Chapter 24
“This is some crazy shit. How the hell did the three of them manage to be the males chosen to escort Gwen on her way here?” Jack asked.
“I don’t know for sure, but I remember Steve saying that Grail told him to pick some males to accompany him to get Gwen and as many others as he could save here safely. Maybe they were the first ones he came across.”
“Because they were trying to stay out of sight and not have to fight the same damn people they’d sold out their own Pride to,” Frenzy said.
“Makes sense. It would be a good explanation of why they weren’t out fighting despite the fact that the Pride had already been overrun,” Rance said. “We can certainly ask him, though. And we can talk to Dean separately and see how he came to be included in the trip here.”
Jack sat back in his chair and looked at both Rance and Frenzy. “How do we know that Steve wasn’t in on it. Maybe that’s how he just happened to choose those three males.”
Rance thought about it. “I don’t know. I saw him there.
He was tore up. He identified everyone we located.
He even showed us the safe space under the kids’ playground.
It had been torched, like someone opened it and tossed in a Molotov cocktail or something.
He said only a few knew about that shelter.
That in itself shows that someone was complicit.
I’m really not feeling like he’s in on it, but never say never, you know? ”
“And Dean?” Jack asked.
“Dean is a powder keg. He’s about to blow.
He’s keeping himself on a short leash, but he’s full of rage.
You don’t fake that. He’s outraged that his entire way of life was decimated.
I find it hard to believe he was involved in anything except the responsibility to get Gwen here.
And he’s beating himself up because had he been able to remain, he might have been able to save some of his friends and family.
There was no lie there. I could scent the anguish as he spoke,” Rance said.
“So, we know Dean is out of it,” Frenzy said.
“Agreed,” Jack said.
“And you believe Steve is innocent as well?” Jack asked.
“I do. He seems a little calmer about the whole thing, but still genuinely upset,” Rance said.
“Should have let Savage and his crew take the fuckers back to Alliance,” Jack said.
“I thought about it, but room was tight with the three Variant males we recovered. Besides, I thought it would be fun to turn them over to Dean and Steve if we find out we’re right,” Frenzy said.
Rance looked at Frenzy, then held up a hand for Frenzy to slap his against.
Jack shook his head and chuckled. “Already gotta watch out for the two of you.”
“He’s my buddy,” Frenzy whispered with a grin.
“So, you said there was one of your teams going in today to locate the place the Variant males came from, and to rescue the others before they could be killed?” Jack said.
“Yes. Should have already happened. I’d be surprised if they didn’t take care of business and get back to Alliance with the newly rescued in tow before we even got home,” Frenzy said.
“I wonder if they struck the Falwell Pride. If that’s where the Variant were?” Jack said.
Frenzy pulled out his phone and typed in the coordinates the males had given Lethal over the telephone.
“What are you doing?” Rance asked.
“Tracking the coordinates they gave Lethal when we had him on the phone.”
“You can do that?” Jack asked.
“I could do that. Let’s see if I still can,” Frenzy answered. “Hmpf, northwest corner of Missouri. On the Nebraska border.”
“That’s where you guys found that facility, and where they held Brinnley,” Jack said.
“It is. And if you look at the map, it’s not that far from Idaho where Jared was,” Rance said.
“And the Falwell Pride’s lands are in Oregon, which isn’t too far from there either,” Jack said. He thought about it for a few minutes. “I wonder if they found any Lion shifters with them.”
“Let me see if I get a reply,” Frenzy said. He typed out a text, then hit send and sat there, holding his phone in both hands while he looked at it like an expectant child.
“Hey, me again. Did you find the facility? Was it home base for another Lion Pride?”
A few minutes later his phone pinged. Frenzy grinned at Jack and Rance, then pulled up the message.
“No medical facility. A warehouse, cages, sixteen more Variant, a few rewards. No shifter Pride,
but we suspect that some of the males might have originally been shifters. Might still be. Testing
is being done. Debriefing… you know the drill. The rewards are all shifters. All males and rewards
are here and safe.
Why the hell is your phone identifying you as Sin now? Same number, but now it says ‘Sin’.”
