"Au revoir les gars à plus tard!" (Bye see you guys later!)
She waved to Mila and Celeste as she got into her uncle's black sedan. She slid into the back seat and threw her bag on the floor while brushing her tangled locks behind her ear.
"Votre français devient bon," she saw his smile flash in the rear view mirror. (Your French is getting good)
"I saw my mom today," she broke the peaceful atmosphere. She didn't want to hide anything for her uncle and she wanted to know if she had made contact with him.
His smile feel and he focused on the traffic, giving her no response to what she had said. She didn't know how he would react to it all, was he going to be mad? Maybe happy to finally see her mom again? She fiddled with her thumbs waiting for him to say something.
"At least it felt like her. I'm not sure what it was."
"Evelyn, I told you to stop reaching out to her."
"I didn't," she protested from the backseat. "I swear! I've been good and haven't done it once! And I told you I don't like the name Evelyn!"
"Just take a deep breath," he reminded her. "I believe you and I'm sorry. Tell me what happened."
"It just came out of nowhere. I was just talking with Celeste and then I could hear her. Her voice drifted into my head I could hear her talking, she sounds just the same. I know it was her. She said my name! I don't know how she found me."
"Well it's possible your bond works both ways. If I know Selene, she has been looking for you for the past year."
She turned and looked out the window at the passing buildings. She knew this wasn't true and that her mother had not looked for her since the day they had parted. There were nights she would lay in bed and think about her mother and the man she had went off to find. Michael. The girl often thought about the years she had been at Antigen and never knew about her mother or father. On this nights she would close her eyes and think of her mother, Selene, her black hair and dark eyes. She also saw the scowl on her face, her intense stare and how she always spoke her mind. That's when she would appear.
Even though they were hundreds of miles apart, the girl would watch her mother through her own mother's eyes. It was almost like she was dreaming. She found herself doing this and thus had kept secret tabs on what her mother for months. She watched her travels and adventures, her dedication to find Michael and how she never gave up.
"She's not the only one," she grumbled under her breath.
"I've got cameras at the school and home. You don't have to worry about a thing, let me deal with those dogs."
She knew he would. He had helped ever since her split with her mom.
"I told her not to look for me," she didn't understand why her mom would start now. Her mother had stopped looking for her to keep her hidden, there were a lot of people who still wanted to find the daughter of Michael Corvin and Selene.
He laughed at that," Selene does not follow orders well."
"Do you think she's coming?"
He drew in a slow breath," I think it might be time for the two of you to reunite."
"David is wanting to meet with you about something big in the lab," Melody trailed behind Jolene as she strolled down the marbled floors. The satisfying clicks of her heels on the title fueled her sense of power.
"David?"
His name wasn't familiar. Was he the new department head? Who could keep up, things moved so quick here.
"David runs the new ops program. He reports having success in completing phase two of a new drug that will-."
"I don't need to know the details, Melody," Jolene cut her off. "Fine, I'm sure the shareholder would love a little dance show by one of the lab rats. Besides if he wants to talk to me about it, it must be a success. Let's hope we can rush this one to market... it might even help the merger if I can wrap into the deal with Merck & Co."
"Then I'll push the meeting to before the end of the week," Melody went off punching information into her tablet, struggling to keep up with Jolene's stride.
Jolene kept walking; she was in a bit of rush from her heavy day of being double booked. She still needed to get back to her penthouse and shower before going out to dinner with Lance Debney. Normally Jo was all business, but she was learning quickly the need to rub elbows and make good business partners. That's where Jacob Lange failed. He tried to keep Antigen Lycan only and when the place tanked, he had no one to lean back on. Jolene had taken that job, running the past years on the down low, not letting their name face be seen. She finally rebuilt it to a thriving company, and she wanted it to stay that way. Lance Debney was the son of CEO of Smith & Wessen, and it was rumored he was going to take over the business. With Smith & Wessen being one of the most prominent firearms manufactures in the world, Jolene knew they would be a beneficial ally to her cause.
"I'll email you the final schedule."
"Don't bother," Jolene stopped as the valet opened the doors for her. "Tonight, I'll be out with Lance Debney."
"What? I don't have him on your agenda!"
"Good, Lance likes to keep things private," she smirked as she sat into the back of the town car.
"Wait! Ms. Sheen! Before you go, Javier called."
The smile fell from Jolene's face," What?," she hissed.
