Aztec Treasure Ch. 11-20

"No wonder Al Perkins wanted in on the search for Maria," Irene said. "I thought it was because of the Mexican connection."

I shook my head. "Al Perkins never knew about Christian Portman because we never told him. Claire and Sofia called me over, and we went directly to the Commander with it."

Frank Grimes leaned forward and spoke even softer. "You used the computer, and the Task Force server had the information on the title searches and the lawyer. My computer people found that information and warned me about it. I was on my way here to ask you to leave the search to us; it wasn't until after I landed I found out about the shootout."

Irene's eyes got wide. "You hacked our server?"

"My people have been monitoring the Task Force since its inception. The Pack didn't trust you, and too many events have borne that out, Irene. If we have access, what are the chances the CIA does, especially with their agents embedded in your office? And if not them, what about the NSA, DIA, or the Cartels?" He shook his head. "There probably is more. I would bet you ANOTHER case of your favorite adult beverage that you find bugs in your office, phones, or computers."

"I'll order a sweep right now," Irene said. "And I need my computer people to fix their security issues NOW."

"Listen to me first, please. I didn't want to admit the hack, but there are innocent lives at stake here. Maria Meztli is no threat to anyone and knows nothing, yet the CIA sent a team to get her and did not hesitate to kill a civilian and shoot two of your people."

Frank made too much sense. "The jaguars don't have your treaty status," I observed.

"Exactly. The CIA can't get what they want from werewolves without the Council and Alphas agreeing to help, and we already told them that we weren't doing their dirty work overseas for them. The jaguar shifters? Julio is a criminal, and Maria is the daughter and sole heir of a criminal. Ask yourself how much the CIA would spend to get people under their control with shifter abilities. Imagine CIA agents that could shift into a big cat, see at night, smell threats a mile away, and infiltrate the hardest of targets. Maybe they do it voluntarily, maybe they are coerced, but you KNOW they want it."

It suddenly hit me why they wanted the girls so bad. I'd been thinking short-term while the CIA was looking at decades. "Fuck. They want Maria and Maritza for a captive breeding program!"

Irene looked shocked, while Frank just nodded his head. "That was our conclusion, too. That is why you need to let the Packs handle this. The CIA has their hooks everywhere in government, but the Packs they can't subvert. The best thing for Maria and Maritza is for the Task Force to stop looking for them. Let my people find her and bring her in; I swear we will protect them like our own children. We don't target innocents, Irene. We can find her faster than you, and the CIA will never know."

"What do I say to the Task Force?"

I jumped in at this. "Maria isn't a suspect, and she hasn't done anything illegal other than making a border crossing into the United States outside a border crossing," I said. "I agree; the more we try to find her, the more likely it is the wrong people find her first. Putting out a BOLO or warrant on her could be deadly; we couldn't keep Julio safe in Federal Prison, for Christ's sake."

Frank Grimes added his part. "You know you can't go around accusing the CIA without proof, and if you get proof, what happens to Julio or Maria if they have them at a black site?"

"They disappear," Irene said softly.

"Exactly. Let the Marshal Service investigate the prison break; it's not a Task Force issue anymore. Focus on finding and arresting the fugitive members of the Sons. I'll let you know personally when the girls are safe."

Irene let out a breath. "You're right," she said. "If the CIA has the President's authority for the operation, I'm truly fucked if I pursue it. I have work to do." We all stood up, and Irene shook Frank's hand. "Thank you for coming directly to me with this. Protect the girls, and we never had this conversation."

"Of course not, Commander. Good luck with your bug problem." She was on her phone before she left the room, and I felt bad for the IT staff who were about to work the weekend. If they were good at their jobs, they might even find Spider Monkey's backdoor. I doubted it, though.

"I should be going too," Grimes said.

"Wait." I opened up my phone, finding the information in a note I'd put down. "She's going to bolt once she hears her lawyer is dead if the CIA doesn't find her first. Your computer people might be able to mine the NLPRI database. Here's my password." I jotted down the information on a piece of paper and handed it to him.

