You don't get to see the Ghost team or septs at all this chapter so I thought you'd enjoy the above pic while waiting patiently for the next chapter!
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Amanda was anxious. She knew in four days time the teams in Estonia were due to make first official contact with the Academy for this assignment. The Blackbourne team would be speaking with her father's replacement and possibly getting a whole lot of information that did not bode well for her team. Whether they'd be speaking to a newly appointed Chairman or the potentially vindictive President, Phil Roberts she didn't know but either way her father was no longer calling the shots for this assignment and Amanda had no idea how this new person would be approaching her as team liaison for the Andrews team considering she was Richard Andrews' daughter. They'd want to know how involved in her father's plans and views she'd been.
When she'd spoken to her dad two months ago during their second contact, the situation he'd described had been very bad. He was definitely sacked from his trustee position on the board. The fact he'd misrepresented himself by signing a contract with an external party for the assignment and sent in two Academy teams on his own recognisance was grounds enough to terminate his contract, never mind the fact he had done so outside of the board procedure. Trustees are required by law to be entirely objective and to have no operational input. A trustee's role is to be a legal check/balance to prevent strategic management of the charity from making decisions that go against the charity's purpose and also to ensure the board decisions safeguard the charities assets, both physical - like the buildings and land and intangible - like the Academy members and the organisation's reputation.
Dad had taken an operational decision by signing a contract without authority with an external party in the organisation's name and then sent the Blackbourne and Andrews teams to Estonia to satisfy the contract. According to the investigation results, he'd also potentially endangered the lives of the teams' members he'd assigned because the assignment contract had not gone through the proper vetting procedures before he'd accepted and signed it. Dad said that last item was just hysterical nonsense. I pray he's telling the truth but the fact that I doubt him at all is a bad indictment of his capacity to deceive. There were other findings in the report that he wouldn't go into about the assignment but it didn't matter because the first two were enough to have him stricken off the BoD. Not just for the Academy board either, he'll never be allowed legally to be a trustee again for any charity.
He had been waiting for his barrister (A British lawyer/solicitor allowed to practice in the higher courts of law in the U.K.) to get back to him about whether he was to face criminal charges or
not and if so in what country and court. As the Academy charity is registered in the U.K. it was complicated to work out the legal implications to dad. So dad could be facing jail time depending on what the Academy and police unearthed about the client the Academy is contracted to. When reviewing his case with his solicitor/barrister team, dad had tried to raise the case that his actions to remove Sang, Kayli and Lily from the Academy was him trying to safeguard the Academy's reputation. His legal team had stared at him in disbelief and asked him not to repeat that outside of their private offices because the case against him for discrimination was already virtually insurmountable without him giving the prosecution additional evidence against himself.
Dad had found this hard to swallow and wasted valuable time ranting about it when we'd spoken on the phone. Why was the law protecting immoral sluts? What about our right to live in a decent society? Amanda's conscious pricked at her slightly. If her father knew she preferred women to men, he would disown her. She'd carefully chosen her team of birds so that they were all like her in being lesbian but 'in the closet'. She'd thought it would make her lifestyle easier to hide. Then Dad had assigned her team to 'date' four of the Blackbourne dogs while on this assignment including and especially the team liaison, Owen Blackbourne.
When Dad had first approached her about the Estonia drug ring assignment, the end of January, he'd been ecstatic that he'd managed to convince the Blackbourne's to take the two year assignment especially as he'd tried twice before that and Owen had declined the offer because of her father's contingency that their bird could not come with them. I'd asked Dad at the time why they would've agreed on the third approach, given that his contingency was still in place, but he hadn't cared enough at the time to dig for the answer to my question. It had been victory enough to part the dogs from the bird. He had even bragged that it was his suggestion to Owen to use the excuse they all wanted their own wife in his farewell letter to Sang so she would be 'emotionally deterred from looking for them'. Those were his actual words. I might've felt bad for Sang Sorensen but I had my own secrets to hide and playing along with my father's views meant I got to keep the only family I have left so call it selfish but my needs were my priority.