"He called and wanted to give you an update."
"Did he find her?!"
"No," Melody flinched. "But he says he's close."
"So he did find her? Why else would he call with such a worthless update. Get Javier on the phone right now and if he ever calls again, alert me immediately."
"Yes, Ms. Sheen."
How incompetent can one Lycan be, Jolene tapped her nails furiously on the leather seats. Why did she ever trust such a childish, impish, glorified sex toy? Who knows how close those blood suckers are to finding her? If they find her first, it'll only make things harder for her plan.
"Go for the big dog."
Jolene could practically hear his smirk through the phone.
"Where is the girl," Jolene demanded.
"Jo! Oh hey, I was just about to call you," he said in a soft sultry voice.
Jolene dug her nails into the seat, she was sick of his games.
"Tell me you found her or don't bother coming back," she seethed.
"Take it easy, Jo. This is a happy occasion! I've found her."
Jolene released her nails and looked to Melody then back to the phone.
"You're certain?"
"Yes," Javier finally sounded serious. "She is going by the name Evelyn and is pretending to be some schoolgirl. In her records, it says she lives with her uncle, someone named Karl Kettering, an old military brat. I'm sending for Malcolm and some of the boys to come down. We'll grab her and be back before tomorrow night."
"Don't underestimate her. She's been hiding all this time; she's going to be on high alert. "
"Ha! She's a little girl, Jo. Give me some credit."
"I'm only warning you and we don't know who this uncle is? The child was isolated from her whole family, she has no uncle."
"I'll be careful just for you," Javi chuckled.
"Javier, this is serious. I want this girl back, and she needs to be unharmed."
"I'll bring her."
"Don't disappoint me," Jolene hung up the phone.
"This is good news, isn't it, Ms. Sheen?"
"We'll see if Javier can actually follow through," Jolene rolled her eyes.
"Javi has some good qualities," Melody tried to defend him.
"Don't let your hormones do the talking, Melody. Javier might be a decent lay, but he has yet to prove himself useful."
Melody blushed a deep red and stuttered a response," No! I m-mean, no I-I-I have n-ever done anything inappropriate with Javier- I mean, Mr. Passero."
Jolene's mouth tugged into a smile; Melody obviously had a schoolgirl crush on Javier. Melody had always been quiet; she was shy girl who was a complete anomaly to their entire species. She never raised her voice, never spoke out of turn, and kept her opinion to herself. She had short blonde hair that she could barely tuck behind her ears and soft brown eyes. Melody was beautiful, but she was so timid, Jolene was surprised that no Lycan had mated with her yet.
"H-Have you ever...," Melody started in a voice barely above a whisper.
"Hahaha," Jolene couldn't contain the laugh. "Javier? Absolutely not. He is merely a pup; he can barely follow orders and he holds no significance or power. I only hear from others how amazing he is in bed, the womanizer has practically no standards."
"Oh... It just seemed you two were close."
"He reports to me, that's where our relationship ends," Jolene straightened her skirt.
Melody tucked a loose strand behind her ear," Sorry for asking," she kept her eyes down. "Are you planning on keeping this dinner with Mr. Debney?"
"Lance will have to wait. I'll reschedule him, for now I need to see the pack," she turned to the driver. " Lucas, take us to the apartments."
"Right, ma'am," he nodded and turned the car around.
After the old Antigen headquarters had burned to the ground, Marius had the land settled and let it go to waste. Jolene saw the potential and redirected funds to start construction on an apartment complex. She was sick of meeting in the sewers and spending all night at the docks, so she created a new headquarters. This way the whole pack could be in one place, and she could keep an eye on who was coming and going. It wasn't by any means luxurious, but it was nice enough to keep everyone comfortable.
"Why are we going to see the pack, Ms. Sheen?"
"If Javier manages to get the girl, then I need to see what progress the new recruits are making. Javier says they're making strides, but I have my doubts."
Melody opened her mouth but shut it, keeping her comment to herself, but Jolene saw it.
"You must really be infatuated with this boy," Jolene smirked.
"No," Melody shook her head. "I have no feelings toward Mr. Passero."
