Abandoned Treasure

Council Enforcer Vic Knightly’s POV

SW of Malmstrom AFB, Great Falls, MT

Monday, September 10, 2007

It took almost ninety minutes for Stanley Biggs to arrive. I saw his pickup pull in behind me on the suburban roadside. I left my phone charging on the seat before getting out. With my hands open, I turned out my pockets and turned around. I pulled my T-shirt up so he could see I wasn’t armed or recording anything. He waved me towards his truck. “Thanks for coming,” I said. “This discussion is off the record. Nothing you say will go to my superiors. They don’t know I’m even here.”

“I don’t like it when someone threatens me,” he told me. “Bad things can happen, and you’re the one who left that steaming pile of shit outside my ranch. You’ve got a lot of balls, kid.”

“Nobody wants a war, Stanley. My people will hear what I was doing if I don’t return, and your people know who you are meeting with. Can I get in? These conversations shouldn’t be in public.”

He nodded, so I went around and climbed into the passenger seat. He started driving east, out of town. “I wanted to talk to you. I need to know the truth.”

The big man laughed, then focused his brown eyes on mine in an uncomfortable stare. “Truth? You want the truth?”

“I believe I’m entitled to it.”

“You can’t HANDLE the truth, boy! You live in a Pack world that has laws, and those laws are made by men of great power and authority. For whose benefit, Vic? Yours? Nathan’s? Carol’s? You are deeper in their crooked shit than you can possibly fathom. You did the bidding of the Council, and you killed the ‘dangerous’ rogues. Your conscience is clear because you acted under their authority.” He took a deep breath. “You have the luxury of not knowing what I know. Nathan and Carol’s death, while tragic, kept the Council’s corruption hidden. The truth is so grotesque and incomprehensible that if I tell you, they will kill you to keep it buried. I’m doing you a favor by my silence. I would rather you just said ‘thank you’ and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you take your weapon and confront the Council for that truth you seek. Either way, I don’t give a DAMN what you think you’re entitled to!”

I had to know one thing. “Did you give sanctuary to Nathan and Carol?”

“I did what was best for my Den.”

“DID YOU GIVE SANCTUARY TO THE ROGUES?”

“YOU’RE GODDAM RIGHT I DID!”

Fuck. I looked into Stanley’s eyes, and a chill went down my spine. He was on the edge of violence, and I stood no chance against an enraged Werebear.

What I knew couldn’t get out. If the Council knew, they would send an army to destroy his den. The loss of a new Enforcer wouldn’t get that response, and we both knew it. The only way to stay alive was to convince him I was on his side. “Why?”

“How much do you know about Carol Sampson, boy?”

“Only what I have from her files. She and her family lived in Grand Forks, where she attended college. They owned a towing and hauling business, didn’t cause any trouble, and never appeared on our radar until just before the Bitterroot Pack warriors wiped them out. Carol killed a Pack Warrior and got severely injured during the attack. She was captured and confined to the Pack prison until Nathan Storm, her mate, broke her out a year ago. They killed a Pack guard during their escape and disappeared. The Council issued warrants shortly after for their capture or kill.”

We’d made it to an empty area of prairie by now. Stanley pulled onto a dirt road, stopping a hundred yards from the main road. When he got out, I did too.

I never saw it coming. The big man slammed his right fist into my gut, taking the air from my body. I tried to get my hands up but couldn’t stop the left hook to my chin.

When I woke up, I was back in the truck. Stanley was sitting beside me, holding a baggie filled with ice in his right hand. I groaned as I reached to take it, then again when I put it over the bruise on my jaw. “Why?”

“Because you killed my friends, you dumb fuck. I won’t kill you, Vic, but I’d like to. It wouldn’t be the right play for my Den. That takes precedence over what I want.”

“I didn’t plan to harm the baby, Stanley. I didn’t want to pit them out at high speed because it was too risky, but I got overruled. The Chairman ordered me to stop them before they got to your den.”

He shook his head. “Dead is dead, Vic. Intentions don’t mean shit. You do risky shit, and bad stuff can happen.”

