Aztec Treasure
No Good Options

Frank Grimes’ POV

Leesburg Executive Airport

Maria was right. I don’t know why I didn’t see it before now! Kidnapping wasn’t a Sons of Tezcatlipoca move unless it was a prelude to torture. This whole production at the airport didn’t make any sense.

“Frank?”

“She’s right. Killing the First Husband before the President fits the pattern, but you don’t. Unless…”

“Julio’s not here because he’s at ARROWHEAD! Son of a BITCH! He’s going after my family!”

I turned to the Command Post’s senior agents; they represented the FBI, Homeland Security, and the Secret Service. “Have we seen any evidence of Julio coming here? Chase thinks this is all a diversion, and they are going after his family.”

“Not a thing,” the FBI SAIC said. “No ground or air traffic at all.”

“If he wanted a diversion, it worked. We have everything focused on Washington DC and the surrounding area. The real question is, what is the diversion for?” The Secret Service Senior Agent opened up his cellphone and made a call. “Is Valkyrie secure? We’re starting to think this is all a diversion.” He listened for a second, then hung up. “President Kettering is in the Situation Room with the Acting President. She’s safe.”

“We have to start considering that Julio never intended to deliver Andrew to us.” I explained quickly how the Sons handled those who crossed them.

I sent a text message to our family group, warning them that Julio could be anywhere since he wasn’t here. The Donner and Cascade Packs were too far to drive to in this amount of time, but if Julio got access to a plane? Anything was possible then. All of Colletta’s children took this threat seriously, and five minutes later, I had confirmation their Packs were locked down, and they showed no active threats.

It was now ten minutes after eight. “How long are we going to keep them out there? If Chase’s Pack is in danger, he’s not going to stay around.”

“It’s only ten minutes,” the FBI senior agent told me. “What if Julio is running late? We can’t leave until we know for sure if he’s coming or not.”

“Dammit.” I linked with Chase to let him know, and he reluctantly agreed. He’d calmed down a little since talking to Vic at Arrowhead, knowing his family was in the safe room, and the Pack was not under attack. He didn’t want to wait forever, though. “Chase, do you want to leave Maria and Maritza with me here? I can make sure they are protected.”

“No. Maria says her home is at Arrowhead now, and she wants to go home. Hell, she never wanted to be here. She’s here because she doesn’t want the First Husband to die.”

I called his pilots and told them to be ready to return to Two Harbors as soon as Chase was released.

“Oh, my GOD,” one of the agents said as she looked at the television. Live from outside the Arrowhead Pack, the cameras showed Andrew Kettering sitting on the back bumper of a news van! I linked the news to Chase as I stared at the screen. The rest of the command post was in an uproar as they realized nothing was happening here.

I listened over the link as Chase got updates from back home. I wasn’t shocked when we heard the blood on Andrew’s shoulder was a jaguar bite. It fit the pattern; he would die in agony, and the President would watch it helplessly. Chase got in an FBI vehicle with the girls, heading back to his plane. Nothing was keeping him here now that Andrew was free.

Vic was sending people out to bring Andrew to our clinic, and Oxbow was bringing Doctor Olson over immediately. “Chase, a whole bunch of people are going to want in there to be with Andrew, including President Kettering. It’s the perfect chance for Julio to sneak in or take advantage.”

“I know. Vic is going to make sure we get a good sniff of anyone coming in. Julio can’t hide his scent.”

“I’ll stay here and coordinate the response. It would help if you brought a few Secret Service agents on the plane with you. The FBI will protect him until they arrive.”

It was a tough ask; it meant leaving warriors from the Oxbow Lakes and Arrowhead Packs behind when his family is under threat. “I’ll take three with me. Tell these guys to unload the cash and send three of my people with whoever else they want to send on the Air Force jet. I’m getting the hell home.”

“I’ll pass that on.” I pulled the Secret Service supervisory agent aside. “Chase’s plane is leaving in less than five minutes. He will take three agents, or you can wait until the Air Force gets the money off and gets their plane in the air.”

“The President wants her husband airlifted to Bethesda,” he told me.

“Not a good idea. No human doctor knows what is going on with that bite. The world experts are at Arrowhead, and that’s his best chance of survival. I know Colletta is at the White House; she can explain it to them.”

