Blue lights were flashing as Paycen and Emery pulled up. They had been at their beach house working on their case when a call came over the radio. Another attack had happened, another attack on a member of their race. This time it was a Gold who worked at the SDFD. Tyler had checked the background on the guy and found out he was clean.
Deciding their techie should stay home and keep an eye on hackers, the Sector 1 guys Walked to a parking garage where their rental car was parked. Emery had volunteered to drive because Paycen was starting to buzz with energy. He got that way when something happened and he didn't have enough information to help.
On the ride to the scene, Tyler kept them updated with what was happening. There was a standoff at the house and no one knew if the guy was just hurt or dead. Gunshots had been heard in the house and SWAT was on its way. Keldin's team was preparing to slip in under darkness but they were waiting on Paycen and Emery. He also informed them via intra-Kingdom communication that the Golden King was getting ready to come on the scene. It had to be bad for him to make an appearance.
Emery pulled into an empty parking spot behind the squad cars. He left the keys in the ignition and got out. Paycen slid from the front seat and dropped to the ground. With a look from his friend, he slid into the shadows. Finding Keldin a few feet away, he popped up beside him.
Keldin didn't jump when he felt the guy brush up next to him. It was their sign that they were friendlies and ready to move. The Leader signaled his team to spread out. Getting an all clear signal from his sniper, the group of men melted into the shadows around the house. They appeared in each room of the house and secured each area, calling it out to Keldin.
"I've got two people in the laundry room," Cougar said.
From his vantage point, Landen could see into the room. There was a flash of silver from the corner. Cougar was keeping his presence masked to the occupants.
"How many are alive?" Keldin asked. All movement had ceased and they were just waiting.
"Both of them. The Gold is sitting on the floor with duct tape around his hands and feet. His mouth is free but he looks as if he has a concussion. Paycen, is there any way you can talk to him?"
Paycen moved slowly into the kitchen so he could see into the laundry room. Landen slid behind him and took up his vacated spot in the living room. He took two seconds to size up his patient before speaking.
"What's your name?" he asked the guy sitting against the dryer.
The man canted his head towards the window. "Malcolm Schneider."
"What happened?"
"He was laying in wait when I got him. He pistol whipped me. When I came to, he had duct taped me and had sent a message throughout the city about having me. I think he's trying to get his name in the papers as a man who killed the terrorists."
"Can you track my position?"
"No."
"Can you feel anyone else in the room with you?"
"No."
Paycen made a disgruntled noise under his breath. "Keldin, the guy has a concussion. I have to get him out of there."
"Abby, do you have a clean shot?" Keldin asked his sniper.
There was a slight pause as she repositioned herself to where she could nail the guy if she had to. "We're good to go," she said.
"Cougar, pull back. Tell the police what's going on. We have ninety seconds before Paycen goes in. Landen, back him up. Abby, fire if he attacks the guys but don't kill him if you can help it. We need him for questioning."
Ninety seconds passed by slowly. They held their positions and heard the police trying to reason with the guy. As the seconds started ticking down, Keldin gave Landen permission to enter the kitchen. The man inched closer to Paycen, finally brushing up against his arm when he was right beside him. He was buzzing with adrenaline and healing power as his body began to assimilate itself to the wounded man's. Landen had had enough interaction with Deuce to understand what it meant.
"Thirty seconds," Abby supplied.
Keldin brushed up against Paycen on the other side. He touched two fingers to the other man's wrist gently in a silent acceptance. The Healer was to take over this part of the mission. They had worked plenty of these before and Keldin knew how Healers worked. Deuce tended to become a little ADHD when someone was injured and he was a few feet away. Paycen was like the Sector 7 Healer in many ways but with one exception.
Paycen had never killed a man before. Even in tight situations, he always found a way to make sure his bullets never pierced a carotid or femoral artery. He was always the first one to shoot then heal the person immediately. Paycen was strangely moral for a red head that had a bad temper.
"Five, four, three, two, one," Abby's countdown resounded in their heads. "Move!"
