I walked around through the clearing, absorbing all of the energy. And that's when I noticed that there were more footprints – three sets of heavy tracks in the soil. Three chasing, three lying in wait – that brought the total number of hunters to six. As bears, we were strong. Powerful. But six on one were tough odds, even for us.
I did find the lack of blood interesting though. And it lent credence to the idea that the missing bears weren't being killed. There were six of them on Burrows – if their intent had been to kill him, they certainly could have. But there would also be a fair amount of blood. And there wasn't.
I looked closer at the brush and debris on the ground, straining all of my senses as I searched for clues. I moved carefully around the small clearing, looking for anything at all that might point me in the right direction. Hell, that might point me in any direction. Other than knowing there were five men and one woman involved in the abductions was about all I had.
And then I found it.
Nestled among some leaves, twigs, and stones, was a dart. I took a cloth out of my pocket and picked it up, examining it closely. There was a small amount of blood on the tip – which, if I had to guess, I would say was probably Burrows' blood and that he'd probably ripped it out after they'd hit him with it. It wasn't a large dart, but my hope was that they'd be able to get a print off of it. At the very least, I hoped they'd be able to find out what drug they'd tagged him with. Maybe that would give us something.
I had no idea what it might possibly tell us, but it was better than going back to Asher empty handed.
Careful to keep the dart wrapped and then placing it in the bag I had Burrows' shirt in, I turned and headed back through the forest to my car. There was nothing more for me to find.
~ooo000ooo~
Asher held the small plastic bag up to the light, scrutinizing the dart I'd found. He turned it over, as if he could somehow divine some clue I hadn't seen. Not that I blamed him, really. As scant as it was, it was the first lead we had in the disappearances.
“So, our ghosts made their first mistake,” he said.
I shrugged. “Not much of one, really,” I replied. “I honestly don't know what we're going to be able to get off the dart. But, at least it's something.”
He nodded. “It is. And it fills in some of the blanks for us.”
“Yeah, it's probably safe to say this isn't some group of shifter-haters out killing bears for fun on a Friday night.”
“Agreed,” Asher replied. “Whoever this is, they're organized. Efficient. Methodical.”
“And for whatever reason,” Mariana added, as she stepped into the room, “they're going through all of the hassle to stalk, sedate, and carry shifters off in the dead of night. The question is, why?”
She took a seat next to me and we sat across the desk from Asher. He leaned back, looking up through the skylight of his office – which afforded a view of little more than the forest canopy overhead. He and Rose had bought a house that sat on a small clearing nestled deep amongst the woods. The densely packed forest crowded close on all sides of the house. It was quiet. Peaceful. The sort of place I could get used to.
“That's the million-dollar question,” Asher said.
“May I?” she asked, gesturing at the dart in the plastic bag.
Asher slid it across the table to her and she picked it up in her freshly manicured hand, examining it closely – but unable to pry any more information out of it than Asher had. I looked over at her and noticed the change in her straight away. She was confident again – yet, without being arrogant about it. She seemed more in control of herself – and seemed to be taking things seriously for a change. For the first time since she'd ascended to the big chair of her clan, Mariana seemed very Chief-like to me.
“I take it the meeting with your clan went well?” I asked.
She looked at me and then quickly looked away, her cheeks coloring. “Yes, I think it did,” she said. “My clan is much more – open – than I'd anticipated. We had a very good, productive meeting. And hopefully, I've soothed the feathers I ruffled and started the process of earning their trust and loyalty.”
Asher and I both nodded. “I'm very glad to hear that,” he said. “I'm proud of you, Mariana.”
The color in her face deepened and a sheepish grin tugged at the corners of her mouth. It was the first time I'd ever seen Mariana react like that – to anything. Ever. It was almost surreal.
“I have you to thank for it,” she said. “Both of you. You guys really – opened my eyes to things. Things I didn't necessarily enjoy hearing, but things I needed to hear. So, thank you.”
A moment of silence descended over us as Mariana composed herself. I was impressed that she'd taken what we said to heart – and as quickly as she had. But then, maybe faced with the prospect of losing her clan, of being not just drummed out as the Chief, but banished from the clan altogether, it cleared her thinking. I know that had I been in her situation, it would have sobered me up to reality really quickly.
Honestly, I didn't think that Mariana had it in her. Even though we were all friends growing up, she'd always acted like a spoiled rich girl – in part, because she actually was. But she always had an edge about her that made her seem like she thought she was better than other people. Above them. It had always been one of her least attractive qualities and something I never thought would change.
I was very glad to see I was wrong. She had a ways to go yet to earn back all of the trust and loyalty she'd squandered away, but she certainly seemed to be on the right path. And truth be told, I was happy to see it. Now, more than ever, given the threat we were facing and our need for clan unity.
“So, what are we thinking on this?” she asked.
Asher nodded to me to fill her in on what I'd found out in the field.
