Missing Ch. 21-30

Chairman Platt nodded. "There's no time to waste. Send your people out now and have them start searching. As you rule out locations, send a text or email to the security center at Baxter. Hit it hard, and we'll talk again at noon."

"What if our people don't know Bonnie's scent?"

That was easy. "Are any werewolves in outlaw biker gangs? If your people don't know Bonnie's scent, they know the scent of a female wolf. If there is a question, bring a tracker over. I guarantee they know her scent. They've chased it before." That got a few chuckles. "Thank you, Alphas. Good hunting."

"See you at noon," the Chairman said before he closed the conference.

Our Betas turned to us. "What are your orders, Alpha?"

"Mark, you head into work and keep me posted on what is happening from the law enforcement side. Tiffany, you help Pamela run intelligence. We need to make a list of potential locations in each state and keep track of where we haven't checked yet."

"Where are you heading, sir?"

"I'm taking our best trackers to Kittery," I told him. "I'm going to find her and bring her back home."

Officer Bill Tyne's POV

Gloucester, Massachusetts

The exciting time of the night shift was over with the bar closings. Midwatch had gone home, so I was the only patrol officer on duty until Dayshift began. I'd been drinking coffee to fight off fatigue and boredom for two hours now. A couple of inches of snow were already on the ground, and gusty winds from the north didn't help.

Smart people were home by the fire at five in the morning in the middle of winter. Really smart people were down in fucking Florida.

"Gloucester Three-two, see the man, 214 Leonard Street in Annisquam. Caller reported finding a naked and disoriented woman at their front door. EMS dispatched."

Naked chicks showing up in the middle of winter? Probably stoned out of her mind. "Roger dispatch, proceeding Code 3." I hit the light bar and headed northwest on 127 out of town. Annisquam was a mostly-residential village on the northwest side of Cape Ann, a few miles from the fishing village of Gloucester. The village overflowed with tourists and boaters in the summer, but most residents were seasonal. We would drive through once in a while, but it was a quiet place with few calls.

There wasn't any traffic as I stopped in front of the modest home. A retired man was at the door, waving me in. I grabbed my first aid kit out of the trunk, thinking I might need Narcan for an overdose. What I saw was NOT an overdose.

The unconscious red-headed woman looked to be in her forties. Her face was pale, and she was extremely cold to the touch. I didn't see any tracks on her arms, bad teeth, or evidence of a hard life. "What happened?"

The man shrugged. "I heard a pounding on the door and a cry for help. When my wife opened the door, she was naked and frozen. I moved her in here, and we covered her up, then I called 911."

Jesus. If she kept stumbling around in this storm, she'd get frostbite in minutes. "You did well. If you hadn't answered the door, she'd probably be dead now." I checked her vital signs; respirations were slow and raspy, and her pulse was weak. "Do you have any electric blankets or hot water bottles?"

The wife ran off, returning with a blanket. I checked her hands and feet; they still had circulation, not frostbite. Her hair was damp and smelled like salt water, and she had multiple cuts on her fingers. She was five blocks from the water, and it wasn't swimming season. Did she fall in the water? That would explain taking off her clothes.

The wife came back in with a hot water bottle. I placed that under the blanket by her stomach and positioned her hands around it. As I was tucking the blanket back in, the ambulance arrived.

I gave the EMTs a turnover and went outside again. How did she get here? I saw a footprint with some blood on the front porch and tracked them back to the road before I lost the trail in the blowing snow.

The gurney was coming out. "We're taking the victim to the emergency room with severe hypothermia, her core temperature is ninety-one degrees," the lead said. "Any idea where she came from?"

"I think she was in the water, but we won't find anything until daylight," I replied. I got back in my cruiser as they loaded her up. I called my Desk Sergeant as we took off. "We're taking a Jane Doe to the hospital with severe hypothermia. I don't know if it is an accident or foul play, but she was in the water and may not make it. You better wake up a detective."

The hospital admitted a still-unconscious Jane Doe while I started writing my report.

Ch. 28

Trooper Jack Pembroke's POV

DEA Office, Portland

"I've got a possible," I said after I took a call from Massachusetts. "Everyone quiet!" We'd sent out an APB for a potential kidnap victim using Bonnie's real name, as well as releasing the information to the press. It didn't matter that she had been undercover anymore. There was no way Allison could trust her in the field after her flagrant disobedience of orders. Allison already told Sheriff Ty that Bonnie was off the task force.

