Pretty Baby(35)

his chin. "But it might be possible. Chase has some very interesting

friends, and we have more than one person in our pack and Zacarius'

coven that might be able to get in where others couldn't." "Anything is better than letting Elliot go to his usual monthly

appointment by himself, even if we put a tracking device on him. No

matter how closely we follow behind him there's always a chance that

they will discover the tracking device and take Elliot."

"So," Elliot said, "put a plan together and call these guys. We

have five days until my next appointment. That should give you

plenty of time to come up with something, shouldn't it?"

"It will be tight, but I think it can be done." Daniel grinned. "I'll

start making phone calls. You two go talk to Chase."

"Wait!"

"You have something to add, Elliot?" Daniel asked.

"There's a doctor, his name is Dr. Carter Banning, I don't know

which facility he will be at, but he's the lead doctor on my case. He's

kind of my-" Elliot grimaced. "He's the right hand man to Philip  Spencer. He knows everything that is going on. You might want to

find out what he knows."

"We'll keep an eye out for him then."

Elliot nodded at Daniel, thankful that the alpha was listening to

him and accepting his words as fact. Elliot's father, scratch that …

Elliot's captor had never done that. Philip Spencer's word was law,

and anyone that didn't accept his word paid the price, usually in a

very painful and humiliating way.

Elliot was still trying to process that fact that the man he thought

was his father all of his life was in fact the one keeping him from his

true family. While he didn't like Philip Spencer all that much, there

was a part of him that felt affection for the man he thought was his

father. And he didn't know how to resign himself to the fact that it

had all been a lie.

"Tommy?" Elliot asked as they left the kitchen.

"Yeah, Elliot?"

"Do you think I'm gullible?"

"Gullible?" Tommy stopped walking to turn and stare down at

Elliot.

"Yeah, you know, gullible, easily led, accepting of everything?"

Elliot couldn't think of any other way to define what he was trying to

say.

"No, pretty baby, you're not gullible. You just try to see the good

in everyone, and that's not a bad thing. Who wants to go around their

entire life waiting for people to take advantage of them? I think that

would be a sucky way to live."

"But if I had questioned things a little more, maybe-" "Elliot, listen to me." Elliot couldn't miss the intensity in

Tommy's eyes as the man looked down at him. "Philip Spencer

fooled the entire world, not just you. He told you from a very young

age that he was your father. Why would you have believed anything

else? You had no reason to question him."

"But-"

"Elliot, this is not your fault. This whole thing rests squarely on

the shoulders of Philip Spencer. He did this, not you."

"Yeah, but-"                       
       
           



       

"Elliot!"

Elliot couldn't help but giggle at the exasperation in Tommy's

voice. "So, I shouldn't feel bad that I'm so happy Philip Spencer is

not my father?"

"I'm thrilled." Tommy's grin was enchanting, making Elliot's

heart pound a little faster. "Hell, I may even throw you a party to

celebrate."

Elliot stroked his finger of the tribal tattoo around Tommy's right

bicep. "Would you let me get a tattoo like yours?"

"Elliot, you don't need my permission to get a tattoo. You're an

adult. You get to make your decisions. If you want a tattoo, get a

tattoo."

"Yeah, but how would you feel about it?"

"I think it would be sexy as hell, pretty baby." Tommy's chuckle

was low and sexy, making his chest rumble and curling Elliot's toes.

"Maybe I'll get another one as well, one that says Pretty Baby right

over my heart, so everyone knows you're mine."

Elliot frowned. "If you wanted everyone to know I was yours,

wouldn't it make more sense to get your name tattooed on me?" Elliot's breath caught in his throat when the corners of Tommy's

lips began to tilt up. Tommy looked like Elliot had just offered him

the crown jewels. He nipped at the finger Tommy rubbed across his

lips, arching an eyebrow when Tommy inhaled sharply.

"You'd do that for me?" Tommy whispered.

"I'd do anything for you." Elliot smiled. "You're my mate."





Chapter 15


Tommy held Elliot close to his side as he watched his father lay out the  plan to raid Philip Spencer's different facilities and home. He could  feel the tension in the air crawling over his skin like a million tiny  ants. Everyone was as apprehensive as he felt.

The idea Daniel Nash came up with was one that had to have perfect  timing in order for it to be successful. Tommy personally felt that  there were too many possibilities of something going wrong and  everything blowing up in their faces, thus, putting Elliot in danger.  But he couldn't seem to talk anyone out of it, not even Elliot.

"So, does everyone understand what they are supposed to do?" Tommy  looked up to find his father's eyes pinned on him. He could see the  question in Daniel's eyes, wondering if Tommy would go along with the  plan. Against his better judgment, Tommy nodded his head.

He hated the plan!

"Just so we're clear, Elliot is our first priority. If this thing starts  to go south, I want everyone to converge on Elliot's location." Daniel  pointed to the small, thin, black devices the leader of each team held  in their hands. "The tracking device on Elliot is dialed in to each of  your GPS trackers. If Elliot feels he's in danger, he will hit his panic  button. A red light will flash indicating that you should follow the  tracker and save him. Understood?"

Tommy looked around the room, grateful to see everyone nodding as if  they had no problem putting Elliot's safety above the mission  objectives. As far as he was concerned, there was no mission other than  keeping Elliot safe.

"Okay, we have five targets in all," Daniel continued. "Three private  medical research facilities, one business complex, and Philip Spencer's  personal residence. Each team is to go in at the agreed upon time,  retrieve whatever information they can, and destroy what they can't.  Stealth is the strategy here, people."

"This isn't exactly a government sanctioned mission," Chase snorted. "We get caught, our goose is cooked."

"Exactly," Daniel said. "Capture isn't an option, killing of civilian  personnel even less so. Almost all of us have abilities that make it  easier for us to stay clear of humans. Use it. The less casualties, the  better."

"And if we do come face-to-face with humans?"

Tommy glanced over at Bishop Kane, his boss. He'd been surprised that  the man had been invited along for this mission, but his father insisted  that the man had hidden skills that would be of great use to them.

"Try and incapacitate them if you can."

"And if we can't?"

"Do what you must to evade capture and detection." Daniel tossed his  pencil down onto the table they all stood around then thrust his fingers  into his hair. "Look, people, this mission is real simple. We need to  hit all these targets at the same time so that they won't know what hit  them. Retrieval of data is important because we need to know what they  know about shifters."

"Freeing Summer and Tereza should also be a high priority," Andre added.                       
       
           



       

"It is, Andre. Chase is taking on that mission himself. If there's a way  to free your wife and daughter, Chase will see that it's done. But you  have to understand, we need to know how much they know about us. Having  this information out there doesn't just endanger a few of us. It could  potentially endanger all of us, shifter, vampire, psychic, everyone.  These people have to be stopped."

"I understand. I do. I just want my wife and daughter back."

"We all do, Andre," Tommy said before his father could say anything  else. "No one should have to go through what you've been through. I  couldn't imagine being separated from Elliot, knowing he was out there  and that there wasn't anything I could do to save him. I think I would  have lost my mind if I were in your shoes."

"Pray that you never are." Andre drew in a long breath as if it were the  first one he had taken in years, the slowly let it out. "Never take for  granted what you have been given. You never know when you might not  have it anymore."

"I wish things could have been different," Elliot said, the softness of  his voice surprising Tommy. His mate had yet to really talk to Andre,  and Tommy thought he might be having problems adjusting to someone  besides Philip Spencer being his father. "But at least you knew she was  alive."