KnightForce Deuces, page 15
With each step, the clicks became clearer. Dreaded apprehension filled Angus’ chest as he recalled the last explosion in the woods. He watched his step and filtered every sound and smell. When they reached the end of the long and now dark driveway, they stood in front of an old two-story high, windowless concrete building. Angus did not sense any heartbeats behind the walls but wasn’t sure that mattered if the full-bloods ingested the dampener. One thing they learned from the full-bloods earlier, the dampener worked both ways. Neither party could sense the other, that’s why they took the dampener right before an attack.
Walking the perimeter of the warehouse, the clicking grew faint. “There may be a way in through here,” Jasper said pointing to a high chain link fence with a large padlock.
Angus looked around. The warehouse backed to a sparsely wooded area. Nothing moved. The absence of night sounds sent a tingling down his spine. He turned and noticed Jasper moving toward the fence. Visions of the recent explosion ran through his mind. Just as Jasper reached for the chain on the fence, Angus leapt forward taking Jasper down. They rolled apart and lay on the ground a few seconds.
Chest heaving, Angus looked at the clear sky and then pushed against the ground knowing he owed Jasper an explanation for losing it just then.
“Sorry about that, after… well, I didn’t think touching the fence was a good idea.” He stood and offered Jasper his hand.
“Actually, it was a damn bad idea,” Jasper said, his nose to the ground. “Smell this.” He shifted into his wolf and sniffed the ground.
Curious, Angus knelt and inhaled. The pungent scents of both the drug Peaches shot into him and the dampening serum were on the ground. He stood and followed Jasper into the woods. If they couldn’t scent the rebels, maybe they could follow the trail of the drugs they used. Moving carefully, stopping periodically, they continued through the woods. The trail ended in the backyard of a modest two-story home.
There were five heartbeats inside the house. He and Jasper inched closer. Laying on his belly, Angus crawled to the edge of the property intent on identifying the locations of the occupants.
The front door opened and Angus lay still. Jasper remained in wolf form watching the movements of the man walking to the car. Something seemed familiar about the man but Angus couldn’t pin anything down.
When Jasper moved to follow the car, Angus stopped him. They would focus on the four inside the house.
Angus looked at his watch. “Alpha Chase, Jasper and I are at these coordinates. Is this the home of one of your pack members?”
“One second, I’ll check.”
There was movement inside the house. Two bodies moved upstairs and then went in opposite directions. The other two remained on the first floor, one moved to the right, while the other stayed in place.
“Three families in my pack are on that street. Several more live in that neighborhood. There shouldn’t be any humans living in that area since a pack member developed and sold those homes with a strict set of by-laws. That house is owned by DynaCorp out of California which shouldn’t be the case. Corporations are not full-bloods or half-breeds and those are the only approved owners for that area. I’ll be filing a lawsuit in the morning, what’s going on?”
Angus told him about the sounds and their subsequent nighttime stroll through the woods tracking a particular scent.
“Should I evacuate the pack?”
“Possibly. If these four sense movement, they may run.” He thought about the traps of the earlier explosion. “Which may not be a bad idea. We’ll catch them when they run.”
“Give me 30 minutes to have the area cleared,” Alpha Chase said.
“As long as these four remain inside, you have the time. But if they leave we’ll attack,” Angus said.
“Understood.”
Lights came on in the surrounding homes. The sound of garage doors opening and cars leaving soon filled the air. One person on the first floor moved but didn’t leave. The woods behind them slowly returned to life. Jasper lay on his belly with his head on his paws watching the house.
Alpha Chase contacted him 25 minutes later. “All clear. I have two semi-trucks blocking the entrance and exit into the subdivision. Also, 20 pack members surround the perimeter of that area in case they try to escape. If you need them, they’re available. Otherwise, they’ll remain hidden.”
“Sounds good.” Angus had been thinking of ways to test for bombs in the yard. Rather than risk another surprise, he tossed heavy stones and watched them bounce on the grass. Inhaling, he tamped down the memories of his previous failure and exhaled with the knowledge this could be his last assignment. Jasper stood straight, tense, his body shuddering with the excitement of the hunt.
“Time to do this,” Angus said standing.
Jasper trotted forward, nose to the ground. When he stopped and looked back, Angus moved to follow. “Can you smell bombs or a trip wire?”
Jasper picked his way through the yard in a weird pattern, often backtracking and then moving forward again. Angus followed precisely and by the time they reached the side of the house, his heart slammed inside his chest so hard, he was certain they heard it inside.
Taking a large gulp of air, Angus leaned on the house for a few seconds and then stooped as he walked beneath the first floor windows. Light strands of music with a soft beat played on the first floor. Jasper kept close to the house and walked around the front while Angus remained on the side trying to decide their next action.
Shouts and screams filled the air. “Come this way,” Jasper said, naked in human form as he ran down the driveway and crossed the street. Angus followed and stood next to Jasper in the shadows.
The front door flew open. A tall, young man pulled on a pair of shorts while trying to leave the house. He hopped on one foot and then the other before his lower parts were covered. He looked up and down the street as the garage door opened.
