from their mothers’ bodies then stolen from the labs were smuggled or kidnapped from supposedly secured labs and disappeared almost immediately. There are dozens, Callan, and those are just the ones I know of. I’m certain there are far more actually in existence.”
Thor, Emma and Sharone had managed to unearth secrets even Diane hadn’t suspected until now.
Both Rachel and Merinus covered their lips in both horror and hope as she spoke. The fates of those children were always on their minds, and the discovery of their whereabouts was considered top priority since the day the First Leo had informed them the girls had disappeared just days before his teams had arrived.
“How long has this group been operating?” Jonas’s eyes narrowed, his displeasure that such an operation existed without him clearly outlined in his expression.
She licked her lips, nervous about giving this piece of information.
“If you want me to keep my word, Diane, then we have to know everything,” Lawe stated harshly.
“It’s not the information itself that’s problematic, it’s the Breed behind it.” She sighed.
Jonas lips tightened. “Should I guess?”
She had a feeling he would be right.
“My intel says Leo Vanderale may have been the force behind the creation of the group,” she informed them. “I do know he’s put out feelers for information since Brandenmore injected Amber with the serum but to no avail. One of my contacts told me that no one who has come onto Navajo land searching for missing Breed children or adults, has left it to report anything. They’ve disappeared just as quickly and just as completely as the children do.”
Lawe sat back in his chair slowly, his gaze narrowing on her.
“And how do you intend to accomplish your objective without disappearing as well?” He flashed his canines dangerously.
“They won’t risk making me disappear.” She shook her head, positive it wouldn’t happen. “There are too many Breeds here, I’m too well known and by now they’re going to be aware I’m your mate. They won’t dare touch me.”
The Navajo wanted to preserve the Breeds, ensure their survival and make certain that women, especially Breed women and mated wives, were well taken care of. Mates such as Megan Fields Arness and the one married to the New Mexico sheriff, Harmony Jacobs. That one, Diane believed, was the mysterious Harmony Lancaster who had disappeared several years before and at one time suspected to be the Breed assassin known as “Death.”
“My original question then.” Lawe’s brow arched mockingly. “How do you intend to succeed?”
“By discussing the situation with three members of the community who I believe may have information or know someone who has information,” she stated. “They may not tell me a damn thing, but I believe they have to know either Fawn or Honor, and they have to know who they are.”
They stared back at her silently, and in her sister’s eyes, Diane saw hope for the child they all cherished.
“Malachi’s mate, Isabelle, her sister Chelsea, and their friend Liza,” she stated. “Isabelle was at home and old enough to remember her father bringing those kids in. I’m betting she saw them and perhaps also saw who picked them up. Chelsea Martinez and Liza are her best friends, but even more than that, they’re a part of the Martinez family and they work with the Navajo Council, specifically with three of the men I suspect are part of the network. Terran, Ray and Orrin Martinez. I’m certain that at least one of the members of the Navajo Council heads the child rescue team. And if that’s true, then at least one of the girls has to know it. Those three work closely with all of them. And I’m betting it’s either Chelsea or Liza. If it were Isabelle, her mate would have asked her, and he would have given you that information if she had it.”
“She says she doesn’t have it.” Callan nodded. “We’ve met with her. But she’s hiding something. We can sense it, scent it. Even Malachi is aware that there’s something Isabelle is not telling in regard to the information we need.”
Surprised, she glanced at Jonas. It wasn’t like him to allow anyone to hold information back from him, especially someone he could use Breed Law against.
“I’d prefer to extinguish all options before using Breed Law against her,” he said with a weary sigh. “I’d hate like hell to make an enemy of Malachi. But he knows the danger of it is there if she continues to refuse to tell us what she knows.”
Diane stared at Jonas thoughtfully for long moments before speaking. “I doubt she knows enough to be of any help,” she stated gently, her heart going out to him as well as to the newly mated Isabelle Martinez who must be feeling the brunt of Breed Law beating at her brain.
Malachi understood too well the consequences if those two girls weren’t found. They had to know what Amber was facing so they could combat it and hopefully ensure her safety.
Callan rubbed at his jaw before breathing out roughly. “That’s my thought as well,” he finally stated. “The scent of her deceit isn’t strong enough to indicate vital knowledge. But it could be enough to lead us to someone who knows more. The fact that she’s hiding it, and refuses to tell even her mate, does concern me though.”