These weren't the only thoughts keeping Amanda up at night either. She'd known as soon as she'd seen Owen Blackbourne's face when he'd arrived in Estonia to find the Andrews team of birds on the assignment with them, that he suspected her father was playing his team in some way. Her instincts had been screaming at her since then that Owen and his team were on to her father's scheme and they suspected her team were involved in something besides the known assignment, but it hadn't mattered to the Blackbourne team because they had their own agenda. That's what worried Amanda. Could her team become collateral damage in whatever had truly motivated the Blackbourne team to leave their bird and take a two year gig in Estonia? She really wished she'd pushed her father more to find out what had been the catalyst to change the Blackbourne dogs' minds about their bird. She couldn't help but feel it was vital both to understanding what motivated them as well as sensing an opportunity to work with them on their objective to gain some leverage over them.
Her techie bird, Erin had informed the team that the same day I'd first made first contact with dad that Victor had amped up his security on all the Blackbourne team's electronics and personal sites. Which was pointless from her birds' perspective since Erin hadn't figured out how to breach his original security defences.
The Andrews team of birds were currently on surveillance duty. Amanda had been pacing at her station thinking over the events of the past five or six months when Erin came through the door with a distressed look on her face. Without words, she held up the necklace Victor had given her, identical to the ones we'd all received from our Blackbourne 'boyfriends', which was broken and dangling from her finger tips. The necklaces all have chrysanthemum shaped pendants that were about a quarter of an inch thick front to back on the chain. With the necklace broken it was now visible that there was a bugging device concealed in the flower's head,
'So they know we were at the hotel the day before yesterday,' I sighed at Erin in resignation. She nodded her head grimly, no need to go into detail about what we'd done there. Victor was clever enough that the Blackbourne's had video and audio of what went down. Amanda covered her face with both hands in tired resignation before gathering herself together to deal with confirmation the Blackbourne dogs knew enough of the truth to be after proof,
'Call the rest of the girls together.' The others were stationed elsewhere to provide complete coverage for the surveillance purposes of our assignment,
'We need to decide how we're going to put our cards on the table with the Blackbourne dogs and get them to make the best of being stuck in each other's company for this assignment,' Not that I'd tell them all I know but definitely all my team knows. I will have to disclose that dad was sacked from the BoD and that I'd spoken to him. My gut tells me they know some of this anyway since the timing of Victor increasing his security measures could not be a coincidence so it isn't really betraying my father when they already know. This is damage control, pure and simple.
I turned my iPhone over and over in my hand as I thought of how to set the conversation up with the Blackbourne team when we returned to the house. I went through several scenarios and outcomes before accepting that I have no choice. I'm going to have to stick to the truth as closely as I possibly can and disclose as much as I can without incriminating myself, it's the only way. If we come clean before the official contact, it'll reflect better on us then if we wait. Decision made, I punch Owen's contact icon. He doesn't pick up until the phone is about to switch to answer phone,
'Hello Miss Andrews, is there an issue with the surveillance?' His voice is cool and composed but again my instinct flicks up telling me I've interrupted something important. This changes nothing without more intel though it frustrates the hell out of me reminding me of the situation I'd just been analysing,
'No issue. This is a team matter. We need a meeting with your team tonight once surveillance from both teams is wrapped up, please,' Being overly polite always seems to get the best reaction from Owen Blackbourne,
'Fine,' Owen draws the word out slightly, making me think I've tipped my hand to him,
'We will meet your team at 21.30 tonight for a bi team discussion,' Again I get the impression he's said this for someone in the room with him rather than for my benefit,'
'Bye, Owen,' I suspect this is the last time I'll ever call him by his first name again.
