Buried and Shadowed (Branded Packs #3)(36)

Mira heaved a sigh, reaching up to brush a stray curl from her cheek. Over the past two weeks, she’d been at the mercy of the base’s commissary, which meant that she didn’t have her usual toiletries. Now, her hair was a mass of corkscrew curls that tumbled down her back, and a pair of green fatigues covered her curvaceous body.

“I warned you when you first-” She bit back the word ‘kidnapped.’ She was doing her best to make the men believe she was there of her own free will. “Insisted on me joining you here, that I only had a few threads that I was trying to follow.”

Markham abruptly straightened and stepped back. “We’ve wasted too much time on this shit.”

Mira’s heart missed a beat. Her biggest danger was the moment these men decided she was no longer of use. When that happened, she didn’t doubt for a second that they would kill her.

Thankfully, Donaldson wasn’t prepared to quit.

“If Dr. Lowman is still out there, we have to find him,” Donaldson said in clipped tones. “Or do you want to wake up to discover his face plastered on the TV stations?”

“He’s had twenty-five years to expose us,” Markham groused, unaware that he was giving away vital information to Mira. “Why would he do it now?”

“Don’t be an idiot,” Donaldson snapped. “We both know the animals have become emboldened over the past few months. Plus, that damned tiger had evidence of our cover-up,” he said, referring to Jonah Wilder, the Alpha of the Golden Pack. He’d recently revealed evidence that they’d traced the original outbreak of the Verona Virus to a human lab. And that there were suspicions that a defense contractor was attempting to create a weaponized form of the Ebola virus. “If he decides to share his information, then the good doctor might be afraid of changing public opinion. It would be in his best interest to come out as a whistle-blower rather than one of the creators of a worldwide plague.”

Markham made a sound of impatience. “Have you considered the possibility that he’s dead?”

“Until I know for sure, I’m not halting our search,” Donaldson warned.

Out of the corner of her eye, Mira watched as Markham puffed out his chest. The two men were involved in a constant power struggle. Good news for her. Their need to constantly try and outbluster one another meant that she could use their distraction to accomplish her secret goals.

“I have a division to run, you know,” Markham said, deliberately reminding the other man of his position.

Donaldson’s beefy hand landed on the glossy desk where Mira was working.

“We all have our own jobs,” he snapped.

“Yeah, but mine is to make sure the animals remain in the cages we built for them,” Markham reminded his companion. “Something that’s growing more difficult every day.”

Mira grimaced. One day, she was afraid they were going to actually pull out their dicks and measure them.

“Then go back to Boulder and let me deal with this,” Donaldson offered.

Markham gave a humorless laugh. “I don’t think so.”

“You don’t trust me?” Donaldson demanded.

“I don’t trust anyone,” Markham assured him.

“Fine. I’m going to get some dinner.” Donaldson crossed the carpeted floor of the office that was designed for maximum intimidation. Big, wooden furniture filled the space, including a desk that was bigger than Mira’s bed. Towering shelves crammed with pictures of explosions in mid-air, silos filled with missiles, and Donaldson standing in his flight suit next to a jet. There were also a dozen photos of shifters being held in the compounds around the world. A dark tribute to a man who valued war. “You can join me or stay here,” he said.

Markham released a harsh sigh. “I’m coming.”

The men had reached the door when Donaldson glanced over his shoulder to stab Mira with a warning glare.

“You.”

She conjured an expression of faux innocence. “Yes?”

“Don’t leave this computer until you’ve breached the security,” he commanded.

“Whatever,” she said in sullen tones.

Waiting until she could catch sight of them out of the window walking along the narrow pathway to the nearby mess-hall, Mira swiftly hacked into the security cameras that were placed around the room. A few taps on the keyboard and she had them on loop. Only a careful inspection would reveal that it was a five-minute feed that played over and over again.

Again she tapped on the keyboard, this time pulling up the background search she’d been running for the past two weeks.

When she’d logged on earlier, she’d noticed a tiny bell at the corner of the screen. That was her notification that she’d had a hit with her web crawler.

A sense of elation rushed through her.

Yes.

She, at last, had what she needed.

A name and an address.

Leaning forward, she blocked out everything but sorting through files as fast as possible. Bank accounts, apartment leases, employment records, birth certificates…

Lost in the world of data, she missed the soft sound of approaching footsteps. It wasn’t until a hand was placed over her mouth that she realized she was no longer alone.

“Ssh,” a familiar voice whispered in her ear as his fingers stifled her scream.