Chapter Nine
Darby wasn’t sure what to make of Calloway’s reaction to meeting Utah Pearce. Every time she’d spoken of Tah, Calloway had been adamant that the other man wasn’t his alpha then her mate had dropped to his knees the instant he’d been in front of Tah. The reaction had obviously caught Calloway unaware, as well.
“This way,” Tah said, motioning for her and Calloway to proceed him along the hallway. “We can talk in the office then Gideon can show you to the cabin we’ve set up for the two of you. We figured you’d want some privacy.”
“We do,” Calloway answered gruffly.
Tah laughed. “We also have two infants in the house now, so it can get loud.”
“Two?” Darby questioned. She’d known he and his mate had given birth to a daughter. Where had the other infant come from?
“Our resident doctor, Diane Renway, gave birth recently. A daughter. She and Zane are beyond happy.”
Zane Ephraim and his mate had given birth to a baby girl. Darby wasn’t sure if that had been recorded yet.
“I can see your brain working, Darby,” Tah said as he followed them into a wide room with a desk on one side and a comfortable-looking sitting area on the other. “I need to ask you not to document anything here until I approve it. I’m somewhat familiar with watchers—at least, with the job they perform for our kind. I know we’re hoping for a lot from you, but until I know more about those who have access to your information, I need you to protect the members of this pride. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” Darby assured him. “I’d like to record it all in a journal, with your permission. One I could keep in here, maybe? That way you’ll know where it is at all times.”
“I’ll consider it,” he said, but she got the impression it would be a “no” next time she asked. She understood his need to protect those around him, but the culture she’d grown up in made her cringe at the thought of not keeping records.
“I see you finally made it.” A woman with long, brown hair and vivid-blue eyes stepped in with a baby on her hip. The little girl could have been a replica of her father, and she reached for Tah as soon as her gaze lit on him.
“My girls,” Tah said, scooping the baby into his arms and nestling her against his chest. The baby curled up against her father’s neck, nose buried in his throat, butt lifted in the air and gave a contented sigh as if she’d been waiting impatiently to be in just that spot. Tah bent to give his mate a soft kiss then tugged her against his side.
“Sorry, Regan was demanding her father. I’m Abby, by the way. It’s very nice to meet you both.”
“Abby Lane,” Darby said.
“Pearce,” Tah corrected with a growl, making his mate laugh.
“Pearce, sorry,” Darby corrected. “You’re descended from Ebidiah Lane. You’re a watcher and most likely were fated to find Tah all along.”
“What a lovely thought,” Abby mused, sharing a look with her husband. “I like to think he was always meant to be mine.”
“Always,” he agreed.
“No, I meant…”
They both looked at her, and she let her words die off.
“Sorry. Again. I meant it made sense, because of who Ebidiah Lane was a watcher for. Dale Tahmond.”
They gave her blank stares. After a moment, Abby was the one who asked.
“Who was Dale Tahmond?”
“You don’t know,” Darby whispered. “I wasn’t sure what you knew or even how you came to be in Tah’s path.” She walked around the room, hands flying as she spoke. “God, I’d love to sit and chat with you all day. All the things I know, what you know, things we don’t know. We lost the journals. Well, we didn’t. But some of the journals were lost or stolen. We’re not sure. I’m so sorry for that. You’d have wanted them. But there are other things to tell you. God, I feel like I’ve known you forever.”
Abby blinked a few times. “Um, I’m afraid you have me at a bit of a disadvantage.”
“I’m sorry. I get a little excited and forget you don’t know everything I do, so it’s nearly impossible for you to follow my train of thought. Plus, I talk a lot. My mate likes it, though.”
Tah threw an incredulous look toward Calloway, but her mate just smiled at her. God, she loved him so much in that moment. She was obviously sounding crazy, and he was still ready to claim her as his.
“She also gets chatty when she’s nervous,” Calloway said. “She’s been anxious about meeting you.”
He held out his hand to her, and she went to him immediately. As soon as she felt his heat, the comfort of his arm as it slipped around his waist, she settled again.
