Aztec Treasure Ch. 21-30

Frank Grimes' POV

Grand Island, Nebraska

I got in the car and drove away from the two surviving werepanthers, my stomach rolling over the lost opportunity. I'd done what I could to try and get her to trust me, and it didn't work. There was too much history in the way. "Where to, sir," Tom Nichols asked me.

"Tell everyone to meet at the 7-11 off Highway 30. We need to talk to the others," I told him. Meghan made the calls to the two Brotherhood vehicles while Tom linked to the two Pack cars.

We pulled into the parking lot of the convenience store. I got out as soon as the car stopped, and Meghan got out and moved to my side. Tom and Meghan were Arrowhead warriors, and their job was to protect me. I didn't need protection from the others here; they were friends.

The four men, two members, and two prospects from the Denver Steel Brotherhood chapter got out and gathered around me. "You guys did a great job, and I appreciate it," I told them. I handed each of the men envelopes; they started to object, but I held up my hand. "You lent us your time and talents, so this is the least we can do to pay you back. We're good now. Get some steaks, some sleep, and head back to Denver when you're ready."

The leader of the four smiled. "I guess we can use some beer money, Frank. If my Brother needs help again, have him call." There were handshakes all around before they got back in their cars and left.

"What about us, sir?" Brent and Laura were another mated warrior couple that had come down with us.

"You two have the first watch," I said. "Maria's had a long day, and I don't expect her to go far before she finds a place to crash. Stay close enough to watch, but not close enough for her to pick you up. How is the GPS signal?"

"It's strong," Laura said. "She hasn't moved from the park yet."

"I put the tracker under the cushion on the baby seat, so even if she changes cars, it should stay with her. When she's on the move, stay far enough back that she doesn't make your car. Exchange texts with Tom and Meghan if you're outside the range of the Pack link."

Brent nodded. "Rules of engagement, sir?"

"Our goal is to keep them alive and out of CIA hands. If anyone tries to grab her, it's kidnapping. Use deadly force if needed."

"Shifting, sir?"

I looked over to Laura. "If there is no other option to save their lives, shift. I don't want anyone to figure out we're working with her if we can avoid it." I turned to my other warrior pair. "Tom, you and Meghan can drive me to the airport in Lincoln. I need to get back to Arrowhead, and I'll take the standby team with me."

"It's a ninety-minute drive," Tom said. "We should be back in four hours with stops to eat and gas up."

Laura looked at her phone, which had the tracking app going. "Maria is on the move," she said.

"Go." The pair jumped back into their car and headed back towards the park. I looked over at Tom and Meghan. "Grab your snacks and use the bathroom, I guess." A few minutes later, I had a cherry Slurpee next to me in the cupholder as we drove south out of town towards Interstate 80. I took the secure phone out of my bag and started calling. "Hey, baby," I said as my mate picked up. "I'm finished here and heading back to the jet. I'll be back in Arrowhead by morning."

"Are they with you?"

"No." I related to her the conversation with Maria. "She's refused help for now, but we will be monitoring her from a distance just in case."

"She's not wrong about some of her worries," Colletta told me. "Have you heard back from the Attorney General?"

After our meeting, she was supposed to ask the President if she had authorized a CIA operation to capture Werepanthers. "No, nothing."

"I'll follow up. You need to follow up with Chase and Rori. Come up with a plan for how to integrate Maria into Arrowhead should she change her mind about asylum."

"I will." We talked for a few more minutes before I called Chase. I updated him on things and asked him for a favor. He agreed, especially after I told him why.

I put the secure phone down and picked up my cellphone. I found the text string with Frank Donovan and asked him to call me when he had a chance. He called a minute later. "Hey, Frank," he said.

"How is Claire doing?"

"She's a mess, but she's alive and awake," he told me. "I don't know what to do, Boss. The doctors say she'll be in here for two weeks. That gives me time to figure out the next step."

"Will she let you help?" It was only on the flight up that the two confessed their attraction for each other; their relationship was still new.

"I don't know. There's no one back in Washington who can care for her, and she doesn't want to go back to North Dakota so her parents can take care of her. I'd take her to my place, but my apartment isn't suited for someone with her needs. She needs home care, hydrotherapy, physical therapy; it's practically a full-time job. She's facing months of physical therapy before she can walk without crutches, and I still have a job of my own."

