Missing Ch. 71-80

"Why the hell would she be going to Canada?"

"Exactly." Pamela walked in and sat down while I tried to wrap my head around the last fifteen seconds of my life. "That is what the call will discuss. I expect Baxter to lead the effort to stop those two before they blow up the Treaty. Anything less, and I'll assume you're helping her and take appropriate measures. Have you been in contact with her lately?"

"No, sir. I was planning to talk to her as soon as she returned home."

"Follow my lead in the meeting." He hung up, leaving me staring at the phone.

"I've asked George and Sally if they knew anything about Bonnie finding a second-chance mate. They had no idea."

I walked behind my desk, sat down, and turned on the computer. "We missed it too. Did you notice anything odd at the party?"

"They weren't at each other's throats, but I wrote that off to the girls and the party." She pulled out her phone. "I'm giving Mom a call. If she and Leo knew and didn't tell us?"

"They need a warning before the conference call," I said evenly. Pamela walked to her office to make the call while I logged into the encrypted Council communications server. A dozen Alphas were already on the line, their faces showing on the call and their microphones muted. More joined as we got closer to the scheduled start.

"Mom says they figured it out on the drive away from Saint Raymond," Pamela sent me as she walked back in. "It was clear Bonnie didn't recognize it, while Clyde did. They used the party to push the two together, and it seemed to work. They even went on a motorcycle ride together after we left."

"And they didn't tell us?"

"They didn't tell anyone, baby. You don't mess with mates, and Adrienne knew Bonnie had to work it out for herself. It sounds like she did."

What a fucking mess. Bonnie couldn't find some sweet old widower who liked to fish and play with his grandchildren on the front lawn. No, she had to pair up with the most dangerous wolf in the whole damn Council!

The call was worse than I expected. Chairman Sanders briefed everyone on Bonnie and Clyde. I watched the reactions of the Alphas to the information about the missing Alpha commands and the potential targeting of were-coyotes. Bonnie was my Pack, so this was all my problem. The Chairman didn't cut off the attacks from older Alphas. Why didn't I lock Bonnie in the basement, or better, the Pack prison? What kind of Alpha was I?

"The kind that does whatever is necessary to support a grieving wolf, including giving her space to recover," I said. "I didn't assign her a second-chance mate, nor did I know about Clyde. Take it up with Luna."

"We're getting off track," Sanders finally said. "We need to focus on stopping these two before they sabotage the peace deal."

"What is the plan, Mr. Chairman," I asked.

"We are assembling teams of Enforcers, led by Fixer Curtis Jackson, to go to Canada and lead the search efforts. I'm asking for Packs to send trackers and warriors to join the search under the Fixer's leadership in four large Canadian cities; Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City."

"Why those, Mr. Chairman? Bonnie won't be in the cities," a Montana Alpha said.

"Bonnie and Clyde out searching the countryside for coyotes risks offending the coyotes already. We can't afford to add dozens of people to a rural search. Their likely search routes lead them through the major cities. We will put teams on major roads in and out, plus on the US sides of likely border crossings. If we are lucky, we get them transiting the city and can intercept. Baxter Pack will provide clothing with Bonnie's scent. The Council Enforcers have Clyde's."

"How do we send people there without crossing the countryside," another Alpha asked.

"Fly your people into the cities and rent cars. Fixer Jackson will stay on after this call ends; provide him with the names of volunteers, and he will assign them to teams. Thank you all for your attention. Fixer Jackson will remain online for the next two hours."

I sent a mental update to my Pack, asking my Trackers and Warriors to join me. Bonnie was my problem, so I'd go to Quebec City. I figured that would be closest to Bonnie's search area, and she couldn't ignore my mental command. Pamela would stay in the Pack, as would Beta Mark, who had Sheriff duties he couldn't get out of during vacation season. I got seven others to volunteer, enough to put two of us in each city.

I called back into Fixer Jackson and provided the names. "When will you be there?"

"We're getting people there as fast as we can. We'll reach full staffing by tomorrow night at the latest," he replied.

He messaged me about the hotels they were using, and an hour later, we had reservations and flights scheduled. I messaged all the information to Fixer Jackson. I gathered my people before the first car left for the airport. "We have a job to do for the Council, but we have a responsibility to Bonnie," I told them. "The Enforcers and other Packs see Bonnie only as a threat. They'll kill her without hesitation. Our job is to reach her first. Use the Pack link and convince her to give herself up. Stay with her and make sure she stays safe." The Pack members agreed, and cars began leaving for the airport.

