Chapter fourteen
“Okay, I have a lot of information here, so let’s get started,” Gage announced as he finished hooking his laptop up to the big-screen TV mounted on the wall of the living room in the mansion where everyone had gathered the next morning.
“The first thing I want to tell you is that while we’re still waiting for anything on the other two men who attacked you last night, we’ve been able to confirm the ID of the man Mike took down outside Sharp’s home. ”
“That was fast,” Lark murmured softly from beside Mike, where they sat on the couch.
He glanced over to see her nibbling on a piece of avocado toast, and looking adorable while doing it.
Even though they’d both mutually agreed to take things slow while they were still trying to figure stuff out, there was no denying the kisses they’d shared last night had been amazing.
Not to mention intoxicating. Stopping before things went further had been one of the hardest things he’d ever done.
It had clearly been the same for Lark. It felt good to know there was still something so powerful between them.
Kal had wanted in on Gage’s briefing, something Mike and Lark quickly vetoed, much to their son’s dismay.
Luckily, Jasper had come through, taking him out to throw the football around.
It didn’t hurt that Gage had brought Tuffie with him.
Kal was so excited about playing with her that he quickly forgot all about the grown-up talk going on.
“Honestly, I expected it to take a while longer too,” Gage said as a mugshot photo appeared on the TV.
Strangely enough, there was a banner across the bottom of the picture indicating it was from INTERPOL.
“But as you can see, it turns out the man was extremely well-known. His name was Andre Beaumont, and he’s a French national wanted in multiple countries for criminal activities conducted over the past dozen years or so.
Most recently, he’s been associated with a shadowy international terrorist group that goes by the name of Sentinel. ”
“Never heard of them,” Xander said with a frown. “Not that there’s any reason I would have, I guess. Still, Sentinel seems like a strange name for a terrorist group.”
“As I understand it, the group calls themselves Sentinel because they have some kind of twisted belief it’s their duty to watch over the world to ensure its resources don’t fall under the control of those not suited to use them properly,” Gage explained.
“By resources, I assume they mean money or things they can turn into money,” Connor said with a snort. “And by those not suited, I’m guessing it’s anyone not them. So, it’s terrorism for money.”
“That’s the way it looks,” Gage said. “All I can say for sure is that they’re responsible for multiple attacks around the world, most recently in San Diego, where they attempted to steal some kind of high-tech genetic manipulation technology.
A handful of Navy SEALs out of Coronado were the ones who ended up stopping them. ”
Mike looked around to see that everyone else seemed as surprised as he was.
“So, you’re telling me a group of international terrorists has set their sights on kidnapping me?” Carter asked as he devoured a breakfast of steak and eggs. “Why?”
“I have no idea,” Gage admitted, brow furrowing. “We’re looking into your previous military background to see if your career ever intersected with one of Sentinel’s operations, but haven’t found anything so far.”
Mike frowned. Carter had been in the Marines before becoming a werewolf.
He’d seen a few deployments and more than a little combat.
It wasn’t out of the realm of possibility he’d crossed paths with this Sentinel group without realizing it.
But if that was the case, why had it taken them so long to come after him?
Carter had been out of the Marines for a long time.
“Next thing of interest is that Samantha found something unusual in the tranquilizer they used on Carter,” Gage said, minimizing the photo on the screen.
“Turns out the stuff is a modified version of a synthetic opioid known as carfentanil. Typically, the drug is used to sedate large animals like elephants and rhinos. But Samantha said the crap they used on Carter had been specifically tweaked to inhibit his werewolf abilities.” He looked at Carter.
“That’s why you couldn’t seem to control your claws and fangs when you tried to shift.
She’s not sure how they did it, but the people doing the tweaking clearly had details on supernaturals in general, and werewolves specifically. ”
“How is that possible?” Violet asked in alarm. “How could this terrorist group be so familiar with werewolves that they could have tailor-made a drug to take us down?”
“I might be able to explain that,” a woman with long, blue hair and a warm smile said as her face appeared on the TV. “At least if the rumors I’ve been hearing are to be believed.”
