Chapter 30-Arresting Major Charles

When they reached the driveway leading to the old Asylum, Joe pulled the car over, stuck his arm out the window, and waved the next car on. The cars drove by him until there was just his SUV, and two vans parked on the side of the driveway.

"Agent Maitland's medics?" Roe asked him, gesturing to the two vehicles behind them.

"Yes." He answered her. "We're waiting on the okay from Maitland to go on. He's gonna call us and the medics when the fighting's over. Then we'll go in and help them go through everybody there, and sort them according to where they're supposed to be. We'll call their Alphas and arrange for transport for the ones that aren't from the packs near here. Those PBI will probably just escort back to their packs."

"Okay."  Roe said.  "If we get anyone from the Oakland or Ridgeline Packs, we need to ask them if they know why some of the other members were chasing Shane and Adrian. I can't figure out how they fit into this."

"I know how."  Joe said.  "After you came by the bar that night, I called Oakland's Alpha and talked to him.  He said that they were detaining anyone that came through their pack because of the disappearances.  They thought Adrian and Shane were part of the kidnapping ring, that's why they were chasing them."

"But why did they run Adrian's car off the road, and why didn't they stop when I yelled at them?" Roe asked, confused.

"Alpha Lewis said that the one that you shot hadn't been with them long. He's from a pack across the country and had moved here because he found a girl he wanted to get to know in their pack. He was thinking about taking her as a choice mate, so he joined the Oakland Pack so he could get to know her. So, he didn't know who you were, or why he shouldn't attack you." Joe shrugged. "Apparently Lewis hadn't had the chance to talk to him about you yet."

"How'd they know Adrian was a vampire, not a human?"

"Alpha Lewis said something about him stopping at a gas station where one of his members worked, and she called it in that there was a vampire driving that car." He shook his head. "I'm not sure where she would've seen him, though."

"I can answer that." Adrian said. "It was on my way into Sunset a few days prior to the night I met Roe, and stopped at a gas station and there was a werewolf working there. I didn't think about it again until now."

"Why were they monitoring the neutral territory, though?" Roe asked, trying to put it all together.

"Alpha Lewis said that some of his pack members had been going into the neutral territory when they disappeared. That's why he'd been having his members sort of patrol there."

"Huh. That sounds...interesting." Roe replied, struggling to find something to say that wasn't ugly. I'm not sure I believe that story. It seems a little too convenient to me.

"I know what you're thinking, Roe. And, yes it does seem a little suspicious, but when Agent Maitland first contacted me, I had him look into the guy you shot. He called the guy's old pack, and the Alpha there told him the same thing that Alpha Lewis had told me." He shrugged again. "I don't know what to do about it, other than go with it for now."

"I don't know, either. But we still need to keep an eye on them." Roe said.

"I totally agree with you there, Roe."

The van behind them honked their horn, then drove around them. "I guess they got told to come on." Joe said, putting the car in gear and following them down the driveway. When they got to where the others had parked, it looked like mass pandemonium. People were scurrying everywhere.

"What's going on?" Roe asked no one in particular, knowing no one in the car with her knew the answer.

"Let's go see." Joe said, putting the car into park.

They all got out of the car, and walked over to where they saw Agent Maitland standing. "What's going on?" Joe asked him.

"We've got a few of them holed up in an office of some sort, and they're not coming out. I'm not sure how to get them out of there without someone getting hurt."

"Do you know who's in the room?" Roe asked.

"It seems to be the ones that you told us about. Savage, Parker, Boudreau, as well as Major Marsden and a couple others. They said that they're armed, and I'm assuming it's with silver and wood bullets."

"Hmm. Would you mind if I went in there and talked to them?" Roe asked.

"No." Shane told her. "You're not going in there."

"You can come with me." Roe told him, then looked at Adrian. "You can both come with me."

"Do you really think you can help?" Adrian asked her.

"I'm not sure." Roe replied. "I do think I can talk some sense into Boudreau and Parker. Savage and Marsden on the other hand, I don't know that there's anybody that can help those two."

"Are you sure that you want to do this?" Special Agent Maitland asked her.

"Yes. I have to try before anyone else gets hurt." Roe said, looking over at the first aid van that his men had set up, seeing a few people being bandaged.

Agent Maitland nodded. "We'll try it, but you're wearing a vest. We can borrow you one from the military guys."

"I'm fine with that." Roe said.

Shane was still frowning at her, but didn't say anything else about her not doing it. Once she had put a bulletproof vest on, Special Agent Maitland led them into the building. He walked down the halls until they arrived in front of a door, that to Roe looked like Major Marsden's office door though she wasn't sure. "This is it." Maitland told her.

