Wolf Tales 12 (39 page)

No shirt.

Not for Mik, who rarely wore one. With faded jeans slung low on his narrow hips, heavy work boots firmly planted on the scorched ground, his chest bare and ripped with muscle honed by hard work, he put every man walking toward him to shame.

Anton recognized the army officer leading the four heavily armed men dressed in army field uniforms—the general was the favorite son of a number of radical organizations, a dangerous adversary who was constantly at odds with the president and his cabinet and all of the liberal media.

Stay close. Follow your instincts.
Anton’s warning went to all of his men.
This could get ugly.

“General.” Anton stepped forward, moved smoothly between Mik and AJ, and held out his hand. The general stared disdainfully at him, ignored his outstretched hand, and stood at parade rest with his own hands folded behind his back. “No time for pleasantries, Mr. Cheval. We’re here for the freak.” He nodded toward Nick. “Get your things, boy. You’re going with us.”

“I think not.” Anton slowly folded his arms across his chest. “First of all, unless you have a warrant, you’re trespassing. You do have a warrant, don’t you?”

The man straightened to his full height, which was still several inches less than Anton’s, though what he lacked in height, he made up in sheer bulk. He wasn’t fat, but he was built like a bulldog. “I come with the full authority of Congress and the U.S. military. If we have to remove Nick Barden by force, we will. I would suggest you stand aside.”

“General . . .” Anton made a show of leaning forward in order to read the man’s nametag. “Schmidt,” he said, drawing out the sound. “Well, General Schmidt, as I said, you are trespassing. You have no right to be on my property, nor do you have any right to arrest anyone here without due cause, up to and including Nicholas Barden. I would suggest you leave. Now.”

Be ready, but be careful.

The general glanced at the soldiers on his left. “Take him.”

Anton never moved. He didn’t have to. As the first soldier stepped forward, a huge black wolf with golden highlights in his fur leapt out from behind a stone wall. He knocked the rifle from the man’s grasp and took him down, snarling and snapping his long canines in the terrified soldier’s face.

Luc moved just as quickly and caught the second soldier with a knee to the groin and a quick karate chop to the neck, disarming him and holding him immobile with the man’s arm twisted high between his shoulder blades.

At the same time, Adam and Nick grabbed the two on the general’s right, taking their weapons and forcing both men to the ground before either one had a chance to react.

It was over within seconds. Anton hadn’t moved at all while his Chanku disarmed the group. Even in human form, their Chanku speed made them a superior force over mere humans. Anton stared at Schmidt. “You were saying, General?”

The general spun around, but the three soldiers behind him stood with hands raised. The pilot jumped down from the open door of the helicopter with both hands in the air. Matt had shifted back to his human form, but as large as he was, even naked, he made an imposing figure holding an M14 rifle trained squarely on the soldier in the middle—especially when there were two large wolves covering a soldier on either side.

The rest of their weapons lay in a pile on the ground.

“Anton?” Matt glanced over his shoulder. “The pilot says there are a couple of reporters in the chopper. They’ve got their cameras rolling now. Do you want them to remain inside, or should we bring them out? And what about the camera gear?”

Anton bit back a grin. Knowing the general’s politics and the news programs he regularly appeared on, he couldn’t have asked for anything better than this.
Thank you, Eve.
She had to have a hand in this. It was too perfect for her not to.

“They’re free to get out, Matt. My argument isn’t with the press, though you might want to put some pants on if they’re filming.” He chuckled. “On the other hand, you make a rather imposing figure standing there bare-ass. It’s up to you.”

Matt’s laughter obviously added insult to injury, especially when he ignored Anton’s suggestion to cover up. The general glowered at Anton as a man and a woman climbed quickly out of the helicopter and carefully skirted the four huge wolves. The man carried a camera on his shoulder, obviously recording everything, while the woman couldn’t seem to take her eyes off Matt.

Anton waved them over. He recognized the woman, a popular but opinionated reporter. She was the one mainly responsible for creating the public image of the pompous idiot standing there with stars marching across his beret.

Anton wondered how she felt about bringing the man down.

