My Mystery Mate Ch. 13-14

"What could you want from us? You're wanted by every werewolf pack in the country, and we don't have any pull with them."

"This is simpler. After I left your employ, I had my daughter and we were going to live out a nice, quiet life. Somehow my identity got leaked and the Torchelli family took my daughter, and forced me to do their bidding. When they thought I was dead they released her, but now that want her back. That's what the attack on my safe house was. She's safe, but the Torchellis implanted a GPS transceiver in her neck. It needs to be surgically removed, and it's not like I can take her to an emergency room and say, 'By the way, can you get this electronic device and explosive out of my two year old's neck?' I need a doctor who is more... discrete. You have them. I need your help so my daughter can go somewhere she can be protected, out of the reach of the Mob."

"And in return you don't release the information?"

"In return all of the stuff I did in the past stays secret, and I will owe you a favor. There may come a time where my," she leaned forward, "unique talents may be helpful to you. Also, you agree to call off the investigation into me and not try to capture me, my husband Joe Miller, or Lynn's father Trevor Madison. We go back into hiding, and no one ever knows that Black Ker was a CIA deep cover operation up until a few years ago."

Charles sat back, he knew he really didn't have a choice, but it wasn't a bad deal from his end. He sipped his Scotch and nodded his head. "Agreed. I need to make a phone call, I'll set your daughter up with one of the Company doctors."

Linda smiled and lowered the pistol. "Thank you. Make sure you tell them that the GPS may attract bad guys, and I'll stay here until she is done. My husband will need to scrub in and watch, we can't be too careful." Standing up, she put the pistol back in its holster and handed him the phone before going to get a drink. "While I'm here, I'll answer your questions. Like I said, we're not on opposite sides. The stuff I did recently I was forced to do, or was when I had no memory." She sipped on the fine Scotch as she watched him make the call.

Long Beach, CA

Station Chief Residence

Master of my destiny. It was always my goal, and now I was closer to having it again.

I spent the next few hours with Charles Atwater. He had agreed to my terms, and we both had phone calls to make. He had a scrambled phone in his office he used to contact Langley, eventually talking to the Director himself. They offered to have Legal come up with something, but I refused; the fewer things written down the better.

I spent some time on the phone with Joe, he was given the contact info for the CIA transport team. Lynn had been picked up by a special ambulance and taken to a clinic that didn't exist in any phone directory. The ambulance contained a GPS signal jammer to make sure she wasn't tracked. Joe called me when she was taken in to surgery, she was nervous beforehand but the surgery was going well.

I kept my word, filling the CIA station chief in on my past, both in and after the CIA. He was shocked at some of the things that had been going on, but he was also intrigued. He saw the value of my former team, and I could tell he wished we were still around. The CIA had changed, after 9/11 it became focused more on terrorism and the situations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and less on Russia and other national threats. The budgets for electronic intelligence and drones had gone up, but the human intelligence side had lost ground, and that was the side he ran. You couldn't just use a drone to take out the targets he was after, you had to get someone in close. The current administration had no stomach for the difficult and long term work of developing assets.

I was in a good mood, we were relaxing some of his good Scotch and the memories were coming back to me, it was like each one was new as it came to mind. One thing at a time, I thought, and getting Lynn to safety was the first priority as I explained to Charles.

"So, Linda, what comes next? Are you going to continue work as Black Ker?"

"No, she's going to fade away. I have a few more jobs for her, though. The Torchellis are going to pay for what they have done to me. I will warn you, though- someone gave my real name and location up to them, they knew who I was and how to get me to do what they wanted. If that man is CIA, he's fucking dead."

Charles smiled. "I'd hope so. I don't like seeing good assets blown, even inactive they are a resource that should be protected. If you do find him, please let me know. I can help smooth things out on the Company end."

"Won't that cause problems for you?"

"Not at all. Security leaks are just that, if he will sell you out, he's probably selling us out too. Mind you, I'd love to get our boys a crack at him before he's dead so we can figure out what the damage was. No one will stand in your way when it is time to kill him, you're actually taking care of a problem for us."

"Yes, and the Black Ker calling card shifts suspicion away from you. It's worked well in the past."