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'That was shit timing,' North said with his usual subtlety. Owen could see Sean's impatient body language. They'd been just about to dial Uncle's landline number at the house where North and Luke had lived with him. Victor spoke first, his face wrinkled with concentration as he watched his laptop monitor with an ear bud in one ear,
'Hold up, I know what's happened with the birds,' His face cleared as realisation came to him and then he grimaced as he looked at his team lead,
'Erin found the bug in her necklace. It looked like she broke it on accident and then realised what was inside the flower pendant,' Victor shrugged,
'This is not important,' Both Sean and Gabe made their irritation with the delay to contacting Uncle obvious. Owen agreed with them,
'This will have to wait, we have to make the window for the call to South Carolina. Dial Uncle Mr. Taylor,' Owen directed North who was busy punching the contact photo for Uncle,
'It's ringing,' North was even tenser than usual. Fortunately, Uncle picked up almost immediately,
'Speaker,' Uncle's voice was rough,
'Trainers,' North answered back. With the protocol out of the way, Owen jumped in before Uncle could stumble through his painful apology for whatever he'd said to Sang. The dogs had discussed this and the fault lay with them for their badly written goodbye letters, not their families,
'Uncle, we know. It wasn't your fault that our communication was flawed. We should've thought about how you, our families could've interpret our letters. We haven't much time and we need to cover the critical issues first,' Uncle took a deep, ragged breath and replied,
'What do you need to know?' Owen looked at Sean and they agreed, the Academy first,
'Tell us what is happening with the Academy board. We know there's been a shake up. Andrews is the one who placed us on this assignment,' Uncle gasped,
'Dammit, Owen! Andrews has been sacked! He was not allowed as a trustee to make operational decisions. He signed a contract with a questionable client, sent two teams - yours, it now seems and one other to fulfil the contract- and told no one on the board any of this. He's also got a shit load of evidence against him for leaking intel to the targets of our assignments over the last year - but only for teams who were living a poly lifestyle - you, the Tomas and Anderson's,' Victor sucked in a harsh breath,
'Sang said there was something fishy about the two small assignments that we had to deal with where intel miraculously leaked to the target! She said it was interesting that they were the only two cases where we'd allowed her to take lead as a training exercise,' the rest of the Blackbourne dogs realised their brother and bird were right and Uncle could hear low, muttered curses through the phone line,
'Exactly, both Sang and Lily were able to cover themselves when questioned as they operate tightly to the rules but Kayli got a reprimand for the occasion it happened to the Toma team. And yes, they were all assignments the birds had lead on. Which is why Andrews has been done for discrimination and will be facing a British tribunal on those grounds. But boys this is not what we need to focus on now,' Uncle said gruffly. Owen stiffened,
'What's the threat, Uncle?'
'Andrews didn't get the contract holder properly vetted as he was trying to keep the assignment off grid,'
'What does that mean for the teams?' Owen's question was terse and Uncle grunted,
'All that I know is your assignment contract is with dangerous people the Academy would never have done business with outside of Andrews' cock up. Whoever they are the Academy is worried for their teams and keeping the details confidential. Also Andrews was royally screwing both teams over. The value of the favours the teams in the assignment would have earned under his agreement with you for completing the assignment was less than 2% of what he planned to pocket for himself. But the worst part is, it doesn't look like the Academy can get out of the contract without serious consequences. The board have to tread carefully with the client or face a nasty enemy capable of... well anything, with a vendetta,' Owen was at a complete loss for words. His team were in a very tenuous position. He looked at his brothers and for the first time he could see none of them were sorry their bird was not with them. This was bad,
'Thank you, Uncle. That is much more than we had to go on before. We are scheduled to make first contact in four days with Andrews; we are guessing it will be either Phil Roberts or a newly elected Chairman so hopefully we'll get the detail you've not been able to find out,' Uncle gulped and his tone of voice was dry and flat,
'Yeah, that could be interesting for you boys. The new chairman is Bjorne Makinen,' Silas whistled back at Uncle,
'Jesus fuck!' Nathan and Silas exchanged shocked expressions while Nathan swore,
'The President of the Valhalla MC in California?'
'That's him,' Uncle hummed back at them, Owen and the rest of the team caught up to Nathan and Silas and exchanged uneasy glances with one another.
'The board must really be looking to beef things up at the Academy,' Silas thought out loud. Owen agreed with his brother, this was a big step in a different direction for leadership at the Academy. North checked his watch for how long they'd been on the phone call,
'Ok, Uncle we can't stay on the line much longer. Just in case things get SNAFU'd again, we'll contact you three months today, 28 December at the same time, 9am your time. Actually, make that the 25th December, 9am so we can wish you a Merry Christmas. Code: guitar, bones,' Uncle jumped in quickly,
'Boys, I know you said not to but I just have to tell you how sorry I am about chasing Sang away. I don't think I'll ever stop hearing her weeping while I walked away from her. I watched her from the window, she was so overwrought, she was sick in the car park. I've been trying to find out where she is and if anyone is taking care of her since I went to the estate agency but no one has been able to or is prepared to talk about her. I managed to get a HR officer to admit she's still on the Academy roster despite Andrews trying to have her struck off, but I haven't got any other answers for you. I will try to corner Phil Roberts if I can and let him know you've reached out. He'd want and need to know,' Owen felt crushing guilt at how badly his decisions have affected their bird,
'Thank you, Uncle,' both men disconnected the phone line.
