Answers

“Mid-Star Aviation,” Greg said, and an image appeared on the computer screen behind him. “They’re based out of Fort Worth Meacham Airport.”

“Texas,” Carissa said.

“Yes,” Greg confirmed. “How is your relationship with your neighbor?”

“Cordial,” Carissa said.

“They give every appearance of a perfectly legitimate operation,” Greg continued, “but they don’t seem to look very carefully at who uses their equipment.”

“That seems foolish,” Angel inserted.

“I believe they require significant deposits to rent their equipment,” Greg explained. “Perhaps more than the equipment is worth.”

“So they may not be interested in buying my helicopters back,” Michaela said. Then she sighed, her wrist to her forehead. “I suppose someone is going to suggest we make them an offer they can’t refuse.”

Greg gave a rundown on the Mid-Start facilities and services before transitioning to personnel. He was thorough, and there were few questions when he was finished.

“Dark Gorge Consulting is based out of San Diego,” he said next.

“A competitor?” Michaela asked.

“Not exactly,” Greg said. “They’re known for extraction services. Corporate kidnappings, things like that.”

“Human?” Elisabeth asked.

“As best I can tell. The CEO is former Secret Service, and he recruits heavily from law enforcement.”

“Great,” Elisabeth muttered. “Connections.”

“Yes,” Greg said. “And tight security.”

“Greg,” Carissa said. “Would you be able to positively track his location?”

“Not one hundred percent.” Another image appeared. “His home.”

“Nice house,” said Angel.

Greg put up a series of additional photographs, including the latest from Google Maps.

I frowned. “This doesn’t make sense.”

“What doesn’t?” Greg asked.

“The people you described sound like the good guys,” I replied. “But we have four of them who weren’t at all the good guys.”

“But they’re the ones who knew what we were,” Michaela pointed out. “Maybe they see us as monsters. It wouldn’t be hard for someone to paint us that way. Just call us werewolves and let people come to their own conclusions. I was once told the FBI knows about us.”

“They do,” Greg said.

Michaela stood and walked to the front, studying the images. “Put up his face again.” There was a pause, and then we were looking at a photo of a nondescript man in his mid-fifties. Michaela looked into his eyes for a minute. Then, without turning around, she said, “Before I came here, I understood not all werewolves needed to die, but I also understood many did. If he knows about werewolves, but doesn’t necessarily know the details of individual packs, it would not have been hard to mislead him.” She turned around, and her eyes settled on Carissa. “I am not willing to pass judgment on this man. Yet.”

Carissa nodded just once and then exchanged a look with Kristian. I wasn’t sure what it might mean.

“Family?” Kristian asked.

“No!” said Michaela.

“Family?” Kristian asked again.

Greg turned to look at the fox. It took a minute before she nodded, nearly imperceptibly. “Wife,” he said, and an image appeared.

“She looks young,” Elisabeth said.

“Forty-one. Wife number three. By every indication, they’re deeply devoted to each other.” There was a pause. “He has three daughters.” Three photos appeared. The eldest appeared to be upper twenties, and the youngest was a child.

“Take them all,” Kristian said. “And tell them he can trade for himself.”

“No!” Michaela said, stomping over to glare at him. He gazed at her quietly, and eventually she looked away. “Fine.”

“Don’t threaten to hurt them,” Kristian said. “Just threaten to give them to a vampire to enthrall.”

“Leave the child out of it,” Michaela said. “We’re not monsters.”

“Do we know where they are?” Elisabeth asked.

“Yes,” Greg said. “Daughter number two is attending college.”

“It’s summer.”

“Yes, but she took a summer internship on campus.”

“Where?”

“The University of Chicago.”

“Oh shit.” That came from several voices.

“No way,” Michaela said, spinning around. “No way is he stupid enough to leave her right next door while this went down. No way.”

Greg put up a photo of the second daughter walking across a college campus. “Taken at four PM this afternoon,” he said. “I have a team tracking her.”

“Greg,” Michaela whined.

“Just watching her,” he said. “Standard procedure, Michaela. How people like this act can tell you a lot. If she’d whisked away three days ago, it would tell us dear old dad expected this kind of attention.”