The meeting ended too late for me to make the 2:40 flight out of Bangor to Chicago, connecting to Quebec City. I got tickets on a 6:40 am to Newark, connecting to a flight arriving just before noon on Wednesday. I could DRIVE there in five hours, but the Chairman didn't want wolves on the road.

The other three cities had more frequent flights, so six people arrived in their assigned cities that night. Each team had ziplock bags with pieces of Bonnie's clothing, so the warriors and trackers could get the scent.

The first three days of our stakeout were boring and unproductive. I'd send a mental push to Bonnie, but she was never close enough to reach. Finally, on Friday, I got a call. "Our people found Bonnie on the west side of Montreal. Our Enforcers ordered her to stop, and she refused. She led them on a high-speed chase. They lost her near Cote St-Charles," Fixer Jackson told me. "She's alone and riding her Harley. I'm leaving all the teams in place until we can locate Clyde. I'm also sending people to watch interstates 81 and 89 on the United States side. That covers us if she's headed for Syracuse or Council headquarters."

I looked up the location on my phone. "What do you want me to do?"

"Fly to Toronto. If she's headed west, it's the logical place to go next." I agreed, but I knew it wouldn't work. Jackson was underestimating how much Bonnie knew about avoiding capture. She'd figure out why the Council was actively searching for her in the Montreal suburbs and change her route, avoiding large cities. She might even hole up for a week until we left.

I went to the airport and took a short flight to Toronto, joining Fixer Jackson in his hotel suite-slash-search headquarters in time for dinner. Bonnie wasn't close enough to reach with a mental send, so I had to wait.

Saturday afternoon, Jackson and I got a text. "B crossed border at Sault Ste. Marie at 1522."

"Shit," the Fixer said.

"You didn't have anyone at that border station?"

"No, I didn't think she'd go so far west," he replied. Sault St. Marie was in northern Michigan, where Lake Superior flowed through the St. Mary's River to Lake Huron. "Where do you think she is going?"

Bonnie could go south to Detroit and Chicago or head west to Minneapolis. "Minneapolis. She spent time at the Miesville Pack recently. I don't know a reason for Bonnie to go to Chicago, and she's already been arrested once in Detroit."

"Fly to Chicago and wait there. I'll ask area Packs to cover the freeways leading in; they all come together in one big traffic jam anyway. I'll contact Miesville Pack to warn them."

"No, I will. You coordinate the search." He agreed and started making calls.

I packed my bag and called the desk to get a spot on the airport shuttle. I called Leo and filled him in, then left for the airport.

I arrived at O'Hare International, cleared customs, and picked up my rental car. I rented a room at an airport hotel and had a late dinner downstairs. I returned to my room, called my mate to tell her goodnight, and went to sleep.

My phone woke me up just after midnight. It was my Beta. "McInnis," I said as I accepted the call.

"Boss, Crazy Bonnie has hit again. I just got a call from a police sergeant in Green Bay. He was verifying her status as retired law enforcement."

Damn. "What did Bonnie do now?"

"She was arrested after a bar brawl. Bonnie put three men in the hospital, sir. They're holding her on multiple counts of assault with great bodily harm."

They must have pissed her off for her to give them a beatdown like that. "Will the charges stick?"

"Detectives are reviewing the security tapes and interviewing witnesses now. Bonnie's not answering questions."

He gave me the contact info for the night sergeant at the police station and the address before I let him go. My phone told me it would take three hours and twenty minutes to get there. I called the Alpha of the Menominee Pack, asking him to send someone to the station until I could arrive.

I made it to the station just after four in the morning. Bonnie was asleep, but the power behind an Alpha mental send woke her wolf up. "Alpha?"

"You're a real pain in the ass sometimes, Tracker Bonnie," I responded. "I've been looking for you all week."

"I didn't want to be found, sir. I'm sorry they dragged you into this."

I placed two Alpha commands on her right away. The first was the most recent command about the were-coyotes, and the second was to wait for me before leaving the police station. "Now, where is Clyde Lassiter?"

"I don't know," she responded.

