Chapter 15

Jaxson, even though he was relatively sure that she was okay, didn't let his mate out of his sight and barely out of his arms. He watched somewhat dispassionately as Amber and Powers put together all of the information and notes that they had put together. It was compiled by what type of transaction then the name of the person and finally the banking information of the buyer.

Powers looked around the kitchen. The two couples looked faintly on edge. Both knew that they would not be safe until everyone was dealt with. Powers, along with the two men, understood that many of the people on the list, both male and female, would not live long after the warrants were issued. They would never go to trial. Opting for an easy way out or perhaps even being killed during their capture and arrest.

All they were waiting on was the arrival of Misty. Powers had a feeling that she would be staying too. She would give him the memory card from her camera and the original SD card would stay here in a safe place. Jaxson and Rio were right to not trust judges in the state capital or the nation's capital, either.

He decided last night that if he survived all of this, he would finally retire. His wife had been after him for a while now. But, he hadn't wanted to until this chapter with Rio and his deep-cover investigation was finished. Once he went to the state capital and then the nation's capital for all of the warrants and anything else that needed ordering, he was done.

If he made it.

Just then, Misty and Bill entered the kitchen. Just as Powers suspected, Misty walked up to him and handed him the memory stick to her camera.

"So, you too, huh?"

Misty flushed to her roots and smiled, saying, "Yes sir, I am."

"I kind of figured that you would." Looking over at the sheriff, he said "You take good care of Misty. She and Rio are like my children. The wife and I were never able to have any, and Misty is special to my wife."

"She's more special to me than you might understand, Powers," Bill said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and drew her close to him.

"I'll expect an invitation to the wedding." Then as if a thought occurred to him, "Wait! Do you guys do marriage?"

Jaxson snorted at the statement. "Of course we do. One hundred and twenty-five years ago probably not. But now? Yes. It protects our mates, financially."

"Very well. Which one of you is going to drive me to the pickup point?"

"I will. " Rio said, carefully setting Amber away from him.

Amber made a distressed sound in her throat as Rio took two steps away from her. Hearing her, he turned and grabbed her and kissed her deeply, leaving her dazed.

Rio chuckled at the sight of his mate. Her eyes were unfocused and she had a dreamy look on her face. Leaning down, he gave her a quick peck on her lips, then turned away from her abruptly.

Powers picked up his bag and the folder and went out the front door to get in the Jeep. Rio followed behind him, his steps feeling heavier and heavier the farther away he got from Amber.

When this was over, he made a silent promise to himself and Amber, that this would be the last time they would be apart. He had understood how his brother had to have felt when he found Charley and realized that she might not live. Rio felt his heart squeeze when he realized what he had almost cost his brother.

Amber wasn't even marked and they had not even completed the mate bond, but she was already everything to him. Charlotte was the same for his brother. Surprisingly, Bill seemed to have found a companion.

Rio realized that Nathan was speaking to him. "Sorry sir. I was in deep thought. What did you say?"

"I said that you need to be careful how you handle Amber. She's ....been through a lot."

"I know, she told me," Rio said quietly.

Nathan looked so startled that Rio smiled. "The thing with mates, Nathan, is that the connection is instant and permanent. It brings some things with it, like trust and a deep need to protect and provide. If her stepdad wasn't dead, I would have hunted him down and I would have killed him in the slowest, most painful way possible and would have smiled at him while he cried and screamed and begged for mercy and then eventually death. Then, I would have cleaned up and went to her and held her."

Nathan listened to him saying that he would have gladly tortured ad killed the man that had raped his woman. He was faintly shocked but understood the man's idea of revenge. It shocked him a bit though.

The ride to the pickup/drop-off spot was short and Rio pulled up and parked the Jeep. Soon, the helicopter could be heard coming over the mountain. It was just over the landing spot about a hundred in the air, when an explosion rocked the vehicle they were in.

Nathan watched in shock as pieces of the helicopter rained down on them.

"Shit!" Rio put the Jeep in gear and slammed on the gas, getting them out of there quickly.

"You have a leak, Nathan!" No one in our circle is suspect. They are all hiding from the world for something and bringing attention to us is the last thing that anybody in our town would want. That means the leak is on your end. It also means that they know where we are." Rio was mad and used his balled-up fist to hit the steering wheel.

Snatching up the CB in the Jeep, he called his brother.

"Rio to base."

"What is it, Rio? We heard the explosion. What happened?"

The helicopter was shot down. Exploded overhead. We're headed back now. We're almost there. Get everything ready. They'll be here soon."

Rio pulled the Jeep into the barn and he and Nathan ran into the house.

Charlotte had the weapons room door open and Jaxson and Bill were getting several weapons ready. Amber was taking inventory of ammunition and Charlotte took stock of the food.

When they realized that Nathan was with Rio, his two agents hugged him and went back to work.

"They wanted me here. They don't want me to make it to the judge in Nashville. Is there a way that we can send this securely?" Nathan asked, rolling up his sleeves and taking a 9mm that Jaxson passed to him.

