He was packing Grace’s wound, but he didn’t like the pasty color to her skin; her respiration was too shallow for his liking. He was worried about her going into shock. While he listened to the Sergeant tell him what they were doing to get the paramedics in and get them to the hospital, he and Jett were working furiously to keep Justyn and Grace as stable as possible.
They couldn’t risk grabbing the cover from the bed, as it was covered in broken glass. They piled on towels from the linen cupboard to keep them both warm.
Jalen and Jett kept trying to text Arjun but were having no luck. They wished they’d had time to make lenses for Rune and Kylan, too. Jett decided to call Becky because she might have an idea.
As Jett was speed-dialing Becky, he leaned over to smooth the hair away from Grace’s face. Rationally, he knew the injury wasn’t life threatening. Emotionally, he was raging to take revenge on those who would harm his mate. His eyes met those of his brother’s, and he knew Jalen felt the same.
It took twenty minutes for the paramedics to be escorted inside by the SWAT team. They’d volunteered to come in before the all clear was given. The police had given them helmets and vests to wear and then took them up the stairs. Jalen and Jett were grateful when they came; it had seemed like hours.
The paramedics were lifting Justyn onto a gurney and figuring out how to get him out without exposing him to fire, when Becky finally answered her phone.
“Your dime, my time,” she sang out. Jett could hear music blasting in the background.
“Becky!” he shouted in the phone, “Turn down the music. We have an emergency,” said Jett.
Becky scrambled to turn off the music playing through her computer.
“Whoa, Jett, is that you? What’s the emergency?”
“Becky, the condo was attacked tonight. Grace and Justyn were both shot, but Justyn’s injuries are life threatening. He’s going to need emergency surgery. He has at least two bullets in him,” his voice cracking on the last sentence.
“Okay, I’m on it. What hospital?” Becky asked.
Jett turned to the paramedic, asked which hospital Justyn would be taken to, and then relayed the information to Becky.
“You’re in luck. Johanna’s sister, Catherine, is back from the Peace Corps. She’s a top-flight surgeon, and I believe she has privileges there. I’ll have her meet you. I’ll contact Suzanna on the bat phone, and we’ll get her what she needs. I’ll meet you there, too.
“Just hang in there for me, okay? You text me any changes in Grace’s or Justyn’s conditions.”
Becky was trying to think of things and stay coherent at the same time.
“One more thing,” Jett said, “we haven’t been able to reach anyone at Addie’s house. See what you can do about that, too. Maybe you can raise them on another line or something.”
“Oh God! Do you think something’s happened out at the farm?” she asked. “Never mind, I know who to call. I’ll call you back. Just remember you’re meeting Dr. Catherine Woods. She’s a brunette about five and a half feet tall. She’ll be expecting you. I gotta go now so I can get a hold of her and have her meet you there. Bye.”
“Bye Becky, we’re counting on you,” said Jett.
Becky immediately pulled out her special satellite phone that she called the bat phone, to get a hold of the ship they had hovering on the far side of the moon. She let them know of the emergency and told them Operation Immigration was going down early. They needed to start transporting immediately.
They had been planning on having the shuttles land on Friday night, three days before the dark of the moon. Now, they’d be landing on the quarter moon. It was a good thing she’d already set up the ground transportation at the landing sites she’d chosen.
Next, Becky contacted Catherine and told her what was going on. She sent her a download on Nephilim anatomy, which was similar enough that Catherine would be able to cover over any anomalies if she used a surgical staff she could trust. Justyn’s brothers would be donating any plasma he needed.
After she made sure that Catherine was on her way, she called the DeKalb County Sheriff’s office and relayed what had happened in Chicago. They would send a couple of patrol cars out right away to check on the farmhouse. Becky kept trying to call the landline and the cells. She wasn’t getting through to either of them.
Finally, she had the idea to call Addie’s bat phone. It rang three times and then someone picked up. “Hello?” a voice whispered.