"Have they told you what your next assignment is after the Task Force goes away?"

"No. I'm worried about that, too. I can't take family leave to care for Claire unless we're married, and I can't afford to be on a leave of absence for six months either."

It sucked, but I had an answer. "If I go to your bosses to get it approved, would you consider the two of you going to Arrowhead?"

"Arrowhead? Why?"

I set the hook. "There are dozens of female Omegas, low-rank wolves, at Arrowhead who could be useful for the DEA. They don't want to become fully-trained agents, and they won't leave Arrowhead for extended training assignments. Most have come out of bad situations, including slavery and abuse, so they don't trust easily and don't have the mindset to be warriors."

"That doesn't sound that useful," Donovan replied.

"There's nothing wrong with their noses or their brains," I said. "A werewolf is better than four drug dogs due to their intelligence and ability to communicate with each other. These women are similar in size to existing dogs in their wolf form and will blend right in. Another advantage is that they can do the searches in human form as well. The DEA can't be choosy, Frank. Most of the warriors willing to take Federal positions are in the military, Secret Service, or FBI."

"What do you need me for?"

"As I said, these women are comfortable together at Arrowhead. I'm proposing a limited agent training program for them. They don't want or need arrest powers or weapons, so much of our basic agent training won't apply. I plan to ask you to design and instruct an abbreviated training program at Arrowhead. I hope to get one to two dozen to agree to take the training, allowing teams of four to six to cycle out to where they are needed in small groups for a few weeks at a time."

He picked out the problem right away. "These women you pick; how will they handle assignments away from the Pack?"

"They will be together, and they aren't as afraid of humans so much now."

"What about Claire?"

"The Arrowhead Pack House is a marvel, Frank. There are guest bedrooms in the building basement, which also has full gym facilities. The main floor has a dining room that serves four meals a day and connects to an indoor pool she could use for her therapy. Rori's Mom is a nurse, and we can bring someone in to do the physical therapy with her. There are elevators, and it's big enough to get around. It's also a lot closer to her parents if they want to visit."

He didn't say anything for a minute. "What if Claire doesn't want to go there?"

I just laughed. "I'll have Chase send you his promotional material," I said. It was true; part of Arrowhead's plan to become a functional Pack required them to recruit people from existing Packs to join them. The videos of his facilities and the Pack and Club celebrations held there were his best advertising. "She can always Skype with Arrowhead if she has questions or wants to see more. I can send a jet to fly you here when she's released. If she doesn't like it, we'll send her wherever she wants to go. I only hope you two aren't body-conscious."

"The pool?" I chuckled at his realization about Packs and their clothing-free pools and casual nudity.

"Epic parties," I told him. "Get back to me in a day or two with your answer, and I'll work with the DEA bosses to set it up."

"Frank? Why? Why would you do all this for someone you've never met, especially when Claire was the one who figured out how to track Maria?"

"Claire has a lot of talent, and the compromise wasn't her fault. If what you say is true, she may never be able to return to duty status with the FBI. Claire is an asset I'd want to have on my side, Frank. If she likes it there, I hope she will stay. I'd like that for you, too."

"I appreciate it, Frank. I'll let you know." I hung up and leaned back in the seat, watching the empty cornfields pass by in the night. Maybe, just maybe, I could help the couple find a place to settle down.

Ch. 22

Mr. Red's POV

"Check out that one," I said.

"Bingo," Mr. Green said as he looked through the binoculars from where we were parked and waiting. "2017 Ford Escape, license number 269-SNM. That's our girl."

"We let her pass by, and then we follow her until we're out of town far enough to do this." I sent a quick text message to Mr. Blue. "Intel good, target acquired, proceeding with extraction."

"I didn't get a positive identification, Mr. Red. She's wearing a hat and was looking away from me when she passed."

"It's her." I kept an eye on the car as he pulled out from our parking spot in front of Mel's Diner in Russell, Kansas.

Mr. Green did a U-turn on the city street in our rental Dodge Charger, staying at least a block behind her. "I can't believe she's still following 281 south."

