Abandoned Treasure

Senior Enforcer Victor Ciatta’s POV

Council Aircraft Enroute Two Harbors

Wednesday, July 22, 2020

“Victor? A moment, please.”

“Of course, Madam Chair.” I unbuckled my seatbelt and stood up, my six-foot-five body unable to stand straight in the executive aircraft. I walked past the other Enforcers to where Frank and Colletta sat at a small table with Chief Enforcer Trestman. I bowed my head slightly in deference, then took the seat she gestured to.

“We’ve got a mess waiting for us at Arrowhead,” Colletta began.

“The Chief briefed our team on the way to the airport,” I replied. “The executioner of the previous Arrowhead Luna is both alive and at Arrowhead again under a protection offer and is the father of a sick Pack member.”

“Yes. Vic Knightly was the one who ‘killed’ Nathan Storm over a decade ago, and Mark was his boss. He is one of the subjects of the investigation, so I’m recusing him from his normal duties. He will command the protection detail in your place, and you will be the lead investigator.”

“Of what? Alpha Martin filed the complaint this morning, and Nathan confessed to the crime.”

“Mark, go sit with your team.” He nodded, unbuckled, and walked to the back of the jet. “You are investigating the activities surrounding the events in question: Nathan’s involvement in the Arrowhead attack, the attack on Carol Sampson’s family in North Dakota and her subsequent treatment at Bitterroot, plus Nathan and Carol’s escape, warrant, and eventual deaths in Montana. And finally, what happened to Baby Mykayla, who had been reported dead to the Council.”

“I remember that time, Ma’am. The Council and the Packs already investigated.”

She shook her head. “Alpha Todd investigated, and that man was crooked as a barrel of snakes. The old Council was corrupt. Any investigation of these events was rushed and done as much to hide the truth as to find it. It’s a starting point, but I need you to weed out the lies and backfill with the truth. ”Frank slid an envelope across the table to me. “I had our people copy all our files related to these events and printed a copy of Nathan’s confession. Your priority is to vet out his confession. I need to know if he’s lying to us or not.”

It wasn’t going to be easy. “Ma’am, almost all the people involved in those events are dead now. Bitterroot doesn’t even exist.”

“True. You have the interrogations and confessions from the Council trials. Most survivors of that Pack are at Arrowhead, but a complete list of remaining members is on the flash drive. You may travel as needed to get statements, and you can pick two Enforcers back there to assist you. Yours is a high-priority investigation, as Martin is moving for an arrest and trial next week.”

“What about the protection offer?”

Frank spoke first. “Martin’s opinion is that as soon as Nathan donates his marrow, the terms of the offer are complete.”

“Our Chief Counsel is researching that and protection offers,” Colletta added. “Emotions run high on both sides. There is more to this than the legal aspect. We are making headway with the Shifter Board, and they would look at his arrest as a betrayal of trust. If they can’t trust our promise of no harm, how can they trust anything else we say?” I hated dealing with politics, but she was right. “Frank will give you contacts within the FBI and local law enforcement since interstate kidnapping and murder occurred outside Pack lands. They and shifters outside the Pack system will read your report. All must accept the final product.”

“Like who? And how are we supposed to find them?”

She handed me a business card. “Stanley Biggs is the Chairman, so work with him. Nathan is silent on who saved his life and protected him after he got shot, but it happened right outside Stanley’s den.”

Wonderful. “This could take months.”

“We don’t have months, Victor. If you need more people or resources, ask for them.”

I gave her some names, people still at the Council or former Enforcers who had returned to their old Packs. I also requested office space at Arrowhead with computer support. “That should get me started.”

Frank stood up and pulled Colletta with him. “We’ll be landing in two hours. Assemble your team up here and get to work.”

I sent a mental summons to Allison Kirk and Carter Hall. Allison had been an Enforcer for two years. The tall and athletic wolf looked like a fitness model, but she was anything but a ditzy blonde. Allison had great instincts and a photographic memory. She’d spent twenty years as a Sheriff’s Deputy, most as a detective, near her home Pack in Maine. Carter had been an Enforcer for ten years, specializing in tracking and monitoring rogue wolves and other shifters. He was shorter than Allison, about five-foot-nine, but built like a middleweight boxer with broad shoulders and powerful muscles. They joined me a minute later, and I laid out the assignment. “How do you want to handle this, boss?”

“Divide and conquer,” I decided. “I’ll take everything through Nathan and Carol’s escape from Bitterroot. Carter, you get their time on the run, including the Council and Pack investigations and the stop outside the Biggs’ den. Allison, you get their time in hiding and everything associated with Mykayla. That includes the Oracle and where they are hiding now.”

Allison’s shoulders dropped. “Great, I get the abused kid?”

“Most of the wolves who can tell you about that time are females, many of whom suffered the same things. They won’t open up to me like they will for another woman.”

“Right.”

“The other reason is that the Oracle is a big mystery for us. It’s been running for over a decade, helping those outside the Pack system survive and evade us. Rumor has it they aren’t exactly law-abiding. I need to know what Nathan has been doing because it may affect the outcome with the Feds.”

