Rafael Read online

  He had learned the art of meditation from Geoffrey. Rafael calmed his heart rate, stilled his body, opened his mind. Breathing in through his nose slowly, all tension eased from his body. Rafael imagined he was standing on a rocky cliff looking out over a wild sea; waves rolling in, crashing over the jagged rocks that protruded from the depths like a barbed wire fence protecting a prison. The beauty of the water mixed with the turmoil of the waves somehow brought a sense of balance to Rafe. As he breathed in the scent of the saltwater, he felt a tug on his arm. Looking down, there was a small, black-haired boy reaching for his hand.

  Clasping onto the child’s hand, he looked back out to the sea. The tide calmed; the waves no longer crashed. The water was as smooth as glass. Glancing back down, the child was smiling up at him. “It’s pretty, Papa.” The boy was pointing to the horizon. The sun was peaking its head over the faraway horizontal barrier that appeared close enough to touch. “It is beautiful, my son.”

  Rafe came out of his trance with a start. What the fuck? Rarely did his meditation take him that far into his subconscious. But a child? He was not a father, of that he was certain. The fates guaranteed they could not procreate unless it was with one who could handle carrying a Goyle fetus: their mate. Would the fates have changed their minds or had they made it so the humans could carry a shifter child as well?

  Meeting Kaya and the possibility of human bonding must have affected him deeper than he knew. Previously, Rafe bore little hope of finding a mate and having a family. Now, it was all he could think about. To have his home filled with children, given to him by the woman he was fated to be with, would be worth every second of loneliness he had endured for the last five hundred years. He rose from the bench and made his way through the garden, stopping to admire the last few blooms that were hanging on in spite of the cooling weather.

  Grabbing his phone on the way to the shower, he rang Geoffrey. Frey was one of the more disciplined of the Clan. He didn’t stay out late and he rose early. “Yo.” His answer was in no way disrespectful to his King. He was answering as family.

  “Yo yourself. I got a call earlier from Sin. He’s sending Lorenzo Campanelli and Jasper Jenkins our way. I need you to pick them up from the airport and bring them to the manor. Sin said that Jasper is showing signs of aggression. I think I have the perfect test to see if that’s true.”

  “Ah, let me guess. A little friendly scrimmage?”

  “Right you are my brother. It’s been a while since we have gathered all the family together, and I do believe today is perfect for a meeting.”

  “If Jasper isn’t exactly a team player, how are you going to handle him?” Frey was the enforcer of the family. He relished bringing less than submissive members back in line.

  “I won’t be handling him; you will. The way you brought Michael around all those years ago was brilliant. If you can tame his beast, surely you can handle Jasper.”

  “We shall see. Are you going into the office this morning?”

  “Yes, for a while. I am going to schedule a video chat with the others so we’re all on the same page. I will be home by the time you bring our guests. Sin didn’t give me much of a heads up, so they can stay with me until they find their own homes. I’ll have Willow set up the video feed, and I will talk to you then.”

  Rafe stopped off in the kitchen for a cup of coffee before he made it to the shower. His housekeeper was putting something sweet smelling in the oven. “Good morning, Priscilla. We will be having new family arriving this afternoon. If you would please, make sure two of the guest rooms are ready.”

  The older lady walked up to Rafe and pulled his face down so she could kiss his cheek as she did every morning. She was the closest thing he’d had to a mother in almost two hundred years. Priscilla’s family had been serving the Di Pietros for centuries. She and her brother, Jonathan, lived with and served Rafe and whoever stayed with him. Very few humans knew of the shifters, and those that did were as loyal as if they were shifters themselves. “Of course, my boy. You go shower. Sweets will be ready when you are finished.”

  “You spoil me too much.” Rafe kissed her cheek and did as she said. An hour later he was pulling into the parking garage at Stone, Inc. At the back of the garage, a wrought iron gate slid open, and his car passed through. Only he and his inner circle knew the code that led to the underground lot. Everyone else parked outside the barrier.

