by Jools Louise
“Flashpoint have a habit of recruiting people who aren’t necessarily evil, not all of them, but have strayed across a line, because of financial or emotional issues. Perhaps Meredith’s bonded with them, and feels sympathetic to that, rather than the cause itself.”
“More likely, Flashpoint have hidden their true agenda, and convinced Meredith that what they’re doing is harmless,” Merc said shrewdly. “I’ve been studying them for years, and their affiliates overseas. They have a common goal, which is making money, and some of their affiliates actually donate to good causes to hide the less savory aspects of their business. Cancer research, conservation, the environment. They shield themselves behind a veneer of civilization and sophistication, but they’re neither. The fighting rings are just the start of what they do. Blood sports is a large profit maker for them, and it’s linked to their illegal gambling activities. They don’t see anything wrong with hunting shifters, or pure-blooded creatures.”
“Why?” Fly asked brokenly. “I still don’t understand why.”
“I don’t think they have a legitimate reason, other than their own entertainment and greed,” Ryder said gently. “Nothing that they’ve done so far indicates a particular hatred for us, despite the horrific things that they’ve done. Not like the Will and the Word. That was a different thing entirely. Flashpoint, and their allies, seem all about money, bottom line.”
The phone rang again. Ryder’s expression darkened, and he cursed loudly. “Fuck. Okay, get to safety. No, that’s not your fault. Those bastards were prepared. Get our guys home now. Don’t take any risks, just get out. I’ll send an egress crew to help out.” He cut the connection, then hit speed dial, and ordered a second crew to help get his first team out.
“What happened?” Noah asked, almost afraid of the response.
Ryder looked at him, took a deep breath, then darted a glance at Fly and Merc. “Flashpoint just attacked the crew who were rescuing Meredith. The two who escaped came back with reinforcements. Your mother was shot, but is alive. My guys are pinned down. We lost two of our team. Now we just have to pray that our egress team can extract them all safely.”
“Oh, good lord,” Fly muttered, and slumped into a dead faint once again.
Noah lifted him into his arms, cradling him gently, and kissed him tenderly. “I’m not sure being a secret agent is really his thing,” he said, shaking his head ruefully. “All this drama is taking its toll.”
“I hear that,” Cullen said, with a look of chagrin. “This is worse than Days of Our Lives.”
“Cullen!” Ryder scolded sharply, jerking his chin at where Merc was standing.
“No, it’s okay,” Mercury said. “I’m sorry your team was hurt,” he added sadly. “Flashpoint are masters at what they do. They would have been expecting something, especially since Morag is on the loose. They would know that it was just a matter of time before someone hacked into their system, and extracted that address.”
“I killed them, didn’t I?” Drew asked, horrified.
“No. Flashpoint did that,” Ryder gritted out, clapping a hand on Drew’s shoulder. “You did what any of us would do. You’re one of the best computer techs I know, and if you tripped their system, without knowing you’d alerted them, we wouldn’t have stood a chance.” He squeezed Drew’s shoulder gently. “Don’t take any blame, Drew. This is all on them.”
Drew didn’t look convinced.
“Drew, Flashpoint have had years to dig in,” Mercury said somberly. “They have some skilled actors working for them, and people who are experts in their field. You saw what Ghost could do. And Daniel. Morag is apparently just another of their recruits. They have one thing in common, and that’s their lack of remorse or compassion. They have no loyalty to shifters, only their own survival. Morag was a shifter, and she attacked our own. Daniel, too. Ghost just has a grudge against everyone who’s stronger than him. Since before he was injured. Even his disability was as a result of his stupidity, adding to his hatred. Being evil doesn’t make them stupid or gullible. They all have their expertise, and they’re smart, able to predict what we’ll do, because they’ve studied us for so long. Help us take them down. We need your skills to send them running.”
“It is time that we sent a little message of our own,” Mikhail agreed. “They have had it their way for too long. They kill loved ones, destroy families…for profit. No more. Now it is time for us to strike back at the heart of their businesses, and shatter their networks. They communicate a little too well. We have to annihilate that chain.”