“You’re going to refer crimes to the FBI?” She looked shocked; cooperation with human authorities was new for us, and it wasn’t fun. Hundreds of old kidnappings and murders had that effect on us.

“I don’t know yet, Allison. Keep that stuff close to the vest, and we’ll run it past the Chair when we have the information. We’re here to investigate Nathan, not Jade or other shifters.”

“Understood.” With the responsibilities set, we got our laptops open and began. Each of us copied the contents of the flash drive. It included a copy of Nathan’s confession, so I started marking my copy with notes after the first read. The pilot interrupted my thoughts with the landing announcement. We started putting things away as the flight attendant stowed the conference table. “This is a fucking mess,” Allison said.

“Yeah,” Carter said. “The only thing I can trust from Alpha Todd’s reports is that they killed a guard on the way out. I’m still struggling with ordering Vic to run a pregnant wolf off the road.”

“You’re not the only one. Vic Knightly quit the council shortly after that.”

“My stomach turns every time I think about what those women suffered,” Allison agreed. “How did they do that for so long without the Council stopping it?”

“The Council was just as corrupt. Thank Luna, they’re all dead now.”

“Except Nathan,” Carter replied.

“Yeah,” I said as the plane touched down at Two Harbors airport. “There isn’t much in this investigation that will be pleasant.” We turned off the runway as I thought about what was coming. “This isn’t a vacation for us. We have a job to do, so focus on that. We must remain impartial, so don’t spend too much time socializing at the beach or pool. Carter, I asked for your mate to help with the administrative side.” June was working at the Council with him in the offices. Allison hadn’t found her mate despite the get-togethers at Arrowhead recently, while I’d lost mine thirty years ago before joining the Council.

Arrowhead had vans and drivers waiting for us. My team took the last one, and it was a short drive to the Pack. Chair Colletta’s van with her family and nanny went to the Alpha home, where Rori and Chase met them outside. The rest of us went to a slightly smaller home to the right, and Beta Lana greeted us. “Coral’s old home is vacant now since we are short on Betas. You’ll have rooms here with other VIPs. Lunch and dinner are at the beach pavilion, weather permitting. The pool is open 24/7, and you can always get food there.” We took our luggage inside and to the guest rooms on the lower level. We took three rooms near the small kitchenette and table next to the theater.

We’d just settled in when we got the call from the Chairwoman. “Get your suits on and come down to the beach. You must present yourself to the host Alphas and meet some people.”

I put on swim trunks, sandals, and a BMW Motorcycle shirt and headed for the door. I opened it and nearly ran into a big guy with a long beard. “Gutsy call on the shirt with all the bikers around,” he said.

“VIC! Luna, it’s been YEARS!” I looked him over; he looked like a biker in his Harley shirt, Steel Brotherhood cut, and cutoff jeans. The rest of my team came out as we bro-hugged.

“Damn, Vic,” Carter said. “Have you made that little firecracker into a wolf yet?”

“A month after Oki was born. Tiny and full of energy, and fast as hell. Spider Monkey is one of us, though we’re off any Council rosters. We’re still in hiding at an undisclosed location.”

“Congrats, man. You deserve to be happy.”

Allison was staring at the big guy, waiting for an opening. “Vic, this is Allison Kirk, an Enforcer on my team. We’re assigned to fill in the blanks on Nathan’s story.”

“Welcome to Arrowhead, Allison. I remember you from the scratch ’n sniffs.”

She smiled at the memory. “I was barely here for a meal last time, and I had to stay at Oxbow Lake.”

“It’s like most Packs, except more fun and we have a bunch of bikers and their families here.They’re cool.”

“And the pool?”

“They’ve expanded it to include more and higher slides, another hot tub, and an endless pool setup for exercise.”

“What about the humans?”

“If they are here, they are Club and know everything about us. Swimwear is optional, and few wear it.” He led us upstairs, and we took his golf cart towards the pavilion. Vic had Allison up front, pointing out the facilities as he drove. We parked near the road and walked to the pavilion, where Alpha Rori and her family were seated at a long table with a pile of rib bones in the center. “Congratulations, Alpha,” Vic said.

“VIC!” She got to her feet and hugged him, carefully keeping the sauce on her hands and face away. “Welcome back.”

“Thank you. May I present Senior Enforcer Victor Ciatta and Enforcers Allison Kirk and Carter Hall. The Chairwoman assigned them to look into Nathan’s story.”

“Welcome back to Arrowhead. Let any of us know if you need anything. Go grab dinner first; they are running low on ribs despite knowing a pregnant Luna was here.”

I laughed with the others. “Thank you, Alphas.”

We went through the buffet line, piling the big plates with food and pouring beers out of the keg. Bones were getting tossed into the metal bowls in the center of the picnic tables so fast it sounded like a construction site. The conversations around us stopped, and I scented someone coming up behind me. “It’s been a long time, Enforcer Knightly,” the man said.

“You’re looking better than the last time I saw you, Nathan Storm.”

Oh, shit.