Jolene thought it was quite the show, she was trying to distance herself from Javier by calling him by his last name. It was adorable in a way, nothing Jolene had seen in a long time. Even by herself, she had always looked at things in an analytical way. She knew that bottling up her sexual needs would only lead to emotional outburst so she picked up a random in a bar once a month to relieve herself. She knew better than to mix business with pleasure and kept herself away from pack members, even if some of them were dazzling to the eyes. Lycans were better in bed, they had more stamina and skill than mere humans with a sense of admiration to female form.
"A bit of advice, Javier only wants what he can't have. Play hard to get and he'll fall for you faster than I can rip off a vampire's head," she gave a triumphant smile as they pulled up to the complex.
Lucas came round and opened the door, Jolene stepped out and barely spared a glance to the building in front of her. As long as it was still standing it was good enough for her, after all she didn't have to live here. Jolene had a penthouse apartment in one of the most impressive buildings downtown, only a few elite members of the pack had been there.
"Jolene, didn't expect to see you," Tiphus raised an eyebrow as she walked through the door.
"It was a last-minute thing," Jolene smiled. "Just had to check you were still on top of things."
"Jolene," he grinned," You know I'm always on top of things."
Classic Tiphus. She had put him in charge of keeping the pack docile, he was basically the landlord of the building and made sure everyone did their part. It was the job Javier wanted, but Jolene knew better than to give him too much responsibility, and besides he did well help the new recruits. With the hierarchy of the pack, Jolene was at the lead, every decision passed through her and needed her approval. Tiphus was her right hand, she trusted him to keep things stable on the Homefront. Klaus was her left hand; he was away tending to international affairs.
"Bring me up to speed," Jolene was done with the pleasantries.
"30 new recruits in the last 6 months. Javier has been training them for nearly 10 hours a day, nearly half the time is within human form. They're coming along well, and they fit in nicely. No brawls or anything like that," Tiphus and Jolene started walking to the elevators as they talked. "I heard you sent Javi to find the girl?"
"He found her, Tiphus."
Tiphus took in a deep breath as he pushed the button for the lower level. Tiphus was one of the few who knew of Jolene's plan, so he knew the importance of this discovery.
"You should have sent me," was all he said in reply.
"Javier will bring her back," Jo turned to him. "I need you to be ready when he does."
"I'll be ready."
The doors opened onto the darkened concrete corridor, as soon as they stepped out from the lift the hall lights flickered on. Jolene felt a rush of excitement, could all she had been preparing for really be coming to place? Could she really be this close to eradicating the world of those disgusting vampires.
"Dr. Iobo is ready for the final phase," Tiphus' voice filled the hall. "He's almost too excited to complete Dr. Lane's work."
"We all should be excited. You saw what could be possible if we get the girl," Jolene reminded him as they entered a fluorescent white lab room.
"But you didn't see what it did to Quin," Tiphus shook his head. "He was different after those injections."
"He was pure Lycan, one of a kind," Dr. Iobo swiveled in his chair, he already knew what they were talking about. He looked to Jolene," I assume you grace me with your presence to bring good news."
Jolene took a single step forward and bent down to his level, so they were face to face. She put on a fake dry smile, but it was still just as dazzling as her real one. "I've been funding your little tests and trials, Armann. I've made sure you've had everything at your disposal, the lab, the equipment, and all of Dr. Lane's notes. Shouldn't you address me properly as your Alpha?," Jolene's smile fell.
Dr. Iobo was no dummy, he knew her words were laced with threats if he didn't do as she said. He bowed his head to submit to her, she was his rightful Alpha. "Forgive me, Jolene. I am honored you have come to see me."
Jolene stayed bent over until Armann raised his head again. "Now is the time to prove to me that it wasn't a waste, and you will deliver on your promise."
Dr. Iobo took of his glasses," You mean she has been found."
"She will be here by tomorrow," Jolene straightened out. "I want to have injections ready by the end of the week. We need to strike them before they realize we have her."
"Done," Armann promised. "All I need is to synthesize her DNA a reduce it to its basic molecular structure. This way I can pair with the -..."
"Stop," Jolene raised her hand to silence him. "You've told me all I need to hear."
"Are you sure Javier will be able to deliver?" Tiphus crossed his arms.
"He knows the risk if he fails."
"Hasn't stopped him in the past."
Jolene ignored Tiphus, and looked around the vacant lab. It was white and pristine, almost identical to the ones at Antigen, but it would be here that history would be made. Here in only a few days they would have everything they would need to start the final phase. All that was left was to get the girl.
"Gather the pack."