“We need to sniff out their spies, too,” Ryder murmured. “Some of our youngsters have been extremely useful at that. They have a knack for seeing people’s true nature.”
“Don’t let John hear that you’re wanting to recruit the critters,” Noah warned. “He’ll skin you alive.”
“I don’t intend to recruit them,” Ryder said patiently, looking offended. “But I certainly want to interview them. They hear and see things that most of us would miss.”
“John won’t like it,” Noah said direly, frowning. “But it’s your neck, not mine.”
“I just want to talk to them,” Ryder protested.
“Your neck,” Noah repeated, mimicking a hangman’s noose around his own throat.
“John would go ballistic on your ass if you start giving those little fuzz butts ideas that they’re secret agents,” Cullen told his ex-boss, and Ryder looked horrified.
“Shit, I didn’t think of that,” Ryder said, looking frustrated.
“You know, with all these people starting up businesses in town, any one of them could be Flashpoint stooges,” Mikhail said. “If someone needed seed money, maybe Flashpoint have their hands in that kind of lunacy, too. Loan sharking, protection rackets…their ‘business’ seems to be extortion and profiteering.”
“Are you thinking of anyone in particular?” Ryder asked cautiously.
Mikhail glanced at Noah, who glared back. “If you’re thinking that Shark or Oliver are involved in that, you’re way wrong,” Noah growled. “Those boys have earned their own way, they haven’t taken out any loans. That’s why they’ve spent so long getting their money together, saving hard, taking three jobs each while they were taking culinary classes at the college. Besides, someone is trying to put them out of business, tried to stop them starting it in the first place. You’re barking up the wrong tree, pussycat.”
Mikhail snorted. “It was merely a suggestion,” he said. “No need to get your panties in a wad.”
Noah stepped up to his friend, nose to nose. “Mikhail, trust me, those two are not involved in this. They’ve defied their own family by staying here and setting up on their own. They’re in as much danger as anyone else here, if not more. The wolverine clans are notorious for getting payback.”
“Then we should make sure that doesn’t happen,” Mikhail said softly, placing a hand on Noah’s arm, offering a tacit apology.
“Indeed,” Noah replied tautly, then hugged his friend. “Now quit being an ass, and go home.”
There was a knock at the door, and everyone turned as they heard someone crying.
Noah laid Fly onto the couch, and got up to see who was there.
Chapter Eleven
“Someone trashed our restaurant,” Oliver cried, tears streaming down his face, shaking uncontrollably. Shark stood by his side, looking distraught, his arm around Oliver’s waist. He faced Noah as the man let them into his apartment, and the two wolverine shifters entered, seeing Ryder Black, Cullen, Drew, an unknown man who looked remarkably like Fly, Mikhail, and of course Fly. Fly was just waking up, groaning as he sat up on the couch.
“Did you call Pace?” Noah growled, ushering the pair to sit on matching chairs.
“He’s there now, with Skull and Mabel,” Shark said. “He said to come here, because whoever did it sent us a vile message, as well. We were scared.”
Shark showed Noah his cellphone, with a photo of the destruction, the windows smashed in, the cha
irs and tables all broken to pieces, and the kitchen in ruins. Food was strewn everywhere, and on the walls, in ketchup, judging by the empty ketchup bottles littering the floor, was a lot of graffiti. You’ve been warned. Go home. Snitches don’t get no second warning—they just die. Family is forever. Go home or die. You’ll be sorry.
“I don’t suppose anyone has approached you to offer protection for your premises?” Noah asked slowly, reading the messages, then handing the phone to Ryder. Mikhail jerked his head at the question, then looked at the two terrified young wolverines. “The grocery store was sent a letter a little while ago. The outside wall got daubed with a message similar to this one, but not quite so personal. Same sort of writing, though.” He scowled. “I guess these bastards don’t take no for their final answer.”
“Protection?” Oliver asked in a quavering voice.
