BK 4 - Chapter 38 - Ghosts
**Roseville California**
It took several hours to get everyone home. A private plane flew Dustin, Breanne, and their guests to Sacramento. Breanne was still hanging on with the help from Atzi, who hadn't stopped chanting and rubbing different oils on her. Dustin could already see that some of her bruising was fading. Cat had arranged for a hospital bed to be brought to the house and placed in the living room, where everyone was gathered.
"Grandpa Trey, what's going on?" Lisa asked while clinging to Jayce. She didn't like it when her grandpa looked scared. He wasn't scared of anything.
"We have Ryan and Tori in another room. Jade found out they had come here to kidnap Cat, hoping to stop you and Alex from finishing what Roger had started. From what Ryan shared, someone may have also played a hand in Roger's death." Trey stopped when everyone gasped. He knew it would hurt when they found out the man they loved and looked up to had probably been killed.
"How is that possible? I thought he had been sick for a while," Lisa asked as tears ran down her cheeks.
"We had Anisha run some tests from blood samples they had taken when he died, and it looks like he was poisoned. Most likely over time, and that's what caused his sickness." Cat answered. Lisa couldn't believe it. She wanted to rip every person who was involved to pieces. If Jayce wasn't holding her, she probably would have shifted already.
"I still don't understand why these people are so against us being protected? Their dogs are better protected than we are." Alex said in frustration.
"That's something else I just learned and why I called you all here. When I looked in Tori's phone, I found the messages regarding the two of you and Roger. I had the number traced and found out it was a ghost number." Trey stated.
"Is that like a burner phone?" Carlita asked.
"No, it's even more hidden than that. A ghost number means that, technically, it doesn't exist. Burners still have a degree of traceability, but ghosts don't." He replied.
"Who would use a ghost number and why?" Lisa questioned. She noticed Trey, Wesley, and Dustin all looked at each other. Clearly, they knew something the rest of them didn't.
"Typically, only elite or special ops use them. Like in the CIA, some parts of the FBI, and the military. If someone with a ghost number is after us, then this is bigger than them just not wanting us to have protection laws. While we were waiting for everyone to arrive, I reached out to some of my contacts to see if they could find this number in any of their divisions, and I was lucky. Ghost phones can only be located through the agency that issued them. This number belongs to a CIA agent by the name of Mick Loman." Everyone looked at Trey in confusion, other than Cat, who looked like she was going to be sick.
"Who is this Mick Loman guy?" Lisa asked while watching her grandmother. Cat was always the calm force in every situation. Seeing her rattled wasn't something that sat well with her.
"About fifteen years ago, your grandmother and I rescued an entire family. There were three children and their mother. Their father worked for the CIA and was away for a long period of time. When he came home from his last mission, he had changed. He beat his wife and kids so badly that they almost died. Typically, we focus on children, but when the hospital called, we didn't hesitate to help the whole family. We got them away from him and kept them safe. He was put in jail and just released about a year ago. I don't know how he learned about us being shifters, but he has. The ghost phone he has is one of the phones he had stashed away when he was with the CIA. He's the only one who would know where it was and how to unlock it, even though it's so old. From what my contact said, they don't ever turn those off in case a missing operative needs to use them." Trey explained. Lisa was still confused. She couldn't imagine this jackass was coming after them only because her grandparents had rescued his family.
"What else haven't you told us? Why is he coming for us now?" She asked, looking between them.
"When we helped his family get into witness protection, the agents who took them away were followed. The family was killed less than a week later. Mick blames us for his family's death." Lisa's heart broke when she saw her grandmother crying. She stood up and hugged her, trying to give the one person who comforts everyone else some comfort for herself.
"It's not your fault. Did they catch the person who killed his family?" Lisa asked.
"Yes. It was the son of someone Mick had killed when he was with the agency. So it was a retaliation kill." Trey replied.
"So, what do we need to do? I'm assuming a CIA agent with a ghost phone isn't someone we can fight like any other human." Alex asked, putting his arm around Kiersten. He felt like taking her and his unborn cubs and running across the country until they were safe. However, he didn't want to leave his family. They all needed to stick together.
"We have to get him when he least expects it. I have a feeling he may be behind these hunters coming after us, too. I believe he may have indirectly enticed them. I found a hidden ad in the deep net about shifter hunting. The way it was written seems like Mick's style. This is why I wanted everyone here. He has people everywhere, and I wouldn't be surprised if one of them is responsible for the truck hitting Dustin and Breanne." Everyone looked over to the hospital bed and saw Dustin nodding.
"I thought something was strange. We left the reservation in the middle of the day and pulled out onto a road with a four-way stop. There is no way the driver didn't see us. After I took Breanne from the hospital and returned to the reservation, everything was already cleaned up as though it never happened." Dustin stroked Breanne's head. Her eyes had been fluttering but hadn't opened fully yet since they left the hospital. However, she looked better, and he was grateful for whatever Atzi was doing because it seemed to be working.
"Johnny and I took some pictures of the men that came. We heard lots of noise and wanted to see what was going on." Cole spoke up from where he sat next to Xipil. He held up a phone that looked like it had seen better days and handed it to Dustin. Trey walked over and looked too.
The pictures weren't of the best quality, but they could see several men picking up things from the road. Two tow trucks took the car and the truck that hit them away. Trey didn't recognize any of the men, but he forwarded the pictures to his phone so he could have someone else look into them.
"Thanks. This helps a lot." Cole beamed with pride at Trey. The family fascinated him, and he secretly wished he was part of them. His and Johnny's parents and grandparents had died when a sickness spread through the reservation a few years ago. There was no one to take them in, so they moved in with their great-grandparents.
"If we can find Mick and figure out his next move, then we could make a plan. For now, I think we should all move into Valerie and Roger's house. It's the only one big enough to hold us all." Trey said, looking around. Everyone nodded in agreement.
Mindy saw Jamila and Devon across the room, but where was Bailey? She didn't see her with Carlita, either.
"Has anyone seen Bailey?" She asked, looking around.
"She told us she was going to meet Carlita. That was before Uncle Trey called." Jamila said. Everyone looked at Carlita.
"I never called her. I've been trying to text her all day and thought maybe she was at a friend's house since I didn't see her here." Carlita felt sick knowing her cousin had been missing this whole time.
"Turn on Life 360 and see where she is," Jamila said. Mindy pulled out her phone with shaking hands. When she opened the app, she saw everyone except Bailey at Trey and Cat's house. The last place it showed Bailey was a couple of blocks from their home. It also showed that her location was turned off over five hours ago. Mindy screamed as she dropped her phone, fell to her knees, and began shaking with fear. All she could think was, please don't let anything happen to her daughter.