Roe nodded to him, then stepped up to the door, making sure to stay to the side of it in case someone started shooting through it. "Boudreau? Parker?" Roe called through the door.

"Who is it?" Roe heard Parker's voice ask through the door.

"It's Roe."

"Roe?" Boudreau asked. "Wha' d'ya mean it's Roe? She 'scaped."

"Shut up." Savage yelled. "Don't tell people that. It's our business, not theirs."

"Savage, I already know that I escaped." Roe said. "I also know that I took Adrian and Shane with me when I did."

"You bitch!" Savage screamed, and started firing at the door.

Roe waved her hand, and the door stopped all of the bullets. The four men standing with her just stared at her, not really sure what had just happened.

"If you'll come out, I'll explain how we escaped." She told them. When she saw the disapproving looks on Adrian and Shane's faces, she waved her hand at them dismissively. Those two have got to be crazy if they think I'll tell these idiots exactly what we did to escape. I'm not stupid.

"You bitch!" Savage screamed, shooting at the door again.

Once again, Roe waved her hand at the door and it stopped the bullets. "You've already said that."

"I'm going to kill you." Savage screamed, then jerked the door open intending to shoot her. As soon as the door started opening, Roe stepped back out of the way of the men clustered around the door. Savage came through the door, and moved to his left, where he expected Roe to be. Instead of seeing Roe, he was greeted by the four men, who quickly tackled him to the ground and disarmed him. When they took him down, someone inside the room shut the door again. Since neither Adrian nor Shane was willing to leave Roe's side, even for a minute, Joe and Special Agent Maitland stood him up and moved him down the hall a little ways waiting on some of Maitland's men to come escort him out. The whole time, he was screaming obscenities at them, and struggling to get away.

Roe didn't even try to talk to the men still holed up in the room until Special Agent Maitland's men had escorted Savage outside. None of the people in the hall could figure out what sounds were coming from the room, with all of the noise Savage was making. When they finally got him far enough away that she couldn't hear him screaming any more, she started trying to talk to the men inside the room again. "Boudreau? Parker? Who else is in there with you?" She asked.

"You can call me Major Charles Marsden." He screamed. "I'm the only important one in here."

"Fine. Major Marsden, how many people are in there with you?" Roe asked.

"Nobody important except me." He screamed at her. "Now you need to get off of my property."

"This isn't going anywhere." Roe said to the men standing with her. "He's never going to say anything helpful." I wonder if I can use my witch sight to see who's in the room with him? Or at least how many people there are.

"What do you want to do?" Shane asked her.

"Give me a second. I may have an idea." She replied. She concentrated and opened her witch sight. Well, that didn't work out. Wait, what is that? There's a glow coming from inside that room, but I can't tell what it is. I haven't seen anything like it before. I know I'm not seeing how many people are in there, I wonder if I'm seeing someone in there that's not human. I bet it's Boudreau.

Adrian, see if you can connect with Boudreau if I get him to drop his shields.

I doubt I can, Roe. I've never been able to do that through a door, much less with a human.

I don't think he's human.

I'll try. Adrian said, his tone letting her know that he didn't think it would work.

Roe nodded at him, then spoke through the door. "Boudreau, drop your shields."

Silence followed her command, then Major Marsden started screaming at her again. "I'm the one in charge here. You don't talk to my junior officers when I'm here. I'm the only one you're allowed to talk to."

Roe didn't bother responding to him, she just looked at Adrian. He nodded, then started speaking "You were right. Boudreau's not human. He didn't tell me what he is, but I can sense that he's not human now that I'm connected to him."

"What's going on in there?"

"Boudreau said that Marsden had called them into his office when we started attacking. He told them that no one is leaving the office alive. Savage was helping him keep the rest of them under control, but now that Savage is gone, Marsden has really flipped. He says that there are five men in there, including him, and two of them are already wounded."

"Does he have any idea how to get them out of there without getting anyone else hurt?"

"Not really."

"Would a call from a superior officer get him to come out?" Roe asked Adrian, then waited while he relayed the question to Boudreau.

"He said he wasn't sure if a call would work, but he thinks an actual person might."

"How about we try the phone call thing from the general you were talking about earlier." Roe asked Agent Maitland.

"Okay, I can set that up. What are you thinking if that doesn't work?" He asked, dialing a number on his phone.

"Tell him that the Colonel that's at Joe's pack is requesting his presence, and the two military guys that were his aides will take Marsden to him. Just don't tell him that the Colonel is in the pack cells right now."

"That may work. We'll try the phone call first and see how that goes. It has less chance of going wrong on us." He shifted his attention to the phone and said "This is Special Agent Maitland, I need to talk to General Jackson."

