Tell your friends I hope everything turns out okay."