The Blackbourne dogs stared intently at one another.
This is some serious shit. North bit out, worry surging through him as the implications of the discussion with Uncle crystallised in his mind.
Yes. Owen agreed. From now on, all our communication will be non verbal. If this client is as dangerous as Uncle's contacts seem to think, we need to assume they already have eyes and ears on us. We can't afford for them to hear any more of what we do and don't know. When we take the call from the Academy in four days, we'll take it away from here.
All right, his brothers nodded in agreement.
Everything we did was wrong where our bird is concerned but right now I feel relief that she isn't here in this situation with us. God! She'd kick my ass if she could see me thinking that! Sean smiled ruefully, rubbing the back of his neck.
The team all laughed with him but there was a melancholy ring to the sound.
What about the birds? Kota asked his team leads.
The bitches are coming to us too late, North thought grimly.
Yes, Owen agreed with his second again. It really no longer matters what they have to say tonight. If we can convince whoever we speak to in four days to pull their team out on the grounds of lack of experience for such a tough case, that's my goal. If not, no more pretending we're dating.
Owen shivered; it wasn't a good feeling. The Academy will have to find them alternative accommodation too.
All the dogs smirked hopefully at the targeted outcome.
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Mak rubbed his face in exhaustion. In the week since Sang had given birth to the septs a lot had happened with the Academy BoD. An emergency board meeting following Andrews disciplinary investigation and his subsequent sacking had concluded with him as both a new Community Trustee and the newly elected Chairman of the Board.
He'd seen this coming back at his first BoD meeting when Andrews was exposed; so fortunately he'd had the foresight a month ago to fly back to Cali and call the Valhalla's brotherhood together to the Thing (Old Norse for a governing body). After a loud argument, it was agreed their club would enter a liaison with the Academy. But it had been made clear that the benefit to the club would need to be quantified and verified before everyone would be satisfied it was the right decision for their MC family. Especially in light of their Pres likely to become involved in the Academy's leadership. They didn't like that his time and loyalty could be split from them. Mak snorted to himself. His loyalty was to his club and his daughters. Period.
Mak had been happy to inform them that Sang was a worthy twin to Iris. The men had all belly laughed. They'd said with a name like Sangrida, meaning Valkyrie in Old Norse, she could be nothing less than worthy. His brothers were all looking forward to meeting her.
And they would, because four days after Sang gave birth to the septs, the first item of business he'd presented to the BoD in his capacity of Chairman was a request from the Ghost team, in light of Andrews' knowledge of the Texas based Ghost House, that the house in Texas be sold. The team had also officially requested to be allowed to purchase the replacement house privately... in California. Mak was not ashamed that he actively influenced the twins on the location; he truly thought it was the best place to position their newly formed team. The BoD had supported the request in a unanimous vote.
Mak had found the perfect property in Napa Valley for them. It was actually a working vineyard and had stables, providing the team with ideal aliases. The house has 15 bedrooms and with the septs they would need those bedrooms! It was pricey because of where it is located but Mak had the means and he wanted to give his girls and grandkids a home they could grow into. The twins will not be fooled though, the new Ghost team house would be within a half hour of the Valhalla MC headquarters. That'll satisfy the brothers!
At some point he was going to need to discuss the MC with Sang. He wanted to get her patched in as a Valkyrie - Sif (daughter) designation* as Iris had been, so that she would be fully protected by the club and the brotherhood. There were some in the brotherhood who'd wanted Iris as their Valkyrie - Frigg (wife) designation** and the fact she is now with the Toma boys would have been problematic had she not been patched in. Sang was Iris' double and that would be a temptation for a couple of the brothers to try and make a play for her. Without a patch for designation and protection, things could become complicated. Club politics and relationships, Mak grimaced, what a headache. MC politics made the Academy BoD look like child's play.
