Chapter 9
September 3, 1982
23:30
Mesa, Arizona
“You ever been to Arizona, Captain?” Hazard asked as they sped down the streets of Mesa. A sergeant from the closest area base drove their armored vehicle, taking them to their target.
“Once.”
“What’d you think?”
“It’s dry.”
“I’ve never been. I imagine I won’t get to see much of it this trip beyond this road we’re on.” Through the darkened windows, Hazard saw local businesses, bus stop benches, and not much else.
He’d never had much of a desire to visit Arizona and the surrounding southwestern states. As a school-age pup, he’d learned about the scourge that had almost completely wiped out the shifter population in this region. They’d died in massive numbers and at an alarming speed. By the time the disease had been identified and a cure created it had been too late to save them.
Learning that history, Hazard had felt immense sadness for his shifter brethren. But at that age he’d developed a fear of the southwest, his young mind assuming that if he came here, he would get sick and die too. As an adult, he knew better, and of course he’d been inoculated against the deadly scourge.
Unfortunately, the southwest United States wasn’t the only region that had a decimated shifter population. In 1957, a few years after shifters had made themselves known to the human world, a group of humans in Florida had secretly plotted to hunt and execute the entire population of shifters in their state.
On a sweltering night in July, they’d carried out their deadly plan. Striking without warning, the group went after those they’d identified as shifters, concentrating their efforts in areas where shifters lived in small packs. Over the span of three days, they killed countless men, women, and even children.
The US Legion had been called in to put a stop to the violence. They’d done so and many humans were arrested and prosecuted for their crimes. Unfortunately, Florida’s pack majora, already relatively small compared to those across the rest of the country, had been cut down to a few thousand remaining members.
The pack majora of the Mid-Atlantic was the third pack to become a shadow of its former self. They didn’t suffer from disease or violence. Instead, they’d been steadily pushed out due to the human’s increase in population and loss of pack grounds. Most of that region’s pack had split off into small groups and found homes in other pack majoras. But just like in the southwest and in Florida, a small number remained.
The three decimated regions collectively came to be known as the shadow lands, as they were all a shadow of their former pack majora greatness. The shifters in the shadow lands lived scattered in small packs and were mostly removed from both human and the larger shifter societies. All three of the shadow land packs were represented by a single member on the national shifter council, as none of them were big enough to warrant having their own councilor.
These days, humans and shifters co-existed mostly in peace. Thanks to the shifter council, their kind had representation in the US government and rights and laws to protect them. But as Hazard continued to watch the streets of Mesa flash by, he was saddened by the fact that the shifter population in areas like this would probably never return to what they once were.
Hazard brushed off his maudlin thoughts on the worst parts of shifter history, and got his mind back on the mission. He looked up front where the major sat in the passenger seat. She looked calm as always. Hazard sat in the back, fully geared up and rifle securely held and pointed at the floor. Jax sat next to him and Ice was seated on the other side facing them.
The captain looked menacing and ready for the op in his all-black uniform and black wolf mask, big gloved hands holding his rifle in a relaxed grip. Occasionally light from a passing car’s headlights would wash over the alpha, briefly illuminating him long enough for Hazard to catch a glimpse of his dark eyes before they were hidden in the black shadows of his mask once more.
His Instinct still whispered that Ice was dangerous, but the whisper was faint and nearly drowned out by the hum of attraction that now buzzed under his skin for the captain. Thank Mother Wolf for blockers, otherwise the scent of his physical interest would be obvious in the confines of the vehicle.
“Approaching target three blocks up,” their driver informed them.
“Pull over at the next corner,” Ortiz directed.
The driver stopped where Ortiz indicated. Ice opened the rear door and jumped out, followed by Jax and Hazard. Ortiz was waiting on the sidewalk when they came around.
“Surveillance has Cortez in as of twenty-one hundred hours,” she said brusquely. “Ice and Hazard, you’ve got intel gathering duty this time. Jax and I will roll up Cortez. Comms on. Anybody has trouble, give a holler.”
“Roger.”
Hazard checked to make sure his mic and earpiece were on. Then, moving quick and quiet, they jogged the last two blocks and crept up on the center. Their all-black uniforms and gear blended into the night. The entire building was quiet and dark, a nearby street light casting a yellow glow over the white stucco exterior.
“No alarm,” Jax said before he used a punch tool to break the lock. “On you, Major.”
Jax pushed the door open then stepped back to let Ortiz go through first.
One by one they entered the center. His weapon at the ready and eyes sharp, Hazard swept the room. In the middle there were three desks with two chairs placed in front of each. Off to one side there was a comfy seating area. On the other side, a play rug covered a section of the floor. There were toys, stuffed animals, and bean bag chairs, but it was empty of people.
“Clear. We’re moving up.”
They went up a narrow staircase, to the second level where there was a cafeteria and TV space with more comfy couches. After quickly clearing it, they went up again, to Cortez’s personal living space. This level was small and cramped with a low ceiling. A short hallway had a door at either end.
