Lion's Heat (40 page)

She paused and sat back before pulling the present screen to the monitor next to her. Within seconds, the five monitors around the main one displayed five different levels of diagnostics as well as the six main results.

"Here and here." She tapped the main screen and the one on the right above it. "The anomalies began here. Once the diagnostics caught the first anomaly, it began trying to hide." She pointed to several other diagnostic results. "At present, it's completely disappeared." Pointing to the screens left and right of the main screen, she hit a command to display the current readers. "Like dust in the wind, my friend. It's gone."

She turned and stared back at him with savage fury reflecting in her deep blue eyes. "We have a bug, and he's damned smart."

Jonas narrowed his eyes on the screens before turning to Rachel. "Do we have any intel on anything like this?"

The Bureau monitored all new viruses, rumors of nanoviruses and deep-level bugs.

Rachel was watching the screen intently, her green eyes narrowed, her expression thoughtful, before activating the electronic pad she carried. "There's no intel on it, but that doesn't mean anything. For the most part, we only get info on what's been discovered or rumors of what's in the works. There's been nothing like this in the intel we've received of intended attacks against our mainframe or communications network." She frowned at the results of the search she typed in on the pad. "All we have is unsubstantiated intel on one that destroys itself when found and wipes its track to eliminate the chance of identification. Those have to be uploaded manually though." She glanced back to Jonas, concern darkening her gaze as she gave him the information.

"Whoever put the bug in our system would have had to have worked from this room then." Sherra tapped the tips of her well-manicured nails against the table before initiating another search.

"It's not as though we haven't had our share of spies," Rachel reminded her. "The medical assistant we caught several months ago had access to the room during the poker games that were played here, as well as the night he murdered the techs working the room. He could have initiated it at any time."

We.
She used a vernacular that placed herself as an indelible part of the community rather than an outsider. It was the first time she had done so, and hearing it sent a surge of satisfaction racing through Jonas.

"Let's not assume it's destroyed itself though," Rachel continued as she turned back to the screens and stared back at them thoughtfully. "We need someone experienced in subversive technology to go through this."

"All Breeds are experienced in subversive technology." Sherra snorted. "It's part of our training. We learn that in puberty."

Rachel was shaking her head as she spoke and typing commands in, one-handed, on the pad she used. Within seconds a list of information began scrolling across the screen.

"You have four Breeds, all rated A-plus in subversive technology, nanotechnology and communications stealth. Those are the Breeds you need."

Jonas lifted his brows. Fuck, where the hell had she gotten that information?

"Since when?" Sherra asked, surprise filling her expression. She looked to Jonas as though wondering why he hadn't known that information. Or, more to the point, why the main Pride wasn't aware of that.

"The information was hidden among some of the Council's more encrypted files," Rachel informed her. "Encryption isn't something that's easy. A lot of information is misread or overlooked entirely because the codes are so difficult."

"And you managed this how?" Sherra turned in her chair and watched Rachel suspiciously.

Jonas bristled at Sherra's tone until he watched Rachel slowly smile. "I like puzzles. I take the encrypted files, the various codes, and when Jonas is away, I play a little bit." She glanced at Jonas. "Sometimes, he's away often."

He wouldn't be away from her any longer.

"And who are our master technology Breeds?" Sherra questioned, still obviously not completely satisfied with the explanation.

"You have a Bengal Tiger Breed of Asian descent, Lee, as the only name listed here." She frowned, her tone becoming quieter, more thoughtful, as she began scanning the file. "There's a Wolf Breed of Scots descent, no name listed, only his file number." She tapped the screen for more information. "He's not registered with the Bureau." But she knew who it was; Jonas could see her expression, the shifting pattern of suspicion as she put together the information on the Breed. "I suspect it's Styx." An amused smile crossed her face. "We're in trouble if it is."

It was.

"We also have two Breeds, lab numbers only, who I haven't yet been able to track any information on or to unencrypt what the information is in the files I found them in. I'll have to work on that."

