"Ryleigh, I would like to say I understand," Kayden said. "But right now, that is not possible. I'm overwhelmed, and up until twenty minutes ago, I didn't have any family left. Now I have a sister and a niece who are both in danger. My tiger is not accepting this possibility. Please just give me some time and s.p.a.ce. I will help find my niece and hope Zoey gets in contact with me soon." Kayden thought to himself and said, "I guess Zoey and I do have some traits in common."

"That is all I can ask, Kayden, thank you," Ryleigh commented.

She left the room to get the rest of the men to join them in the conference room again. Coming to a stop, she realized none of them had truly gone that far. They were all lined up outside the door. She tilted her head to the side indicating that they should come back into the room and was surprised when none of them made a sound and just did as directed.

Chapter 15.

The men filed back into the room, one by one. All of them were still trying to comprehend the news that was dropped on them not thirty minutes ago, and what they had all eavesdropped on since. The room was somber Senior attempted to get the meeting back on track, "Okay, Gentlemen, what we are proposing is a merging of NAC with Holly Group. For all intent and purposes, this would be an in-house merger only."

Ryleigh spoke up, "The Holly Group will eventually completely merge with NAC. We are the babies in this field; your skill and expertise is what we need to continue. All I ask is that you accept our help going forward. Senior let me give you this information because we found it and investigated it. When determined very early on that it was well above our heads it was decided that we forward it to you, which is why we called for this meeting. I apologize for keeping you waiting for the last three days, but we needed to verify our results."

Ryleigh was surprised to see the men's interest in the proposition. She expected resistance because these guys generally like to run their own cases and do it their way. By joining the two groups they wouldn't always be able to do that, maybe that part just hadn't dawned on them yet.

"The reason for an in-house merger only, for the time being, is that we do not want to raise any red flags that would bring attention to us before we can figure out what is going on," said Senior. "With our combined contacts and security clearance, we would become a powerhouse," he said in an attempt to ease his men's apprehensions. "The powers that be are okay with us currently and what our objectives are, but if we go after Pandora, they will not be as open. Once we start targeting corporations and the individuals a.s.sociated with them, we will most definitely ruffle a few feathers. We have been able to determine from our preliminary reports that the Pandora Group employs or pays out to people that are pretty high up on the food chain, and that is just the tip of the iceberg. We don't have enough information to determine how high this goes yet."

Ryleigh noticed the men all looked disgusted by what her father was revealing. She couldn't blame them; she was too. Science had its place, but what these people were doing was unfathomable. They were playing G.o.d, for money no less, and needed to be stopped.

Senior continued. "Davis Defense is another place we need to concentrate our efforts on. They have visible military and government ties, but we can also link them to Pandora Group, although at this time the connection is very flimsy. Both groups carry an extreme amount of clout in both the private and public sectors. We also have the unpleasant task of trying to figure out who we can trust."

Jacks could feel the tension in the room, and he knew that his brothers felt it as well. None of them were safe. These people needed to be stopped, and he knew they were just the men to do it.

"Shifters existence should not be widely spread, making it impossible to determine who we can trust," Senior said. "From what we have determined so far, the DNA was gathered randomly. However, that does not explain why there weren't more matches between our groups. The Holly Group has six leading members with several offshoots employees making their total operatives around twenty. Our group consists of six teams with six members of each team. Including myself and support staff, we number closer to fifty. If we play the odds, we should have had more matches, but that wasn't the case. If you include the initial testing made from family and friends, the lack of matches just doesn't add up. We need to figure out where the other DNA strands came from that helped create these women." Senior stated.

"Thanks, Dad," Ryleigh replied.

Ryleigh stepped forward to address the men. They were waiting for her to blow their minds with even more shocking revelations. She could tell because they all looked like they were waiting for the other shoe to drop, and she had a colossal shoe for them.

"Gentlemen, I want to emphasize that not all operatives from the Holly Group will work with your teams in person or on the ground," Ryleigh stated. "They will support and gather information; giving the information over secured lines. Going forward, our active members would join your teams, but the remaining members would only offer technical and research support. My operatives are good, but many are reclusive. We also didn't realize when starting The Holly Group that our training was not enough. NAC and your training is what we need to continue."