The NLPRI was the National License Plate Recognition Initiative. It started in the Southwest back in 2010, with computer technology able to read the license plates and store them in a file with timestamps. The idea was to collect license plate information near the border and watch where they went, looking for patterns that would indicate drug mules. In the past decade, the program had expanded nationwide, plus the DEA opened the database up to our partners in Customs, State Patrols, and other state and local agencies. We'd even worked with the manufacturer of those trailer-mounted radar speed warning systems, so they included cameras linked to the system for us. It wasn't just the interstates anymore; the database was immense. "If my people haven't looked there, I'll pass it along." He stood up, so I did too. "Thanks, Frank. If there's anything you need, let me know."

"I appreciate it, Boss." We shook hands, and he left me alone in the room again. It didn't last long; the room filled up with agents waiting for news. It was almost two in the morning before the surgeon came out to see us.

Commander Lindstrom spoke first. "How is she?"

"She came through well, especially considering the blood loss. The damage to her pelvis was extensive, and she faces a long recovery. We can't allow her to put any stress on her hip until the bones have regained some strength, so she's got a long hospital stay ahead of her."

"Will she make a full recovery," I asked.

"Recovery in these cases is a qualified thing," the surgeon replied. "Will she walk again? Yes, in a few months. In a year, she might even be able to jog on a treadmill. If you are asking about a return to duty status, that's a long way off if ever." He looked around at the sad faces in the room; everyone knew what that meant. Her law enforcement career ended in the shrubbery outside a suburban Denver office building. The Bureau would keep her on while she healed, then give her a medical retirement.

An entire life changed due to my decision to send her around the back alone.

I vowed to be there with her as she recovered, as long as she would let me. I just prayed she wouldn't blame me the way I blamed myself.

Ch. 16

Spider Monkey's POV
Arrowhead Pack House

"Baby? Wake up. The Alphas need us." Vic was gently shaking my shoulder, and it took a bit for the fog of sleep to wear off. I felt my 'big dog' curled around me as we spooned, keeping me warm under the thin blanket. His wolf craved contact with his pregnant mate, the skin contact calming and reassuring him that I was safe and protected.

I'd been up until one in the morning, trying to find Maria's hiding place in the Denver area. When we found out about Christian Portman's violent death, everything had kicked into high gear. Vic had forced me to go to bed, insisting I get enough rest. Brian and two other Pack members stayed in my office to keep working. "Did something happen? Did they find something?"

"Frank Grimes just met with everyone in Denver, I guess. Come on; I'll carry you. No one will care if you are nude."

I snorted; living with werewolves hadn't broken all of my human values about clothing, but it was close. The Pack considered nudity normal, with clothes a necessary evil for when you are around humans. It made shifting simple and felt free. When we weren't visible from the lake, it was common to be naked. I wished that I could change into a furry beast when I got cold, but that would have to wait until our child was born. "Where are we going?"

"Your office." He picked me up like I weighed nothing, which wasn't far from the truth. I was a small Asian woman, barely five feet tall and a hundred pounds, while Vic was a tall, broad, and muscular hunk of man-meat. He could dominate me, and I loved that feeling of being helpless under him. I knew he'd never hurt me.

He walked us out of our bedroom and down the hall to my office. "It's four in the morning," I complained.

"I know." He walked into my office, sitting in my chair while keeping me sitting cross-ways on his bare legs. I waved at Brian Steele as he sat in the spare hacking station; he'd joined here after fleeing the Council and his old Pack and slotted right in as the lead computer tech for the Pack. I was a hacking specialist who got bored with the usual IT support roles. I wanted to break into things and re-appropriate money from our enemies. The other two were Omegas, and they were doing social media searches.

Rori trotted into the room first, coming up and greeting me with a lick before jumping up on the couch. When Chase entered, he still had the secure Pack phone in his hand. "Frank, I'm putting you on speakerphone. I've got Rori, Vic, Spider, Brian, Paula, and Bridgette in the room with me." He set the phone on the desk near me, as everyone else had wolf hearing.

"I met with Commander Lindstrom and Frank Donovan at the hospital here in Denver. They agreed to stop looking for Maria and let us handle her instead. They are also going to stop looking for Julio."

"How did you manage that," Chase asked.