  The top floor of the building housed Rafe’s office and his private apartment. His second home was spacious and included all of the amenities one could want. It, as well as all Society homes, was equipped with roof access. All were custom built and situated strategically throughout the city and surrounding states. They each contained Julian-designed security systems that were more advanced than any available to the government.

  Julian was not only an expert forensics scientist but also an electronics whiz. His I.Q. was off the charts. If anyone outside their family found out what he was capable of, his life would be in jeopardy from not only the government but also the likes of Gordon Flanagan. Julian had confided in Rafe many years ago that he, too, had perfected the cloning formula, but only in theory.

  It was quarter ‘til eight, and Willow was sitting at her desk when Rafe arrived. “Good morning, Willow. How was your evening?”

  His young assistant blushed. Even though Rafe had hired her a couple of years ago, she was still shy when he spoke to her. “It was very nice, thank you. I received an email from Ashley and forwarded it to you.”

  “Excellent. I would like to have a video chat with the team. Please set that up for nine, and I will let them know to be on the call. Anything else for me?” Willow was young, but she was the most efficient assistant he had ever employed. She was a very pleasant, if somewhat timid, young lady. He enjoyed her immensely.

  “No, Sir, nothing else.”

  Rafe let her get busy with setting up the video and walked the short distance to his office. Sending out a group text, he let the others know to be on the call in an hour. He sat down at his desk and turned on his computer. As soon as it booted up he opened his email program. The first one he looked at was the itinerary. The flight was coming in at two that afternoon giving Frey plenty of time to get to the airport.

  The email program was fitted with the very best spyware possible. When messages came in from anonymous accounts, they were sent to his spam folder. He noticed there was an email from an unknown source with the subject “I want to hire your firm”. Knowing he should delete the message immediately, something about it nagged at Rafe, and he opened it anyway.

  “Mr. Stone,

  Our company is looking to relocate to New Atlanta. While there are many available spaces, we prefer to have our facilities built to our own specifications, from the ground up. We are contacting several firms for bids. Attached to this email is a rough sketch of what we are looking for. If you wish to bid on the project, please reply to this email and we will contact you for a meeting.

  Regards,

  Bartholomew Cromwell

  CEO, Cromwell, Inc.”

  Rafe was unfamiliar with the name Cromwell. He would have Nikolas or Julian check out the validity of the company as well as search for information on Bartholomew. Against his better judgment, he opened the attachment and found a drawing of what looked like a modern office building with a warehouse attached. This type of structure wasn’t his specialty. If it turned out to be a legitimate request, he would have to think long and hard about bidding on it.

  Chapter 11

  Nikolas closed the last book. Not one journal noted anything on mating with humans. In fact, there wasn’t much mentioned about bonding at all. That seemed odd to him. If he hurried, there would be enough time to shower before the video call. He wanted to visit the downtown library and search their archives, even though it was a long shot. Sometimes reality got buried in fiction, starting as truth that became too outlandish to believe and ended up a fairy tale.

  Before he left the library, he glanced at
the files on the two shifters who were moving to New Atlanta. Once they settled into their new jobs and homes, he would update the information. All of the Clan leaders had access to these files; Nikolas was the one who kept them current. Knowing where their experiences lie helped Rafe and the others in assigning them duties within the Clans.

  Nik reopened the files on his computer as he was towel drying his hair. Sin was just as diligent about keeping accurate records as he was. Reading more thoroughly, he noticed there were some blanks in Jasper’s file. What the hell? There were a few minutes before the video call started, so he dialed his cousin.

  “Sinclair,” he answered groggily. It was rather early on the west coast.

  “Sin, Nik. Sorry to wake you so early but there’s a problem with one of the archives. Jasper’s employment history has gaps during three separate time periods. Was there a problem?”

  “Wait, what? That’s not right. You know I update the records myself. Hang on a second, I’m going to log in and have a look on this end.”

