by T S Paul
This plan was almost too intricate, and timing was an issue. Intricacies could cause unforeseen problems, so he tracked everything. The only wild card was the FBI. His spies told him they had been to see Mayor Freki. That was one man who knew too much and may have spilled the beans. He needed to just keep them away from the battle. Once it was over, Pack law would supersede the human law, and they could do nothing.
"Send team two to Billie Jean's Fish camp. If the FBI team moves, they are to stop or slow them however possible. If they get involved, the plan won't work. Everyone else is to follow their instructions." Number one nodded and left to give the orders.
"Number two, are the codes ready for the Specials?"
The trainer nodded and held out a small transmitter that resembled a cell phone. Josiah took it and slipped it into his pocket. This was the key that would open the door.
~~~~~~
"Did you get any rest at all?" Cat squinted her eyes at the unfamiliar coffee maker. Everyone had slept over at Anastasia's RV last night. It was early. Really early. If this was to work, they needed to be on the road and at the church before the sun touched even the tips of the trees.
"Some. I kept dreaming that one of my spells backfired and we were Fergus's size now. He makes a terrible mount."
Cat started laughing. She woke both the boys up accidentally.
"Ugh. What time is it?" Bill sat up and almost fell off the chair in which he had been sleeping.
"It's 4 am. We need to get moving soon." Cat finally figured the machine out and hit start. The overwhelming scent of coffee filled the RV.
"Chuck, get up. I know you're awake. Get up." He, like Bill, was asleep but at the dining room table. Cat kicked his chair, causing the big man to roll right out onto the floor.
"That was just mean." He stood up and smiled at the scent filling the air. "Coffee!"
I let everyone get coffee or tea and hustled them into the stinkmobile. We had to get there early enough to catch the targets asleep. There could be dozens hidden in a church building that size.
"This will be my first raid." Chuck stared out his side window.
"Not mine. Stick with me kid, and you'll be fine." Bill was driving. "Agatha, are you expecting anyone from the State Police?"
"No. Why? Did they just call?" I checked my phone.
"They have the road blocked ahead." He slowed the SUV and stopped around a thousand feet from the cars.
I peered around Chuck's large form in the seat and looked at the cars. They looked like State Police. "Can either of you hear what they are saying?"
Cat nodded and rolled her window down. Cocking her head, she listened for a moment.
"It's a trap! There is no way they are State Police. At least one is a Were and the rest are not from around here."
"Why do you say that?" I grabbed my gun and stuck it in the holster.
"Wrong accents. Do you think they knew we were coming and came to block us?"
"Stupid of them." I opened my car door and stepped out.
"Stop right where you are and put your hands up! We have orders to arrest you and your team!" The speaker was wearing the uniform of a police captain. I had just met with the local State Police captain, and this wasn't him!
"I think not. Does Captain Howie know you are impersonating him?" At that point, they all opened fire on me and our car.
Bullets began to spark and ricochet off my shields. No way I was allowing them to damage my friends.
"Did whoever hire you know nothing of Witches? I do really want an answer." I asked as I levitated the men and their cars. "Who hired you?"
All four of the floating men refused to speak. One was a Were, but very much like Bob or Tod. Even Cat's alpha whammy didn't have an effect on them. I brought them down and put a freeze spell on them.
"We'll call the State Police when we get back." We piled into the car and headed back out. We had a church to search.
Chapter 17
Stephan tucked the bed covers around his dates for the night as he slipped out of the room. Paid entertainment wasn't all it was cracked up to be anymore. The local 'talent' was somewhat boring. These girls came over from the Fort Smith area.
His manservant Arthur met him at the door. How does he do that? Stephan asked himself.
"Sir, I have arranged transportation for your guests as well as payment for services rendered. Is there anything special you would like them to receive?"
Momentarily stunned, Stephan looked at Arthur. "I don't think so. What time is it?"
"Five, Sir. Would you like your breakfast at the usual time or earlier?"
"In an hour would be great." He looked at Arthur and shook his head. "Do you always take care of the girls?"
"Of course, Sir. Your father left me instructions to do so. Leaders need not be bothered with small details. That is for those of us that serve. Is there anything else?"
"No. Thank you, Arthur. I... I guess I'll be in my office." Stephan turned toward the stairs.
"Very good, Sir."
Stephan paused on the second step down. This was the first time he even noticed Arthur's intrusion into his life. He knew that someone paid for the entertainment, but assumed that Charles was in charge of that. The main floor was deserted as it was very early.
His office was at the rear of the mansion. Bulletproof glass covered the entire back wall giving him a marvelous view of the estate as well as sunrise. The antique oak desk in the center of the room belonged to his great-grandfather.