Which brought a bigger headache to Mak's attention; the contract Andrews had signed for the assignment in Estonia. Andrews had thought himself so clever, but as far as Mak could tell, he was a complete jävla dumhuvud (fucking moron). After getting Skug to dig through the layers of subterfuge, it was discovered that the contract was with one of the main Bratvas in Russia - to get evidence on a competitor who has been moving in on their business in Estonia. No one with any sense would've taken the contract. It was like fighting a multi headed snake; you could find yourself attacked on all fronts.
The Valhalla MC have had a few exchanges, not conflict exactly, just careful dances to avoid conflict where their interests had intersected with a couple of the Russian Bratvas. Mak had his Vice, Fenrir, working their existing connections with those Bratvas to negotiate the Academy away from the Russian families. But these sorts of discussions require the right people at the table and a lot of hide and seek to figure out what all sides want and then ultimately how to achieve a solution where everybody wins. As awkward as the process sounds, Mak was sure he could get the Academy at least far enough away from the Bratva businesses to be autonomous and safe. What worried him was that the Academy would have to honour the current contract.
Honestly? That wouldn't bother him either, it was just a complicated job and extraction. The problem was one of the teams at risk was the Blackbourne team. And that both he and Phil now knew where they were and hadn't yet come clean with the girls. If it were just the girls, Mak wouldn't have hesitated but the Tomas were now in the circle of trust too. Mak was coming to respect the boys so it really wasn't the fact they were dating his daughters so much as the requirement of strategic confidentiality... Ok so that's bullshit, he still didn't like that his girls were dating the Tomas. It wasn't the Tomas specifically just that no man was good enough for his flicka och älskling (baby girl and sweetheart).
Mak had come up with an idea though to skirt the confidentiality issue. He'd discussed it with Phil last night,
'What if we sent the Ghost team to California now before the shit hits the fan over the Andrews contract?' Phil raised his face to Mak in critical contemplation,
'What's your play with this concept?' Mak shrugged,
'Officially the eight of them would be our most secret weapon and we could talk the board into reading them in, if we move them to 'shadow' now and train them in situ out in California so they were not able to discuss with any other Academy members or externals about the details of the contract,' Phil pondered the idea, a small smile picking at his lips. The smile had eventually lifted into a full grin when Phil's finished thinking the possibility through,
'You've bought them the house. Harvest is just about finished for this years crop of grapes and the house and grounds will be essentially deserted until after the new year. The timing is actually perfect. The place is also perfect for their training purposes. They can undergo training, have Christmas and New Years together and then we'll be ready to deploy them as a team,' Phil was quiet for a moment,
'I've been thinking, with the liaison in place between the Academy and the Valhalla MC, a satellite office is needed in California. At least for your first tenure as Community Trustee of three years, I'm thinking of heading up the operations at the satellite office. Pitching the satellite office to the BoD will make reading in the Ghost team more palatable if there is someone high up in the Academy strategic management near by. Especially a director they have ties to,' Mak tilted his head,
'Why would they be satisfied with that? Wouldn't it lend itself to collusion between you and them, especially considering that I'd be close by and have ties with the girls too?' Phil shook his head,
'No, you and I would argue that no one else knows those two the way we do and so would be helpless to work out if there was a problem. Plus, it's mandatory to have a trainer and a member of management at all inductions,' Mak had shrugged, if that would sway the board, great. It wouldn't have convinced him.
So today the second impromptu BoD meeting in a week was scheduled. After that, assuming all went well, it would be time to speak with the Tomas, Iris and... Sang. He wasn't looking forward to explaining this to Sang. Not just the Blackbourne team part but also the part where he admitted they'd be moving within the week AND that's he'd bought the house for them already. Yep. He was in for a roasting.
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Today the Blackbourne and Andrews teams would have first contact with the Academy. Owen was feeling edgy. A dangerous client, an MC President as Chairman of the board for the Academy and the need to get back to their bird were running through his brain on loop.
The conversation with the birds four days ago had, as expected, been anti climatic. With Andrews out of the way, the problems we might have had were no longer an issue. It was a big relief for all parties to leave the relationship farce behind though. The birds were also all for having space to themselves. If I didn't have the impression Miss Andrews was hiding the most damning information, we might've been able to find some common ground. But I am certain she was aware of some of her father's criminality and that she'd been an agent in helping him accomplish his intentions. And frankly those intentions were aimed at our bird. Either way, we'll soon be rid of her and her team of birds.
