Chapter 4: Pack Mentality - Alpha
The team's first field trip gives them more questions than answers, but Mitch has worries of his own.
Mitch ran through the last 24 hours in his head trying to figure out how he'd gone from an antisocial zoo vet and part-time professor to a member of a five person team trying to solve what seemed to be a global animal epidemic. They sat at Haneda International waiting for their flight to Beijeng for the first stop on this insane quest. Next to him, Jamie searched news articles on her laptop for any mention of animals behaving strangely. She seemed better - happier somehow. He supposed it was because they were working again. The blow she'd received in Louisiana had taken the wind from her sails, leaving her adrift. He'd explained about Gaspard's offer on the drive to her uncle's, though he'd conveniently left off the fact that they'd initially just wanted him. Jamie had seized the opportunity with both hands, and he had been relieved to see a little bit of the fire return to her eyes. The meeting with Gaspard and Delavane in D.C. had introduced them to the other three members of the team they'd assembled. Mitch hadn't been impressed by any of them.
His pen tapped the legal pad beneath it thoughtfully. He'd always found writing his thoughts down helped him figure things out, and this mystery was no exception. He'd made two columns, and under Effects he'd written a list of the symptoms they'd witnessed. His second column was woefully blank, and he scribbled a question mark childishly. Next to him, Jamie glanced over from her screen as he dropped his pen in frustration. Wordlessly she reached over, scratched out his question mark, and wrote two words under Causes. Reiden Global.
She dropped the pen triumphantly and raised her eyebrows. "Can we go home now?" He looked at her for a moment with her hair pulled back and her face scrubbed clean. She looked more youthful, more vibrant than the downtrodden woman he'd consoled at a grave two days ago. Or was it only one? They'd hopped so many time zones in the last 24 hours that it was hard to keep track.
"See," he teased as she leaned back, "this is the problem with obsession. No room at all for the happy little gray areas."
She turned back to her laptop and saved a few webpages as she replied. "The world has plenty of happy little gray areas, Mitch. The Israeli-Palestine conflict," her fingers tapped her keyboard, "the legalization of marijuana," she looked up at him, "Taylor Swift's move from country to pop."
"Alright," he angled toward her slightly and pitched his voice low, "if Delavane is right, if what he's saying is true - and I'm not saying it is - but if...then this goes way beyond what we saw with the lions in L.A." He sighed and glanced back down at his notepad. "What if the animals that led the attacks in China, in Europe, Africa, were all infected with the same thing? This could be the beginning of a worldwide event."
"I"m sure there's a reason they're called Reiden Global," Jamie argued. "They have their tentacles in everything from pesticides to genetically modified crop seeds. It's a one-stop shop for the animal apocalypse."
He opened his mouth to fire back, to at least temper her ranting with a little bit of reasoning, when Abraham and Jackson arrived at their table. "Coffee?" The larger man held a cardboard square with four cups, and as he set it down on the table Jackson Oz sat across from Mitch.
Hearing Robert Oz's name in their meeting had instantly set Mitch on edge. The man had been brilliant in his own right, but word in intellectual circles was that he took his theories too far and eventually went crazy. Robert Oz had long been associated with animal behavior and Mitch had even read some of his publications during his vet school days. But even the most brilliant minds could hide some deep psychoses, and Mitch now remembered Oz as a warning rather than an icon.
"Thank you," Jamie smiled at Abraham. "You read my mind."
Mitch returned to his notes in an effort to ignore the two men, but Jackson had other ideas. He reached over and set a coffee in front of him. "There you go."
Mitch glanced up begrudgingly. "Thank you." And then, because he could see Jamie staring at him pointedly, he picked up the drink and blew softly before taking a drink. He dropped his eyes back to the pad for a moment but looked back up when Jackson produced a tablet and held it up.
"Does any of this make any sense to you?" His tone was even and polite but not at all friendly, and Mitch knew it was because of their first meeting. He had never been known for making a great first impression. Add to that finding out the entire reason for creating the team in the first place was the research of one of the most delusional scientists in the world, and it was a wonder either of them was keeping a civil tone. Calling someone's father a crackpot tended to alienate them, and Mitch had made no strides to bridge the gap.
