Warming The Cold One - 42. Finding the Leak

Beatrix knocked on her husband’s door. “Is there anything I can get for you, dear? You haven’t eaten anything all day again.”

“I need to be left alone,” Ashton said while sloshing his glass around. A small puddle was next to the empty jar of local apple moonshine. “Everything is going to shit in this town.”

Beatrix sighed as she turned from the door. “Let me know if you get hungry then.”

Ashton shook his head to clear the fog and yelled out. “Bring me a fucking cheese sandwich and don’t skimp on the cheese.”

Tala and Jay continued to pour over building designs when Matthew walked over. “Can I ask you two a question?”

Tala looked up and smiled. “You just did, but I guess we can let that slide. What did you want to ask?”

Matthew grimaced. “Thank you. Once you pick a building layout plan, who is going to build it?”

Jay nodded. “That is a good point. We aren’t the most knowledgeable on the subject.”

“I did think about that. I have some ideas, but I think I know of a good place to start.” Tala pulled out his phone. “Don, this is Tala. Yes, I’m extremely excited about the project there and I do thank you and your family for all you have done for both my pack and my clan. Yes, I do have wonderful and amazing pack members, that is for sure. Don, the reason I’m calling is I need to find a team local to North Dakota to do some building for me and I was hoping you’d know of a few people I can contact. No, I couldn’t ask you to do it. You have done so much already, and you need to get back to your pack and your business. I’m not even through the planning stages yet. Okay, I’ll at least let you advise. I’ll put you on speakerphone.” Tala put his phone on the table and turned on the speakerphone.

Jay jumped right in. “Hi Don, this is Jay. I’m here with Tala and our council liaison for the region, Matthew.”

“Always great to hear your voice, Jay. Nice to meet you, Matthew. I’m Don, and my family volunteered to help build the community around the Cathlamet Pack lands.” Don paused only for a second. “Now would the two of you help me convince Tala to let me help you out there. It’s on our way back to Pennsylvania anyway.”

“Umm,” Matthew stammered. “I don’t I’d have a chance of that.”

Jay agreed. “Um, yeah. I think you’ll be driving straight through. I can’t go against my mate.”

“Fine,” Don said. “Can I at least stop and look over what you do have? A simple look at the plans, have lunch and then keep heading east.”

“Agreed. I’ll show you the plans we have and take you to the best BBQ place in the world,” Tala acquiesced. “Just let us know when you are heading out from Washington.”

“The best BBQ,” Don asked. “That I’ll have to taste. We’ll give you a call when we are going to be close.”

“What do you want? I’m busy,” Ashton said into the phone.

“What are we going to do about Duane,” Greyson asked. “How are we going to keep him under control?”

“You don’t” Ashton slurred. “We only were able to do it the first time because he wanted it. It won’t work again. You’re too damaged and there isn’t anyone else I trust.”

“Hear me out on this,” Greyson replied. “What if we have Tala heal my wolf spirit completely? Then I would have the ability to do it again.”

“Listen to me, Pup! It ain’t gonna happen. Duane will never agree to it again. Now where did I put that jar?” Ashton could be heard pouring something into a glass. “There we go, more of the fine apple hooch your pack is known for. My advice is to enjoy it while it lasts. When that bitch of a grandson is done with you, I won’t be here to help you anymore.”

“What did you say,” Greyson asked.

“You heard me,” Ashton yelled. “Now stop calling me while I’m relaxing.”

“Hey Jay, what do I owe the call to,” Hawk asked.

“Do you think you can ask around and see if anyone has heard of ‘The Rancher’,” Jay asked. “It seems like he or she is one of the behind the scenes figures we are looking for.”

“I’ll do some digging and see what I can find,” Hawk replied. “How did the one thing go?”

“It was interesting. Tala or I will send you a message later explaining more,” Jay answered. “Let’s just say that things have changed a bit.”

Hawk walked outside his office. “Kade, can I ask you a favor?”

Kade turned around in his chair. “What can I help with, Boss?”

“I need you to go up to 21 and ask Keon to do a quick search for this information. This is for his eyes only.” Hawk handed Kade a slip of paper. “Have him come to me directly with the information when he is done.”

“Will do,” Kade smiled.

“Thank you for calling the Offices of The American Clan, this is Avery, how can I direct your call,” Avery into the phone.

“Hello Avery, this is Brayan. Can you connect me to Hawk or his assistant,” Brayan asked.

