Chapter Eighteen

Ezra and Agent Spade had pulled off a perfect con on the people at the adoption agency if he did say so himself. They had not only gotten a tour of the facilities; they had also gotten a tour of the security systems after Agent Spade had expressed a concern over the children's safety while they would be waiting to be picked up. The young woman had performed the role of the air-headed, but concerned wife of wealthy man with aplomb.

He had worn special glasses provided for the role. They held a very small passive magic that allowed him to see the spells that were the hidden security system. They could only be detected by an aggressive scrying spell. It hadn't been detected and had served its purpose well. They had managed to find the systems weak points.

Ezra wasn't surprised to find that pouring over the blueprints and the drawings of the security systems became a matter of Alpha management. Jack Malone may not have been Two Blood Alpha material, but that didn't mean that he wasn't an Alpha. He and Nathan spent a lot of time soothing Chris and getting him to ease up his stance, although no one outside of the Pack realized it.

It was a subtle thing, Alpha management, Ezra mused as he leaned into Chris as he looked over his Alpha's shoulder. It didn't surprise him that few realized just how exceptional he was at the endeavor. Of course the fact that he deliberately drove Chris to distraction, both to take the heat of Chris' wrath off of others and because it was amusing helped to disguise his efforts, as did the fact that a great deal of the soothing was involved in the slight touches and body language of the Pack.

Chris threw a mild glare over his shoulder at Ezra. The Fibbees might not realize what Ezra was doing, but he did. It just wasn't in his nature to let someone else be in charge, but that's what he needed to do right now. Malone was a good man and a good agent. He knew how to plan an operation like this. The only real help he needed was finding out what the Pack could do.

He already knew what Vin could do with his pistol but the man had never seen Vin with a rifle in his hands. He had no idea what it meant for Buck to be a Two Blood. He had never seen Josiah on the warpath or Nathan using his knives. He had no idea how sharp JD's mind was or how good he was with two pistols in his hands. And most of all, Malone had no idea what it was like when he got really pissed off, how the wildness inside him almost took over, only tempered by the intellect that had kept him alive for so long in the worst of circumstances. He had no real concept of pack.

Jack was surprised at how professional these men were. He had expected a lot more growling and snarling and to be honest he had gotten some of that, but what he really had been dreading was Larabee trying to take over the plan. But Larabee hadn't done that. Oh he had objected to where his men were placed and had rearranged their positions and had forcibly included Dr. Jackson, Mr. Standish and JD, but other than that he hadn't tried to take over the operation.

Danny was paired with Vin, more to watch his back than anything else. They would be going in the secondary entrance on the main floor. It led down to an alcove that should give Vin an excellent view of the area Josiah said would be the most likely place to put an alter for a ritual working. The old Winchester rifle that had been brought from the mansion by JD was old, but still serviceable and Jack was more inclined to let Vin use it after he had seen Vin swiftly take it apart, clean it and put it back together. He had a bad moment when Dr. Jackson had asked if the sight was still off, but relaxed when the pack had laughed.

"Vin saved my life with that old rifle the day we met," Nathan explained to Vivian who was still looking alarmed. "It took him two shots because the sight was slightly off. He's so used to it now that if we fixed it for him, he'd have to learn how it fires all over again."

"How'd he do that?" Sam asked. The pack, more attuned to body language than the others could see that she was more than just slightly interested in Vin, although they could have told her that he wasn't interested in her.

"He shot the rope I was being lynched with. Some ranchers thought I'd killed their boss when he died of gangrene. They didn't like the idea of a black healer," Nathan said honestly. The remark brought home the fact that Nathan had seen first hand the changes from slavery to mostly equality for blacks in America.

"Would you mind being interviewed by my son for a history project when this is all over?" Vivian asked. "He needs the grades and to tell you the truth, I think his class needs to hear whatever you might have to say about what life was really like during the Civil War."

"Sure, I don't have any problems with that," Nathan said. "It's something that shouldn't be forgotten."

Ezra and JD were put in the surveillance van with Mac, their tech. Neither was happy with the situation but they didn't have any official standing to be there. Nathan, the only other civilian there had been officially ok'd as a doctor to make sure that Maggie was ok. They were the ones who were going to have to decide when to send in backup.

Chris and Jack were going to go in through the main entrance on the main floor. Neither one of them wanted their people to be exposed to the possible consequences of breaking one of the security spells if any had been missed. Josiah was paired with Sam and Buck with Vivian they would be going in the outside entrances.

"Is every body ready?" Jack asked as he looked around. The grim faced group nodded. "Then let's do this."