Indirect Lines: Halle Shifters, Book 5 (15 page)

Chapter Twenty-Six

Barney followed Kincade into the archive building, nodding to the few Senators who were in the place. None of them seemed surprised to see Kincade, but Barney got more than one shocked look. A Hunter in the archives was practically unheard of.

“Stay close, note expressions.” Kincade led the way to the basement archives door.

“Teaching Grandma how to suck eggs here.” Barney had already noted three people he’d love to chat with later. All three had looked more than surprised; they’d looked frightened. He’d recognized the Ocelot and Lynx Senators, but he had no idea who the third one might be. One of the Senators suddenly pulled out his cell phone with a scowl.

“Wonder who he’s calling.”

Kincade glanced over his shoulder as he started down the stairs. “That’s the Wolf Senator.”

“Huh.” A fourth person was added to his speak-to list. “Think he’s one of the partygoers?”

Kincade frowned for a second before rolling his eyes. “The Wolf Senator is a friend of mine. If he’s involved in our little party, I’m going to rip his spleen out through his anus.”

Barney shuddered. “I’d hate to hear what you’d do to him if he was an enemy.”

Kincade grunted and led the way down the stairs. “You really don’t.”

Barney led Kincade to the ladies’ room. “In there. Last stall.”

Kincade nodded and pushed open the door, ignoring the squawk of indignation from a woman currently washing her hands.

Barney nodded to the lady. “Sorry. There’s a rat.” He held his hands two feet apart. “A New York sewer-sized one.”

She blinked, her mouth hanging open.

“Don’t wanna get bit, do you?” He winked and held the door open. “Don’t worry. Kincade and I can handle a big, nasty, rabid rat.”

She gagged, her eyes going wide. She covered her mouth with her hand. “Jesus. In here?”

He nodded, watching out of the corner of his eye as Kincade headed toward the last stall. “Didn’t you hear the scratching? We think it’s in the walls.”

“Thanks.” She scooted past him, staring back at the bathroom in horror before making her way over to the other Senators. As she passed him, the scent of Jackal hit him. She must be the Jackal Senator. Jackals were a strange lot, neither Coyote, Wolf or African Wild Dog, but somewhere in-between. They didn’t move in Packs like the others, but in family groups or pairs, more like the Foxes. Because of this, they were lower on the canine totem pole than any other canid shifter. Barney didn’t give a shit about whose balls were bigger in the pecking order, but the Jackals didn’t deserve the shit they got from the Wolves and Coyotes. Just because they could be a little freaky didn’t mean—

Kincade’s sharp whistle broke his train of thought. “Which tile?”

Barney walked over to the last stall and leaned in, moving the tile. Kincade pressed the button, hissing like a wet cat when he saw the office.

“Yeah, that was my reaction. Without the spit.”

Kincade shot him a glare as he stepped into the office. “Where’s the list?”

Barney led the way, opening the file cabinet. “It was right here.” He pulled it out, handing it to Kincade. “You might want to have your men go over the other documents. There’s more going on here than just a play for the white shifters.”

“Hmm.” Kincade looked around, studying the desk. “Should have brought some with me.”

“So I see.” Barney glanced out the door to find three men entering the ladies’ room. “Gents, you’re in the wrong space. Unless you’re wearing skirts, get out.”

The one on the left growled, marking him Wolf.

Barney turned to look at Kincade. “I think he wants to play.”

Kincade cracked his knuckles. “I think I can handle a game of kickball.”

Barney shivered and looked at the three thugs. “You hear that? He’s coming to kick you in the balls.”

The Wolf leapt, the other two following him.

Barney backed into the office, wanting more room to fight than the bathroom afforded him. You’d think a Senate-only women’s bathroom would be large and luxurious. Hell, he’d seen better setups in airports.

Kincade grabbed the Wolf by the throat and slammed him into the ground.

Shit. Dude was
strong.
Barney focused on the other two, leaving the Wolf to Captain America. He managed to dodge the swipe of claws from a feline, a Puma from the scent. An uppercut to the kitty’s jaw had him reeling back, leaving the third to throw a roundhouse punch at Barney.

Barney saw stars. That one was going to leave a mark.

Kitty was back in Barney’s face again, trying to claw his eyes out. Barney kicked his attacker in the knee, taking him down. He then lashed out with his foot, hitting the Puma in the back of his head. The Puma groaned, but stayed down, at least for now.

