Warming The Cold One - 28. Cover Blown

“Have you given my idea any thought?” Tala had just finished his breakfast and was sipping on some green tea while the rest of the group was only about halfway done. “I mean it would be a lot quicker then driving and cheaper then flying commercial.”

Karla set her fork down and glared at Tala. “I told you before. You need to take care of your business, and I will take care of what you asked me to do. I get you want to be hands on but I got this.”

“I mapped it out. We fly into Bismarck and then it’s about a two-hour drive to Amidon,” Hank said in between mouthfuls of bacon.

“And besides,” Karla began again with sausage and hash browns still in her mouth. “I am a wolf now too. I know how to fight.”

Tala threw his hands up. “Fine, fine. You know I worry about you. I asked you to do a big job.”

Karla smiled. “I love you too.”

Trevon knocked on the front door of a modest looking home. He was carrying a small laptop bag over his shoulder. Selma came to the door and opened it. “Is there something I can help you with?”

“I, um,” Trevon stuttered. “I was told if I needed anything to ask somebody from the leadership.”

Selma smiled. “Yes, of course. My husband is the beta. What can we do for you?”

Trevon looked at the ground. “I am trying to finish my online schooling and I ran over my data cap and now I can’t finish my exams. Do you know of anywhere there is Wi-Fi? I couldn’t find a library anywhere.”

“Is that all? I think we can handle that!” Selma motioned him in and closed the door behind him. “Follow me into the study.”

When they got there, Trevon was stunned at how expensive and new everything looked. “Wow. Everything looks brand new.”

Selma chuckled. “It is all surplus from the government.” She saw the look on Trevon’s face. “Sean used to work for the FBI before we moved here. We called up some friends of his to get our office set up. In fact, government surplus is what is being used for most of the things the pack needs. Go ahead and sit down here at the desk. You can just slide anything in your way. Feel free to use ethernet if you want. We have a 1Gb connection.”

“My laptop doesn’t have ethernet,” Trevon said shyly. “Wi-Fi is fine.”

“Well, here is the password.” Selma wrote the password on a sticky-note. “What classes are you taking?”

“The exams I need to do today will finish my high school diploma, but I have been taking some introductory forest management classes. It seemed practical when we were in Alaska.” Trevon looked sad. “Now I’m not sure if I want to continue those.”

“We have lots of trees here,” Selma tried to joke. “Manage these ones.”

“Umm,” Trevon looked embarrassed for Selma.

“I am just going to leave you be.” Selma turned to leave. “I’ll close the door. If any of the kids bother you, just let them know they need to go back outside.”

“Yeah, sure thing.” Trevon started getting his laptop set up. It wasn’t until the door closed, he remembered and mumbled, “thank you.”

“I’m sorry sir, no one can seem to find where he is at.” The man paced uneasily in front of the desk. “We thought he was near Fordville. The trail went cold before we could verify it.”

“I was afraid of that,” Ulrik sighed. “I don’t understand why he is running from us.”

“Does he think that he is going to be in trouble for what he did,” the man asked.

“I don’t know. What I do know is that he is the only one that can unravel the books. He knows where all the money went, and he knew to put a lot of the money back.” Ulrik fidgeted with his pen.

“What did his pack say,” the man queried. “Did they replace him as pack rep?”

“No, he is still their rep.” Ulrik shook his head. “That is the bizarre part. Why would he just leave a pack of that size without a voice.”

“We will find him, sir.” The man turned to leave the office. “What do we do when he is found? Do we arrest him?”

Ulrik pondered for a second. “Do what you have to do short of violence to bring him to me. We want him to be able to help us because I really don’t want to lose the knowledge he has.”

“Yes, sir.” The man closed the office door leaving Ulrik to ponder some more.

The elevator opens on the 21st floor and Brayon walks out to see a brand-new office space. Standing by the reception area is Hawk, Clay and Keon. He walks over to them trying to hide the shock of how good it looks. “This is amazing, Hawk.”

Hawk smiles. “It was a lot of work by some talented people. The front is the only thing fully finished. Behind that door,” Hawk points to the security door, “is the hidden mess. Come on back and I will show you your office space and the safe path that they made for you to get there.”

The four men walked over to the door and Keon badges the door open. “Please badge on the reader as you pass through. It doesn’t matter if it fails, I just need to get a read of who is accessing the space.” All the badges work except for Brayon’s badge. “Oops, can you tap your badge three more times? I can pull the error log and find out why it isn’t working.”

They walk back into the construction zone and find a maze of half-built walls and floor to ceiling plastic with zippers. Hawk points to an oasis of clean about a third of the way back. “This is your office suite as soon as you want to move in.”

Brayon opens the door and finds a large office suite. “Wow, this looks so much better than the cubicle I have been using.”