“Bedroom is this way,” Ortiz whispered. “Jax, let’s go.”
“On me, Hazard,” Ice ordered.
The team split, Ortiz and Jax going to the right and Hazard following behind Ice as he led them to the opposite end of the hallway where Cortez’s office was located.
Ice slowly and quietly turned the knob to open the door. Hazard reached in and flicked on the lights. There was no one inside. He looked around the brick-walled, windowless room. A dark wood desk sat in the center with a beat-up leather chair behind it. A filing cabinet stood against one wall. A corner shelf held several potted plants and two big paintings in thin wood frames hung on either side of the room.
Hazard stopped in front of one of the paintings. A large gray wolf lay dead in a field of scrub brush, it’s body decaying. Vultures circled above and rats approached through the brush. The painting on the opposite wall was in a similar vein, depicting dead and dying wolves. Hazard grimaced. He was no art connoisseur, but he knew he didn’t like these gruesome art pieces.
“He certainly has a macabre taste in art.”
A closer look revealed Cortez’s signature in the corner.
“This is his work. What do you think it means?” he asked his partner.
Ice glanced at the painting. “Nothing good.”
Hazard was moving away from the painting when Ortiz spoke over their comm link. She sounded frustrated.
“Cortez isn’t here.”
At that announcement, Hazard’s Instinct tingled and the hairs on the back of his neck rose. “How the fuck did he slip out while under surveillance?” he asked.
Jax answered. “There’s no basement so he must have gone out the back while evading surveillance’s notice.”
“Sloppy work on their part,” Ice said.
Hazard silently agreed.
“We’re going to do another sweep of the premises in case he’s hiding somewhere. Keep looking through his office and see if you find anything.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Ice moved to go through the desk.
Hazard’s senses were on edge as he went over to the file cabinet to begin his part of the search. Something about this room didn’t feel right. Cautiously, he pulled open the top drawer. His ears twitched. There’d been a barely perceptible click when he opened the drawer. And then a familiar scent hit his nose.
“We need to go,” he said abruptly. “I smell gas.”
The words were barely out of his mouth when Ice grabbed him by the back of his tac vest and shoved him down to the floor.
“Get down!”
They hit the ground just in time to avoid being cooked by a ball of fire. Ice landed half on top of him, his bulk shielding Hazard from the flames.
“What the fuck?” Hazard shouted the question from his sudden new position on the floor. He looked up to see twin streams of fire shooting across the room, coming from the spaces where the two paintings on the wall had hung.
Ice rolled off of him.
“Let’s move, Corporal!”
Staying in a low crouch to avoid the streams of fire above their heads, they started for the door. But before they could escape the room, a steel panel slid shut over the entrance, trapping them inside.
“You have got to be kidding me.” Hazard started coughing from the smoke. And even on the floor the heat of the fire above was uncomfortably hot on his skin. “How the fuck do we get out of here?”
Ice pointed at a square section of the ceiling over the desk. “There. Attic access panel. Might lead to a way out of the building.”
“It could lead to a dead end,” Hazard pointed out.
“It might. But we stay here we burn for sure.”
Ortiz’s voice crackled to life in Hazard’s ear piece.
“What the hell was that?”
“The office is on fire. Get out of the building, now!” Hazard shouted in answer.
“We’re coming to get you out of there!” Jax said.
“Negative,” Ice calmly replied. “The entrance is sealed shut. We’re going up to get out.”
But the two alphas tried to get to them anyway. Hazard heard them on the other side of the steel panel. One of them slammed a fist against it.
Ortiz cursed. “Damnit, you’re right. I don’t see a way to open it without using explosives.”
“That might make the fire worse,” Jax said.
“And blow us all to that big wolf den in the sky,” Hazard added.
Ortiz growled, anger and worry clear in the rumbling sound. “You two better not piss me off by dying in there.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it, Major,” Hazard said with a short laugh.
“Get moving. We’ll see you on the ground.”
Ice and Hazard carefully made their way back over to the desk in the center of the room. There was some space to move once they reached it. The desk was in between the two streams of fire and it hadn’t ignited yet. But it wouldn’t be that way for long.
Hazard’s heart pounded. This kind of situation, life or death, flames literally licking at his heels was what he lived for. Adrenaline zinging in his veins, excitement tingling in his fingertips. His wolf stirred within him and a howl hovered on his lips.
Ice ducked under the spouts of fire and climbed on top of the desk. Reaching above his head, he popped the access panel up and shoved it to the side, leaving a square opening in the ceiling. He jumped, grabbed the edges, and hoisted himself up through the opening. After he scrambled around to get settled on his knees, he leaned down and held a hand out.
“Let’s go, Corporal.”
Hazard hopped onto the desk. The corners of it were starting to burn. He met Ice’s eyes as he jumped up and grabbed his hand. The alpha’s gaze was steady, no hint of fear in the dark depths. Ice pulled, muscles straining to get Hazard’s dangling weight up.