“Y’all aren’t going to believe this…” Frenzy said, then read the message out loud. “That’s from Lethal.”
“They’re turning shifters into Variant males now?” Jack said.
“It would explain why they’re being trained differently than we were,” Frenzy said. “Especially if they’re rushing it and not doing proper training.”
“Were they that different in procedure?” Jack asked.
“They fucking threw down their weapons and gave in. No way in hell a Variant male would do such a thing. No way to tell for the moment, though, because we smell like you do, and you smell like us because of the predator DNA we were spliced with. It’s going to take time to try to figure it out, and honestly, I’m not on the inside any more.
I’m kind of surprised that Lethal answered me, to tell you the truth. ”
Jack nodded. “So what do we know?”
“That they didn’t raid any other Pride. And none of us were with them, so we can’t be connected to the raid on the place they found the Variant males and rewards.
We know that Variant males and Lions attacked the Gamieyon Pride.
I saw the tracks of both with my own eyes.
We don’t know who it was for sure, but I’m pretty sure nobody would be surprised to find out it was the Falwells.
Steve in particular said he recognized some of them.
Grail told him it was the Falwells, and others, when he sent him off to get Gwen out safely. ”
“And that, along with the fact that I’m now giving sanctuary to the surviving members of the Gamieyon Pride gives me the right to question what the hell is going on and why the Council hasn’t made an official statement about the Gamieyon Pride.”
“Maybe they’re pretending it didn’t happen.”
“They’re going to be admitting real soon that it did.
I do believe I’ll be making a call to the Council a little later today.
Let’s see what they have to say about every damn thing we just discussed, with the exception of the fact that we know more than we should.
We won’t be throwing the Variant under the bus,” Jack said.
“The Council… is that anything like our Board?” Frenzy asked.
“The North American Panthera Council of Justice. And yes, they’re supposed to be a lot like your board, but have steadily become unreliable. There is no more justice. But I’ll go through the motions anyway just to make sure my complaints are heard.”
“Honestly, it can’t hurt. If word gets around that we’re on to something fishy, maybe it’ll scare whoever’s responsible into backing off and maybe even save some lives. Or they get antsy and make a mistake. Give themselves away,” Rance said.
“We know Findley’s father was involved. He was supplying females. His own daughter for God’s sake, and the few Findley suspected from her old Pride. And he tried to sell them Findley and Bonnie, too,” Jack said.
Frenzy was busy looking at his phone and all the settings, and not paying particular attention to the conversation anymore.
“Problem?” Rance asked.
Frenzy looked up from his phone. “Me? No. Lethal wants to know why my phone says I’m Sin instead of Frenzy now.”
“Does it?” Jack asked.
“Damn sure does,” Frenzy said.
“Could they have reassigned your number already and just haven’t disconnected your phone yet?” Jack asked.
“No. I mean, yeah, but they wouldn’t have left mine active if it’s reassigned. I don’t think that’s it. Somebody’s somehow actually renamed my account and the device itself as Sin. Only one person I know that can do that. And I don’t think he’d do it unless he was told to.”
“And that means?” Jack asked.
“Means Sin is covering my ass. Standing between me and whatever comes. Making sure that if anybody searches for me, they find Sin guarding the door.”
“Why would anybody search for you? Give you shit for leaving?” Rance asked.
“Most likely they wouldn’t, unless they just wanted to see if you had more room.
And nobody’s going to give me shit. Not only are we no longer captive, they know better than to fuck with me.
It’s more likely that Sin is just being proactive and exceedingly careful so that my happy place remains my happy place and not somewhere others fuck up for me. ”
“Good friend.”
Frenzy nodded as he looked at Jack. “The best.”
“Nobody’s fucking this up for you. I’ll happily escort any others out before that happens. But I do have to say that Feral requested permission to join us. Don’t know if he will, but we discussed it,” Jack said.
“Thank you. And Feral ain’t no problem. Feral’s one of the good ones. He hasn’t been right since he was jailed over suspicion of being a mole for those who created us.”
“Why would they think he was a mole?” Jack asked, wanting someone else’s perspective on what Feral had already alluded to.