Chapter 27: Planted

I awoke as soon as I felt the bed move; my wolf told me it was my pup, Vicki, so I relaxed. I waited until she was kneeling next to my side before I brought my arm around and trapped her against my body. “AAHHHH! UNKY LEO!”

“Who thought she would sneak up on her Alpha?” I started tickling her side, causing her to start laughing and wiggling around.

“STOP!” I let her go, and she sat down on the edge of the bed. “Momma sent me to wake you up, it’s almost ten,” she said.

“Is she still in her wolf?”

“No,” Vicki said with a little disappointment. “I wanted to play with her, but Brent told her how to change back.”

“You have a few more days before you can shift, if things go well,” I told her. “Now go, Uncle Wolfy is more like Grumpy Wolfy when he’s woken up.” She laughed and slid off the bed, running out the door and closing it. Knowing she was awake, I sent a mental message to my new Pack member. “How are you feeling, Liv?”

“Sore as hell from the shift. Some of the stitches on my ankle tore when I shifted back, and Dr. Cannon had to stop by and stitch it up again. You should see the marks on my chest from the defibrillator, it’s like I got branded. I don’t recommend being the CPR dummy.”

It could have been so much worse. “You scared the hell out of us, Liv. I’m so glad you pulled through.”

“Me too. My wolf and I are talking a lot, and Brent won’t let me take a step without being there. Is that your doing?” He was hopelessly devoted to her, and eventually, she’d ask why.

“He’s your guard, and he almost lost you after the accident. Then you are bitten, and he almost loses you on the bathroom floor. He and his wolf don’t want you hurt a third time.” It was the best excuse I could give for now, so I changed the subject before she could continue. “You’re going to have questions, and you will have a steep learning curve to figure out your new skills. You and Vicki are both going to have to work hard to catch up with your new bodies and senses. Now that you’ve made the first shift each way, the rest will be quick and painless. You’ll need to spend a lot of time as a wolf as you learn.”

“Anita said we’d start training after lunch. It will give me a chance to catch up to my daughter.”

“We’re all thrilled to have you both in our Pack. I’ll see you in a bit.” I’d shifted over to my scooter and driven into the bathroom while we were talking; ten minutes later, I was dressed and rolling out to the kitchen. A half-dozen people were sitting around the table drinking coffee. “Morning, everyone.”

Connie brought me some pancakes and bacon, a glass of orange juice and a cup of coffee. I’d miss her cooking when she returned home; she could cook for two or forty without missing a beat. I thanked her and asked the group if anything happened overnight as I took a sip of juice.

“The FBI and Goodhue County Sheriff’s department raided Volkov Construction and arrested Todd Miller this morning,” Larry said.

I just about choked on my juice. “WHAT?”

Connie turned up the volume on the small television in the kitchen. As soon as the commercial ended, it was the lead story. “Acting on an anonymous tip, the FBI served a search warrant on the Volkov Construction Company and its majority owner, Todd Miller of Welch, Minnesota. Sources close to the investigation confirmed one of the trucks owned by the company was believed to have been involved in the hit-and-run attack that hospitalized retired hero Leo Volkov, mother Olivia Andersen, and four-year-old Vicki Andersen. The source stated that paint scrapes on the truck ‘appeared to be a match’ to the paint job on the pickup truck driven by former owner Leo Volkov. That truck, containing Mr. Volkov and three passengers, was knocked off the road into a ravine.” The video showed my pickup in the ditch as the wreckers winched it back up to the roadway the next morning. “The attack on New Year’s Eve was only days after Leo Volkov foiled a kidnapping attempt on the Andersens. One person was murdered during that failed kidnapping attempt, and the Stillwater couple responsible died at the scene. The FBI will not confirm if the two attacks are related. In other news…” Connie turned the volume off again.

“Oh, Shit,” I said. “The FBI sure moved fast.”

“Unky Leo said a bad word,” Vicki said with a giggle.

“Oh, Chum buckets!” That made her laugh. “How did this happen?”

“Inside job, most likely,” Larry said. “You talked to the families you brought in last night. Even if other Pack members don’t want to leave, they might not like their Alpha going after a preschooler and a human. If they knew Todd was the driver, it would be easy. Call in the tip, saying where the vehicle is, and who was driving. If they find evidence on the plow or the dump truck that matches Leo’s truck, and his fingerprints are on the dump truck, they’ve got him for four counts of attempted murder.”

“Why would anyone in the Pack do that?”

“Money,” Paul Temple said. “Volkov Construction isn’t doing well; Todd hasn’t been able to maintain the business since you left, and others are eating at his contracts. He’s having trouble making payroll, and he’s been taking out loans against the company.”

“Meanwhile,” Lois said, “You’re sitting here with millions of dollars in the bank from your buyout that I bet you haven’t touched. Taking your friends for ransom is plausible; the accident could have been another attempt, but your friends arrived too soon. It also could be that you refused to pay him.”

“You and Todd argued in public at Wiederholt’s less than two hours before the attack,” Larry said. “What you said wasn’t overheard, but we weren’t the only ones to tell the investigators that you two had a contentious meeting. Anyone could see how much you cared for Liv and Vicki after Christmas.”

“It’s all plausible,” I said. “I’m sure the FBI is going to ask me again about the meeting at Wiederholt’s. It’s a little sketchy on the kidnapping, but if the Feds take Todd down on the hit and run, I’m all right with that. It was so public that human justice will raise fewer questions than ripping his throat out in the challenge circle.” Liv looked up, a little shocked. “Werewolves tend to settle things privately and permanently. I told Todd to stay out of it, and that if he hurt you, I would not stop until I had destroyed him.” It was a little more than that, but it helped her relax. “Can we expect more contact from the Welch Pack today now that their Alpha is in jail?”