"Irene has good political instincts among her other talents. By morning, they will know their computers are compromised, and the Task Force office bugged. Everything points to the CIA, but nothing that will stick. She knows that accusing them is a loser, especially if the President signed off on the Julio operation."

"Is she that power-hungry?" She had agreed to the treaty and signed off on an immunity deal that kept me out of Federal prison for the rest of my life.

Frank responded first. "She wants to have her lifespan extended, and maybe she's hedging her bets with the Jaguars. Our agreement to look for a mate for her isn't a guarantee."

Vic snorted. "She doesn't know enough about Jaguars to see why that's a loser of a plan." I looked at him. "Jaguars don't mate the same way werewolves do; as far as I know, there is no 'chosen mate' at all. They pair up together, probably using the human bond rather than an animal one. Jaguars in the wild are solitary creatures, only coming together to mate when the female is in heat."

Chase nodded in agreement. "That's why the Sons leadership spread out. They could use their family relationships to work together, but too many dominant males in one place created problems. That's why you'd only see two or three in any Clubhouse."

"We don't know all the particulars, but Chase is right. Their society is far different than ours." Frank continued his talk. "We don't think the attackers got Maria's location out of Christian before he died. The men spent another one to two hours looking through his office after the Medical Examiner's estimated time of death, and they tore the office apart. If they did find something right before they left, only one guy knows about it. And that guy got shot during his escape."

Vic put that together. "So if we're lucky, she hears about the shooting and is smart enough to get out of her hiding place. The next best scenario is that she stays, but the bad guys don't know where she is. The worst case is she stays put, and they have her address."

"If it's the latter, she's likely on her way to be with Julio already."

"I doubt it," Vic said. "I warned him to get Maria out of there. I have to believe he did something with that in the time between my warning and when the goon squad arrived. He must have hidden the information well, and he didn't give it up under torture."

"Let's get back on track because it's damn late, and I'm tired," Frank said. "We are now responsible for Maria and Maritza, and she won't trust any of us. Where are we on the search so far?"

Brian spoke up. "We have tripwires set on law enforcement in the area for the license plate number and her name, so far, nothing. Last night we downloaded all of Christian's phone history and came up with nothing. We've been searching for properties belonging to the Club, her parents, or acquaintances where she might hole up. We're also searching through her social media and cellphone history for ideas."

Frank gave us the license plate database login and background. "Clean your tracks and delete any references to that license plate after you find it, just in case others try later," he told us. "Her car may be the only thing that can track her."

Vic wasn't convinced. "Is she even using it? I warned him the Feds knew about the car. If he told her, she could have traded it in, taken a bus, or gotten a ride."

I sat up. "Vic's right about that, but we can still use the system. Frank said the data goes back at least six months. We can see where her new and old car showed up along with her parent's car. Maybe that lets us narrow our search area."

"What else have you done," Frank asked.

Chase answered first. "I contacted the Denver Brotherhood for assistance. They have been checking out potential hiding spots, and they are watching the interstates leaving the Denver area for her car. So far, nothing. She probably drove away from the Denver metro area before our people could get set up to look. I've also asked nearby Packs for help, but only to watch and report. They are sending teams closer to Denver in cars in case they are needed. I don't want Maria getting spooked by scenting wolves."

"Good. Keep looking, and maybe we get lucky."

Chase had the next obvious question. "Frank, let's say our people find Maria. Then what?"

"Pass along the asylum offer and ask her to come with us."

"And if she refuses?"

"Drug her and bring her against her will. We can't let her die out of stubbornness, Chase. Eventually, she will forgive us."

"Understood. We'll call you if anything develops."

"Thanks, guys. Good luck."

He hung up, and I stood up and waved him out of my seat. "Get me something to eat because I have work to do," I told him. "And grab me some clothes! I hate when my ass sticks to the leather seat."

"Yes, dear," Vick said.

He smacked my ass as he went by, making me yelp in shock. "What was THAT for?"

"You didn't say please," he said as he pulled me into his arms and kissed me. His hand rubbed the sting out, but we didn't have time to play. I pushed him out and sat down, opening a window on the screen to use the NLPRI system.

"I'm heading back to bed," Chase said. "Rori wants to hang out with you for a bit."

