Rogue Alliance (4 page)

             
“Exactly. There is a reason why no one ever sees Champlain. He’s like a myth or something. It’s because he has so many people, guys like Frank the Crank, working under him. You have to go through layers and layers of contacts before you get to the source. I’ve suspected that this little gang I’ve been trying to bust is getting their goods from the big daddy himself. My guy is possibly on the very bottom of a very tall totem pole, dealing on the east side of town.”

             
“I interrogated him yesterday, after the bust. But he wasn’t cooperating. He’s tired and stressed out now. I want to go down there again and…”

             
“Wait, wait, wait
. Damn, Shyla,
I c
an’t even get a word in edgeways
. This guy could possibly- just maybe- have a connection, a possible lead. But we both know it’s not going to get us real far. Victor Champlain is practically untouchable at this point. To bring him down, we are going to have to have some serious goods.
”

             
He sighed and leaned back in his chair.

             
“This case is getting complicated and attracting more media. The state
has been causing a ruckus, claiming that we haven’t done enough
to get it under control
. The agency
has decided that we need to amp up our efforts to nail him
before it gets political
. And as of very recently, there have been some changes; changes which require a new approach.

             
“
I’m putting you as the lead. I know you know that case as well as anyone else. And given the nature of some of these changes, I’m convinced you’re the best person for the job.”

             
It was
exactly the
opportunity that Shyla had been waiting for
- head detective on a high profile case. The Champlain case was perfect. Victor Champlain was an up and coming star in the world of drug lords. He had bee
n no one in particular as a boy,
b
ut in his late teens he made a few key alliances when he befriended and won the trust of one of the biggest Los Angeles mafia bosses this side of the Mississippi. Apparently, he was a fast learner and highly ambitious, because over the course of the next few years, he worked his way up to multi-millionaire status. His dirty hands were in many pots ranging from black market gun dealing, to the porn industry. But his favorite and most lucrative exploits were in the illustrious and dangerous industry of dealing cocaine.

             
Recently, he’d acquired the fame that came with such quantities of money and power. Links to other crime in the city had been discovered, not just a few of them homicide. Of course
,
most of the bodies were of other known criminals and never provided any direct evidence linking Victor specifically. A man with his resources would have many thugs under him to do the dirty work. Still, the State of California had him in their sites as a top priority and keeping careful watch on his seedy activities.
To be assigned this case
would be a definite promotion.

             
“Yes, Sir. I’d be
glad to,” Shyla answered
,
containing her enthusiasm.

             
“Great. The department will cover the costs of your move…”

             
“My move?”
she interrupted,

             
“Yeah. Didn’t you hear? Champlain moved to Redding this past month. It’s one of the big changes. They say he visited a friend up at Shasta Lake and fell in love with the area, the privacy. He bought a huge property just outside of town at
the bottom of the mountain and
does a great deal of his work from there now. Still flies his plane down the coast and hits L.A., San Fran., and San Diego, doing business. But his base i
s there now. And wherever he is,
trouble will follow. Th
e Redding Police Department has
no clue what they’re
dealing with. They’re going to need you.”

             
Shit. Redding fucking
California. Her home town. She hated that place. Now in order to score the case of a lifetime, she had to move back. The offer was both intriguing and repulsive. What the hell type of sick and twisted fate was this?

             
“You okay, Ericson? I thought you’d be happy about this.”

             
She was. Kind of. It was just that she hadn’t ever thought she’d step foot back in that town.

             
“Um, yeah. I am. What’s the Redding force think about me coming down there?”

             
“Are you kidding me? People down there
are getting
antsy now that they’re aware
who their newest resident is. Redding PD is stoked to have one of us on the case. A little territorial maybe but that’s to be expected.
Besides, they don’t have much of a choice.
And with you being born and raised there, you already have an in. You’re one of them. It’s exactly why I knew you were perfect
for the job
. They’ll be a lot more likel
y to accept a native
.”

             
“I wouldn’t b
e so sure of that,
”
Shyla said, cringing at the idea of what the town’s response would really be.

             
Straton met her wary eyes.

             
“Hey. I k
now you had a tough childhood, b
ut no one holds that against you. You’ve come a long way. They need you up there in Shasta County and they know it. They’ll cooperate.
And Champlain doesn’t know you -
y
ou’re fresh meat. You can go in under cover. Get in from the inside. You’ve done plenty of successful under cover jobs. You can handle this.”

             
“How in the hell am I going to pu
ll off under cover when half
the town knows me?”

             
Straton gave a devilish smile.