She lifted her head. "We have no known location or information on Lee. Styx is accessible though."

"Styx is a menace." Sherra rolled her eyes before turning back to the computer. "He'll probably have one of his temper tantrums and destroy every computer we have."

Jonas almost grinned at the thought.

"I'll pull the files I pulled this intel from," Rachel told her. "I'll see if we can find someone quickly. No doubt, we can't let the system go much longer with a suspected bug in it."

"I was able to track its parameters by using the computer logs," Sherra told her. "It's not easy though. Even the logs are trifling." She shook her head. "I don't know what we're dealing with but it's damned smart."

"Isolate the logs and work through them on an independent, unconnected system," Rachel suggested. "That's how they're created."

Sherra turned to her again. "How the fuck do you know all this? You've worked with Jonas for less than a year and you know more than I do."

"I rather doubt it." Rachel's smile was conciliatory. "I'm good at trivia though, so I retain large amounts of unconnected information. It's a talent." She flashed a charming grin Sherra's way.

"A talent, huh?" Sherra glanced at Jonas. "Sounds more like the same coin with a different face. You and Jonas are a better match than I thought."

"I always knew we'd be a good match." Rachel leveled a look up at him that nearly had him grinning. As though
she
had manipulated the entire mating.

"To each his own, I guess." Sherra chuckled before turning back to Jonas. "Before you leave, Callan needs to see you in Sit Comm One." The situation communications room in the estate house. A room completely secured from any outside electronic or satellite interference.

Jonas nodded. "Could you contact his Enforcer on call and let them know I'm on way?" When Sit Comm One was in use, Callan's personal bodyguard slash assistant was always nearby.

"Contacted." Sherra hit a key on the console, then flashed a smile back at him. "Also, just to let you know, Lance Jacobs is up and moving around. He, Harmony and their son are planning to leave for home within the week."

Jonas nodded shortly. He kept his emotions in check where his sister and nephew were concerned. Harmony had demanded that he stay far away from the boy, and it was a request that tore at something inside him.

He stayed away, though he kept careful tabs on the child. Joseph Leopold Jacobs. They called him Joey. He had just turned twelve months old. He had tawny hair with hints of black and his father's blue eyes. He was a happy child and Harmony was an ecstatically loving mother. She doted on her mated husband and child.

"Ready?" He turned to Rachel as she made a note on her electronic pad.

"Ready." She gave him an absent smile, but her gaze, her entire demeanor as she stayed close to him assured him that she was very much aware of him.

He could sense her awareness, the sensitivity of her body, the arousal that simmered just beneath the surface, ready to burn out of control.

The sweet, soft scent of her body, the easy breaths she took, even her thoughtful attitude as they made their way to speak to Callan, drew him to her.

They made their way from the comm room and to the other side of the house to the newly erected Sit Comm One. The room was in the family wing of the ruling Pride, which consisted of six families, though all were rarely there at the same time, other than the Pride leader, Callan Lyons, and the second-in-command of security, Sherra Tyler.

Callan's personal Enforcer, Fallon, a Lion Breed trained in advanced security and protection, opened the door to the room silently.

Callan; Kane Tyler, who was head of security and Sherra's mated husband; Santuary's head of enforcement, Taber Williams; and the head of Sanctuary Public Relations, Tanner Reynolds, were sitting at the long conference table as he and Rachel walked in.

Rachel broke off from Jonas's side, sliding perfectly into her former role of his assistant.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen." Rachel moved ahead of Jonas, poured him coffee and his water and set them at his chair. Jonas almost grinned. She was the perfect mate for him, able to blend in with his business life, as well as the role of mate.

She complemented him at every turn, and had managed over the past months to soothe a lot of the feathers he had managed to ruffle, or completely jerk out, over the years.

"We have files." Callan used the electronic pad to send the file to Rachel as well as Jonas.

She handed Jonas his and pulled up the information on her electronic pad.