She approached Anton, obviously prepared for a fight. He quickly assessed her—attractive but, up close, definitely older than she appeared on television. Hard edged but not stupid. And definitely interested in the tall, gorgeous men guarding the soldiers. Anton picked up her scent and smelled her arousal.

It was really hard for him not to smile.

“What’s going on? General Schmidt? What’s happened here?”

The general glared at her, but he didn’t speak.

Probably the smartest thing he’d done all day, as far as Anton was concerned. Nodding politely to the woman and her cameraman, he said, “You’re more than welcome to record what’s taking place. We have nothing to hide from the press.”

He glanced down, reached for her arm, and carefully moved her to one side, away from a large slab of broken glass sticking out of the rubble near her ankle. “Be careful, though. There are some hot spots, lots of broken glass. It’s dangerous.”

Startled, the reporter looked where he pointed and realized she could have easily sliced her leg open. “Thank you. I didn’t see that.”

The cameraman continued to film.

“You’re welcome.” Anton shrugged and gazed about them. “It was a beautiful home until yesterday. We had a heck of a fire last night. I’m Anton Cheval. And you are?” He held his hand out to the well-known reporter as if he hadn’t a clue who she was. And he was still treating her like visiting royalty.

Looking more than a little shell-shocked, she stared around at the burned-out home for a moment before responding. “Melissa Carole. ALN News, Mr. Cheval.” They shook hands; the cameraman nodded, but he kept the lens focused on Anton, the now-disarmed soldiers, and the large black wolf sitting over one of them.

“Is that one a . . .” The reporter pointed at Tinker.

“Chanku? Yes, he is. Go ahead and shift, Tink. I imagine Ms. Carole’s seen a naked man before.”

Not one like me she hasn’t.
The wolf snorted.

And shifted, standing taller and broader than Anton, taller even than AJ or Mik. And wider. Much wider.

And very well endowed. And, as often happened after shifting, he was magnificently erect. Anton bit back a bark of laughter.

Melissa Carole dropped her tape recorder. Anton deftly caught it before it hit the ground. She took it from him without even looking as Tinker dipped his head in a polite greeting and held out his hand. “Ms. Carole,” he said. “I’m Martin McClintock. Folks call me Tinker.”

Dazed, she shook hands. Her eyes went wide as her hand was completely engulfed in Tinker’s huge mitt. He grinned at Anton. “I’m gonna go grab my pants. Excuse me, please, but I hate to make my debut on national TV the way Nicky did—bare-ass and buck-naked.” Laughing, he turned away and, walking like a king reviewing his subjects, headed into the burned-out rubble of the house where he’d hidden his clothes.

Anton turned his attention to the general once again, well aware Ms. Carole was still watching Tinker walk away, but even Anton had to admit, the man did have a magnificent butt.

The cameraman continued to record everything that happened.

“Okay, General Schmidt. So exactly what do we have here? You show up on private property with armed soldiers, prepared to take a private citizen into custody. You’ve brought your own TV crew, so I imagine the purpose of having the press on hand is to record the entire incident.”

He smiled at Melissa Carole. She smiled back. “As I said, I’m fine with the media’s involvement. Obviously, our secret is out, so there’s no point in hiding who and what we are, but we certainly haven’t broken any laws. Since you haven’t presented me with a warrant, I can only assume you have absolutely no authorization to take Nick into custody. That makes your action blatantly illegal by anyone’s standards and quite specifically illegal according to the Constitution you’re sworn to defend.”

He turned and gave the reporter his most ingratiating smile. “Ms. Carole? Can you tell me what pretenses the general used to get you to come out here today? I can’t imagine a woman of your integrity being involved in anything like an illegal arrest, which is nothing more than a kidnapping. What did General Schmidt say he was planning to do?”

Melissa Carole straightened her spine and smiled at Anton. “He told me there was a nest of criminals living out here, that he was making an authorized raid on a compound where a group of illegal aliens were plotting to overthrow the government. He promised us an exclusive.” She glared at the general. “We had no idea he was after Chanku or we never would have become involved. Especially after this young man saved the lives of all those children in Washington. He’s a hero, not a criminal. General Schmidt, you should be ashamed of yourself!”