“The Navajo team rescuing and hiding these children are here, in Window Rock.” Diane knew they were, she could feel it, and Thor was just as certain.
“Diane, I’m going to assume you have more than just gut instinct backing your conclusions.” Jonas sighed wearily as he laid his hand on Rachel’s shoulder as she fought back her tears.
“Jonas, Amber is my niece and I love her as much as I love my sister. And I would never place all my faith in just my gut if it were my sister’s life hanging in the balance in such a way.”
She had circumstantial evidence, her belief, her gut instinct and the fact that she knew Terran Martinez had been in the area was enough proof for her.
If Pride Leader Lyons refused to allow her this chance because he didn’t like the lack of information, then it was no less than a certainty that Jonas and Lawe would refuse her as well.
That didn’t mean it would stop her.
“Do you believe you can draw Fawn or Honor out if they’re near?” Jonas finally asked.
This was his child. The child that may not have come from his genetics, but she was definitely a part of his soul, just as her mother was.
“I’m certain if anyone can, then I can,” she stated confidently. “This is where I excel, Jonas, you know that.”
Callan sighed wearily and spoke when Jonas remained silent. “Very well, we’ll go along with it for now,” he agreed. “But by the end of the week I want answers. I want some kind of proof I can take before the Navajo Council to ensure their cooperation. Find it, Ms. Broen, before we all end up regretting it.”
•CHAPTER 16•
Find the link to the group of Navajo charged with collecting and hiding Breeds, created or hybrid, as well as the human children and/or adults involved in any experimentation on the Breeds or their genetic profiling, and do it within a week.
What a tall order. And her week was nearly up.
Lawe had kept his word though. He had allowed her to do whatever she needed to do. He even stood back when necessary and without asking; he’d never once questioned the working relationship she had with Thor.
She wasn’t fooled though. This battle wasn’t over.
And time was running out. She had one day left to produce information. After that, Jonas would threaten the Navajo Nation Council with sanctions if he didn’t get the information he wanted on Honor Roberts and Fawn Corrigan.
And she was just tired of wasted time and effort.
It was a damned good thing Diane had excellent contacts. Contacts who wanted the identities of that group to suggest they take the job of hiding more than Council-threatened Breeds and humans.
No matter how they tried, there was no way of finding them, though. If there had been, then the men her uncle collaborated with would have found it.
Moving through the darkened rooms of the
suite the Navajo Council had made available for her and Lawe, Diane slipped silently past the balcony doors she had managed to jimmy earlier and keep from locking.
Lawe would have a fit over this, she knew, but she was tired of the shadows and the constant smothering presence of Breeds surrounding her. She needed to run wild and free to clear her brain. Besides, she knew for a fact that Liza Johnson used the running trail that wrapped around the small park for her morning exercise.
If she hurried, she would get there in time to scout out the area, then lie in wait for the friend whom Coyote Breed Ashley Truing cared so much for.
Taking Lawe with her would only serve to intimidate Liza, who seemed to have a sense of fear where Breed males were concerned. Diane knew what a fear of men looked like in wary eyes.
Just as she knew that Liza and Chelsea Martinez had been the reason Isabelle hadn’t ended up raped by her ex-boyfriend recently.
Climbing effortlessly from the balcony before grabbing hold of the strong, dense vine that grew along the building, she began silently lowering herself to the ground below.
Lawe had left the room minutes after they had been escorted to it by a team of Breeds. And if she hadn’t misunderstood, then she knew those Breeds were outside her door and charged with making certain she was protected while Lawe was busy.
Son of a bitch, she was so tired of protection.
This was becoming ridiculous.
Jumping to the ground, Diane came to a crouch, her gaze adjusting to the darkness outside as she searched for any Breed Enforcers who might have reached this side of the hotel while patrolling.
They hadn’t. The soft green grass that met the building was a part of the golf course, which stretched out behind the Navajo Suites. On the other side was a large pool, a park for kids and a variety of other simple amusements.
Straightening up, Diane sprinted quickly across the grass and headed for a stand of trees bordering the golf course before the Breed guards could get a whiff of her scent and stop her.
Liza Johnson was suspected by Diane’s contact to have been the go-between in the pickup of several other Breed children, a scientist with Navajo roots who had been forced to work with the Council and a young woman whose mate had been killed.
Liza was highly involved in the Bureau of Breed Affairs as a liaison between the office and the Navajo Council and community, and she was also a close friend to several high-profile Breeds. If anyone in Window Rock knew where Honor Roberts was hiding and the identity she had taken, then it would be Liza.
