Chapter 57: Corpus Christi

Alpha Leo Volkov’s POV

As soon as we were off the phones, Adrienne got her clothes back on, and we went to find the Council. We found them in the common area, and one look at my mate had them moving towards the conference room with their Lunas. I let her take the lead because she knew them, she understood them, and because I wasn’t going to get in the way of a Momma Wolf out to protect the young of her Pack.

“All of this is YOUR fault,” she said as she laid into them in the conference room. “You silvered our girl. You said she’d be safe going to Atlanta. You faked Leo’s death, and then you refused to tell anyone it was fake until the next morning.”

“We did what we needed to do,” Chairman Sanders said testily.

“You did, at the cost of my Pack. They spent twelve hours thinking their Alpha was gone, and four of them took off because they thought Vicki was the next target. They are out there somewhere, alone and vulnerable, because YOU wanted a dramatic moment in the morning.”

“We didn’t know how big the conspiracy was,” Chairman Wolfe said. “Secrecy was needed.”

Adrienne rolled her eyes so hard she saw her brains. “Really? They were TWO HOURS away, far out of link range, and TWO of your mates were with them. You don’t trust your Lunas enough to tell them the truth, so MY people don’t go through hell?” It wasn’t just Adrienne glaring at them; their wives joined in. “They ran away, far from here. Leo and I need to find them.”

“The Summit isn’t over yet,” Sanders said.

“We’re buying plane tickets,” I said. “We will stay for the required votes, but we WILL be leaving early. We can’t wait around to get to where we think they are going, or we might miss them.”

“How will you find them,” Luna Carolyn asked.

“We put Pack members around and hope they don’t have their blocks up so we can contact them with the bond,” I said. “It’s a long shot, I know, but Mike and Anita are well trained. They will think the Council and the Packs are after them, so they will go dark and deep until it’s safe.” I wasn’t sure who to trust, so we didn’t say where they were spotted.

“And that means they’ll be vulnerable to rogues,” Adrienne added. In the end, they couldn’t argue with us. They agreed we could leave after the debate and votes in the morning, skipping the ceremonial portion at the end of the Summit.

We voted on the required measures after breakfast and left before nine. One of the guards drove us to the Atlanta-Hartsfield airport to catch our flights. I kissed Adrienne goodbye in the terminal as she caught her plane to Dallas. My plane to Houston left thirty minutes later.

I took an expensive Uber ride to the Texas Aquarium in Corpus Christi, using the time to talk with the Pack members I hadn’t talked to in the morning. Everyone was doing well, and thankfully, none had left the Pack after the report of my death. I got a call from Adrienne, who had arrived at the SeaLife Grapevine aquarium. “Nothing yet,” she said. “It’s a lot like the one back home. Vicki would like it.”

“What about the other aquarium in Dallas?”

“Dallas World Aquarium isn’t near as big. Neither is the one in Austin or San Antonio. If they are looking for big sharks, they’ll be here or at Texas State.”

“I don’t think they went to Dallas first, or they wouldn’t have gone so far south before turning west. You might need to hang around a few days to see if they stop while going north.”

“I agree. I just hope you aren’t too late to get to them if they went to Corpus Christi. They could have visited the aquarium and left already.”

I snorted. “Do you honestly think our Sharkbait would show up at ten in the morning and be ready to leave by four?”

“Ready to go eat, maybe,” Adrienne said with a laugh. “Good luck, honey. I love you.”

“I love you too,” I said. I called Brent next. “How is Vegas?”

“Good, I arrived late this morning,” he said. “I have to say, Mandalay Bay is a FINE hotel. It would be a hell of a honeymoon spot.”

“Maybe she will show up, and you get your wish,” I said.

“I can dream.” I bet he could. Hell, I wouldn’t mind getting Adrienne in a room there and seeing the show. “If they drove without many stops, they would take 28 hours coming the fastest way. You have to add another eight for the detour south to Baton Rouge. I don’t expect them here until tonight at the earliest.”

That made sense. “One other place they might go, but not until tomorrow. The Tanked guys have their retail store in Vegas. Sharkbait loves the show, and they might stop in.”

“Good idea. I’ll talk to the store when they open, give them a photo and ask them to call if they come in. I can say they are wanted for questioning or something.” I heard slot machines in the background. “Sorry, I’m walking around, just in case.”

“I’ll let you go. Good luck.”

“Thank you, Alpha. By the way, the room is on your credit card.” With that, he hung up. I almost called him back, but it wasn’t worth it to save a few bucks on a room. If they showed up there, he needed to be close.

I’d talked to Ron this morning; he was flying to Los Angeles now since they couldn’t reach there before tonight. I looked up and saw Corpus Christi coming up.