Mike greeted Davina DeMirci—the witch from Los Angeles who seemed to know everyone and everything in the supernatural world—along with everyone else. If anyone would know what was going on, it’d be her.
“A few months ago, rumors started cropping up about a group of medical types out there offering supernatural modifications to non-supernatural people,” Davina told them over the Zoom connection.
“I didn’t take the scuttlebutt seriously until Gage called and told me about Roman, his goon crew, and their random collection of mismatched supernatural abilities.
Then I started wondering if there might be something to the gossip. ”
“Wait a second,” Xander said. “You honestly think there are some doctors out there who have come up with a way to turn regular people into supernaturals? Is that even possible?”
“Since I don’t have a medical background, I’m probably the last person who should be answering that question, but considering the things Roman seems to be able to do, especially when Mike is sure he couldn’t do those things a decade ago, it seems very possible,” Davina said.
“And you think this is connected to the Sentinel people who tried to grab me?” Carter asked. “I mean, this Andre Beaumont guy was using a tranquilizer specifically formulated to deal with werewolves. That sure sounds like something a group of medical types might come up with.”
“I agree it sounds like too much of a coincidence to ignore,” Mike said. “But does that mean Roman is now working for an international terrorist group? Seriously, I can’t imagine that man taking orders from anyone. Not even these Sentinel people.”
“Maybe there’s something else going on?” Xander suggested. “Something we aren’t seeing yet.”
Davina signed off the call a little later, while the rest of them continued talking about Roman, Sentinel, this unknown medical group, and all the different ways the three might be connected.
In the end, their theories started sounding more like conspiracies than serious possibilities. Gage must have thought so, too.
“Let’s stop worrying about all the things we can’t figure out, and focus on something that might actually help right now,” he said.
“The intel analysts at headquarters have been talking with Sharp, and they think they might have a lead on Roy’s location.
Turns out, he bought several homes in a subdivision near Garland over the years under a shell corporation.
” Gage pulled up a map on the TV with red dots scattered in a tight cluster east of Dallas.
“Sharp said Roy bought the homes as investment properties. Most of the places are on long-term rentals, but one has been empty for a while. It may be a wild goose chase, but it’s also possible Roy is using the place as some kind of safe house. ”
“It’s the best lead we’ve had since this all started,” Mike said, then glanced at Xander, Trey, and Hale. “You three willing to check out the place with me while Carter, Khaki, and Conner stay back here?”
Carter grumbled at that, even though he knew he wasn’t ready for duty yet. Not with his body still trying to detox from the drug in his system.
“I should probably check in with Kal before I leave, so he doesn’t worry,” Mike said to Lark.
Outside, he found Kal and Jasper playing catch with the football while Tuffie watched with a big doggy grin.
“You have to go out again?” Kal groaned when Mike told him. “I thought we might get a chance to hang out and play more video games.”
The hopeful look on his son’s face just about crushed Mike’s soul.
There was a huge part of him that wanted to ask Xander and the guys to go check out the subdivision house on their own, but then his rational mind took over.
The sooner they had Roman behind bars, the sooner Mike could focus all his attention on making this thing with Lark and Kal into something permanent.
“I know, and I’m sorry,” Mike said, dropping down to one knee in front of his son. “But we have a good lead on Roman, and I have to check it out. Not only is it my job, but you and your mom won’t be safe until this is over. So, I have to do this.”
Kal still looked bummed, but nodded. “I get it. But you have to promise to be careful, and come right back, okay?”
“I promise,” Mike said, leaning forward to wrap him in a hug.
Kal immediately wrapped his smaller arms around Mike, hugging him tight. The gesture damn near brought tears to his eyes, and he wanted nothing more than to stay there and never let go.
But the sooner he left, the sooner he’d be back.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he said, getting to his feet as he ruffled Kal’s hair.
Back inside, Lark was waiting for him by the front door.
“Be careful, okay?” she said softly, going up on her toes to kiss him. “And come back in one piece.”
Mike nodded. “I will.”
* * * * *
“You think Roy would hide out in a dump like this?” Trey asked as he pulled the SUV up in front of the home they hoped Rogelio Roy was using as a safe house. “I’d think a man like him would look for a classier place to hide out.”