“Where is daughter number one?” Carissa asked.

Greg turned, and his smile was grim. An image appeared on the screen, and half the people in the room leapt to their feet.

“When?” Michaela asked coldly.

“Breakfast this morning.”

“Café du Monde. Right? That’s Café du Monde.”

“It is,” Carissa said.

“It’s a setup.” I’m not even sure who said it. There must have been five or six at once.

“Is the youngest daughter currently visiting relatives in Boulder?” Michaela asked sarcastically.

“As far as we can tell, she’s at home,” Greg said.

* * * *

Discussion went into the night. Phone calls were made. And then Monique drove Kristian to the airport.

* * * *

By afternoon of the next day, tensions were high. But we assembled in the control room. Carissa met Kristian, and the two of them escorted their “guests”, bound and with hoods over their heads, into the room. They were pushed into waiting chairs, secured, and had their hoods yanked from their heads.

There was a man, and I recognized the CEO of Mid-Star aviation. I didn’t know who the woman was. They both looked scared out of their minds.

Michaela stood. Carissa and Kristian both stepped back. Michaela slowly looked around the room, the two prisoners watching her as she approached. Michaela approached the man first, and then a knife appeared in her hands, faster than my eyes could follow. The man startled, but there wasn’t anywhere he could go.

Michaela played with the knife for a moment before pressing it against his cheek, right under his eye.

I expected him to begin to panic, but he just glared at her. She watched him for a moment then slid the knife under the rope holding the gag in place and efficiently cut it.

“You have no right-” the man started to yell.

Michaela backhanded him. His head rocked, and then he spit blood out of his mouth. Michaela was out of the way before he could do it, then she was back, her hand around his throat. “Do you know who I am?”

“I don’t know who the fuck you are, and I don’t care, bitch!” Then he began to make strangling noises.

“You aren’t necessarily going to die,” Michaela said quite calmly. “We have questions for you, and you will answer them.”

“Fuck you,” he managed to gurgle.

“Two of your helicopters were used in an attempted kidnapping,” Michaela said. Then she released him with a shove. “Know anything about that?”

“Fuck you!” he screamed.

Michaela spun, and this time it was at a speed a human could follow. She spun, her hand descending, one of her knives clenched, coming to a stop with just the very tip embedded in the leg of the woman. She, in turn, began screaming into her gag.

Michaela froze that way. “I was the target, along with my daughters.” She pulled the knife up, and it disappeared. She turned back to the man. “You can imagine I’m not very pleased.”

“Who the fuck are you?”

Michaela stepped back and set a hand on her hip. “I’ll give you a chance. Speak politely, and I might not have to use my daggers again. One more foul word, and someone is getting cut.”

The man clamped his mouth shut.

“Better,” Michaela said. “Photos.” She pointed to the computer screen, and images of the two helicopters appeared on the screen. They were in a hangar somewhere, but I wouldn’t have been able to guess where. “The registration is traced to Mid-Star Aviation. I want to know who leased them from you.”

The man stared at the screen, saying nothing. Beside him, the woman cried. Michaela looked at both of them for a minute then said, “Portia, bandage her leg.”

No one spoke while the enforcer stepped forward with a first aid kit, but the woman began gibbering when Portia began cutting the slacks away. She flinched as she received her treatment, but she calmed down, slightly, once Portia was done.

“Now,” Michaela said. “I bet you’d like your aircraft back. Tell us what we want to know, and we’ll sell them to you for a very competitive price. Lie to us or make me angry, and we’ll give them back after filling them with cocaine. And by give them back, we mean you can talk to DEA about them.”

The man licked his lips. “Who are you?” he asked, his tone subdued.

“Tell me, Mr. Hensley. Are you aware there are things that go bump in the night?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t you?” she asked. “Maybe that’s true. Are you going to tell us what we want to know?”

“If I don’t, are you going to torture us?”

“Let me rephrase this question? Are you going to tell us willingly, or unwillingly? Either way, you’ll be telling us.”

“You’re some kind of cold monster,” he replied.

“Maybe I am,” Michaela said. “But what would you do if someone tried to kidnap you and your children? Would you be a little irked?”

He didn’t answer that. Instead he said, “I’m not even sure those are ours.”

