True had been too worried about Jeanie’s well-being after her trauma to really give much thought to anything else. “Shit.”
“That’s good news.”
He growled at Jinx. “How can you say that?”
“They must fear she’ll find something and the one pretending to be the agent has to be in our records.”
“You think it’s a task force team member?”
“We do. It adds up. They knew how to gain her information in the first place when she contacted Homeland about Drackwood and even when we were going to strike the locations where Species were being held. Two males arrived tonight to grab her. Did she recognize one of them as the human who lied to her?”
“No. She would have told me.”
“Then we’re looking at two humans being involved—the supposed agent and the surviving male accomplice who came after her.”
True tried to be rational but it was difficult with his boiling temper.
“The guards they interrogated at Fuller are corrupt. Darkness called to inform us that they admitted they’ve been taking bribes from some of the prisoners. They never dared allow any of them to escape for fear they’d share the location with someone from the outside world. They weren’t just afraid someone would break out the prisoners, they were afraid of being killed in retaliation for all the abuse they dished out to them. They gave some of them extra food and smuggled in illegal luxury items for them to use as money. Darkness hasn’t been able to interrogate every guard yet since they weren’t all on duty but they have interaction with the task force team members on a regular basis. It’s his theory that it wasn’t just money that exchanged hands. The guards could have traded for information with the prisoners and then shared what they learned with the one pretending to be the agent. That’s how he might have known about other locations where Species were being kept.”
“That’s how he knew the location of Cornas Research, where he sent Jeanie,” True guessed.
“That is what Darkness suspects.”
“What about Polanitis? Was Darkness able to gain information from him?”
Jinx shook his head. “Not yet. The human is mental and smashed his head against the bars until he caused a bad concussion. He’s in Medical at the prison, being treated for that injury. They believe he will heal but he did it on purpose to save himself from being questioned. He feared Darkness that much.”
“I hate that human male,” True snarled, wishing death upon him. He glanced down the hallway. “I want an officer guarding the door again.”
“Already done. I asked them to step away to talk to you in private. There are two now. Jericho volunteered and so did Flame.”
“Good.” He was sure he could protect Jeanie but he wanted help, refusing to allow his pride to affect his judgment and ignore the fact that the odds of keeping her safe were better with backup.
“I also came to ask if you would bring your mate to Security to view those files now. The longer we wait, the greater the risk of them making another attempt to stop her. Tim wasn’t at that meeting when we spoke of our plan but other Species were. They were with him at dinner and I’m not sure what he may have overheard at the bar if they discussed those plans.”
True’s teeth clenched as he gave a sharp nod. He was furious. “It had better not be Tim.”
“His daughter is Species and so is his grandson. He’s one human I would trust but he may have mentioned what he overheard to one of his team members about your mate planning to view photos of those employees’ faces. He might have made some calls to his team members to update them on what was happening here after he went back to the office.”
“Give me ten minutes and you can help me escort her to Security. You said Luna is in Control?”
“She’s already preparing the employee records for viewing and will include everyone who works on the task force.”
“We’ll dress fast but I need a few minutes to let her know what is going on. Ten minutes,” True repeated, closing and locking the door.
Jeanie sat on the bed with the sheet pulled up to cover her br**sts. The sight of her was tempting but her life was in danger. The need to mount her would have to wait. He perched on the side of the bed and took her hand.
“That was Jinx.” He hated to give her more reasons to be fearful but she needed to know what was going on. He quickly gave her a rundown of what he’d been told and waited for her to respond.
“Shit,” she whispered, clutching his fingers tightly.
“That was my response as well.”
“You work with them.” She appeared worried as she watched him. “Maybe it’s not someone on the task force team.”
“It’s likely that it is. It makes sense with the access they’ve had to accomplish all this.”
“I’m so sorry, True. You consider them friends and I don’t want you hurt if one of them betrayed your trust.”
“The only one in danger of being hurt is the male or males responsible.” It pissed him off that anyone had used Jeanie but it just made it worse that it might be someone trusted by the NSO. “We need to dress and you need to see those files.”
“You think they’ll make another attempt to grab me?”
“It’s possible. One of the males responsible for taking you from our home is still at large and the human pretending to be an agent is still unknown. They have proven their ability to gain access to Homeland. You’ll be well guarded from now on, Jeanie. I won’t leave you alone again. I’m so sorry about that.”