“Addie, is that you? Are you all right? I’ve been trying to get through,” said Becky.
“Becky, thank God! I didn’t think of using this phone. I was so happy when I heard it ringing. Our cell phones aren’t working, and the power is out. I’m hiding downstairs. They put me in the tornado shelter; Kai and Ari are standing guard. The house is under an attack of some kind,” said Addie.
“Addie, listen carefully. Grace is going to be fine, but her house was also attacked tonight. An entire assassination squad is what it sounds like from what Jalen told me. You have to send Rapha or one of his brothers to the City immediately. Justyn and Grace were both shot.”
At Addie’s outcry, she hurried to continue, “Remember, I said Grace is going to be fine. Jett said her injury wasn’t life-threatening.”
“Not life-threatening leaves a whole lot of room for other bad things, Rebecca Siobahn Anderson. Which hospital are they going to? And you didn’t say anything about Justyn. What are his injuries?” asked Addie.
She was tired of being guarded when the people she cared about were in danger, and sheltered from information that might upset her. She moved her hand over the small bump she was showing. Carrying these precious lives was the only thing holding her back from running outside to fight alongside her Ankida.
“Justyn needs surgery. He took two or three bullets covering Grace. How bad is the attack there?” asked Becky.
“The guys had set up sensors in a pretty wide perimeter, now they had plenty of advance warning. They stashed me and then went out to get the bad guys. I’ve heard some shots in the distance, on the West side of the house. I’m worried, Becky. What’s happening? Why would someone attack us like this?” she asked.
“My best guess would be the Kadyrov family. The trial starts on Monday. I’ve called in reinforcements. All the Nephilim who were scheduled to come in on Friday are coming in tonight instead. As soon as your situation there is stable, I’m moving you into Chicago.
“I gotta go. I need to call Jett back because I just had a brainstorm. Call me every fifteen minutes exactly on the quarter-hour, which will make your first call in eleven minutes. I need to be able to know you’re okay and then let others know. I also called the Sheriff; the police should be arriving in minutes,” said Becky.
“Thanks Becks, I’ll call,” promised Addie happily.
She was grateful for the connection. She had been going crazy waiting like this. Now she needed to go and see her sister.
“No problem, Professor. I’m just glad you’re okay. Bye,” Becky said and hung up.
She swiveled in her chair and turned on her encrypted PC. As it powered up, she called Jett. From the sirens in the background, she realized they were in the ambulance on their way to the hospital.
“Jett, Addie is fine. I just spoke to her. The house was attacked also, but they have the situation in hand. As soon as they can, they’re coming into the City. In the meantime, she’s calling me every fifteen minutes to check in and get an update on Grace and Justyn. What’s the status?”
“Bless the Goddess!” he said. “Grace regained consciousness a minute or so after we last hung up. We didn’t mention that we couldn’t reach Addie. She was stable when they loaded her into the second ambulance. I’m following them both in. The police are giving us an armed escort.”
He leaned back in his seat and rubbed his hand over his face.
“It’s my fault, Becky. I saw those two women in the elevator and judged them non-threatening. I should have looked closer
at the video,” said Jett in an agonized voice.
“Jett, now you listen, you told me about the guys in the stairwells and the snipers. You can’t be in three places at once. You made a judgment call and to my mind, the right one. Don’t beat yourself up. Grace needs you to be strong, remember?”
Becky hoped she was getting through to him. He didn’t need to carry this guilt.
“I called for another reason, too. Jett, did you get images of the assailants? Would you scan them over to me? I have an idea how to track down who hired them,” she said.
“We know who is responsible for this, Becky,” he said, anger creeping back into his voice.
“That’s right. We have valid suspicions. However, I’m going to need proof. The Kadyrovs obviously still have access to some funds. We need to find that money and cut it off. Hitters won’t work on spec, we cut off their funds, and he’s rotting in prison for the rest of his life. We cut off his access to money, and he won’t be able to buy favors or bribe anyone. Now, can you get me the pictures?” she asked.
