Queen of Death

Chapter 7

Solana

On the outside, the only indication that Ace is angry is the ticking in his jaw muscle and the wave of heat he's letting off. To everyone else he comes off as a sentinel of strength and control. But inside, through our ever strengthening bond, he's an inferno of cool rage. The kind that is patient and deliberate, not wild and impulsive.

"I see." Ace's words rumble up and out from deep within his chest. "You said he's hiding behind an organization? Which one?"

"Numbers don't tell me the extent of his involvement, only that he is involved. His accounts pay out to an organization with a facility a few hours north of his packlands." Tate turns his computer around to show Ace a map of the territory, pointing to where the pack is located and drawing a line up to where this mysterious facility sits.

"How old are these maps? There's nothing but forest where you've indicated." Eli asks after sneaking a peek at the screen.

"Those are public images taken within the last year." Tate takes back control of the computer and presses a few keys. "Now compare those to the pictures I took yesterday when I flew over."

Hunter, Eli, and Dean all make their way over to stand behind Ace to look at the screen together. Dean stands with his arms folded casually over his hard chest, Eli stands next to him with his hands stuffed in his front pockets, while Hunter hovers over Ace with one hand on the back of Ace's chair and the other splayed flat on the table.

"There's no way a facility that large was built in a year," Dean posits and the rest of the guys nod in thoughtful agreement.

"So it just appeared out of thin air?" Hunter quips.

"Or no one wanted it to be found," I suggest and watch every set of eyes turn to me. "You said the facility is non-existent on public maps. So either someone spent a lot of money on overtime to get this place built, or –"

"Or someone spent a lot of money to cover it up," Ace finishes my thought.

"Someone like Lobo," I say, moving closer to the group and sitting on the edge of the table with one leg tucked under me and the other hanging over the edge between Tate's knees. "Follow the money all the way back. The facility is being funded by Alec through Lobo, a company that specializes in tech and cybersecurity. If anyone could make a building disappear from public view it would be them. Why? Because they're being paid by Elders."

"So Lobo funds the facility through Alec, and the Elders pay to keep it quiet?" Hunter asks.

It's a chilling discovery — if true. Regardless of what's in that facility the fact that the Elders are paying to keep it hidden would be a huge breach of trust.

"What is the purpose of the facility?" Ace asks Tate.

Tate does his utmost to keep his baby blues out of my line of sight, and for the second time today he hesitates to answer. His long, inked fingers sweep through his inky black hair.

"Just say it, Tate. Fast, like ripping out a spine." I offer by way of encouragement. We talked about combating our tendencies to want to do things on our own and now's as good a time as any to lean on his pack and trust them with this information.

Ace, Dean, and Eli look at me with matching bewilderment.

"That's not... where did you... what?" Eli blathers.

"I'm not even going to ask," Dean chuckles to himself.

"What?" I ask, genuinely confused by what they find so odd about what I said.

"I believe the expression is supposed to be like ripping off a bandaid," Tate says while fighting a grin.

My expression sours. "A bandaid? How does that make more sense than what I said?"