Using the golf course’s heavy boulders, the stand of sheltering trees and the artificial hills for cover, Diane made her way quickly from the hotel to the other side of the course, praying Breed eyes hadn’t seen her escape.
Once there, she turned along a narrow path, no longer bothering to stay hidden in the deepest shadows as she pulled the hood of her jacket over her head and hoped any Breed surveillance wouldn’t immediately realize who she was.
There were no Breeds assigned to this area, though, she knew. At least, the plans she’d been privy to hadn’t shown any. There was always the chance that Lawe had ensured she not know exactly where the Breeds were patrolling, but she didn’t think he had. As he saw it, since she’d been given permission to conduct her investigation, she would have no reason to slip away to do it.
No reason other than the fact that she could no longer bear to be surrounded by big hulking brutes determined to die for her. Lawe had kept his word, but as Rachel had warned her, other Breeds had made a vow, and they didn’t care to shadow her and Lawe, and especially her and Thor, whenever they saw her out.
God, could she survive watching another man she knew, possibly Lawe, the man she loved, die for her? She’d seen it once before. She had watched the life drain from Padric’s gaze as the bullet he’d taken to his chest to protect her had killed him.
The memory of it flayed her. She had never escaped the nightmares that forced her to relive it and couldn’t seem to convince herself that she was older, more experienced, and definitely more merciless than she had been then.
She also wasn’t nearly as reckless as Lawe wanted to believe she was. Moving past the small children’s playground and entering the city park, Diane stopped at the tall stone monument that marked the missing members of the Navajo Nation as well as other tribes who had been used in Breed research.
There were fifty-seven names total, men and women whose lives had no doubt been lost long before the Navajo had ever learned of their deaths.
Stepping within the long shadow cast by the heavy edifice, Diane stopped, her gaze narrowing against the predawn light as she committed her surroundings to memory. Then, with a soft breath of air, she imitated the happy little chirp of one of the birds singing out so sweetly.
The answering call had her lips tilt up in fondness.
“We’re going to get our asses killed.” Thor stepped from the shadows of an overgrown pine several feet away and made his way to her.
Dressed in black, a cap covering his white blond hair, his utility belt strapped with a variety of weapons and tools, he looked like the highly efficient warrior he was.
Diane snorted at the prediction. “Are you scared?”
“Pretty much.” He sighed, his gaze restless as he canvassed the area.
“Want me to send you home to momma for a diaper and nap, Thor?” she mocked.
“You’re a bitch, Di.” He sighed again. “A true hard-core bitch.”
“Yeah, yeah, so you keep telling me.” Her tone conveyed a deliberate lack of concern, but she could feel her heart racing with fear.
The fear that something would happen to him. That if push came to shove, then he too would throw himself in front of a bullet for her.
“I have her schedule,” Thor told her before she had a chance to ask if he had managed to get the information she’d assigned him while she and Lawe were at the hospital to check on Ashley.
“Good.” Diane nodded. “What is it?” She glanced up at him, wondering if she was going to have to drag every piece of information out of his ass.
“She leaves the house at daylight,” he said softly. “She had stopped running after her friend Isabelle was nearly raped by a date. He was stalking Isabelle and the friends were terrified he would strike at them in retaliation. It was the same bastard who nearly kidnapped Isabelle and shot Ashley.”
“The same one Gideon killed,” she murmured. “Gideon beat us here, Thor.”
“But we expected it.” Thor shrugged easily. “And what’s with this ‘us’ bullshit? There was no ‘us,’ boss. You forgot to tell me about this little side trip. I had to guess, remember?”
“Still put out, Thor?” she asked as she leaned back against the memorial to wait for daylight and the woman she was going to track down this morning.
“Still put out,” he agreed, though his tone wasn’t nearly as relaxed as it had been. “You and I are a team, no matter what. Or so I thought until you ditched me.”
She shook her head wearily. “There was too much riding on this, too big a threat to Liza as well as Honor Roberts, if I managed to find her. It wasn’t fair to her to add additional danger to her life.”
“We both know I’m no fucking traitor,” he hissed through the darkness. “Give me a break. And if you believed that crap that just spewed from your lips, then I wouldn’t be here now.”
Her lips twitched at the angry tone and the descriptive words he used.
“You’re right,” she agreed. There was really no sense in arguing the point.