Chapter Four
Mao
Getting from Scotland to the States wasn’t a problem.
Mao traveled the world frequently, and he knew that all he had to do was call a certain number—depending on where he was in the world—and there’d be a plane, helicopter, boat, or something similar that would transport him.
No questions asked, no explanations given, just a recognition between both parties that a favor had been done and would be reciprocated at a later date.
That wasn’t an issue. The fact that he didn’t have to use public transport, get stuck in queues, or argue with airline personnel about why his flight was delayed.
Or worse, play a dangerous game of hurdles trying to keep from getting bowled over by airport trolleys or banged into by sticky-fingered kids, meant there was none of the stress involved in typical travel either.
This left Mao with far too much time to think.
By the time he landed in a small, discreet spot in North America and picked up a car that was conveniently waiting for him, Mao was completely bogged down with his thoughts. He just could not shake off that what he was doing felt wrong.
His cat had no problems at all with going to the bunker area.
In fact, his cat seemed almost excited about the field trip, and Mao couldn’t understand that either.
He’d been perfectly happy having a vacation in Scotland.
Nevertheless, his cat didn’t see any concern with where they were going, but Mao could still feel the concern about the job itself.
There was just something about it… something that didn’t sit right. Only Mao was spending so much time second-guessing himself that he couldn’t think what was causing him the main problem in the first place. In other words, his mind was a mess.
Once he was back in the States, Mao had turned his phone back on—his regular one, not the emergency one—and he noticed the first text was from Mom. One thing that Ben had said in his call had been right—their parents had raised them to always be thinking of and caring for others.
Maybe she has some advice for me now. Mao put his phone in the hands-free cradle that he had in the SUV and hit the call button.
“Mao.” His mom’s voice came over the speaker, sounding as warm and loving as it always did. “If you are calling to scold me, then don’t bother. You know I will not favor one son over the other. I never have, and I never will.”
“I’m not calling to scold you, Mama,” Mao said, feeling better just hearing her voice. “I understand why you did what you did, but I need to ask you a question.”
“What’s wrong? Is it about the job?” Mao should’ve known Mom would want to help in any way she could, but he hesitated. He wasn’t sure how much Ben had told her about why he needed to specifically get in touch with Mao.
And it seemed, as always, from his hesitation Mom was still a mind reader. “Ben didn’t tell me what the job was. He only said it was important for the protection and security of people that we love.”
Okay. Mao could live with that. And he understood why Ben had not said more, Mao wasn’t going to divulge any details either, which meant he had to choose his words carefully.
“Mama, what would you say…” Damn this was harder than he thought it would be!
! “What advice would you give if someone that you cared about had to decide between doing something that went against every instinct they had telling them no. Yet they accepted the job anyway, and they’re not sure why they did. ”
To his surprise, Mom laughed. “You know why you took the job, Mao. You might not want to face it yourself, but if you said yes, it was because you knew it was the right thing to do.”
“What if I don’t feel that, Mama?” he asked testily. “What if I don’t think it’s the right thing to do? What if more time needs to be taken? I feel that too many other lives might be affected by one act that can’t be undone?”
“Then you do what I’ve always told you to do, son,” Mom said gently, “you follow your heart. You go, you see, and if you really can’t do what they ask of you, then maybe you should ask yourself why you said yes in the first place.”
Mao already had that answer. “Because of the ramifications, Mama. They will get someone else, and I’m not saying that someone else couldn’t do the job, but that other person might not be discreet, might not… might not….”
He cussed under his breath. “Oh my goodness, hang on a minute, I’ve just had a thought. Mama, I love you dearly. I truly do. I promise I’ll call when this job is done, one way or another. I love you, Mama. Bye.”
Mao quickly clicked off the call before Mom even had a chance to say anything and then pulled up his contacts and quickly clicked on Ben’s number.
“Mao, what the fuck, are you Superman? Have you done it already?”
“I’m not even there yet,” Mao grumped crossly.
“Listen, those fricking krakens. One of them and his mate, they’ve got, ah, freaking, what is it?
What is it? They were military… got military backgrounds, yes?
Markov. Markov and his mate Cassius. Remember, they used to work together?
Big, horrible mess with Cassius never acknowledging Markov was his mate.
Blah, blah, blah. They were the ones who sank the boat. ”
“I know, why are we talking about it now,” Ben said snappily. “I just don’t see what the relevance is now.”
Mao wasn’t going to be deterred by Ben’s sarcastic tone. “Because they’ve got the expertise needed to blow this bunker themselves, so why are they asking me?”
“Yes, and Markov is a kraken,” Ben said quietly.
“And they have Riley, as well as four small children of their own. They’re too close to the situation.
Markov is also a Thalassa, and that puts him in a visible position and as someone in that family, far too close to what needs to happen,” Ben reasoned.
“My job was simply to get you on board, and get those records blown up. As far as I know, no one else from the Thalassa side or the assassins is involved, but yeah, just make sure there is no one else in the vicinity before you go blowing shit up, yeah?”
“Ben, that is not helpful,” Mao snarled. “I always make sure there are no people there before I do a job. Are you suggesting somebody else is going?” His stomach danced and his cat stretched lazily.
“Not from what I’ve heard,” Ben replied in a noncommittal tone. “I called Beaumont, told him the deal, he was pleased. As I didn’t expect to hear from you so soon, and I do trust you to do your job, then… what else am I meant to say. I’m keeping my promise and letting you do the job.”
“If this has come from the Thalassas, then surely as brothers they all talk to each other. Like if one of them was gonna go, or they knew of another shifter that wanted to get their records, then—”
“I don’t know,” Ben cut in impatiently. “In case you’ve forgotten, I don’t live at the Thalassa stronghold.
I live on my little island with my mates, who both look enticing naked, sunning themselves on the beach.
The only thing I’m concerned about is them getting sunburned in delicate places, so I am going to go and rescue them, which is my job as their mate.
As I said just make sure there’s nobody else there before you blow the place sky high, okay? Take care. Bye.”
He started at his phone hearing the dial tone. “Bye,” Mao grunted sarcastically. Damn Ben and his fucking rational thinking.
This just does not feel right. There is something that’s not making sense.
Keeping one eye on the road, Mao flicked his phone to play anything that might drown out the worry in his head.
It was tempting to just turn around and go…
somewhere else. It could be a week or two before anyone found out, or started to worry about him, and by then maybe Mao would have the information he still felt was missing from the whole scenario.
It wasn’t often that his head and his heart were in two different places, and Mao really didn’t like the way it made him feel.
He was a decisive man and always had been.
It was a bit late for second-guessing himself if a building had just gone boom.
There was no putting it back together again.
Dithering between “leave the job to someone else” or “stay the course” was giving him a headache.
Especially when there didn’t seem to be any other options. Caged, that’s how he felt.
Maybe I just need to get a burger or something, he thought, noticing a truck stop up ahead.
Food would shut up either his brain or his heart, although considering the food went to his stomach, he wasn’t confident that it would work.
In his experience, the only way to shut off his brain or heart was to either be sleeping—difficult to do in a moving SUV—or be focusing on something else.
Let’s hope the food is good enough to do the trick.