Aztec Treasure
Dead Man Rolling

Chase Nygaard’s POV

Sault Area Hospital

I was escorted by another officer upstairs to a conference room. In the room sat the Sault Ste. Marie Police Chief, the Ontario Provincial Police Northeast Sector Superintendent, the RCMP Ontario Division Chief Superintendent, the Hospital Chief of Staff, and representatives from Diplomatic Services and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. “Thank you for seeing us,” the Police Chief said.

“First off, thank you all for recovering Maritza safely and capturing her kidnapper.”

“You are welcome,” the OPP Superintendent replied. “That brings us to the problems.”

“What problems?”

“The kidnapper will arrive here in a few minutes. The doctors will treat a gunshot wound, plus other injuries he sustained. I wanted your assurances that you and your people will not make any attempts on his life while he is here.”

“I can’t promise we won’t yell at him, but I’ve given the order. None of my people will harm him,” I said evenly. “They don’t have to.”

“What do you mean,” the Police Chief said. “You told my officer he was a dead man, and none of us could stop it.”

“How much do you know about werecats,” I asked.

“Very little, just what I’ve read in the papers,” he said.

“Maria reported that Richard Todd had two puncture wounds in his right ankle from where Maritza bit him during the kidnapping,” I said. A few of the people around the table had wide eyes as they were figuring it out. “The bite of a werejaguar in cat form, just like a werewolf bite, is fatal to humans without extraordinary measures. He will get a fever tonight; you can try and hold it down, but it won’t work. He’ll die sometime tomorrow, driven mad and suffering with every labored breath. Any interrogations you will have to do tonight while he’s still lucid. He deserves every moment of the agony coming to him.”

They didn’t like this answer, especially the Chief of Staff, who started getting up from his chair. “You have to do something! You’re a DOCTOR, dammit! You took an oath!”

I stared at him until he sat down again. “I wouldn’t piss on him if he was on fire. You can use ice baths for the fever, but they will eventually stop working. There is simply nothing I can do to stop his death.”

One of the intelligence guys thought he knew better. “That’s not true; you saved that deputy who got bitten in Duluth. You have a responsibility to do the same here. You don’t want that poor child to be a murderer.”

I rolled my eyes. “Maritza acted to protect her friends; killing a man in the act of kidnapping is far from MURDER. I’m going to buy her all the ice cream she wants as soon as we’re together because she was a brave little warrior today.”

“This isn’t a joke,” the Chief of Police said.

“I said I couldn’t help. Look, I need two things to save someone who a werecat has bitten. First, I need four to six units of werecat blood. There are exactly two werecats left in the world; one is a traumatized toddler too young to donate, the other an injured teen female. It is unlawful to compel Maria to give blood, and there is no way in HELL she will do anything to help the man who took her daughter.”

I didn’t convince the doctor yet. “Couldn’t you use werewolf blood?”

“It doesn’t work; we tried with the President’s husband. Although we are both shifters, our blood isn’t interchangeable for humans. It’s more than just type and match,” I said. “The other thing we need is his mate. We think only the mate bond can pull the new cat through the change. It could be any of the billions of people in the world, but most likely, he doesn’t have one.”

The Chief of Staff was running numbers in his head. “It wouldn’t be a werewolf?”

“There are fewer than fifty single female werewolves in the entire world. How many of them would be willing to drop everything and fly here to see if their mate is a traitor and a child kidnapper? They would be better off to let Todd die and wait for Luna to assign them a second chance mate.” I let that sink in. “Richard Todd will die, and none of my people will do anything to hasten his demise.”

It started to sink in that Richard would die in their custody. I could sense they were already thinking ahead to how to tell the Americans and minimize the damage. No one wanted to say the obvious.

I looked around the room. “Are we done? I’m starving, and the guys back at the hotel are ordering some barbecue.”

The men looked at each other, then nodded. “Thank you, Alpha Chase.” I left them behind, smiling as I walked away.

Todd would get what he deserved.

I joined the group in the waiting room, holding my son and daughter as they played in an area of the waiting room discreetly lined with Pack. The RV had just arrived in front of the entrance, and Rori was within link range. They would be passing the hospital in five minutes. “Let’s go,” I told everyone as I stood up with my twins. The entire group stood and formed a perimeter as we got the kids secured on the couch. While we were loading, others were heading for their motorcycles. I watched as they escorted the RV out of the parking lot, sliding in place between the bikers and the support vehicles from the run.

