“Listen up. Let’s get this over with, Baby…” Jacks said, looking to Ryleigh.
“I believe she is a Franklin creation,” Ryleigh revealed. “She matches the age and her circumstance resembles what we are now finding to be the norm. She was placed in foster care as an infant. Yet, she was never adopted, which doesn’t make sense. I think Davis tracked her down, but decided to turn her over to Pandora for the breeding program. At least all signs seem to point that way. She was set up with the job while those bastards waited for her DNA results. That is what we are assuming. I just can’t figure out why she was the only one at the facility or why she was left with only one tech. Our research showed that Pandora doesn’t let their test subjects go and they are all highly guarded in secured secret facilities. Emma would be a prized possession once the pregnancy took.”
“Shoot, we have all seen the results of what happens when they try to enhance the fetus before birth. From everything she said, no further testing was done on her after conception. It just doesn’t line up with Pandora’s SOP but it does link Davis Defense even more to the group and their agenda.
From the looks on their faces, the guys in the room as well as Jack’s didn’t want to think about Davis or Pandora actually succeeding in their breeding program. Those fuckers wanted designer babies to sell to the highest bidder. Then once they reached adulthood those children would then breed the next generation, and that was only their plan for the female children. For the males, damn everything pointed to them being trained from infancy to serve as mindless super soldiers to anyone that could pay the price.
“Fuck! Okay baby let me know the test results.” Jacks hoped the results tested negative he really wanted Pandora and Davis to fail. “Guys we need to do some digging we need to know everything about Emma and why Pandora deviated with her. If she only dealt with Davis Defense is it possible they are starting their own breeding program? We have way too many unanswered questions here. We need to find solutions.”
Cash grunted his agreement and got up from his seat at the conference table “Emma left her purse and coat out in the living room maybe we can get a lead from her personal items. I agree with Ryleigh Jacks, even my bear is calm around Emma. He doesn’t perceive her as a threat and neither do I. I genuinely believe she is a victim here. Davis and Pandora are going to want her back. That alone means we need to protect her and that baby. Not to mention that If the child indeed turns out to be the first female shifter born in over a century we have even more problems. We need to protect the little one. The Association will want her for their own breeding stock, not to mention every clansman will be vying for her to continue their individual blood lines. This fucking situation is fucked from every side.”
“Emma is a risk just by her unique possibility of being able to give birth to shifter babies and damn that little girl is going to be the prize everyone wants. This is just totally fucked up.”
Just saying those words made Cash throw up a little in his mouth no one should be referring to a woman as breeding stock or a baby as a prize to be acquired EVER!” Looking around the room he noticed that the others had the same look of disgust on their faces.
“Also, I agree with Ryleigh’s assessment of Dalton he is unusually attentive to Emma there is definitely something going on there you can’t discount that. I could tell that he was ready to attack and was barely keeping his animal in check when I threatened the woman. I know you want both Emma and the baby out of here Jacks, but I think we need to find another solution or we might just lose Dalton in the process.
“Fuck! I go away for not even two days and all hell breaks loose shit! Okay Cash go get her things we are going to find out everything we can about Emma. Ethan I need you to stand guard at the door I don’t really think the woman is capable of causing any problems right now but we can’t be sure, so better safe than sorry. Dalton’s behavior means we won’t be able to count on him to do what needs to be done if that time comes. When Dalton comes out tell him to come and find me, Sebastian I want you to work your magic, find out everything you can about this woman even if you need to get your hacker friend on it. I don’t want any more surprises. Baby you go track down Mia and help her run those tests if you can okay?”
The guys and Ryleigh left to do their assigned tasks and Jacks couldn’t stand to be alone with his thoughts so he got up to go and do something. A little time in the gym with the punching bags was sounding really good at the moment. He shouldn’t have been surprised when he found himself going straight to where Ryleigh had disappeared.
She hadn’t looked good when he saw her, sure she was playing it off pretty well but he could tell she was tired and if his suspicions were right she had lost some weight. How does a person lose weight in 48 hours? He was concerned before he left on his mission since then the dark circles under her eyes were even more prominent. He was pissed at himself for not acting on his concerns sooner. He could only hope that Mia could help his mate where he had failed.
Stopping next to the lab's door running his hand through his hair Jacks couldn’t help the foreboding that filled him. Shit! If that woman’s story was true he couldn’t help but think, that could have been Ryleigh lying in that room beaten to hell and giving birth. The thought of it nearly brought him to his knees. Davis and Pandora needed to be taken down and soon. Then they could worry about the fucking Association, as well as the group of Shifters wanting purebloods. He hoped like hell they weren’t aware of all that was going on.
Ryleigh noticed him through the window on the door to the lab and smiled giving him a little wave. God, he loved that woman and he was going to do everything in his power to make sure she was ok, but her obsessive drive to find the answers they were needing was causing her harm. He blamed himself for not putting a stop to it. He needed to do a better job at being a mate he also needed to stop taking that anger out on everyone else. He felt lost. And for an Alpha that was unacceptable causing him to lash out.