His attention turned back to the third guy. This one had Jackal written all over him, damn it. He hated fighting fucking Jackals. They always seemed to know what moves Barney was going to make. The only time he’d ever been beaten one on one was against a Jackal rogue. He still thanked God the rogue chose to run rather than finish Barney off. Something had spooked it, but Barney never found out what.

This time, the Jackal was looking back and forth between Barney and Kincade. The Wolf was down, unconscious from what Barney could tell in a quick glance. Kincade was glaring at the Jackal and making come-hither gestures that would have turned Barney’s insides to jelly. He’d rather face a Jackal family than a pissed-off Kincade.

Barney turned back to the Jackal. “Let’s do this.”

“Can we not and say we did?” The Jackal threw his hands in the air. “I’d rather live, thanks.”

“Who hired you?” Kincade growled.

The Jackal frowned. “The Senate did.”

Kincade and Barney shared a quick glance.

The Puma slowly got up. “Fuck, Cole, why not tell him we’re—”

A second after the Puma stopped speaking Barney heard the gunshot. The Puma went down, his face completely obliterated.

The Jackal dove left, narrowly avoiding the same fate. “Fuckity fuck fuck.”

“Ditto.” Barney swerved right, flanking the doorway with the Jackal. “Mercenary?”

The Jackal nodded. “Yeah. Name’s Cole, Cole Miller. We were hired by Kris Jennings to protect this place. We’ve done work for her before.”

Barney glared at him. “Killing other shifters?”

The Jackal made a face as he pulled out a Kimber 1911. “No one’s ever breached security here before you, so no. At least I haven’t. Don’t know about the other two.”

“Then who the fuck is that?” Kincade gestured toward the door where the gunman was hiding.

“I have no fucking clue, but he took down Dean without a second thought.” Cole stared toward the door. “Something tells me we’ve been terminated.”

Barney almost felt sorry for the guy. This was one hell of a way to get fired. “Nine mil?” Barney pulled his own Sig Sauer out of his jacket. He rarely had to resort to it, but today it was needed.

“.45.” Cole stuck his head out and pulled back quickly as another shot was fired.

The desk was overturned with a cracking crash that startled Barney. Kincade had his own handgun out, a Glock 31. “What did you see?”

Cole responded. “One shooter at the doorway. Didn’t catch anything else.” He closed his eyes, muttering under his breath. “No way out except to kill him.”

And that was the freaky part of Jackals. They could assess a life or death situation in seconds and come up with a solution that would keep their asses alive. In a fistfight it made them practically Spider-Man. In a firefight, it let them determine the best positions to be in with barely a second’s thought.

Something proven when the gunman fired right at Kincade, winging him. Kincade ducked back behind the desk with a curse. “Any ideas, gentlemen?”

“Other than arresting the Ocelot Senator?” Barney fired blindly into the bathroom, hoping to startle the gunman. “Live.”

“That’s always my number one priority,” Cole muttered.

“Ha. Ha.” The scent of Kincade’s blood slowly began to fill the room. “If there’s only one gunman we could rush him.”

“And die in a hail of gunfire? No thanks.” Barney peeped around the doorway and fired on the man he saw standing there. The man ducked out of the stall. The fucker had been trying to sneak into the room, damn it.

“He’s on the other side of the goddamn stall door. We should be able to take him.” Kincade glanced at Cole, who was shaking his head frantically. “Or not.”

“Fire,” Cole whispered. He lined up a shot at the stall door and pulled the trigger.

A cry erupted from behind the stall door. Cole’s shot had punched through the stall’s door and struck their opponent.

“Sweet.” Barney fired as well, hoping to either hit the gunman or drive him off. Either would work in his book.

Kincade pulled out his cell phone. “I’m calling for backup,” he whispered. “Try and pin him down.”

Cole nodded. “Gotcha.” He fired again, edging into the stall.

Barney eased in front of him. “Me first.”

Cole nodded.

Barney kicked down the door, knocking it right off its hinges. He let out a Grizzly growl as the gunman went down under his weight. “Fucker.”

Cole leaned back into the office. “Is that pinned enough for you?”

Kincade shook his head, his lips quirking in amusement. “Yeah, that works.” He stood, going back to his conversation.

Barney let Cole check for more gunmen, keeping his weight on the downed man. “Who hired you?”

“Senator Kris Jennings,” the man wheezed.

