South Mountain Pack Ch. 13

"I agree, I feel if they're coming here to harm us, we need to employ every resource we have," said George with a shrug before turning to face Carlo. "I'll have four sons who'll be eighteen or older, and the only reason Harry isn't arguing with me to join the battle is he knows if anything happens to the rest of us, he'll be the only one left to help his mom and Emily."

"Both my sons will be fighting alongside me and if we don't make it... Harry has agreed to help Teresa and Beatrice so they won't be alone," said Ed as he put his head down. He stopped talking and took a deep breath as he glanced over the manicured grounds before saying, "We've kept current on everything else Carlo; our security measures, training techniques, everything we do and have is state of the art. I think if we don't use firepower, it will put us at a huge disadvantage... our lives and the lives of our families are dependent on us making the right decisions."

Carlo turned to Frank and Joe and they nodded their heads. He turned back to Ed and George, taking a deep breath and said, "What do you recommend?"

*****

At 5 PM, the men pulled into the parking lot at the private hangars of Hagerstown Regional Airport after passing through a police barricade. There were two men in each SUV, Frank/John Benedetto, Joe/Thomas Bellucci, Vinnie/George Hammond, Ed/George Reeder. As each man stepped out of the SUV's, they automatically scanned and scented the area. They were dressed in business suits and looked like they were ready to step into a boardroom on Wall Street rather than on the tarmac at a small regional airport in Western Maryland.

Frank glanced at his watch and said, "Clay called the Airport Manager earlier and he was notified of the arrival of VIP's for the reception, so the area should be closed. Tom and John check each hangar and make sure they're empty, Vinnie and Hammond, check the terminal area. Ed, Reeder, Joe, you're with me." The men went to their assigned areas and the four men walked to the edge of the parking lot where the Airport Manager was waiting.

"Good evening Gentlemen, I'm Bradley Grimm the Airport General Manager," he said swallowing nervously as tried to appear taller as the Carlucci brothers towered over his 5'9" height. He glanced at the other men with them and realized that even though they were 6'1", they also appeared small in comparison.

"I'm Frank Carlucci and this is my brother Joe, Senator Martin's office told you to expect us," Frank smiled to get him to relax, but it seemed to have the opposite effect as he took an involuntary step back. Frank motioned to the two other men and said, "This is George Reeder from Homeland Security and Ed Giovanni from the FBI." Both men showed their credentials and Mr. Grimm looked suitably impressed.

"The airport has been closed to traffic since noon and has been swept for explosive devices as requested by the State Department and Homeland Security," Brad said with an uneven tremor in his voice before clearing his throat. "The first private plane is scheduled to land at 5:30, and we have twenty more scheduled after that, plus four helicopters. As you can see, we have Police Officers at each entrance and more in the front parking lot who will provide the necessary escorts."

Ed motioned with his head towards the front parking lot which was filled with limousines and asked, "The limo's, have they been swept?"

"Yes Sir, they were checked before they were allowed on the grounds. Mr. Marco Moretti ordered fifty of them; Hagerstown doesn't have that many, so they had to be sent from DC, Frederick and Baltimore. I believe he ordered extra in case there were last minute planes requesting permission to land, and only those on the invitation list will be permitted to do so," Brad answered as he exhaled slowly. "The State Department informed us the Italian and British Ambassadors will be arriving by helicopter, and the State Police notified us the Governor and Lieutenant Governor will be too. The people in the terminal and the ground crews have been vetted by the FBI for clearance and the State Department has people on hand to greet the parties from the Italian and British Embassies."

George smiled as he said, "It sounds like you have things under control."

Brad relaxed slightly and said, "We've never had anything like this before and I'll be honest with you, I'm a nervous wreck. I looked at the names of the people arriving in the private jets and it reads like a who's who from the Fortune 500 list from Forbes. Everyone is talking about this reception, and I received calls from People Magazine, USA Today, The Washington Post, every major newspaper in the country and even some international papers about who is arriving." He glanced at the men in front of him and said quickly, "I didn't let them know who is arriving or when; I directed all calls to Senator Martin's office as instructed." He turned around and pointed to the Italian restaurant across the street and said, "We're not allowing photographers on the property, but they can see who is arriving from there. The owner is charging them $500 per vehicle to park in his lot, making them buy dinner, but the best part is when they broadcast they have to mention his restaurant and its location."