North signalled for my attention, it was time. The nine of us hovered around the burner phone. Still when it rang, more than half of the team were startled,
'Heat,' Owen answered matter of factly,
'Remote,' an unknown voice with a faint Scandinavian accent deadpanned back from the phone.
Right then. They were speaking with the Valhalla MC President,
'You are not Richard Andrews, please can you confirm your role for the Academy?' Owen chose to tread carefully until he knew how to approach this complex man,
'You are speaking to the newly appointed Chairman of the Academy board. But then you already know that, Owen Blackbourne,' Owen raises his brow at his team. Uncle must have reported their contact to Phil Roberts as he'd said he would if he could,
'Yes. I see Uncle has apprised Phil Roberts and/or yourself of our contact,'
'He did,' Mak states emotionlessly.
'Fine. That makes this conversation easier to fast track; will the Academy be able to terminate the client contract for this assignment? If not, will the teams be pulled out of position?' Owen jumped to the crux of the information he needed to know,
'The Academy can not break the contract with the client. The Andrews team has been pulled. Your team will not be pulled,' There was silence, the Blackbourne team needed more information. Owen continued,
'Then I assume that irrespective of the client, our team is still the best capable of completing the assignment. Will another team be assigned to replace the Andrews team?' Owen waited patiently for Makinen's response,
'You assume correct. The Blackbourne team is the only team capable that is currently available for deployment. No. There will be no second team although you will occasionally be assisted by my associates in the Valhalla MC - you will be notified of the method of this assistance via appropriate protocols. I've been assured your team is capable of completing the assignment without other additional assistance,' Owen was irritated by the need to lead the Scandinavian to get answers to important questions but sensed he was being tested,
'Then my team needs to know who the client is, please,' Owen and the team waited anxiously for the response,
'The second highest Bratva family in Russia,' was Makinen's terse reply. The entire team faced one another grim faced,
'Do you think your team can handle the heat, Blackbourne?' Owen frowned. The Swede was being straight, and he had no issue with Makinen's directness, what bothered him was the slightest vibe of disapproval he was picking up on,
'We can,' Owen stated factually, before following up with the second question on his team's mind,
'Can you tell me if our bird is safe and well?' All nine men held their collective breaths only to be truly conflicted by Makinen's scornful reply,
'It was my understanding you left your ex bird with a short letter of fare thee well, it's been nice, but it's over. Why would you imagine she'd want the Academy to answer that question on her behalf?' The mocking tones the first deviation from clinical operations mode from their new Chairman bothered both Owen and Sean who exchanged concerned looks,
'There was a reason for that approach even if it has proven to have been the wrong approach,' Owen stated regret audible to everyone listening,
'The Volto assignment took an unexpected turn two days prior to our team's departure. We received photographs of our bird, asleep in bed at our home in South Carolina with Volto holding both a gun and knife to her head and throat respectively. His requirement was clear, if we didn't leave Sang, he'd kill her and we wouldn't be able to stop him,' There was explosive silence from the other end of the line before Makinen spoke,
'The same Volto who murdered my wife five years ago,' there was the connection Owen realised as he and his team processed the Swede's shocking admission. The Swede spoke softly but Owen's intuition told him the man was enraged,
'I see. This explains much. However, given the way you left Sang Sorensen, the confidential nature of her current whereabouts and status will not be disclosed to you,' the Blackbourne team rustled in agitation,
'I will tell you that she is safe, well and sequestered in a new team under mine and Phil Robert's supervision. That is all I'm permitted to tell you. Any other information is Sang Sorensen's prerogative to communicate to you. You may however send a new letter,' the sarcasm and irony, however subtle it was from Makinen, was not missed by Owen. His team was mainly focused on their devastation to hear Sang had been assigned to a new team. Owen was just as unhappy about that turn of events but he'd expected it given what he'd written in her goodbye letter and again his intuition warned him Makinen knew much more than he'd told the Blackbourne team, Owen thought to himself noting both Sean and Victor exchanging glances that told him he wasn't the only one to notice how cagey the Swede was acting,
'You may give the letter to the Andrews' team liaison for Sang Sorensen if you'd care to do so,' Owen struggled but kept his irritation with the Chairman out of his voice, although his team could see the effort it was costing him. Again Owen felt Makinen was baiting him.