CIA Black Clinic

Downtown Los Angeles

Joe paced in the nondescript waiting room, it purported to be a small law firm but was anything but lawful. Lynn was going to be in surgery for an hour, so it was a good chance to catch up on some business. Specifically, the Torchellis.

His wolf was pissed that they would put his family in danger, and wanted them all dead. Pulling out a new burner phone, he called the Organized Crime Unit at the FBI and was routed to Agent Ramirez. "Special Agent Ramirez, this is Joe Miller again. Are you convinced?"

There was no hesitation. "We confirmed that Ricky Tomczyk had a device implanted, he's in surgery now to remove it. Scared the shit out of the hospital, we've got a surgeon and nurse in bomb disposal gear trying to get that thing out of him, and we had to evacuate the whole wing. We also traced his flight from Dulles Airport, and confirmed he's a member of the Torchellis. He works for a guy named Frankie Pantolini, our DC office is trying to get more. Our Dallas office is going to interview the staff at the El Paso pack, but from the photo they emailed, we should be able to confirm they are from the same people. Just to confirm, this guy is after Black Ker?"

"Yep, they have been blackmailing her into robberies and assassinations for the past two years. Now that they found out reports of her death had been exaggerated, they want her back under their thumb."

"So, Mr. Miller, when are you and Black Ker going to turn yourselves in so we can straighten this whole mess out?"

Joe laughed hard. "No offense, Agent Ramirez, but the FBI doesn't make my Top Ten concerns right now. I've got plenty of other things to worry about." He paused for a moment. "Our daughter is innocent in all this, she's two years old for Luna's sake. We're getting her to safety, then we are going after the Torchelli family, and HARD. I'm telling you this so you know to stay out of the way."

"Violence isn't the solution, Mr. Miller. The Torchelli family is under and active investigation, let us do our work."

"Sorry, Agent. In my world, violence is the BEST solution. All threats to my family and my Pack must be eliminated. Stay out of our way, Agent, I don't want to see any of you killed." He closed the phone down, it had been a little longer conversation than he wanted but that was not going to be a problem, downtown was too big an area. He crushed the burner phone and tossed it in the trash, reaching into his shopping bag he pulled out the laptop. Logging in to a public wifi channel, he went to the secure chat room and pinged Enrique at the Gila Pack that he was there to talk.

It only took a few minutes for him to reply. "Joe, are you safe?"

"Yes for now. Lynn's in surgery, she had an implant in her neck with a GPS tracker. Once she is out, we're leaving and heading your way. Right now Linda is with the CIA, that problem is going away."

"All right, that only leaves a powerful organized crime family and every Werewolf pack in the country. What's the plan?"

"Lynn needs a safe place, someone that will keep her if anything happens to us."

"I talked to my Alphas about that, we have a young couple here in the Pack who is willing to foster and adopt if needed. They are good people, and they don't mind that she is a Panther. We just have to meet off Pack lands; we can't have it get out that they were helping you, or came onto their territory without them arresting and holding you."

"I can work with that. Tomorrow night we will be passing through Albuquerque. Have them up in that area, give me their phone number and we will arrange the meetup."

Enrique gave him the number for Caleb and Maria. Newly mated as of a year ago, the young couple was dealing with the sad news of her infertility, a result of the physical and sexual abuse she had suffered while the prisoner of a sadistic druglord. "They will make sure Lynn is safe until you return. Now, I have a request of you."

"Anything, Enrique, you know that."

"Take Anna and I with you." There was silence on the line, long enough that Enrique started to wonder what was going on. "Joe?"

"I'm here. Why would you want to go with us, Enrique? We're only the most wanted people in the whole fucking country right now. Why would you even think of bringing Anna into this mess? You two are still newly mated."

"It's getting too dangerous to stay here. Now that the National Security Agency and FBI know I'm not dead, it won't take them long to track me to the Gila pack. I've already talked to the Alphas about this; they can't protect me from the Federal government if I'm arrested. I have to go into hiding, Joe, and Anna won't leave my side. We can help each other."

Joe thought about it for a while, he was reluctant but he couldn't say no. "We're heading east, we're taking out the Torchellis."