“Please hold and I’ll see if Hawk is free,” Avery answered and turned to see Kade walking out from the back. “Kade, Brayan is on the phone for Hawk. Do you want me to transfer it to you?”

“Uh, I have to run an errand for Hawk really quick up on 21,” Kade explained. “Can you do a warm transfer to Hawk directly?”

Avery smiled, “sure thing. Thanks.” Avery picked the line back up. “I’m sorry for the wait, Kade was busy so I’m going to transfer you directly to Hawk.” Avery started the transfer and listened for Hawk to pick up the phone.

“What’s up Avery,” Hawk asked.

“I have a call from Brayan I am going to transfer to you. I saw Kade as he was running by and said that would be okay,” she replied.

“Oh, yes. Thank you,” Hawk said cheerfully.

Hawk listened to make sure Avery had hung up before he said anything. Hearing the click, he spoke. “Good afternoon, Brayan. What do I owe the call to?”

“I just wanted to make sure you were still ready for my pack to send people up,” Brayan began. “It isn’t as many as we had planned before, but we did commit to helping with staffing.”

“Of course, Brayan! I’ll make sure all the arrangements are still in place. How many should we expect and when,” Hawk asked.

“Great, we have a team of twenty people that will ultimately be heading up, but I think only half of them are ready so far. The other half might be a few weeks,” Brayan lamented. “I’m sorry it isn’t more.”

“It’s fine,” Hawk laughed. “There isn’t a rush right now. I’ll talk to the people up on the 21st floor and make sure everything is ready. Can you send me a list of people that are coming and what roles so we can make sure to have signage up?”

Brayan calmed. “I’ll get that emailed to you later today. The first wave should be there on Monday and is mostly support staff. All the technical people are still wrapping things up at home for now.”

“Support staff is great,” Hawk assured Brayan. “Lord knows we need them about now.”

Brayan chuckled. “I agree, I need to get my office ready to be moved up to 21 as well. Maybe after the whirlwind of council sessions slows down.”

“Speaking of sessions,” Hawk started.

“We need to get to the chamber,” Brayan finished.

Duane slowly walked over to the table that Tala and Jay were using to look at plans. “I figured nap time was over.”

Jay jumped up. “Are you sure you should be up already? It’s only been a couple hours.”

“He’s fine,” Tala said. “Want to help work the pack house layout?”

Jay turned to Tala. “Why do you say it like that?”

Tala looked up from the plans and motioned at Duane. “Look at him. Tell me that anything was ever wrong with him.”

Jay looked carefully at Duane. After a few seconds, he sighed. “Ahh. I guess you’re right. He does look better than he before.”

Duane beamed. “I haven’t felt this good in a very long time. Maybe even before I married Lyla.” Duane started looking at the drawings on the table.

“I figured we needed to go for something of a decent size since we might have a lot of wolves once we get everything setup,” Tala started. “Plus, there is a chance we will need to absorb any of the American wolves in Greyson’s pack.”

“What about that,” Duane asked. “I don’t feel the pull of Greyson as my alpha anymore, but I know I’m not an alpha in my own right either.”

“We are going to need to think about how we are going to decide who is alpha for sure,” Jay added.

“Maybe we’ll find someone in the area,” Tala added. “There are a lot of people in the area that have lycan blood.”

“Who are you looking for,” Matthew asked as he turned the corner and saw Duane was there helping Tala and Jay. “Dad, should you be up already?”

Duane smiled, “I’m fine son. I can heal really quickly again, and I feel better than I have in a long time. We were discussing plans and where we are going to find an alpha for the new pack here.”

“Oh, I guess I never thought about that,” Matthew said. “What all does that entail?”

“Quite a bit to be honest,” Tala answered. “We must find out if there are any wolves that are willing to leave their pack and move here. One of them needs to have alpha traits. Finally, people will need to want to follow them.”

“That doesn’t sound easy,” Matthew sighed. “I’m going to drive over to the general store and see if there are any rentals up on the board. Is there anything I can grab you while I’m out?”

“Thank you,” Duane said. “I should be fine. Do you any anything Tala?”

Tala shook his head while Jay thought for a second. “I can’t think of anything,” Jay finally said. “Thank you.”

“Thank you for calling, this is Todd,” Todd said into the phone.

“I’m calling with a tip,” Dillian replied.

“May I ask whom I am speaking with,” Todd asked.