“I’d like to sit and discuss all this with you, as well,” Abby offered. She shared a glance with Tah, appearing to use their link to convey things to her mate that Darby and Calloway weren’t included in. “We’ll find a time, maybe tomorrow, to talk and go over some things. I’d love to know everything you can tell me about Ebidiah Lane.”
“I think you’ll find Dale Tahmond equally fascinating,” Darby told the other woman. Especially when Abby saw the picture of the man her ancestor had died protecting. Darby really wished they’d found his journals.
“I have to ask—and hush, Tah, I know you want to wait for everyone—but I need to know if you’ve ever heard of the Legend of the Paka Watu.” Abby’s intense gaze willed Darby to give her the answer she wanted.
“You are a watcher,” Darby stated softly. “There are many tales of the shifter, strewn across many cultures. Not many know the Legend of the Paka Watu.”
“It’s the one, isn’t it?” Abby demanded.
Darby nodded. “It’s where everything began. Is that what brought you to your Tah?”
Abby nodded. “I knew,” she said then looked at her husband. “I knew it was more than a story.”
“It’s your history. Where all of this first began. The shifter. The hunter. The watcher. The fact you were able to discover that legend and see the truth it held is proof of the watcher blood in your veins. It’s an inherent part of who and what we are.”
“The legend,” Abby began, stepping toward Darby. “I learned much of it when I was in Africa, but I’m betting you have the full tale. There are so many questions I’ve had. Things I need to know.”
“I know the whole story. It was like a bedtime tale growing up,” Darby assured her. “I’m sure I can tell you anything you want to know.”
“I think that’s a conversation better told when the whole group is here,” Tah interrupted. “We all want to know the real legend. We want to know anything and everything you can tell us, Darby. After you’re settled and a few of our members get back, this evening, after dinner, we’ll all gather in the front of the house and speak. Others will have questions. Waiting should give you time to gather your thoughts and be better prepared for all of us.” He turned to Calloway. “Plus, I’ll want you to meet everyone. Reno is my second-in-command. He’ll get with you about strengths and what you can and are willing to do to help around here. We all contribute where we can.”
Calloway nodded. Darby found it interesting to see him engage with Tah. Calloway had been clear that he wasn’t sure he could be in a pride. She knew most of that had to do with the time he’d spent in the lab and what he’d survived while in there. Meeting Tah seemed to have given her mate a new perspective. In fact, he was more relaxed than she’d seen him since he’d realized there was no way out of bringing her to Riverton.
“Sounds good,” Calloway replied.
“In the meantime, there’s the encrypted message I mentioned to you. I’d like you to take a look at it and tell me what it says.”
Darby nodded. “Absolutely. Point me to the computer you want me to use, and I’m on it.”
Tah walked over to the sitting area and picked up a bag Darby hadn’t noticed before. He slid out a laptop and handed it to his mate who’d followed and taken a seat on the spacious couch.
“The message was sent to a secure account I had in place before I even met Tah,” Abby said as she clicked the keys. “It was back when I was still searching for information. Frankly, I’m a little surprised your father knew of it. Though, I guess I shouldn’t be.”
“You’re a descendent of Ebidiah Lane,” Darby reminded. “We kept tabs.”
“There’s so much in that statement I want to question, but I’ll wait,” she added, with a smile meant for her husband. Her gaze went back to the screen. “Here.” She motioned for Darby to come sit beside her. “This is what your father sent.”
Darby sat and helped Abby slide the laptop over. With just a glance, she knew she’d need her flash drive to even have a chance of opening the file. Her father hadn’t meant for anyone other than her to open it.
“Calloway, I need my pack from the truck. It has the flash drive I’ll need to open this.”
“I’ll be right back,” Calloway said, coming over and dropping a kiss on her lips before squeezing her shoulder and heading toward the door.
“I’ll walk out with you,” Gideon said, reminding her he was still in the room. He’d been so quiet she’d forgotten he’d been with them the whole time. That plus her excitement at speaking with Abby.
The rest of the group from outside must have dispersed, going about their normal routine. She knew so much about them and looked forward to knowing the real people behind the stories she’d read and sometimes input in the database. There’d been so much heartache for them, yet their resilience shone through, displayed by the genuine affection and camaraderie shown earlier.