Shit! He had to admit even if only to himself that he had also seen the signs everyone was talking about with Dalton and the stranger Emma. He noticed even with the short time he had been in the exam room how attentive and unusually protective Dalton had been over the woman. Placing himself in between Emma and the rest of the group. Jacks wasn’t a stupid man he knew Dalton had made his decision about the woman and that decision placed her in front of his team. Jacks had done the same with Ryleigh. Cash had only confirmed his own thoughts with his report. But what unquestionably cemented it for him was listening to the two of them in the bathroom. Damn! If Emma was Dalton’s mate things were definitely about to get interesting and quickly, two mated pairs and soon to be two newborn’s living with a bunch of self-proclaimed bachelor’s. “Sounded like Good Times”. Giving her one of the smirks she was always telling him she loved he waved to her through the window and continued on his way. He needed to blow off some steam so he could get this head back in the game. Then he could get with guys and figure out what their next move was going to be. After that he was determined to speak with Mia, maybe she could clue him in on what was going on with his mate. Unfortunately, all he honestly wanted was to grab Ryleigh and head on to bed so they both could get some much-needed rest with Emma wrapped in his arms safe from any harm, there all these worries were no longer a problem. Well fuck! if wishes were horses he thought to himself. Raking his fingers through his hair for about the hundredth time since getting back to base he went on to the gym, Thinking to himself. He was the Alpha of the team, he needed to keep them all safe. Including Emma and her baby, he would do everything in his power to help. These people were his family.
Chapter 22
Ryleigh watched Jacks through the window in the door when he finally moved away she was able to breathe a little sigh of relief. Jacks had the best of intentions but sometimes his Alphaness was a bit overwhelming, and after the talk with Cash and the events of the last few hours with Emma. Ryleigh honestly needed a breather. Having her best friend here was just the thing s
he needed. She could tell things to Mia that she couldn’t say to anyone else. Sure, Jacks was the most important person in her life but there was definitely something about girl talk that helped Ryleigh process. Watching Mia bustle around the lab, equipment running the test they needed Ryleigh walked over to her friend.
Making sure she wouldn’t disturb any of the tests Mia was currently running. Ryleigh bumped her shoulder with her own. “I was so glad to see you. I was in way over my head in there.” Mia turned and smiled at Ryleigh “I wish I could tell you that your wrong, but chick that was one of the hardest deliveries I have ever done.” Taking Ryleigh’s hand Mia said “come on let’s have a seat these tests are going to take a while and I have done everything I can for now.” She and Ryleigh took a seat at the lab table and continued their conversation.
“So, what are you doing here I thought you were helping with the other NAC teams? I almost started jumping up and down for joy when I saw you behind Jacks.”
“Yeah I was but Jacks asked me to come and have a look at you and to be honest I jumped at the chance. Things were getting intense down there. I was about ready to tackle your man if he didn’t get out of the way back there and let me do my job. How do you deal with such a big guy, I mean I was barely able to squeeze by him in the doorway to get to Emma? I could tell by the look on your face that things were not good.”
Mia had been pissed off at Jacks and the other men in the hallway when she noticed what was going on in the exam room. She was a doctor and they were keeping her from doing what she was trained to do. Ethan had grabbed her around the waist to prevent her from moving and she hadn’t liked it one bit. She wasn’t going to tell Ryleigh that but she did not like being manhandled. Well she didn’t mind being manhandled if it was the right man Mia thought to herself causing her lips to twitch.
“What do you mean?” Ryleigh asked.
“Well as you know they brought in six other women from the raid where they located and recovered Cassie Larson. As you requested I tested them all for shifter DNA, all but one tested positive. I will have to do follow up test to determine which strand of Shifter DNA they individually have as well as the gene markers. These women were not in good shape so I sent a couple of our social workers down there to help them out. “
Mia didn’t like to think about how bad the women had been treated, not long ago she had been in their same situation and it brought out memories she wished she could forget. Her spine shivering, she tried shake the memories free and regain her composure. Those memories forming a lump in her throat and feeling the sting in the back of her eyes threatening tears to emerge. Since starting The Holly Group Mia had seen many abused women and it always had an effect on her, for some reason this time was hitting a little too close to home for her.
“Dang Ryleigh they were all pretty beat up. Thankfully though Cassie Larson wasn’t as bad, our theory regarding her birth control was correct; they hadn’t done anything more than a few preliminary tests on her thank the Lord. Several of the other women had only been in the facility for about two weeks and all were on birth control.”
“It is pretty bad when birth control not only prevents unwanted pregnancies but keep a Psycho group from trying to make shifter babies.” Mia remarked causing them both to laugh.
Ryleigh was sick to her stomach it was probably due to the stress of the last couple of hours coupled with her pregnancy, she couldn’t help thinking about what those people were doing, making her feel even worse, getting up from her seat she started pacing the room.
“Mia I would like your opinion on something, I am thinking about having all of our operatives get the birth control shot, if those assholes aren’t able to run their experiments until the effects have worn off from the shot, then it will at least give them an extra layer of protection, and us a little extra time to get to them, I just don’t know how they will take it?”