Mitch tried to decipher anything from the chaotic scribbles, swiping through the images of what seemed to be notes of some kind. "Interesting penmanship," he commented. "Who wrote this, a seven year old? On a roller coaster?"
"My father," Jackson answered in that barely civil tone.
"Right," Mitch should have guessed. "Well, I don't have a clue what's going on in most of these pictures, but this," he indicated an image of what seemed to be a list. "Felidae, Carnivora. That's big cat taxonomy. Panthera pardus." He glanced up and realized all three of them were looking at him with blank stares. "Leopards," he clarified.
"Leopards?" Abraham questioned then turned to Jackson. "You have any idea why leopards would be so important to your father?"
"No," Jackson shook his head as the fifth member of their merry little band arrived.
"Guys," Chloe stopped just behind Jamie. "Change of plans. We're going to Mississippi."
Jackson spoke up before anyone else could. "Mississippi? What happened to Beijing?"
"There's been a prison fire at Biloxi Penitentiary. It appears no one survived. Not guards, not prisoners. No one."
Mitch frowned and took in a breath to ask the obvious question, but Jamie beat him to it. "Prison fire? What does that have to do with us?"
"Because at the time of the fire the prison was under attack," Chloe answered. "By wolves."
The flight back to the states was worse than the flight to Tokyo, and the change in time zones meant they lost almost another day in transit. It was afternoon by the time they landed at the Gulfport-Biloxi Airport, and Mitch's mind and body were exhausted. Jamie had managed a few hours in the seat next to him, though she hadn't leaned on his shoulder like she had on the flight from L.A. to Baton Rouge. As they grabbed their bags and trudged up the jet bridge toward the terminal, he noticed the dark circles under her eyes.
"Hey," he leaned in close on the escalator that took them from the gates to the parking garage. Delavane had already procured two vehicles for them, and Chloe had been handed the keys upon arrival. Jamie turned her head slightly, and he cleared his throat. "You okay?"
"Yeah," she nodded and turned her head back to watch her step as she left the moving stairs. He followed her a second later and made room for Abraham behind him. "You?" she returned.
"Peachy," he grumbled. "I've spent more time in the air in the last week than the entire rest of my life combined."
"I know what you mean," Jamie laughed as Chloe searched for their cars. "Did you get any sleep?"
"A little," he lied. Truthfully, he didn't sleep much anyway but he didn't want her to worry. "I'll be happy for the bed this evening, though." Delavane had already gotten them rooms at a local hotel. They would be in town for as long as it took to figure out what happened at the prison.
Chloe gestured for them to gather around as she began to delegate the day's responsibilities. Mitch only half listened until she said something about trapping a wolf.
"So-wha-sorry?" Mitch stammered.
"Yes," Chloe affirmed. "I expect studying a wolf will provide answers to what may have caused the pack -"
His brain had finally caught up with the conversation, and he didn't like the fact that Jamie would be going off with virtual strangers. He'd never say that, though, so he went with the next best thing. "No," Mitch interrupted, "but I don't know the first thing about trapping a wolf."
"Which is why Abraham will be going with you," Chloe fired back.
Jackson seemed as reluctant at separating from Abraham as Mitch was from Jamie. "Wait, why don't I just go with Abraham?"
"Genius recommendation," Mitch jumped on the younger man's suggestion. "I second that." But Chloe wasn't having any of their reticence. She shut them down with a well-reasoned argument that Mitch would have appreciated at any other time. With no more objections that didn't make him sound overbearing and insecure, he gave in.
"Are you coming?" Chloe called from across the garage.
Jackson was the first to move, following her with barely a glance at Abraham. "Yeah."
Mitch turned back to Jamie, offering her a small wave as she shrugged and stepped around him. "Be careful," he whispered low enough for her to hear but not loud enough to carry across the concrete structure. She half-turned as she walked away, giving him a reassuring smile before turning back and sliding into the back of the sedan.
Mitch felt Abraham come up next to him. "You know, I like this Chloe," he smiled. "She's what you would call...peppery."
Mitch sneered and tried not to think of how much Chloe reminded him of Audra. "Yeah, I was never a big fan of peppery."
Abraham chuckled then and tapped Mitch on the shoulder with the envelope of money Chloe had given him. "Come on, then," he urged. "Let's go find this hunting supply store and see if they sell traps of any kind."