Paycen burst through the door, Keldin and Landen flanking him. Cougar slid through the back door and yanked Malcolm out into the night. The guy didn't know who to point his gun at so he fired at Keldin. The Sector Leader jumped out of the way but the bullet grazed his cheek.
Abby fired through the small window, hitting the man in the shoulder. Landen pressed his booted foot to the man's back and held him down at gunpoint as the SWAT team came through every door.
Emery walked up to the ambulance just as Paycen and Keldin walked over. Malcolm was sitting on the back of the vehicle and an EMT was flashing a light in his eyes. Paycen knew his eyes were blown wide in a concussion. He was buzzing again as more healing energy coursed through his body. Noticing it, Emery talked gently to the EMT. Looking over his shoulder, the young man nodded and stepped out of the way.
Paycen was muttering calmly when Anna walked over. He was inspecting their victim as the EMT checked out Keldin. She couldn't believe that in six hours of making a plan another person had been attacked. Her team had moved swiftly but there wasn't anything they could do with the gunman having a hostage. When word came back that it was a firefighter that was all supernatural, they had made it a top priority. Keldin's team had assembled faster than hers and was in the house five minutes before they brought the man out.
There was a commotion down the street as a black SUV pulled through the yellow tape. Emery and Keldin knew what was going on and rounded up the team. They were all standing at attention when the back door popped open. A young guy with blond hair stepped out. He was wearing a blue button up shirt and jeans with Doc Martens. He seemed at ease but that was just a façade by the way he walked.
It wasn't until he walked over and waved his hand did everyone fall at ease. He surveyed the scene, flashing blue lights bringing out something in his features that Anna had never seen before. She knew he was an important figure in the supernatural community but she didn't know what it was about him that set him apart from those assembled.
He walked over to the ambulance and looked at the guy. He tried to talk to him but the guy wasn't able to answer him. He finally turned back to the ones gathered.
"I'm Anna Martin, detective of the San Diego Police Department," she said.
"I'm Mikey Lowen, King of the Golden Court," the man replied. He smiled when her mouth fell open. "Who is the victim?"
"His name is Malcolm Schneider," Paycen said. "He's one of yours. He has a mild concussion but he doesn't remember anything. I don't think he will until he heals. Deuce is at the precinct with another victim, but he's one of ours."
"How have they been found?"
Emery shrugged. "We don't know. Tyler's working on that now. What are you doing here, sir?"
"My sister called me. She said there have been more Silvers killed than Golds. I was on my way to talk with you when the other attack happened. You need help. I've told my Sector 7 team to help you."
Keldin frowned. "What can Grant and his team do that we haven't?"
"I didn't say you haven't tried everything, but maybe a fresh set of eyes will help lighten the load. Emery, you're to back down. Aiden doesn't want something to happen to you since you are the ambassador."
Emery snorted. "I'd like to see someone come after me."
"You never know that they won't. They're going after people who work in law enforcement. What makes you think they won't go after you?"
Keldin held up his hand as Paycen sucked in a breath to argue. The Healer halted his argument due to his rank. "Don't start. Tell the ambulance driver to take Malcolm to the department. Inform the chief of my decision. We'll have Paycen see if he can heal the concussion then unravel what happened."
Abby slung her gun around her back and walked towards the chief's car. She said what she had to say and when the man nodded, she came back. She grabbed the strap across her chest and stood with her feet shoulder width apart. She had finished her job and was waiting for another order. Mikey shook his head and looked back at Paycen.
"What else has happened?" he asked.
"You've been hacked."
Everyone turned as Tyler walked up. None of them had felt the normal pull of space and time when someone Shadow-Walked within a mile. He must have driven. He pulled his tablet from his back pocket and typed in a code. When he had what he wanted brought up, he held it up to Mikey. The other man took it and looked it over.
"Someone who knows their way around your systems hacked into Alex's mainframe and leaked a list of Golds working in law enforcement and other public places. Malcolm Schneider and James Carter were on your list," Tyler explained.
Mikey flicked his finger across the screen then pointed at something. "Are these the names that have been leaked?"