None of that mattered when it came to finding a cop in trouble. I'd been monitoring the DEA's tip line, and a patrol cop from Gloucester was on the line soon after the number went out to the media. I put him on speaker as the team gathered around my cubicle. "You're on with the Task Force, Officer Tyne."

"The ambulance brought a Jane Doe to Addison Gilbert Hospital in Gloucester an hour ago," he said. "She was found on the front porch of a house in Annisquam Village. The victim was naked, unconscious, and hypothermic when I arrived. The doctor is treating her now."

"Can you describe her?"

"White female in her forties, tall and fit like a runner, curly red hair to mid-back. I saw some tattoos on her neck and forearms, but one smeared so it wasn't real. No jewelry or identifying marks. She smelled like she'd been in the ocean, but I'm sure it's your Detective."

"That sounds like Bonnie," I said. "We'll get some people over there to make sure. In the meantime, keep a guard posted outside her room. We've got no other evidence on her kidnappers. Keeping Bonnie alive is the difference between them getting 25 to life and walking free."

"That's what my Sergeant thinks as well. No one voluntarily goes swimming at this time of year. Hang on." He put us on hold while he took another call. Thirty seconds later, he was back. "The detectives are here and got into the room, but your Detective's still unconscious. They are heading out to look for evidence near where she showed up as soon as the sun rises." He gave me the name and cellphone number of the lead detective on the case. Allison asked for the Police Chief's direct number as well.

I called the Detective in charge, and he forwarded me the photo from his cellphone of the woman in the hospital. It was Bonnie, and I filled him on the particulars. "We think it was the Manchester chapter of the Iron Horsemen that took her, but we found no evidence of it in the raid. It could be any of the outlaw clubs. We were listening to all of them."

"I'll let you know what we find. I doubt it will be much; the tide was going out last night, and we got four inches of snow. Why the hell were they down here, anyway? Our residents aren't exactly a bunch of bikers. Drunk fishermen and trust fund kids are more our speed."

Looking at the map, I had no idea either. "We'll start looking at known Club members to see if any have ties to that area. I agree that they didn't pick it at random, so we need to know why."

"Good luck, Detective." I hung up and called Sheriff Ty Rabb to update him. He was concerned about her condition and asked me to keep him updated. "I don't know when she'll wake up or how long she'll be in the hospital."

"Her friends and family are on their way with a State Police escort," Ty told me. "I'll call New Hampshire and Massachusetts State Patrol so they can get there as quickly as possible." He hung up to make the calls.

A few minutes later, Allison called us into the conference room. "The undercover operation blew itself sky-high, and nothing will change that now. Our focus now is on the kidnapping and likely torture of a known Law Enforcement Agent. Since this is interstate, the FBI will be taking the lead." There were groans in the room; none of us liked that answer, but our Resident Agent shut it down quickly. "We are a drug interdiction task force. I know Bonnie is part of our group, but I'm not playing any of these jurisdictional games. Let the FBI work on the kidnapping. We need to focus on taking down these biker gangs. If we can catch them dirty, maybe we can flip them for information leading us to Bonnie's kidnappers."

"We don't have shit to go on, Ma'am," I said. "The gangs didn't talk shop at the strip club. We don't have any solid leads on the summit, much less their drug runs or the Cartel."

"Then we go over everything again," she told us. "The surveillance we have now is all we're going to get, so we can't afford to miss anything. Meanwhile, you three," and she pointed at me, "Find out who has connections in Gloucester. Run all known Club members, old ladies, and associates through the database and see what pops up. Driving her that far was a risk with every mile, so there had to be a reason. Find it."

"Yes, Ma'am," I said. We broke into a smaller group, each taking one of the larger Clubs as they were more likely to do something like this. I got the Iron Horsemen with Boston, Hartford, Manchester, Portland, and Providence chapters. "I've got an idea," I said. "Bonnie came out of the ocean and barely made it to that house. Why don't we look up the owners of the properties along the water and their families, employees, and associates? We can run those names against our Gang Database."