Mia had remained seated watching her friend pace noticing that she was not feeling well, while she had been on mission she had maintained contact with Ryleigh over the phone in order to keep tabs on her friend to make sure she was doing ok, knowing her obsessive tendencies related to work. Seeing her now first hand, she realized that Jacks should have had her come sooner. Her friend was not in good shape she looked tired and beyond stressed. She had dark circles under her eyes and she looked as though she had lost some weight since Mia had seen her last only a few short months ago. She also noticed that Ryleigh was in pajamas which was odd. It might be late but Ryleigh had always portrayed herself with the utmost professionalism walking around in bunny pajamas wasn’t something Mia had ever expected to see. Even on those rare occasions before she married Jacks when Mia would sleep over Ryleigh was always dressed and ready to go. Mia didn’t want to add to her friend’s stress level but as the head of The Holly Group Mia knew that Ryleigh needed to be appraised of everything she had discovered and witnessed with Bravo and Echo Teams.
Ryleigh’s voice bringing her out of her thoughts concerning her friend, Mia responded “Yeah, I think you might be right we need to protect our operatives in every possible way. I just hope this isn’t crossing the line in their eyes.”
Mia could sympathize with Ryleigh’s feelings, it was a personal choice and although operatives in the field were encouraged to be on it. It was still a very personal decision. The Holly Group only had a few members that actually went out in the field even less now that they had merged with NAC.
“That’s actually not the worst of it Rye I have suspicions about the one without shifter DNA though. She wasn’t nearly in as bad shape as the others and she gave me a bad vibe. Thanks for sending Tory down there our resident tech genius was definitely needed. I asked her to find anything she could out about the woman just to be safe she told me hacking wasn’t her thing but Wyatt agreed to stay behind to help with that.”
Ryleigh sat down next to Mia and bumped her shoulder with her own, sporting a devilish grin on her face. So, what did you think of Alpha Teams mysterious computer wizard Wyatt he is quite the looker if I do say so myself, if Jacks weren't the man for me I might consider well hell any of the guys. What are your thoughts? Ryleigh said wiggle her eyebrows in a comical way.
Mia laughed at Ryleigh’s antics. “You’re not going to turn into one of those girls, are you?
What girls?” Looking visibly puzzled.
“Girls that have everything and want their friends to have the same. Not everyone is meant for the happily married and mated life you know, that, right?”
“Yeah, I had those same thoughts a couple of months ago, but I have to tell you Mia it’s a pretty good life you might want to try it on for size.” Ryleigh said sighing. “Jacks is the best thing that has ever happened to me Mia I love him so much! I just want you to experience the same thing.” Hugging Mia to herself Ryleigh said “you are my best friend how could I not want you to have everything Mia?”
Mia slumped, there was someone that I was drawn to but, he didn’t seem to be interested in me at all.” said shrugging her shoulders. Laughing at the way Ryleigh’s eyes perked up she said and it wasn’t Wyatt.
Is it one of the guys from Alpha? Ryleigh asked looking hopeful. You know that would be perfect you could come and live her with us and we could both live happily ever after.
Mia laughed at her friend’s hopeful expression. “Nope sorry to disappoint you It is not someone from Alpha, it doesn’t matter the guy didn’t notice me at all. As for the Alpha guys, they all seem nice but I get a brotherly vibe from them nothing else sorry not the happily ever after you were looking for but Ryleigh you know I will be anywhere you need me so why don’t you tell me what is really going on what has you so freaked out. You’re doing a pretty shitty job of hiding the fact that you’re not yourself by the way.”
Damn!” Mia could always read her like a book. I’m pregnant and I need you to tell me everything is okay with the baby.” Ryleigh said with a worried look on her face.
Ryleigh didn’t want to think of the former
dead member of Alpha Team. He had said so many horrible things to Ryleigh when he kidnapped and held her. The memories were better left in the box Ryleigh had placed them in. She didn’t want to believe anything the evil man had said was true but now that she was pregnant she couldn’t dismiss them either.
“Eli said any babies Jacks and I would have, would have problems. I need you to make sure he isn’t right.”
Mia didn’t like the tears in her friend's eyes “Oh Ryleigh” Mia said hugging her “don’t you know better than to trust the word of a madman? Your baby will be perfect just like the little girl we just delivered but if it makes you feel better I will give you a complete exam. I was wondering why Jacks insisted on bringing an ultrasound machine.”
Relieved Ryleigh felt like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. She hated the unknown with Mia there she knew she would have the answers she needed regarding her baby’s health and wellbeing and that made her happy. Hugging her friend, she said “Thanks Mia I know you have a lot on your plate right now but I really just need to know I hope you understand.”
Still holding her friend, she said “Ryleigh you aren’t the first mother to be worried about her unborn child. I assure you, I will do everything I can to ease your mind. But Ryleigh you need to take better care of yourself. I know you, and right now you’re trying your damnest to find answers without thinking about yourself or your baby. That shit has to stop!”
“Thanks Mia” Ryleigh said releasing her from the hug. “I know your right. Cash was just telling me the same thing before all hell broke loose here.”
Dalton: NAC & The Holly Group (Alpha Team Book 2) Page 14