“Before we opened, we got a letter, supposedly from the mall management, offering extra security at excellent rates,” Shark replied. “The letter’s at our office, in the restaurant. We ignored it, but were going to ask about the company. We asked around, Cracker and Kaden, but they said they’d never seen a letter like that one, and told us to show it to Pace. We forgot about it until now.”
“What was the name of the company?” Ryder asked quietly.
“I don’t remember,” Shark said miserably, hunching his shoulders.
“I think it was something like Castle Security, or…” Oliver said, trying to remember.
“Fortress Security?” Cullen asked.
“That’s it!” Oliver said excitedly. “Fortress Security. The letter was on headed paper, really professional looking.”
“I’ll call Pace, see if he can find it,” Ryder said. “Where did you put it?”
“I can go and get it,” Shark said, getting up.
“No, you stay here,” Ryder replied, looking alarmed. “No telling what they’ll do. This is fairly mild, considering what Flashpoint have done so far, but Fortress is certainly a link. We don’t want you in danger.”
“Why us?” Oliver cried, trembling.
“You’re vulnerable,” Fly said, standing and going to the kitchen, then setting up the coffee maker, looking pale but steadier now. “They go for people who don’t appear to have any support, and you don’t have any family in town.”
“Or maybe their family is behind it,” Cullen said softly.
“They’re in prison,” Shark replied, looking even more scared.
“They did work for our late mobster friends, Purdy and Clancy, didn’t they?” Mikhail asked thoughtfully.
“Yes,” Shark answered. “We had nothing to do with any of that,” he added quickly. “When we ended up at that mine in Colorado with Noah and Fly, we realized what our family was capable of. We’d been told all sorts of stories, making our family out to be victims of malice. But they’re the malicious ones. We found out a lot more, and threatened to go to the authorities if they didn’t stop harassing us.”
“You told them you had evidence against them?” Noah asked, feeling uneasy at the revelation.
“We had to,” Shark said pugnaciously. “They kept demanding we return home. They wouldn’t leave us alone. When we were at college, they’d call us every day, or send little parcels, with dead rats in…stupid stuff like that.”
“You didn’t think to tell anyone?” Fly asked in shock.
“We told Pace,” Oliver admitted. “He and Skull needed to know, and said if anything else happened, to let them know. Apart from those horrible rumors about us, this is the only other thing that’s happened.”
“I think it’s time we did something more than monitor things,” Fly said irritably.
“I’ll get some of my friends to help out,” Noah said. “Alex and Doyle might fancy moonlighting as security at the mall,” he added.
“We’ll hold a meeting for business owners in town,” Ryder suggested. “They should be given a heads up. Things could escalate.”
“We just wanted to run our own business,” Oliver said, beginning to cry. “Why is that so difficult?”
“You’re doing it,” Noah said gently. “You’ve done things your own way, and sometimes that upsets the status quo, when people feel their power has been taken away. By standing up to them, and letting them know you won’t be scared away, they’re having to step up their operation.”
“You should be proud,” Fly agreed. “Those douche bags are just morons with no vision.”
“We heard about what happened at the hotel,” Shark said tremulously. “The wolves are staying with us for a while, until they decide what to do about the hotel. It will need to be rebuilt but they’re not sure they want to do it anymore. They feel terrible that they let Ghost stay there, and now their mates are dead. We didn’t want to trouble them with any more stress, that’s why we came here. We just don’t know what to do next.”
“Why don’t we head to the mall, and once Pace clears the crime scene, we’ll help you clean up,” Fly suggested, pouring coffee for everyone, looking far brighter now he had something to focus on other than his own troubles. “I’ll even put on a pair of marigolds, to show I’m serious.”
Even the wolverines chuckled at that one.
“We’ll help, too,” Drew said, resting a hand on Cullen’s shoulder, who sighed and nodded.
“It’s the least we can do, since we do, in fact, work for you,” Cullen agreed.
The wolverines looked tearful. “We weren’t expecting you to want to continue,” Shark said. “We figured you’d quit as soon as you heard what was going on.”