"That sounds better than going through these names one by one," my coworkers agreed. We got to work.

Alpha Anthony McInnis's POV

I-95S approaching Portland, Maine

I was working the phone while my driver stayed on the ass of the Maine State Trooper escorting us to the border at ninety miles an hour. I started with a group text to the Northeast Alphas and their security stations. "B found in Gloucester, unconscious n hypothermic. Heading there now. Focus search between Kittery and Mass along the coast."

Gloucester was the wrong place for us to be searching. The greater Boston area had exploded in population and real estate prices, so buying hundreds of acres and building a huge Pack House wasn't happening. The closest Pack to her hospital was in Deerfield, New Hampshire. One of my trackers checked; it was a 90-minute drive for them. With our police escort, we'd arrive in less than an hour.

I called Alpha Dean Morris anyway. "Dean, it's Patrick," I told him. "Did you get my text?"

"I did," he said. "I had two teams of warriors and trackers heading down to check out clubhouses in the Boston area. I've already diverted one of them to Gloucester. They should be there in fifty minutes or so."

Sheriff Ty had texted me more details about the investigation. "Our search area is Annisquam Village. They found Bonnie on Leonard Street near Arlington, and she'd recently been in the water. Have your team check River Road from Bridgewater Street around to Leonard. When my two search teams arrive, we'll start at Leonard and River and work around to the north to Squam Rock Road. If you catch her scent, text it to me."

"Why don't you have your guys find our team, and we'll swap warriors? That way, you'll be able to link each of the three search teams directly from the hospital."

"That works. I'll have my Head Warrior call you when he's arrived."

"Thanks, Dean."

"We'll find the bastards, Patrick. Count on it." He hung up, and I looked over at Tracker Christina Cotter, who was curled up on the seat next to me in wolf form. With her grey, brown, and black coat, she could pass for a German Shepherd mix. She was wearing a POLICE vest and collar, functioning as her cover during the search. A Tracker could do it in human form, but they were much better as wolves. Her mate, Penobscot Deputy K-9 Officer Gabe Cotter, held her leash as he scratched her ears.

We didn't slow down at the borders; one escort would peel away from our two-vehicle convoy, and the next would pull in front with lights and siren. I spent most of the drive talking with Pamela back at the Pack Security office and taking calls from other Alphas.

I left my car at the Emergency Room entrance. Geoge and Sally joined me from the second SUV, and we spotted a uniformed officer near the entrance to the treatment room. "Officer Tyne?" He looked up and moved his right hand to his gun. I stopped and showed him my hands. "My name is Patrick McInnis. I'm a close friend of Detective Sergeant Woods, and these are her in-laws, George, and Sally Woods. They're here to see her."

"I have to verify them first," the lady at the desk said. They showed their driver's licenses to her, along with the living will Bonnie had signed that designated them as her guardians if she was incapacitated. The ER desk made copies and then called back to the treatment room. "She's been moved to Intensive Care. Only one visitor is allowed."

"I'll go," Sally said. One of the nurses came out and led her back while we took seats in the waiting room. Our search teams had linked up with the team from Deerfield, and the search was on.

Penobscot K-9 Deputy Gabe Cotter's POV

Since our group had the best tracker, we started along the lakeshore while the other team started driving and walking the roads. Christina worked fast, clearing docks by the Annisquam Yacht Club first. "I've got Bonnie's scent in her wolf form," Christine said as she sniffed around between the big building and the water. "She came this way but turned around. She never got close to the water." We followed her trail back until it split, one heading towards town, the other towards the shoreline. We traced that trail north and east around the point, following the rocks leading down to the water. We went through empty backyards past empty docks pulled from the water as we went. It took us fifteen minutes before my mate alerted me the scent had split again. I could barely pick it up; that's why I became a cop instead of a tracker. She had the talent, so I got Christina 'trained' to be my partner so we could work together. "I've got Bonnie's scent mixed with four or five human scents. One direction is this pathway leading down to a dock, the other towards the road up there."

"Call the local detectives before doing anything else," I directed. "Wait for them before you search either direction. It's a crime scene, so don't trample it."