“That’s good news.”
He growled at Jinx. “How can you say that?”
“They must fear she’ll find something and the one pretending to be the agent has to be in our records.”
“You think it’s a task force team member?”
“We do. It adds up. They knew how to gain her information in the first place when she contacted Homeland about Drackwood and even when we were going to strike the locations where Species were being held. Two males arrived tonight to grab her. Did she recognize one of them as the human who lied to her?”
“No. She would have told me.”
“Then we’re looking at two humans being involved—the supposed agent and the surviving male accomplice who came after her.”
True tried to be rational but it was difficult with his boiling temper.
“The guards they interrogated at Fuller are corrupt. Darkness called to inform us that they admitted they’ve been taking bribes from some of the prisoners. They never dared allow any of them to escape for fear they’d share the location with someone from the outside world. They weren’t just afraid someone would break out the prisoners, they were afraid of being killed in retaliation for all the abuse they dished out to them. They gave some of them extra food and smuggled in illegal luxury items for them to use as money. Darkness hasn’t been able to interrogate every guard yet since they weren’t all on duty but they have interaction with the task force team members on a regular basis. It’s his theory that it wasn’t just money that exchanged hands. The guards could have traded for information with the prisoners and then shared what they learned with the one pretending to be the agent. That’s how he might have known about other locations where Species were being kept.”
“That’s how he knew the location of Cornas Research, where he sent Jeanie,” True guessed.
“That is what Darkness suspects.”
“What about Polanitis? Was Darkness able to gain information from him?”
Jinx shook his head. “Not yet. The human is mental and smashed his head against the bars until he caused a bad concussion. He’s in Medical at the prison, being treated for that injury. They believe he will heal but he did it on purpose to save himself from being questioned. He feared Darkness that much.”
“I hate that human male,” True snarled, wishing death upon him. He glanced down the hallway. “I want an officer guarding the door again.”
“Already done. I asked them to step away to talk to you in private. There are two now. Jericho volunteered and so did Flame.”
“Good.” He was sure he could protect Jeanie but he wanted help, refusing to allow his pride to affect his judgment and ignore the fact that the odds of keeping her safe were better with backup.
“I also came to ask if you would bring your mate to Security to view those files now. The longer we wait, the greater the risk of them making another attempt to stop her. Tim wasn’t at that meeting when we spoke of our plan but other Species were. They were with him at dinner and I’m not sure what he may have overheard at the bar if they discussed those plans.”
True’s teeth clenched as he gave a sharp nod. He was furious. “It had better not be Tim.”
“His daughter is Species and so is his grandson. He’s one human I would trust but he may have mentioned what he overheard to one of his team members about your mate planning to view photos of those employees’ faces. He might have made some calls to his team members to update them on what was happening here after he went back to the office.”
“Give me ten minutes and you can help me escort her to Security. You said Luna is in Control?”
“She’s already preparing the employee records for viewing and will include everyone who works on the task force.”
“We’ll dress fast but I need a few minutes to let her know what is going on. Ten minutes,” True repeated, closing and locking the door.
Jeanie sat on the bed with the sheet pulled up to cover her br**sts. The sight of her was tempting but her life was in danger. The need to mount her would have to wait. He perched on the side of the bed and took her hand.
“That was Jinx.” He hated to give her more reasons to be fearful but she needed to know what was going on. He quickly gave her a rundown of what he’d been told and waited for her to respond.
“Shit,” she whispered, clutching his fingers tightly.
“That was my response as well.”
“You work with them.” She appeared worried as she watched him. “Maybe it’s not someone on the task force team.”
“It’s likely that it is. It makes sense with the access they’ve had to accomplish all this.”
“I’m so sorry, True. You consider them friends and I don’t want you hurt if one of them betrayed your trust.”
“The only one in danger of being hurt is the male or males responsible.” It pissed him off that anyone had used Jeanie but it just made it worse that it might be someone trusted by the NSO. “We need to dress and you need to see those files.”
“You think they’ll make another attempt to grab me?”
“It’s possible. One of the males responsible for taking you from our home is still at large and the human pretending to be an agent is still unknown. They have proven their ability to gain access to Homeland. You’ll be well guarded from now on, Jeanie. I won’t leave you alone again. I’m so sorry about that.”
