by T. G. Ayer
Division 7 had been decimated more than a month ago, but that didn’t mean the people in charge hadn’t seen fit to create Division 7B or whatever.
“Oh, before we start, can I get identification from your,” Grams paused as she glanced at Jones, “associate, Mr Barnes.”
Wade leaned closer. “He’s our legal consultant.”
Grams lifted an eyebrow but didn’t comment as she scribbled a note to research Barnes. The Walker Council could bring whoever they wanted into the interrogation room as long as that person signed the documents to swear that whatever was said within the room will remain private until after the trial.
That didn’t matter because the Walker Council’s continuing goal would be to ensure the shifters remained unexposed to the human public.
Trapper began to ask questions, more or less following a similar pattern to Murdoch; how I’d gotten to the abandoned house, what I was doing there, had I come to meet Stella.
Jones leaned forward, eyes now fixed on my face. “Isn’t it true that you found out Stella was advising us on the illicit activities going on within your home, and that you were so upset at her betrayal that you followed her and killed her?”
Grams let out a soft laugh. “Already cross-examining the defendant, Mr Barnes? Getting ahead of ourselves, are we?”
Barnes sent Grams a hard look. “I believe it is my right to question the suspect.”
“She could very well choose not to speak to you. She’s cooperating so it would be good if you appreciated that fact and kept your questions short and sweet, and free of conjecture.”
Jones-Barnes shifted his gaze from Grams’ piercing glare and looked over at Trapper for a second. Then he spoke again, questioning me further on the gun when it fell from Stella’s hand, where it had been when Marsden had grabbed me and where I had pointed it when I’d shot him.
I leaned forward. “I didn’t shoot Marsden. He shot himself. He put his hand over mine and pulled the trigger himself.”
“Now, why would Marsden do such a thing?”
“He was setting me up so I’d look like I’d tried to kill him.”
I shook my head, but again Grams tapped my thigh. I kept silent and sat back allowing Barnes to continue with his questions as he ran through what had happened after the paramedics had arrived and up until the gun had gone missing.
His tone implied I’d had something to do with the disappearance of the weapon.
Both Grams and I laughed and then Grams gave me an ‘I got this’ look. “Are you seriously suggesting that while my client was lying strapped to a stretcher in the back of an ambulance, she somehow managed to get back inside the house unseen, grab the gun, hide it, and then return to the stretcher?” Grams leaned forward. “It’s perfectly fine if you wish to ask such a question in open court. You’ll get laughed down by the judge, and the case will be thrown out of court. But please, go for it. You’re just making things easy for us.”
Grams glanced at me and wrote a little more on the writing pad.
Barnes’ face darkened, and he looked at Trapper again, but this time the Walker Councilman didn’t return the glance. Instead, Trapper bent forward and said, “You will go down for this. We have evidence given by the victim moments before he died. And three witnesses to confirm.”
“Three witnesses who had something to gain from such a confession.” Grams’ eyes narrowed. “Three witnesses whose testimony would not hold up in court as they would all be considered biased.”
“How is it that you are planning on convincing the court that we have anything to gain from manipulating this situation?” Wade’s voice was thin and high with laughter as she spoke. “What are you planning on telling them? That the Walker Council doesn’t approve of crossbreeding any longer and that Kailin and her family are the poor persecuted shifter alphas with targets on their backs?” Delia’s face was white with anger, making her red lipstick look stark and out of place on her face. I wondered if she actually believed those words would crush our hopes.
Truthfully, it should have, but she’d given me an idea. I glanced over at Grams and looked at her watch. Time would be up in two minutes.
“Don’t worry so much about what we are going to say, Delia. I suggest you concern yourself with how you plan to make your case stick as you don’t even have a murder weapon.”
Wade’s brown eyes darkened, and she sat back, as though Grams had just slapped her across the face. Enough time had gone by that Grams closed her file and got to her feet.
“I’m afraid that’s all the time we have allotted for you. Kailin and I have a meeting right after this so if you will excuse us…” She looked pointedly at the door.
The three stiffened in their seats, and I wondered if they may refuse to leave. Trapper and Delia exchanged glances with Jones who though furious, wasn’t giving them any hints as to what to do.
When he got to his feet, the pair followed suit. As they filed outside, I studied Jones, or Barnes, and wondered why they’d brought him with. Had his presence been meant to threaten us? A warning to us that we were up against more than just the Walker Council? Or had they just shown their hand by having him there?
Another important aspect was they’d openly discussed shifters in his presence.
And he was very much a human.
Chapter 36
I was glad to see the backs of the Walker Council and their attack dog. But though I heaved a sigh of relief my mind remained on Jones and what he had to do with the Walker Council.
Grams shifted beside me and propped her elbow on the table, pulling my attention back to the room and the reality of the present. “Want to tell me what all that was about?”
“Jones. He’s Division 7.”
“What?” Grams’ eyes widened.
I frowned. “Sorry. I mean Barnes. You know what Division 7 is?”
