Claiming Treasure
Hostage

St. Louis County Sheriff Larry Clark’s POV

County Office, Duluth

I was going over the paperwork for our 1033 application to the Department of Defense. We’d spotted a surplus Light Armored Vehicle that my SWAT guys thought would be a useful addition to our department, and I had the budget to repair it this year. We’d used the program many times in the past to get M-16’s, inflatable boats, and other gear.

“Sheriff? Channel seven is calling us asking for comment on the hostage situation up at Arrowhead?”

“Arrowhead’s out of our jurisdiction, Lynette. Tell them to contact the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.” My jurisdiction ended in between Duluth and Two Harbors, which was the county seat for Lake County along the North Shore. “Has Lake called us for help?”

“Not a word, sir,” she said as she went back to her desk.

Something was going on. Arrowhead had been in the news quite a bit lately, and only a few of us knew what they were. The FBI had shared information after they met with Chase Nygaard’s mother at the White House, and I’d seen Jack Coffey change into a wolf up in Hermantown. They’d asked me to keep quiet, and I was. Chase had personally talked to me about what was going on with Deputy Brighton last night and again this morning. I was relieved he had made it through what they called ‘the change,’ but I wasn’t sure I liked having werewolves in my county.

A hostage situation was new. Picking up the phone, I called Sheriff John Carter to find out what was going on. I had the Lake County Sheriff’s personal phone on my cell and used that. “Larry! What’s up, buddy?” John and I had been friends for years, and our wives were besties.

“I was going to ask you, John,” I said. “Television station is calling asking about a hostage situation up at Arrowhead.”

“It’s bullshit, I talked to my guys a few minutes ago,” he said. “I’ve got one car there keeping tabs on the FBI guys. They said it’s quiet.”

I felt the phone vibrate, and I had an incoming Facetime call from my wife. “Thanks, John. Say hi to the wife, mine’s calling me now.”

I hung up the phone and answered the Facetime call. I almost dropped it when I saw her face, the blood draining from my face. “Nancy?”

Her face was bruised and bloodied, and she was crying, but that wasn’t what hit me in the gut. Duct tape wrapped her neck, holding the muzzle of a sawed-off shotgun against it. The double-barreled firearm was off to the left side of her. She was in a car I didn’t recognize. “I’m sorry, Larry, I shouldn’t have answered the door,” she said as she broke down.

“Easy, honey. Take a breath.” I walked out of my office as she calmed herself, waving all Deputies in the room to me. “Are you all right?”

She nodded. “He… he said he’d kill me if I didn’t cooperate. If YOU don’t cooperate.”

“Do what he says, honey. I love you, so you stay alive.”

I saw the shotgun pull against her neck. “He wants to talk to you.”

I was heading out the door as Nancy’s cellphone turned to show him. It was Jack Coffey, driving in an older sedan. “Jack Coffey,” I said.

“Yes. I’m sorry about the dramatics, but the media loves this shit,” he said with a grin. “We’re taking a little drive up to Arrowhead. It’s just me and your lovely wife. It’s your job to make sure no one pulls me over, tries to stop me, or interferes. Nancy, point the camera at my hand.” She did; I could see him gripping the sawed-off stock, but that wasn’t the problem. I could see string tied to his wrist, going up and looping around the dual triggers. “A crude but effective dead-man switch. If I let go, if someone shoots me, if I get startled and jerk my hand, your wife dies. Do you understand me, Sheriff?”

“I understand.” I wanted to kill him slowly, but I understood. “Where are you?”

“Highway 61, passing Lester Park Golf Course. I’m driving a white Crown Victoria, license SNM469.” One of my deputies passed the information along; he was already on the phone with Dispatch.

“I’ll clear the path for you to Arrowhead.”

“I’ll see you there,” he responded. “Say goodbye and hang up, Nancy.”

The camera turned back to her. “I love you, Larry,” she said.

“I love you too,” I said, and then the call ended. “FUCK,” I yelled as I broke into a run for my cruiser. “Jacobs, make sure they get an escort, and no one gets to close.”

“On it, Sheriff.”

“You three with me.” We jumped into our cruisers and tore out of there, sirens blazing.

Special Agent Lana Black’s POV

Arrowhead Pack House

“UP NOW, WE HAVE TO GO,” Allison yelled as she banged on the door to my room.

“Coming.” I sat up and grabbed my phone; it was just after eleven in the morning, and I’d only been sleeping for two hours. I had six text messages, two from my boss, both ordering me to get to the gate immediately and bring Chase and Rori with me.

I dressed and put my hair in a ponytail, sliding my gun and badge into my belt before pulling on my FBI windbreaker. Allison was standing outside the nursery, talking with Alpha Rori as she held her crying daughter. “He’s on his way here now, and he’s holding the Sheriff’s wife hostage,” Allison said.

“Why would Jack Coffey take her,” Rori asked. “I don’t even know her.”

“Probably because cops will hesitate to shoot knowing who she’s married to,” Allison said. “Come on; our boss wants to talk. He’s coming to the command post outside.” sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ FindNʘᴠᴇl.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

She handed the child to one of the nannies. “Contact security, inform them Coffey is coming to our gates with a hostage. Tell them to implement the security plan for high attack risk,” Rori said.

“Do I want to know,” I asked as we headed for the stairs.

“Pretty standard stuff. Those who can’t fight hide, those who can get ready. You might want to warn your buddies out there that we’re arming up for a fight.” Chase joined us in the mudroom, and we all climbed into his Expedition and drove for the front gate.

“Who called the press?” I looked past them from the back seat; I could see two television stations setting up remotes across the road from the entrance.

“Who knows,” Chase said. “I want to know what Coffey thinks he’s going to do with a hostage.”