  Nik waited while Sin booted up. “Here it is. What in the fuck? Nik, I swear these were up to date yesterday. I looked at them before I called Rafe.”

  “Well, they aren’t up to date now. Can you tell me what he did during those missing dates? I’ll fill them in myself. We have a video call in about two minutes.”

  “Yeah, let’s see. The time in the nineties, he was a fireman. The time in the twenties, he was a fireman. Fuck and his last job was as a fireman. That doesn’t make sense though. First, there is no way someone could have hacked into the system. Second, if they did find a way in, why would they want to erase those particular dates? Nik, you get to your call. I’m going to do some digging. I’ll call you later.”

  Nik hung up then dialed in for the video chat. Rafe was already addressing the group. “Frey will go meet them at the airport and take them to the manor. Until we find their permanent homes, they can stay with me. Nik, did you have a chance to look at their docs?”

  “Yeah, sorry I’m late, but there was a problem with one of the files. Lorenzo’s is complete. He has spent the last fifty years working in various stone quarries. If he wishes to continue in that capacity, that will come in handy because Finley needs to move out of the area. Jasper’s file was missing jobs for three time frames. I called Sin and he let me know that during these three missing periods, Jasper was a fireman. Julian, please check the archive retrieval system. You designed the firewalls and will be able to detect if they have been hacked more readily than I can.”

  Rafe addressed his brother, “Jules, that’s your first order of business today.”

  “I assure you the system is not hackable, but I’m on it.”

  “Keep me posted. Were you able to run analysis on the tread photos I sent over?”

  Julian nodded, “Yes, Mason was spot on. The tires belong to a late model, Ford panel van that needs an alignment. That’s the good news. The bad news is those vans are a dime a dozen. I have already been scanning traffic camera feed around the area of the warehouse. Also, I was able to get into the hotel rooms and take a look around. I pulled DNA from Flanagan’s room. I want Dante to come by the lab and double check what I’m seeing. If what I have found is confirmed, either the missing delegate is not Magnus Flanagan or the man has shifter blood.”

  “Things just keep getting more interesting. One more thing. I received an email today from an anonymous account. I am going to forward it to you. If either you or Nik could run a background check on the sender and his company, I would appreciate it. Jules, please monitor our system and find out how an anonymous email got through.”

  “Yes, Sir.” Julian’s tone let everyone know he was frustrated with both breaches of security.

  “Nik, did you find anything in the family library after your update last night?” Rafe’s gaze was steady, matching his voice. Nikolas had called during a break in reading to let him know he hadn’t found anything so far.

  “Nothing. There was barely any mention of bonding at all and nothing with humans. I thought I’d go to the public library and look through some of their older stuff.”

  “I don’t think it could hurt. Just give yourself time to get back and help Julian. Gregor, Frey told me he found a man to go inside the Pen. Are you prepared for that?”

  “Yes, Frey and I are meeting Tamian this morning and briefing him on how he will get arrested and what to expect once inside. Even though his “crime” will not warrant it, I will have him in maximum security.”

  “Very well. If there’s no other business, I would like you all to be at the manor tonight around seven. Sin reported that Jasper is showing signs of aggression. I think a little game of football will allow us to see just how aggressive our cousin can be. If he maintains his calm, then it’s possible his problem was with Sin. Priscilla will have supper on the table at six, should any of you wish to arrive early. Have a good day my brothers.”

  “And you, our King.” Sinclair was the one who started the sign off many years ago, and the other men eventually joined in. Now it was an automatic chorus of deep voices.

  Nik signed off the call and put his clothes on. Opting for comfort, he dressed in his usual jeans and Henley, throwing on a hoodie, in case he needed to be a little incognito. As one of the “faces” of the family business, he was often recognized. Having been up for over twenty-four hours, Nik was tired and preferred not to be hounded by someone wanting to have their picture made with one of the illustrious Stone family. He picked out clothes appropriate for football and stuffed them in a gym bag for later.