I updated Rori on everything that was going on. “Richard Todd is here, probably in surgery. We’re staying away from that mess. I got a text from Frank Grimes; he is in the air. He’ll arrive at Mackinac County Airport at 7:20 tonight. I need to stay here for a while to watch over things.”

“How long will Brent be needed there?”

“A few more hours, probably. I need to stay until Possum and Three Tequila are released, and we’ll need to keep some people here to support Brent and Laura. It will be a few days until she can shift, maybe four days until the release.”

“We don’t have hotels here, but the rooms Maria arranged for tonight aren’t far away on the Michigan side. It makes sense to move most of us there,” she said.

“I agree. Let’s rally everyone at the hotel from this morning. Designate a van and some riders to get Frank and take him to the casino hotel. At least on the US side of the border, we’ll be able to arm everyone who has a concealed carry permit.”

“Is it too dangerous? Should we cancel the rest of the trip?”

It was a question I’d been mulling over on the ride back. “I think it’s prudent to send the little ones home,” I finally said. “They can fly back with Grandpa Frank and stay at Oxbow Lake for a few days. I’ll leave it up to my brothers whether they continue. It just sucks; this trip has been a blast, and now this crap.”

“I’ll make the offer to your brothers, but I want our babies to come home with me in the RV after they release it. We have vans and SUVs that can drive overnight while swapping drivers, and we’ll be heavily armed. Chase, it’s only an eight-hour trip.”

“Should we send them all back that way? Should I go with you?”

“We don’t want all the kids vulnerable in one place again,” Rori said. “We don’t need to pull anyone back home for security with my Aunt and Uncle taking them. You need a vacation, Chase, and you’re a Brotherhood President now.”

“What about Maria? And Maritza?”

“I’d like Maritza to go home on the jet with Frank, but it’s up to Maria.”

“She should be able to ride by tomorrow, and it’s her trip,” I agreed. “I think we lay out the options and let people decide what they want to do.”

I figured the Brotherhood would stay on, while some of the wolves might leave early. The best riding of the trip was still ahead of us. “I agree. Pass the word when you rally, and make the travel arrangements. The doctors want to observe her for one more night as her concussion symptoms have been slow to clear. We should hold Frank’s departure until we can get her to the airport.”

“I will. Eventually, we should run out of people who want to harm us, right?”

I laughed at that. “Rich, powerful, and were means we’re always targets, love. Cheryl is in danger until she is mated and has her first daughter, and our jaguars may always be a target because they’re the last ones. Add in the crazies who want us to change them, a government we have a shaky relationship with, and Alphas jealous of our wealth and influence?”

“I don’t want us living like prisoners, Chase. Security has to be a consideration, but we can’t let it stop us from having fun.” I had to agree.

“I’m going to check up on Lana and fill her in. I love you, Rori.”

“I love you to the moon and back, my mate.”

I went up the elevator to Lana’s floor and walked to where the Mountie was sitting at her door. I showed him my identification as another man, maybe six-foot-five and covered in tattoos, came to the door. He was wearing a biker jacket, dark blue FBI T-shirt, jeans, and boots. “Who are you,” the bearded man asked.

“I’m Frame, President of the Arrowhead Chapter of the Steel Brotherhood, and Pack Alpha,” I replied as I held my hand out to him.

He looked at the Mountie, who nodded as he handed my identification back. “Special Agent Cole Brackers. We’ve been waiting for you.”

James was sitting by the bed, and Lana was happy to see me and appreciated all the updates I had. “This wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t been here,” she sadly said when I finished.

“Shit happened the way it did, and it was my responsibility to protect them,” I told her. “Your charge was Maria, and James protected you both.” I could see James’ shoulders relaxing; he wanted to transfer, and he was worried he’d done something to jeopardize that. “Frank’s jet is arriving tonight and leaving for Minnesota in the morning. I plan to send you and James home on it, along with some of the young ones.”

“Fine by me, I’d rather rehab by the pool,” Lana said. “I’m officially on medical leave, but I will get my gun and badge back when I leave. I’ve filled Cole in on his duties.”

“I can’t wait. It’s the first time the Bureau is paying me to ride since I was undercover with the Iron Coffins.”

Brent’s send cut in. “Alpha, the food is here. Should I send some up?”

“Sure. Enough for four werewolves and some for the nurses if we have enough. Cole looks like he can keep up with James and me.” I smiled at Lana. “How about some barbecue instead of hospital food?“

“Oh, hell yea,” she said with a smile as she sat up. Yeah, she’s going to fit in just fine at Arrowhead.