Chapter 51
Chapter Fifty-One
Dewi
Now reassured that Ken and Peyton were alive, well, and safe, Dewi finally allowed herself to lie down and sleep after nursing Lyssa and getting her back to sleep.
Except it was far from restful. Dark dreams plagued Dewi, filled with anxiety and outright desperation as she frantically tried to keep all the various threads tightly held in her hands to prevent life as she knew it from unraveling.
It felt like everything after the Segura Cartel infected their existence had gone to shit.
It was almost a relief when she startled awake a little before nine to the sound of Lyssa softly fussing.
“Okay, sweetie. Coming.” She dragged herself out of bed, nursed and changed her, then settled her once more and opted to climb into the shower and stand there.
Gawd, I’ll be glad when this bullshit is settled. Meaning with Faegan and the Australian asshole and the lab and…everything else getting in the way of her just being able to enjoy her family, for once.
Except…something nagged at her. And she hated that she couldn’t immediately put her finger on it.
After finishing her shower, she brewed herself a cup of coffee and curled up on the couch with her work laptop to go through reports from her Enforcers.
As she skimmed through the index list, she stopped at one from Duncan filed back in March about the circumstances surrounding an incident that had also, coincidentally, led Aaron Harries to meeting and mating Lowri.
Assholes had taken Lowri’s family hostage because of them growing pot to help a close family friend with her cancer pain.
Clueless human drug dealers mentioned that one of them had a cousin hooked up with a Mexican drug cartel, and they were on the lookout for ‘weird people’ to buy.
No further details available at this time.
Recommend admin run a trace on the men for familial connections to the Segura cartel if more information desired.
Not enough resources locally to conduct that investigation without potentially raising suspicions…
That’s when part of her dreams snapped into focus. Dewi blamed first her pregnancy brain and now her new-mom brain for not picking up on it sooner. Although, to be fair, Duncan had been on top of the situation, so she hadn’t felt the need to follow up.
She grabbed her work phone and impatiently waited for the call to connect to the South Carolina number.
“Aaron Harries.”
“It’s Dewi,” she started. “I need to talk to you.”
“Yes, ma’am?”
She growled. “I told you not to fucking call me that.”
“Sorry, boss.”
She took a breath. “Look, I want to talk more about what the guys who attacked Lowri’s family said about drugs and looking for ‘weird people.’”
Twenty minutes later, after the call ended, she stared at the admittedly scant notes she had taken.
The men who’d attacked the family were all killed, but it was uncertain if they’d told anyone else about the pot.
A moot issue, because the pot was no more, the family’s small grow house immediately dismantled upon Tully’s death.
And while the attackers had inadvertently learned the existence of shifters, they’d all been killed and had not been able to pass that information.
Except one of the men talked about a cousin with connections to a drug cartel looking to “buy weird people.”
Hmm.
She quickly scoured the local papers from that area for any reports of missing men, then looked through law enforcement databases.
From what she pieced together, she had possible identities for only two of the men, but little else.
Except for the renewed tingling at the base of her spine that told her this was a new problem.
She texted Duncan, who lightly rapped on the cabin door minutes later.
“Come on in, Da.”
He did. “What’s up?”
“I need to talk to you about the Lowri Thompson incident.”
He settled into a chair across from the couch and looked resigned. “I handled that situation the best I could, sweetheart.”
“I know. This isn’t about that. I mean, it is, but about something else. Did you learn any information from her brother Gareth about the identities of the men?”
He winced. “Unfortunately, at the time, I wasn’t at my best after visiting Aunt Tully with Aaron and Lowri. Gareth did say he didn’t know most of the men, and only had a first name for one of them. Since they all died without being able to reveal the existence of shifters, I didn’t follow up.”
She chewed on her thumbnail. “Any chance of us digging deeper into that? Aaron didn’t have any info, either. I think I found potential matches.”
“I’m not certain what opinion you want me to give you,” he said.
