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They were late to the meeting, but they weren’t the only ones, so no one noticed. Carter and Jamie came in right behind them, his former boss’s mate wearing a look so satisfied Jack didn’t have to guess what they’d been up to. Olivia and Jamie joined Jane, holding up a wall on the opposite side of the room as Carter stepped up to his side.
“You’re smirking, Jack,” Carter said. His tone was severe but his eyes were amused.
“So are you, sir.” Jack was still trying to get used to calling his old commander by his first name. Old habits died hard.
“Probably.” Carter paused. “At least that’s settled.”
Jack shrugged one shoulder, unwilling to discuss his relationship with Olivia. “I’m working on it.”
“You’re in her bed...” Carter trailed off with a speculative look.
Oh, fuck no was he dealing with this kind of interference. “I don’t kiss and tell.”
“Since when?” Carter asked with a disbelieving snort.
Jack narrowed his gaze. “Since never. And this is Olivia we are not talking about. She’s my mate. Back off.”
He got another speculative look for that. “I think I misjudged you.”
Jack smiled. “Most people do. Gives me an advantage in the field.”
“It’s that laid back, harmless, Southern boy charm you’ve got going on.”
“Did he con you out of something, Carter? He’s good at that,” Olivia said, joining them with Jamie. He didn’t have to look far for Jane. Vin had her cornered, but she didn’t look like she was trying hard to escape.
“He didn’t try anything, Livie,” Carter said. “But give him time. I’m sure he’ll get around to it.”
“Sir. You have me confused with someone else,” Jack drawled with a put upon look and one hand over his heart. “What makes you think you’d even be aware it happened?”
Olivia laughed, which was his intent.
Brax finally entered with Gabe and Faine, Delia’s mate. Jack didn’t know much about the man or what he did for the Elect since Jack wasn’t usually invited to these meetings. Brax hadn’t decided if he was trustworthy yet, so he didn’t know if Faine was part of security here or some kind of specialist elsewhere in the compound. Considering the look the other man shot him, suspicious and cold, he wasn’t likely to find out soon. Brax cleared his throat and the room immediately fell silent.
“Everyone here is aware of the trackers on Stine’s vehicle. We’re pretty sure he knows about them too, so I put teams on watch at the Institute and his home in the event he can access a car we’re unaware of. Faine.”
Brax stepped aside and the other man took over.
“He used a car belonging to one of his staff doctors today,” Faine said with a faint Irish accent, as he approached a large screen on one wall and touched it. Several photos popped up, and he swiped them across the screen so they weren’t on top of each other. The images were of an average looking ranch-style house, the yard, and woods that Jack guessed surrounded it.
“Gabe’s trying to track down the owner, but it’s buried under layers of corporations. Today, Stine spent two hours there.”
Faine expanded a couple of photos. “There are cameras all over the property, which is about three wooded acres. Avoiding them is a challenge.”
His tone was so even, so deadpan, Jack thought he might actually be joking. Who the hell was this guy? Olivia stepped up and examined the set-up. “You found a path through.”
Faine nodded. “I had to disrupt a couple of camera feeds. They’re probably replacing batteries once a month, but with the recent storms, one or two going dark shouldn’t raise any alarms.” He did something that brought up another set of photos, closeups of the cameras and guts.
“Simple set up. Battery run, Wi-Fi with repeaters going inward. The components are common, so basically untraceable. The feeds probably go to a server in the house,” Faine said. He must be some kind of tech guy, even if he was built like an ancient Celtic warrior. “Stine had four guards with him, none moved into the woods and they all left with him.”
“We need to get a look inside this house,” Olivia stated the obvious. They were operating under the assumption Stine had more Elect prisoners. He’d practically boasted about it in a confrontation with Jamie and Carter last week. “You have a team here that can do that,” she continued softly.
Brax, looking resigned, nodded. “You, Faine, Carter, Jack, and a couple of Mason’s guys.”
“Vin would be helpful,” Jack put in.
Brax looked back and forth between them and shook his head. “Not this time. Not yet.”
Vin didn’t protest and Jack wondered what he didn’t know. Why was he trusted more than his best friend? Was it just about Olivia? He and Vin had been working with security inside the compound, though never paired together. Maybe Brax just wanted to see how they worked separately. It could be that simple but he doubted it.
“Anyway, Vin’s not available,” Brax said. “He’s working on something else with Esme and my grandfather.”
And Jack hadn’t heard anything about it? That was fucking weird, but the look Vin sent him was a clear keep your trap shut so he didn’t say anything. He’d get an explanation from Vin later. Besides, if Brax was letting Vin work with his mate, he trusted him.
“Faine has lead on this. Run everything through him or Mason,” Brax said, and left the room. So did most of the others.
“We’re observing for the next twenty-four hours,” Faine said. “I want as much information as possible before we make a move.”
“If there’s a prisoner in there, we could be leaving him or her at risk. Stine knows we’re watching,” Jack said, playing devil’s advocate. He hated leaving anyone in danger.
Faine gave him a level look. “That’s possible. Or, because Stine knows we’re watching him, it could be a trap. However, if there was a prisoner in there, I’d expect on site guards twenty-four seven.”
Jack nodded. He’d already considered that.
“We should work on recruiting someone inside Stirling too,” Olivia said.
Jack agreed, and these people were smart. Someone had to be on that already.
“That’s someone else’s assignment,” Mason said, shutting down that conversation before it began.
“Well. Put in my place then,” Olivia said good naturedly, though Jack saw the frustration she hid from the others. “If we’re done here, Jane, Jamie, and I have a training session to get to.”
The meeting broke up and his mate hurried out the front door with Jane and Jamie. Before he could give into temptation and follow her, Vin stopped him.
“Chasing her at this point just reeks of desperation, man.”
“Shut up,” he replied good-naturedly. “What does Brax have you helping with?”
“Chasing down everyone associated with the original military study. I’m actually on my way out of town with one of Mason’s guys for a couple of days.”
During World War II, the military had put together a secret group to determine if telepaths and other people with mental abilities could be used effectively in the war effort. It was when the first members of the Elect first came together and figured out they were more than just a little different. They’d worked to sabotage the study and done their best to disappear afterwards. Unfortunately, three of the scientists involved with it had formed The Stirling Institute and passed their suspicions on to their children and grandchildren. Finding anyone else involved with the study had become a priority. Vin was good at finding people who didn’t want to be found, so it made sense for him to get that assignment.
“That why you felt the need to blab all about my past to Olivia?”
Vin grunted. “You weren’t getting it done and you need to settle this thing with her so we can stay.”
Jack still hadn’t decided if Vin had done him a favor or not, and didn’t get the chance to pursue it. Brad White, Mallory Littman’s oldest brother, came down the hall and chin nodded at them.
“Let’s roll, man,” he said. Vin followed him to the door.
“Don’t get us evicted while I’m gone,” he said over his shoulder and shut it behind him.
With nothing else to do until dinner or Olivia returned, he decided to get that talk with Zach and Esme over with.