The men laughed as Joe said, "We've eaten there and he has good food. It'll be good advertising for him since they've only been open for a couple of months."

Frank's phone rang and he said, "Excuse me Gentlemen." He walked several feet away, "Frank Carlucci...Yes, Sir...ten minutes out...we're ready Sir..." After hanging up he walked back to the group and said, "They're almost here."

Joe nodded and turned to Bradley saying, "Thank you for everything Bradley if you ever need us for anything, here's my card." The men shook hands and Bradley entered the terminal as the four men walked to the private hangars.

"Everything has been checked and is secure," said Vinnie as the men continued to scan the area.

"Get ready and keep your guard up," Frank said quietly. They watched the private plane approach and the men moved into formation, Frank and Joe in the lead, flanked by Vinnie and Ed as Level 4's and the rest fanning alongside as Level 3's. The men took a deep breath as the plane landed and taxied down the runway to the private hangar. The door opened slowly and the stairs were lowered before five guards stepped out, scanning the area before one re-entered the airplane. Moments later he re-emerged followed by President Roberts, his mate Helen and two other members of the Alpha Council and their mates, James and Amy Briggs from Castle Mountain Pack, Montana and Hank and Michelle Carter of Roan Mountain Pack, Tennessee.

President Roberts swept the area with his steely gaze before motioning for everyone to stay where they were and made his way alone over to the party from SMP. Frank and Joe stepped forward to meet him and he tilted his head as he looked them over before extending his hand, "How are two of my favorite Beta's doing?"

Frank and Joe smiled as they shook hands and Frank responded, "We are fine President Roberts, how are you doing?"

"Fucking tired, still going over all the shit from Davis, Carlsbad and Grant Packs," he said angrily. "I still don't know everything that was going on but we are getting closer to finding the answers." He hesitated before saying quietly so only they could hear, "I want to ride alone to the reception with the two of you, there are things I want to talk about that I don't want anybody else to know, now smile and tell me how long it's going to take to get to the reception." Frank and Joe's facial expressions didn't betray anything, before both of them smiled widely.

"Yes Sir, it should take twenty minutes to arrive at the reception," said Frank in a normal tone. Frank gave the keys to Joe and he walked over to the men and quietly talked to them before they got in the SUV's and pulled them as close to the private plane as they could. The men got out, opened the back doors and Frank escorted the Briggs' and a guard to the first SUV with Ed and George; the Carter's and a guard to the second SUV with Tom and John; Helen Roberts and a guard to the fourth SUV with Vinnie and George; and in the third SUV, President Roberts would be with Frank and Joe, leaving two guards to stay with the plane along with the pilots.

*****

At 5:20, the Whitmers pulled in front of the Carlucci garage, within moments Vin, Dom, Gianni, Marcus, Lorenzo, Damian, Enzo and Gino were out front scanning and scenting the area as they walked to the SUV's to help with the young ones.

"Vinnie," squealed Hope from her booster seat in the third row as her twin, Hayden covered his ears. Vin quickly unbuckled them and picked them up, seeing Enzo carrying Abby into the house he followed, scanning the yard as he said, "Get them in the house." Gianni picked up Holden, and Marcus escorted the rest of the young ones inside leaving Dom, Lorenzo, Damian and Gino to carry their backpacks. Veronica and Christy followed them in the house carrying casserole dishes.

Jerry and Joel looked at Dom with concern on their faces and Joel said, "What's the matter? We didn't sense anything."

Dom sighed, "Nothings going on, other than our wolves are on edge with so many of the young ones going to be here tonight, not to mention the Miller girls."

"In total, there's going to be fifty-two of us here," said Gino as he continued to scan the yard. "As soon as the second group gets here we're locking down the house, so if you come early, make sure you call."

"So, you won't need their boosters?" asked Joel as he shut the backdoor.

"We aren't planning on going anywhere, but you'd better bring them in just in case," said Dom with a shrug. "There's just too many of us, and right now we're too on edge to take them anywhere." Jerry nodded and got the boosters out of his SUV as Joel did the same.

"You two clean up alright," Damian said with a straight face that changed into a wicked smile, "But I've got to be honest, your mates look friggin fantastic, the two of you certainly married up." He started to smirk as he heard their growls and grabbed some backpacks before running into the house.