“It’ll take me a few minutes, but I’ll get them to you,” he said.
“Good. In addition, keep texting me updates. I’ll text you back every time I hear from Addie. Bye,” she said, and hung up.
While she waited on Jett, she got up to get a Mountain Dew and make herself a PB&J sandwich. Fruit, protein, and caffeine were just what she needed to get through another all-nighter. It was a good thing she’d slept in this morning. She glanced at the clock - make that yesterday morning.
Chapter Four
While Becky waited for Jett to send over images of the assailants’ faces, she got to work. She went to her safe, after punching in the code and scanning her biometrics she opened it to pull out the BEIP that Jett had made for her. She wanted to work faster at this than her normal speeds. She’d already calibrated it to all of her computers. She also reached in and grabbed a pair of oversized glasses. Jett had embedded two special lenses for her, one in the corner of each lens.
She then walked back to her desk. This room was in the middle of her home and had no windows. The office door was reinforced, as were the walls. When she shut the door, she was in a safe room. Her desk was more of a U-shaped console. She had a standing rack in the corner with numerous servers clustered to form her very own super-computer. She could perform hundreds of multiple tasks simultaneously. On the desk were eight monitors, two for each of her four discrete systems.
The information came in from Jett as she finished setting the left lens to monitor incoming text messages and the right to monitor her second computer. She was able to send the data from Jett’s email wirelessly from her PC directly to a flash drive. However, it did slow her down a little, moving the flash drive to the secured, encrypted computer she used for government work. She could pierce the encryption with just a thought. After all, she’d written it herself. Good thing she didn’t have to. She gave a fleeting thought to the hacking she’d be able to pull off with the BEIP at her control.
As she sorted through the images, finding good clear ones of each assailant, she also connected to a database at the FBI and opened up the Finder software. This groundbreaking software had been developed by a brilliant programmer named Sarah Kline and her partner, Jack Walthers.
They were based out of Silicon Valley and – damn; she wished she’d been in on this. The tech was brilliant. She had practically drooled over the program when the FBI purchased it. She had put in a strong recommendation for the NSA, CIA, and Homeland to have copies in their various sector headquarters.
I’ve got to get some free time to go visit with them, she thought. She’d been trying for that free time for over a year now.
While musing, she’d also been sending out commands. She noted the time – one minute past the quarter hour and Addie hadn’t called in. She reached for the bat phone, and it rang just as she picked it up.
“You’re late, Addie. What’s happening?” she asked.
“This isn’t Addie. It’s Arjun. Do you have updates on Grace and Justyn?” he asked, looking over at his wife tending to Ari. They’d gotten the situation under control here at the farmhouse, but not without casualties of their own.
“Catherine Woods, Johanna’s sister, met them at the hospital. She’s taken Justyn into surgery. Another doctor has taken Grace into surgery. Catherine wasn’t happy about having to perform surgery without adequate training on Nephilim anatomy and other medical requirements. She was most concerned about his reactions to anesthesia,” said Becky.
“He should be fine. Zephyr and Delpha have left. Rune is driving them to the local airport. One of the deputies is flying them into a small airport near the City. It will take more than an hour off the trip. Can you have someone pick them up and take them the rest of the way?” asked Arjun.
“No problem - Valerie or Johanna - probably Johanna, as I’ve already woken up her household,” she said.
“Good, one less thing to worry about. Rapha stayed here to treat Ari, who was wounded, and monitor Addie for stress.”
Arjun ran his fingers through his hair. His mind was racing, trying to think of what to do first.
“Addie says you sent for our men to come now, instead of Friday. What are you planning, Becky?” he asked.
“You know Addie isn’t going to agree to leave Earth until after Saturday. Frankly, you need her to speak at the Convention event. Therefore, I’m planning to inundate the city with tall men. You guys need to hide in plain sight. She’ll have to stay in the hotel and make sure she’s not seen. We won’t register her, but you and your brothers are getting new IDs again. This time, I’m using your real name, Azazyel. You’re going to be an Egyptian businessman, so brush up on your Arabic.”