“The FAA assures us they are,” Michaela replied. “So I’m not sure I believe you. Would this be easier if I spent a little more time convincing you of my willingness to act, Mr. Hensley?”

He didn’t answer, but he looked around the room for a while, craning his head around. No one stopped him. Finally he settled his gaze back on the fox. “You’re the smallest one here.”

“So I am,” Michaela said. “Did it feel like a tiny woman hit you a few minutes ago?”

He worked his jaw. “No. What are you?”

“Ah, what an interesting question. I am the woman who will decide your fate. You could walk away from this, Mr. Hensley, you and Ms. Evermore both. Now, do you wish the aircraft back?”

He glanced at the screen. He looked over at the woman, then down at her bandaged leg.

Finally he returned his gaze to Michaela. “We have similar aircraft, but I don’t recognize those N-numbers.”

“Was the paint fresh?” Michaela asked.

“No,” said Greg. “The N-numbers are fake, but they’re painted on relatively small side panels, and the other paint doesn’t quite match that of the rest of the aircraft.”

“I didn’t notice in the dark,” Michaela said. She turned back to the prisoners. “We used the registration numbers on the identification plate. Was there any evidence of tampering?”

“No,” Greg said. “And a search also matches the numbers from both engines.”

“Sloppy,” Michaela said. “And not that hard to trace.”

Mr. Hensley turned to look at the woman beside him. She returned his gaze, her eyes wide and filled with fear. “Rickie,” he asked, “Do you know anything about this?”

She closed her eyes; she closed them tightly. Then, without opening again, she nodded slowly. And then tears began crawling down her cheeks.

Michaela gestured. Portia stepped forward and removed the woman’s gag. She startled as soon as the wolf touched her, but there was little opportunity to move. Michaela paused and then said, “Ms. Evermore, are these aircraft yours?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “But if you traced them to us, then probably.” She opened her eyes. “Please don’t hurt me again.”

“It was only a scratch,” Michaela said. “I received far worse while dealing with the people who invaded our land. Two of my very closest friends were shot. Don’t worry; they’re fine. But you should perhaps be happy I am the one asking the questions.”

The woman looked around, saying nothing. Then she brushed her face against her shoulder. “We have two S-70s out on lease.”

“Painted to look like Blackhawks?”

“Yes,” she said.

“Former Coast Guard aircraft?”

“I don’t know,” she replied. “They might be. I would have to check records. Mid-Star has owned them for a number of years.”

“Would you like them back?”

“Not if they’re filled with drugs.”

“No drugs,” Michaela said. “For now. I’ll take it that yes, you would like them back. What size deposit would you have demanded for them?”

“I don’t know exactly.”

“I am unsure I believe you,” Michaela replied. “But I’ll take an estimated amount. Please don’t lie to me. It would be bad for our relationship and your blood supply.”

The woman gulped. “In round numbers? Two million.”

“Each?”

“For the two.”

Michaela glanced over at Greg, who shrugged. She turned back. “Well then, if we sell them back to you for one million, you can tell the people who leased them whatever you like and keep the other million. That’s a tidy profit, don’t you think?”

The two prisoners exchanged glances. It was the CEO who asked, “Why would you do that?”

“Let you have them cheaply? Or make you pay anything at all?”

“Let us have them back, if what you’ve said is true.”

“We’re letting you have them back, because they don’t belong to us, and we don’t deal in stolen aircraft. We’re making you pay for them because I’m a little unhappy, and because I’m told your operations aren’t always as honorable as I might like, and because due in part to these aircraft, I am spending money I would rather not have to spend. That million dollars will offset the cost of being invaded. I don’t know if it will offset the entire cost or not.”

The man said nothing further, so Michaela turned her gaze back to the woman. “We would like to know where to more appropriately turn our attention. I would like you to tell us.”

“I don’t know.”

“Oh, now that is not a good answer.”

“But I could find out, if I could have access to a computer and my cell phone.”

Michaela folded her arms and then hopped backwards to sit on the edge of the table. She studied the woman, who had calmed significantly. She commented on that. “Explain.”

“I don’t think you’re going to kill us,” she said.

“Maybe I’m lulling you to learn what I want.”