Mitch scoffed and climbed into the passenger seat of the large SUV. "In Mississippi? We'll be lucky if we don't get shot."
They pulled up outside Cook's Gun Shop and had to park in the back of the lot due to the sheer number of vehicles surrounding the building. Trucks of all shapes and sizes crowded the area, and men milled about strapping down things in the beds or double checking rounds and weapons. Mitch and Abraham pushed through the throng near the registers to the side of the store.
"I knew Americans enjoy hunting," Abraham glanced around at the sheer number of people in the store, "I had no idea it was this popular."
Mitch found a worker stocking the waders. "Uh, excuse me," he began. "What's going on?"
The man looked up from his work in disbelief. "The county announced a wolf cull, because of what happened at the prison."
"What is a wolf cull?" Abraham asked.
Mitch - who had always been staunchly against hunting for sport - had to fight to keep the disgust from his tone. He almost managed it. "That's when a bunch of men go out into the woods to hunt wolves...armed with beer and high-powered rifles." And then, because he couldn't resist he added, "Because, you know, what goes better together than guns and drinking?"
Abraham shared in his amusement for a moment, and Mitch found himself starting to like the enigmatic African man as he asked the worker, "Do you have any traps or snares? We are looking to catch a wolf. Catch, not kill."
The worker seemed genuinely confused at their request, but tried to be helpful nonetheless. "We might have some net guns in the back."
After a rather colorful encounter with the locals, Mitch and Abraham made their way to the hotel with their purchases. They beat the others back, so they checked in and took the elevator up to the third floor. Abraham took one of the double rooms, obviously expecting to room with Jackson. Mitch supposed Jamie and Chloe would bunk together, leaving him a room all to himself. The introvert in him rejoiced at the idea of some alone time after spending over three days straight in the company of others.
He showered first, changing into a fresh pair of jeans and a button up shirt. By the time he ordered room service the others had returned. He called the front desk and added four more entrees to the order, then listened as Jackson and Chloe reported the details of their visit to the prison.
"Submissive? To a man?" Mitch questioned Jackson's observation, and the younger man took notice of his tone.
"I'm telling you, they saw him as their alpha," Jackson shot back. "I can't explain it, but it's what I saw."
"That's impossible," Mitch argued.
"Yeah, I'm guessing that word is gonna be used a lot in the next few weeks," Jamie tried to interject some levity into the tension filling the room but it fell flat. She cleared her throat and switched topics. "Did you guys get something to trap a wolf?"
"We did," Abraham said jovially, "and Mitch made a new friend."
Jamie shot him a curious look and he rolled his eyes. "I was merely trying to explain to the gentleman that the wolves aren't rabid. Rabid wolves don't behave this way, and killing them wholesale isn't really the best solution."
Jamie snorted in amusement. "I bet he took that well." Mitch returned her mocking smile with one of his own as dinner arrived. Chloe tipped the boy at the door and rolled the cart inside.
"Bon appétit."
With their bellies full, exhaustion wasn't too far behind. Abraham and Jackson excused themselves first, the former promising to meet Mitch down in the lobby bright and early to begin their hunt. Chloe was next, standing with a lithe stretch.
"I'm going downstairs to see if they have anything other than alcohol at the bar. Any of you want something?"
"Chamomile tea?" Jamie requested.
"Sure," and the French woman exited Mitch's room with a small wave. Jamie used her fork to push the last few bites of food around on her plate as Mitch rifled through his bag for the paperback he'd bought before their flight to Tokyo. He expected her to excuse herself to her room and was content to spend the rest of the evening reading until his brain tired enough to fall asleep. Instead, she set her plate on the cart and leaned back in her chair as if to stay a while longer.
"Crazy day," she started, as though she was unsure if he wanted her company.
"Yeah," he tossed his bag onto the spare bed and sat down on the other. "Tomorrow's probably going to be crazier."
Jamie laughed lightly. "I have a feeling crazy is about to become the new norm."
Mitch grunted an agreement as he flipped through the book absently. "Crazy and impossible," he intoned. "I have to say, my life was a lot less interesting last week."
She didn't laugh, and he glanced up nervously at her intense stare. Not for the first time he wished he knew what to say instead of the snarky comments he usually made. She stood up and made her way to the door, and Mitch cursed inwardly. She paused with her hand on the doorknob, half-turning to catch his eyes as he watched her leave.
