Logan wasn’t stupid, and it didn’t take him long to come to the same conclusion. “If Simon’s taken them without Baker’s approval, then there’s a good fucking chance he’s not going to let them go either, because he’d be in the shit if anyone found out.”
“Not if he can challenge Baker for leadership first,” Michael pointed out, but that was a long shot at best.
Logan’s bitter laughter filled the room. “Would you keep them alive after you’d got the information you wanted?”
No.
If it were Isaac, he’d dispose of them quickly and quietly. Keeping them alive for longer ran the risk of someone discovering them. He wasn’t about to say that, though, and thank fuck Michael didn’t either.
“We don’t know that he’s got everything he wants out of them. Your parents have been CEG for as long as I have. None of us have all the names of everyone involved, but we each know some. If Jacob hasn’t heard of anyone being picked up yet or even being investigated, then I’d hazard a guess it’s because Simon doesn’t know.”
He walked over to Logan and put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it in support. “Your parents are tough and they’re smart. They’ll both be aware that as long as Simon thinks they’re useful, he’ll keep them alive. In their position? I’d string out my information and feed him it in little bits if I could. They know what we’re planning. They know help is coming.”
Logan looked from Michael to Isaac, then back again. “Will it be in time, though?”
Michael straightened with a heavy sigh. “I really fucking hope so.”
Isaac knew he couldn’t promise Logan anything. They didn’t even have a plan of action yet, let alone a date for it, but seeing the look of despair in Logan’s eyes made him want to.
The mood in the kitchen had turned sombre and Isaac was keen to lift their spirits. They had a long day ahead of them and everyone needed their head in the game if they were going to make any progress.
Callum and Alice had brought up the laptop and whiteboard Michael had been using in the cave. Isaac picked up a pen and walked over to the board, capturing everyone’s attention.
“First things first—who wants coffee and who wants tea?”
That seemed to take them by surprise, most expecting him to dive into planning, and the tension eased as everyone gave their orders. Logan was the exception, but there was nothing anyone could do to lift his mood.
Isaac hoped he could put his worries to one side and concentrate on what they had to do, but he wasn’t about to push him. Not yet anyway.
With hot drink orders taken, Isaac handed the pen to Michael and set about making them. “As I see it,” he said over his shoulder, “we need to set up two initial meetings to get the ball rolling. One with the human members of the CEG and the other with the pack alphas we know we can trust.”
Michael wrote two headings on the whiteboard.
“They’ll be London pack alphas, right?” Smith asked.
“To start with,” Michael said. “There are others around the country, but it’s the council packs we need control of.”
“Will it be difficult for them to leave London at the moment? Do you think pack movements are being monitored in light of your escape with us?”
Smith made a good point. The London alphas didn’t often have cause to venture far outside their territory. “At this point I think it’s a risk we have to take.”
Michael nodded. “Agreed. We’ll check as far as we can what, if any, measures have been implemented as a result of my leaving, but we need to see those alphas in a face-to-face meeting. Like Isaac said before, if we’re going to trust that they’re one hundred per cent on board with this, we have to look them in the eye and hear it.”
“So where will the meeting be and how many alphas are you expecting? I’d assume any of the London alphas seen meeting together outside the council would raise eyebrows, no?” Logan this time, and Isaac smiled into his coffee.
No wonder Michael had a soft spot for him.
All the pain he must be feeling, all the worry about his parents, yet he’d apparently managed to put that to one side already to help them.
“Two of them meeting wouldn’t be a concern, but if we can get the ten or so we’re hoping for, then yes, the kind of meeting would undoubtedly be noticed, and it wouldn’t take a genius to know something was up.” Michael wrotePossible Placeson the board and underlined it. “Which is why, before we contact anyone, we need to come up with options for meeting ten London alphas and Goddess knows how many humans without drawing attention to ourselves.”
Isaac huffed as he handed out drinks.
Not a small fucking task, then.
He met Michael’s gaze, and the small smile he sent his way was everything.
They could do this.