Whoever had been upstairs ran down and headed toward the cars. Within seconds all four of them were in two vehicles, pulling out of their driveway, one behind the other.
“What did you do?” Angus asked Jasper,
“One of my pack mates rolled a stink ball to me. I shifted and threw it inside.”
“You opened the front door?” Angus looked at the front of the house.
“No, they have a doggy door, I threw it in through there.” He pointed to the bottom of the door. “Works right away and then I ran over here. Figured if they can’t sense us, we can hide close and search the house after they leave.”
Angus didn’t want to be ruled by fear but common sense said no one should enter that house until after the bomb unit said it was safe. “Your Alpha is sending in a team to check things out here first, they have both cars at the exits, let’s go.”
He turned and ran in the direction of the subdivision entrance. When he arrived all four full-bloods lay on their stomachs on the ground, blood oozing from cuts and open gashes in their skin. Angus frowned. They should be healing.
One of the men guarding the four threw Jasper a pair of pants and then a shirt. Angus knelt next to the first one and placed his hand on his arm. The next second his bracelet tingled as he sifted through memories to get an idea who this man was. “What’s your name?”
The young rebel didn’t respond.
“How come we can’t smell your wolf?” The rebel, whose name was Harold, stiffened and then relaxed.
“More importantly what kind of damage did it do to your wolf? You’re still bleeding.”
Angus moved to the next rebel, searched his memories while asking questions. By the time he reached the fourth rebel, he didn’t expect any answers but this one bled more than the others and was afraid.
“What’s your name?” Angus asked.
“Johan. Why am I still bleeding?” he asked, his voice trembling.
So young and gullible. “I think it’s because of the drug you took to mask your scent. How much have you had?”
“Don’t answer that,” Harold snapped.
Angus looked at Jasper. “These three need to be locked up for now. This one needs a doctor before he bleeds out.”
Jasper nodded and pulled Harold up roughly and then walked him to the van. Harold yelled instructions and threats to Johan until Jasper shut the door in his face. Angus placed his hand on Johan’s back.
“We need medical assistance now or we’ll lose him,” he said to Alpha Chase.
“Two minutes. They’re turning off the freeway now. I’m preparing a welcome for the ones Jasper’s bringing in,” Chase said.
Angus focused on going deeper into Johan’s memories. Were these four involved with the murder of the half-breeds? Who was in charge? Blood ran down Johan’s nose as Angus searched for answers.
“We’ve got him,” the full-blood paramedic said stooping next to Johan and prepping him for an IV. Angus removed his hand and stood. Watching them work to save the young life, he moved to the sidelines.
“Silas?”
“Angus, how did it go?”
He briefed Silas on everything that happened to that point.
Silas whistled. “So the dampening drug weakens their wolf? He’s not able to heal?”
“Looks that way. If he doesn’t make it, I’ll have a rush on the autopsy so we’ll have information on both ends. The full-bloods we captured earlier didn’t seem to have this problem, maybe it’s the dosage,” Angus said.
“Or how often the chemicals were used. To dampen a wolf’s scent you have to attack the wolf and that’s never a good idea.” Silas released a long sigh. “It’s a really bad idea because most of our abilities come from our wolf not our human side.”
Angus watched as the paramedics put the young wolf in the van. The scent of death clung to Johan.
“What did you learn about him?” Silas asked.
“He wired the grounds for the explosion that killed the half-breeds. This group planned another kidnapping tomorrow, they were taking humans as well. Seems they have a Nazi thing going on, trying to purify the ranks. Full-bloods only.”
“You tell Chase?”
“Yes, he’s preparing a welcome party for them. I think the family members of the deceased are the guests of honor and will be first to rip them apart,” Angus said.
“Sounds about right. What about the house? Anything in there?”
“Still waiting for the go-ahead to enter. The bomb squad is there now.” Angus paused. There had been someone else in all of their memories but this person appeared as a shadow which puzzled Angus. “I think there’s another player. Maybe the head guy.” He explained the car leaving when they arrived.
“You think he gave them the drug?” Silas asked.
“Yeah, I do. Also, this person has knowledge of how we work, our ability to scan for information, because he’s shadowy. No face or voice. But today, when he walked to the car, for a few seconds he seemed familiar. I couldn’t place the scent but I’ve smelled it before.”
“Considering how many places you’ve been in the past few weeks, he could be anybody from anywhere,” Silas said.
Angus silently agreed and headed back to the house to wait for approval to enter. “For someone who wants to purify the race, at some point, these guys hung around a human. I smelled a trace scent when I searched each one.”
“Humans are involved?”
“Maybe. At some point, each of them brushed against a human. That could have been at a restaurant or in the mall. There wasn’t much physical contact but that doesn’t mean they didn’t sit at a conference table exchanging information or products,” Angus said looking at the well-lit house and the bomb squad running tests.”
“True but this may shed some light on what’s going on. Could be connected.” Silas told him about the meeting with Melch, Dr. Hickle’s confession and the attack.
“Sounds like you’ve been having quite a bit of fun. How do you see these as connected events?” Angus said leaning against a light pole across from the house.