"That boy ..." said Joel frowning before he started to laugh.

"That's his problem, he can say or do anything and nobody ever gets mad at him, I don't know how he does it," said Lorenzo with a shrug. "Let's get this stuff in the house." They walked into the kitchen with the backpacks and Alec told his brothers Alex and Aaron, and cousins, Hayden, Hunter and Holden to bring the backpacks into the family room with Abby, Hope and Hyatt who were talking with Maria. Within minutes, they all were quietly playing on the floor and Hope and Abby were on the recliner with Maria whispering quietly.

"He reminds me of Vin," said Gino. "I can't ever remember a time when Vin wasn't giving us orders."

Dom gave a laugh as he replied, "He's only gotten worse as we've gotten older."

"What are you talking about? You're just as bad," muttered Marcus as Dom hit him in the back of the head.

Rose walked into the kitchen wearing the presents Luc had brought from Italy, an emerald green cocktail dress and matching stilettos. It fit her perfectly and had a strapless embroidered low-cut bodice and a ruched satin waist before the bell shaped skirt flared out above the knee. Her hair flowed halfway down her back in loose waves and she had on diamond earrings, bracelet and a necklace.

"Whoa...does Dad know you're wearing that?" asked Vin as he stared at his mother with his mouth open.

"You look beautiful Momma," said Sophia with a big smile on her face.

"Uncle Frank is gonna freakin lose it when he sees you," said Damian with a smirk before he started to frown, "And I'm gonna miss it."

"You look beautiful cousin," said Luc with a proud smile. "The dresses I brought for you and Annie are right off the mannequins in the design room; they haven't even hit the runway in Milan. I had to make special arrangements to obtain them for you."

"Yeah right," said Ric as he rolled his eyes. "What did you have to do? Make weekly payments with the allowance Nonna gives you?"

Luc stood abruptly knocking his chair over as he glared at Ric and said, "Questo è tutto. Ho avuto abbastanza del vostro atteggiamento e sminuire me è fottuto bastardo. Quando torniamo, dirò Nonna e lasciare che il suo affare." (That is it. I have had enough of your attitude and you belittling me you fucking bastard. When we get back home, I am going to tell Nonna and let her deal with you.)

"You wouldn't dare," said Ric as he glared back, though his voice had a tremor of fear in it.

"Try me," responded Luc with an evil smile as they continued to glare at each other before they heard their cousins laughing at them.

"Enough, both of you," said Rose as she continued to laugh. "Come on, Frank said the plane just landed and I don't want us to be late and...I can't wait to see Frank's reaction to my dress."

"I can tell you what's going to happen. Dads gonna go ballistic, especially when he sees your ugh uhmm..." Dom hesitated before cupping his own chest and saying quietly, "Chestal area, all out in the open like that."

"I'm seriously going to need therapy after this," said Damian with a shudder as he collapsed in a chair, his head held in his hands. "Listening to you talk about your mom's 'chestal area' is enough to traumatize me for life." He shuddered again and said, "I don't think there's enough bleach in the world to get those words or the image of you cupping your chest out of my head."

Rose smiled at her nephew and said, "You'll be fine Damian, you're a big boy and I'm sure you've seen and done worse, especially if you take after your father and your uncle."

Vin and Dom stood abruptly and moved to the front door as Vin said loudly, "The Millers and their escorts are here."

Christy and Veronica pulled Rose to the side and Ronnie quietly asked, "What do we do at the reception? We've never been to an official reception before since our mates were only promoted to Beta's last week."

"There will be a receiving line according to rank, Alpha Carlo will formally introduce the guests to each Beta and their mates," said Rose a she checked the contents of her pocketbook. "President Roberts will most likely congratulate your mates on their promotion and ask about your youngsters. Then it's like any normal cocktail party, we socialize and the men gossip. It's pretty boring actually." She stopped talking as the Millers and their escorts entered the kitchen. The Miller girls seeing everyone in the family room headed in there and Rose said in a loud voice, "Frank wants me to remind everyone not to mention anything that's going on with our Pack and to let them know immediately if they ask about security or the girls."

The adults nodded and went into the family room to say goodbye to their youngsters before heading out the door. Vin and Dom followed and the rest of the Carlucci boys made sure all the doors and windows were locked before setting the alarm. "Mom, the rest of the adults left and we secured the house, we're going to watch some movies," said Lorenzo as he knocked on the guest room door.