“Good thing you’re as strong as a fucking ox,” Hazard said.
Once Hazard could reach it, he grabbed hold of the opening’s edge and boosted himself through. He looked down through the opening in time to see the flames engulf the desk where he’d been standing.
Hazard blew out a breath, his heart pumping hard. “That was close.”
“We’re not out of the fire yet,” Ice said. “Keep moving.”
There was only one way to go. And they had to crawl in the small space. In front of him, Ice kept his head down so that he didn’t bump it on the top of the passageway, but his shoulders brushed the wall on each side. Hazard had a little more room to maneuver but not much.
They reached the end of the crawl space. It widened into a small attic where the furnace was located. The space was still too low to stand, but there was room to crouch. There was a big round opening cut into an exterior wall for attic exhaust. But it was covered by a steel grill. Moonlight and fresh air slipped in through the slats. Ice slammed his shoulder against it once and then again, but the panel didn’t so much as budge.
“Fucker is bolted down tight,” he said in his low, rough voice. “It’s going to take both of us to get it off.”
Without being told, Hazard got in position next to the captain. They both sat facing the exhaust panel, hands braced behind them, feet raised in preparation to kick.
“On three. One. Two. Three!”
Together they kicked out, their heavy combat boots slamming against the metal screen. The combined force ripped the cover from the wall and sent it flying.
“Move, Hazard,” Ice ordered.
Hazard shimmied through the hole first, thanking Mother Wolf that it was wide enough for him to fit through. Then he turned back to watch Ice squeeze his large frame through the small opening. Finally out of the building, they were on the rooftop three stories up. And there were no fire stairs to the ground.
Hazard looked over the edge. It was a straight drop to the concrete parking lot below. “We jump from here we’ll both be on medical leave with broken legs.”
“We’re not jumping,” Ice said. He reached around to the back of his tac vest, tugging free a black rope with hooks and locking carabiners.
“You brought rappelling gear,” he said stating the obvious. Hazard hadn’t packed any climbing gear in his tac vest. He packed for each mission’s specific needs, while also taking into consideration how much weight he could carry. For a target extraction and info gathering op in an urban area, he hadn’t anticipated doing any rappelling. So that gear had been left on base. Of course, Ice could carry more than he could due to his size and strength so why wouldn’t he bring rappelling gear just in case?
Hazard waited patiently while Ice prepped the ropes and hooks.
“Hop on,” the alpha said once he was ready.
He jumped on Ice’s back. It was awkward, the bulk of their tac vests loaded with all of their equipment knocking against each other. He wrapped his legs around Ice’s waist and looped his arms over his shoulders to hold on tight. “I’m on you, Captain,” he joked.
“Shut it, Hazard.”
Ice stepped up to the edge of the building then went over the side. He fed out the rope slowly and carefully, boots planted against the wall to walk them down. The power in the captain’s body was on full display during their descent. He moved with ease even with Hazard’s additional weight attached to his back. The muscles in his arms and thighs didn’t tremble once as he lowered them to the ground.
His adrenaline still pumping, Hazard held tight to the captain. This close, with his face damn near tucked into Ice’s neck, Hazard should have a nose full of the alpha’s scent. But thanks to the heavy blockers Ice wore and the fire they’d escaped, all he smelled was smoke. For a moment, he pouted with disappointment before he remembered himself and fixed his face.
When they hit the ground, Hazard held on for a moment longer than necessary before he slid off Ice’s back.
Ice turned to face him.
“You good?”
“Yeah.” He was good. And slightly starry eyed at the effortless way the alpha had carried him to safety. His Instinct urged him to push into the alpha’s space and wrap his arms around the big body that had saved him to say thank you.
For the first time in his life, Hazard inwardly recoiled from the guidance of his Instinct. Cuddling up to his CO would absolutely not be happening. Instead, he offered cool, professional gratitude. “Thanks for getting me out of there.”
Ice nodded. “Let’s get to the others.”
They jogged around the side of the building to where Ortiz and Jax waited in the front parking lot.
“You made it,” Jax said with a note of relief in his deep voice.
“Told you we would.” Hazard grinned, the skin on his cheeks pulling dry and tight from the heat of the flames.
The two of them fist bumped and Ortiz clapped him on the shoulder. The alphas nodded at Ice, who returned the gesture.
“I put in a call to dispatch,” Jax said. “Fire department should be here soon.”
The team moved to the opposite side of the street for safety. Their transport vehicle pulled up to the curb as they stood there, staring at the Outreach Center. Smoke was starting to come through the roof, thick and gray against the night sky. But so far the flames were still contained by the office’s brick walls and that steel door.
Hazard shook his head. “Now I’m really curious. What was so secret and important that Cortez set up a booby trap like something out of Indiana Jones to keep anyone from getting their hands on it?”
“We’re not going to find out tonight,” Ortiz answered. “But he just made the target on his back that much bigger. We’re staying after him until we get him.”