His friend nodded. "I haven't had time to track where the names were sent but I copied the IP address. It was from your building. Then I went through all of our computers in the Silver Court and found that none of ours have been hit. So I figure it has to be someone who designed your system the first time who hacked it. It's the only logical thing that I could think of."
"Didn't you redesign it?" Landen asked.
"I did, but when the first attacks started happening, Alex asked me to send it back to the old way. He wanted to catch the person selling out his or her people. Then Silvers were being attacked and I had to track down who was selling them out. I'm really close on that one."
"So once we find out who's attacking the Silvers we can focus on the Golds," Emery said.
"What if they're connected?" Anna asked.
Paycen nodded. "Yeah, I've been wondering that too."
Tyler scratched his face as he thought it over. "What are you thinking?"
"Well, it's how we work. We're separate Courts but we work together when we have to. We put all our differences on hold and work together to get a serious job done. What if they think they're trying to make an alliance? One gets the information – names, addresses, phone numbers, places of work – then that information is passed on to another person who puts together the attack. They take out the Supe then report back. The only thing they didn't factor in is that we would get involved and work together."
"That's a good speculation," Mikey said, "but what's the foundation behind it?"
Landen snapped his fingers. "They hate that we're split into two Kingdoms and that some of us are public."
"People are encouraged to go public though," Abby said. "The more who are public the more people will understand that we are a legitimate race."
"But some people don't like change. By dividing the Empire, we rocked their foundation. Then we threw everyone into the limelight by telling the world that we exist. That made them mad so they decided they were going to do what they had to do to make sure people understood that we are dangerous."
"So you think it is someone who was around when we did all of this?" Keldin asked.
"We did split the Empire and go public within a three year time span," Emery said.
Mikey was still flipping through Tyler's tablet. "What do you think we should do?"
"Act like nothing has happened." Everyone looked at Cougar like he had grown two heads. "If we make a big deal about it, that's what whoever is running this wants. He or she wants to make us run around like we have no idea who is behind it."
Paycen laughed. "We don't."
"Exactly! We don't, but what happens if we act like that? We'll lose what little ground we have. So we act like we have no idea like nothing has happened."
Anna watched as they made the decision. Since they had something to go on, she understood why they were skeptical to act like nothing was happening. She would be chomping at the bit to get the person attacking her people, and she was. Right now she had to work with them on finding who was attacking her people and theirs.
Finally she watched as Mikey met Keldin's eyes. They decided something together and nodded. Then Keldin and his team started moving away. Paycen and Emery remained with Mikey and Anna.
"I just told Keldin that Alex and his team will be in tomorrow. They'll watch as you do the memory recovery," Mikey said. "I'll call my sister and let her know that I had to make a decision. We'll argue and fight and she'll finally tell you to go ahead."
"Who's his sister?" Anna asked.
"She's the Queen of the Silver Court and our boss," Emery said.
"We don't make decisions without telling her," Paycen added. "But he's right. She sent us here to talk to the public about how we're good. Now we're being attacked by someone that is possibly one of our own kind? We have to do something. We're behind you, Mikey."
Anna sucked in a breath when she heard him us the familiar. But the Golden King simply smiled and nodded. He handed the tablet back to Tyler and walked back to his car. He was last seen on his cell phone as the car pulled away.
Tyler walked over to them with a look on his face. "I'm glad I'm not anywhere near that conversation."
"Are you staying with us?" Emery asked.
"I'm going to head home. I'm sending one of my other techies here and he'll help. We have a situation up in Seattle I need to tend to. I hope it's not the same as this one."
"Let us know if it is."
"I will. I'll even let you know when I find out who is behind all this."
They watched him walk away. Anna was a little annoyed as they decided not to do something right away, but it was what was best for them. The first rule of finding a hidden group of people attacking another hidden group of people was the wait. So now the waiting game began.
They decided to regroup the next day and start anew. Anna checked her watch. She had to get home to relieve the babysitter and put her daughter to bed. She said her goodbyes to the guys then made her escape.