"I'm ordering you to tell me."

"And I'm telling you that I don't know. I haven't seen Clyde since Detroit, and he doesn't answer to me."

Right. "You didn't tell me that he's your mate, Bonnie."

She didn't respond right away. "It doesn't change anything, Alpha. What happens now?"

"That depends on what the county attorney does with you. You get arraigned on assault charges, or they drop the charges. Either way, when you're free, you're coming home."

She didn't answer right away. "Sir, this is no reflection on you or Baxter, but that's not my home anymore. I'm requesting your permission to transfer to Miesville Pack."

Pamela and I had talked about this possibility. "I'll talk to Leo. If he agrees, I'll drive you there myself. Either way, you'll face Council discipline for your Canadian adventures."

"I understand, Alpha. You sound tired. You should get some sleep."

She wasn't wrong. "I'll stop by later." I found a hotel and napped for a few hours. I called Pamela first, then conferenced in Leo and Adrienne. We agreed that it wasn't appropriate for her to transfer Packs until the Council cleared her of charges. "I can't ask you to administer discipline if she's found guilty," I said. "She'll need people she trusts if she survives the lashing. That won't be with us," I confessed.

We all saw the effects of her last Council punishment. I doubted either would survive if Bonnie and Clyde ended up strapped to adjacent punishment poles.

Ch. 74

Clyde Lassiter's POV

Two Harbors, Minnesota

Friday, June 19^th, 2020

Paranoia is a good thing when trying to evade the authorities, whether human or werewolf.

I'd driven to Montreal on Tuesday after splitting paths with Bonnie, meeting with the Vampire Master at midnight. As soon as the meeting ended, I got out of town. I headed to the east side of the river on the Samuel De Champlain Bridge, continuing on Highway 10 until I reached the A35 south. I needed to run for the US border before the Council had time to get enforcers onto the crossings.

Making it in and out of Canada on my alternate identity was key to having an alibi. I had an identical Ford Explorer stored in Two Harbors, registered under my fake name. I'd changed out the plates on the car to match the registration, my passport, and my Minnesota driver's license. Unless they cross-checked the car's registration against the VIN number, I'd be fine for the border crossing.

The fastest way back to the Pisgah Mountains would be to connect to Interstate 87 or 89 on the American side. I split the difference, crossing into New York at the Rouses station. A quick left took me across the water on Highway 2 into Vermont, then Highway 7 down to the Green Mountains. I made it to Winchester, New Hampshire, at the base of the Pisgah Mountains, by six in the morning.

As a Fixer, I sometimes required items I couldn't get at the local Wal-Mart. I had a stock of military weapons and explosives, plus large sums of cash, hidden in a local truck repair business. The owner had to sell it in his divorce a few years ago. I bought the property under a shell company, and I lease it back to him so he can keep working. It means I have a secure location to store things out of sight of anyone.

I used my key to the garage to open it up, pulling my car inside and closing the door behind me. I needed a few specific things, any of which would buy me a long stretch in Federal Prison if caught. Since I wasn't planning to come back this way, I put the five duffel bags in the back of my Explorer and covered them with a blanket. I hit the road before anyone arrived for work.

I took my time driving west, avoiding the interstates and toll roads, and napping in wolf form in the woods. On Thursday, I made it to Detroit. I picked up my trailer at the rental place, then got a room at a nearby motel for the night. I caught the Lake Express ferry on Friday morning to Milwaukee, avoiding Chicago traffic. I stayed in the car to catch up on sleep.

Bonnie's phone call to my burner woke me up just before we entered port. She'd found him.

I wrote the information down and texted it to the contact number Master Ramesey had given me. I got a reply saying they would be in contact soon. I was not to proceed against my target until their people arrived.

I knew nothing would happen before sundown, and I had to establish my alibi before the vampires took them out. Master Ramesey wouldn't worry about me backing out of the deal; we both knew the price for that. I made it to my, no, OUR home on Lake Superior at seven o'clock Friday night. I unhooked the trailer and headed for the front door.

Walking through the door, I could smell Bonnie's scent everywhere. It was intense in the bedroom, and I was hard as a rock as I took a quick shower. I dumped all the dirty clothes from my trip into the hamper and packed my bag, expecting I might be gone another week or two.

