by Terra Wolf
“Call for help!” I yelled to him, trying to seem realistic.
But just as I expected, he just stood there looking terrified. He didn’t move. I pretended to try to pull my walkie out, but I dropped it as her body continued to shake. When I bent down to retrieve it, I was looking directly into the eyes of a Bengal tiger. She was incredible looking. And she was worried that it would look like she couldn’t overpower me? I wouldn’t want to meet her in a dark alley. She was fucking huge. She put her paw on my chest and pushed me back into the wall. I feigned unconsciousness as I finally heard the tech start to scream. Other people were coming into the hallway, and I heard her growl before the emergency alarm went off. She must have made it to the back door. We were only a few feet away. I kept my eyes shut, hoping for the best. She had to get away and fast. I wouldn’t know if it was successful until I heard from the team. But I hoped for all our sakes that it was.
“Code orange code orange,” a systematic voice said over the intercom. I heard boots not unlike my own run past me. Finally someone came to my aid. It was clear from her voice that it was the secretary.
“Mr. Green? George, are you all right?”
I tried to appear groggy, lolling my head back and forth and muttering to myself about how much pain I was in. I tried to pretend I couldn’t really hear her.
“George? We’ve called 911. An ambulance will be here shortly. I can’t believe that thing. What the hell was that? What kind of tests are they doing here?” She started to question some of the people around her for the answers, but most people seemed to not have any more information than she did. I heard someone on a cell phone talking to 911 and was relieved. If they were willing to bring ambulance here, then she had gotten away. We had a chance.
I got back to the hotel that evening and called Sarge to let him know. But of course, he already had the girl and all the information.
“We certainly weren’t expecting her, Harrison. They were hoping to have her out by the end of the week. How the hell did you manage this?”
I couldn’t lie to him. “It was pure luck, man. They assigned me to her cage this afternoon. And then left me alone with her for an hour. So now, thinking back, I’m starting to wonder if it was a test. To see if I can handle working there. The head of security wasn’t at the building this afternoon, so I haven’t been officially reprimanded yet. The big boss is never there. There’s obviously other testing sites that we’re going have to consider. But the second in command? He was pissed. I’ve been put on suspension until the head of security can deal with me. But I’m hoping you’re about to tell me that I don’t have to go back. The girl gave you everything you needed to know. Am I right?”
“She sure as hell gave us enough. Did you know she was there for two months? She said that she can identify some of the bodies that we found. Some of those people have been there a year. And that one kid we found? You know the first one? She said that she heard rumors that he had been there since he was a baby. He was what? Nine?”
I’d been sick to my stomach just thinking about it. And it immediately made me think of Camden. I’d been so lonely sleeping in a hotel room by myself, the only thing I could think about was getting back to my family. I couldn’t wait to see Penny and Camden again. To hold her in my arms and make her feel safe. To tell her that I had handled the problem. It was everything to me. “So can I go home? This hotel living sucks.”
“Oh, yeah. The DA is working on a warrant right now. We’ll have some uniforms and a couple team members getting there by tomorrow morning. You can certainly take the night off. You’ve earned it.”
“Thanks, Sarge. Just can’t wait to see the look on Penny’s face when I tell her that we got the bad guys.”
“Go home to your family, man. Let us take care of the rest.”
I hung up the phone with him and immediately packed my bag. Now that they had all the information that they needed, I could just enjoy the night off. Saving the girl and taking down an evil corporation that wanted to end my kind? All in a good day’s work. Now I just wanted to be with my family and celebrate it.
Chapter Eighteen
Harrison
I couldn’t wait to tell Penelope the good news. We were in the process of catching the bad guys. I wouldn’t have to work undercover anymore, and I could come home to her every night. It would be awesome putting Camden to sleep tonight. We could live like a real family.
I parked my truck around back just for safety. The new car that I had grabbed her from the impound lot was sitting out front, the car seat in the back. It looked like it had been in the same spot all day. I guessed that she hadn’t left the house, which meant she was listening to me. It was just too dangerous for her out in regular society right now. At any moment, they could just grab her or Camden. It wasn’t worth the risk.
I opened the door. “Penelope, I can’t wait to tell you how my day was.” But as soon as I said the words, my mouth dropped open. The house was a disaster. Everything was turned upside down. I reached for my gun, not realizing I had left it here purposefully.
I searched everywhere through the house, screaming their names. I checked the crib, under the bed, even out in the backyard. But they were nowhere to be found.
“Penny!” I screamed. I could hardly breathe. Where were they? What had happened to them?
Purest.
They had taken my mate.
My son.
Those bastards had figured me out. In just a few days, they had caught on to me and grabbed my family. I should have known better. It had been too easy.
I cracked my knuckles as I thought about the hell that they would have to pay.
Chapter Nineteen
Penelope
My eyes fluttered open and I squinted immediately into the darkness around me. I had to figure out where I was. Where they had taken us.