Grams rolled her eyes. “I work for Sentinel. Of course, I know what Division 7 is.” There was a short pause as she processed what I’d just said. “This is not good. What the hell are Marsden and company doing attaching themselves to Division 7’s train?”
I felt a tremor of fear within my chest as I considered the possibilities, but Grams’ question broke into my thoughts. “How do you know Jones? Barnes. Whatever his name is.”
“A few months ago, he was part of a team that was taking out supernaturals all over the world. Pretty much cold-blooded massacres. High Priestess Kira’s daughter Mika was murdered by them, and we investigated. Ended up tracking them down in Cicero. We killed most of their team…I think all of them besides Jones. He ran off when things got hot. Now it looks like he’s back in business.”
Grams’ fingers drummed the surface of the table. “But this time it’s more insidious. If this is anything to judge by, they’re infiltrating supernatural communities. Which means they must have a greater plan.”
I sighed and got to my feet. I paced the carpet, arms folded as I scowled. “Question is, did Marsden and Co know who Jones is? I’d prefer to believe they fell in with the wrong guy and he sold them some tale putting alphas on the bad end of the spectrum. Perhaps divide and conquer is their new strategy as opposed to outright massacre and extermination.”
Grams inhaled slowly and sank back against the chair. “Direct attack is a little too public. And infiltration is something they do well.”
“True.” I nodded. “Jones ran an op that had an agent go in undercover and infiltrate Mika’s youth group. He convinced them to all come to one specific place, setting them up so they’d be in one location for when their bomb went off. They killed so many kids that day. Mika included.”
Grams was staring at me. We hardly spoke about our cases in such an informal and revealing manner. I wondered what she was thinking with that expression of surprise in her eyes.
I looked away, the moment a little too awkward. “We need some insider information.”
“Maybe we need to have someone talk to Wade or Trapper. Try and get some details out of them regarding Barnes.”
Grams smiled. She approved. It was only a vague idea of a plan, but we could work on it.
“Oh, I forgot.” I snapped my fingers. “I do have an appointment. Supreme High Councilman Horner said he’d come by for a debrief. And that could be at any minute.”
Grams nodded. “That’s good. At least he’s showing an active interest. Plus, as your handler, he’d need to be debriefed. I’ll leave as soon as Horner arrives.”
Thinking about briefing Horner reminded me that I hadn’t told him about the abduction attempt, which in turn reminded me that I hadn’t told Grams about it either. I cleared my throat. “In the meantime, I have something you need to know. I was abducted two days ago. Failed attempt, mind you. Which is something I guess.”
Grams got to her feet, hands on her hips, mouth hanging open as she stared at me in shock. I’d succeeded in blindsiding her for once.
I continued while she stood there with her mouth slightly open. “These guys work for someone who is directing the Shadowmen to attack, and or abduct me. I wasn’t sure if it was because of the Ni’amh or just me. That’s something I’d have to wait to find out. After what happened in Rome—”
“Eh? What happened in Rome?” Grams was scowling now, and I wasn’t sure if she was annoyed with me, or at the constant barrage of people who were after me.
I gave Grams a rundown of the Shadowmen’s attack and my premature burial in the Roman catacombs. I glossed over exactly how I’d gotten out of trouble there, not wanting to mention Evie to anyone yet.
“And after the Rome incident, you can imagine I was a little on edge. So, when I noticed I had a stalker, and those goons tried their abduction thing on me…”
I stopped speaking as Grams put a hand on her chest and sat slowly into her chair.
“Grams you okay? You’re not going to have a heart attack on me or anything, are you?” I asked, my own heart jumping at the thought.
“Hush, silly girl,” she waved me into silence. “I can’t believe this. I go away for a few minutes, and you’re running around avoiding stalkers and kidnappers.”
“Not avoiding. Catching.” I snorted. “Wait until you hear what they had to say.”
“Who? The stalker or the kidnappers?” Grams looked partly eager, partly skeptical.
“Both.” I lifted one brow and smirked.
Grams shook her head and let out a deep laugh. “Kailin Odel, you never fail to amaze me.”
“Maybe ‘cos I’m related to you?” I shrugged. “So the stalker turned out to be a journalist for the Chicago Colonial and had jumped on a leaked FBI report describing the existence of shifters across the US. His boss implied it could not possibly be true so this kid figured the man wanted the story for himself, so he jumped the line and started his own little investigation.”
“Can we get a copy of that report?” Grams leaned toward me, her tone eager and curious.
“Already done. I can email it to you.”
“Thanks,” Grams said, already reaching for her phone.
I smiled and grabbed my phone, forwarding Joshil’s email to Grams with a flick and a tap. “Sent.”
Grams gave me a short nod. “What did the kidnappers have to say?”
“Kidnapper. I only managed to grab one of them. He confirmed what I’d suspected. They were mercenaries, some with what looked like special forces experience. Hired by military and scientific types who claimed I was a mutant experiment that escaped and was a danger to the people and needed to be contained. Only thing the guy complained about was a woman who had come with them. Apparently, she seemed to be in control. And,” I paused to meet Grams’ eyes, “she happened to be a Shadowman.”