Dang, Ryleigh was used to her Dad and the vibes he put off, but she had never been in a room with so many Alphas in her life. The combined vibes were enough to make her want to run or lay on the floor in the fetal position. She needed to lighten them up a little bit, or she was going to do something really girly like cry.

"Now if you wouldn't mind introducing yourselves," Ryleigh requested. "Dad introduced me to you, but would you mind telling me your names and what team you head up? That way I can put faces with names going forward."

"Oh, sorry honey, allow me," interrupted Senior. "Starting from my right, this Jackson Thorp, he heads up Alpha. Kayden Walker is Bravo. Liam Lucan is Charlie, Carter Shadow is with Delta, Milo Stern is with Echo, and Dane Whalen is with Zulu."

All the men acknowledged her in some way some with a tilt of the head, some with a wave of the hand, and others with a salute. But Jackson Thorp, no, he just stared at her smiling, arms crossed around his chest, like he knew all her secrets and she kind of believed he did. d.a.m.n it, Jackson Thorp, leader of Alpha. The man she had hoped to stay away from was the very man she would be working with the closest, she thought to herself.

Jackson, or "Jacks", as a few of the men had called him, was utterly stunning, Ryleigh thought; apparently not a good thing for her or her body or mind. She was so not going to get up close and personal with that man even if she had to work with him for the foreseeable future. He affected her body in a way that it had never been affected before, and she did not want to explore that right now, maybe in her dreams, her scalding dreams, but not right now. She looked around the room seeing if her discomfort was obvious to any of the others.

Just looking at his rugged beauty and unnatural eyes, she could feel the moisture collecting in her panties; so not a good thing. Why did it have to be this man causing her body to react when it had never been an issue before? How the h.e.l.l was she going to make it weeks in his presences without letting him know how he affects her?

Just then she noticed the c.o.c.ky little smirk that crossed his face as he scented the air. Ryleigh could feel her face lighting up like a Christmas tree; the b.a.s.t.a.r.d already knew how he was affecting her. Clearing her throat, okay, back to business, she a.s.sured herself. It needed to stay professional.

Ryleigh stammered, "It is a pleasure to meet you all and finally put some faces to the men I have heard about from Dad. Dane, you have a case in your district that we all feel strongly needs to remain your focus. One of our cases caused us to look further, and we believe they are linked. If I read the reports correctly, there have been three bodies of missing persons found with surgical wounds in the last two months."

Dane growled, "Yeah, we think we are tracking a serial offender. All the victims have been women between the age of 18 and 21. They are all college students that have very similar features; hair, eye color, stature, and features. We are considering bringing in a profiler. We don't know if we are dealing with a black-market organ operation or something worse. The local coroner is a joke but has concluded that all the victims have recently undergone surgery to remove organs, vital and not." He elaborated. "The victims were cleaned thoroughly with medical grade solvents before being dumped. The incisions are precise that is why we have concluded the perp has medical knowledge."

"We agree with your a.s.sessment. Our case was outside of your district, but close enough for us to look for similarities," Ryleigh said. "I will have you video conference with Mia and Ava. Mia is a doctor and Ava is a profiler. They have already ruled out the black-market organ trade. Each victim is missing not only her uterus, but also their ovaries. Today, those are not viable for transplant. The other organs the victims are missing were crudely excised, making them unusable. We feel the real goal may be the ovaries, more specifically the eggs within the ovaries. Your case is vital. Having the victims show up in your area means that a test facility may be there. If we can find and shut down a test facility, we are closer to hobbling Pandora."

Ryleigh wasn't going to say it, but shutting down one facility would help, not hobble them. She had a feeling Pandora was a lot bigger than any of them thought.

"The Holly Group will be the gatherers, and the NAC groups will be the hunters," Ryleigh continued. "To do this, we would like to have an operative from my team to work directly with the six of you and your teams only."

Ryleigh could tell all the men were not on board with their plan. Kayden seemed receptive, and so did Carter and Dane, but the rest of the guys looked kind of sick to their stomachs with the idea of working together and that just p.i.s.sed her off. The Holly Group had an excellent reputation and men would just have to learn to live with what was coming.

Jacks didn't like the idea of bringing a woman into his team on a permanent or even semi-permanent basis. Women had their place in NAC and on the teams, but it was mostly administrative or on the special occasion where they needed to distract someone with a beautiful woman and he didn't see the ladies of The Holly Group playing either of those parts.