“Camden!” I shrieked, calling out into the darkness. But I didn’t hear his cry. I couldn’t hear anything. I was tied to a metal chair. It was so cold underneath my fingertips. The straps that were holding me down were medical grade, buckles and everything. No matter how hard I struggled, I was trapped. A light flickered on above me and as my eyes adjusted, I realized I was in an area with almost plastic walls. I could see through them, and on the other side were a couple of men in suits and woman in a lab coat. I looked behind me and saw a metal tray full of medical instruments. I didn’t know what to say to them. The only thing I could think of was Camden.
“Where is my baby? Where is my son?”
There was no point in trying to convince me that they didn’t have him. I could recall hearing him scream as they picked him up right before they had injected me with some type of drug in the neck. It had obviously put me out. But for how long? And what had they done with Camden in the meantime?
For a moment, I hoped that Harrison would come and find us, but he was undercover somewhere. He was doing his job, and he wouldn’t be home for a few more days. He wouldn’t even know that we were missing. I cringed at the thought.
“Where the hell is my baby? What have you done with him? I know what you’re doing here is illegal!”
I watched one of the men in suits. His head snapped up like he heard me for the first time. He parted the plastic and walked in.
“I don’t think she needs to be kept in quarantine, do you?”
The doctor walked in behind him, not even looking up from her notes. It was like she didn’t even realize that a person was sitting here, strapped to a chair like a prisoner. “We can’t be sure. Until we get the blood test results back, we won’t know if the child is a full shifter or half. It doesn’t matter what she says. I already sent her blood upstairs to the lab as well, so it should be more than another fifteen or twenty minutes until we have the results.”
They took blood from Camden? “If you hurt him in any way… I will kill you. Shifter or not, I will end your life, and rip you limb from limb.”
The doctor rolled her eyes at me. She was pretty, as much as I
didn’t want her to be. And only a couple years older than myself. “We didn’t hurt him. That would be counterproductive. He’ll be fine, and all of this will be over very soon. Now we need to talk about who the baby’s father is. Only to bring him in for testing as well. Though hopefully, he’ll come easier than you did. I still can’t believe they had to physically bring you in here.” She clucked her tongue at me like I had done something wrong. She was completely insane.
“I’m sorry? You took me prisoner!”
The second man came through the plastic and looked at me. It was the same man from the diner. A little bit over forty and already beginning to go bald. He had piercing gray eyes that immediately made me uncomfortable, just as they had in the diner. His sinister glare was the reason that I’d run in the first place. How had he found me so quickly?
“Now, we offered you a nice sum of money to come here, and you declined. Which was your right, but I think Camden will be very happy to go to a nice college when he gets older, and for his mother to not really have to work that much the rest of his life. So don’t worry, the money will be forwarded to your bank account and when you leave here, you’ll be all the richer for it.”
“You’re going to let me leave? You really think I’m stupid enough to believe you?”
He smiled at me, but it dripped with venom. He knew I had caught onto this little act. He knew I was smarter than he had given me credit for. “Yes, you will be able to leave. Besides, if you’re human, you’re not who we really want. Now tell the doctor who the father is so we can get to work.”
I chewed on my lower lip, attempting to look nervous, when in reality, I was just so angry that I could’ve killed all three of them. “I don’t know. It was a one night stand. I have no idea who his father is.”
The doctor rolled her eyes again. “Well, whose house are you staying at? Just a friend?”
They obviously followed me, so they already knew who I was staying with. Maybe I could play this up to my benefit. “Yes, just a friend. James Harrison, a high-ranking detective with the Seattle Police Department. He and I went to high school together. After your offer, I had no one else to turn to. I knew he would take me in without question, as our families go a long way back.”
My plan had worked, but just slightly. The first man that had entered looked nervous.
“Actually, he’s going to notice my absence pretty quickly. We had dinner plans tonight. And by the look on your face—” I looked pointedly at the man on the right, “—it’s already evening. So as soon as he tracks you down, you’ll have the entire police department swarming your building. So this time, I’m going to make you an offer. You let Camden and I leave, and I will never talk about this again. They won’t press charges and take down your business, and we’ll all forget this ever happened. Does that sound like a fair compromise?”
The second man spoke again, flinching at the words. “You’re lying.”
I cocked my head at him. “Am I? Are you really willing to take the risk and find out? I wouldn’t.”
The doctor finally looked up from her notes. “Even if what you say is true, they will never find you. This is a secret testing facility, not on our main hub. Even if they were there, you and Camden will still be here. And then you’ll never leave, I’ll make sure of it. Gentlemen, I have work to do, if you’ll leave us.”
The men nodded to her and walked out of the plastic cage. It was just her and me. She snapped on some latex gloves and held a syringe in front of her.
“What’s that for? You and I both know you know I’m human.”
“Yes, in fact I do already know that you’re human. But it’s a lot more fun to play these games when it seems like I’m not sure yet. I don’t get in as much trouble that way.”
“Why are you doing this? Why are you testing on shifters anyway? What have they were done to you?”