"Okay, the Moretti's, Costello's and Poffenberger's will be here at 6:30," Annie said quietly as she styled her hair.

"Okay Mom," said Lorenzo as he started to move away from the door before he stopped. "Hey Mom, can I ask you a question?"

Annie quickly put on a robe and opened the door to see her oldest son standing there with a frown on his face. "What's the matter?"

"What does your dress look like?" Lorenzo asked with a scowl on his face.

*****

Frank waited until they pulled out of the Airport before saying, "President Roberts, do you mind if we contact Alpha Carlo about this conversation?"

President Roberts rolled his neck, "First of all, I've given you permission to call me Gabe when we're alone, and second please include Carlo, I don't want to repeat anything once we get to the reception."

Frank nodded, "Carlo, Joe and I are alone with Gabe, he wants to discuss some extremely sensitive matters with us, and he wanted you included."

"Okay, I'll leave Gina here to organize last minute details and I'll go to a quiet room," he quickly responded. "Ask if he wants Dante or Carmelo included."

Frank quickly asked Gabe and said, "Include them both Carlo, we'll give you a few minutes to get ready." He turned to his brother and said, "Get the satellite phone and scrambler out of the glove box."

"Gabe, all the vehicles were swept for listening devices before we came to the airport, what we're going to turn on is a scrambler," Joe said as he got the device and turned it on, putting it on the dashboard. "If anybody is following us and trying to listen in with a parabolic mic or something similar, it'll scramble the signals. The satellite phone is connected to CNN's satellite, but the signal is disguised as a normal news feed so they're not even aware of it, and all traces of it disappear as soon as the call is finished. It's something my son Paulo designed. "

"Your son did all of this? How old is he?" asked Gabe as he looked at Joe.

"Sixteen," Joe said proudly. "He's an electronics and computer genius."

"If he ever wants a job with the Alpha Council, give me a call," Gabe said with a serious expression as Joe glanced at him over his shoulder and he caught Frank's eye in the rearview mirror. "The first thing I want to say is to the two of you, I'm not surprised you turned the Alpha positions down, disappointed but not surprised. I think the two of you would have been great Alpha's, but I understand your loyalty to Carlo and your Pack and admire you even more because of it."

"Thank you Sir," said Frank glancing in the side view mirror as they changed lanes. He was about to ask if they had found Alpha's for the three Packs when he heard the phone ring once before it was picked up, "You ready Carlo?"

"Yes, we'll skip the greetings til later. Gabe, tell me what's going on," said Carlo as they heard shuffling in the background as they were seated.

"We're still trying to figure everything that bastard Charles was up to, but we found something interesting Monday," said Gabe as he hesitated. "He had a secret compartment in his closet and it contained $15 million in cash. There was also a ledger, documenting money received but the amounts don't match what was in the closet. The amounts in the ledger added up to almost $8 million."

Frank and Joe looked at each other and whistled softly as Carlo said, "What did the entries in the ledger say? And how far back did they go?"

"I made a copy of the ledger and I'll leave it here for you to go over," Gabe replied. "It starts at the beginning of the year, so we have no idea how many more there are. But here is the disturbing part; the balance brought forward was over $50 million. We asked the Pack members and they had no idea what was going on, but Conall, Holly's father, said every Monday morning thirty men would disappear and wouldn't be seen again until Tuesday afternoon or evening and on Wednesday morning an entry would be posted in the ledger, ranging anywhere from $250,000 to $300,000. We also found a notebook that had a series of numbers that we have no idea what they're for; maybe bank accounts, a password or some type of code."

Gabe was quiet as he let the information sink in before he continued, "On Tuesday we discovered a house he owned in El Paso and the garage was filled with expensive cars, not Mercedes or Lexus expensive either; it was filled with Ferrari's, Porsches, and Lamborghini's. The house is filled with artwork and antiques...and we also found a secret dungeon." He stopped talking and looked out the windows drawing a deep breath, "It was filled with bondage equipment, I'm not talking about a couple of restraints and light BDSM equipment, I'm talking hardcore stuff, it looked like a torture chamber. We had to look things up to see what the hell they were; I've never seen anything like it before. And..." He closed his eyes and swallowed loudly before continuing, "And...there was blood everywhere."