“Maybe you are.”

“You’ve seen our faces,” Michaela pointed out. “You should be terrified.”

The woman didn’t respond. Michaela looked at her intently. Finally she said, “Let’s see if she can give us what we want.”

There was a flurry of motion. One of Greg’s people put a laptop down on the table beside Michaela. Kristian handed her a phone. Michaela looked at it for a moment then held it out. “Security code?”

“One-seven-three-niner-niner-five.”

“If this locks up,” Michaela said, “you are going to suddenly be very, very unhappy.” Then she repeated the number. “Is that correct?”

“Yes.”

Michaela pushed numbers then smiled. “Well, well. Cooperation.” She waved the unlocked phone around then turned it back to face herself and then frowned. “Oh,” she said, sounding sad. “No signal.”

“I don’t need a signal. I need to reference an app.”

“You don’t really think I’m untying you, do you?” Michaela asked. “Why do you need a file?”

“It has security codes on it.”

“This is your laptop,” Michaela said, nudging the computer.

“I recognize it. The codes aren’t on the computer, and the phone can’t access the systems we need.”

“Two-factor authentication?” Greg asked. “Does the phone need to receive a text message?”

“No. There’s an app. The codes change every few minutes.”

“We’ll know if anyone tries to trace this back to us,” Michaela said. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

The woman looked around then said, “Yes.”

“All right,” Michaela said with a nod.

Greg’s technician pulled up a chair and manipulated the computer. It took a few minutes to obtain a secure connection into Mid-Star’s computer system. Our prisoner told where to click, and soon enough we were treated to a view of a lease tracking system with the two helicopters leased by Dark Gorge Consulting.

Greg’s technician collected all the information.

No one commented.

Michaela waited until the technician thought he had everything he needed. At that, she leaned forward, still seated on the edge of the table. “Do you both know what is going to happen if we discover you have been less than fully forthcoming with us?”

The woman looked up at Michaela. I thought her expression was cold. “You’ll kidnap us, stab us, and let us know you’re going to kill us if we don’t cooperate?”

“Funny,” Michaela said. “File.” She held out a hand. A moment later a manila folder made it into her hand. She studied it.

“Rickie Evermore,” Michaela read. “47 years old.” She looked the woman over. “You look damned good for 47.”

“Thank you,” the woman replied archly.

Michaela’s eyes descended to the folder. “No children. Never married. We didn’t have time to check on boyfriends.” She looked up. “Or girlfriends.” The woman didn’t respond. “You’ve been with Mid-Star for eight years, and in our search, we didn’t find any prior references do you. We find that interesting.” She turned the folder sideways. “Nice house.”

“It’s comfortable.”

“I imagine,” Michaela replied. She tossed the folder aside. “What did you do before joining Mid-Star.”

“This and that.”

From one eye blink to the next, two of Michaela’s knives appeared in her hands.

“Nice trick,” said the woman. “So you’re going to torture me anyway? I gave you what you needed.”

“You could pick the easy path,” the fox replied, “and tell me what you did before joining Mid-Star.”

“Maybe I was a drug runner.”

“Maybe you’re former Mossad.”

Rickie didn’t so much as flinch.

“Maybe there’s no former about it,” Michaela added.

“For a fishing expedition, you sure throw a long cast,” the woman replied. “Is this pertinent?”

“Your crying spell earlier was an act,” Michaela said, “and not particularly convincing.” She gestured. “This is the real you. I’m trying to decide if you knew how your helicopters would be used when you leased them out.”

“I didn’t.”

“But you are the person who handled the exchange. And I think you knew the answers we retrieved before we went through the charade with the computer.”

“Would you have believed me?”

“Probably not,” Michaela admitted. “Do you blame us for wanting to get to the bottom of this?”

“You’ve obviously made enemies,” Rickie replied. “Get off your high horse. If you made the sort of enemies to go to these lengths, you’re not nice people, which is confirmed by everything today.”

“I’m a high school science teacher.”

The woman laughed, and rather loudly. “Nice cover,” she said eventually.

