Chapter Twelve #2
Our tactics were simple enough. Jacques monitored the dark web for any hint there were poachers operating.
It didn’t matter if the offense was in Africa, Asia, or the Australian outback.
Or in this case, Canada. When we had enough intel, we took action.
We made sure the poachers and their illegal merchandise landed in countries that were noted for their lack of sympathy toward anyone who would harm an endangered animal.
If that wasn’t an option, the poachers just met with an unfortunate accident.
We were good at arranging those as well.
The rhino who’d died that day on the Serengeti did not die in vain.
William looked up as Max and I filed in. “We all here now?”
Jacques nodded as the men drifted to the table and took their seats. He hit a few keys and Sam and Noah appeared on the big screen on the wall. “All present and accounted for.”
William ignored the sarcasm. “You’ve all had a chance to look at the data packs I sent you.
The poachers have some way of knowing what we plan, and they’re using that knowledge to circumvent our traps.
It was inevitable our organization would become known to our targets, but what we didn’t anticipate was they could find a way to infiltrate us. ”
“No!” Danny half rose from his seat, horror written across his face.
“I know it doesn’t seem possible but…” Jacques shrugged. “The evidence is there.”
“You’re losing it, Billy boy.” Danny narrowed his eyes, the only outward sign he was upset. “Take another look at those computer printouts of yours. None of us are traitors. There has to be another explanation.”
“Can’t be true. None of us would roll over.” I spoke calmly, firmly.
William skewered me with an icy stare. “Glad to hear you say that, because according to the data I’ve been able to collect so far, the leak is coming from your area.”
I took a deep breath and spoke, amazed I even had to ask this question. “You think I’m sabotaging the group? That I’m feeding info on our operations to the poachers?”
“Hell no!” The Vikings jumped to their feet, Noah slamming his hand down on the table for added emphasis.
Everyone’s head swiveled from William to the Vikings on the screen, to me and back again.
William held his hand up in front of him.
“No! At least not intentionally. I’m just saying the information is coming from your area so maybe you need to take a closer look at your operation.
Is there any way someone can get access to your emails, or your cell phone?
Any change in the way you cover your tracks?
Is your new woman, the one that caused an emergency, still in the picture?
You know better than to let pillow talk get out of hand. ”
Pillow talk? No. Kimberly knew how much this meant to me. There was no way she would have betrayed me. Besides, I’d seen her face when we’d found that spirit bear with the arrow through its side. No. It couldn’t possibly be Kimberly. Still…
I looked around at the men in the room. They were my brothers in truth, closer to me than if they’d been brothers by blood.
“Actually, she’s more than in the picture.”
The shock on the faces was comical.
“What does that mean?” William’s brows were just about at ceiling level.
“In the picture implies a casual affair on my part, and my relationship with Kimberly is anything but casual.” I paused to glance around the room. “I intend to marry her if she’ll have me.”
“Marry her? You barely know her!” Danny stared at me with startled concern.
I nodded. “I know her well enough to know I don’t want to let her go. And I know she’d never betray me so you’d better look elsewhere for your mole. I just thought you all deserved to know where I stood.”
William shook his head, but a smile played around the edges of his lips.
“I always knew you’d fall hard one of these days.
I hope your trust in this Kimberly woman is deserved.
Nevertheless, the leak did come from somewhere on the Pacific Coast, so I need you to try and figure out how.
Any chance you could have been hacked? Or maybe Kimberly’s security needs to be beefed up? Not everyone is as paranoid as we are.”
I shrugged. It warmed my heart more than I’d admit to know my brothers trusted my choice of woman, sight unseen. That did leave one big question mark, though.
Where the hell had the leak come from?
I needed to change my passwords and check the security on all of my tech shit, starting with the cell phone. Maybe Jacques would have time to give me a hand with that.
“Okay.” William held up his hand and the room fell silent.
“Here’s what we know so far. The group appears to have expanded operations from Hong Kong to Western Canada, mostly in the higher mountain ranges.
We think they’re concentrating on bears.