“They don’t have to do anything to any of us. Don’t you see? They limit us. Their abilities are far superior to ours and as a result, they hinder our ability to be as perfect as we once were. People think that we’re not as fast or as strong as the shifters are, that humans are suddenly less than them. All that it would take is one shifter to get into the mindset that shifters are the superior race. They would take us off the planet. So instead, we’re fighting back before they’ve begun the war. Shifters won’t even know what’s happened to them by the time that we’ve either gained new abilities, or eradicated their species. It’s a win-win, really.”
“That’s disgusting. My son does not limit me. He makes me better.”
“Of course he does. That’s what all mothers say about their children. But if he wasn’t your child? How would you feel about him then?”
She plunged the needle into my arm and I winced. “I would feel the same way. Shifters are still people. And I don’t believe that doing any kind of testing on people should be allowed.”
She removed the needle from my arm and held a cotton swab over it. “They’re not people. They are savages. Just like that buffoon boyfriend of yours. Thinking he could come into my lab and not get found out? Please.”
“You knew?”
“I suspected. Some of us did. But others only believe what they want.”
“I can’t believe this.”
“Believe it. The rest of the world will soon enough.”
“What does that mean?”
“Before we go public, we need there to be a war. A reason for change.”
She went back to writing her notes. As she began to walk out of the plastic walls, I realized what she meant. “You’re going to make the shifters do something to you? You’re going to make them look like they’re evil.”
She didn’t turn around to acknowledge me. And within seconds of her walking through the plastic, I was plunged into darkness once again. All I could think about was Camden, and for a moment I let my thoughts settle on Harrison. I had to hope that his operation had gone smoothly, and that someone was coming to check up on us. I just needed everyone to be safe. The first chance I got I was going to make my escape, and if I died trying, I needed Camden to have a good, solid family left. I would do anything to save him.
Chapter Twenty
Harrison
“Sarge!” I said, exasperated. “I need to talk to the girl!”
“Why? We sent her home. What’s going on?”
I hardly had time to explain. I was screaming into my phone. “They took her! They took Penny and Camden. I thought I got away with it today, but apparently they found me out. I have to find them!”
I heard Sarge sucking in a breath. “Of course. Anything you need.”
He gave me the address for Tasha and her phone number.
“We’ll get back up together and meet you there,” he said as I ran to my truck and typed it in my phone. She only lived about twenty minutes from me. I immediately drove there while dialing her number over and over again. She didn’t answer. Finally, I reached her house and rang the doorbell. Holding my badge up to the keyhole, I knew someone would answer. They owed me.
Tasha was the one to open it. “Aren’t you the cop? What the hell are you doing here? I mean, come in! You saved my ass and my secret is still safe. The family is pretty happy too.”
“Tasha, I need your help.”
She looked at me, concerned, her dark eyes still so tainted from being in that place. “What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“They took my mate. They took my mate and my son and I need to find out where else they held people. They’re not dumb enough to take her to the same place where you were at. Not since they found me out.”
“How did they find you out? I played my part. Even when I got to the police station, I still wouldn’t tell them that you helped me. I did exactly what you said to do.”
“I know that, Tasha. I don’t blame you at all. When I need to do now is find my family. So just think, is there any other place that they said that they kept people? Maybe before they sent them to another facili
ty, anything.”
She chewed on her lower lip for a moment, “Yeah, there’s a warehouse. It’s down at the docks. They said that they took some of the kids there once. That they didn’t want them mingling with other shifters. You said you have a son, right? I’d bet anything that’s where he is. I don’t know which warehouse, though.”
I started to run away from her and toward my truck. “That’s all the information I needed.”
I knew I could give the rest to Sarge and the team, and they would be able to help me find her. They had to.
I called Sarge on the way, and he told me he was sending a team of squad cars to go with me. Some detectives had looked up some information for me on the computers at the central lab, as they were investigating currently. They found some financial records that said which warehouses they had been renting. There were three of them now.
I sent one of the squad cars to one down the far east end, and then I took the other squad car with me to the two closer to our location. Once I saw medical vans outside between the two of them, I knew she was in one of them. I took my gun out of the holster and I instructed the uniforms to fan out behind me. I didn’t even put on my bulletproof vest because I didn’t care. There was no living without Penelope and Camden. There was just no point.
The uniforms all followed my signals without even speaking. Four of them went into the one warehouse while one other came with me into the second. We cleared the first floor when I heard shots fired from the other warehouse. I ran to see Sarge standing outside of the warehouse in front of his undercover vehicle. He had a vest on and a megaphone. This had quickly become a hostage situation.
“What’s going on in there?” I yelled at him.
Another pop of the gun. Sarge went to answer me but I couldn’t wait for his response. I sprinted past him into the warehouse and saw one of my guys laying on the ground. He waved to me letting me know that he wasn’t fatally wounded, just a slug to the vest. I signaled for another uniform to help him up and get him out of there. I didn’t want him to be a liability.