“Not sure yet. Once we get some lab information back we should be able to tie up the loose ends. Once you are sure Chase is happy with the results of your investigation, leave the clean-up to his men and close this case.”
Angus thought of the male who left and wondered what his role was in this whole thing and how would he feel when he discovered the loss of his team. “What if the guy who left decides to continue with the kidnapping?”
“With another team?”
Not likely but possible. “Yes.”
“Give Chase everything you got from those guys, do your best to point him in the right direction and then return here. If something else comes up, we’ll handle it. But he has security in place to deal with threats to his pack.”
Angus pushed away from the pole and headed to the house. “Will do, Chief. I’m going in.”
Chapter 21
Tyrese drove up the long winding road to find the address Hank secured while researching Ollie Brown and John Crawford. The house was at the end of a paved, tree-lined street on a hill overlooking the town. Tyrese looked around the neighborhood and wasn’t surprised the closest neighbor was at least two or three miles on the opposite side of the road.
He parked beneath the branches of a large tree and stepped out of the late model BMW. Inhaling, he scanned the area, locked his car, pulled the hood of his black jersey over his head and walked beneath the shadows of the trees toward the house.
There were three humans inside but he couldn’t positively identify them as his prey. When he reached the edge of the property, he scanned the security system with his hand-held device. Within a few seconds, the screen displayed a diagram of the house’s layout. There weren’t many places he could walk without tripping an alarm but if he were careful he would arrive at the side entrance undetected.
Mentally, he calibrated the distance to make the jump over the fence to land in the first unmonitored spot. He moved back across the street, ran and leapt over the 10-foot high fence, twisting his torso at a right angle to land in a flower bed. Crouched low, he sprung forward to the next spot and then next to the wall near the side entrance.
No one had moved from their locations, no alarms sounded and according to his scanner he hadn’t tripped any alarms. As he inhaled, Tyrese listened carefully to the sounds of the night and filtered scents. Everything seemed normal. “I’m at the property near the side entry,” he said to Hank who monitored him from the compound. Tyrese placed the scanner on the metal door next to the keypad.
“I’m running the information now,” Hank said. The device uploaded key information regarding the security system for the house so they could safely breach it. “Got it. This one’s good, very high-tech. Some parts it’ll take longer to access because they were not on the same panel as that door.”
“Okay, how long before I go in and gut those bastards?”
“I’d prefer to have their whole system online, which should take another 10 minutes.”
Tyrese ground his teeth at the delay but understood the necessity of having another pair of eyes while inside.
“Okay, I’ll just hang around I suppose.”
“Can you go out the same way you entered? When you return, I’ll manipulate the system so you can walk in easier,” Hank said.
Tyrese didn’t want to risk it. “There’s not enough room for me to maneuver. I’ll need to wait here or close by.” He looked at the flower bed and took a leap just barely making it within the shadowy, unmonitored section.
“The side door is unlocked. I’ve got control of the cameras. Make sure to remove the scanner from the door when you walk in,” Hank said around 15 minutes later.
“What about the grounds?”
“One second.”
Tyrese stood and stretched, his thoughts on the upcoming confrontation. According to the research on Brown, the man had boxed professionally 20 years ago and had a reputation for being a tough guy without a sense of humor. The other, Crawford, had been involved in some shady arms deals but stayed a step ahead of his competitors and avoided prosecution. He flexed his arms and unclenched his fists thinking of Froggy and the others.
“Good to go,” Hank said. “I’ll pick you up on the camera when you go inside. I have a visual confirmation of Brown and Crawford. There is another male with them who I’m still running through the database.”
“Someone else?” Tyrese asked as he made his way to the side door and stepped inside. His eyes adjusted as he looked down the long dark hallway to the right.
“Yes, someone’s in a room on the bed but I can’t clearly make out his face. But your targets are in the office on the first level.”
Tyrese walked down the hall, inhaling and filtering scents. He turned right and slowed seeing lights at the end of the hall. “What’s behind this door?” He didn’t sense anything and waited for a response.
“It’s a blind spot. I don’t see you now or what’s on the other side,” Hank said.
Tyrese looked over his shoulder down the hall, nothing stirred. Brown, Crawford and their guest remained in the same locations. He synched with his wolf and scanned the area but couldn’t get a sense of what was behind the door.
“I’m going in,” he told Hank.
“I have eyes in their office when you get there.”
“Maybe I’ll get a better scent of them when I clear this area.”
“Sounds good, I’ll monitor through our link.”
Tyrese pushed down on the handle slowly until he heard it click and then pushed open the door. Some type of vaporous gas exploded in his face, blinding him. He coughed, unable to breathe as the gas burned his throat. Grabbing his neck, he backed up and felt the door at his back. At some point it must have closed, leaving him in the small space. Gasping for air, his legs buckled and hit the ground. Sounds of his pack filled his mind.
“Tyrese,” Danielle called.
“Rese,” Tyrone yelled.
“Listen to me,” Silas said. “I’m sustaining your wolf and fighting the chemicals. Stay with me, I need you alert.”
“Do my best,” Tyrese gritted out. Sweat beaded his brow as his muscles bunched beneath his shirt. His skin itched as his wolf threatened to break free.
