Masked

CHAPTER 45 | a wolf in sheep's clothing

Middlemarch Estate

Simon's head and heart ached. They had placed the bodies of their fallen pack mates in the back of their vehicles for the long drive home. He was finding it hard to believe Kyle was gone. And with no knowledge of how Parker was faring, it put an added strain on them all. What if she didn't make it?

He pushed down his grief and focused on their immediate problem. Time enough later to mourn. Right now, he needed to deal with the clean-up and Daniel's mate, who was pissing him off big time.

Joséphine frowned. "I still don't know why I couldn't go with Alpha Bergman."

"You just can't," he said. "We need to sort this mess out."

He rubbed his neck and surveyed what was left of their strike force. Victory had come at a high price. He sighed and forced himself to focus. They had a lot of work to do within a limited time. So far, everything had gone according to plan, but one wrong move and all that could come crashing down.

Murphy addressed the remaining Werewolves. "We need to clear these bodies—and fast."

"What's the rush?" Vic said.

"Once the FBI discovers Parker is in the hospital, they are going to want to know where she was held. Eventually, they will end up here."

The team stopped and focused on Murphy, puzzled looks on their faces.

"FBI?" Vic said. "Why would they be interested in Parker?"

"The FBI gets involved in all nationwide ransom cases."

Vic's brows rose. "Ransom? Ransom wasn't involved."

Simon rubbed his nose and grimaced. "If everything goes according to plan, the FBI will believe there was a ransom. Zeke is going to use his magic to send a back-dated ransom message and make it look like it came from the other side of Abbotsford. This morning Clara and Jessica withdrew two and a half million dollars in cash. There's no crime in paying a ransom, so they won't think twice about how we got her back, nor the real reason she was taken."

Murphy handed Vic a shovel. "We are going to make sure that there is nothing left here to give them any clues as to what's really going on."

Simon and Murphy broke the Werewolves into groups to begin the clean-up process.

The team worked tirelessly through the night, and it was afternoon before they had removed all the bodies of Elise's guards and buried them a few miles away, deep in the forest.

They ransacked the prisons for anything that might help determine where Elise had gone, and stumbled on a fourth building, hidden well behind the three prison complexes. The interior resembled a miniature hospital and lab. Zeke loaded all the equipment and specimens that might help Alice in the back of one of their vehicles. This included a high spec'd computer Zeke salivated over. They cleared the main house last.

Simon breathed a sigh of relief once Zeke pushed the send button on the ransom email.

Zeke smiled and looked up. "Okay, it will look like the email was sent the day before yesterday."

Simon sent out a silent prayer. The sooner they finished up the better. He was edgy and Joséphine was getting on his nerves. Plus, they still needed to get the bodies of their fallen pack mates across the border and home to Colorado, where they could receive a proper burial. His chest tightened. It wasn't something he was looking forward to.

"If we're done here," Murphy said, "I'm heading to the hospital."

Joséphine made a move to follow. "I'll come with you."

Simon cut her off. "No, you won't."

Joséphine stared at him in a manner that clearly showed she thought there was something wrong with him. For his part, Simon stood his ground. His loyalty to his alpha outweighed anything else.

Before the situation escalated out of control, Vic interrupted. "Hey, where's the other guy?"

"What other guy?" Murphy said.

"You know, the other prisoner we freed."

Simon cocked his head. "You mean the Russians? They're long gone."

Vic threw her arms on her hips. "No, the man in the cell next to Parker."

A mystified expression crossed Joséphine's face, and she shook her head. "There were three of us kept prisoner in that building, all women."

He glared at Vic. "Then who the hell did you let out?"

A loud explosion rang through the air, and they ducked for cover. Three more explosions followed in quick succession.

Simon pulled himself off the floor. "What the hell was that?"

Murphy headed for the door. "Did anyone see anything that might have been an explosive agent when you were clearing out the prison buildings?"

They all shook their heads, and Simon said, "Why?"

"That was a C4 explosion."

They raced out of the house and ran to the buildings that had housed the freed prisoners. Or at least the buildings that used to be there. "Son of a bitch!" Simon cursed and kicked the air. "Who the fucknugget did that?"

A gigantic dust cloud hung heavy in the air. The buildings were now nothing more than broken bits of concrete and metal scattered across the ground. Sunken craters marked the spot where the prisons used to be.

Murphy rounded on Vic. "What did he look like, the man in the cell?"

The sudden urgency in Murphy's tone had the hairs on the back of Simon's neck rising.

"Average height, brown hair, slim more than stocky." Vic paused to recall further information about the man. "Oh yeah, he had different colored eyes, brown and blue, I think."

Joséphine gasped. "What was he doing here?"

Simon frowned. "Who?"

"He is part of my mother's inner circle. Sometimes, I even think that she's scared of him. My guess is that he saw what was going on and pretended to be a prisoner to escape unharmed."

Murphy's voice cut through the air like a razor. His stance was rigid, fury rolling off him in waves. His fists clenched at his side. "Was his name Elijah?"

Simon flinched at the sight of his black eyes turning darker.

"Yes, how did you know?"

A primitive and savage roar ripped from Murphy as he surged away from them and bolted into the forest. The tortured howl of Murphy's wolf reverberated through the air

Simon's brows drew together. Elijah? Why do I know that name?