He could almost hear Enrique grinning before he spoke. "I know. I can't wait."

The sound of gunshots ended the conversation. Slamming the laptop closed, Joe was on his feet and had his pistol out almost immediately. The shots came from inside the clinic- the same place Lynn was at! He peered through the double glass doors heading back to the surgical suite, seeing nothing he pushed them open and rushed forward. The shots were coming from around the next corner, he could see bullets hitting the wall on the right side. Crouching down, he took a peek at knee height.

Five men were advancing on the operating room on the long hallway, guns out. The CIA personnel, he could see two down and one last man behind a table, firing through the doorway. With a primal howl, Joe rushed forward, firing his Glock with deadly effect. The flanking attack caught the men in the crossfire, and in seconds three of them were on the ground. The remaining two split up, one turned to face Joe while the other continued forward.

Joe's pistol fired through its last rounds, the slugs tearing into the chest and legs of the man but not taking him down. When the slide locked back, Joe tossed it aside and leaped forward, shifting into his wolf before his front paws could touch the ground. His nails scraped the hardwood floor as he charged, barreling the man over as his jaws clamped around his head. They went crashing to the floor, but Joe didn't let go as his momentum carried him up and over. His teeth ripped huge chunks from his face and jaw. The man screamed, but not for long. Joe got his jaws around the back of his neck and clamped down hard before shaking his head violently from side to side. There was a loud SNAP sound as his neck broke and he went still.

The gunshots had stopped behind him. The last CIA man lay bleeding on the floor, he looked at Joe in thanks as he went by. Joe burst into the room, red with rage, and saw the best thing ever.

Under a table and behind some equipment cabinets, the doctor and nurse were hidden. Lynn was in her arms.

Joe shifted, unconcerned with his naked state as he ran over to his daughter. "Is she all right?" The nurse nodded, looking away as he took Lynn in his arms. "I'll call for help, you go help him." He gestured towards the CIA man in the doorway, and they were shocked back into action. He stepped into the hallway, taking a set of scrubs from the cabinet the nurse pointed to, and walked back to the waiting room. Along the way he picked up his shoes, luckily they hadn't been shredded in the shift like the rest of his clothes. Setting her down in a chair as she remained asleep, he quickly dressed. Putting the laptop back in the bag, he pulled out another burner and called his mate.

"Linda, tell him the clinic has been hit, multiple casualties. Lynn's all right, I'm getting the hell out of here." He snapped the phone closed and picked up the bag before lifting his daughter back into his arms.

"Wait." Joe spun around to see the receptionist coming out from under the desk. Since the attack had not come from her direction, she had called for help and remained in a defensible position. "You can't use the normal stairways or elevators, they may be watching those." Gesturing for him to follow, she walked back into the hallway and stopped at an unlabeled door. "We use this to get people in and out without being seen. It only goes between here and the parking garage." Opening the door, she revealed a small elevator. "Now go, before reinforcements arrive."

Joe carried Lynn in, her bandaged neck to the outside as her head rested on his left shoulder and his left arm wrapped around her. "Thank you." The door closed and the elevator slowly moved down. When it stopped, he looked at the surveillance screens provided and verified no one was waiting for him. In moments he was in the plumbing van, Lynn settled on the couch. He quickly changed into a set of coveralls with the plumbing company logo and a hat, then filled his pockets with pistols and extra magazines in case he had to shoot his way out.

He waited until he had exited the building into downtown traffic and verified he wasn't tailed before he called. "Linda, we're clear, I'm coming to get you."

"No, meet us at Daugherty Field." The general aviation airport near Long Beach was rated for private jets, it had been one option when they flew in. "The Company is providing us with a black charter. It seems our interests in the next job overlap after what just happened." Linda chuckled, to say the CIA had been pissed off would be an understatement. As soon as they verified the men were Torchellis, Charles Atwater promised them whatever they needed to execute a Black Ker style retribution; he didn't want to hand this one to the FBI, and he wasn't interested in sending these guys to jail.

Two hours later, the young family was on a private jet for Albuquerque, with continuing service to Maryland. Hell was coming to the Torchellis.