I prayed to Luna that I was right about where they would go.

Vicki (Sharkbait) Lawrence’s POV

I woke up before Mom, so I sat up in bed and watched Animal Planet she got her wake-up call at eight. “Baby?”

“Morning, Mom,” I said. “Aquarium today?”

“Aquarium today,” she replied. She stumbled into the bathroom, and I got dressed before she came back out. “I need coffee,” she said.

“I need PANCAKES,” I replied. Coffee was yucky.

“Are you two up,” Anita sent to me.

“Ready to head down,” Mom replied. “We’ll get a table.” She grabbed the room key and took my hand as we went out to the elevator. My tummy growled. “I guess you are hungry.”

“Hungry like a Great White Shark,” I said with a giggle. There was a breakfast place on the main floor, and we got a booth near the window. With the booster seat, I could see out to the water.

“Eat a big breakfast. We’ll have a light lunch at the aquarium, then barbecue for dinner,” Mom said.

“Barbecue?” Anita slid in across from me with Mike next to her.

“Yeah, there’s a place a few blocks from here, they even deliver,” Mom said.

We ordered, and as the waitress walked away, I laughed. “She doesn’t believe that’s all for me,” I said.

“I’d never take bacon from those chompers of yours,” Anita said. “I might lose a hand!”

By the time I was done with the tall stack of blueberry pancakes and bacon, I was full. “I can’t move,” I said.

Mike reached across and poked my belly, which was round and hard like a soccer ball. “I guess we go back upstairs instead of the aquarium,” he teased.

I let out a burp, then said, “excuse me,” while Mom glared at my manners. “Let’s go,” I said. Mom had to take me to the bathroom, but we were on our way and at the aquarium entrance with tickets when it opened up at ten. “YAY,” I screamed when the door opened. Mom had the map and led us to the entrance to the Caribbean Sea exhibit.

“It’s not a tube,” Mom said with a little disappointment. “But this window is HUGE!”

“Sixty-eight feet long, over twenty meters,” Mike said as he read the guide. “This is nice.” Since we were the first in, Vicki took a spot in the middle and watched. The exhibit had several sandbar sharks, shallow-water predators between five and eight feet long. Barracudas, rays, and other fish swam by as I watched. Mom let me watch until I’d seen enough, then we went to the Islands of Steel exhibit. This one looked like an oil rig and had a pair of Sand Tiger sharks. Once I saw enough there, we went through the other displays until I had seen them all.

Mom got me a sandwich as we took a break. “What do you think,” she asked.

“Not as good as back home,” she said. “And Atlanta is MUCH better.”

“Yeah, I think this whole aquarium could fit in that one exhibit in Atlanta,” Mom said.

“It’s fun. I like tiger sharks.”

“Do you want to go around again, or do something else?”

“One more time, just the ones with SHARKS,” I said.

“Maybe we could tour the USS Lexington, that’s easy walking distance from here,” Mike said. “Would you like to see some planes and go on the big ship?”

“OK,” I said. It wasn’t sharks, but it sounded fun. We went back through, then we left into the bright sun and walked onto the pier. “THIS IS HUGE,” I said as we got up next to the carrier.

“As long as nine football fields and up to three thousand men lived on it during World War Two,” Mike said. Everything was so BIG, so grey, and so cool. We went everywhere on the big ship. It had airplanes, a cool flight simulator, and other stuff on the big deck. Inside, we saw where people slept and ate, and even where they steered the ship from. My favorite was the theater, where I put on these funny glasses, and everything looked real. Mom said it was called “three-dee.”

My stomach growled as we walked off the ship and down the gangplank to the pier. “Thank you,” I told Mike as we walked back. He had carried me part of the time and helped me get through the hatches.

“I had fun too,” he said.

We walked back to the aquarium where the car was. Everything was closing down, so a lot of people were coming out. I caught a glimpse of a man waiting on a bench by the entrance. “UNKY LEO,” I yelled as I pulled Mom forward.

“Don’t run,” Mom said. She looked where I was going, and didn’t see anyone. Mom got down to my level as Mike and Anita came around us. “Baby… Unky Leo isn’t here.”

“I SAW him, Mommy! By the door!”

“He can’t be here, love. We got news from Atlanta. Alpha Leo had a heart attack. There was nothing they could do. I’m so sorry, baby, but Leo is dead.”

Tears were flowing down Mom’s face as I shook my head, refusing to believe her. “NO! He’s here! I saw him!”

She pulled me into her arms. “I’m so sorry, Vicki.”

“Hello, Sharkbait.” Everyone turned to the man who had just walked up.

Mike took a step back.

Anita covered her mouth.

Mom fainted.

And I ran into Unky Leo’s open arms.