Carla nodded. “Leo, the Alpha order prevents Welch Pack members from talking to you. It doesn’t apply to their friends unless he’s updated it since he found out you’ve started your own Pack. I think I’ll make some phone calls and see how things are going.”

We had some time before lunch, and Vicki wanted to learn more about Oceanic White-Tips. I pulled up some Youtube videos and streamed them to the big TV in the living room. Liv was impressed by the big-finned sharks, and we all had a good laugh when they talked about how they were the “sea dogs” of the Shark world. They would circle things they were curious about, moving away and then back in when they saw an opening, like a wolf going after deer. They were also known to follow ships and boats around like a dog might follow its master. When I showed Liv some cellphone video I’d taken of her after her first shift, she agreed the markings were pretty close. “Momma is pretty,” Vicki said.

“You both are,” I said. I couldn’t be prouder of the two; Liv had made a smooth transition, and Vicki was a born leader. We had loose meat sandwiches for lunch, then the two of them left with Anita for training. Liv shifted in the garage, while Vicki had to be in her snowmobile suit since she couldn’t go wolf with her concussion symptoms.

I went to my office and started answering phone messages and emails I’d received. No one was ready to call the Welch Pack over, but it was on the edge of collapse. I had another six families who wanted to join. I had recognized some of the scents of the wolves that came after Liv, and I didn’t expect them to come to me.

The thing no one knew about was what would happen to Volkov Construction. Carlos and Rufus had been running their own crews for years as subcontractors, and could easily survive the company folding. The others, who worked directly for the company, didn’t know if the company would go under.

When the answer came, it was not from the person I expected. It was just after dark when a Ford Escape showed up at the gates, and the man inside asked to meet with me privately. “Bring him straight to my office, and no one says or does anything to him,” I said. I called Anita over the link, as she was training the girls right now. “Keep Liv and Vicki away from the house until I give you the all-clear. Take them back in the woods, so they don’t see him.” I called for Larry and Mike to join me at the meeting. I wanted Larry for his years of experience, and I needed Mike as he was my Beta and closest advisor on Pack matters. I had no idea why he would show up here, given what he had done to my Pack members.

I heard the door opening, and less than a minute later, Ivan walked through the office door. He was followed by Larry and Mike. “My brother,” I said as I lifted my right arm towards him. “I did not expect you to be in town after our last conversation.”

“And I wasn’t going to let Todd get away with trying to kill my family,” he said. “I spent a lot of time going through my options. I finally settled on the one that would have the best outcome, not for me, but for Liv and Vicki, even if it meant not taking my vengeance.”

“And my vengeance? How am I to get that with Todd in prison?”

“I took that from you as well, and for that, I apologize. I do not apologize for taking the best option for my daughter.” I couldn’t argue with that. “After I talked to you while you were in the hospital, I did a little checking around. I stopped by the Volkov Construction business office.”

“You got in there?”

“Todd’s lazy and knows nothing about electronics. The security system code hadn’t changed since we ran the place, and he’d turned off the surveillance cameras after he arrived that night so he wouldn’t be seen driving the truck out. They were still off when I arrived.”

“The safe?”

“I couldn’t get in, but I left him a little present for the Feds in his desk drawer. A bag with ten grand in cash and a burner phone that I’d used to set up the grab with the Stillwater duo. I erased the text messages, but their tech guys will be able to make the tie. No fingerprints, of course.”

“You are a real bastard, you know that?”

“Yeah, but I’m the best at something.”

“Asshole.”

“Prick.”

It was just like old times. “You called in the tip?”

“After I left. There was one dump truck missing; I could see the tracks from when it drove out. It will show up in the video before Todd arrived, and be gone after he turned the system off. Todd thought he’d hide it, but those trucks all have GPS. I looked up where it was and included that in the tip I called in from Red Wing. The dump truck alone is enough to get an arrest warrant, and the cash and phone will get the Feds looking at him as the guy behind the kidnapping.”

“He’ll deny it, of course.”

“Not much else he can do. The kidnappers are dead, and the phone may or may not be enough to convict, but it’s enough to charge him. He’s in enough legal trouble that he may never return. It’s not the plan I wanted, but I did it because it gives me a way out of this.”

“You’re not turning yourself in then,” I said.

“Nope. Doing that won’t fix Brenda’s plans for Vicki. I have to deal with her next, or you two will never have peace.” He stood and put his hand on my shoulder. “This might be the last time we are together, my brother. I will return to Marengo Lake and challenge her.”

“That’s bold.”

“Yes. Since I broke the bond and fled, I would be exiled. Her Pack might not let me live long enough to see her and issue the challenge. After all, it IS her Pack, and her mantle, that she is trying to protect.”

“We could go to the Council,” I said.

“She has done nothing yet that we can prove. I hired the kidnappers, and we don’t know if she even talked with Alpha Todd. The only chance I have to save all of my children is to take out their mother.”

I put my hand on him; I knew his mating was based in a business arrangement, but the mating bite didn’t care. Rejecting the bond was weakening him by the day, and killing her would go against everything the mating bond was about. “Good luck, Ivan. I love you.”

“I love you too. When the time is right, let Vicki know that she deserves a better father than me. I pray she has a good life.” He walked out, Mike following him, as I sat back and thought. I heard the door close, then his car driving away.

I couldn’t stop the tears.