Barney exchanged a look with Kincade, who was picking up the unconscious Wolf. He slung the man over his shoulder fireman style. “I sense a theme here.”

“Me too.” One that said Kris Jennings was about to meet the claws of Kincade Lowe. He hoped she’d kept up on her life insurance. Her heirs were gonna need it.

The grim look on Kincade’s face did not bode well for the Ocelot Senator. “Let’s get these guys in jail.” He glanced at the dead Puma. “I’ll send someone in for the body.”

“Works for me.” He gestured toward Cole. “I suggest you let this one go, but question him.”

“I’ll cooperate.” Cole shuddered. “They didn’t tell me that they were sending me in after Kincade fucking Lowe.”

Barney’s brows rose. “They?”

Cole nodded. “I’ll tell you everything once we’re out of here. It’s not safe.” His gaze darted around. “We need to go, like, now.”

Kincade grabbed the list in his damaged hand and followed Cole and Barney out of the bathroom.

Barney saw the crowd surrounding the area and shrugged. “Sorry. Bathroom’s out of order.”

He wished he had his cell phone’s camera out. The looks on the Senators’ faces were priceless.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Heather was pacing in the Leo’s library. It was taking longer to get the list than she’d thought, and her nerves were on edge. “Should I call them?”

The Leo looked up from his book. “No. Let them do their job. They’ll return soon.”

“What if something happened to them?” She began biting on her nail. “I mean, you could get us in the building, right? Just so we could check things out.”

The Leo’s eyes gleamed with mischief. “Hell yes.”

“Then what are we waiting for? Let me grab my purse and we can go.” Heather started for the door.

“Can you shoot a gun?”

The Leo’s question sounded casual, but she was willing to bet it was anything but. “No.”

“Can you fight in hand-to-hand?”

Damn it. His point was made. “No.” Her shoulders slumped. “I ink a mean tattoo, though.”

Sebastian snorted out a laugh. “I bet you do.” He turned the page in his book. “As I said, they’ll be here soon.”

“Not soon enough.” She flopped down onto the sofa, moving Artemis’s feet out of her way. The Tiger had decided it was time for an afternoon siesta and promptly passed out on the velvet couch. She glanced around at the expansive library the Leo had. “Maybe we could do some research on our own.”

He glanced up from his book. “What do you mean?”

Heather stood and began looking at the titles of some of the books. “We have a lot of shifter lore here.”

“I’ve read a lot of these, and I can tell you there’s very little on white shifters.” The Leo stood, staring at the bookshelves, his brows furrowed. His voice was thoughtful as he glanced upward. “But some of them I haven’t.” He reached for the library ladder and began pulling it along the shelves. “There’s a book my father never wanted me to read. My uncle agreed with him. Dad said it was outdated, like a number of books on the upper shelves. He wanted me to concentrate on the more modern problems of the Leo.” He scowled. “In fact, he wondered why the book was even in the library, but after that it was never mentioned again.”

“Your father was the previous Leo?” Heather held the ladder steady as the Leo began to climb.

“Nope. My dad was the Leo’s brother. The Leo wanted me to study every single book in here, but no one could do that and have a life.” He stopped climbing and looked down. “My teen years were hell.”

She chuckled. “I bet.”

“Work, work, work.” The Leo sighed as he resumed climbing. “I was just glad there were books I didn’t have to study. Ah, here it is.” He pulled a dusty, yellowed book off the shelf. “Coming down.”

“Gotcha.” Although she could admit, the view going up was pretty stunning. She was mated, not dead, and the Leo had one fine booty.

“All right.” He stepped onto the floor and let go of the ladder. “Let’s see what this book has for us.”

Heather followed him back to his chair, where he settled down and cracked open the book, careful of its aged exterior.

“What in the fuckity fuck?” Sebastian was staring at the book like it housed bees instead of words.

“What is it?” She glanced over his shoulder to find that, hidden inside one book was another, smaller one. “Huh. I wasn’t expecting that.”

“Neither was I.” The Leo lifted the second book out. “Someone went to a lot of trouble to hide this from me.”

“From you, or from all Leos?” Heather stroked the cover of the new book. “There’s no title.”

“If it was hidden from all of us, why put it in our private library?” He glanced up at where the book had been on the shelf. “Hidden in plain sight, where any of us could accidentally stumble on it.”

“It doesn’t make sense, unless someone did want you to find it.” She could only think of one person. “Ian Holmes?” The Lion Senator was knee deep in this, but she wasn’t certain whose side he was on. If he’d hidden the book in plain sight, maybe he wanted the white shifters to survive.

