The Baby Shift- Wisconsin

  The Baby Shift: Wisconsin

  Shifter Babies Of America 36

  Becca Fanning

  Copyright © 2019 by Becca Fanning

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Also by Becca Fanning

  Chapter 1

  “You know I would not ask you to do this if it wasn’t important, don’t you?”

  “Yes, Sergio. I know,” Kean said in reply as he placed the gun the older man had handed to him in the back of his trousers.

  Sergio's eyes were the color of gold, bright and alert as ever. Despite the fact that he was almost fifty years old, he still gave off an air of immense strength and vibrancy. This was the first time Kean was seeing his mentor and guardian in two months.

  Kean said, “This meeting. Why does the Boon need it to hold here? You have many houses suitable for receiving guests. This hotel may be prestigious has too many prying eyes.”

  Sergio smiled, flashing a set of white teeth that blended nicely with his white hair. "The ways of the Boon will always elude you, Kean, until you learn to see the bigger picture."

  Kean and Sergio were walking up a flight of stairs towards one of the suites in the Crystal Royale hotel, a five-star establishment that hosted some of the most influential individuals in Wisconsin. As the Council leader of shifter affairs in the state, Sergio Milosevic was more than worthy of holding a meeting there and Kean Grayson relished the opportunity to stand beside his mentor as an escort. From what he could gather from the little Sergio had told him, this meeting was a big deal for the secret shifter cult they both belonged to, the Boon.

  Sergio continued as they walked through a large hallway, “the man I’m about to meet is just as influential as I am, but he cannot risk being seen anywhere close to our establishment.”

  "I don't understand," Kean said as his mind whirled in confusion.

  “You will soon enough.”

  “You are still not going to tell me what the meet is about?” he asked.

  "No. It's nothing more than a simple exchange. Vital, but simple, nonetheless. That's why I need you by my side today, and of course, that's why I made you carry a gun."

  Kean nodded. Indeed, it had to be important. All the years Sergio had spent mentoring Kean, he had never insisted he carry a gun, preferring his ward to trust more on his werebear abilities than anything else. Giving Kean a gun could only mean one thing - shit could get bad really fast.

  They soon entered a room, and the first thing Kean noticed about the new environment was the large glass window spanning the entire width of the room from the floor to the ceiling. They were over twelve stories high, so he had a great view of the busy streets of San Madura. Amplified by the darkness of the night, various lights shone from every area - some bright and stationary, and others faint and mobile.

  “Our associate will be with us anytime soon,” Sergio said and took a seat on one of the four expensive-looking couches in the room.

  As if on cue, the door suddenly opened behind them, and two men walked in dressed in blue suits. Kean recognized one of them. He felt his breath catch in his throat. The two men approached where Sergio sat with him standing beside him. The man leading the way was none other than Dr. Fitzpatrick Nolan, lead scientist of the anti-shifter serum research facility based in Arkansas. The center had been working on a serum to eliminate the gene made some humans and their offspring shifters. There was a widespread protest by the shifter population against this, but the government allowed the research to continue undisturbed. Fitzpatrick was a known hater of the United States' shifter population and the last person Kean would expect to fraternize or meet with a prominent member of a secret shifter cult.

  “It’s been so long my friend,” Sergio said, rising to hug the scientist.

  Fitzpatrick hugged him back. "I know, brother. But we all have different roles to play for the good of the Boon. Nevertheless, it's great to see you." He was in his late fifties and wore a pair of spectacles, yet, he kept squinting like he had trouble seeing. Beside him stood a burly man who from his quiet demeanor, Kean assumed must be the doctor's escort. The man was holding a large briefcase that seemed quite heavy, even for him.

  Sergio and Fitzpatrick took a seat beside each other. Kean and the other escort stepped out of earshot so as to give the men some privacy. He stood there for the next few minutes, wondering what the two men were talking about but not daring to take a step forward.

  Fitzpatrick suddenly raised his hand and beckoned to his man. The latter walked forward and handed him the briefcase before returning to his initial position. Kean could not see what was in the briefcase from where he stood, but he heard a click as Fitzpatrick appeared to open it. They were staring at something inside it, mumbling inaudible words to each other.

  Perhaps it was his intense interest in what the men were doing, but Kean did not notice the impending danger until it was too late. The large window in front of where the two men sat burst inward and shattered into pieces as three men dressed in black broke into the room using ropes attached to the outer walls of the building.

  “FBI! Do not move!” One of the men yelled, pointing a weapon at Sergio who was holding something in his hands.

  Kean instinctively braced himself to shift. The bear within him was roaring already and ready to be let loose on the intruders. But before he could let himself go, Sergio shot out of his seat, spun around and threw a large object towards him. Kean caught it, and in a split second, their eyes met.