"Grab the dog bed out of the closet," I told him. "Vic swears it's comfortable." It was huge, Great Dane size, but well-padded. Chase put it on the floor next to my chair, and Rori flopped down on it.

I was in the system and searching for hits on Maria's car when Vic came back in with food for me. I couldn't have caffeine while pregnant, and the food choices he brought were healthier than my usual computer time fare: fresh fruit, trail mix, pretzels, yogurt, and some cut-up meats and cheeses. "Thanks, babe," I said as I grabbed some mixed nuts. He fed Rori some of the cheeses and meats while I was looking at the results. "Whoa."

"What's going on?"

"Brian, pull up Google Maps for the Denver area on the big screen. Copy it into a file and get ready to mark these locations."

"How big an area?"

"A hundred-mile radius should work. Then keep Google up to search these locations." He got the map up, and I started feeding him the GPS locations of the camera hits along with the dates and times. He marked each with a dot and a text box with the information. There were a half-dozen hits after I eliminated everything before the purchase date of the 2017 Explorer back in February. I had Brian change the dot colors for my next search on the Prius' license plate data. Five hits in the database were in the Denver area; three were on the same January day. It was the day after Maria crossed the Mexican border. The next two were in February, right before the Prius got traded at the car dealer.

"I'm seeing a pattern developing," Brian said.

"Wait, let me scrub these contacts, and then we'll search Christian's car." I finished deleting the data, then searched for Portman's Lexus SUV. His plate generated many hits, and it took us a good half-hour to plot them all back to New Year's. "Now, what do you guys see?"

All of us, including Rori, looked at the display of dots on the screen. There were clusters, mainly around Christian's home and office areas, but one area stood out. "Interstate 70, west of town in the mountains. Look at this." He walked up to the screen. "The Prius arrives from the south and leaves town on Interstate 70. It's not seen again until just before being sold, this time entering town on I-70. Christian's SUV is on this road twice but never reaches any of the readers farther west. Finally, we see her new Escape heading west once, but never appearing again."

"She's turning off somewhere between Idaho Springs and Silverhome," I said as I looked at the map. "This is rough country, lots of national forest and ski areas and such. Perfect habitat for a jaguar to hide and hunt."

It was easy to see once it was on the screen. "There aren't any hits on Maria's green Ford Escape, so she's still there, or she's not using it. We have a new priority. We need to look for any property or people in this area connected to Maria. Vic, get ahold of the Denver Brotherhood and tell them to watch I-70 at Idaho Springs heading east and Silverhome heading west. They can drop surveillance elsewhere."

"We've got Casper wolves coming down I-25 to help," Vic replied.

"Have them check the towns and the side roads in between. They can drive around with the windows open and hope to scent something," I instructed. "If Maria's been in one place for months, it should have a strong scent, right?"

Vic smiled. "He should. I'll have them check in periodically, and we can update the map with their search areas."

"Well? Get BUSY, people!" I left the window open to the database, figuring I'd check it every hour for any updates. I went back to searching the Sons and their property holdings, looking for anything out that way that may help.

Two hours later, I was cursing my inability to drink Mountain Dew while pregnant as I started to nod off at the keyboard. Vic noticed my yawn and made me stop. "I'm needed here," I complained as he picked me out of the chair.

"Take a nap," he said as he laid me on the couch and put a blanket over me. "We can wake you if anything changes."

Rori hopped up and went to sleep next to me. When I woke up, the sun was shining, and the clock said it was almost noon. Bridgette was the only person left in the room. "What's going on?"

"Vic's over at the Pack House with Rori for lunch, and Brian and Paula went to bed."

"You should have woken me up," I complained.

Bridgette laughed. "I won't say Vic threatened us, but he said we'd regret it if we woke you without talking to him first."

"Overprotective males."

"Is there any other kind?" We laughed as I got up and went over to my computer. I opened the window and entered my search criteria for Maria's car. Since I'd deleted previous hits overnight, any hit would be a big deal.

And a hit DID came up at ten thirty-two Mountain time, about twenty minutes ago. I entered the GPS data into Google. "Bridgette, get them all in here! I found her," I told her excitedly. "Her car passed a camera on Highway 230 and Gibbs Road, on the west side of Laramie, Wyoming."