“You think he knew of it?” Sebastian opened the cover. “How out of touch with my Senate am I?”

Barney and Kincade entered without knocking. She stood with her hands on her hips and glared at her mate. “You’re late.”

He smirked. “We had to dance a little before we could leave.”

Kincade headed right for the Leo, and she could smell the blood on him. He’d been hurt, and recently. “Here’s the list.”

Heather ignored him and began searching her mate for injuries. “Are you hurt?”

“No, sweetheart. Kincade’s the only one.”

“And he healed me on the way back.” Kincade gave his attention back to Sebastian. “The perp is in our jail, ready for interrogation.”

“Thank you.” The Leo carefully placed the old book down before taking the papers from Kincade. Heather watched as he stood, rifling through the pages, and headed over to a large desk in the back of the library. “This is…all of these?” He sat abruptly, looking horrified.

“Yeah.” Barney walked over to Heather and casually put his arm around her waist. She wasn’t sure why, but she got the feeling he needed the contact with her in that moment. “Heather’s name is on that list too.”

“What?” She took a step forward, or at least tried to. Barney’s hold on her tightened, keeping her next to him. “I’m not in danger right now, Boo.”

“Boo?”

She shrugged. “Boo-Boo’s getting too long to say.” She turned her attention back to the Leo. “What does the list say?”

“It’s names, lineages, dates of death and birth with some markings next to the names.” Sebastian put the papers down on the desk and began shuffling them. “These marks, any idea what they mean?”

“Chloe’s mark was erased, as was Artemis’s.” Barney led Heather over to the desk and bent to point to the names he’d mentioned. “Here and here.”

Kincade stood on the Leo’s other side. “And look. Each is listed as being of mixed parentage, either in the first or second degree.”

“Meaning?” Heather had no idea what he’d just said.

“Parents or grandparents,” Barney translated.

“Ah.” She frowned as she spotted a familiar name. “James Howard? Jamie?
He’s
the white Puma?”

“Oops,” Barney muttered.

“You knew?” Why was she even surprised?

“I found out when I visited him.” Barney turned back to the list. “He’s got his mark erased as well.”

“And it was his grandparents who were different shifters. Puma and Wolf, from the looks of it.” Sebastian sat back, reading the list. “Too many have a deceased marker next to their names. Far too many.” He dragged his finger down the list. “Some of these died before puberty.”

“Meaning they never got the chance to shift and find out what they’d be.” Heather remembered her own attack and shivered. “They were trying to kill me too, weren’t they? They wanted me to shift to see if I was the white Fox, but Alex got to them before they could finish the job. Either that or they wanted it to
look
like an attempted rape gone wrong.”

“I think so.” Barney kissed the top of her head. He hugged her tight, pulling her back against his front, his chin on her shoulder. “Thank God Alex made sure that particular group would never do anything like it again.”

“I owe him more than I thought,” she whispered.

“Bake him a cake.” Kincade’s brows rose when she stared at him, dumbfounded. “What?”

She rolled her eyes at him. “Seriously. Not the time.”

“There’s always time for cake,” Kincade muttered back.

“Look how far back this goes,” Sebastian whispered. “Jesus. They’ve been killing off people since the Revolutionary War?”

“It’s more than just the Ocelot Senator, then.” Kincade tapped his fingers on the desk, his claws coming out. “We’re looking at a really long-term conspiracy.”

“Thank you, Captain Obvious.” Heather had heard Emma call her mate that more than once, and she couldn’t think of anything better to call Kincade.

“Better obvious than oblivious,” Kincade replied. “Take a look here. The Kermode all have the mark, and all of them have been erased.”

“But not all of the parents of Kermode were Kermode themselves.” Sebastian traced the line of white Bears. “Meaning the entire bloodline is made up of different shifters.”

“That’s true for all the ones who had the mark and were killed before their first shift. Barney pointed to several names. “All of them were of mixed blood, like Chloe Williams. Artemis’s mother wasn’t a Tiger, but a Lynx. So it’s the mixed blood that marks a white shifter.”

“That is
so
weird. That can’t be all of it, just having mixed blood, or every shifter with mixed blood would be white, right?”