"Tell only the people you trust most about the DNA information we disclosed earlier," warned Senior. "Pandora deemed the six ladies of The Holly Group as failures. However, with them starting breeding programs again, we are afraid their viability will once again become valued if they cannot locate the other women or children that Dr. Franklin created with only a single DNA strand. Their mixed genetics might be the last resort option for them," Senior said.

Ryleigh elaborated, "Just last year one of my operatives was pursued aggressively. We a.s.sumed it was because of the nature of the operation she was working on, but the players did not match up." Ryleigh continued, "She is the youngest of our group at only 23 years old. When we did the testing, she is also the only one that tested with less than three shifter DNA strands. Which means hypothetically, over time, Dr. Franklin or Pandora got better at manipulating the Shifter genes."

Jacks couldn't help but think that things just kept on getting better and better. Now the teams would have to babysit all the operative of The Holly Group, and he didn't like it one bit.

"Personally, I have had no attempts, but have found surveillance equipment both in my home and on my vehicle," Ryleigh revealed. "These attempts happened at different times in my life. Tracking the tech hasn't resulted in anything concrete. The tech was advanced, so we were able to determine it had nothing to do with any cases the Holly Group had at the time. It was military grade which spurred us to investigate further. A shipment of the same tech had been stolen from a Navy shipyard two months before I discovered the bugs. They were highly advanced and solely commissioned for our Armed Forces. We tracked them back to Davis Defense Systems. We are watching the company but have yet to dig any deeper."

Chapter 16.

Senior interrupted, "That is what I would like one of the merged groups to concentrate on, for the time being. Davis Defense is an unknown at this point, but warrants concentration." Senior proposed.

"So, we would essentially merge our forces to babysit The Holly Group and Davis Defense?" Jacks burst out.

Ryleigh couldn't help but think, the guy might be gorgeous, but he as a total jerk.

"No, we have taken extreme measures to ensure that Ryleigh will not be a target again," Senior responded. "We have determined that her visibility was the cause of the surveillance. Unfortunately, in her case, her rescue was very public. Ryleigh took my name after her rescue, but there are still records out there that the general public has access to."

Ryleigh interrupted, "Plus, both my incubators are no longer alive. While incarcerated for attempted murder, both met untimely deaths. They did have a son born from natural means. His name is Julius Abernathy. He is the only person alive and free that has the motive to find me and retaliate against me for his parents' incarceration and ultimate deaths." Ryleigh stated.

"Who did they try to kill?" Jacks questioned.

"My Dad," Ryleigh gulped.

"When Ryleigh was 16 years old, the f.u.c.kers came up with a plan that if they got rid of me, they could save face with Pandora and get their wealth and power back," Senior stated. "Let's just say it backfired. They were tried and convicted. Enough said."

Jacks started to put two and two together. Ryleigh was the girl that Senior had saved all those years ago, and he knew that girls name. It also meant that this f.u.c.ked up situation just got worse.

"Holy s.h.i.t you are Jennifer Abernathy?" Jacks cursed.

"No, I am Ryleigh Quinn! I was never Jennifer Abernathy; that little girl did not exist beyond the cage she was kept in," Ryleigh shouted. "Ryleigh Quinn came about when Dad rescued me and named me." She attempted to regain her composure. She did not let people see her vulnerabilities she learned that lesson as a child. As long as she kept, herself calm and aloof everything would be okay. Why did this man have such an effect on her?

"We are getting off topic," Senior continued. "Ca.s.sie Larson is all we should be concentrating on at this time. My daughter's past is not up for discussion, and Julius Abernathy is watched closely at all times."

Ryleigh could help but b.u.t.t in. "He will not become an issue in this case or future cases. I will make sure of that."

No, Jacks thought he would take care of the little s.h.i.t, not Ryleigh. She didn't need to deal with the man at all. She had enough on her plate, and for some reason he needed to protect her.

"We felt it was necessary to divulge my past so you were not only better informed, but better equipped to handle the merger we have proposed," Ryleigh explained. "My case is mild in comparison to some of the ladies of the Holly Group. Also, I would like to note Jacks, I have been able to protect myself and those I love for a very long time without the a.s.sistance of NAC or any of you big bad Alphas. I don't need a babysitter."