“Nevertheless,” Michaela said, “the people who paid us a visit were here to kidnap me and my two very young children, who aren’t old enough to have made enemies with anyone. Along the way, those people were prepared to kill any of my students that got in my way. And you gave them two helicopters to help them with that process. Did you even ask questions?”

“We don’t ask questions,” Rickie said. “Frankly, if they’re going to use them for legitimate reasons, we don’t care. And if they’re going to use them for illegitimate questions, they’ll have a lie at the ready.”

“And a buck is a buck.”

“Or in this case, one point two million bucks.”

“And you even got a free business trip out of the deal,” Michaela said.

“And met such interesting people,” Rickie added. She looked around the room, her gaze settling on me. “Someone doesn’t belong.” She turned back to Michaela. “Two someones.”

“Oh, I’m sure Mossad has a file on me,” Michaela said. “You’ll be our guests for a day or three, while we finish reaching the bottom of this. I’m afraid the quarters are somewhat Spartan.” She turned to look at Elisabeth. “See to it.”

* * * *

We waited until the enforcers had stashed our unhappy guests. Once they returned, Michaela asked, “Greg?”

“We’re tracing the payment accounts. That will take some time. I find it unlikely they belong to Dark Gorge.”

“I believe we need to make those phone calls. Carissa, are your people ready?”

“Yes.”

“Eric, can you please call Jared for us?”

“One minute.” It only took a moment, and then he said, “On speaker.”

“Hello, Jared,” Michaela said. “Thank you for doing this?”

“It is nothing, Michaela.”

“Greg, you’re up.”

Greg signaled, and it was actually one of his technicians that handled placing the next call. Then he gestured to Greg, now wearing a headset similar to Eric’s, and Greg said, “Orlando, it’s Greg Freund from Lima. I’ve been asked to facilitate a phone call.”

“How is business, Greg?”

“I’d love not to have any,” Greg said. “Especially the current business.”

“That’s like all my business,” said the CEO of Dark Gorge Consulting.

“My clients averted a kidnapping,” Greg explained. “Mother and two of her daughters. Warm, passionate people. Good friends, but terrible, terrible enemies, Orlando. The worst type of enemies.”

“If they averted the kidnapping, why are you calling me?”

“Orlando, are you alone?”

“Greg, we’re not friends, but we’ve never had a problem. What’s going on?”

“Orlando, are you alone?”

“I’m alone in my office with the door closed.”

“I’m going to give you some advice, Orlando,” Greg said. “Keep this conversation to yourself. Your first instinct is going to be to bring in your teams, but you do not want to do that.”

“Greg, don’t threaten me.”

“I’m not threatening you. Orlando, have you stepped over to the other side?”

“I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.”

“You’ve always been the ones to go in after the kidnapping,” Greg explained. “But sometimes the other side can be very profitable.”

There was a pause, and then the man’s tone was even colder. “We don’t do that. And from what I understand, you don’t, either.”

“Which is part of the reason why you and I have never been on opposite sides,” Greg said. “My clients want to meet with you, Orlando.”

“They can make an appointment.”

“There is a jet waiting for you at SAN.”

“It’s a shame I’m going to miss it.”

“Mr. Gillespie, my name is Carissa. I am rather known in New Orleans. I’ve lived there for a couple of centuries. Do you think you might know of me?”

The man was silent for a long time, finally saying, “I believe I’ve heard of you, Your Majesty.”

“Just Carissa is fine,” said the vampire. “One of my children is on this call.”

“One of your children.”

“Yes. I’m sure you understand what I mean.” And then she gestured to Kristian, who spoke quietly into his own headset, and after a moment, we heard the woman’s voice.

“Dad?”

“Renate?” said Orlando. “Honey?”

“Dad, some strange woman is at my hotel door. She handed me this phone and said you wanted to speak with me.”

“How is New Orleans, honey?”

“My cell phone is working. Why did you send a flunky, Dad? Oh, now the woman is walking away. What’s going on?”

“That’s a good question,” said Orlando. “What did you do today, honey?” The two talked for a minute, and then Orlando said, “I’m glad you’re having a nice time. I’m sorry if this seemed strange.”

“It was good to talk to you, Dad.”

“You too, honey,” he said.

“What am I supposed to do with this phone?”

“Perhaps hang onto it. You can give it back to me when I see you next. I love you, Renate.”