Once the locals had arrived, our 'police dog' followed the trail. One scent trail led us to the driveway of the big house and ended. "With this snow, we'll never get any tracks," the Detective complained. The other went stopped at the end of a dock. "Check this out," the local Detective said. There was a davit arm and pulley with a rope hanging down by where the dog sat. He held up the end of the rope with a gloved hand. "Clean cut, and recent. No dirt or weather showing."

"Maybe the FBI can bring a dive team," I said as I looked down at the dark water below. "If Bonnie went into the water here, she had to come out somewhere." We went back onshore, and Christina found the next trail quickly. Picking her way down the rocks, she sat down next to a piece of fabric she'd uncovered from the snow. "We've got something," I said. Using a pen, I lifted the material slightly. Bonnie loved her Kelly-green yoga pants. "It's hers. She swam ashore here."

One of the Detectives handed me an evidence tag, and we set up a boundary. One detective stayed at this scene. The other trailed me as Christina followed Bonnie's trail away from the water. "Bonnie shifted pretty soon after getting out of the water," she sent to us. "With the snow, my paw prints will explain any tracks she left behind."

We skipped the diversion to the closed yacht club and traced her scent back to the house where she'd found shelter. Anything other evidence was underwater.

The FBI out of Boston would be here soon to take over.

Ch. 29

Bonnie Woods' POV

Addison Gilbert Hospital, Gloucester, Massachusetts

Sunday, January 13, 2020

Cold. So cold.

My mind was floating somewhere, trapped in a fog. I called out for Sean, craving my mate's voice and touch. From deep in my soul, I could feel a presence. It was warm and bright, and I pushed through the fog to find it. "Am I dead? Are you here for me?"

"It is not your time yet," the feminine voice told me. Waves of comfort and belonging rolled through my soul, and my wolf instinctively bared his neck to her power and authority over me. I knew it was the Moon Goddess speaking to me.

"Is my mate with you?"

"He is, and his love for you is as strong as ever. It is time to go back, Bonnie. There are still things I need you to do." The fog was clearing, and I started to sense the world around me. I heard beeping machines, felt someone touching my wrist, and could sense light through my closed eyes. I tried to talk, but it came out as a groan instead.

"She's waking up," a woman said. I heard footsteps as others entered the room. "Core temperature is up to ninety-seven degrees, pulse eighty and strong, respirations fifteen on heated air."

"Remove the mask," a male voice said. "Welcome back, Detective."

My eyes opened, then blinked a few times as I cleared them. The lights were down, and I could see I was in a hospital room, the bed surrounded by machines. I could see the IV bag and three people at my bedside, I tried to talk, but my throat and mouth were dry. The nurse held out a cup with a straw, and I sucked down some warm water. "Where am I," I whispered?

"You're in the intensive care unit at Addison Gilbert Hospital," the doctor replied. "You gave us quite a scare. Can you tell us your name?"

They'd called me Detective, so I knew I wasn't undercover now. "Bonnie Woods," I replied.

"What year is it?"

"Twenty-twenty." My mind was clearing up. I could feel my hands and feet had bandages on them, while warm blankets covered my body. "What's the damage?"

"Nothing you won't recover from in time. You were hypothermic, but you arrived before your body shut down. You have moderate frostbite on your fingers, toes, and ears, but not bad enough to have to amputate. You're lucky you got shelter when you did. Another five minutes outside, and you'd have died." He used a penlight to check my eyes, asking and answering more questions along the way.

"How long will I be in here?"

"If there aren't complications, we'll move you to a hospital room in the morning. For now, I need you to rest and heal up." He gave the nurses some orders and left.

I opened the Pack Link, hoping one of them was nearby. I had half a dozen Pack members respond, including my Alpha. "How are you feeling, Bonnie?"

"Tired and cold," I told him.

"The nurse came out and told us you were awake. Sally is coming in, so act surprised."

A few minutes later, one of the nurses returned. "Are you up for a visitor?"

I opened my eyes and looked at her. "Sure."

Sally came into the room, standing at my bedside and brushing the hair from my eyes. "Welcome back, baby. You gave us a hell of a scare."

"Did you just get here?"

"Bonnie, it's ten at night. We've been waiting for you to wake up all day."

My eyes widened; I'd been out for hours. "Those bastards almost killed me."

"Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades," she said with a laugh. It was something I told my pistol-shooting classes when they felt satisfied with being in the white.