  “Go!” Sergio yelled. It wasn’t so much because of the word as it was the urgency in Sergio’s eyes, but Kean felt everything come into place. Sergio had foreseen the possibility of an FBI raid. He had given Kean the gun because he needed him in his human form. He needed him to take this object away. Apparently, it was that important to the plans of the Boon.

  The object was a black box that was as wide as his torso. It was also heavy, and from the look of it, it had to be some sort of electrical equipment. Whatever, it was, Sergio needed him to keep it safe.

  All these happened in a matter of seconds. Kean tightened his grip on the box, turned and ran for the exit. The other three men dived for the agents. Sergio shifted into a large grey bear in an instant and simultaneously dodged a bullet shot at him by one of the agents. Fitzpatrick went down on his knees and raised his hands. His escort drew out a gun and began to rain bullets on the agents who in turn fired back at him.

  As a bullet flew past him, Kean bent his head low and kicked open the door. As much as the bear in him yearned to be let out, he was way too loyal to Sergio and the Boon to ruin their plans, whatever it was. So, he ran out of the room through the door and left his brothers to do battle with the enemy. If there was one thing the Boon stood for, it was sacrifice, and he was ready to do whatever it took for the greater good.

  Lara Donatello yawned. She could not remember the last time she felt so weary. Her shift had only just ended a few minutes ago, and she was doing her best to drag herself to the parking lot of the Crystal Royale hotel.

  As Lara entered into her blue BMW, her thoughts were of how soon her job application at the city library could be accepted so she could leave her waitress gig at the hotel’s restaurant.

  “Bloody Finch Goldman,” she said as she turned the key in the ignition and brought the beat-up car roaring to life. “If I hear him scream orders at me one last time, I swear to God, I’m going to kick him in the balls, and then I’m going to quit.”

  She was about to step on the pedal when the corner of her left eye picked up movement just outside the car. A cold shiver traced a path from the top of her spine down to the lowest point of her back. She turned.

  "I would advise you not to scream," a voice said as soon as she saw the terrifying sight of a hand holding a gun to her window. Its barrel was pointing directly at her forehead. She glanced up to see a man, blonde and as large as any she had ever seen, staring down at her with a warning expression on his face.

  “I don’t have any cash,” she said, trying hard not to accidentally step on the gas in her anxiety.

  “I have no interest in your money, ma’am. Get out of the car,” he said coldly. His eyes kept falling on the door leading into the hotel as if there was something or someone scary within.

  Oh shit. He wants my car, she thought to herself. He took a step back, still pointing his gun as Lara opened the car door and stepped out.

  When she was out in the open once more, he shocked her by saying, “get in the backseat, ma’am.”

  Lara almost made a run for it then. There was every chance that this man did not want either her car or her money but something very different. The idea terrified her. She noticed he held a weird-looking black box in his left hand. She realized there was no telling what kind of sick and perverted tools he had within that box.

  “Are you going to give me trouble?” he said with more urgency. He was obviously pressed for time.

  She opened the door and entered into the backseat of the BMW, bracing herself for the worst. To her surprise, he entered into the driver’s seat instead. Almost immediately, the car be
gan to move. He drove them slowly out of the parking lot and into the nearly empty streets of the San Madura night.

  They had only just driven a few yards down the street when a car appeared from seemingly nowhere and shot past the hotel, heading in their direction at blinding pace.

  “Oh shit!” the stranger exclaimed as he noticed the pursuing vehicle.

  “What the hell is going on here!” Lara yelled.

  "Shut up and hold this, ma'am," the man said and tossed the box as carefully as he could towards her. She involuntarily grabbed the heavy object and held on to it while sitting at the backseat.

  The big blonde man increased the speed of the BMW and drove them through the streets. The vehicle behind them only came at them at an even faster pace. It was soon right behind them. He swerved into the street by the right, but the other driver's reflexes were just as fast. The pursuing vehicle spun into the street too and continued to close the gap between both vehicles.

  “That’s a Ferrari,” Lara said. There’s no way you could...”

  Midway through her sentence, there was a sudden crash as the Ferrari smashed into the boot of their BMW causing a jolt that was so intense, her blonde captor’s head struck the glass windshield, and she hit the back of the front seat, dropping the black box she was holding. It fell to the car floor, and she heard a loud crack as the lock broke. It swung open, and while she tried to right herself, she caught a glimpse of what was inside. Lara nearly passed out from shock.

  Sleeping soundly in a transparent pod was a little baby. Despite the turbulence that just occurred, the child did not so much as open an eyelid. Lara would have thought it dead if not for the heaving of its small chest. Nevertheless, the discovery was so shocking that a scream escaped her lips.

  “What the hell, woman! Keep it down I’m trying to think!” the man yelled at her as he managed to steady the car and continue in his attempt to evade the car which was only inches behind theirs.

  “You, bastard! Why are you doing this to us? He’s just a little baby!” she yelled, picking up the infant while it still lay in the pod.

  He took his gaze off the road to glance at her. Amid the small trickle of blood from a cut on his forehead, she noticed the look of confusion on his face.