Grams’ eyes narrowed. “They seem to be popping up all over the place.”
“You can say that again. I’ve killed one who tried to attack me. You think it could be revenge?” I shook my head before she could answer. “No. Mel said she was just recently attacked by a group of them too.”
“So they do want more than just you.”
“I suspect they want the Ni’amh. But the others may not know who they are yet or may not have yet come into their powers.”
“Or they may not have received their letter yet?”
“Could be.”
“So you’re here. Which means they failed in their attempt. How did you get away?”
I gave Grams a rundown on my kidnapping of my kidnapper, and my interrogation in the rooftop of the forest.
When I completed my tale and took a breath, Grams was grinning. “I’m impressed.”
“With what?”
“Your interrogatory techniques. Very clever.”
I sighed, glad she approved, but I didn’t have time to bask in her approval. I said, “There is something else. Jones appeared to be well aware of shifters. Which made me think about something…”
“Which is?” Grams lifted her brows.
“I think if we are going to have a court case, we need to have shifters on the jury. And maybe even a supernatural judge.”
Grams was smiling as I spoke. “I think that is a brilliant plan.” She drummed her fingers on the table for a few moments. “But we need to stall. The people I am thinking of will not be easy to find.”
I let out a long breath, suddenly feeling the weight of everything on my shoulders. “I feel like this is all a bit too much.”
Grams got to her feet and stepped toward me. She put her arm around me and gave it a quick squeeze. Then she took up the pacing. “So what we have is an agency that should have been disbanded, who are now back in business and infiltrating supernatural communities.”
I nodded. “And we have a leaked FBI report about the existence of supernaturals.”
“And we have a governmental agency who is on the hunt for supernaturals with either military or scientific goals in mind.”
“And we have the Shadowmen who seem to be after the Ni’amh.”
Grams and I shared a worried look.
There’s more going on here than we knew. I just had to hope we figured things out before it was too late.
Chapter 37
Chief Murdoch knocked on the door and stuck his head into the room for all of five seconds to announce that Horner was signing himself in. Then he was gone, leaving Grams to gather her things and stuff them into her briefcase.
“I’d better skedaddle.”
“Grams. Nobody says ’skedaddle’ anymore.”
She looked at me, her expression a little disappointed as she shook her head. “The things kids say these days.”
I rolled my eyes, but she was already halfway to the door. She stopped on the threshold and looked over at me. “Watch yourself, dear. Don’t let anything happen to you, okay? This family has had enough tragedy to last us a few lifetimes. And then some.”
“I’ll try my best,” I said softly, but she’d already left and closed the door behind her.
Grams sure appeared to be in a rush to leave. I frowned, wondering if there was a reason she didn’t want to run into Horner. Was it more so because he’d been headhunting her too?
A few minutes after Grams left, Horner knocked and entered. His face was dark with tension as he took a seat near the door and waited for me to join him. Man of few words.
“I think I have a plan, but I want to hear your side of the story first.”
Surprised that he’d felt the need to have a plan at all, I sat back and recounted everything that had happened regarding Marsden and the shooting. I also brought Horner up to speed on Josh’s revelation and the reasons behind my attempted kidnapping.
When I was finally done, I felt as though I should record myself saying it all and then just hand it to each person who wanted the information. I exhaled silently and waited as Horner ruminated on my revelations.
“That’s certainly a lot to have to consider.”
Horner got to his feet and walked over to the window which revealed a view of the north half of the city. He was silent for a few moments, and I cleared my throat, “What was your plan?”
He laughed. “Slightly adjusted for your new revelations of course.” I joined in the laughter although mine was a little on the nervous side. Horner shifted forward in his seat. “We need to get you out of here and to a safe place.”
“Have you been talking to Chief Murdoch?” I asked, grinning. I was pretty sure the two of them had cooked up that plan together.
Horner smiled but didn’t answer my question. “I believe we need to move quickly. There is more here than meets the eye and I believe you’re in greater danger than you realize.”
Horner had a point, and he was my boss. I had to agree with his instructions, but not because I had no choice. Rather, he was right. We needed to take drastic action.
“We need to plan for the diversion,” I said, brow furrowed. And then it clicked into place exactly what we needed Cassie for. We’d been a little hazy on Cassie’s specific role, but now it became clear what she needed to do.
“From your expression, I believe you have a plan?” asked Horner.
“Cassandra Monteith. She’s a ShapeChanger.”
Horner nodded slowly. “She can be you, and be the decoy.” A smile grew on his face, and he said, “Get her here as soon as possible. We need to move on this fast.”
I frowned, staring at him for a moment. “Like today fast?”
He tilted his head. “Like now fast.”
“Okay, then,” I said as I fished my phone out of my pocket.
Cassie answered almost instantly. “What’s up? Where do you need me?”
I smiled. “At the station. We have a plan, and it’s go time.”
“Be right there. I just need a ride.”
A few minutes later—during which I offered Horner a drink, which he declined with a polite smile—the air in the middle of the room shimmered, and Mel materialized, arm around Cassie.