"Yes sir, there is. I have an encrypted VPN for the internet. Being former military and with what I did, I wasn't going to take any chances." Jaxson said.

Charlotte felt her eyes widen. Who needs that level of security for their internet, she thought.

As if dialing into what she was thinking, Jaxson explained, "Charlotte, my team has captured all kinds of criminals, including serious hackers. People that use internet hacking to topple whole countries. There was no way, I was going to make it easy to steal my information."

Nodding that she understood, she realized something.

Mr. Powers! What if they didn't want to attack us, just keep you here while everyone clears their tracks?"

"That's a smart young lady you got there, Jaxson."

"Yes sir, she is. I had the same thought at the same time. Come on, let's go to my office."

Charlotte and Nathan followed Jaxson to a part of the house that she hadn't been before. This room was down in the cellar and through a false wall.

"Keeps secrets much, Jaxson?" Charlotte asked, slightly sarcastically.

"Shifters keep their secrets hidden from people. We had an office in the house then, but we moved it down here to keep it from humans when they became more common in town and we have had them in the house. My family wanted to protect us as much as possible." Taking the chain from around his neck. She had seen his dog tags before. She had even noticed the odd key on the chain with them. But she had not given it much thought. Now, she watched as he put the key in a keyhole in the wall and turned it.

She watched in fascination as a portion of the wall moved back and slid silently out of sight. Jaxson reached in and flipped a switch, flooding the room with light.

Nathan whistled. "I wasn't expecting this."

Jaxson waved him over and turned on the high-end desktop that had three monitors. Signing in to his VPN, he unlocked the computer and ushered Nathan to sit and begin sending the information to the judges who would issue the warrants and capture orders.

When he got confirmation that he sent his wife an email.

When Jaxson realized that Powers was just as worried, he grimaced. "I'm sorry that you are here and your wife is unprotected."

"What makes you think she's unprotected? That woman was a French agent before I married her. She still keeps a go bag and fake passports and foreign currency, just in case of things like this. My job is not the easiest and people in our line of work will use who and what they can to get to you. They have no problem using a family member against you to get what they want." Nathan said with a smile.

"What did you tell her, Nathan?" Charlotte asked him, curious.

"It's Springtime in Paris. That's our code for her to run."

"Wow, you really have thought of everything," Charlotte said.

"You have to in this type of business. Usually, agency heads are politicians, but I was appointed by a president who took a strong stance of certain types of crime. Washington bigwigs were afraid to remove me from office and replace me. They were afraid of what I knew and they were afraid that i would use it. So, they left me alone. Thankfully. Because of that fear, I was able to keep Rio's existence and his job hidden."

Charlotte smiled and looked at Jaxson. She was feeling quite satisfied with what they had accomplished. He smiled back at her and ushered them out and turned out the light and locked it back, then they headed back upstairs.

When they came up into the kitchen, Misty was at the back door. Bill was at the sliding glass door and Rio was at the front door. All armed and all dead serious.

"Alright Powers sent the information. To attack us would be useless at this point. However, I think we should keep watch for the next 24 hours. Bill, who in town do you trust with secrets or this type of information?" Jaxson was stepping into his role of Alpha seriously.

"Henry. No one else." Misty flinched at the sound of her brother's name.

"Call him. I'll leave what you tell him to your own discretion. But there are two roads into and out of town and Henry cannot watch both. Is there anyone else that can keep watch for the next 24 hours?" Jaxson asked.

"There is one person. I'll call him. He can stay hidden and watch." Taking out his phone, they watched Bill dial a number. They listened to his side of the conversation, and Misty got the shock of her life.

"Hey, son. I need your help." A pause. "Yes, the Alpha. I need you to watch the road going up the mountain. We need to know if anyone is coming or going." Another pause. "Yes, that's right."

"Thank you, son. Yes, there is. Yes, she is." A pause. " I didn't think so either. I didn't know we had second chance mates." Bill nodded his head, almost to himself. "No, I would never try to do that." A pause.

"Yes, thank you. Sounds like a great idea. Alright, son. I'll talk to you tomorrow night."

Disconnecting the call, he looked at Jaxson and nodded. "My son will watch the other end of town."

"Son. You have a son? How did I not know that?" Jaxson questioned.

"Well, that's what happens when you hide with your head in the sand. Life goes on around you." Bill said.

Looking over at Misty, he knew she was anxious. A son. A grown son. What would he think about his dad finding another woman?

"He's going to love you, Misty. You don't need to worry about that."

"A warning would have been nice. Something along the lines of " Oh hey, before we do this, I have a grown son." Don't you think that i should have known? I mean, I would have liked to have known." Misty was working herself into a ball of anxiety. So, he did the only thing he could do. He holstered his weapon and went to her and pulled her into his arms.

"Shhh Misty. It's fine. He's actually excited that his old man has someone again. His words, not mine."