“I love you, too, Dad. Are you going to tell me what’s really going on?”

“Next time I see you,” he promised. “Be careful, honey.”

“Just like you taught me.”

The woman clicked off, and as soon as she had, Orlando began screaming at Greg. No one was particularly impressed, but finally Carissa said, “Really, Mr. Gillespie. Your daughter is unharmed, and my children are ensuring she stays that way. She is currently the safest tourist in my city. You, however, have been very naughty.”

“Lima doesn’t do this, Freund!” Orlando roared.

“Perhaps you would like to hear everything,” Greg said. “We have another call to make. This one to Chicago.”

“Leave her alone!”

“Hush now. You don’t want to scare her,” Carissa said.

There were some clicks, and then another woman said, “Daddy?”

“Darling!” he said. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” she said. “There are two people at my dorm room. They just gave me a phone and said you wanted to talk to me.”

“Perhaps you should ask for a description, Ms. Gillespie,” Carissa said. “Your daughter does not hear me, but she can hear you.”

“Trinity, what do these people look like?”

“They just walked away. I still have their phone.”

“Close the door and lock it, then tell me what they looked like.”

“You’re the one who sent them. Don’t you know who you sent, Dad?”

“Trinity, please.”

“Fine, fine.” We heard the sound of a door closing firmly. “Man and woman. The man is in his thirties and I think his name is Arnold.”

“Arnold?”

“He’s at least as big as Arnold Schwarzenegger,” Trinity said. “The woman is tall, short hair, and I suspect they go to the gym together. Why did you send your muscle with a phone? I was on mine ten minutes ago. I know it’s charged.”

“How is your internship, Trinity?”

“It’s fine,” she said in the tone of a typical teenager. “I talked to Mom about it last weekend.”

“I know. She told me.” Again the two chatted, and eventually hung up. Then the line was quiet.

“Orlando,” Greg said, “it’s actually a very good thing your daughters are where they are.”

“I find that difficult to believe.”

“If you had pulled them home, we would have assumed you were involved.”

“In what?” the man spat.

“Four of your pilots crossed the line, Orlando.”

“Fuck!” he screamed. “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! They tried to kidnap some alpha’s wife and kids! Chicago?”

“Madison.”

“Fuck!” he screamed again. “Just fuck me!”

“It was quite the raid. They were well equipped.”

“Fuck me!” he screamed again.

“Mr. Gillespie, my name is Michaela Burns. Greg assures us you wouldn’t have done this.”

“You’re okay? Your daughters?”

“They’re fine,” Michaela said. “Mr. Gillespie, either your pilots took a little on the side work, or someone in your organization has decided to revolt.”

“That’s why Greg wanted me alone.”

“And your pilots assured us they were on a sanctioned mission.”

“Ms. Burns, this isn’t what Dark Gorge does. I swear it.”

“Someone at Dark Gorge doesn’t carry that sentiment, and frankly, I’m not ready to believe you yet. But if you present yourself to us in person, we can get to the bottom of this. Your daughters will not be leaving their current locations until you do so, and if you think to escape a trap you’ve created for yourself, you can imagine how they will pay.”

“Do not threaten me.”

“Mr. Gillespie, your pilots knew what they were getting into, but the force of 18 heavily armed mercenaries on the ground did not.”

“What?” he spat.

“It did not go well for them,” Michaela said. “Unfortunately, the person leading the raid foolishly got himself killed, so our information is incomplete. We require your presence. Now, you have a choice. Either you become our guest, or your daughters do.”

“Freund, you’ve never done something like that before.”

“I helped gather information and make a phone call, Orlando,” Greg said. “But your eldest daughter was in New Orleans when this went down. Perhaps you’re not aware, but Carissa and Michaela are quite good friends. I was their second call, but Carissa was their first. And the current Chicago alpha is also on friendly terms with this pack.”

“After they killed his father and brother?”

“That’s a long story,” Michaela said. “You perhaps don’t have all the details. Mr. Gillespie, I find it very curious your two eldest daughters couldn’t have been easier for me to find, unless they’d been in Wisconsin, which would have been far, far too convenient. If you’re responsible for this, come take responsibility. If you aren’t, come help us resolve it.”