“Not true. Only the Polars bred true. Most, if not all, Kermode have mixed blood, but not all Kermode give birth to Kermode. Even among the Lowe family there’s only one white Lion born into the family at a time, and he’s the
only
white Lion ever.” Sebastian rubbed his hand over his head. “I just don’t understand how one becomes a white shifter.”

“You were always white?” Barney asked.

Sebastian nodded. “Since my first shift.”

“Bloodlines.” Kincade started to pace. “It must have something to do not only with mixed blood, but the bloodlines themselves.”

“So if we traced ancestry, we might be able to predict that a white shifter would pop up in a certain family, but not necessarily which person would become a white shifter.” Barney stared at Heather. “That explains the attack on you, but not the attack on Chloe. She didn’t become a white shifter until she nearly died.”

“Same thing with Jamie Howard, right? He died and Julian brought him back.” They exchanged a horrified glance. “Why does near-death result in a red Fox turning white?”

“I’m not sure, but it must have something to do with the spirits. Reconnecting, maybe?”

There was a loud snort from the sofa before Artemis’s snoring resumed.

Heather picked up one of the pages. “Here it says that the Polars were the same as the Lowe family, white shifters from birth, but look. This is a new mark.” The line at the bottom of the list of Polars had an
e.
next to it.

“E for extinct.” Sebastian threw the page he’d been holding onto his desk. “There are no more Polars in the world.”

“Could…could this be about extinction?” Heather bit her lip and frowned. “Could they be trying to exterminate any possibility of white shifters?”

Both Sebastian and Kincade looked at her like she’d lost her mind, but Barney’s hold on her tightened. “It’s a possibility. If they keep the white shifter population down, what do they gain?”

“Or what do we lose?” Kincade stared at the list again. “Seb, maybe it’s time to bring the white shifters here.”

“No.” Sebastian stood. “The whites are gathering in Halle for a reason. I say we go to them.”

“You’re out of your fucking gourd if you think I’m letting you go to Halle, Seb.” Kincade crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s so dangerous I’m inclined to keep Barney and Heather here on indefinite hold.”

“No can do.” Barney hitched his thumb toward Sebastian. “The Leo has me investigating the white shifters, remember? And I’m not one to go against orders.”

Kincade stared at him. “I love how you said that with a straight face.”

“Thank you.” Barney chuckled, his breath warm against Heather’s ear. “I try.”

“We need to figure out who is involved in this and why.” Sebastian put his hands on his hips. “Kincade?”

“We start by arresting Kris Jennings.”

“Excellent. Sign me up.” Sebastian nodded. “All right. You and Barney deal with that. Barney.”

“Sir?” Barney lifted his head off her shoulder.

“I want you to work with Kincade. Heather and I will continue to go over this paperwork and see if anything else stands out. We’ll also see if we can get Artemis to help us.”

A large snore erupted from the sofa.

“Don’t worry. I’ll make him help.” Sebastian smiled, showing fangs. “He won’t know what hit him.”

The whimper from the sofa quickly turned into a snort, then more snoring.

“We know a lot already, thanks to Cole. He already told us he was working for Kris Jennings. My men are questioning the gunman to find out if there’s anyone else involved.” Kincade stared at Barney. “There’s a chance that Jennings knows we’re on to her. She saw us go into her office. She could be on the run.”

“Wonderful.” Barney rubbed his hands together. “I love a good Hunt.”

Sebastian sat back at his desk with a sigh. “I’m going to go over that book Heather and I found. Maybe there are some answers in that.”

“Yes, sire.” Barney bowed, which was awkward as hell considering he was still holding her.

“Text me if you find anything.” Kincade walked out of the library,

“Will do,” Sebastian shouted after him. “It’s not like I don’t know whom I report to,” he muttered under his breath. He glanced at Barney. “You still here?”

“Nope.” Barney picked Heather up and put her in the chair across from Sebastian. “We’re gone.” He kissed the top of her head. “Keep your Hobbit ass—”

“Safe, I know.” She reached up and stroked his cheek. “You too.”

“I will.” He winked. “I’ve got backup this time.” He strolled past the sofa and smacked Artemis on the head. “Wakey wakey, little flakey.”

“Ugh.” Artemis sat up, rubbing the top of his head. “Asshole.”

“Sorry, mine’s spoken for.” Barney strutted out of the room, patting his rear, singing something about Artemis shoulda put a ring on it.

“Oh my God.” Heather put her face in her hands. “I signed up for a lifetime of—” she waved her hand toward the door, “—that.”

Sebastian was too busy laughing to answer.