Chapter One
Jonas Wyatt sat in front of his computer, a growl threatening to escape from his chest as he angrily stared at the email displayed on his screen. The innocuous email had arrived in his inbox a little under and hour ago from one "Concerned Citizen." For all intents and purposes, who, or what had sent the email was a ghost. Not even the little code and computer genius Ria with all the gadgets and technical marvels of Vanderale Industries had been able to shed light on where the email had originated. Jonas hated unknowns. He hated them even more when they messed with his games. Silently fuming at his computer he sat and considered what to do with the information it contained.
Dear Jonas Wyatt
One Thea Nelsen requires extraction to a safe haven. It would be a boon for you to oblige, before the Council and their coyotes do.
Yours Sincerely,
Concerned Citizen.
Such a simple message, yet it raised so many questions and concerns. The attached files had been another matter. Some contained limited information of Sara Nelsen, a Council scientist who had been most active in the European labs. She had had a special interest in breed genetics and reproduction, and from what Jonas could tell from the patchy information, had encountered and been researching the mating heat. What the email files had not revealed, but Sanctuary's and Vanderale salvaged Council records had, was that Sara Nelsen was one of just a few scientists who had had top security clearance to access the Council's secure database.
Other files contained the execution orders for Sara Nelsen from the Council on the suspicion that she was secretly stealing their precious information.
Still more contained the numerous newspaper clippings of Sara Nelsen from when she had been found brutally murdered in her small apartment in New York by the police. No suspect had ever been found, and the case remained open to this day. Jonas' cursory search through the police case file had already told him that coyotes had been responsible.
While interesting, the information did not give Jonas nearly as much pause as the claim that Thea, Sara's daughter needed extraction from somewhere on the eastern seaboard.
No record of a daughter could be found anywhere in Sara's files, civilian or Council. Although the image of a smiling, blond headed teenager did bare an uncanny resemblance to those he had of Sara. Not that that really meant much, photoshop could easily have achieved the likeness. Furthermore, the photo was not recent, being several years out of date. If Thea did really exist, she would be closer to twenty-five now.
Jonas' intercom buzzed.
"Director, I have Ria here to see you", his new secretary (what was her name?) informed him.
"Send her in"
Ria entered his office a moment later, her dark hair falling about her shoulders the way her mate liked it, who was incidentally just a pace behind her. The damned pair were inseparable these days, but a little part of Jonas could empathise these days.
"The photo is the real deal. Original, and hasn't been tampered with." Ria cut to the chase as she handed over a printed out copy of the photograph.
"I took the liberty of creating some photos of her estimated age now, around twenty five" she continued, as Jonas shuffled through the photographs accounting for a possible hair colour change, and different preferences of clothing.
"Nicely done," Jonas said, unable to stop the irritated growl that escaped.
"It seems that it is a lead worth investigating at the least" Mercury stated as he idly scratched at his chin.
"The information appears to be accurate as well, and un-tampered," Ria added.
Jonas nodded,
"Thankyou for verifying the information so quickly, I know it's late. Load the picture into the facial recognition program, limiting the search to the eastern seaboard. Start with New York City." Jonas instructed, Ria nodding in understanding before exiting with Mercury. Ria had proved to be an invaluable resource to Sanctuary since relocating from Africa to be with her mate.
Jonas ground his teeth together in frustration. If Sara really had been stealing top-secret Council documents, it was possible that she may have kept some record of them with her daughter. Equally possible that they were lost when she was murdered, Thea would have only been eight or nine at the time. Was it a lead worth pursuing? The 'Concerned Citizen' seemed to imply that it was. Complete Council records could potentially hold invaluable information for Sanctuary, Vanderale and Haven.
"Stephanie, hold all my calls" Jonas ordered his secretary over the intercom as he picked up his secure sat phone from it's hidden compartment in the desk to make a phone call.
"Mission?" a gruff voice sounded from the other end of the line as the call connected.
"Assemble Ghost Team. Your new top priority is to locate and secure Thea Nelsen. Suspected location is New York but stand by for confirmation."
"When should we commence?" Jag asked, already putting his 'go-pack' together, having rolled out of be but a moment before hand, already fully clothed, sense kicking in as his mind began to run through logistics for the trip.
"Immediately, she is a possible target of the Council, and could potentially know the whereabouts of vital Council documentation and information." Jonas relayed.
"Understood, Ghost Team will be in New York by 0600 tomorrow". The line went dead.
Authors Note:
To my dear readers; a little heads up.
This book is set somewhere between the end of Lion's heat and before "Lawe's Justice" which I couldn't bring myself to read as everyone seemed to agree it was horrible, and after making the mistake of reading "Navarro's Promise" I wasn't willing to spend the money on another poor quality Breed novel from Lora Leigh after her earlier better ones. That being said, I haven't quite caught up with the earlier Feline/Wolf/Coyote Breed books either so if there are any major discrepancies in my version, feel free to let me know.
Let me know if you liked this tid-bit, and I'll upload the rest (the chapters will be longer).
Regards -