"It's what passes for a major road in this godforsaken expanse of fucking nothing," I said. "Maria's avoided the freeways, and she can take this road clear to the Mexican border if she wants. It's a good plan for someone on the run who doesn't know the area and doesn't want to use a phone. Still, she fucked up. Once the red light camera in Hastings caught her, she popped up on the Company's radar. After that, it didn't take long for the drone to find her and guide us in."

"The bird still up there?"

"No, it was bingo fuel and had to RTB. Flying that shit over US territory is a risk, especially at night. They won't send up another." We didn't need its help anyway. One teenage girl with a year-old baby wasn't a match for me, much less a man of Mr. Green's talents. We'd worked together before; he was a good operator, but I had no idea what his real name was and never would.

We followed her out of town, continuing south along the two-lane highway. It was eight at night, and the roads were empty save for the pickup trucks and farm vehicles. "This is why we built the fucking freeway system," Mr. Green complained as we did twenty miles an hour, eight of us in a line behind a tractor towing a manure spreader with a full load. "God, the smell."

"Stay close to this pickup so she can't see us," I told him. It was another twenty minutes before things thinned out enough for us to make our move. I removed the portable flasher from my bag, handing it to Mr. Green to stick to the roof. "Light her up, and let's take care of this."

The red flasher started rotating, and I used a portable siren hanging out the window to give the noise. We quickly came up behind Maria's car; she didn't see us until we got close and flashed our brights. The car jerked a little as she saw us in the mirror, and then she put her blinker on and started to slow down. Mr. Greene looked over at me. "Got the juice ready?"

I checked my jacket pocket and nodded, one and a backup. Mr. Blue said it would knock her out for at least four hours, which was plenty of time to make the handoff and collect our fee. "Ready. Make sure you have that badge showing and keep a hand on that pistol. I want her focusing on you and thinking we're the cops."

"And here we go." He stopped behind her and left the flasher running. I made sure my fake detective badge was hanging visibly from the chain and got out onto the gravel shoulder.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Mr. Green said as he looked up the road.

"Stay cool," I said. What were the chances that a Sheriff's Deputy would just HAPPEN to be driving by as we made our stop? Apparently, for us, it was one hundred fucking percent. Cops hate doing traffic stops alone, and Officer Friendly was here to help. He lit up his flashers as he slowed, then turned and parked behind us. I handed Mr. Green one of the autoinjectors. All you had to do was press it against the skin, and the needle would go in and deliver its dose in a fraction of a second. "Let him get close enough, and I'll hit him with the needle. Back me up before you get the girl and the kid. I'll dump him back in his cruiser."

"Yeah."

The Deputy was riding alone, thank God. He got out and walked up to where we were standing near the front of our Charger. "What's going on, boys?"

I turned towards him as he walked up; he'd taken the flap off his holster and kept his right hand on that as his left held his patrol flashlight high. "Detective Gray, Deputy. Sixteen-year-old driver, drunk and combative. We're running her license and registration now."

"Colorado plates?"

He was even with me, and I moved before he could react. My left hand pressed his down so he couldn't draw, while my right hand spun around and plunged the autoinjector into the side of his neck. He tried to pull away, but the drug hit him like a truck. His muscles relaxed, he dropped the flashlight, and his legs collapsed. I caught him before he hit the ground.

I looked up to see our target drop the Escape into gear and floor it. "Fuck!" He pulled his pistol out but didn't fire. Our bosses wanted her unharmed, and shit happens when rounds go downrange. "Toss him and let's go," Mr. Green said as he moved for the driver's door.

I tossed the Deputy into the ditch, then slid into the car. Mr. Green was peeling out as I was closing the door, and I put the seatbelt on as he picked up speed. "Got her?"

"She's running dark, but it's not like there are a lot of places to go," Mr. Green replied. "She can't outrun us in that thing."

"We have to stop her, and I don't want her crashing. You'll have to get ahead of her and force her to stop."

"I know." He was already doing over a hundred; that Escape would be factory-limited to less than that. "One more minute, and we're on her."

"I think she figured that out," I said. She'd locked up her brakes, turning onto a gravel road and accelerating over the cattle grate. The Charger slowed later and turned faster, and we were only twenty yards back when we left the pavement.