  “What are you yapping abo...” his words appeared to get stuck in his throat as he noticed the child in the pod she was holding protectively. “What’s that?”

  “It’s the baby you are trying to steal, you scumbag.”

  He seemed to be having a hard time alternating his gaze between the road and the baby. “I did not steal any baby. Now tell me where it came from.”

  “The box you handed to me,” she said. There was another jolt as the Ferrari behind them struck their vehicle again. This time she held on tight to the child and stopped him from falling out of her grasp once again. She did not catch his reaction to her last sentence.

  When she looked up, he was fully concentrating on the road once more. He swerved the car into another street. The vehicle behind them made to follow suit. In that instant, the man turned around once more, and this time, he held a gun in his hand, pointing directly at her forehead.

  This is it, she thought. He’s going to shoot me for being a potential witness of his kidnapping.

  “Get down,” he ordered.

  She only allowed herself to be surprised for a second. The next instant, she ducked low and held the baby tight. There were three gunshots. She heard them explode just above her head, and for a moment, she thought she would be deafened for sure. However, she still heard the screeching of a car running out of control and then a loud crash behind them.

  When Lara finally summoned the courage to raise her head, the blonde stranger was backing her once more and paying full attention to the road. She turned her head around. The Ferrari was no longer driving after them. It could not. It was meters away, and she could only see half of it as the other half had crumbled into the side of a building.

  Chapter 2

  “You expect me to believe you carried a baby all the way from the twelfth floor into my car, and you didn’t even know it?”

  Kean stares at the woman in front of him. They were in a deserted alley where he had parked the car and ordered her out of it so he could clear his head in the open air. She had cut the plastic pod open to free up the baby who turned out to be male and instantly came awake the second he was exposed to open air. Now she held him with her back to Kean as if protecting the little boy from the monster that kidnapped them.

  “I’m going to need you to calm down, ma’am,” Kean said. And he meant it. Her voice was making it all the more difficult for his jumbled thoughts to settle. Did Sergio know what or who was in the box? Did the Boon truly kidnap a helpless infant as a part of their “grand plan?”

  He needed to know the answer to these questions. So, he took out his cellphone from his pocket and dialed Sergio’s number. Judging from the seemingly hopeless battle between his mentor and the FBI which he left behind, anyone who didn’t grow up hearing stories of Sergio the Grey Bear’s ruthlessness would think it stupid to call the phone of a man most likely already in police custody. Kean, however, held on to the small chance that his mentor somehow managed to get away.

  “Kean?” a voice said from the other end of the phone.

  Kean let out a sigh of relief. Sergio never ceased to amaze him. He asked, "how did you manage to get away from the Feds?"

  “Never mind that. Did you get away with the other item?” Sergio said.

  “Item?” Kean asked, anger rising from deep within him. “You call a baby boy no older than a month an item? What’s happening here?”

  There was a pause on the other end of the line and then Kean heard him sigh deeply. “I really wish you didn’t open the box, Kean,” Sergio said.

  “Well, I did, and I have questions.”

  “And you will. But now is not the time. I need you to bring him to the Front Bridge safe house as soon as you can. His importance to the Boon cannot be overestimated.”

  “At least tell me whose child this is,” Kean said.

  “Do as you have been told, Kean. Ask questions later,” Sergio said, then hung up.

  Kean sighed. He could tell something wasn’t right. When he turned around, he saw Lara staring at him blankly.

  “You are taking him to them, ain’t you? Those people you work for,” she said.

  “Work with,” Kean corrected, but he felt a seed of doubt grow as he thought about it.

  “This is a baby we are talking about here. You should take him to the police.”

  “I have responsibilities to fulfill.”

  “Good ones?” she asked.

  “Yes,” he replied.

  She shook her head and said, “kidnapping a baby. Nothing good could ever come out of that, and deep down, you know it.”

  “Remember what we talked about. Don’t let the child out of your sight until the Feds arrive. As much as I hate them, they are the only ones who can protect him from the people I work with,” Kean said with one hand on the steering wheel while the other placed gently on her shoulder. They were in front of the police precinct.

  “Surely they wouldn’t attack a police station,” she said.

  “They risked a lot to make this exchange. Yes, I think they can attack a police precinct if they have to.”

  Lara felt her heart stop for a second and then restart once again. What was she getting herself into? This wasn't her fight. She was nothing more than a frustrated waitress.

  "Okay, "she said. Holding the baby in her arms, she stepped out of the car and kicked the door closed from the outside. She leaned in through the window and said to him, "you made the right choice."

  “I hope so,” he said in a sad tone.

  “Goodbye,” she said.

  “Goodbye.” She watched him drive the car off into the night. Then she turned and walked towards the entrance of the precinct.

  The bald officer who attended to her did not seem particularly convinced by her story. Nevertheless, he was professional enough to ask her to take down a written statement while he reported the issue to his superiors.