Faint glimmers of the sun were just peeking over the hillside when a round fired by a Russian RPG-7 shattered the glass. The shock wave from the explosion rattled the office and tossed Stephan out of his chair onto the floor. That alone is what saved his life. Machinegun fire raked his office shattering the art and awards decorating it.
Dust and glass fragments were everywhere as Stephan crawled out from behind his desk. He could hear gunfire echoing across the estate.
"Stephan! Boss, are you in here?"
"Charles! Over here!" Ducking his head again as bullets slammed into his walls, Stephan yelled for his second in command.
Pow! Pow! Pow! Stephan ducked again, but those gunshots were from outside. He glimpsed figures moving about the grounds attacking his men.
"Thank the Gods you're alive! We heard the explosion and assumed the worst. Let me help you out of here." Charles pulled Stephan up, and they both ducked as more shots were fired into the offices.
"Stay low! They haven't penetrated the house yet, but it's only matter of time now." The two men walked and crawled to the door. More gunfire echoed from the main hall. "Those are my guys so don't worry."
"What's the status? Do we know who yet?"
Charles shook his head. "Not completely. We think it's Jaeger. They took out the scouts and began their assault just as the sun came up. This has to be a planned attack this time. It looks as if they have committed their entire Pack!"
"What about ours? Do we have help on the way?"
"Sort of. When the rocket hit, I sent the recall signal to town. Jaeger has the road blockaded along with our escape route. I can't believe Daniel did this on his own. He's not the sharpest tack in the box." Charles checked his phone.
"Well, he's here now. Open up the armory and start issuing the guns. Should we notify the human authorities? Those FBI Agents are still out at Billie Jean's."
Stephan thought back to the three Agents that visited him. He could still smell the pheromones coming off the WereCat. She liked him about as much as he like her. Mixed marriages didn't work, and he knew it. "No. We will only call them as a last resort. It's just the Jaegers, right? We shouldn't call ourselves a Pack if we can't defend against an attack. Tell our boys to hold. Shift if they have to, but hold!" Another explosion rocked his office as he and his Beta ran down the stairs to join the defense.
~~~~~~
"This town is really spooky at night." Chuck was driving. The smell in the back was making him sneeze, and the rear windows wouldn'
t open. Bill told him to keep going.
I only nodded my head at him in agreement. It was very strange. Early morning on a weekday and nobody was stirring. All the houses were quiet and dark. The Church of Eternal Damnation and Salvation lay on the very edge of town in the area known as BoxTown. If it was responsible for enslaving children, it made a certain amount of sense. It was right in the middle of the target area for abductions.
"Cat, did your father answer the phone? We need to know more about this Austin Pack." I glanced at her over my shoulder.
"He didn't. That's weird too. He loves his cell phone and doesn't go anywhere without it. We will just have to wing it. Did Sheriff Geri answer your call?"
"He did. It was his opinion that the Reverend Austin was a good man and a righteous leader. Do we know if Geri has any ties to Austin Pack?" Even as I said it, I was dialing my phone. Anastasia would find the answer.
The church occupied the old BoxTop factory. Only the headquarters building still stood. From an architectural standpoint, it was old and blocky. Built of concrete blocks and brick facing. The perfect place to hide and defend yourself from. County records said there was a large basement as well as one underneath the former processing shop. Bill believed that was where the slave pens were. Out of sight and smell of the rest of the church. We were relying on his experience to guide us here.
There were no cars in the parking lot of the church. They didn't know we were coming so we intended to go in the front door.
"It's almost sunrise." Bill looked up at the lightening sky.
"Let's go inside shall we?" I murmured a word of power and scanned the entire churches grounds.
"Heartbeats are coming from below our feet and over there somewhere." I pointed toward the rear of the building.
"No one inside the building?" Cat stared at me.
"Nope. I've gotten better at that diagnostic spell, the church is empty. We need to check out the basement."
Cat grabbed my arm. "Let's go then." She approached the door and turned the knob. The door opened to her touch.
Inside the facade of business was gone. Everything was painted white. A large cross hung on one wall. There was no sign of anyone including the Reverend.
"It stinks in here!" Chuck held his nose. "I think it's worse in here than our car."
I sniffed the air. There was a faint musky smell but beyond that nothing.
Cat looked at me. "What do you smell?"
"Musk and dust. Maybe a faint smell of fresh paint?"
"The musk is from a Weasel. More than one judging by the stink. The Reverend must cover it up with fresh paint and cleaning supplies. The dust, well it looks like no one has cleaned in a while. Didn't the Geri say the boy's uncle said he smelled Weasel?"
I nodded. "He did. Remember we assumed that he was covering for Daniel and destroyed the evidence. Maybe there was a Weasel?"