Hawk smiled. “I figured as much. You can pick whichever of the rooms you want. The other three are for when you get the people you want to delegate to settled.”

“Delegate?” Brayon looked confused. “I don’t understand.”

“Tala told you that you’d have the 21st floor to handle, right?” Hawk gave Brayon a glance. “It’s a lot of things to do.”

“You seem to be dealing with it,” Brayon replied. “I mean it can’t be that bad.”

Keon and Clay looked at each other and started laughing. Brayon looked confused. Finally, Clay got composed enough to speak. “I don’t think I have seen Hawk sleep in two weeks trying to keep everything moving in the right direction. I know he is looking to tap one of the packs transferring over to take over as the space manager.”

“Yes, I am!” Hawk blurted out. “I am looking for someone to run seventeen, manage storage on eighteen, and then get a clan facilities manager so we can have someone to send to the building management meetings. I haven’t been able to make them, and I think Aarne is tired of me calling him with all my issues.”

Brayon deflated. “I didn’t know you were doing so much. How many people do you think I will need?”

“It’s okay. I hide it well,” Hawk assured him. “For how many people, I would say you need a space planner, a facilities supervisor, a receptionist manager, and the IT Engineer you already have.” Keon raised his hand at the mention of his job.

Brayon nodded his head. “Okay. I see what you mean now. I’ll have to look and see what packs are on this floor and find out if any of them have what I need to get those staffing positions filled. How much longer until more packs can move here?”

Keon looked at a metal clip board sitting on the assistant desk. “The rest of the path we just took will be ready in the next few days and the rest of the floor, minus any setbacks and customizations, will take about two weeks.”

“I am impressed,” Brayon mused. “Should I let my office upstairs know that they need to pack?”

Hawk laughed. “That won’t take long. I’ve seen your current office.”

Trevon had just finished his last exam when he heard a soft knock on the door. “Hello?”

The door opened and Selma walked in with a small China plate. “I thought you might be hungry. I brought you just a simple ham and cheddar on 9-grain bread and a bottle of water.”

Trevon smiled. “Thank you. I wasn’t hungry until you said ham.”

“Has is the schoolwork going,” Selma inquired as she set the food down on the desk.

“I just finished my high school exams. I think I did well.” Trevon opened the water and took a drink. “Thank you for letting me use this office and giving me lunch.”

“I will never turn down someone wanting to better themselves with school. It’s the mother in me.” Selma turned to leave. “If you could put the plate in the sink when you are done that would be great.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Trevon tried to answer with sandwich in his mouth.

Tala was sitting in his office when Jay knocked on the open door and walked in. “You okay,” Jay asked. “You’ve been in your own little world since we got back here.”

Tala sighed. “I’m fine. I just swore I thought I saw someone I recognized but when I turned, they were gone. I’m not sure if I really saw them or if I was just seeing things.”

“Who did you think you saw?” Jay pulled a chair over to sit next to Tala. “I mean we know almost everyone on these lands.”

“I swore I saw Faolan,” Tala answered.

“Maybe you were seeing things,” Jay started to answer but looked like a thought hit him, “or maybe you weren’t. No one can find him. I have heard they have all the Saharan Clan looking for him. But why would he be here?”

Tala pondered. “I don’t know. What I do know is that I need to get our trip planned. We have a lot of places to go and not a lot of time to get it done.”

“How many places did we end up with,” Jay queried.

“We start in North Carolina, then off to Florida. After that we have a few stops in Northern Mexico, four stops in California, a stop in New Mexico, Kansas, Nevada, Wyoming, and finally Montana.” Tala took a second to catch his breath. “So, a lot of time in the air.”

“When do we start?” Jay stood up. “I have to get the rest of our laundry washed.”

Tala laughed. “I was going to call and see if Tucker can arrange for us to visit day after tomorrow. Does that sound decent?”

“That will work. I’ll start getting the basics together and make sure to get some fuel stops reserved for the plane.” Jay turned and went in to grab his phone.

Hank was outside in the yard of the house that just got finished for Karla and himself. He was writing down ideas for what to put in the planting beds next year and looking over the good work when his cell phone rang. He looked to see that he wasn’t near any windows before he answered. “Hello?”

“Good afternoon, Hank. It’s been too long,” said the voice on the other end.

“I told you I would keep you up to date when I heard something useful. So far it has just been run of the mill things. He wanted to go with us to North Dakota, but she said no before even I could.” Hank looked around him and spoke even softer now. “I think I have them all fooled still.”

“Excellent! Do not let your guard down. The only way to prevent him from finding the rest of the truth is making sure that she doesn’t get to talk to anyone that knows anything.” The voice got very insistent at this point. “She is never to step foot into Amidon.”