Darby waited until Calloway had gone before speaking again. “Is Gideon going with Calloway because you don’t trust him? Or because he wants to?”
Tah’s brow rose as he stared down at her. It was intimidating, and Darby fought the urge to fidget as she waited for his answer.
“You wouldn’t be here if I didn’t trust you.” His big hand stroked softly down his daughter’s back, soothing the baby who’d responded with a whimper to his sharp tone. When he spoke again, his voice matched that movement, soft and low. “My guess would be that Gideon went with him because he cares. He was with your mate when they were in an unimaginable hell. There’s a bond there the rest of us will never be privy to.”
She nodded. “There is. Calloway told me some of what happened, but I know there are things he’ll never share. I don’t expect him to.”
“I understand your question, Darby,” Abby admitted. “Why should we open our home to a woman we don’t know. For what? Information we probably can’t validate?”
“Something like that,” Darby agreed.
“For one, you’re mated to a male Gideon trusts. I’m sure you’ve read about Gideon, but he’s become family to us. We know him, and I can tell you there aren’t many people he trusts, especially after a recent threat we’ve faced.” Abby paused and shared another private look with her mate, continuing only at his nod. “Another shifter traveled here, but he wasn’t what he seemed. He planned to kidnap one of our pride and take her to a group of hunters. Isaac Erikson stepped in to stop the other shifter and lost his life. Gideon still blames himself for it, despite countless attempts to convince him otherwise.”
“We heard of Isaac’s death,” Darby admitted, unsure how much she should admit to knowing about Isaac and the things he’d done, unsure how much they knew. “I saw his son, Gabriel, when we arrived. It looked as if he’d mated.”
Gabriel Erikson was a man who had taken on the much-revered role of the Angel for the shifters. It was more of an avenging angel, one who righted the wrongs done to families or individuals by hunters. The watchers knew Isaac had personally groomed his eldest son for the role, manipulating Gabriel to do what he wanted. It was much the way he’d manipulated many other people he’d come into contact with. As far as Darby knew, Isaac’s younger son, Daniel, had been left alone for the most part and had taken on the very human role of county sheriff in Riverton.
“Yes, he’s mated to another member of our pride, Kenzie Marshall,” Tah clarified.
Darby had read about Kenzie, as well. She’d been a part of the Marine unit Tah had commanded. Darby had tried to read the file they had on the other woman but it was encrypted, and Darby didn’t have the clearance required to open it. Whoever Kenzie was, she must have an interesting story.
“I admit we don’t have as much information since you left Colorado,” Darby informed them. “This place makes it impossible for a watcher to get close enough without you discovering them.”
“Isn’t that why you’re here?” Tah questioned smoothly.
“Part of it, I’m sure, though that wasn’t the purpose I was given. I’ve read my father’s message to you, the unencrypted part. He spells it out for you. I’m here to help however I can, with information, contacts, and anything else within my power.”
“How far does your network of contacts reach?” Abby asked.
“Everywhere,” Darby answered. “We’re global. My father is in Ireland now, checking into something that caught his attention. He’ll be working with those within our network there.”
“Ireland?” Abby glanced at her mate as she asked the question.
“I know what you’re wondering. If it has something to do with the two Dockery brothers you have here, my answer is that I don’t know. My father didn’t go into detail about why he was heading there, but I’m sure he’ll tell me when he can.”
“And you’ll keep us posted on anything you learn,” Tah added quietly, though there was no masking the command in his voice.
Darby nodded. “I will.”
She broke off when Calloway walked back in with her backpack on his shoulder. Her mate carried it to her. She took in his expression, the loose movement of his arms and legs. No tension, no anger. Whatever Gideon had or hadn’t said while they were together, it hadn’t upset her mate, but the other man was no longer with him.
“Gideon headed to the lab. He pointed it out and told me to stop in with Darby when we’re done here.” He trailed the backs of his fingers over her cheek and gave her a smile meant solely for her. “He wants some blood work on both of us. I take it that’s normal procedure here.”
“You’ll get used to it,” Tah grumbled. “Once you meet the professor, you’ll understand more.”