"For what it's worth, I'm glad you're here." She left him to his solitude then, letting the door fall closed behind her with a soft click. Mitch stared after her for a few moments trying to remember if anyone had ever paid him a better compliment. He wanted to go after her, to tell her that it was worth quite a lot to him, but his feet wouldn't cooperate. Instead he flopped back on the mountain of pillows that seemed to be a staple of higher end hotels, all thoughts of his book forgotten.
Mitch's prediction about the next day had actually fallen a bit short of the mark. Crazy had compounded on top of impossible to give him something resembling the most frustratingly chaotic day he'd had in recent memory. They'd managed to get a wolf - ironically thanks to the hunters he'd decried the day before. They used a belt to muzzle it, then staunched the flow of blood with a sock. It growled at them weakly but didn't try to attack. He and Abe were just trying to figure out how they were going to get it back to the SUV when Chloe and Jackson emerged from the treeline.
Mitch glanced around expectantly, but when a third person didn't materialize he turned to a rather disheveled looking Chloe. "Where's Jamie?"
"She's with the widow of one of Hartley's victims," she explained.
"On her own?" A gnawing worry in his gut began and wouldn't let up as he thought about all the ways this was a bad idea.
"She'll be fine," Chloe reassured him. "I see you've found a wolf."
"Shot by hunters," Abraham confirmed. "We were just contemplating how to get it back to the vehicle without hurting it further. Luckily for us, we have just acquired extra man power."
Jackson grimaced and rolled up his sleeves. "Lucky us."
Worry for Jamie and the memory of the phone conversation with Audra made him grumpy and irritable on the ride back to the hotel. Abraham wisely didn't try to pursue any small talk with him, choosing instead to scan the radio for an acceptable soundtrack for their drive. He settled on a classic rock station, singing along with a few of them as Mitch stared out the window. He'd sent Jamie a text the moment he'd gotten back to the car, but she hadn't replied yet. He was toying with the idea of calling her when they pulled into the parking lot of the hotel.
"How are we going to get this thing up to the hotel room?" Chloe asked warily. Mitch cast his eyes around, taking in the surrounding area and the items available. He found an abandoned luggage cart sitting off to the side, and he wheeled it over to the far side of the vehicle where they would be out of sight of the front doors. Jackson helped from the inside as Abraham and Chloe formed a human barrier, and between them they managed to get the animal on the cart. Mitch draped his coat over it, hiding it from view, but they still moved quickly through the lobby.
By unspoken agreement, they used Mitch's room as the lab. The wolf was moved from the cart to the spare bed, and they all winced as a little blood began staining the sheets.
"Delavane is gonna have one hell of a bill," Mitch quipped. "Okay, I need something knock this guy out, two coconuts and a car battery." The list sounded ludicrous to his ears, but he'd been thinking about it since they'd found the wolf. It was the simplest way to test the wolf's blood.
"What?" Jackson looked from the wolf to Mitch.
"Why?" Chloe asked.
"Do you want me to explain it all or get it done?" he shot back, still tense from the lack of communication with Jamie. The other three seemed to sense his mood and Jackson held up his hands.
"I'll go see if the bar has coconuts."
"And I will go pull the battery from the rental car," Chloe added. They left quickly, obviously eager to get away from Mitch's attitude. When they were gone, Abraham chuckled quietly.
"She is fine, Mitch. As I understand it, Jamie is a formidable journalist. Surely one widow isn't much of a threat."
Mitch grabbed the coffee pot from the top of the mini-fridge and scowled at the layer of dust coating it. "Do me a favor. Clean that." He handed it back to Abraham without looking. While he was busy at the small sink set into the wall, Mitch checked his phone once again. Still nothing. He was about to press the call button when the door opened and Jackson came back through.
"No coconuts," he shrugged. "But one of the bellhops said he'd track some down." He set a few glass containers on the table in front of Mitch. "I did manage to snag these from the bar, though. Thought you might need them."
"Thanks," Mitch nodded, inspecting the glass jars appreciatively. They were almost like the beakers he had back at the zoo. Jackson had also grabbed some sleeping pills from the small store in the lobby. Now he needed a dropper, tongs and something to stir with. "Can you go ask the kitchen staff?"