Yeah, that was a bold-faced lie. Her Dad, the biggest baddest Alpha, had been protecting her since she was eleven. She just didn't want to admit it to Jackson Thorp. Ryleigh knew she was way out of her depth. She had training in multiple martial arts and even several degrees, but this man knew how to run a mission with his hands tied behind his back. She didn't want to appear weak to him because it was important that he considered her an equal, maybe even a partner in due time.

Jacks didn't care what Ryleigh said. From this point forward he would be the one protecting her, even if that meant protecting her from herself. He didn't really know why he felt so strongly about it, but he knew he would follow through with protecting her at all costs, and his bear agreed.

"With that said, and after talking with my Dad, he suggested that the best way to go forward is to divide up the workload." Ryleigh continued. "This way we are better able to concentrate on Ca.s.sie Larson along with the existence of more women with shifter DNA and still continue with everyone's other cases. Two months ago, The Holly Group decided that we needed to concentrate on our individual origins, so we stopped taking active cases. By doing this, my operatives are free to help NAC fully while still completing our combined goals."

Ryleigh tried to gauge how the men were taking the information, but not much had changed from the last time. It did, however, seem like a few more of the men were coming around to the merger. At least she hoped so.

"By taking a divide and conquer approach, it is our belief that not only can we still help women and children, but we can figure out what the h.e.l.l is going on with Pandora and Davis Defense," Senior explained. "Since Alpha just cleared several cases, they have the smallest workload currently. I am placing Ryleigh with you Jacks. We have information that needs to be picked up and we all know how much you like undercover work. We need a team to get into Dr. Franklin's house."

Jacks was shocked. Ge didn't want Ryleigh on his team, but he also didn't want her on anyone else's team either. d.a.m.n, why did this woman affect him so much? It was really starting to irritate him.

"The first objective will be to download all current files from the computers and cell phones at the residences," Senior disclosed. "The Holly Group's tech lady has a device that only needs to be within the Wi-Fi area to access the computers and phones even if they are turned off. Dr. Franklin was believed to be somewhat of a h.o.a.rder; never getting rid of old devices. However, we will have to distract security long enough for a remote download."

Ryleigh needed to move, or the fidgeting she had been doing in her chair was going to become more p.r.o.nounced. The last thing she wanted to do was show any of these men any weakness. But dang they really needed to tone the vibes down a little.

"My thoughts are your tech and computer guy would be perfect to perform the download," said Ryleigh. She also couldn't help razzing him a little bit either. "The Holly group has several hackers at their disposal if you think your men can't handle it, Jacks."

Jacks was not happy to hear the snickers coming from around the room. His brothers were supposed to have his back, but apparently, they liked the little lady putting him in his place more. He knew the next poker game was not going to be fun for him "Since they are only hacking the device and we aren't bringing it in, it shouldn't raise any alarms," Senior said. "However, it will create a power draw. You will need to distract security for about twenty minutes so they won't notice anything unusual. The Franklin's home has some of the best security we have come across. The system is installed at military or high ranking corporate offices, not in the private sector, and their backups are just as good. That is why you need to be inside of the residence for the download. Remote hacking is not an option."

Jacks thought, yeah right, his boys could remote hack anything. Ryleigh must not be as smart as she thought she was.

"Having said that, the real problem is that we need to get a hold of Dr. Franklin's hard drive from an ancient computer. I am talking 1980's old," Ryleigh said.

d.a.m.n, well that explained it. A computer that old with no Internet connection was just a paperweight, even Frost and Green couldn't get anything remotely from that dinosaur.

"We have confirmed that the hard drive is in the house, but not accessible," Senior revealed. "Because of the age of the drive, it is going to take some major old school coding to get the information, but we feel that it is worth the risk."

"Why don't we just take this Dr. Franklin and get him to give up the drive?" Milo asked.

Ryleigh actually giggled, "Well, that would be great, but Dr. Franklin died of a myocardial infarction, or in laymen's terms a heart attack, six months ago. So, interrogating him to get the information will not be possible, unless you want to get some of those psychics or clairvoyants Jacks mentioned earlier."

Jacks groaned he really wished he had never said that.

