Return of the Phoenix - 01 (26 page)

He made an executive decision. He picked up his two-way, “Laura, can you come to my office?”

It took her a moment to respond and when she did, she sounded breathless. “On my way, sir.”

When Laura knocked and entered, her lips looked red and swollen and her shirt tail was untucked. She was still trying to put her hair back behind her ear and make herself presentable before she entered, and failed to catch the details. Matt assessed the situation and jumped to his own conclusions. “Did I interrupt something, XO?”

“No, sir.” She adjusted her collar then looked him in the eye. “I was just going over some…results with Evan.”

Matt smiled. “I’m glad that you and Dr. Peters have worked things out.” He offered her a chair. “Laura, we need to talk.”

“Okay, sir. Is something wrong?”

Matt sat on the edge of his desk, contemplating where to start. “I need to come clean with you about a few things, XO. Especially if I’m to expect you to pick up the reins once I’m…gone,” he said solemnly.

Laura was not expecting this in the least. She never expected Matt to consider leaving, much less to leave her in charge. And
could he
leave her in charge. She wasn’t military and this was most certainly a military operation. As far as the service was concerned, she was a civilian contractor, yet…

“Matt? What are you talking about?”

“I need to tell you a story about a young major who lost his family. A major who was, himself, attacked by a werewolf and survived.” He finally met her eyes and sighed. “I need to come clean with you about who I am and why I’m so adamant about ridding the human race of these damned creatures.”

24

Nadia had packed them a light picnic lunch and they ate along the shore. With the forest behind them and the salty sea air blowing in on them, Jack felt like he could conquer the world. They watched the waves come up and make small crashes on the rocks, sending sparkling droplets into the air and sea foam along the surface of the water. A seagull cried out above them and Jack threw a piece of sourdough at it. It failed to catch the offering, but the gulls on the ground scrambled and fought for it.

“I could stay like this forever.” He sighed soaking up the sun and breathing deeply of the clean air.

“So could I,” Nadia said. She sat next to him and sliced hard cheese into small bit sized pieces. “Perhaps when you have fu
lfilled your obligation to Rufus, you will return here and we can stay?” It sounded more like a plea than a question.

“You mean retire?” Jack laughed. “I’m a bit young for that, don’t you think?”

“You will not age now, Jack. You’ve been made wolf. Remember?” Nadia reminded him.

He hadn’t thought of that. It had only been…what? Maybe five years? Six? How much does a man age in that time?

“What would you do then? Go back to hunting our own kind?” she asked him.

“I don’t know,” Jack said. “I don’t even know if they’ll have me back.” He propped himself up on one arm and watched her. She looked sad. “What would you have me do, Nadia? Would you have me come back and whisk you away to see the world?” he teased her.

“
Non
. I would miss my family too much,” she whispered, tears threatening her eyes.

“Then what? Come back here and do…what? Lay around all day, eating cheese and grapes and making love to you?” he asked defensively.

“Would that be so horrible?” she asked, the tears flowed now, and he suddenly felt like betrayed.

“Nadia, that sounds
wonderful
, but there has to be more. For me, anyways. I need to be doing something productive.”

“And loving me is not productive?” she asked. She placed her hands upon his chest, “It could be if we tried enough.”

Jack was taken aback with that one. She meant children, didn’t she? So soon? And…holy Christ on a cracker…he wasn’t expecting that. “When I said productive, I meant like…a ‘job’. I need to be working.”

“You could be security here, Jack. Rufus has security, but none of them are truly warriors like you.” Her eyes were pract
ically begging him, and he could feel his heart breaking.

“You don’t want to see the world? Even for a little bit? Leave the island for a Honeymoon?” he asked. “Go to Paris or London or…shit, even Detroit? Not that there’s anything in D
etroit worth seeing except maybe a Tigers game, but nothing says we have to stay. Just go be by ourselves for a little while, then you could come back and we’d have those memories forever.” He gave her a smile, but she was shaking her head.

“I cannot leave my family,” she said flatly.

“So my bargain with Rufus…it was for nothing? You wouldn’t leave if he threw you out, would you?”

