The Wolf Pack, page 17
There was only one direction and they had staked the place out with a tactical display of force. Nobody was going to be able to get close unless they were willing to sacrifice everything. The dim lighting would give me a few seconds before they could recognize the danger on the horizon. She wanted a confrontation and the love she had for her mother had been exchanged for the burning hatred running through her veins, corrupting her mind and body. Her mother’s death was the trigger and her benefactor had swept down like a vulture when he knew that she was at her most vulnerable.
“She sounds like an amazing woman and you were lucky to get to know her. We never had that chance and I would love to go back to change things but there’s nothing we can do. We have to move on and think of the future without letting the past define us. We learn by making mistakes and then picking ourselves back up to face another day. It doesn’t have to be this way and we would gladly welcome you into the fold with open arms. Let it go and release yourself from these chains before they drag you down,” Wesley persuaded and I really wanted his words to strike a chord within her.
“I’m not going to listen to this nonsense. This wasn’t the plan but having you all in one place isn’t something I can ignore. I want you to die but I want you to watch those that you care about fall one by one. You are the worst of them all. Living this life of leisure and mental calmness is simply astonishing. Nothing makes you lose control, unless your family is being threatened. It’s all here in your file. These psychological profiles have made it easy to treat you all like lab rats underneath a microscope. I was able to manipulate you and what better way than to convince you that you were my equal when it couldn’t be further from the truth,” Natalie spoke and everybody listened, including those hidden in plain sight.
The janitor was no longer the same spindly old man clinging to the last vestige of his humanity. The figure was bent over pushing the cart down the hall in the opposite way of where he came from. I instinctively knew it was Callan hiding in plain sight. He probably got the idea by watching them and decided to turn the tables.
“I respect you for everything you have accomplished. Nobody works harder than you. Being the first one in and the last one to leave shows what kind of dedication you have. Why ruin everything you have built by listening to some anonymous voice? I thought you were better than that. Being independent is something you stress vehemently to others. Don’t you think you should be taking your own advice and thinking for yourself,” Wesley suggested and the silence to follow was deafening.
The squeaking of the janitor’s cart went unnoticed. They really did believe they had all their bases covered, leaving nothing to chance. Getting close to the room where the man was currently recovering was a headache.
I noticed Natalie was wearing a nurse’s outfit in fuchsia. Somehow she had gotten ahold of some scrubs to make her blend into her surroundings. It was about looking like you belong without anybody questioning the reason why you were there. Security was lax beyond the threshold of the emergency doors. Once inside, they had a run of the place but they still had to be careful about attracting unwanted attention.
“I have a job to do and I don’t need you in my head. In fact, I don’t want to listen to another word out of your mouth and you should have kept quiet.” She motioned for one of the men and he came forward to gag him with his hands bound behind his back. “I will return after I take care of some pressing business. It’s not like you are going anywhere. I have suppressed the wolf inside of you with a needle filled with a very potent blend of natural ingredients. I got the recipe when my mother died. It’s very effective on those of your kind.” She walked past me and I could smell the heavy aroma of her perfume wafting in the air.
I was debating on what to do, until it became quite clear my job was to follow her. Callan was in a perfect position and he didn’t need me messing things up. There was no telling when Crosby was going to make his presence known but I had a feeling he was already doing that by eliminating pieces from the chessboard one at a time. I had the best of all three of them from their teachings but some of their advice would clash from time to time, making it necessary for me to choose carefully which one to listen to.
I adapted quite quickly by grabbing a stethoscope and white jacket hanging over a basket of laundry. Staying a few steps behind and turning when she glanced over her shoulder was a risk. Losing her was a possibility but I was able to pick up her scent in the air like this permanent footprint to follow.
The clipboard in her hands flipped with the pages turning not really paying attention to where she was going. The security guard stationed at the man’s door was constantly tapping his watch impatiently and looking toward the elevator.
He made a cursory check of her attire when Natalie stepped into the room closing the door behind her. There was no way for me to follow her but I had a bright idea which was going to test my mettle. I went into the room next door, with the beeping of the machines causing me to look at the ashen face of the patient in the bed. His face was covered with a mask and his breath clouded the apparatus.
I stopped at the window with my hand on the ledge when suddenly the hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up. I twisted in place, spinning on my heels but the danger I felt was nothing more than an illusion. I shook my head but still couldn’t shake how something was off but I couldn’t put my finger on what it was.
I opened the window with a gust of wind reminding me of my fear of heights. It wasn’t something I advertised and climbing a mountain was different when I thought I had control. This was a straight plummet to the pavement below without any give or possibility of surviving.
Chapter Twenty-seven
I made my way out onto the ledge, hugging the wall while begging a higher power to look out over me. I thought I had three guardian angels but I was responsible for my own actions. This wasn’t something I had thought through. Coming this far meant that I was going to have to go the rest of the way and be quick about it. My foot slipped out from underneath me but I was able to balance on one leg until I found my equilibrium.