He was right about that. “Nathan came after me when I pulled up, and I had to put him down in self-defense. Carol was badly hurt. I saw the lights coming and thought they might be humans, so I put her in the car and took off. I wanted to take her to a hospital.”

“And you got overruled,” Stanley said evenly. “The Council didn’t give a shit about the baby; they wanted Carol dead.”

“Yeah.” I looked blankly out the window. “Her last words were to ‘leave me to die.’ When she didn’t respond, I pulled over and tried to save the baby. I did an emergency C-section; the baby was alive when I handed her over to Bitterroot.”

“And Alpha Todd let that child die, ending the Sampson and the Storm bloodlines and any questions about what happened to them,” Stanley said.

I nodded. “My boss is closing the file when I report that I can’t find the hideout.”

“Swept under the rug and forgotten.”

“Not by me.”

“Tell me, Enforcer. What bothered you in Carol’s file?”

“There was no reason to attack her and her family. If Bitterrot followed the rules, she’d be finishing college right now. Then there is the ‘crime’ of defending her family against an unprovoked attack. What the hell did they expect when they went in like that?”

Stanley nodded. “Why didn’t they leave her to die, Vic? Why risk bringing Carol back to your Pack? Why keep her in prison for years if she killed a Warrior? Is not the sentence for murder death?”

“I don’t know what Alpha Todd was thinking.”

“Then you aren’t putting yourself in his place. What value can a young female rogue bring to the Pack that justifies keeping her around for years?”

No. Fuck no. “A breeder?”

“Worse. Todd put Carol in a silver collar and used her as a sex slave. The unmated warriors and leadership at Bitterroot raped her repeatedly, every single night. You’ve seen her body. All the scars? They punished her endlessly.”

I could only nod, but then my stomach flipped. I opened the door and bailed out, barely making it to the ditch before I started throwing up. How in the name of Luna did he think he could get away with it?

The Alpha had power, but someone at the Council had to know. I spit onto the ground after my stomach stopped heaving. “And the Council?”

“Powerful men are easily corrupted,” Stanley said as he handed me a water bottle. “It wasn’t just Pack wolves raping her.”

I rinsed my mouth out, then took a long draw. The implication was obvious. “And Nathan had to sit back and watch this happen to his mate?”

“He told me the Alpha’s sentence was to remain in slavery until she gave the Pack a male child to replace the warrior they lost. If Nathan interfered, he would be stripped of rank and enslaved alongside her. He spent years planning their escape because to fail meant a long and painful death.”

I sat on the gravel of the ditch, trying to get my head around this. “What the fuck do I do now, Stanley? I can’t go to my boss with any of this. It’s all hearsay, and I’m sure Alpha Todd will squirm his way out of any accusation.”

“I’m sure he will, especially if some of the Council was complicit. They won’t hesitate to eliminate you if you speak up.”

I looked at the setting sun and shook my head. “I’ve been a fool.”

“Your superiors took advantage of you, Vic. You should choose better bosses.”

I shook my head. “I’ve got four years left on my contract as a Council Enforcer.”

Stanley put his big hand on my shoulder. “General Schwartzkov once said, ’The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do. The hard thing is doing it.’ If you stay under those people, they will put you in these situations over and over again.” He held out his hand to me and pulled me to my feet. “The question is what you do next, knowing the full situation.”

I kept hold of his hand. “I promise I will keep you and your family out of this,” I told him. “The problem is not yours.”

“I believe you.” We returned to the truck, and Stanley drove us back to town. “Vic? Take care of yourself. The buzzing mosquito gets slapped, even though it’s not the one biting.”

“I will. Thank you.” He drove off, and I went back to the hotel.

I had a few days to kill before I had to return to work. I caught up to Cheri in Missoula, taking her to heaven and back in my hotel room. The next night, I ended up in a three-way with her and her married boss. On Friday, I went to Denver and took Diane to dinner. I nailed her on every horizontal surface in her apartment and a few vertical ones before leaving her sore and exhausted in bed.

Monday morning, I turned in my report to Enforcer Trestman. I couldn’t find the hideout, so he closed the file without comment.

Then, I handed him my resignation.

(Apologies to the writer of A Few Good Men.)