That confused her. “I don’t understand.”
He ran a fingernail across the denim of his jeans for a moment before answering. “Pack Alpha business.”
Dewi growled. “I hate that fucking phrase, and you know it. How am I expected to effectively do my literal job if information is siloed and inaccessible to me?”
He held up a staying hand. “Badger shared…things with me when we talked to Ken the night Badger took over as acting Pack Alpha. There are moving pieces that are rightfully not being shared with you because the most important thing is what we’re dealing with right now.”
“We need to resume investigating whatever’s left of the Segura cartel,” she said.
“I know we mulched Manuel, but we don’t know what Carl and Mateo don’t know about that situation.
We don’t know if Manuel had actual proof that’s now in the hands of his uncle”—she consulted her notes—“Abundio, right? Or Abundio’s daughter, Miranda. ”
Duncan met her gaze. “There are already…inquiries underway. Subtle inquiries.”
Her gaze narrowed as she struggled to read between his lines. She damned sure wasn’t powerful enough for her Prime to overwhelm his Prime. “We have a mole in their organization? I need to know this stuff to protect their safety!”
He slowly shook his head. “Not a person.”
Then it hit her. “Ken hacked into their computer system.”
Duncan blew out a breath. “Look, I say this as not your grandfather, but as a former Pack Alpha and as someone who is now read into details by the current acting Pack Alpha. Things are not yet at a point where you can or should know details. For everyone’s safety.
We can’t do anything in that area beyond what’s currently happening, because that will draw unwanted attention.
Suffice it to say that it’s being monitored to Peyton’s satisfaction. ”
“He involved my mate in something without consulting me first?”
“Ken works for the Pack Alpha, Dewi. Under his direct orders. And if necessary, I will contact Badger and get him in here with me and Prime you about this.”
Her jaw clenched. “Ooooh, my brother is soooo getting punched when he gets home.”
Duncan finally talked Dewi into joining them over at the main house to eat lunch.
When she entered the kitchen with Lyssa asleep in her carrier, Gillian glanced over at her from where she was prepping a salad.
The force of the older woman’s relief and joy nearly bowled Dewi over, even from that distance, although Gillian wore what Dewi could tell was a forced grim expression.
Dewi set the baby carrier down and walked over to hug her. She knew Gillian had to portray the grief-stricken and desperately anxious mate, but there was nothing but joy in her heart.
“I need to talk to you later about whatever Ken’s working on for the Pack,” she silently told Gillian.
Gillian tensed in Dewi’s embrace. “You need to talk to Peyton about that. I’m under orders from him not to talk to anyone about it. Not even you.”
“Badger’s acting Pack Alpha. I can demand he override that edict.”
Gillian pulled her head back and shot Dewi an incredulous look.
One that told Dewi, without any words needed, that she should have known better than to even suggest such a ridiculous idea.
“Yeah,” Dewi grumbled out loud, “I don’t even know why I said it.”
Gillian snorted out loud and released her embrace after one final squeeze. “Honey, I will let you punch Peyton,” she whispered, “but only after I get a few minutes with him first. There’s nothing you can do about any of that right now, so please wait to take it up with him.”
Dewi glanced around but didn’t see Tamsin within earshot. Still, she whispered back, “If it was dangerous for Ken, you’d warn me, right?”
Gillian rested her hands on Dewi’s shoulders and spoke in a normal tone. “Honey, if it were, he wouldn’t be doing it. I promise. Besides, I would have already punched Peyton for you.”
At that moment, Badger entered the kitchen, Duncan behind him, and they pulled up short at the sight of Dewi.
Badger opened his mouth like he was about to say something regarding the situation, but Dewi waved him off. “Forget it,” she wearily said. “I’ll deal with Peyton later about it.”
Badger’s jaw snapped shut and his blue eye narrowed, studying her. “Well, okay then, lass. Ye just saved me a speech by surprisingly being all sensible and the like.”
“I have my moments, Badger.”