             
“Easy. You’re going in as an administrative assistant to the Chief.
You’re moving back home. Lots of people do.
”

             
“You m
ean I’m going to be a secretary,” Shyla scoffed, “
Filing. Gett
ing coffee. Pulling my hair out.
”

             
Straton ignored her sarcasm and rifled throu
gh the stack of paperwork on his
desk. He handed her a file.

             
“You’re going in as the Chief’s assistant so t
hat you can be close to headquarters
without it looking suspicious.
Everyone knows that the assistant knows more than anyone else in a police department.
You haven’t talked with anyone in the town
in years, right
? No one knows you are a detective
?”

             
“Not a chance.
”

             
That was the
one thing she had going for her.
The Captain said that he knew she’d had a rough childhood, but he had no idea how rough. No one
outside of Redding
did.
The first thing she’d done to step away from that life was change her
last
name
. A
t age eighteen
she went from Shyla Strauss to Shyla Ericson
and had her juvenile records
sealed.

             
“Good,” he said,
“
I seriously doubt
most
will even remember you. Fifteen
years is a long time. Now the only people
who will know your position will be your team and the chief. Even the rest of their agency won’t have a clue. Got it? You will head an interagency task force made up of about three. That’s including you.”

             
“Three, huh? So much for sleeping and eating,” Shyla quipped. Not much of a task force, she thought.

             
“Hey, budget’s tight. We’ll still have a team here, keeping an eye on his minions and their activi
ties here. You still work for F.A.N.C
.
,
but you’ll mostly be answering to H
al Jorgenson, Chief of Police in
Redding. You will also cooperate with th
e State and County if
they get involved. You are the liaison, the go-to gal for this case. We can’t send anyone else up there but the RPD will relinquish two of their officers to join your team.”

             
Shyla
couldn’t hold her tongue on that one.

             
“What? I’m n
ot even going to have Johnson
with me? At first I
thought I was getting a
promotion here, but now it looks like I’m getting some sort of twisted punishment. What the hell is going on?”

             
Straton kept his voice calm, but Shyla detected his underlying frustration.

             
“This is
a promotion,” he said,
“
a damn good one. And you aren’t getting punished. You are the one for this job, but we can’t give up anymore of our own. We need them here. And we need you there.
Besides, Johnson has no interest in going down there. It’s time you two split ways.
”

             
She ignored the comment about Johnson. She had assumed he would try to rid himself of her soon.

             
“I’m going to have to babysit a couple of country bumpkin cops who don’t know their ass from a hole in the ground. Great! Might as well send me alone, I’d probably get more done.”

             
“Shyla,” he warned.

             
“What? You know I’m right. They probably don’t know jack about this case or how to deal with someone like Champlain. What the hell am I supposed to do with them?”

             
“You
’re the lead detective. Lead.” the look on Eli’s
face hardened. His tone indicated that the conversation was over.

             
“Yes, Sir,
”
she said, knowing better than to push him any further.

             
With a lead weight in her gut
,
s
he accepted the case. She wanted it and had a lot to do to prepa
re. The hours would be brutal, but t
hat she could handle. The fact that she had to move back to her hometown was just a minor nuisance, she told herself. There would be questions. There would be small-town gossip and meddling. That too she
could handle. S
he hoped.

FOUR

             
T
he feeding frenzy had
rejuvenated Brennan’s
system. H
is chest swelled with vitality and life. Strength, powerful and intoxic
ating, flowed through his veins and he
was nearly drunk from it. He flexed his muscles.

“Jesus Christ. I’ve never seen anything li
ke that,” Champlain said,
standing up against the wall with a look of horror and fascination.

“I haven’t been in any other places in the facility. I know this area and where I’m kept. You said you’d get me out. So do it.”

Brennan was ready to end this chapter of his life and see the light of day. He didn’t remember much about
life out in the real world, but
the feel of the sun o
n his skin and breeze on his face
was something he never forgot. He craved it almost as much as he craved his supplement.

Champlain snapped into action.

             
“
Right. The facility
is small and there aren’t many employees on site. The government must not want many people to know about this place. We should be able
to go out the way I came in. We
only have to pass through one guard at the door and then one out at the compound fence. I need to get my gun from the door guard. He confiscated it.”

             
Brennan only nodded.
He looked down at his shirt; i
t was covered in Shinto’s blood. He
pulled it over his head and
fought the urge to cringe. Now that his need had been satisfied, his conscience rose to the surface. He hated the way it changed him. Whatever he had been
,
before they’d brought him to the institute, was gone. Now he was a monster.