"I will go," Abraham interjected. "That way they will not wonder at so many odd requests from one person."
"Whatever," Mitch waved at him absently. He rummaged through his bag and produced four latex gloves, then turned to Jackson. "Guess that makes you my assistant for the day."
By the time Abraham returned they had situated the wolf on a few hotel towels with only minimal growling and whining. Mitch quickly crushed the pills and mixed them with water to make a paste which he force fed the wolf through the belted muzzle. The beast struggled but Abraham held its mouth closed until it swallowed the medicine. Soon it was unconscious and Mitch hoped he hadn't just killed the poor guy. Chloe came back in with the car battery and Mitch instructed Abraham how to set it up so that they were ready when the coconuts arrived. Chloe's phone rang as they were working, and she stepped out to take it as Mitch moved back to the bed.
"Alright," he gestured to Jackson who was ready with a sterilized steak knife and every washcloth they could scrounge from the three rooms. They removed the blood soaked sock that had acted as a makeshift bandage and set to work removing the bullet from the gaping wound. Mitch handed Jackson a flashlight and traded him for the knife as a foul odor drifted up, making them gag through the shirts they'd tied around their faces.
"Blood's infected," Mitch pointed out. "That's...interesting."
"Why is it interesting?" Abraham asked from his spot by the door.
"Because he hasn't been wounded long enough for this level of infection to set it. He was likely infected before he was injured, probably by some kind of bacteria."
"That's what we're testing for?" Jackson asked as he collected a sample of blood in the newly cleansed baster.
Mitch grumbled at the chatter. "I'm worrying about the bullet still lodged in his side right now." He used the knife to slice a larger hole in the wolf's hide. Using his gloved fingers he probed in the wound until he found where the bullet had lodged between two ribs. "Light," he ordered, nodding so Jackson would kneel and aim his flashlight into the incision.
His phone chimed on the table across the room, and Mitch glanced up from his work to Abraham. "Grab that, will ya? It's probably Jamie."
Abraham smiled knowingly and pressed the green answer button. "Hello?"
Mitch divided his attention between the surgery and the phone call. Abraham was being unhelpfully quiet as Jamie spoke, and Mitch clenched his jaw as he forced himself to do his job. The bullet hadn't broken the rib, but it had probably fractured it. He used the tongs to get a hold of it, pulling gently until it came free. He set the slug on the towel next to the wolf and began sewing the wound closed with the needle and thread from Chloe's personal bag.
"Okay, be careful," Abraham said before hanging up. Mitch looked up sharply as the larger man set his phone back on the table. "Jamie is returning to the prison to inspect Hartley's cell. She believes he may have left clues as to why his behavior changed so rapidly."
"How the hell is she going to get inside without Chloe?" Mitch wondered aloud.
"She is resourceful," Abraham answered. "She is confident that she will be able to get access to his cell. I did not ask how."
"Of course you didn't," Mitch mumbled snidely. If Jackson heard him he didn't say anything, but he saw Abraham tried to hide a smile behind his hand as he faked a cough.
"Alright," Mitch snapped his gloves off and inspected his handy work. It would scar something horrible, but given his limited supplies he felt he'd done fairly well. "Now to test the blood." He took the small container Jackson had procured and squeezed the blood sample from the baster. He was stirring as Chloe came back from her phone call.
One destroyed hotel room later, Mitch felt like they had another piece of this enormous puzzle. The bacteria had reacted just the way he'd theorized it would, meaning it was causing the wolves' aberrant behavior. What was causing the bacteria, however, was a new mystery. He'd contacted Animal Control and reported the injured wolf before gathering all of his things and high-tailing it out of the hotel with the others. Safe to say, they likely wouldn't be welcome back at that establishment - or maybe even Biloxi - ever again.
Another piece of good news came as he was getting everything together. Jamie had contacted Chloe, who directed the journalist to not return to the hotel. They arranged to meet at the car rental agency, and as he sat in the back of the SUV Mitch tried to keep his leg from bouncing in anticipation.
Get a grip, he scolded himself. It hadn't even been a full day, and Jamie was more than capable of taking care of herself. Still, they'd spent the last week or so in each other's company and he was growing accustomed to seeing her face. Knowing she was out there on her own made his stomach ache.