“The way I see it, we have a team of six. And if I'm right, it's five men and one woman. At least, that's all I saw in the field. There could be more,” I said. “They're trained, disciplined, and efficient. From what I found, there's a chase team of three – they flush out whoever they're hunting – and they herd them toward the capture team. Once they have their target pinned between their two teams, they use darts to presumably tranquilize the target and then haul them away to who knows where, to do the gods only know what.”
Mariana nodded. “And what about this dart?”
“We don't know anything about it yet,” Asher said. “It's most likely a tranq dart, but we're hoping to get some analysis on it to see if we can pull a print or at the very least, get a chemical breakdown of what kind of sedative they're using.”
“It's going to have to be one hell of a sedative to take down one of us,” I commented.
“But that's the problem we're running into,” Asher said. “We can't go to the Sheriff with this. He'll never run an analysis for us. Just to spite us, more than anything.”
“And we really don't want him poking his nose into our business anyway,” I said.
“I'll take care of it,” Mariana announced.
Asher raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Oh? You have an in with the Sheriff we don't know about?”
She scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Hardly. He hates me as much as he hates you clowns,” she said. “I have a friend in the Seattle PD who – owes me a favor.”
It was my turn to scoff and roll my eyes. “Owes you a favor?” I asked. “Or is just willing to do whatever you want for the barest scrap of a chance he'll get you into the sack.”
She gave me a salacious little smile. “Does it matter?” she asked. “As long as we get the analysis, the means and method don't matter. Right?”
Asher laughed and nodded. “Right,” he said. “Do you think you could have your friend get an expedite on it?”
“Consider it done.”
Asher sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Okay then,” he said. “Until we get that analysis – which hopefully produces a viable lead – we're dead in the water. Go out and have some fun tonight. Relax.
And be sure to tell your people to stay vigilant. Be aware. Have them spread the word.”
Mariana and I both stood up and nodded. Asher obviously wanted to go spend some time with Rose, so I figured I'd head out and find something to amuse myself with.
“Off to Seattle,” Mariana said, turning and sashaying her way out of Asher's office.
“Looks like what you said to her got through,” I said.
Asher nodded. “Seems like it,” he replied. “I hope this is a new start for her and not just something she's trying on for a little while.”
“Time will tell, brother. Time will tell.”
Chapter Nine
Olivia
“Seems like you made quite the impression on John,” McCoy said.
“Thank you, sir,” I replied, not exactly knowing how to respond to that statement.
I sat across the desk from him in his office. I sat ramrod straight, face purposely void of any trace of emotion – just like I'd been taught back in the Marines. When McCoy had summoned me to his office, a nervous charge had jolted me. Living a dual life like I was – a life of subterfuge and deception – played hell with my nerves. I was always on edge. Which irritated me to no end.
Doing what I did as an investigative journalist, I'd infiltrated drug rings. Human trafficking rings. Weapons dealers groups. And none of those things had ever rattled me the way being part of this group did. I lived in constant fear of being found out. Having my true mission discovered. And every time McCoy summoned me or one of his other goons questioned me, a flash of fear tore through me.
And it wasn't because I was afraid of dying. Not for myself. I'd faced death a thousand times over in Afghanistan. Seeing what I'd seen and doing what I'd done had more or less desensitized me to death. And the idea of dying didn't really bother me all that much anymore.
No, it was the idea of what my death would mean for Emily. If she was still alive – and I desperately clung to the hope that she was – if I died, she was going to be subjected to a terrible, likely painful existence. One with no hope of rescue. Ever. I was the only one in the world looking for her. And if I was found out, there was no question in my mind that McCoy would execute me – and then nobody else in the world would be looking for her. And Emily would be resigned to her miserable fate.
And I couldn't let that happen. Which was why failure was not an option.
“John thinks your talents are being wasted out here with us,” he said. “Thinks you're head and shoulders above, as he put it, the knuckle-dragging, trigger-pullers, I employ – his words, not mine.”
I had to literally bite my tongue to keep the laughter that had bubbled up in my throat from spilling out. McCoy didn't seem all that amused by John's words – but, I thought it was hilarious. Mostly because I knew it was true. McCoy didn't recruit people to his crew that were intelligent or thought all that deeply. He recruited soldiers who knew how to follow orders without question and were loyal to a fault.
The idea that John had seen through my good soldier routine though, and saw something more in me – everything I'd tried so hard to suppress – meant I hadn't played my role effectively enough. Which was more than a little worrisome. I had no reason to believe that McCoy or his goons had reason to question my loyalty or dedication to this job – but the fact that John saw through my persona, and had passed that on to McCoy meant that I hadn't fooled him.
And given the surliness in McCoy's current mood, I started to worry about my well being.
I began to surreptitiously glance around, looking for anything I could use as a weapon. If push came to shove and McCoy was going to kill me, he wasn't going to take me out without one hell of a fight. I was a strong, capable fighter and if it came down to it, I was going to do all I could to take him out before he took me out.
