CHAPTER 77

If I knew anything about slimy little traitors it was that you couldn't give them an opportunity to control the narrative. Someone like Leanne, with her skill at deception, would quickly recover from any accusation, easily piling lies upon lies.

For that reason, I planned to out her publicly. Or, as publicly as I could, anyway. And I would need help to do it.

I tried dialing Martha's number, which, unfortunately, was out of service. It took some quick mental calculation but Rob had a system for acquiring new numbers if your phone was somehow compromised. I did the math in my head and dialed the next three numbers that Martha would have chosen before the woman finally answered.

"Martha, I need a favor and it needs to be quick," before Leanne heard about the stunt I'd pulled with Gunner. That would tip her off and my advantage would be useless.

"Raven? Where have you been, the pack is drowning here and you abandoned us..."

"Martha!" I withheld a growl, but couldn't hide the urgency in my voice. I'd never spoken to Martha with anything other than polite kindness, and she fell quiet. I'd shocked her into silence. "I haven't abandoned anyone, I've been trying to figure out what the hell is going on. I've got some very solid evidence that Leanne has been manipulating Anthony for some time and is selling out the pack. I can't accuse her privately because she's very good at wiggling out of consequences. I'm going to need your help."

Martha was quiet for so long I wasn't sure she believed my words. After all, as much as she obviously didn't care for Leanne, what wolf in her right mind would betray the very pack they were trying to gain the Luna position for?

"What do you need?" she asked at last, and if I could have kissed her soft wrinkled cheek I would have.

"Two things. I need someone we trust to call a pack wide emergency meeting tonight, preferably at the ranch house. Make it seem like it is for an unrelated matter that is to be brought to Anthony's attention. I need both Anthony and Leanne present."

"And the second thing?"

"I'll need access to your window again. Has the glass been repaired?"

"That was you?" Martha's voice was slightly indignant. "Raven, what have you done?"

"I did what no one else was able to, and it's a good thing too, or the pack would be looking at internal war right now. Gunner is not a caporegime to mess around with."

A breath blew out, "*you stopped the hit*." Martha sounded faint. "Thank the saints, Raven, you have no idea what the last few weeks has done to this old woman."

"Well don't get too comfortable yet. Shit's about to hit the fan."

I hung up and called Micheal. His number had stayed the same, apparently having had better luck with phones than Martha had since the last time we met.

"Micheal. If I can get your wife's deportation canceled do you think you could do something for me?"

"Raven?" Micheal growled. He didn't sound too happy to hear from me, actually. "Do you know what you've done?"

Oh buddy. If only you knew the half of it.

"Do you want the deal or not?"

"They're sending her out at noon tomorrow, there's no time..."

"It won't be a problem. The favor, Micheal, I need an answer." At least, I hoped it wouldn't be a problem. Adjusting the deportation documents seemed like something well within Aiden's wheelhouse.

"What do you want?" He snarled.

"I need security at the ranch shut down, temporarily."

"Are you *fucking insane*? Anthony would kill me, I'd be dead."

"Look, I just need fifteen minutes to get into the second story without any wolves or security measures to dodge."

There was a bark of laughter on the other end. "You've got a lot of fucking nerve, Raven. I can't believe you. As if you haven't been the very pain in my fucking ass that has ruined my life, now you want a favor? No. Not just any favor, you want me to render the entire pack vulnerable..." he broke off muttering something incomprehensible, it sounded like he was pacing too.

This wasn't going exactly how I hoped.

So I did the only thing I could think of. I pulled my phone away from my ear and sent him the recorded file of Leanne's admission to manipulating Anthony. I followed that up with the recording of her threatening Martha, for good measure. Then I waited.

It was almost a minute before Micheal stopped cussing. He fell into a silence so intense I would have thought he'd hung up on me, except that I caught the faint increase in his breathing.

"That fucking bitch."

"I have proof she's been working against the pack, I have proof she's been controlling Anthony, I just need a chance to bring it to light."

"And what makes you think* I * am going to help *you*?"

Jeeze, he was really pissed at me.

"She convinced him to put a hit out on Gunner. Have you heard?"

An explosion of curses on the other end assured me that he had not heard.

"Gunner? Iron Fist Gunner? That's fucking it. There will be nothing left. You know what? Forget about my wife. I'm going with her."

"I stopped the hit, Micheal. Gunner has agreed to no retaliation. I just need fifteen minutes just after one thirty this morning. That's all I'm asking. I need to expose that little piece of rot and dig her out."

I waited for his answer with tension crawling through my body. I'd counted on Micheal because he was one of the few that had seen Anthony's new personality first hand. I really, really needed his help, because there was no way I would be able to bypass the Ranch's security measures a second time. Not in the time I had.

"You'll have your fifteen minutes," Micheal told me at last.

And I'd better fucking make them count.