'That solution is not acceptable. We do not trust the Andrews' team. We know their lead had contact with her father four months ago in May and are aware she has spoken with him at least once since. We can prove the first conversation with audio evidence of the conversation from her side. This was what forced our hand to make contact with Erica Lee and then Uncle as the assignment was called into question. The Andrews team also attempted to manipulate my team into personal relationships at the mandate of her father. We knew from her contact in May with her father that the situation was a set up, so we elected to play along in an effort to unravel their intentions. She and her team are in fact lesbian. She admitted this to us four days ago,' Makinen was considering this new information,
'There are protocols in place for you to send audio and visual data to the Academy. Follow that protocol and send me the audio from the Andrews' team liaison's conversation with her father, the photograph and note from Volto and any communication you wish to give to Sang Sorensen. The board will take appropriate actions,' Owen was only partly relieved as Makinen continued,
'Three final things. Firstly the favours for this assignment were disproportionately contracted to you by Andrews. You will receive ten times that value for successfully completing the assignment in the time frame allocated. Secondly, as this has been a particularly messy and unacceptably dangerous assignment, our next contact will occur in three weeks time. Same time and day. Finally, communication protocol: conflict, trust. Goodbye Blackbourne team,' Owen was shocked to hear the dial tone, not being given further opportunity to enquire after their bird. The rest of the team was likewise unsettled.
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As Mak hung up the phone and stared at Phil, he shook his head in disgust,
'We have a clusterfuck on our hands here,' Phil nodded wearily,
'Yes, we do. As much as I want to beat the hell out of them for hurting Sang, I'm not sure in their shoes I'd have done anything different except for communicate better with her and their families,' Mak nodded, rubbing his neck wearily,
'Agreed. Unfortunately for them, they did tell her to move on with her life so they'd better not renege on that position when they find out she has,' Phil agreed but thought it might end up a lot more complicated than that implied,
'We'll have to wait and see. The Blackbourne team won't be back for approximately eighteen months. A lot will happen between now and then,' Phil's voice trailed off before picking up a different topic of conversation,
'How'd Sang and Iris take the news about moving and the new house?' Mak just laughed pride and bemusement on his face,
'They were expecting the move. Even the timing of the move. Sang just shrugged and said it made sense,' Phil chuckled,
'And the house?' Mak belly laughed,
'I did tweak their tempers over buying the house. Until I showed them the house and grounds, but mostly the horses! I thought little girls grew out of the dream of getting a pony?' Phil chortled,
'Apparently not.'
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Owen and the Blackbourne team trekked back to the house partially despondent at eighteen months of not being able to speak directly to their bird and partially hopeful about making her an video to communicate with her as they should've in the first place.
As they entered the house, two things were obvious immediately. The birds were gone. Their car had not been outside and all the items they'd put about the house were gone. The second thing that got their attention was a wrapped parcel on the table.
Owen could see his team name in the addressees position on the parcel front in neat handwriting. The birds had left a goodbye on a post it note stuck on top of the box. There was a post script at the bottom of the post it note saying the parcel had been delivered before they left.
Owen looked at the parcel on all sides, listened to it for a moment, shook it slightly and listened again. Feeling secure, Owen removed the paper and string before using a knife to unseal the box inside the parcel lifting the lid. Inside were dozens of pictures of Sang, mostly from the top of her torso up and a one sentence note,
'Don't come back, I'm still watching. Volto'
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So the plot begins to come together and now the Blackbourne's are fighting a battle on two fronts - the home front and the Bratvas front....
Lots of action about to unfold but sorry there is still a while before a face to face confrontation happens between Sang and the Blackbourne team...
*So about the Sif designation patch.... daughters don't factor much in Norse mythology but Thor was protective over Sif - there's this whole story about Loki cutting off her hair and Thor making him replace it?!? Sif is also Thor's wife making her Odin's daughter (in-law) so I took some creative license....
**Frigg was Odin's wife, although Frigg and Freya are both alluded to as his wife. Freya (Frigg) is in charge of the Valkyries.
There will be plenty more Norse references via the Valhalla MC.