When his attention returned to her, Roe nodded. "That's why I suggested it first. Also, if he doesn't come out for the phone, maybe we can get him to send Parker or Boudreau out to check the call first."

Special Agent Maitland nodded then spoke into the phone. "Special Agent Maitland, Sir. We have a bit of a situation with Major Marsden. He has closed himself in his office with what we think are hostages, and refuses to come out." He paused and listened for a minute. "Yes, Sir. Colonel Allen came down here as you ordered, but we found out that he was on Major Marsden's side, so he's detained at the moment, and we don't have anyone else here that outranks the Major." He listened some more. "Sir, we thought that he might come out, or send one of the hostages out, if we told him that you were on the phone and wanted to talk to him." He listened once again. "Yes, Sir. I'll tell him, hold on for me." He nodded at Roe.

"Major Marsden," Roe called "A General Jackson is on the phone for you."

"You lie." He screamed at her.

"I do not." Roe said. "If you don't believe me, send one of your people out here, and they can tell you that he's really on the phone." Her statement was met by silence from the other side of the door. Roe turned to Adrian and quietly asked him "What's happening in there?"

"Boudreau says that it looks like Marsden is thinking it over. He said that given the choice, he's going to advocate for Parker or one of the other men to be sent out so that he can keep giving us information."

Roe nodded. That sounds like a good idea, I just hope my plan works. I don't want anyone else to get hurt, but I can't stand the idea of Marsden getting away, and being able to do this again somewhere else.

The door started slowly opening, and Parker eased himself out. Once he was through the door, he carefully leaned on it, and asked "Is General Jackson really on the phone?"

Special Agent Maitland didn't bother answering him, just held the phone out to him. Parker took the phone, held it up to his ear, and said "Hello....Parker, Sir.....No, Sir....Yes, Sir. I'll tell him, Sir." He looked stunned as he handed the phone back to Special Agent Maitland. "He gave me a message for Major Marsden."

"Give it to him, but stay on this side of the door." Roe told him.

"Before he let me out, he said I had to let him see me when I told him if it was the General or not, so he'd know if one of you was faking my voice." Parker said, looking scared.

"That's fine." Roe said. "But do not cross the threshold of the door. As long as you're on this side, we can protect you."

"Really?"

"Yes, but do not cross the line of that doorway." Roe told him.

He looked at her for a few seconds, then nodded and stepped over to the door and knocked on it. "Major Marsden?"

"Yes, Parker?"

Parker slowly opened the door, and following Roe's directions, he stayed on the hallway side of the opening. "I spoke to General Jackson, Sir. He said to tell you to come to the phone right now, Sir."

"You lie."

"No, Sir. The man on the phone says he's General Jackson, Sir. He also said to tell you that if you didn't believe me to tell you that he was on the debriefing panel after you returned from overseas."

"He said that?"

"Yes, Sir. He did."

"Did he tell you anything else about that debriefing?"

"No, Sir. That's all he said."

"Okay. Bring the phone in here."

"I'm sorry Sir. He said that you had to come out here to talk to him."

"NO! You will bring me that phone." Major Marsden commanded him.

"I'm sorry Sir. I can't do that. I'm under orders from the General." Parker nervously replied.

"Fine." Major Marsden yelled at Parker before he started shooting at him.

Roe flung her hand toward the door and held it there as the bullets slammed into an invisible wall that formed in the doorway. Thank goddess that worked. I was afraid it wouldn't without the door there to slow the bullets down. Parker looked at her stunned. "It's time to end this." Roe said aloud. "I'm going to make a force field around him, so y'all can go get those other men. Then I'll let it go and you can get him." The others were staring at her stunned, just like Parker was. Shane looked like he was about to speak, but she did before he could argue with him. "I'll stay here, in the hall. Y'all go get them, and him. Get ready, here we go." She moved the force field until it surrounded Major Marsden.

Adrian was the first one in the room. He had turned his witch sight on as soon as Roe told them the plan, so he could see the force field around the Major. The others quickly followed him upon seeing Major Marsden trying to shoot Adrian and failing because of Roe's magic. Adrian and Shane went after the injured men, and got them up and out the door with Boudreau's help. They looked at Roe as they passed her, neither of them wanting to leave her but both knowing they had to take care of the injured men.

Special Agent Maitland and Joe were waiting on them to be out of the room before they went after Major Marsden. When Special Agent Maitland and Joe were in position, Roe dropped the shield. As soon as she did, she leaned back against the wall. That took more energy than I thought it would. She thought to herself as she started slowly sliding down the wall. The last thing she saw before blackness consumed her was Major Marsden on the floor being handcuffed by Special Agent Maitland.