Page 30 of Wounded Fox
Aaron
"The threat is over."
I wasn't the only one who looked at Maverick like he had suddenly grown a second head—Owen and Lex did as well—but I was the one to speak up. "What do you mean, the threat is over? We still don't even know who the threat is, so how could it be over?”
"That's the official word according to Wes' contact. The threat has been neutralized and there's no need to worry about information leaked."
"Bullshit." Lex said exactly what we were all thinking.
"Are they even going to tell us who breached the system?" It would seem bureaucratic shit was even worse as a civilian.
"I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for it."
I was half tempted to laugh at Maverick's response but the sad part was what he was saying was true.
"So what are we supposed to do now? Just go back to our regular lives and hope what they say is true?"
There wasn't a chance in hell that was going to happen, even if my boss recommended it. The secure little bubble I thought we had here in Willow Creek was now burst based on what happened.
"No, we don't take what they say at face value. We adapt, we change, we find a new normal but at no point do we ever take what they say to be true."
I hated that he was right but it was better to be safe and prepared than to be caught off guard again.
Annalee's ear-piercing scream cut through any further conversation and sent all of us running from the office portion of the building straight toward the reception area.
Standing at her desk, Annalee was staring down in horror at a package that looked to be recently opened.
"What's wrong?" Owen approached his woman, then cursed when he saw what was inside the box. "Who the fuck would send something like that?"
Curiosity got the better of me as I approached the desk. Inside the box, lined with bubble wrap were two dead rats. "What the fuck?"
Maverick walked up next to me, and unlike Owen and me, he cursed under his breath so low that I barely caught all of the words he said.
"You expect me to believe the threat is over after getting something like this?" Owen practically bit our boss' head off.
"Terrorists don't send messages like this. They’re more direct. This is something else."
I had to agree with Maverick. Based off what I knew about the terrorists we handled during our last op, this wasn't their MO either. This was another threat. One a lot closer to home.
"Can we please forget about who sent it for a second and just get it off my desk?" Annalee's voice was much calmer than Iwould've expected considering how loud she had screamed when she initially found it.
"I got it." Lex reached for the box but Maverick stopped him with a hand on it. "We need to contact the sheriff and make a report."
"Great! So these dead animals are just going to sit on my desk for God knows how long?"
I felt bad for Annalee. She would probably never look at her desk the same or want to open another package that was delivered.
"You can go in the back and use one of the other computers in the meantime. We’ll stay out here."
"Thank you." Annalee gathered some of her stuff, and like the good man that he was, Owen followed her.
Maverick waited until the two of them were gone before he spoke again. "I'll call the sheriff,” he said, pulling out his phone, “and get the ball rolling, but this package wasn't meant for us."
I looked to where Maverick was pointing and cursed again. He was right; that wasn't our address. But it was someone's that I knew.
"Sophisticated Sheen." I wanted to run out of work and head straight for Valerie despite knowing Nolen was with her. "Why the hell would someone send two dead rats to Valerie?"
"Sheriff Andrews is on his way." Maverick put his phone back in his pocket. "Does she have any enemies we should know about?"
