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."