He quickly finished his call to the White House agents, then hung up. “I’ll take your plane,” he said. He ran out of the command post, waving two agents to him as they ran for Chase’s aircraft. A new Secret Service agent entered the command post and took over. The FBI escorted the armored car as the pilots pulled the money bags out and left them on the tarmac. Secret Service agents and three Oxbow Lake warriors headed that way as Chase’s plane taxied to the runway.

The Air Force passenger jet took off five minutes later. I remained at the Command Post for another two hours, working with Pack Alphas to arrange the return of their warriors and trackers. The Duluth FBI branch office sent four agents to Arrowhead, and dozens more were flying in from Minneapolis and Chicago.

I spent time on the phone with Arrowhead, explaining the takeover that was about to happen. “Vic, Air Force One is taking off for Duluth right now with President Kettering aboard. The Secret Service is freaking out because they have no advance team, and Chase refused to turn over control of Pack lands to them.”

“I bet that went over well,” he replied.

“I worked out some compromises,” I said. “We won’t turn over our security center, but we will allow the Secret Service and FBI to work with us in the room so they can monitor the cameras with us. We won’t evacuate our people, but they can cordon off the area around the Clinic. We will let their agents use our fighting positions, but our people will remain armed beside them. They can handle the roads and guard the borders on the public side, using National Guard troops if necessary, and they can establish a no-fly zone overhead. Finally, we will restrict our people to their homes or the Pack House unless escorted by the FBI or Secret Service.” sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ (ꜰind)ɴʘvel.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Vic paused a moment as he waited for Rori to respond. “Alpha says she can live with that, Frank. We’ll be as accommodating as we can while keeping our people safe. It won’t last more than a day or two, and if we don’t, the Secret Service will insist on moving him. Right now, I’ve got an FBI agent in the control center with me. The other two are at the Clinic, along with five members of the Sheriff’s Department and one DEA agent. Andrew is giving his statement to the FBI."

“Let them focus on the Pack Clinic while you keep our people safe. It’s going to be a zoo, but Chase will be there in .”

“That will help.”

“How is Andrew doing?”

Vic paused. “Doc is here now suturing the wounds. He was dehydrated and hungry, but he already has a fever. Doc figures the bite happened about eight hours ago. Andrew confirmed he got bit before getting his last tranquilizer shot, and Doc said each injection would last six to eight hours. He thinks he was awake the last two hours of the trip but can’t say for sure.”

Shit. With a werewolf bite, most humans lasted about twenty-four hours. We’d lost a third of that already. “Can we use Maria’s blood?” I’d made the turn after my throat was slit, and it was multiple bags of werewolf blood and the love of my Colletta that pulled me through the change.

“Andrew’s blood type is A-positive, but Maria’s is B-positive. They aren’t compatible, so Doc won’t even try. Even if they were compatible, one pint of Maria’s blood wouldn’t be enough.”

“And werepanthers don’t have mates.”

“Exactly,” Vic said with a sigh. “Maybe you could ask all the Alphas if they know anything that may help?”

“I’ll put out the request myself.” What a mess. “How is the press coverage?”

“The news stations are pissed off,” Vic said with a laugh. “I let a crew film until Andrew entered the clinic, and then I kicked them off our land again without making a statement. Chase doesn’t give me hazard pay, so I’m not dealing with them. There are five news vans and two helicopters out there now.”

“Help is on the way. Call me if anything changes.”

“Yes, sir.”

I hung up and immediately made a video call to Colletta, telling her about what Doc had said. “Are we sure werejaguars don’t have mates?”

“That is my understanding, as well as what Maria believes.” I could see her wiping away a tear. “I don’t have any answers. Wolf territories and jaguar territories don’t overlap, and their bites don’t affect us.”

I froze as I ran the idea through my head. Could it be that simple? “If we transfused him with multiple units of werewolf blood, would that be enough to fight off the effects of the jaguar bite?”

“I don’t know if it would work so long after being bitten,” she replied. “Andrew might still try to change into a jaguar. If he doesn’t, he’ll turn into a werewolf, and he won’t survive THAT without a mate.”

Thirty minutes later, I finished a conference call with Colletta, President Kettering, the White House Physician, Chase, Doc Olson, and Doc Myers from the Cascade Pack. No one had a better idea. We were desperate; I’d piss on a spark plug right now if I thought it would do any good.

Colletta put out a call to every Pack Alpha for assistance. She needed them to send all unmated females to Arrowhead to see if they were mates with Andrew Kettering, and she needed them quickly.

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