I looked back at the Pack House; I spotted a dozen sniper positions there, and more in the homes we passed as we headed for the gate. “How many rifles can you bring to a fight?”

“Thirty, plus the reserve force and the border guards,” Chase said. “With all the friends here, we’ve got a lot more than that today.”

“Coffey won’t step two feet onto our land,” Rori said.

“You have to follow our lead on this,” Allison said. “Kidnapping is an FBI matter. Interfere, and you’ll get charged with obstruction.”

“Take me to your leader,” Rori said.

We parked inside the vehicle fence, and Chase and Rori, escorted by two big guards, followed us to the FBI Mobile Command Post. “About time you got here,” Senior Agent-in-Charge Smallwood said as we walked in.

“What’s going on, boss?”

“Coffey kidnapped the wife of the St. Louis County Sheriff, and he’s heading here alone. They should arrive in ten minutes. He’s got a double-barreled shotgun taped to her neck, and coming here isn’t a coincidence.”

Chase looked at Smallwood, then at his wife. “No.”

“What,” I said.

Rori answered for me. “Jack Coffey blames me for the loss of his family, his power, and his reputation. The only reason he’d be coming here with a hostage is to trade her for me.”

Chase looked furious as he pulled Rori towards the door. “This isn’t happening. Go back to the safe room before he gets here.”

She pulled her arm loose. “I can’t leave, Chase. What if he kills his hostage when I don’t show?”

“I can’t lose you, baby.”

She molded herself to his body as he calmed. It took a while before he looked up. “What’s the plan,” Chase said.

“Our team is handling this, but I want you to wear a wire in case you get close to him,” he said to Rori. “Coffey’s got the hostage rigged with a deadman, so we can’t shoot him. We need any tactical advantage we can get.”

“Fine,” Rori said. “Just know that if I get close to him, I’ll kill him.”

One of the agents had the microphone/transmitter combination, which he had her slip inside her bra. The whole thing was the size of a quarter and couldn’t be seen with the shirt on. “Now that you understand the situation, I want you to return to your property with Agents Black and Cook. Agents, keep your radios on and earphones in place. I’ll tell you what to do.”

“Understood, sir,” Allison said.

“Go. Coffee’s two minutes out.”

I heard the sirens approaching as we opened the door. We walked across the street; the television cameras were set up behind the police line tape and tracked us as we walked. Chase and Rori ignored the questions that the reporters shouted at them. “Where to,” I asked.

“The guard shack is armored with bulletproof glass,” Rori said. “We’ll wait there.” It was a tight fit, but they did have a television, which was showing the scene live.

The first cruiser arrived with sirens blazing, followed by two more and a white Crown Victoria. The car stopped in front of the press, as police set up positions surrounding it. Nobody moved inside. “They’re coming out, hold your fire,” my boss said over the radio.

The passenger door opened, and a woman in her forties stepped out. She had blood on her dress, was scared shitless, and had a shotgun attached to her neck. Behind her, Jack Coffey got out. He moved his hostage until she was in front of the cameras. “Thank you for coming,” he said as he forced her to her knees. “All these cops think I’m a threat, but I’m nothing compared to the people living in the compound behind me. They are dangerous in a way you’d never imagine. They are ANIMALS, that should be put down like rabid dogs before they kill anyone else.”

“Why are you doing this,” a reporter asked.

“I’m sacrificing my life so you can know the truth,” he said. He had a phone in his hand. “This timer will go off in five minutes. If Rori King and everyone who lives in this accursed place is not standing next to this road when the timer goes off, well, Mother’s Day won’t ever be the same at Sheriff Clark’s house.”

I looked over at Rori and Chase, who were looking at each other with blank expressions on their faces. “He wants to expose you all,” I said.

“Yes,” Rori said. “What does your boss want you to do?”

Allison talked to him on her radio, then turned to them. “We don’t have a shot, and we need time. He thinks you need to do what he says.”

“They’re already coming. We’re turning over defensive positions to warriors from other Packs now.”

I looked out the back window and could see people starting to walk towards us. More and more came out until they were all gathered near the gate. On the radio, I heard that her husband, Sheriff Clark, was now on the scene. He was held back, for now, at the perimeter. “How are you going to play this, Rori,” I asked as we walked out to meet them.

“I’ll do what I can to get him to release them, but you need to be ready to take him out at the first opportunity,” she said. “We can survive exposure for what we are IF it happens in a non-threatening way; I’d rather that not be with a headless hostage on live television.” She turned to her people. “We’re going to walk to the road. Stay behind us and don’t respond to Coffey’s taunts. If shooting starts, run back to the main house.”

Allison and I flanked the Alphas as the group walked to the road, staying on their property. “We’re here, Coffey,” Rori said. “Let her go.”

“Not yet,” he said as he turned to me. “Show the world what monsters you truly are, and then I’ll release the woman.”

“How do I know that will happen? You’re just going to give up?”

“If you haven’t done it in the next sixty seconds, you’ll be wearing her brains,” I said. “She’s innocent, unlike you. Make your choice quickly, Rori. You have fifty seconds.”

“Some of my people are pregnant, they can’t shift,” Chase said. “You KNOW that!”

“ALL of you or she dies. Forty seconds.”

My God, the pregnant women were going to miscarry. This bastard was going to take their babies away! “Don’t do it,” I said. “We’ll take a shot.”

“We’ve got NO shot,” Allison whispered back. “They have to do it.”

“He’s not going to let her go anyway,” I said back.

Rori made her decision. “I can’t let her die, not like this,” she said. Turning to her Pack, she kicked her shoes off. “ARROWHEAD! STRIP AND SHIFT!”

The world watched on live television as over fifty people, including a pregnant Rori, pulled their clothes off and shifted into wolves.

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