Just around the side of the house, Frank is listening to the conversation the best he can. He only picks up part of the conversation before someone taps him on the shoulder. He turns to find Karla staring at him.

“Who are you,” she asks angrily.

Frank tries not to panic. “Hi, I’m Frank. I’m just inspecting the exteriors of the newly finished homes to make sure everything got done.”

Karla’s face hardens. “Then why are you hiding around corners like you are spying on my husband?”

“I didn’t want to interrupt his phone call. This is the last house to check, and I would get chastised if I didn’t wait to verify everything.” Frank looked around the grass at his feet. “For example, the grass that was laid here was too dry. They should have watered it more and it is already turning brown.” Frank pointed at the wall. “That outdoor faucet is angled incorrectly. It was supposed to tip down a bit more to prevent freezing. I have to report all of these things to Mr. Storm to get fixed.”

Karla relaxed a little bit. She looked at the things pointed out and he was correct. The grass was already starting to die, and the faucet was at a weird angle. “I’m sorry. I have just been a little jumpy the last few days.”

“It’s quite alright.” Hank turns to leave. “I have seen enough to have the crews come back and we’ll fix these things up. We’ll call when we need to come inside to fix the faucet.”

Hearing Karla outside Hank hangs up the phone and comes around the corner of the house. “Who are you talking to?”

Karla goes to point at Frank, but he has just vanished. “It was one of the inspectors. He is going to let them know that there are some issues he found with the grass and the outside faucet.”

Hank smiled. “Very thorough group. I like that.” Hank put his arm over Karla’s shoulder. “Let’s go inside and I’ll help you pack.”

Faolan started heading back to the tent he was sleeping in. He knew he didn’t have much time to prevent Karla from getting hurt but he wasn’t sure exposing himself was the right answer, but it looked like the only answer. As he walked, he saw what he now knew was the Edward’s house and he decided to see if he was home. He walked up to the door and knocked.

Joanna Montley walked out of her kitchen and answered the door. “Can I help you, sir.”

Frank tried to smile. “I was hoping that Edward was home. I really needed to speak with him.”

“He’s not home right now,” Joanna answered. “Is there a message I can pass along?”

Frank looked defeated. He knew that he needed to get the ball rolling on this or else someone was going to get hurt. “No, there isn’t any time for that. Do you know where I can find him?”

“Are you sure I can’t give him a message,” Joanna queried again. “I don’t know where he is on his patrols, but I can make sure he gets it when he comes home tonight.”

“It’s okay.” Faolan turned to leave. “Thanks anyway.”

Faolan walk down the street looking at the houses as he went. When he turned a corner, he saw a decent sized house that looked well put together. He figured it was the house he really wanted to avoid but knew he had to continue. When he was half a block away, he heard voices call out to him.

“Halt!” A younger man stepped out of the shadows to block his path. “I think you are in the wrong place stranger.”

Faolan stopped. “I was hoping to find the Alpha or the chief enforcer. I have an important security incident they need to know about.”

“We would be happy to take your statement,” the guard smiled. “Just we’ll take it after we return you to the loser camp.” The guard and his partner started marching on Faolan and try to grab him.

“STOP!” The command was whispered but the force was immediately clear. The guards froze in place. Faolan looked at both guards with a sorrowful eye. “I am sorry that I had to do that. I think it would be best if you get someone here right now.”

The second guard grabbed his radio to find out where Edward was. About thirty seconds later, Edward’s jeep pulled up to the scene. He got out and looks at the two guards. “Mind telling me what is going on here?”

Faolan raised his hand. “I think it best if I explain. I came this way hoping to find either you or your alpha because I just learned about a situation, I think you need to know about. These fine young gentlemen were only doing their jobs until they decided to march up on me with the intent of returning me to ‘the loser camp’. I simply told them to stop and to call for someone.”

Edward turned to the guards and gave them a look. Both guards looked down at the ground, so they didn’t have to look the chief enforcer in the eye. Edward nodded his head and turned back to Faolan. “Well Frank, I am here. What is going on that is so important you would try to approach the Alpha’s home?”

Faolan looked Edward dead in the eyes. “Someone is planning to kill the alpha’s mother.”

Edward laughed. “They are going to have to work pretty hard to get inside the pack lands without us noticing.”

Faolan didn’t laugh along with him. “Not if they are already here.”

The guards perked up and stared at Faolan. The first guard turned to Faolan. “Are you threatening the alpha’s mother?”

Faolan gave him a look that would kill. “Do you think I would be dumb enough to come here to kill Karla and then tell you beforehand?”

Edward put his hands up. “That’s enough. I assure you nobody is going to hurt anyone while I’m around. Thank you for letting us know your concerns and I will make sure all of my men are looking out for people that don’t belong.”