“Goddamned son of a—”

“Now, General. There’s a lady present.” Anton held up a hand. “Watch your language. I’m going to make a quick call.” He smiled again at the reporter and the cameraman. “If you’ll excuse me for just a moment.” Anton pulled the black phone out of his pocket and hit the red button.

The general’s eyes went wide.

Obviously, he recognized the significance of the special phone, but it was just as obvious the reporter didn’t. Anton turned his back on the general but made sure the cameraman could get a clear shot of him calling, along with the audio.

It only rang twice before the call was taken. “Yes, Mr. President. Anton Cheval here. Nick’s fine, thank you, but we do have a bit of an incident here in Montana. Yes, unexpected, but I thought you should be aware of what’s going on. Yes, sir. It has to do with a General Schmidt . . . Yes, that’s the one. General Schmidt, seven heavily armed soldiers, and a rather large Sikorsky Black Hawk parked in what used to be my front yard. Oh, and the press. A Ms. Melissa Carole and her cameraman. Correct. ALN. I’ll be sure and tell her.”

He flashed a quick smile at the reporter and nodded. “Yes, sorry to say, the fire took the house, but we’re all fine. Nick and Beth are okay. Nick’s with me now. Thank you for asking. An hour? I believe we can convince the general to remain here until your people arrive. Thank you, sir. Good day to you, too.”

He ended the call and grinned at the reporter. “The president said to tell you hello and hopes you get your story.” Then he turned toward General Schmidt and held out his hand. “Your weapons, General. I’ve been authorized to hold you and your men under citizen’s arrest until members of the president’s special ops team arrive.”

“You have no right . . .”

“I have every right.” Gone was the polite façade. Anton turned his anger free and stepped forward until he towered over the man. “You have come onto my property, threatened my family, and put my people at risk. You’ve done it without any authorization beyond your own self-righteous belief that you can do as you wish because the media has so easily manipulated your already bloated ego. You, sir, are an ass. You’re lucky we didn’t kill every single one of you, but we, unlike you and those who follow you, believe in treating one another with the honor and dignity each of us deserve. Though, in my opinion, you, General Schmidt, deserve none. Your men, however, are merely taking orders. They do not merit punishment for following a horse’s ass with more stars on his cap than brains beneath it.”

The general’s jaw was working and his face had gone beet red. He glanced at the reporter, at the camera that continued to record as Anton stood there with his hand out and a look of grim determination on his face. Anton was outwardly furious as the general slapped a 9mm automatic pistol into his hand.

Inside, it was all he could do to contain his elation.

Every bit of this was being covered. Film of Anton in his burned-out house, surrounded by an overzealous military officer stomping all over his constitutional rights.

Film of his companions protecting him, standing bravely in the face of overwhelming military might. Of the scorched earth and the obscenity of the Black Hawk helicopter on private land.

Visuals tell stories, and his was being told beautifully. There was no way this story could come off as anything other than favorable to the Chanku. They were the victims here. Brave citizens standing up to the more powerful foe, a man obviously misusing his military power.

People were going to love it. He couldn’t have hired a publicist and gotten a better shot at swaying public opinion in their direction.

Best of all, everything was happening in full view of one of the most opinionated news reporters in the nation—a woman whose voice made nuts and fanatics all across the country stand up and take notice. And he had her in the palm of his hand.

Once her story aired, no one could accuse the Chanku of being less than good citizens. No one would dare call them dangerous aliens or subversives.

Tinker, fully dressed now in heavy work boots, worn jeans, and a red flannel shirt, looking even more powerful than he had before, appeared beside Anton. Anton glanced at him without smiling and handed over the general’s sidearm. “Hang on to this for me, would you? You can turn it over to the special ops guys when they get here.” Then he nodded to Luc and Adam, Mik and AJ. “See if you can find a spot out of the sun where the general and his men can wait comfortably.”

He made a point of gazing around the burned-out landscape and shrugged. “Maybe in the shade of the helicopter? The president’s men are going to have to push it to make it here in an hour. Tink? Why don’t you go down and grab a case of bottled water. Don’t want anyone getting dehydrated. I’m going to take Ms. Carole around and introduce her to Matt and his crew.”