Page 21 of Stolen

“Only if Rockhaven being invaded by a psychotic South American drug lord and his private army counts as a crisis.”

“What makes you think that’s going to happen? The last reports out of Colombia indicate—”

“The last reports are wrong. All the reports are wrong. Hawk contacted me, told me that he and Ariana both sensed Ricardo hunting them down—”

“She’s in an emotional state, and he is highly tuned to her.”

“—and so I put out my own feelers, through my personal sources. One of my guys turned up with a first-hand report from one of the freelance pilots who flew De León and his army over the border into New Mexico, enroute to somewhere in the mid-Atlantic, where they’re supposed to be picking up ground transportation and weapons pretty much any minute now. He’s got four lieutenants and a troop transport full of men, due into Rockhaven possibly as early as tomorrow. De León tried to dispose of the pilot, but he managed to slip away.”

Thanatos let out his breath in a long hiss. He was obviously displeased that his intelligence networks had failed. “Are you sure he’s heading for Rockhaven?”

“Where else? I’m about to have two helicopters patrolling the main routes north into the Adirondacks. They should be able to spot the convoys. We’ll know more then. So if you see a couple of civilian choppers in your airspace, do me a favor and don’t shoot them down.”

“I’m not presently at the Ridge, but I’ll pass the orders along.”

Gunn hesitated, and then decided Thanatos was already pissed, so he might as well keep going. “I’m concerned about De León taking the town apart looking for Hawk and the sister. Is there a reason they’re not up at the Ridge?”

There was a stony silence, probably while Thanatos debated reaching through the phone and striking Gunn down for his insolence. Then he said, “I do not allow civilians at the Ridge. Our survival depends on secrecy, as you well know, and the woman will eventually be relocated and removed from our sphere of influence. The less she knows, the better. The town knows the pack exists, but they know as little as possible about our military ops, and that is the way it has to stay.”

Gunn added, “And Gregor doesn’t like women in his territory. Or at all. And you’re not too fond of them either.”

There was another pause. Gunn winced. He didn’t know why he constantly felt the need to bait Thanatos. Well, yes, he did, and it was one of the reasons why he’d left the Ridge.

But one day he’d go too far, and Thanatos would probably squash him like a bug. Gunn wasn’t exactly sure why he hadn’t done it already.

Finally Thanatos said, “Gregor feels that the men who make their way to the Ridge have enough on their plates without getting tangled in knots over sex and relationships.” He added drily, “And you have no idea who—or what—I am fond of.”

Well. There was a path he never wanted to go down. The dude was probably an alien, or some kind of tentacle monster. Gunn did not need to be picturing that shit.

Gunn said, “Regardless. Ariana and Hawk are target practice, down there in the town. Any chance you could send someone down there to help guard your asset? As a favor to me?”

The next silence was thoughtful, rather than threatening. Finally Thanatos said, “Things are a bit… complicated… at the Ridge right now. As a matter of fact, I was planning to ask you to spend some time there and assess the situation.”

Shit. Gunn could see where this was heading. “You know I don’t want to work out of the Ridge.” He didn’t want to be working for Thanatos at all. But this was not the time to be handing in his resignation.

“Nonetheless, I would like your take on the situation. As a favor to me.”

You say favor, I say ‘bargain I can’t refuse.’

“Okay,” Gunn said. “After this is over, we’ll talk about it.” Which meant yes, because no one said ‘no’ to Thanatos.

But after his ‘assessment’, he was leaving.

“Excellent,” Thanatos said. “I’ll see who can be spared.”

He cut the call, and Gunn blew out a sigh. Then he dialed Hawk.