There was nobody to see me and I was soon at the window, breathing a sigh of relief to see it was open a crack. The room was bathed in darkness with only the beeping of the machines flickering by the bed. Natalie was standing with her back toward me and I thanked whatever deity was smiling from above. Too many things had happened in my life, not to rely on faith when things got too hard to handle on my own.
The needle was raised in her hands and I could see the point glinting off the moonlight coming through the window. A slight squirt lubricated the surface of the needle and she held the intravenous tube leading back to his forearm. Making it look like a complication would give them time to make their exit before all hell broke loose.
“This wasn’t my idea. We both know how hard it is to say no to him. I’m afraid this won’t be painless. He told me to make you suffer for no other reason than you were caught. It’s nothing personal and I derive no pleasure from this.” She was actually giving herself a pep talk and he was sleeping through it, most likely under some very powerful narcotics for pain.
I was gritting my teeth, with the window slowly opening until it was big enough to step through. One leg after the other, I lightly put my feet down onto the floor of this very ugly white stained linoleum. It had seen better days and there was no way to bring it back to its luster without permanently ripping it up and replacing it.
I could almost perceive the bacteria and I didn’t want to touch anything in the room. It was times like these when I should’ve been carrying around a supply of rubber gloves. It was a known fact hospitals were not the cleanest, even though they stressed otherwise. I was well aware of the studies on what kind of bacteria lived and could be spread by just a touch.
She had the needle barely piercing the membrane of the tube when the door opened. It was time to face judgment in the form of a wolf. She was frozen, with its eyes glowing in the darkness stalking her across the room. She literally backed up into my arms, letting go of the needle which was sticking out of the plastic tubing. She didn’t get the chance to press down to release the deadly concoction within.
I tried to get my hand over her mouth, with my arm draped with deadly intention across her throat. She acted with a one track mind, until I was off balance and pitched into the wall face first. I turned with my eyes a little watery from having my nose crushed from impacting the wall and blood seeping through my fingers. Being a little stunned had me off guard and she was shaking her finger. Never once did she take her eyes off of the wolf watching his every move.
She tried unsuccessfully to complete her mission but the wolf showed its teeth and growled. It made her hesitant holding her hands in front of her in a non-threatening gesture.
“Crosby, I was wondering when I was going to make your acquaintance. It might not be easy for others to recognize the difference but I have studied everything about the three of you. Let’s not do anything rash, maybe we can come to some kind of arrangement. I have Wesley and one word will result in having his throat slashed from ear to ear giving him a Colombian necktie. He won’t die instantly and will practically drown in his own blood.” She took a step toward the needle and the wolf advanced until it was standing between her and finishing what she’d started.
The clock was ticking and the only other sounds in the room were the machines. The patient wasn’t in good shape and just looking at him was a good indication he was never going to make it out of the room alive. She had wasted a trip and the damage had already been done, doing the work for her without her having to lift a finger.
I saw his chart and I snatched it up to make a quick assessment of his injuries. The worst was the head trauma. The doctor’s note was quite frank and he didn’t mince words. They didn’t expect him to last the night and were rather surprised how he had survived this long. Something was caught in my peripheral vision and I took a closer look realizing the intravenous needle was not attached to his vein.
The machines had been manipulated to give off a false sign of life. The wires had been spliced. I pulled back the curtain to see a comatose man in the next bed. Somebody had forced the issue and wanted this inevitable confrontation between Natalie and her brothers. The man was already dead and there was no mistaking how rigor mortis had set into his dead limbs. They were heavy to the touch with no give.
“Stop this madness,” I blurted out, and both the wolf and Natalie turned in my direction quite startled by my exclamation. “He’s already dead. I’m surprised you didn’t see it. I guess you were too preoccupied to notice the signs. The tip of his black tongue is literally coming out of his mouth. The machines are not connected to him in any way. The doctors were fooled by somebody and we both know this has the earmarks of your benefactor,” I addressed Natalie and turned to Crosby who was bloodthirsty with drool dripping onto the floor from his chin.
“There’s no way he could have known this ahead of time. This place is virtually impenetrable by design. This floor is privately funded. Nobody can come and go without being noticed and questioned about their authority to be on this floor. The security up here is quite formidable. They are separate from the complement of soldiers I use. I can’t think of one reason why he would set me up like this and you’re not going to convince me to the contrary,” She said, reeling from this news and the needle slipped from the plastic tubing onto the floor, splintering into pieces, leaving behind a trail of whatever was inside.
I knelt and touched it suspecting foul play. Putting it to my lips confirmed my suspicion, it was saline. It was essentially harmless, nothing more than a placebo.