“No. I would find a way to stay with them,” she said, he eyes downcast. “And I would hope that you would come back to me.”

Jack stood up and stared out to the sea. He had made his bargain with Rufus to save her from what he perceived to be slavery, only to find out that it wasn’t really slavery. At least, not the way he thought of it. He made the agreement with the idea that they could leave whenever he was done and then he and Nadia could make the decision together where they wanted to go and what they wanted to do with their lives. That it would be a mutual decision…but she never intended to leave. He tried to remember if she ever alluded to leaving. Or if she ever made a comment about staying there forever, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t remember. He continued to stare at the ocean, arms crossed across his chest and Nadia sat behind him. She said nothing, but the tears ran freely and he knew.

Jack turned and without saying a word to her, he walked back to the castle and to his room. He had packing to do. It didn’t matter now about the experiment. It didn’t matter whether she could control her wolf during the pull of the moon or not. He had given his word to Rufus that he would deliver the state of their plight to his people, and he intended to live up to his word. Nadia may be his mate, but she made up her mind. Her pack meant more to her than her mate. So be it.

Jack disrobed from the beach gear and began putting his uniform on. As he was dressing, Natashia passed by in the hall. Jack called to her from his room. “If you see Rufus, could you ask him if I could speak to him please?”

Of course Natashia was puzzled. She knew that Nadia and Jack were supposed to be enjoying a picnic lunch on the beach, but she didn’t mention it. “Rufus will be sleeping at this hour. But as soon as the sun sets, I will let him know of your desires.”

“Thank you, Natashia.” Jack went back to dressing and packing his gear.

Natashia only raised an eyebrow. He did not call her ‘mom’. Perhaps there is trouble in paradise? If so, Nadia would be nee
ding her. She slipped down the hall and out through the dining hall door.

When Jack had finished, he realized, it took far less time than he expected. He still had hours left before sundown. He went to Rufus’ study and waited. As soon as Rufus could a
rrange for transport back to the mainland, the sooner Jack could begin his journey back to Oklahoma City and get his obligation over with. Depending on how the team accepted him (or not) this could be a very short, one-way trip.

Jack ran through his plans continuously in his mind. Playing and replaying every possibility until he had all avenues of r
ecourse panned out in his head.

Before he realized it, the time had passed and Rufus entered the room. “Good evening, Mr. Thompson.”

“Rufus.” Jack nodded. “How soon can you arrange transport to the mainland?”

Rufus was somewhat shocked at the abruptness of Jack’s request. “Is there a rush?”

“Let’s just say that I’m ready to fulfill my obligation to you.” Jack was unreadable. Rufus studied him a moment, then nodded.

“I can have the boat ready within the hour. Once you reach shore, I shall have a vehicle standing by at your disposal.”

“It would really help if I could get something with government plates. Or is that asking too much?” Jack asked.

“No, that should not be a problem,” Rufus said. “I believe black SUVs are the norm,
oui
?”

Jack smiled. “Oh, yeah.”

“I believe we can fill that request.” Rufus turned then asked, “Anything else?”

“How far south are we? I need to get to Oklahoma City and I wasn’t carrying cash when we were on the op.” Jack blushed.

“I shall see to it that you are adequately seen to for your journey.” Then he stepped out of the room.

Jack stepped to Rufus’ bar and checked out the different d
ecanters. He purposely stayed away from anything with a red tint. Amber looked good. He pulled the stopper and sniffed. Smelled like alcohol. He poured himself a small glass and knocked it back. “For luck.”

*****

Franklin’s phone rang and he glanced at the screen. Blocked number.
Must be the hacker,
he thought. “Franklin,” he said, answering the phone.

“Right. Look,
Senator
. I got your package.”

“Great! Send it out! Send it out,
now
!” He practically jumped up out of his chair as he stood.

“Seriously? Do you have any idea how much shit is on here? What
kind
of shit is on here? And you want me to send this out? Who are you,
really
?” the hacker asked.