I was on the road again within thirty minutes. I still had all my things under the blanket, not knowing what I might need for the job when I got the call. I rolled into Leo's place at midnight. A few of the younger wolves were still up, and they set me up in one of their guest rooms in the basement.

I slept there until noon on Saturday.

No phone calls woke me up. I'd prayed last night that Bonnie was all right and had gotten out of there without tipping off the were-coyotes. I didn't want the Cook and his family relocating before the Vampires could take them out. I woke to the soft knocks and giggles of a pair of young pups at my door. "Unky Clyde? Are you up?"

Sharkbait. Of course.

"Do you need us to sing?" Amy.

"Momma says we are prow-fess-in-al singers now," Vicki added.

I rolled out of bed and pulled on socks. "Just a minute," I said as I pulled my jeans on. I padded to the door and opened it. The two precocious young pups, one Alpha mantled, the other Beta blood, looked up at me. "Who can you sing to?"

"Luna is here, Unky Leo and our Mommas. Is Aunt Bonnie coming?"

They were looking to cash in. I'd created a couple of annoying monsters for hire. "I don't know."

"Momma said to get you for lunch," Amy said.

I pulled out a pair of five-dollar bills. I might need a little help when the Alphas interview me later. They might not let it go. "Do you know the song from Frozen?" Both girls nodded. "I want you to sing it until lunch gets served."

The girls took the bills with big smiles and ran off, singing, "Let it GO, let it GO," as I closed the door. I finished getting dressed and walked through the basement.

I spent time with Pack members during the day, waiting for the Alphas to find time to talk to me. That finally came at four in the afternoon. I knocked on Leo's office door, and he called me in. Senior Beta Susan Miller, former Alpha of the defunct Welch Pack, was in a chair. Betas Mike and Anita Winters were all sitting on the couch. Leo was sitting behind his desk, with Luna Adrienne on his lap. She was leaning back into his chest as his fingers stroked the bulge of her belly. He pointed to the remaining chair, and I sat down. "I had an interesting discussion with Chairman Sanders about you this morning," he said. "He suspects you are mates with Bonnie Woods, and you were working with her in Canada this week in violation of Council orders."

"I gave Bonnie a ride to her motorcycle after the police in Detroit let her go. I don't have any specifics on where she went after that. As for me, I did not violate any Alpha orders passed to me by the Council, and I don't have to prove my innocence. If the Council had actual evidence that I violated command, I'd already be in silver and heading back to Headquarters. Since they don't, they think you might get me to confess to something I didn't do. I'm not going to do that, and I don't work for Sanders now."

"What are you doing here, Clyde?"

"I am formally requesting permission to transfer my allegiance from the Council Pack to the Miesville Pack."

Leo's eyebrows raised. "Is this a package deal?"

"Bonnie and I have not mated, so I will not speak for her. I know she likes it here, but she has been through so much lately. I believe she needs time and space to heal, and I'd like to give her that. If we both transfer allegiance here, I'd ask we be allowed to live some distance away from the Pack, involving ourselves as much or as little as she is ready for."

Luna Adrienne sat up a little at this. "You don't intend to challenge Susan as Senior Beta?"

It was telling that Adrienne didn't mention an Alpha challenge. She had confidence in their ability to defend their positions, even from a Council Fixer. Most other Alphas would view me as a threat. Susan was Beta blood, but Bonnie and I would destroy her in a challenge. Most would expect me to challenge for the highest rank, but my wolf didn't care about that. "My first duty is to my mate. I will obey my Alphas and help the Pack when needed, but we are not ready to take a Pack office. I don't know if we ever will be."

"Where will you live?"

"I have a home, but I cannot specify more for safety reasons. When accepted into the Pack, I request to keep that information private. The Council considers Bonnie to be unstable and a threat, and I have enemies of my own after my long career. It's been my safe house for a long time, and its location has to be kept secret from everyone but my mate."

"That's highly unusual, but so is Miesville Pack," Leo said. "I agree that Bonnie needs to heal, but I also need you to integrate and socialize with the Pack." He paused for a bit, obviously linking with the others. "I will allow you some latitude for the first year after joining our Pack. You need to spend ten days a quarter here in Miesville, participating in Pack functions and socializing. You will provide me with a means to contact you in case of emergencies, and you will perform duties as assigned by your Alphas."