"The Senate's Breed Appropriations Committee has called a special session to review the funds already voted on and agreed to for next year's expenditures. The information we have is that they've received information that the Bureau, as well as Sanctuary, has broken the agreement we signed in regards to conducting any military or personal acts of war or aggression toward any of the governments supplying the funds."

Jonas scanned the information before him before turning to Callan. "There have been no acts of aggression or of a military design against any government, period. Their intel is bogus, Callan. As usual."

The Bureau didn't bite the hand that fed it. At least not directly, and sure as hell not without someone or something else to blame it on.

"Senator Tyler is on that committee, as you know," Callan stated. "He sent a heads-up on the information he had; he's requesting your immediate presence before the committee, otherwise funds are going to be held up indefinitely until this gets taken care of."

"We don't need their fucking money," Tanner growled, his Bengal green eyes flashing with ire.

"They owe the Breeds that money," Rachel pointed out, her tone firm. "What you need to do is make a move to keep the money out of the appropriations committee's hands and directly under Breed control at a certain amount per quarter."

"They're too scared we're going to turn on them," Callan grunted as he leaned back in his seat and rubbed his finger along his jaw. "They think halting that money will keep us from taking over their various countries."

"As if we'd want to deal with their bullshit as well as our own." Tanner snorted at the thought. "Hell, just running Sanctuary is enough of a headache, wouldn't you say?"

That was about the truth.

"Rachel." Jonas turned to her.

"A heli-jet is being prepared and I'm having Lawe move ahead to pull mission files," she stated before turning to him, an edge of worry in her expression. "Am I going?"

He nodded abruptly before turning to Callan. "I need preparations made for Erin to bring Amber into Sanctuary while we're gone. Cassie is currently in residence, correct?"

Callan sat up straight, his eyes narrowing. "Cassie will ruin that child. I'll have quarters set up for Amber and her caretaker. She can assume twenty-four-hour detail. I'll assign someone to help her, but Cassie spoils babies worse than their mothers do. You don't want her anywhere near her."

"Wrong." Jonas wanted no one but Cassie near her, actually. "Assign Cassie as backup. I'll accept Erin as primary care."

Jonas rose to his feet, knowing it would be taken care of.

"Jonas, Amber is my child," Rachel stated quietly as she moved in front of him. "Shouldn't you at least consult with me?"

Ironic amusement filled her tone, although a hint of anger threatened.

"Would you have done it differently?" He tilted his head to the side, wondering if she seriously had a better alternative.

"Doing it differently isn't the point," she told him as she began to pack away their notepads. "The point is," she turned back to him, "consult with me next time. And I will be telling my daughter good-bye before we leave."

She strode from the office with her shoulders straight, her head held high.

"Consider that a warning, my friend." Callan chuckled behind him as he and the others rose to their feet. "Even for the sake of expediency, never, ever make decisions of the family nature without the direct input of your mate. The results could otherwise be fatal."

Evidently they could be. Jonas scratched at the side of his jaw as he gave the other men a rakish smile. Turning to leave the room, he thought the world might be a little brighter today.

He'd watched Callan and the others being gently chastised by their wives on more than one occasion, and he'd always felt an odd sort of envy for it. They'd possessed mates who lovingly guided them in how to be a part of a family, how to be more than a Breed within a unit of Breeds. How to be more than soldiers or killers.

Over the years, he'd seen the results of that guiding influence. Men who had once known nothing but death could laugh; they played with their children; they made silly faces at babies and they moved in a world that included more than blood, death and punishment.

Jonas had longed for that world. He'd longed to be a part of more than the blood and death, the past that haunted him. He had that now. And he intended to keep it. "Senator Tyler has arranged to delay the meeting with the appropriations committee to allow us time to arrive and to gather our information," Rachel informed him as they stepped into the back of the heli-jet. "He doesn't have the details of their supposed proof, but one of the other members who keeps his sympathy for the Breeds secret has advised him to warn us that they have circumstantial evidence at present, and that Senator Racert is working to build upon it."