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Chapter 2
The time was 0930. Kristine was surprised that this group of people, which included both brass and nonmilitary honchos, could come together so quickly here in such a remote location, but it had happened. Around twenty people were gathered in the assembly room on the first floor of the building at the heart of Ft. Lukman, where the offices of the commanding officers and others were located. Of course most were familiar Alpha Force members, including Lt. Autumn Katers, a shifting hawk, and her aide, Sgt. Ruby Belmont, who had been on a mission with Kristine and Grace in Arizona when Grace had met Simon.
There were also some relatively new recruits, like Lt. Colleen Hodell, a cougar shifter, and Sgt. Jason Connell, a wolf shifter related to one of the unit’s commanding officers.
Then there were the others.
Kristine had entered the room fifteen minutes before and taken a seat out of the mainstream of the Alpha Force group, on one of the theater-style chairs mounted on the concrete floor. She had left a chair empty beside her in case Quinn decided to join her.
Quinn had just come in with Maj. Connell and Lt. Patrick Worley, the hands-on commanding officers of Alpha Force, whom he’d probably waylaid in the hall. He stood with them now at the front of the room, apparently attempting to pump them in advance for information. But he didn’t seem overly pushy, at least not from Kristine’s perspective. His expression seemed interested, his nods deferential. Had he decided to accept where he ranked in the military, or was he just acting that way to get what he wanted? Or was she entirely wrong in her interpretation from this distance?
Damn, but she wanted to join them.
She glanced at her watch. The meeting was scheduled to begin in about two minutes. The officers wouldn’t appreciate her interrupting them—that would only delay the assembly they’d thrown together so quickly.
She couldn’t help feeling a bit riled. Quinn should have contacted her, involved her in his discussion. They were a team, at least for the moment. He ought to recognize that. Live by it.
Even so, she recognized that though they had similar interests in what was about to be discussed, his interest was even greater than hers. She was a buddy and comrade-in-arms with Grace.
He was Simon’s brother.
Apparently Quinn and she weren’t the only ones worried about what was happening with the two missing Alpha Force members. The concerns of most of these people, though, might be more about the effect of the current situation on the unit than on the individual members involved.
Okay, call her cynical. She gave a damn about Alpha Force, a lot more than, say, Quinn did. And, most likely, more than those now in an apparently intense discussion with Gen. Greg Yarrow near the door at the side of the room, including a couple of suits and a higher-ranking general.
But the people involved, and what was happening to them, were important, too.
That was why she had tried calling Grace’s cell phone. Three times.
And left three messages, each more urgent than the last.
None had been returned.
“Okay, let’s get started.” Drew broke away from his discussion with Quinn and Patrick and stood at the front of the room in front of the U.S. flag to address the whole gathering. Quinn did not look pleased, but he moved quickly toward her, beyond the couple of rows filled mostly with others in camo uniforms—both shifting and nonshifting members of Alpha Force. Kristine had already noticed that among them was Dr. Melanie Harding-Connell, a local veterinarian and Drew’s wife. They’d had a baby a few months ago, and the little girl, Emily, was sleeping in a nearby stroller. Melanie was not a member of the military and was also not a shifter, although her husband was both.
More than once, Kristine had wondered what little Emily’s shifting abilities might eventually be. Her understanding was that the gene was dominant, so the baby would grow into a werewolf.
Interesting, that Melanie would choose to marry and have an unusual child. Kristine was aware that most shifters were the result of mixed marriages. She loved working with shifters, but marrying one? Giving birth to a baby shifter?
How would a nonshifting parent cope?
Maybe she was too traditional, despite being part of Alpha Force, but give her a nice, calm, loving marriage someday, preferably to another soldier, and a home filled with regular kids. Kids who were loved. Well cared for. A family that was way different from her own disastrous childhood.
Hell, she’d risen above all that. It had brought her here, where she belonged.
Quinn sat down beside her on the aisle seat, nodding grimly. She, too, remained silent. She knew he had a close relationship with his brother and could only imagine what he was feeling now, with Simon the center of a situation that could only be bad, whatever the explanation. She had an unwelcome urge to reach over and squeeze Quinn’s large hand, now resting on his leg, in a gesture of comfort, but that wasn’t appropriate.
“I think you all know why we’re here,” Drew said. He stood in front of the group, speaking without a microphone since everyone had gathered at the front of the room. He probably hadn’t gotten any more sleep than Kristine had after their quick briefing last night, but he looked alert, his golden eyes sweeping the crowd. “Even so, I’ll describe my understanding of the situation.”
He briefly went over what he had said to Quinn and her last night. There’d apparently been no further information gathered since then. Two tourists were fatally mauled. Simon and Grace, who had been honeymooning in the area, were missing. The news had been picked up by local media but national coverage was minimal. So far.
“Are you certain the two things are related?” This came from one of the two men in suits seated in the first row near the generals. The speaker was now standing. Kristine recognized him from the wedding: Darren Olivante, team leader for domestic projects at the Defense Special Projects Agency—the agency within the Department of Defense that had assisted in the creation of Alpha Force and now helped monitor it.
As Olivante turned to glance around the room, Kristine noticed that his salt-and-pepper hair was longer than the traditional cut of the military members he worked with. He wore glasses and a challenging expression on a round and flabby face.
General Yarrow rose and walked to the front of the room beside Drew. He, too, had been at Grace and Simon’s wedding. Although he was headquartered at the Pentagon like the Defense Special Projects Agency, he also maintained an office at Ft. Lukman. Kristine hadn’t seen him around here lately, so he must have dashed here for this meeting.
The general was in his sixties but well preserved, and his hair, although behind a receding hairline, was still black. The wrinkles on his face seemed to show up mostly when he scowled, and he maintained a strong-looking physique.
“We have received no evidence that the killings and the disappearance of our two officers are related, but it’s a potentially logical assumption,” the general said. “Of course, given the special nature of Alpha Force and its members, we’re hoping the Parrans weren’t involved in mauling those tourists, but the information we’ve been given indicates that the wounds appear to have been caused by at least one wild animal, probably canine. That could indicate—”
Quinn stood beside Kristine. She tried to grab him, to warn him not to interrupt, but