“I dare not give my name,” Dillian answered. “I just wanted to pass along some information that the council just voted to pull all funds from the AIMS accounts in the next three days.”

“But they cannot pull that money out,” Todd laughed. “We don’t have it. It’s all invested in long-term securities. They will lose a fortune selling those securities.”

“I can only tell you what I know. Use it anyway you can.” Dillian hung up the phone.

Todd turned to Hans across the aisle from him. “Just a heads up, the council is going to try to move their money.”

Hans looked surprised. “They have no idea, do they?”

“Nope,” Todd smiled. “We might just have to foreclose on the storage sites and call the loans on the council offices. That will take care of the past due contracts.”

“Maybe,” Hans mused. “Or maybe we will have to sue them for the rest of the money. They don’t know how much money they should have so it’ll be easy to get them to pay us more.”

Keon looked at the slip of paper that Kade handed him and whistled. “Wow, okay I’ll get on this right now.”

“Thank you,” Kade said. “When you are done, I will schedule a time for you to discuss it with Hawk.”

“Let Hawk know it might be a bit. It’s a big lift without talking to Clay about it but I understand the reason why. I’ll send you a basic update sometime tonight.” Keon turned away before turning back. “Is there anything else?”

“No, that’s it for the official stuff,” Kade replied. “But, on the gossip front I have a feeling that there might be some movement of getting people from Florida. Brayan was calling for Hawk as I was coming up here.”

“I can only hope so,” Keon exclaimed. “We need all the help we can get.”

Dillian sat outside Diedre’s office fidgeting until someone walked over to him. “Is there something I can help you with,” the young man asked Dillian.

“I just really need to talk to Diedre about something,” Dillian said.

“She’s already left for the day,” the man said. “As soon as the council adjourned again, she let us know she was going to be out the rest of the day.”

“Oh,” Dillian sighed. “Never mind then.”

“I can let her know you wanted to see her,” the man offered.

“No,” Dillian shook his head quickly. “I’ll just have to try again another time. Thank you.” Dillian got up quickly and left the office. He got into his car, locked the door, and pulled out a legal pad to start writing things down. Thirty minutes later, he put the pad in an envelope and sealed it. He placed it under the passenger seat and got ready to go home before it got too much darker when an SUV stopped behind his car. He saw two large men get out of the back and moments later there was a crash as the driver’s side window was smashed.

Keon was waiting for Hawk when he came into the office the next morning. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t sit on this. There is a lot going on we didn’t know about.”

Hawk led them into his office, and he closed the door behind them. “Can you give me a quick overview? I need to outline it for Tala.”

“It might be better to have Tala and Jay on speakerphone to save time,” Keon replied.

Hawk frowned. “Give me a second then.” He sat down at his desk and dialed Tala. “Hey, I have Keon here and he said it might be best if you and Jay listened in on his briefing. I agree, I’ll put you two on speakerphone.”

“Good morning, Keon,” they heard Tala say.

“Good morning, Master Tala. I wouldn’t have asked for the conference call if I didn’t think it needed,” Keon stammered quickly.

“We know,” Jay replied. “What have you got for us.”

“Well, Master Jason, I mean Jay,” Keon corrected. “I pulled the records of who was calling and was being called from everyone in the American clan as requested and I found a few oddities. There were a lot of calls to and from the 17th floor reception to an office on the 8th floor.”

“What is so odd about that,” Hawk asked. “Maybe they were friends.”

“Those calls only ever happened when Matthew was away from the desk,” Keon answered. “Usually during breaks, lunch, or on days he was off. They averaged only about one or two minutes.”

“Okay,” Jay said waiting for why his mattered.

“That office is marked as out of use. It doesn’t show in the plans to have a phone connection but in the telephone trunk plans it has three lines assigned to it. It also doesn’t have badge reader access. Just a normal lock and key,” Keon added.

“So, a secret office,” Tala asked.

“That’s just the start of it,” Kean interrupted. “I checked the phone records for those lines and one of them has a toll-free outside line that was recently turned off.”

“Why a toll-free number? Could it have been a support team for that clan,” Hawk asked.

“I’m still looking into that. The best part was when I pulled the email records from the reception computers. I found emails that had references to The Rancher in them,” Keon started explaining. “They used all these code words and stuff.”

“Slow down,” Tala said. “Do you know who sent the emails?”

“Sorry,” Keon apologized. “I know that all the outgoing emails were sent by the suspect. The reply emails all came back without a name. The email address changed every time both out and back with nothing on the email itself that exposed a pattern. I assume that is why the phone calls.”