“You won’t believe me.”

“Oh, please, Mr. Gillespie,” said Carissa. “You’ll be dying to answer my questions.”

There was a moment of silence, and then he asked, “Are you going to kill me?”

“If you had something to do with this,” Michaela said, “then there are no promises. If you did not, and you help us discover who did, then you’ll be safely reunited with your family quite soon. Mr. Gillespie, if you did this, and you come tell us everything you know, your daughters will not suffer. You have my word.”

“That could be a euphemism.”

“They will continue to live their lives, barring unforeseen incidents completely outside the influence of any of us,” Michaela said. “We won’t touch them. But if you fail to arrive in good health, prepared to help us, the answer is very different.”

“It’s not a bad life being one of my pets,” Carissa said. “Although I may give them to one of my children.”

“I can better get your answers from here,” he said after a moment.

“That may be,” Michaela said. “But we really do need an in person conversation, and frankly, we’re a little worried you’ll tip off the wrong people. We intend to get to the bottom of this, Mr. Gillespie.”

He paused again. “I’m surprised you didn’t come directly here.”

“We didn’t want to ask permission from local authorities,” Carissa said. “Not when your daughters were so available to offer a lovely invitation.”

“You swear they’re safe?”

“If you are completely cooperative, they couldn’t be safer,” Carissa said. “That is true even if you are in the thick of things. We are not monsters, Mr. Gillespie, but whoever ordered this is. We intend to find that person.”

“I can be on my way in five minutes.”

“Tell no one where you are going,” Michaela said. “If you didn’t do this, then someone in your organization did this to you. If they knew enough to send a force to us, I imagine they knew enough to know we’d trace this back.”

“I’ll have to cancel my appointments. I can be discreet.”

“See that you are.”

* * * *

It was late. Even via private jet, San Diego to Ashland is nearly five hours. Orlando Gillespie arrived in the conference room with a hood over his head and his hands shackled, but he didn’t fight when Kristian moved him into a chair. It was Michaela who removed the hood.

“Thank you for coming,” she told him.

“I need to know the details.”

“You will answer my questions first,” Carissa said, stepping around Michaela. She leaned over him, setting her hands on his chair. “Won’t you?”

Carissa grilled him for ten minutes. When she was done, she straightened and gave a nod.

“Uncuff him,” Michaela ordered. “Mr.Gillespie, we apologize for the manner in which we approached you, but we thought it was better than anything else we could come up with.”

The man stared straight ahead into the space Carissa had occupied, but then shook his head and slowly turned to Michaela.“You’re the werefox.”

“I am,” she confirmed.

“I’ve never seen one.”

“I am somewhat petite,” Michaela said.“Good things come in small packages.”

“Do you think I could...” he trailed off then looked away.

“Yes,” Michaela said.“Later. First, I want to assure you that we haven’t touched your family. Your daughters are puzzled, but have no reason to believe they are under surveillance. We believe it is best we keep watch over them until this is over. That is not because we distrust you, but we do not trust the people who instigated this.”

He nodded, and that was when Portia finished removing the handcuffs. He held out his hand. Michaela took it easily, and the two clasped for a moment.“I am Michaela Burns, of course.” She made introductions, although she let Orlando come to whatever conclusions he wished about some of us. She didn’t mention fae or werejaguars.

“Do I address you as Your Majesty?” he asked Carissa. And to Lara, he asked if she preferred the title of“Alpha”.

“My wife and I are co-alphas,” Lara told him.“You will hear our names and our titles. Either is fine.”

“Greg,” Michaela said.“Tell him everything.”

The man sat still for the entire recital. It took some time. He made no reaction until he heard the main assault was with Chasen. At that, he startled and began swearing.“I’ll kill him. I swear,I’m going to kill him!” The last words were screamed.

“I’m sorry, but we rather beat you to that,” Michaela said.

“Not Chasen,” Orlando said.

“Mr. Gillespie, are you suggesting you know who we may blame for the events here? Because I assure you, you will not be the one seeing to justice in this manner; it is your choice if you wish to witness.”

“I believe,” Carissasaid,“That you should share your suspicions.”

And he did.