The main market for bear parts is Asia. On the other hand, Vancouver has a large Asian community so it could be they’re marketing their product without it leaving the country. ”
He looked at each of us in turn. “We need a plan of attack.”
Max narrowed his eyes. “Yes, we do. We have no idea where that leak came from, and until we know for sure, we have to assume there could be hostiles still in the Port Heddy area. We need to be ready at a moment’s notice if something is going down in British Columbia.
Sitting here in Montana isn’t going to do us any good if we get wind of something that far north.
It would take us too long to react. We need to set up a staging area near where Ryland is operating. ”
William nodded. “Good thinking.” He looked over at me. “Anywhere close to your stepsister’s place we could use?”
I thought for a moment. “There’s a small airstrip with a hangar building and a cabin just outside town.
The owner works up in the oil patch north of Edmonton so he’s away most of the time and he rents it out to tourists.
The real estate office in Port Heddy handles the transactions.
If it’s not occupied right now, it would be perfect. ”
William nodded at Jacques. “Make it happen.”
“On it.” Jacques’s fingers flew over the keyboard on his laptop.
“Ryland, you head back and keep your ears open. I’d let you fly with the team, but we don’t know where the leak is coming from, so for now it’s better if everyone sees you landing on the commercial flight.
We do not want anyone tipped off that the team is in the area.
Danny, Max, and Jaques, you three grab your go-bags and weapons and head over to the airstrip. ”
“Booked and done.” Jacques looked up into my astonished face as he closed the lid on his laptop. “Everyone books accommodations online these days. I booked the place for two weeks, and noted we’d be coming in by air. We can always extend or move to an alternate space if we need to stay longer.”
William inclined his head. “Right. Head out. I’ll get hold of the air traffic center and file a flight plan.”
* * *
Kimberly
I pushed myself upright, shaking my head to try and clear the fog shrouding my thoughts. What the hell? I’d come to meet Ryland. He’d texted me. He told me to leave Diego behind, so I thought it was a romantic getaway where pets weren’t welcome.
Only when I arrived, it had been a deserted forestry parking lot, and Ryland wasn’t there.
Two men were, though. Heavy set, with thick accents.
They’d laughed at me, and I’d flashed back to that day on the island. I hadn’t gotten close enough to identify the men by sight, but the accent was unmistakable.
One of the men grabbed me, holding a foul-smelling rag over my face. I’d blacked out. I had no idea where I was or how long I’d been out for.
I still felt dizzy, and I reached one hand out to the wall to steady myself.
I squinted at my surroundings. A supply closet, maybe?
The room was about twenty-five feet square, with a pile of rags and half a dozen mops and brooms propped up against one wall.
A small window covered in grime was set high on the far wall.
In the other direction lay the door. I struggled to my feet, and two steps took me right to it. Wrapping my fingers around the doorknob, I tried to turn it. Not surprisingly, it was locked.
I leaned against the door and took a deep breath to clear my head.
When I felt a bit more balanced, I glanced up at the window. Too high to be easily reached. And even if I managed to get up to it and it actually opened, I doubted I’d be able to squeeze out of the small opening.
A sound penetrated from beyond the door. I turned my head, placing my ear against the cold wood. Men’s voices. I closed my eyes and strained to hear what was being said.
They weren’t trying to be quiet. I could make out two voices. They meshed with my vague memories of the kidnapping.
“How do we know her boyfriend is one of the guys after us?”
One of them snickered. “The boss saw the guy tracking us on surveillance a month or so ago. Guy’s connected, if you know what I mean.
Lots of info online about him, including family.
Didn’t take much to research the sister and get her to fall for Julien on one of those dating apps.
Pillow talk was golden. She loves to brag about where he is, and when the idiot fell for the sister’s roommate Julien saw it as our chance.
Talk about having the perfect bait fall right into your lap.
This Ryland guy is nuts about the broad we snatched.
The boss is going to send the guy an ultimatum.
He backs off or his little bitch gets it. ”
“Do you think he’ll actually do it?”
“She better hope so. The boss isn’t fooling around. If he thinks this Ryland guy isn’t doing what he’s told, he’ll start sending the girlfriend back to him piece by piece.”