The dust from the road made it difficult to see her, and her four-wheel-drive was better suited to driving on this crap than the sports car we had. Green had already fishtailed twice and nearly rolled the damn thing when the passenger-side wheels dropped off the gravel on a hard right turn. "Get behind her and give spin her out before we lose her," I said. "The damn airbags can save her, and there's nothing but fields here to run into."

"Roger that," Green said. He gunned the engine on the straightaway, closing in on her. We were only thirty yards from her when she locked up the brakes and went into a powerslide on the gravel, driving off the road and through a barb-wire fence into a field. "Hang on," he said as he braked hard.

The four-wheel-drive compact SUV had the advantage now that the chase went offroad. The uneven terrain caused the Charger to bottom out, and the freeway tires had traction issues. We were getting knocked around like kernels in an air popper as we tried to keep up, and then we hit the drainage ditch. The front wheels dropped in and the front bumper buried into the soft soil, bringing us from forty to zero in about four feet. The airbags deployed to save us, but FUCK did it hurt.

"You all right," I asked as I opened the door.

"GODDAMMIT ALL TO HELL," Green raged as he unbuckled his seatbelt. I got out, watching the Escape driving through the fence on the other side and back onto the gravel road. There was nothing we could do except watch her drive away.

"Check the car, Green. I need to update Mr. Blue." I sent a text message to him. "Target evaded us, ride trashed, need extract ASAP."

Green was shaking his head when he got done looking at the front of the car. "We're fucked, Red. The front axle snapped," he said. "This isn't getting out of here without a wrecker."

I looked behind us, and my stomach dropped into my gut. "We're fucked, too," I said. On the flat land, you could see miles in all directions. I could see multiple police vehicles coming our way. "Run for it?"

Mr. Green laughed as he looked around. "To where? You could run for a day, and they'd still see you from here." He took his pistol and holster out, throwing it as far as he could into the pasture. "Text Mr. Blue. Have him send lawyers, guns, and money, because the shit has hit the fan."

I took a step and skidded a little on a cowpie, causing my legs to go out and landing me on my back. "Yeah."

Ch. 23

Spider Monkey's POV

Arrowhead Pack, Minnesota

Vic came into our bedroom as I was getting out of the shower. It had been a long day in the office, and I was ready to sleep. "Frank made contact with Maria," he told me. "He just got off the phone with Colletta. She listened to him, but she turned down his offer of asylum here."

Damn. Doesn't that girl know how dangerous it is out there? She's a seventeen-year-old with a baby in the car, and the CIA isn't fucking around here. If they can get Julio out of Federal prison and to a black site without a trace, they can snatch her without breaking a sweat. "She did well to hide as long as she did, but it's crazy to go it alone with what we know!"

"Cats and dogs living together isn't natural, and there are a lot of trust issues to get through," Vic said as he pulled the sheets down for me. "Frank gave her some money, the driver's license you prepared, and his card so she could call if she changes her mind. He also warned her that her car was compromised. Maria will buy a car using her new name, and she'll leave the old one for us. Frank wants to dump it near the Mexican border in Texas to throw her off."

"I'll have to watch tomorrow in case her car trips any more cameras; there will be plenty of them in Texas." Wait a minute. SHIT! I got back out of bed and started throwing some sweats on. "We need to talk to the Alphas and Frank NOW."

"Why?"

"I've got an idea." Vic linked everyone to let them know. "They're in the pool, so don't worry about getting too dressed."

I put on some flip-flops and followed him out the door for the quick trip over to the pool area. Everyone was sitting on chairs around the wading pool, watching the little ones playing in the shallow water under the watchful gaze of parents and nannies. Colletta was here with her youngest son Chase and daughter-in-law Rori. She was lying in the shallow water in wolf form as the children splashed nearby. "Frank will be available in a few minutes; he's talking to Frank Donovan."

"How is Claire doing?" We all knew about the shootout in Denver.

Colletta set down her water glass, her other hand staying on her pregnant belly bulge. "My mate is trying to convince Frank to bring his girlfriend here to recover. You were right when you said we could use Claire on our team, and Frank Donovan's one of his closest friends."

"Frank would be an asset around here," Chase agreed. "I was hoping maybe he'd find a mate with one of our females, but no such luck. If he has a human girlfriend, he can't make the change."