Franklin went past mad and straight to infuriated. “Does it fucking
matter
? You’ve already been
paid
haven’t you?!” he practically screamed into the phone. “Just do as you’re fucking
told
!”

The hacker almost lost his temper, but decided to take the high road. He was a world-class destroyer in the digital world. It didn’t matter if the victim was an internet forum troll or a leader of the free world, he really didn’t like being spoken to like this. Still…he had already been paid. Handsomely. And, whether the voice on the line truly was the ‘Distinguished Gentleman from Illinois’ or not, if he truly wanted this data released to every m
edia source tonight, then so-fucking-be-it. Still…

“Hey, man, I don’t want to be the one to piss in your Post Toasties, but do you have any idea what is on this flash drive?” he asked.

“Of course I do, you idiot!” Franklin hissed into the phone. “It’s exactly what I need to destroy the son-of-a-bitch who has made my life a living hell since I met him! It doesn’t matter if you believe it or not, it’s all true! So for the love of God, just do it! Release it! Send it out! Send it out, now!” Franklin screeched.

The hacker shook his head as if Franklin could see it. “Okay, man. It’s your fucking funeral.” Franklin could hear the clicking of keys and the hacker said, “Hold on, it’s uploading to the main server now.” Franklin was practically shaking in anti
cipation. This time tomorrow, Matt Mitchell would be no more! “Okay, man. Last chance. I can just as easily delete this and…”

“No! Don’t you dare! Send it out. Please. I beg you. Just do it and I’ll leave you alone forever,” Franklin pleaded.

“Okay, man. Whatever.” A few clicks later. “It’s done, dude. Data is sent,” the hacker said. “But remember, dude. What’s been seen, can’t be
un
seen. Later cocksucker.” And hung up.

Insolent little shit. Franklin started to get angry, but then r
ealized…it has been done. Mitchell is done for! By this time tomorrow, every news agency, tabloid, internet blogger…every single media source in the world would know about the Monster Squads and Colonel Matt Mitchell!

Senator Leslie Franklin had won! He actually whooped aloud and pumped his arm in victory.

*****

Laura sat patiently while Matt told her his story. She would nod when expected and gasp when it was appropriate, but the whole time, in the back of her mind she kept telling herself,
why didn’t I see this? It makes such perfect sense. Why didn’t I notice the little signs?

Once Matt explained who he was, how he became a wolf, the fact that the bane only helped to curb the urges, but didn’t prevent the shift, all of the pieces fell into place. Matt then told her that something big was coming. He didn’t know what, but he had been feeling it build up for some time now and he feared that whatever it was would come during a full moon, when the squads were the busiest and he was ‘preoccupied’. He also told her that he expected her to pick up the reins and take over when he was no longer able to.

Laura sat patiently and listened. She debated for some time on whether to interject her own opinion a few times, but decided prudence was the best policy. Until the end when she asked for permission to speak freely, and he foolishly granted it. Laura expressed her opinion, but at least she did so calmly and professionally. She told Matt that she had respected him for many years, however, recently, his behavior had her questioning whether she was cut out for the position any longer. She also told him that she had come within a hair’s breadth of turning in her resignation letter because of it. To his credit, Matt listened carefully, and after a long discussion from both sides, Laura agreed to add a new position to her job description…as the good colonel’s moral compass.

She accepted that the more often he shifted, the more the wolf was exposed and the more influence it had on his attitude and behavior when he was human. A side-effect, he called it. The bane helped, but it could only do so much…and after years of shifting, the wolf had recently begun to have much more i
nfluence on his aggression and competitiveness. Laura claimed to understand, but she couldn’t really know what he was going through. Still, she agreed to act as his moral compass for as long as she could. And Matt agreed that when the day came that he could no longer effectively lead, to step down and let Laura take the reins. Both felt a certain amount of ‘cleansing’ had taken place when they were done, and Laura felt a lot better about resuming her position as XO. But she told Matt, if he gave an order that she felt went beyond what was right, she may have to call him on it publicly. If the wolf caused him to ever try to retaliate or to try to embarrass her…and Matt assured her that as long as he had
any
control left, that day will never come.

Laura hoped he was right.