Faolan growled. “You are missing my point! The wolf you are looking for DOES belong here.”

“Frank, you are making no sense.” Edward put his hand on Faolan’s shoulder.

Faolan pushed the hand off with a bit of force. He raised his voice quite loud, hoping that Tala might hear him outside. “He is not to be trusted. Tell the one I called a Florida Red wolf that he cannot be trusted.”

Edward’s mood turned cold. “I think you better go, Frank.”

Faolan decided to not fight to get any closer and retreat for the moment. “I’m going. Just hope that you ignoring my warning doesn’t cost you the alpha’s mother.” He turned and walked back around the corner and toward the edge of town.

Tala was sure he heard something outside and opened the front door to see Edward and two guards about a block away. He walked on to the porch and called out. “Edward! What was going on?”

Edward walked over to where Tala was standing. “Just a crazy guy going on about things.”

Tala’s brow furrowed. “Do tell.”

Edward continued. “It’s nothing. He is just one of the migrants that isn’t all there.”

“Edward Montley, tell me what he said.” Tala’s anger was starting to show. “Tell me now.”

Edward’s mood changed to a bit of worry. “He said something about a Florida Red wolf and that ‘He’ can’t be trusted.”

Tala went white. “What was his name?”

Edward looked confused. “I interviewed him personally. I shouldn’t have let him stay.” He saw Tala’s face hadn’t changed. “His name is Frank. Frank O’Henry.”

Tala’s face fell. “So, I did see him,” Tala mumbled. “Jay!”

Jay came down to the door where Tala was standing. “What’s up?”

Tala turned to him. “Faolan is here. I did see him.”

Jay’s face showed his confusion. “Why is he here?” He turned to Edward. “What did he want?”

Edward realized who Frank really was. “He was trying to warn us that Karla is in danger. I brushed him off.”

Tala was still messed up in the head but managed to ask one more question. “Did he say who ‘He’ was?”

Edward sighed. “No. Just that he was already here and was someone that was supposed to be here.”

Tala and Jay looked at each other. Jay was the first to speak. “You don’t think?”

Faolan got back to his campsite and pulled out an older cell phone from a box in the back of his tent. He turned it on and waited for a signal. About a minute later, it started making all kinds of noise as all the voicemails and text messages started rolling in. He ignored them and opened the address book and found a number without a name. He dialed it and put the phone to his ear.

“Don’t say anything,” the voice on the other side of the call said when it connected. “I will prepare to get you out of there. I don’t like that you exposed yourself but I’m sure it was required. Be ready to leave in a few hours.” The phone disconnected.

Faolan turned the phone off again and put it back in the box. He packed his clothes into a large duffle bag and packed up all the other things be brought with him. As he was about to start taking the tent down, a shadow appeared on the zipped-up door.

“I know it is you,” a voice said. “Can we talk?”

Faolan sighed. He unzipped the door to the tent and looked in the eyes of Tala. “Come in. I apologize but I already packed most of my things.”

Tala came inside. “Who is it and how long do I have?”

“Straight to the point. I did kind of like that about you.” Faolan paused for a second to form his words. “I’ll be blunt. Hank has been lying to you and he is on Tajsin’s payroll still. I think he has passed all the security information over, and he was ordered to kill your mother before she can get to North Dakota.”

Tala stared at him. “Proof?” Tala took a step toward him.

Faolan laughed and backed up. “You already know I’m telling the truth. Stop blocking out your gift all the time.”

Tala’s head fell. Faolan was right. “I guess I wanted to believe.”

“I understand. I was blinded by money and power. It took running for my life to understand that. I would love to talk more but the team that is coming to pull me out of here is already close. No one can know I talked to you or else we are both in more danger.” Faolan grabbed a piece of paper and wrote a number on it. “When you are in a safe place off this land, call this number and ask to talk to Zechariah. He could be a friend in the future. Now go, quickly.”

Tala pocketed the paper and left the tent. He slinked around the back and into the tree cover. Within a minute or two he was back to where Jay and Edward were waiting. “It was as we feared. We need to get her somewhere safe and quickly.”

“What about him,” Jay asked.

“He is already leaving,” Tala answered. “Somebody is going to extract him, he said. I checked him for honesty, and he was 100% truthful about that. He is hiding something, but I couldn’t figure out what it was. He wouldn’t let me touch him.”

Edward started to get restless. “So, what do we do? I mean it’s not going to be easy to confront him without letting your mother know.”

Tala looked over at Jay. Jay nodded his head. “I know what to do. I have plan A and plan B. Plan A is just let him know I know and arrest him for his own safety. Plan B is not so nice.”

Edward looked over at Tala expectingly. “How so?”

Jay answered first. “Crush him like a bug. Make sure he is never a problem again.”