Professor Mueller. Darby had read about him, too. It was his daughter who was mated to not one but all four of the wolf alphas. Darby couldn’t imagine having four alphas as mates. Hell, one arrogant cougar was enough for her. She wasn’t as up on the wolves as she was on the cats, but she knew the wolves had faked the professor’s death to neutralize a threat to his life. She was looking forward to meeting him and finding out more.
“The professor’s always wanting us to give blood. So much so that Logan’s nicknamed him the vampire king,” Abby added with a laugh.
Darby started to question why he would want so much blood but stopped herself. She’d find out for herself eventually. At the moment, she needed to focus on the task at hand, opening the encrypted message her father had sent to Tah and Abby.
Darby listened to Tah and Calloway talk about the drive to Riverton while she dug through her bag and pulled out the drive she needed. She plugged it in, waited for the computer to scan and recognize the device then right clicked on the document and chose to open it with a program on her drive. Abby watched everything over Darby’s shoulder.
“Do all watchers have this type of programming?” Abby questioned.
“Yes and no,” Darby answered as she watched the program work its magic. “This is a specific encryption used between my father and I. Another watcher might be able to come close to decoding the message, but they wouldn’t be able to decrypt it completely. It’s a safeguard that all watchers use in case any correspondence were to fall into the wrong hands.”
“You meant hunters. What if they did get it and had one of your watchers captive?” Abby wanted to know.
“We have protocols in place,” Darby assured her.
“Such as?” Abby pressed. “What would you do if they had you and tried to force you to decode the message?”
“I’d use a different program that would corrupt the file as well as the computer it was on.”
“A group of hunters would kill you for that,” Abby whispered.
“I wouldn’t be the first watcher to die in such a way,” Darby stated as Calloway growled behind her. She reached up to pat the hand he laid on her shoulder, giving his fingers a squeeze to remind him she was fine.
“I’m sorry,” Abby said, and Darby assumed she was trying to douse the tension pouring off of Calloway. “It was purely hypothetical. Nothing is going to happen to Darby now that she’s here. We’ll take care of her.”
“We will,” Tah agreed, moving to stand next to Calloway behind the couch. She felt his gaze over her shoulder and wasn’t surprised when he focused on the way the document was changing as her program worked. “Can you read it yet?”
“One more minute,” Darby murmured as she watched. Abby had leaned in so close their cheeks were almost touching. Darby slid over the computer so it rested half on her and half on Abby. Whatever had been sent was meant for all of them.
“What is that?” Tah asked as the screen filled with a random flow of words.
“The drive decrypted it to something I can read.” Darby’s gaze scanned the words, pulling out the letters she needed and moving past the others. “It’s a request for an extraction,” she read. “It appears that someone has been compromised, and their safety is an issue.”
“Extraction?” Tah queried. “Your father needs us to come get him? Or is he requesting our help for another watcher?”
“This isn’t a watcher,” Darby continued, and realized she was going to have to see just how much they did know about what Isaac had been doing over the years. “She’s one of Isaac Erikson’s.” She glanced up at Tah’s growl, closely followed by another whimper from the babe in his arms. “Sorry. I understand you didn’t know him long before he died.”
“We knew him well enough,” Tah pronounced. “What exactly do you mean by this person being one of his?”
“Isaac was well known for using people for his own ends. He could and would use anyone for his schemes, and it made it difficult for us to do anything about it. We stepped in when information reached us in time, but that was the exception not the rule.”
“Fuck!” Tah swore with a growl. “What the hell kind of schemes was the bastard involved in?”
“We’re not exactly sure of the extent of his plans,” Darby told them. “We know he used humans to strike back at the hunters.”
“How did he use them?” Calloway asked.
“He sent them to infiltrate the hunting society wherever he could. As far as we’ve been able to learn, they were all affected in one way or another by hunters. They either witnessed an attack or walked into the aftermath. Isaac played on their emotions until they were ready to do whatever he asked them to stop the monsters.”
“Jesus!” Tah snapped.
“What can you tell us about this person? How were they compromised? What danger are they in?” Abby inquired.