“Why does Addie have to hide?” asked Arjun.
“Because she’s the only female, it’s a lot harder to find three specific tall men in a large group of tall men. It would be easy to find one woman checking into a hotel with three seven-foot tall men.
“How tall is she now, by the way?” Becky asked. “I need it for her ID.”
“She’s five-foot-five and a half,” Arjun answered. “Her growth has slowed down because of the pregnancy. She’s grown thinner, too. All her nutrition is going to the babies.”
“Okay. Her official records still say five-foot-four. I’ll make the new one as five-six. I just got an incoming text from Jalen. No news yet on either surgery. He wants to know what’s happening there. And why wasn’t he or anyone else able to get through to you,” she relayed.
Arjun stepped away. He didn’t want Addie to hear what he was about to say.
“The police have arrested all the men we stunned. They also apprehended one car with two others. There was shooting and those two were killed. Two others escaped that they know of and two here at the house are dead. They hit us on all sides and used a device to block cell signals and kill the power and phone lines from a distance away. Blocking the Wi-Fi meant any text messages sent through our BEIPs wouldn’t go through either. This is farm country, and they could cut the power without us realizing it. There was a big diversionary attack around back, through the field. Then an ordinary, out in the open, attack came from people we at first thought were innocents. They managed to wound Ari and they also killed one of the dogs,” he said.
“From what I understand, they used similar tactics for the attack at Grace’s. Oh man, Addie’s going to be upset because she loves those dogs. Which one was it?” Becky asked.
“It was Sasha. The intruder tried to come in through the mudroom and that’s where Sugar is with her pups,” Arjun said.
“They’re such lovable dogs, but Sasha would help defend the puppies’ big time,” replied Becky
“Yes. I don’t know how to tell her. Sugar is grieving and we’re worried about her, too. We’re looking for the other two dogs now. They were in the yard and aren’t coming in when we call - hold on…”
While Becky was waiting for Arjun to come back on the line, she related
everything he’d said so far in a text message to Jalen and Jett. A minute later he was back.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. We found Lucy and Ricky, the other two dogs. It looks like they were drugged. Kylan and Nyal, two of the other guards, are bringing them in now. Everyone else here is fine and the house took minimal damage. Relay all this to Jalen and tell him help is on the way. We should have our cell phones working soon because the jammer can’t be far. I need to move these officers along for the pod to land. Thank you for insisting on getting the ground transportation in place early, just in case,” he said. “All your hard work is very much appreciated.”
“I’ve been friends with Addie for a long time, Arjun. I love her, too. I’d like to think I’d help anyone in the same situation, but Addie is special, and not just because she’s now my Queen. We’ve been BFFs since college. She and Grace made me one of the family. I don’t have any family; they are it for me.
“After you drop the Nephilim from the shuttle-pod at the campground, you stay here at my house, there’s plenty of room. It’s going to take a day to get everything in place so everyone will have to camp out until Thursday morning.
“That reminds me, I better have Valerie get in touch with her volunteers,” added Becky.
She paused to check something on the computer and send new commands before resuming. She also needed to take a second to pull herself together. Arjun understood and remained quiet during the lull.
“Her two security guys are around six-foot-six, right? We’ll have them sneak her into the hotel; they won’t stand out as much as you guys. Better yet, have her check in by herself as a convention attendee and she’ll blend right in. I’ll put you guys on a floor with a lot of others attending the sci-fi convention. Gotta go. Call back or text at the next scheduled checkin,” she said before hanging up.
She hoped Arjun wasn’t upset about her abrupt behavior. From what she could see on screen, her search was netting results. She’d identified three of the assailants. While the program continued looking for the rest, she started multiple searches on the three known men. Where were they born, who their friends and known associates were, who they did time in prison with, and most importantly, where they banked.
Lucy Kelly Page 5
