Before she could beg for a ride from Mrs. Hubbard, the matriarch said, “We need to tell Ray about this.”
Nimway had forgotten about the hacker brother. “Is he downstairs?” She already knew he lived at home.
“Yes, he’s been trying to track Tyson’s phone, but he says Ottawa Valley is a dead zone for cell service right now. Something about some geese and a reception tower.”
Fucking birds. They’d chosen a shit time to terrorize. “I need to talk to Ray.” Then, because she noticed the eldest Hubbard on the edge of panic, one strung nerve away from snapping, Nimway offered distraction. “When we return with Stefan and Tyson”—because it was the only acceptable outcome—“we’ll be hungry and thirsty. Shifting burns a lot of calories.” A not-so-subtle hint.
Nanette Hubbard clung to that lifeline and straightened. “I think we could all use a big batch of coffee and donuts to go with the soup I’m making.” Stefan’s mother bustled off to play domestic goddess, and Nimway shook her head, muttering, “That will never happen, husband.”
“What?”
Nimway blinked at Stefan’s sister. “Nothing.” There’d not had a chance to announce the marriage yet.
It might never see the light of day given the unravelling of their lives. More and more it appeared as if they were compromised. The best thing to do would be to tell the pack to evacuate and leave the troublesome Hubbards behind. Abandon her new husband, with whom she’d already had a fight, to deal with their past alone.
Going to walk away the first time things are tough? her conscience chided. And more importantly, since when did she have a yellow belly? Someone threatened their existence. The Hubbards were now pack, which meant as beta, it was up to her to do something about it.
“Let’s go find this other brother of yours,” Nimway said to Daphne.
“Ray’s in his cave.” Daphne skipped ahead, leading Nimway down some stairs into a basement. It had been converted into an operations center, meaning lots of screens, a counter running around the room with keyboards, and other electrical apparatus. A treadmill sat against one wall beside a lone box marked DK then, with a different colored slash, charity.
“Ray-ray,” Daphne sang.
“Not now, kind of busy,” Raymond muttered, his hands moving joysticks that Nimway realized must control the camera on screen. Drone footage. Slick, but useless since the kid had already left the area.
“Might as well call them back in,” Nimway advised. “Your drones aren’t spreading out far enough. The boy is long gone.”
“And you know this because?” Raymond asked, swinging around in his chair.
First, she pointed to the young girl. “You heard your mom. Look away.”
Daphne offered her a solemn stare and said, “Why? I remember.”
Dear God, had everyone in this family suffered? Outwardly, Nimway remained stoic, but inside, she raged at what had been done.
“Remember what?” Raymond asked. “Can someone explain what’s going on?”
“Warning, these might be triggering.” Nimway spilled the envelope of images.
The gasp that erupted from Raymond held shock and pain. “Where did these come from?” Raymond spread pictures on the table with trembling fingers.
“Someone mailed them to your youngest brother.” And Stefan had seen them. He’d left his smell all over the envelope and pictures. No wonder he left in a rush. She wanted to run, too, when she saw the images the first time. They hit like a well-aimed, powerful punch to the gut that also broke the heart.
The second time wasn’t any better.
Peeking over Ray’s shoulders, she had to bite the inside of her mouth lest she react. The child featured was clearly the one missing, the facial features similar enough, given they remained lean, the eyes unmistakable. Eyes that had seen too much.
Stefan wore the same expression. Come to think of it, they all did, a result of medical depravity that she’d not truly grasped until seeing the graphic images.
Raymond flipped the last one. Immediately, he began typing and mumbling. “The fucking airport, of course.”
“Can you contact them and stop any outbound flights?” Because so long as the planes stayed on the ground, they could rescue Tyson.
“I’m going to try,” he muttered. “The problem being, the major telecommunications services are down. I use a SAT system, but that small airport doesn’t, making this difficult.”
Raymond multitasked as if he had a number of hands and arms. She remarked on it quietly to Daphne. “He’s like an octopus. How does he do it?”
The girl shrugged. “He’s smart.”
Having a few hackers in the pack, she recognized a good one when she saw it. Putting him to work for the pack would be a definite boon.
Within five minutes it became very evident he wouldn’t succeed as he cursed and cursed some more. “I can’t get through.”
“Fuck! I need to get there. Maybe Stefan managed to stall them in time for Dayna and Jack to arrive.” She tried to sound optimistic as they raced out of the basement.
Mrs. Hubbard saw them. “You’ve had news?”
“We’re going to see if we can help,” Ray shouted, snaring keys from a rack on the wall. “You should drive.”
She held out her hand, and he tossed the keys before he jumped into the blue minivan. She sped out of there.
“You better hope he stalled them, or we could be shit out of luck finding them both,” Ray said.
“You think they got Stefan?”
“If he got there before they took off, he’s either been taken or worse. My brother might be many things, but he’d give his life for this family.” The tires spun as they took off.
“He’s not dead.” She refused to think it for even a second.
“They might be better off,” Ray said with a low grimace. “If they were both captured, I can only assume it was so they could be taken to a lab for testing.”
“The same one that created you?”
“No idea. And before you ask, I don’t know where it is. Mom never took any of us when she went on a voyage to bring home a new brother or sister.”
“She took a big risk taking you all in,” she surmised softly.
“She saved our lives while putting hers in jeopardy. None of us would be here today if not for her. Given the pictures Tyson received, they must have discovered the switch and hunted us down.”
Nimway shook her head. “I think what’s more likely is they’ve been watching and waiting to find people like you. Like us. When they spot a possibility, they go after them.” The very idea sent a chill. Especially since they’d often scoffed at the movies and books where that kind of thing happened.
“Dominick’s attack on Anika’s ex drew their attention.” Raymond rubbed his forehead. “If they suspected Dom, though, why go after Tyson? Why send those pics in particular? Wouldn’t they have targeted Dominick instead? After all, the evidence of a shifter existing pointed to him.”
Nimway’s fingers clenched the wheel of the minivan. “The bigger picture is if these assholes hurt them enough, then they will crack.”
And none of them would be safe.