“It looks as if they were sent to a lab. It doesn’t say how they were endangered just that they were and that they need immediate extraction. Before you ask, I can’t tell you who it is either. I’ve just got initials. MQJ.”
“Oh, my God!” Abby exclaimed.
“What?” Calloway asked.
“When Isaac died, we spent some time going through his paperwork. We came across some that had letters with dates and more letters. We knew they were codes of some kind. We came across those initials, MQJ. We have a doctor here. His name is Miles Jensen. The letters were followed by a date. When he saw them, he thought they could be about his daughter, Madison Quinn Jensen. The date was the one she disappeared on. He hasn’t heard from her since.”
“Was there a hunter link?”
“Miles lost his wife to a hunter attack,” Tah filled in. “It was a warning to him for working with our kind. His daughter blamed him. She was beyond angry.”
“And ripe for a man like Isaac to get his hands on. He would have fed her anger then offered her the perfect solution for revenge,” Darby said.
“We’ll have to tell Miles about this,” Abby reasoned.
“Once we know for sure, we will,” Tah emphasized.
Darby nodded. “That makes sense. I’ll need to see the complete code you came across. See if I can place where Isaac sent her to. If this is her, she’s in trouble and needs help.”
“We’ll need a hell of a lot more information before we put together any type of plan for a rescue. As it is, we have no idea what we’d be walking into. This could be a well-formulated attempt by hunters to do a little manipulating of their own, lure us out into the open,” Tah admonished.
“That might be true except for one thing,” Darby corrected. “This message was never meant for you. This was sent to us, and we’d never risk the safety of any shifter.”
“Who then?” Calloway questioned, and she knew by his tone that he thought she meant to go herself. She wasn’t stupid. She wasn’t trained for that.
“It was sent to your father or someone he knows,” Abby mused aloud. “So one of the watchers was meant to get this person out.”
“Yes,” Darby agreed. “I’ll need to follow protocol on this, reach out to the network we have in place and give them the information sent. They’ll know where to look and the danger involved in attempting an extraction.”
“You have watchers who’ve infiltrated the hunters?” Abby sounded shocked at the idea.
“We do,” Darby confirmed. “We figured out a long time ago that the best way to protect the shifters was to know the enemy. No better way than from the inside. Our people contact the network when they can, step in when an opportunity presents itself, and work on derailing anything they’re able to.”
“Tell me about this network,” Tah commanded.
She shrugged her shoulders. “I’m afraid I don’t know much beyond the fact it was set up long ago when watchers first tried to gain access to sects of hunters. It was a safety plan, a way for those inside to get in touch with watchers on the outside. My father would be able to tell you more. I’m afraid I don’t have the clearance to know more than what I’ve shared.”
“But you know enough to get in touch with them?” Abby asked.
“Yes.”
“You do have a wealth of connections at your fingertips, Darby,” Tah admitted. “Much more than we realized.”
“We can stop them,” Darby vowed. “Working together, we can put an end to the hunters once and for all.”
“I hope you’re right,” Abby said, glancing up at her mate and child. Darby understood the mother’s desire for a better world for her daughter, one where people weren’t set on hunting Regan down simply because she was different.
“I’m not sure if this is related or not, but it seems like too big of a coincidence to ignore,” Darby proclaimed. She pulled out her phone and called up the message from her father, putting it on speaker so they all heard it.
I was hoping to speak with you before takeoff. My flight’s nine and a half hours with only one stop. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to call you then or not. I wanted to warn you. Calloway left sometime last night. I have no doubt he’s following you. Eyes open, my girl.
Calloway squeezed her shoulder while Tah chuckled, but Darby ignored them as she waited for the rest of her father’s message to play.
One more thing. I…had a phone call this morning. We’ve found something…someone. I’ll tell you more when we speak. She’s…unique…and in danger, serious danger. We’ve got to get her out before it’s too late.
“Unique?” Abby asked.
“I don’t know,” Darby said. “There’s nothing in this message about that.”
“Whether this person is Miles’ daughter or not is beside the point,” Abby stressed. “They’re in danger, and there’s only one avenue open to us at the moment to get them help.”
“I’ll make the call,” Darby vowed. She prayed they’d be in time to help the person who needed them.