"His daughter is now handling all of his affairs." Senior continued. "She does not live in the residence, but she does spend a lot of time there. She also doesn't seem to be involved with Dr. Franklin's research; more of a socialite than a scientist. Dr. Franklin's wife does live in the home with multiple staff members, including nurses and armed guards. Davis Defense Systems provide the staff."

"s.h.i.t, so what you are saying is they are all related? Pandora, Franklin, and Davis Defense?" Jacks cursed.

"Yeah," Ryleigh laughed again, "-that is pretty much what we have been hinting at all along, and, Jacks, good catch."

"f.u.c.k you have got to be kidding me. How big is this cl.u.s.ter f.u.c.k anyways?" Jacks fumed.

"Only people vetted by Davis Defense enter the Franklin home," said Senior. "We have one shot at getting into the house. Mrs. Franklin recently suffered a stroke and her physical therapist just gave birth, so for the next six weeks they need a replacement. Frost and Green from the Alpha Team created a profile for Ryleigh and Jacks to get vetted with Davis Defense to be the therapist's replacement."

Jacks all but growled, "No f.u.c.king way are you going in there and since when do you use my team without my knowledge, Senior?" Jacks couldn't contain his rage. "It is too dangerous, not to mention just plain stupid. If Davis Defense and Pandora are linked as you believe, then they know all about Jennifer Abernathy and would be able to identify her on sight." He glared at Ryleigh. "It's an unreasonable risk, and out of the question, I will not allow it."

Senior raised his eyebrow, looking at Ryleigh silently, as if asking her if she wanted him to step in. She didn't.

"Well, Jackson," Ryleigh replied sweetly, "-you really don't have a choice in the matter because the profiles are already set up. And the stupid comment was uncalled for, don't you think?" Ryleigh all but seethed.

Why did she have to be so attracted to such a jerk? It didn't make any sense. She was a smart woman, but it seemed that didn't matter when it came to the likes of one Jackson "Jacks" Thorp.

"Will you be joining me in this venture or would you rather another team take the lead?" Ryleigh asked condescendingly.

Screw him. She was going on this mission whether he liked it or not. Dr. Franklin was the start of all the c.r.a.p that she had to put up with in her life and she wanted, no deserved, some answers. She also wanted to be one of the people that got to take some of these people down.

Jacks was definitely going to be joining her on this mission if he couldn't find a way to get her off the mission that was. Maybe he could get Senior on his side. She was his daughter after all; the man couldn't want her to be in danger any more than he did. Right?

Still feeling p.i.s.sy, Ryleigh couldn't help but push a little more. "I've been informed that you can break into anything; given enough time, but maybe that is the problem. Do you feel your skills might be lacking?" Ryleigh said, mocking Jacks. "If so, Dad said Dane was just as good. Maybe Zulu would be the better choice to help with this mission? I wouldn't want to push you into to something you feel might be a bit over your head." Ryleigh gloated.

Take that Mr. a.s.shat, Ryleigh thought to herself.

Jacks just gave that s.e.xy little smirk and gloated, "Baby, my teams are called Alpha for a reason, no offense Dane."

Dane laughed, "None was taken, dude. If it is a safe that needs to be cracked, then you are the man for the job. If any other breaking and entering situation arise then, Zulu would be the better choice."

a.s.shole, Jacks thought, but he kind of had a point; reptiles were better at getting into tight places than others.

Chapter 17.

"Enough!" Senior yelled. "Jacks, if you take the mission you will have about an hour to break into a Paragon Quartermaster Quad Four safe without any power tools," Senior said. "The house is wired for sound and motion. The safe in question is located in the office and has no video surveillance, but even the slightest sound will be picked up and the guards will come running. Furthermore, all employees are required to stay at the residence Monday through Friday."

Ryleigh didn't want to inform the arrogant jerk of the next part of the mission, but she couldn't hold it back either.

"We are going in as a married couple," Ryleigh revealed.

What, wait, Jacks thought. This could work to his advantage, but he didn't want Ryleigh on a mission. However, he liked the idea of her as his wife, go figure. His brothers, on the other hand, found that statement rather funny and started laughing loudly. Jacks just glared at all of them. Their time would come and Jacks had every intention of paying them back tenfold.