Page 1 of Scammed

CHAPTER ONE

“How are we all feeling?” asked Gaspar, staring at the senior team members of Gray Wolf Security. They were still reeling from the news of Matthew and Irene, and many weren’t sure what to think. Gaspar was included in that.

“Still spinning a bit, to be honest with you,” said Wilson. “I mean, we always knew your parents were special, but even this seems out there and unfathomable. No disrespect intended.”

“I know what you mean,” said Gaspar. “Believe me, it’s a shock to us as well, although in many ways it’s not a shock.”

“I have a question,” said Bull. They turned to stare at their friend. He was rubbing his jaw, unsure of how to ask his thoughts. “Well, I mean, we know your Pops is an angel, a what did he call it, a principality angel.”

“That’s what he said,” nodded Gabe.

“But, your Mama never said a word. She never told us where all her magic comes from. Your Pops said, ‘don’t discount her abilities,’ but no one said what those were. Aren’t y’all curious?” he asked.

“Damn, Bull. You had to go and put that thought into my head,” frowned Jean. “I was so taken aback by Pops I lost track of Mama.”

“You know what?” said Ghost. “They told us about Matthew when it was time, and I suspect they’ll tell us about Irene when it’s time. I know that we are all in good hands, being watched over. I can wait on this one.”

“Ghost is right,” smiled Baptiste. “Mama and Pops both are magical in their own ways and aren’t we fucking lucky that they’re ours? All of ours.”

The men all chuckled, nodding at their brother. Since their announcement, there seemed to be a calm, a peace with the men, yet they knew there were more secrets to come. More surprises that would leave them shocked once again. Some of their anxiety and curiosity had been settled and solved. They were okay and knew that they would always be okay thanks to Matthew and Irene.

“One thing we do have to talk about,” said Ian, grinning at Gaspar, “are the new residents at the petting zoo.”

The entire room erupted in laughter, Gaspar shaking his head as he flipped them all the bird. He’d lost that argument with his parents, his father assuring him that they weren’t preparing for an ark, just helping the animals most in need.

“Fuck all of you,” grinned Gaspar. “The giraffe is a beauty. Jura. They’re working on a problem with her hooves, but the team feels sure she’ll recover. The damn gorilla is acting like her mother and won’t let anyone near her unless she’s standing right behind you. I swear to hell that gorilla is human.”

“And the others?” grinned Ghost.

“Buddy and Bob are the two bison. I have to say, I was shocked at how amazing and beautiful they are. And fucking big. They have access to the air-conditioned stalls just in case it gets too hot here for them, but Lucy assures me that they once roamed this part of the world as well.

“Kala is the baby elephant, although I’m not sure anything weighing five hundred pounds is a baby. She’s a sweetie. And the tiger cubs, God help us all, Tabby and Taboo.”

“Tabby,” snorted Antoine.

“They’re just babies, rejected by their mama. They’re both a strange color, not quite white, not quite orange or yellow. Clair said it was highly unusual and could change, but it inhibits them from being camouflaged in the wild. We could be stuck with them.”

“The island looks good,” smiled Rafe. “The cages are enormous, and all look like the environment the animals came from. The giraffe and elephants can wander around, so can Semu. The tigers and bison will be kept behind fencing. The bridge has a secure gate on it, so they’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, they’ll all be fine until someone decides we need to rescue something else,” frowned Gaspar. He shook his head, realizing just how special this was. “I don’t know, y’all. I don’t have all the answers to all of this. A month ago, I thought I had two relatively normal parents with some odd quirks, and now I have an angel for a father and a mother who I still can’t figure out. We’re all old as dirt, yet still look like we’re in our fifties. I don’t want to question it, but it’s because I’m afraid of the answer. But I’m damn sure curious.”

“What does Mama always say,” smiled Miller, “all in good time, son. All in good time.”

“Yeah, that’s what she says,” grinned Gaspar. “Well, we’re four ghosts heavy now, but I really like them all. May had an interesting idea of maybe using them to help with the alleged ‘ghost network.’ I have no fucking clue what that means, but I can definitely use all the help they want to send us.”

“What do we have?” smiled Miller at his big brother.

“Teddy, Jake, and George are out helping one of the local senior centers with some repairs that were caused by vandals. We’re getting the tech team to install cameras, and we’re giving them a good security system. We think it’s just kids, but we’ll be sure.

“There are a few other small cases, nothing big right now, so we can take a breath. Conor has some teammates who will be joining us over the next few months, and it looks like Moose and Erica will be one big happy family.”

“What about the brother?” asked Nine. “I’m all for giving chances, but a former North Korean presidential guard. That’s risky.”

“It is risky, but Mama and Pops both said his ‘soul is good,’ whatever the hell that means. Gabi and Riley were both able to confirm that the device at the base of his neck was not only designed to kill him but to send subliminal messages to his brain. The G.R.I.P. team is looking at it now.”

“It’s pretty advanced,” said Doug. “Our comms devices that are implanted behind the ear have a similar working modality, in theory. We’re hearing you, you’re hearing us, but we’re not implanting thoughts into the actual brain. It’s something we’re looking at to decide if we want to pursue it for use in another capacity.”

“That’s fucking scary to me,” said Miller.

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