“You said there were other codes. What were they,” Jay asked.

Keon checked his notes. “There were more than a few but the references to “the problem”, “the contractor”, and “the idiot” popped up a lot. I’m not sure who they are though.”

“I have a guess,” Tala laughed. “Either I’d be the problem or what we are doing is the problem. The contractor would have been Matthew. The idiot is a bit too vague. That could have been you, Hawk, or it could have been someone else in the group.”

“The way the subject acts around me, I’d have to guess it was me,” Hawk said. “Was there anything specific about us, or was it just referring to us without using names?”

“A little bit of both,” Keon replied. “Sometimes the subject was complaining but most of the time it was movement patterns and information she overheard.”

“I see,” Tala mused. “Do you think the subject will be open to sharing once we confront them with the evidence?”

“There seemed to be true remorse during the whole Matthew thing. I think if we don’t push too hard, we might get what we need,” Hawk said confidently.

“Go ahead and set up a meeting and see if she will turn on the group she was working with,” Tala said. “Let me know if anything else is needed and I can fly back down to get the truth.”

“I don’t understand,” Diedre said into the phone to her assistant as she pulled into the parking garage. “Why does security want to see me?”

“They just said to check in with them when you arrived,” the assistant said over the speakerphone.

“Okay, I just got here so I’ll talk to them before I come up.” Diedre hung up and finished parking. She got out of her SUV and walked over to the elevator and hit the button for the sub-basement level security office. When she stepped out, she was shocked at the number of people in the lobby. One of the senior council chamber guards saw her and escorted her over to an office.

“Please wait here, I’ll get Captain Kilmek.” The guard left Diedre in the office and returned with Bob about thirty seconds later. “Sir, this is Lady Diedre Howard.”

“Thank you. If you will give us some privacy,” Bob said as he motioned for the door. Once the guard had left, he turned to Diedre. “I’m sorry if this seems sudden but something happened in the garage last night.”

“Happened,” Diedre asked.

“The cameras on the third level were disabled for about ten minutes and when they came back, we saw someone had broken into a car. We searched the vehicle for whom it belonged to and all we found an envelope with your name and a message on it.” Bob looked uneasy. “Do you know who might have been writing you a message?”

Diedre looked agape. “No,” she stuttered. “I have no idea at all.”

“I see,” Bob said dejectedly. “That is too bad. For now, I have to keep all the car’s contents while we finish sweeping the crime scene and identifying the owner. Once that is done, we will turn everything over to The Circle for final recommendations.”

“Thank you, Captain,” Diedre said. “Would it be too much to request an escort to my office?”

Dillian opened his eyes. He was in a perfectly quiet room with perfectly even lighting on medium grey walls. His head pounded and the room spun. He closed his eyes again.

“You are awake, Mr. Burns,” a voice said. “This is good news. You can tell me what you know.”

Dillian said nothing because he felt like if he opened his mouth, he might be sick.

“You would be better off trying to tell me now,” The voice said again. “This room is only going to mess with your head. Best to tell me everything before it drives you mad.”

Dillian heart started to race. He had never seen an isolation room like this before but the thought of staying here filled him with dread. “I don’t know what you want,” he said barely above a whisper.

“That’s a good boy,” the voice answered. “We’ll start with the truth. What do you think you were doing? Did you think you could just get away with messing up his plans?”

“I don’t know anything,” Dillian suddenly screamed. This caused his heart to race faster, and he began to puke on the floor.

The voice tutted. “I guess it’s too late to prevent isolation sickness. It’s too bad. We thought you were stronger than that.”

Dillian closed his eyes again and when he opened them the room was pitch black. He carefully laid his head down to avoid his vomit and tried to get the world to stop spinning.

The guard spoke into the phone. “Sir, he is already sick. Should be pull him out to interview him?”

“No, make him talk before you pull him out. Do you understand me,” the voice growled.

“Yes, Master Tajsin. We understand,” the man stammered.

“Good,” Tajsin said and hung up the prison payphone he was using.

The guard mumbled something to himself before he turned to the other guard. “He’s not giving up. We have to make him talk.”

The other guard shook his head. “He thinks we can make someone with isolation sickness talk and give up plans from The Rancher? No wonder he is in prison.”

“So, what do we do,” the first guard asked.

“We lie our asses off and make a deal with the council for protection. I’m not going down without a fight,” the second guard said.