Helen's POV
Right after the brief update call from Liam and Jessie
What the hell was going on out there on the West Coast?! It was just over three hours until the first check-in call at 8pm their time ... and they were going to tell her everything at that point ... or else! But she was not going to sit around waiting for hours, there was plenty she could do right now.
Helen picked up a phone, texted
VAULT IN 5
to her inner circle - Julie, Lennie and Tina -- then dropped all her electronic devices on the desk and wheeled herself out of the office to the elevator. Punching in a special code, she was able to drop one floor below the obvious basement to a security level that held the vault and a panic room big enough for thirty people.
The other three arrived in just under five minutes. Helen opened the vault with a series of biometric scans and passcodes, the four of them went in and Lennie closed the door behind them. No electronic signal could get in or out of the room, the only thing they had to worry about was recording devices. They patted each other down and scanned for electronic devices before Helen started to talk.
"Any news on finding our leak?"
Julie shook her head, "Not yet. The security team is doing a sweep for monitoring devices every day now. We are watching everyone and everything, listening and reviewing every conversation, monitoring all cell and network activity. Nothing odd yet, but assuming whoever it was is smart they'd know we'd be suspicious after the attack so they'd be silent and acting normal for now. We are reviewing as much historical data as we have, maybe something will turn up."
Helen sighed, "Ok, so what we are going to talk about now next stays with just us four. Include no one else unless you clear it with me first please."
"I had a conversation with Jacob five days ago in which he gave me information about Jessie Taylor that I have not shared with you until now. I only told you they'd been attacked and I know you all assumed that the meeting with Beth Parker did not take place, but it did happen before the attack. Beth was able to identify Jessie's grandmother -- the woman in the picture is Miriam Richard, Silvie's twin sister. Jessie is carrying the Richard alpha mantle."
Julie whispered, "Holy shit!" and the other two murmured variations of the same thing.
Helen nodded, "A few days ago Jessie and I had a conversation about the Richard Pack Trust and its trustee rules. If Jessie can prove who she is, she could take the Trust from the Richards and the Algonquin Alpha. I've been thinking about ways to do this ... it must be done so very carefully and methodically ... but every scenario I think of ends up with our war restarted and lots of wolves including Jessie dead. I can't see a path forward that isn't an awful one, but oh how desperately do I want there to be one that could work!"
Julie exclaimed "To hell with careful and methodical, just go for the throat ... declare who Jessie is to the Alpha Council and surround her with warriors! Let everything come apart and kill anyone who comes for her."
Helen smiled sadly, "I have moments where I have thoughts like that too my friend. I am afraid that my life will end before I get to taste the blood of Mark and Stephen Richard on my tongue ... but I won't choose that way first. And you won't either, even if your wolf wishes it. We have to try to be better than that if we can."
"This may be a useless discussion anyway. I got a call from Liam and Jessie a short time ago. Something has happened which they are going to tell me more about when they call back at 8pm their time tonight, but Jessie said she thinks the Richards already know who she is and that they may try to kidnap her and the twins."
Lennie groaned, "From our leak?"
Helen shook her head, "No, that's the strange part. Jessie said she thinks the Richards have known who she is for years!"
Julie shook her head, "That's not possible. If they knew who she was before now she'd have been killed years ago. Why would they leave any threat to the Trust alive?"
Helen sighed, "Jessie said something else -- that the Richards want to control the Alpha with the mantle. She said control
not kill. I suppose if they kidnap her they could threaten her, threaten the twins, make her do something for the Richards but what? All she could do is what we've already talked about -- claim the Trust for herself. To do that she'd have to go public and then any coercion would eventually be found out. How does that help them?
Julie muttered, "They would want to remain trustees, but it could free them from their bond to the Algonquin Alpha. He'd no longer be necessary to retain control of the Trust. If they kept threatening Jessie and the twins maybe they think she'd go along with it all, but it would be very hard to do. She'd fight them forever."
Tina spoke up for the first time, "There's something else she can do ... she can have a child that will inherit the mantle. What if they want the alpha bloodline back in their hands? They could use Jessie to get what they really want - control of the next generation Alpha, a child that is theirs. Any one of the Richard men could become the father of the next Alpha who could claim the Trust and carry the Richard name."
The silence that followed that statement was deafening.
Helen finally spoke, "That makes horrible sense. Jessie is a rogue, claimed by no one. She has few rights at the moment. On pack land, no rights at all. She would be at the mercy of whoever had her and no one would have the right to challenge that."
"How many people know who Jessie is right now? The twins, Beth Parker and perhaps Alpha Jenkins, the four of us. Silence a few people, kidnap Jessie, no one ever knows you have someone with the alpha mantle until you declare it for your child later. If you have enough proof you could pull it off. Shit!"
Julie exclaimed, "How do they silence us? The Richards have got to know we know, we'd just tell the Council who she is and that the Richards are holding her against her will."
"What do we know? What can we prove? Beth Parker is the key, if they take her out we've got nothing. We tell the Council without Beth Parker and the Richards just say we are lying to create trouble. We don't have the support of enough Council members to force any kind of intervention or investigation. No, we'd be on our own if the Richards get their hands on Jessie."
"I don't know what Jenkins and Beth Parker know right now. Jessie said to contact Beth and talk to her. I have to do that right now. Beth has to be protected."
"Julie, I need you to do a full security check on the situation on the West Coast, check everything you can for any anomalies. We need to know if our three are being watched. Add Beth Parker and the Jenkins Pack to that too, whatever you can find out."
"Lennie, we need to know where every Richard family member is right now and what they are doing. Track them carefully from now on."