“I wish I had the answers. We came here looking for some. It was a fool’s errand for both of us. I want you to consider how he has been using you. The hatred you have in your heart is something he used to fuel you into action against your own brothers. What you should have been doing was reuniting for the common cause of bringing the wolf community together as a whole. Strength comes from within and you have allowed someone to brainwash you. It started with your mother and somebody understood you could be used as a weapon.” I was slowly putting the pieces together. The answer was right in front of me but I couldn’t pluck it from the ether.
“I don’t want to hear this. Wesley already tried this insanity.” Her eyes were darting back and forth trying to make sense of it, everything was coming down around her ears, metaphorically speaking.
“The anger you have shouldn’t have this kind of control over you. There is a better way and you can still come back from this. No real harm has been done.” The alarms came to life, with a shrill warning that something was amiss.
Security at the door was gone within a second, running to converge on the problem at hand. The hallway was this dim light of red, almost threatening without meaning to be. Footsteps pounded down the hallway with heavy breathing and desperation sweating out of their pores. One good whiff had me living those few seconds in fear of losing my life to minimum wage. Some decided to err on the side of caution and the door to the stairs was flung open in a blind panic to get out of the line of fire. Those deciding to abandon their posts wouldn’t have a job in the morning to come back to, but they’d still be alive to tell their tale to tabloid reporters for a hefty sum, getting their five minutes of fame. This was all conjecture and I extrapolated all of it from a medley of emotions from various sources choking me.
“I would say from the sound of it Callan has made his move. You can’t possibly think they’re going to have a chance against him. They can try and fail miserably, most likely losing the battle by sacrificing their lives for something they can’t possibly understand. Give the order for them to surrender and I promise no harm will come to them.” I wasn’t sure I could make any such claim but I was willing to bet a calming influence would change things.
“Give me a second to think about this.” She was slapping her forehead in frustration.
“Stop thinking with hatred and open up your eyes to reality. This man weaseled his way into your life under the guise of being your friend. He told you what you wanted to hear to make you complicit. It was his ploy to take that hatred and turn it into a weapon he could point at your brothers. You have this one chance to change things for the better before there’s any more bloodshed. Think about it, without the anger and resentment clouding your judgment,” I advised while looking at Crosby in wolf form, waiting for the signal to tear her limb from limb.
Natalie was pacing back and forth muttering underneath her breath. She was flailing her arms in the air like some crazy person on a rant. She was giving voice to something she was afraid to recognize. The signs were right there in front of me and I was watching her come to terms with being made into a puppet for the amusement of another.
“In thinking back to all of my conversations with my benefactor. Certain phrases make no sense out of context until you begin to see the pattern emerging out of nothing. I was blind but now I see clearly for the first time.” The lights extinguished, with a figure standing in profile at the door, leaning on a cane.
“This wasn’t how I planned it. Natalie, I was depending on you but you are weak.” The man was frail and I recognized him from the room next door, when I had climbed out of the window, which would certainly explain how he had access to the man.
He was virtually invisible, wearing a green hospital gown with the back open, holding it with one hand. He was also supposed to be on death’s door but rumors of his demise were greatly exaggerated.
“It can’t be! Time has been cruel to you but I’ve seen the photographs and I recognize you. She trusted you with her life and you were responsible for poisoning her mind. She thought you were helping. What would she possibly say if she had the chance to see you here today standing like this?” Natalie asked, the wolf form of Crosby was backing away, snarling something fierce.
“I know you, now it all makes sense. You’re Duncan. Aren’t you supposed to be dead like your brothers? How is it possible for you to be standing here?” I saw him and I was fooled for one second by his weathered face but the eyes were the windows to the soul.
Alienating himself from his sons and daughter had come with a terrible toll. The oxygen tank next to him was a clear sign of his deteriorating health. The mask was placed over his mouth again and he breathed in the bottled oxygen before taking it back off and settling it on top of his head. He was the last of a dying old breed of wolves, clinging to modern medicine and relying on doctors to keep him alive.
The father’s sins had been placed at the footsteps of his sons. He was the mastermind but it remained to be seen the reason why he had gone to these extreme lengths. The only person who could answer that was standing with limited capacity right in front of us.
Chapter Twenty-eight
Crosby was terrified of him and I wanted to say something to calm him down but there really wasn’t anything I could do. He had just learned the mastermind was his father and was in terrible shock. I could sense his fear and trepidation, like his emotions were connected to me in some way. They were having this stare down from across the room and nobody said a single word. Crosby had to be shocked by this news and had many questions which stayed unanswered.
He changed back and I raced past the old man who was standing there, frail and looking like he was going to collapse at any second. I had to admit he did scare me but I fought past the urge to cower in his presence to find Crosby something suitable to wear. He was going to need the full use of his faculties and being completely naked after the transformation was going to leave him at a disadvantage.
There were some green scrubs, freshly laundered, sitting unguarded. I grabbed them without thinking, casting a glance down the hallway to see whether or not his brothers were going to make an appearance. The commotion had died down significantly but the hall was virtually deserted making me feel like something was crawling over my skin.