“Dude, I’m a former agent extraordinaire, and my friend Drew here is the latest thing in computer-based intelligence gathering. He also cooks a mean French fry,” Cullen rejoined, smirking at Drew.
“He’s not wrong,” Drew retorted, ruffling Cullen’s hair. “So why don’t we drink up, and then head over to get your place shipshape again. Oh, and don’t tell mom just yet what’s going on. She’s only just getting used to me working after those morons attacked the town a few weeks ago.”
“I won’t tell if you don’t,” Shark replied. “But Cracker’s bound to say something.”
“Crap!” Drew smacked his own forehead. “She’s gonna get me to quit.”
“Maybe you should,” Oliver suggested quietly. “I don’t want to be responsible for you getting hurt. Not after what your father did to you.”
Drew looked at him, then went over to hug the smaller guy. “That wasn’t anything to do with you guys,” he said firmly. “You tried to stop them, refused to obey Daniel or his thugs, and ended up nearly dying yourselves. You snuck us food and water, and bathed our wounds. You switched those syringes when the scientists tried to drug us, otherwise I’m not sure me or my family would be alive. Thank you for that. We owe you more than we can ever repay. If helping you keep your business open, and wearing a chicken hat and flouncy apron is the price, I’ll do it.”
“You stopped them from being drugged?” Mikhail asked the wolverines, looking at them with burgeoning respect.
Shark shrugged, looking embarrassed. “The scientists who came to the house wanted to sedate the boys all the time, to keep them quiet. I can’t call them medics because they weren’t there to help anyone, only supply drugs to children. We didn’t like what they were doing, so when we were free to do so, when we were supposedly guarding the boys, we swapped the drugs for a vitamin supplement, which helped to keep them healthy. Especially since their father kept their food rationed. He really was a bastard.”
“He was,” Drew agreed emphatically. “Which makes your defiance of him much more courageous. You knew he was capable of hurting his own children, his own wife, but you still stood up to him, however subtly. When he found out, you didn’t cower away, but told him to go fuck himself.”
“He threatened our friends, too,” Oliver said. “They went home, though, after they were rescued.” He shrugged. “Their families are a lot more loving than ours is. Their moms and dads actually care ab
out them.”
“Drink up, everyone, then we can go and clean up Feeling Clucky, before opening tomorrow,” Fly said. “We’ll send our message, that our friends won’t be intimidated by a bunch of moronic jerks.”
“Hear hear,” Noah replied, tipping his coffee cup, before they all headed off to clean shop.
* * * *
Fly cursed whoever wrecked his friends’ restaurant to hell and back, then revised that decision, and cursed them to just rot in hell…nobody wanted them to return. He was on hands and knees, scrubbing congealed grease from the tiled floor. It was stubborn stuff, and even with a degreaser, was proving a tad difficult to get rid of. He looked up as he saw someone standing nearby, who clearly wasn’t part of the work detail, judging by the shoes, a pair of two thousand dollar Gucci sandals with four inch heels.
He blew a lock of hair from his eyes, and raked a yellow-gloved hand through his hair, smearing more grease into his hair, then froze. The eyes that stared into his were almost identical to those he viewed in the mirror daily. The figure was one that was slender, but not skinny, and the face was one he remembered from many a dream. The one where his mother came back to him, with open arms, and told him that she loved him with all her heart, and he was more precious than anything on earth, except her other son, Mercury.
“Fly?” she said, head tilted to one side, her golden eyes glimmering with tears. He studied her, unable to move, terrified that she was a mirage…or that the expression on her face would suddenly revert to one he’d perceived too many times before. Hatred, disgust, disdain—any of them would do. He’d seen them all.
“Don’t you recognize me?” she asked. “I know I’ve been away for a long time, but…”
“Who are you?” he asked, narrowing his gaze, trying to read her. He still wasn’t sure about the whole sister swapping thing, where his aunt had taken his mother’s place, and stolen her life for years on end.