“That ye do, lass. That ye do.”
Gillian
She used nursing the baby as an easy excuse to slip into her bedroom, close the door, and lock it behind her.
And she called Ken’s work phone.
“Hey, Gillian,” he said upon answering. “Let me get him for—”
“No, I need to speak to you first.”
She hated how his tone immediately turned wary. “What happened?”
In the background, she heard Peyton bark, “What happened?”
And before she could get another word in, it sounded like Peyton grabbed the phone from Ken. Then his voice came over the line. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
Gillian sighed and fought the urge to laugh. “I specifically wanted to talk to Ken first.”
“Forgive me for not being patient, given the circumstances,” Peyton said.
Obviously, this conversation would happen with both of them, so she decided to save her energy arguing with him. “No one’s hurt, dying, or on fire,” she joked. “You and Ken please go to a room where you can close the door and put me on speaker.”
“Stand by.” A moment later, he came back on the line. “Okay, we’re both here. Go ahead.”
She quickly related her conversation with Dewi. “Ken, what’s going on with that?”
“Well, there are some developments. But with everything that happened, I haven’t had a chance to bring you all up to speed.
” He detailed Miranda Segura’s persistent interest in the situation.
“But given everything else going on, I’m not sure that should be on our top-10 list of priorities right now,” he said when he finished.
She heard Peyton blow out an aggravated breath. “Gillian, can you access the files Ken’s talking about?”
“Yeah.”
“All right. Later tonight, when it won’t be as obvious, get Dewi, Badger, Duncan, and Trent together in the office and catch them up. I’d rather her know at this point rather than her spinning her wheels and getting upset when we have so much else at stake right now.”
“Show her everything?”
“Everything you have pertaining to the Seguras. And tell her about the ongoing data mining.”
Ken
Oh, thank fucking christ.
Peyton stood with Ken’s phone in his hand, his eyes closed, and pinched the bridge of his nose. “And make sure Badger knows, directly from me, that I do not want her pursuing any of that until I okay it. She’s not allowed to go further than town anyway.”
“Thank you,” Ken said aloud, and Peyton opened his eyes. “Because I gotta tell you, one less secret I have to keep from her makes my life a lot fricking easier.”
Peyton offered a wary smile. “Yeah, and if she’s already putting things together, she won’t leave it alone until she’s satisfied with the answers.”
“Okay,” Gillian said. “I’ll text them to hold off until I let them know Tam’s gone to bed.”
“Good,” Peyton said. “Was that all?”
She softly laughed. “Yeah. Told you it wasn’t a crisis.”
“Yet,” Peyton said, meeting Ken’s gaze again. “At least it’s a separate issue.”
“I hope,” Ken said, not realizing he’d spoken it out loud when Peyton’s left eyebrow arched.
“Why do you say that?” he asked.
“Because at this point it honestly wouldn’t surprise me if aliens dropped out of the sky,” Ken said. “I mean, seriously? We can’t seem to catch a goddamned break.”
“Do we have any evidence directly tying Miranda Segura to Faegan Lewis, Ray Dorland, or the lab?” Peyton asked.
“Not that I’m aware of,” Ken said. “But that doesn’t mean with our fricking luck that she won’t stumble across something.”
Peyton grumbled. “Okay. Gillian, tell Dewi that if there are further developments, we will immediately loop her in, but I’m begging her not to obsess over this.”
“I’ll do my best, but she’s your baby sister.”
“Don’t I know it,” Peyton grumbled.
Once they ended the call and Peyton returned Ken’s phone, the older man paused. “I do want you to monitor that as best you can, but without drawing your attention from this current bullshit any more than necessary. Does that make sense?”
Ken nodded and ticked off points on his fingers. “Faegan’s head on a pike first, blow up the lab second, snoopy Segura woman last. Got it.”
Peyton softly chuckled, clapping Ken’s shoulder on his way to the bedroom door. “You are definitely the perfect mate for my little sister.”