  The downtown library was busy for a Thursday morning. Nikolas found an open spot and parallel parked his two-seater perfectly. Thinking he would begin in the archives, he found the directory then made his way to the third floor. As soon as he stepped off the elevator, a wave of nausea flowed through him. Nik paused, making sure he wasn’t going to throw up. When the feeling passed, he continued to the help desk.

  Nik expected to find an older woman with her hair in a bun and skinny glasses perched atop the bridge of her long nose. Instead, sitting behind the desk was a younger woman with her brown hair in a messy knot and funky glasses perched atop the bridge of her very cute, button nose. “May I help you find something?” The smile she bestowed on him caused another surge of unease inside his belly. He leaned both hands on her desk and dropped his head down, taking deep breaths.

  “Sir, are you okay?” she asked placing her hand on one of his. Nik felt like he was flying too close to a power line. The electricity sizzled where their skin met. “Holy shit.” He glanced up to find her expression was one of worry. “Sir, can I get you something? Some water maybe?”

  “Uh, no. No thank you. I have to go.” Retreating the way he came in, he all but ran out of the public building.

  Nikolas arrived at the lab early. Three hours early to be exact. He planned on spending that long doing research, but after the librarian-induced panic attack, he found himself at the lab with his younger brother whose fingers were flying over a keyboard.

  “This is bullshit, Nik.” Julian rarely raised his voice being the calmest one of the Clan.

  “Hey, there was an issue at the library. At least I’m early, not late.”

  Julian looked up. “What? No, not you. This.” He waved his hands at the monitor as if Nik knew what this was.

  “I take it you found the problem then?” If Julian couldn’t find why their computers were being hacked, no one could.

  “Yes but first, what happened to you? You look like you’re going to hurl. If you are, you better not do it in here. I’m not cleaning up after you.” He was typing as he talked.

  “Yeah, well I’m not so sure I’m not gonna throw up. Jules, it was the weirdest thing. I got off the elevator at the library and immediately felt sick. I leaned over the desk to catch my breath, and this woman put her hand on mine. I thought for certain I was going to pass out right there.”

  “Nik, you’re five hundred and twenty years old for fuck
sake. You can’t handle being around a woman?” Julian’s blondish brows were dipping between his green eyes.

  “Hold up. First off, I’m five hundred and twenty three. Second, you were interested when Rafe was affected by a female. Don’t be giving me shit about it. If the King can’t help it, why should I be able to?” At this point, Nik really wanted to leave all the security research to Julian, but he had already failed one assignment today. He wouldn’t fuck up another.

  “Sorry bro, I’m just pissed. Come look at this.” Julian was pointing to the computer screen. It took a few seconds, but he saw the discrepancies Jules was pointing to. “What the hell?”

  “My sentiments exactly. Nik, this had to have been done from the inside.”

  “Fuck. Did you tell Rafe?”

  “No, I just found it. Hang on, let’s look at the email server.” A few clicks of the keys and they both saw it at the same time. “Son of a fucking bitch.” Julian ran his hands through his hair and then his fingers began flying again. Nik watched in silent awe as his brother rewrote the security program. Once he felt it was secure he stood and stretched.

  “I’m hungry. Did you have lunch?”

  Nik shook his head, “No, I was afraid it would come back up, but I could eat now. Do you want to start the search on Rafe’s mysterious e-mailer or do you want to go get lunch?”

  Julian twisted his torso to both sides. “I need to get out of here for a few minutes. I’ll go. Giovani’s?”

  “Yep, the usual.” Nik sat down at his desk and began searching for information on Bartholomew Cromwell.

  Chapter 12

  Sitting at the corner table with his back to the wall, Dane glanced at the door every time it opened. His waitress, Marley, refilled his coffee more than was necessary, but since she was a pretty distraction, he didn’t mind. One cute little red-headed reporter had told him she had a lead on Gordon Flanagan. Whether or not she was baiting him was yet to be seen, but he was supposed to be meeting her for a quick cup of coffee before heading to the doctor’s office.