"This is ridiculous," he muttered to himself.
"I'm sorry?" Chloe asked from the seat next to him. Mitch shook his head and kept his eyes out the window. They were just a few blocks from the car rental place, and as Chloe pulled into the garage he breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of Jamie's slight frame standing off to the side.
"What happened?" she asked as they piled out of the car. Her eyes sought Mitch's immediately, and he gave her a reassuring smile as he noticed her giving him a once over.
"Deputy Kraft didn't find Evan Lee Hartley and is looking for someone to blame," Chloe answered.
"I found this," she held up a small book and spoke in that rapid pace that meant she was keyed up about something she thought was important. "It's his...Hartley's. It was in his cell." Chloe took it from her and began flipping through the pages. "The guy underlined every reference to animals in the Bible. I mean every single one."
Seeing her had quieted the restlessness he'd been feeling all day, but rather than voice his relief he fell back on his time-tested snark. "Well, he was on death row. Bible comes in very handy on death row."
She dug into her back pocket and produced another small paper. "I also found this." Mitch craned his neck as she passed it to Chloe, surprised to see a photo of a younger Hartley smiling next to another man who looked vaguely familiar.
"That's Evan Lee Hartley," Chloe pointed out. Next to her, Jackson had stiffened and reached for the picture with trembling fingers. "What is it Jackson? Do you recognize the other guy?"
"That's my father," Jackson glanced up at them in shock.
Mitch groaned inwardly and ran a hand over his face. "Alright, question and answer time is over. We need to get out of here before Animal Control gets to the hotel and the entire city cancels the wolf cull and starts hunting us."
"What happened at the hotel?" Jamie couldn't resist asking a question, even as they piled into the SUV. Abraham took the driver's seat again, leaving Jamie in the middle seat between Mitch and Chloe. Jackson sat silently in the passenger seat, his fingers still clutching the photograph.
As they drove Mitch tried to explain the events of the day to Jamie, and at one point he saw her trying to stifle a smile. "What?" he asked.
"You're like MacGyver meets the Professor from Gilligan's Island," she commented. "I can't believe you managed all of that with literally no scientific equipment." He thought he heard a touch of awe in her voice, though that could have been wishful thinking on his part. "So we know the bacteria was causing the odd behavior in the wolves. What kind of bacteria is it?"
"I don't know," Mitch admitted. "But I have an idea of where we can find out. Chloe, can we take this car to Alabama?"
"Oui, I believe so," she answered. "If I may ask, what is in Alabama?"
For a moment he thought about telling them the truth. Then he remembered all the reasons that was a bad idea. "A lab we can use." He didn't want to tell them about the small town they'd moved to after his parents had divorced, about how his mother had lived in near poverty after his dad had left, or how Mitch had left her behind just as soon as possible to get away from the narrow-minded, backwards townsfolk. He guessed his old high school probably hadn't changed much - funding for education wasn't a big priority in Alabama - and he knew he could likely get into one of the Chem labs and out again before the morning bell.
Chloe called Delavane after asking him the name of the town, and in the front Abraham was concentrating on the road as Jackson stared at the photo.
With the others occupied, Jamie leaned in close to him and whispered. "You alright?"
She must have picked up on his mood change, but he really didn't want to dredge up ancient history. On top of it, the phone call he'd gotten earlier from Audra had begun to gnaw at him. Clem was getting worse. Of course, he hadn't actually told Jamie about Clem, or Audra, and he didn't want to bring it up now.
So instead he clenched his teeth and exhaled sharply through his nose. "Fine," he told her, his head turned to glare out the window. He felt her eyes on him for a moment longer before she sensed he didn't want to talk about it and pulled out her phone.
As her right hand thumbed through the day's news, her left fell to her lap and slid over to where their legs were pressed against each other in the cramped bench seat of the SUV. He felt the heat from her hand through his jeans and barely resisted the urge to let his fingers slide over hers. Still, the contact on his leg was sure and comforting and he took a few steadying breaths before letting his head fall back against the headrest wearily. Before his eyes slipped closed he felt her fingers curl ever so slightly against the rough fabric of his jeans in a light caress, and he fell asleep with a sigh.