“I – I'm not sure what to say to that, sir,” I said.
He looked at me, steepling his fingers in front of him. “I think you know what comes next, right?”
Adrenaline flooded my body and I tried to subtly tense my muscles, ready to spring into action if he reached for his sidearm. I didn't have a weapon on me, and there was nothing on his desk that I could use, so I was going to have to throttle him with my bare hands if I was going to take him out. Not ideal, of course, but battle conditions rarely are.
“I'm sorry sir,” I said flatly. “I don't know what comes next.”
He looked at me a long moment and then chuckled. “A job offer, Liv,” he said. “John wants you to come work for him down at the control center.”
I sat back in my seat, stunned. “A job offer, sir?”
He nodded. “After meeting you, he pulled your service record,” he said. “That, combined with the impression you made on him in the flesh, made him adamant that he wanted you on his team.”
That was about the last thing I expected and I felt completely blindsided. But as I took a moment to process it, I realized the opportunity that was sitting right there in front of me. Working with McCoy, I was only catching the shifters. I had no idea what came after – had no idea what might have become of Emily or where she was being held. I'd gotten my first glimpse when we'd transferred the last shifter we'd caught.
I'd come away from that meeting with John energized. I finally had a physical location to begin looking for her. The problem was finding a way in. The place was locked up with some of the most advanced technology available. Getting in to search for my sister wasn't going to be easy.
But now, I had that in. I had a way to waltz in through the front doors and not have to worry about catching a bullet in the back. I would be one of them. Working in the very facility they'd taken my sister to.
There was a small, dark part of my mind though, that worried I was being set up. If I appeared too eager to get into the facility, they might see it for what it was. I could be discovered and then everything would go sideways very quickly. It was probably paranoia, but playing the game I was playing, I couldn't afford to not be a little paranoid.
“That's great, sir,” I said. “But I have a job here with your team.”
He smiled and nodded. “And believe me, I appreciate the work you do,” he said. “But John is right. You're better than these apes I have working for me. Smarter. These guys – they're good at what they do and they follow orders. Which is great. It's what I need. But there's something different about you. I've always been able to see it. Obviously, John can too. You want something – more.”
A sliver of ice pierced my heart as he spoke. By saying I wanted something more, was he making some veiled reference to my true mission? Did he know? And was he turning me over to John and his group because of it?
“Something more, sir?” I asked cautiously.
“According to you, yes,” he said. “At least, that's how I interpreted your meaning when you told me about your reasons for joining this team in the first place.”
Oh, right. That. My whole song and dance about protecting the country from the imminent threat shifters posed. Apparently, my speech had been more effective than I'd thought. Because McCoy had apparently bought it lock, stock, and barrel. And being the true believer in John's crusade that he was, he obviously thought he and I shared those beliefs – and wanted to help put me in a position to act on them.
I cleared my throat. “No, you interpreted my meaning correctly, sir,” I said. “I just – this is a little overwhelming.”
“And exciting, no?”
I nodded. “Absolutely.”
“John is offering you a terrific opportunity to really affect the change we want to see in this world,” he said. “He's offering you an opportunity to protect this country and our people in a real, hands-on way that most of us don't get.”
“Of course,” I said. “It's an honor to be thought worthy enough of the honor.”
“So, can I tell him you're in?”
I ran a hand through my hair. “May I have a little time to think on it, sir?” I asked. “I do enjoy doing what we do. I've kind of gott
en used to this lifestyle.”
He laughed. “Yeah, we have a bit more freedom here than you're going to have if you join John's team,” he said. “But again, think of the opportunity you're being presented.”
“I am,” I said. “And it's a great honor. Believe me. I just need a little time to wrap my head around it.”
McCoy nodded and leaned back in his seat. “Of course,” he said. “Take the night and think about it. I hope though, that come morning, you'll agree to join John's team. It's a smart move, a great opportunity, and a chance to really protect this country.”
I stood up and nodded. “Absolutely, sir,” I said. “And thank you.”
~ooo000ooo~
I stood in the second room of the apartment I'd rented on the outskirts of Black Salmon Falls. It was nice, but nothing fancy. I wanted to keep it low-key and utilitarian. It was my base of operations as I searched for my sister. Nothing more. I had zero intention of hanging around this place once I found my sister and got her out of where ever she was being kept – or until I found out that she'd been killed. But I was going to require proof beyond the shadow of a doubt before I believed it.
The second room of the apartment was my control center. On one wall, I had all of the information, photographs, and everything else I'd collected during my investigation. I'd arranged it all in a way that made sense and highlighted all of the players.
I stared at all of the information I'd gathered – not that I didn't already know everything up on that board. I'd studied it so many times that I could have recited the writing on every scrap of paper hanging up by memory. I knew it all inside and out – knew it as well as I knew my own name.
And as I stared at all of the information I already knew so well, I pondered McCoy's words – and John's job offer.
Saved by a Bear (Legends of Black Salmon Falls Book 2) Page 6