"If we find one we can ask them. Let's look." I let her take the point. Scanning using my spell I still couldn't find anyone around.
The offices were clear as were all the upper rooms. Bill found the stairwell that led down to the basement, but it was both locked and bolted from the inside.
"Bill, step back from the door." Cat ran her hands over the door frame.
"I tried that already. It can't be picked. There has to be another way down." Bill stepped back closer to the door.
I asked Cat. "Can you do it?"
"I think so. It's just steel reinforced wood." Cat rolled up her sleeves.
"Bill, do as she says and step back." I motioned for him to move aside.
The moment Cat grabbed the door to pull, her hands and arms were suddenly four times larger. We could all hear the sound of tearing cloth as her sleeves failed to stretch to accommodate the altered body form. In a deep voice rarely heard, Cat bemoaned her clothing. "That was a brand new coat!"
Bill's eyes were wide and his face pale as Cat ripped the door open and tossed it aside. "Anything else?"
"No. You can shift back. Thank you." Looking over at Bill, I smiled. He learned something new all the time.
"Bill, you OK?" I touched him on the arm, and he jumped.
"Is that...Can they... What..." He was stuttering. Holding his hands out in front of him, he tried to stop them from shaking. "What I mean was... Can all Weres do that?"
"Mostly. Alphas like Catherine can lift five or six times their own weight without changing form and ten times if they do. Cat is a bit stronger than most. Believe it or not, but Chuck can only lift about half what she can." I pointed to Chuck who was examining the cabinets and boxes near the door.
"Chuck, you and Cat take point in case we run into those Weasels. Bill and I will follow." We all started down the stairwell.
In some ways, this place reminded me of Fabulous Face. I didn't sense anything demonic, so it must have been the industrial setting that gave me the idea.
"They haven't tried to cover up the stink in this place." Cat held her nose as she looked at me.
"It looks like two guys live over here." Chuck poked through the personal belongings in a room off the stairs.
"Ugh, Weasels. At least two of the rodents lived in there." Spotting a couple of desks and a workstation Cat crossed over to them. "Hey, Chuck can you get anything off these?"
"Only if you switch with me. These guys stink!"
"Fine. If I have to."
I smiled at the dynamics between my friends. Cat could have ordered Chuck to do the job but, was being nice.
"Cat, what's your issue with Weasels anyway? You don't seem to like the species." I asked as I searched what appeared to be church records.
"They aren't a large enough group to have their own Pack, so they are all over the place in others. My Uncle has a couple who do his books and run his spy network. Before you ask, yes, most Packs have spies. They like to keep close eyes on their neighbors and any potential threats. When I was a kid one of them used to watch me and not in a good way. I was never able to pin anything on him or show that he was watching. But I could feel his eyes on me, and it creeped me out." Cat opened up some cases along the wall and froze. "Agatha, we have a problem."
I grabbed Bill, and we crossed the room to her position. She had three Pelican cases open on the bed. Each once held a weapon of some sort.
"Not good. That is a 338 Lapua. Or at least that is what was here." Bill ran his fingers along the inside rim of the box.
"Are you sure, Bill?"
He glanced at me. "I might not know Weres, but guns I do know. That one held a Panzerfaust 3. You can tell by all the extra stuff in there. Obviously, they already assembled it."
"What sort of weapon is it?" I knew I would not like the answer.
"Rocket launcher. Developed to destroy tanks by the Germans. I wonder where they got it. The ATU is going to go bug-nut-crazy when they hear about this one." Bill pulled out the various cleaning and repair tools.
"I get confused. What is the ATU again? We have too many letter agencies."
"Sorry, Agatha. It stands for Alcohol Tax Unit. You might remember it from one of those history classes they teach. It was formed under Special Agent Elliot Ness. He and his team made it what it is today."
"Oh, I remember that lecture." Cat smiled at Bill.
I waved my hands. "What sort of damage are we talking here?"
"Well, you have to be within thirteen hundred feet of the target to use it, but it will punch through a concrete wall or take out a small tank. Nasty weapon. That third case held either AR-15s or AK-47s."
"Somebody is armed for war." I scanned the room. This can't be all of it. We knew it was a slavery operation. "Spread out. We need to find where these people went."
Everyone took a wall or panel and began searching for another door or room.
"Over here." Chuck banged on the wall, and it sounded hollow.
"Can you open it?" I looked at the wall, it looked seamless. There was nothing to show that a door was even there.
"Nothing. No lock, knob, or pull
. It must open electronically." Chuck punched it with his fist. Bong! Other than a small dent there was no effect except Chuck hopping around holding his hand.
"Let me try something. Everybody step back, please." Like Cat did earlier, I sized up the door. Steel. Built into the wall and secured electronically. The frame was steel cemented into the brick walls.
