Chasing Fate (Sentinel & Guide)

Chapter 15

  "Well shit."

Under normal circumstances Bess would have turned to glare at Sam and her potty mouth, but these particular circumstances were anything but normal. They'd radioed in the NOGS emergency squad, there were helicopters on standby as the number of police in the quarter-mile drive started to increase. They'd even brought out the hostage-negotiator, as much good as that'd do.

There was a bunch of hubbub in the background as the police set up a perimeter and kept the (blessedly still local) news crew at bay. This was a nightmare on so many levels, and she hadn't even had a chance to put in the emergency call to the National NOGS center.

She ran her hand through her short cropped crew cut and sighed for the fifth time in as many minutes. Just off the top of her head she currently had one of the highest sensitivity guides on record being held hostage by a senior alpha prime sentinel who she just learned was a celebrity ring fighter who looked like he'd come out on top in a duel with a grizzly. The media would have a field day when they got wind of this. She could see the headlines already, "NOGS excursion leads to hostage situation and death of innocent guide.What happened to safety and oversight?"

Add on to that the fact that Fate just so happened to live in a bunker that would put the president to shame. The place looked quaint like a rabbit hutch but despite the cute mosaics and snow-capped greenhouse, the inner sanctum was built by a paranoid prepper who layered three foot concrete over tires and steel walls, bullet proof glass and self-sustaining power systems. It would take a nuke to budge the front door, and all the Bent Valley PD had was a paltry battering ram. They wouldn't be getting in unless they were properly invited.

Even if they could pick the lock and break the chain they'd have to contend with a near-300 pound sentinel hopped up on bonding adrenaline and very likely to rip the throat out of anyone coming within ten yards of his guide.

"Uh, Boss?"

"What is it now!" Besssnapped before she could catch herself. She sighed, "Sorry Quintin, give me the news." She wasn't mad at him. He'd been a big help. Quintin had been running interference for her while she paced, knowing how she stressed over the guides under her care.

"Hunter and Karen from the resort are here and well... They have the other guy."

Bess had already covered her head and hoppedoutof the ambulance cabin by the time Quintin finished his sentence. She could see the bright orange four-wheeler parked neatly next to a cop car, with Hunter towering over a dark lump on the ground. Karen was out of sight, an obvious move when there was a known danger in the area. Hunter had a vicious look in his eye that Bess had never quite seen before.

He was a good sentinel, controlled and polite to guides and nulls alike. He had been bonded with Karen and were more than picture perfect. He was not the sortto lose control, but the way he was standing now looked like he was ready to put his fist through what was left of the other sentinel's face.

A null police officer stood between them while another officer, a sentinel herself, stood ready to step in if needed.

"Q, Get Sam and Nieves. That sentinel needs stabilizing. We'll follow protocol for high aggro." Bess immediately called out orders, going to step between HUnter and the sentinel herself.

"Alpha Hunter. We need you to stand down," she ordered, affecting her most powerful stance. Hunter stared her down, his sentinel senses in overdrive as he tried to get to teh perceived threat. Bess held her ground. At a hefty 200 lbs she wasn't easily pushed over. Not all of that weight was fat either, she grew up having to tussle with her sentinel brothers and their friends. Hunter she could take.

"Hunter, Stand down. We need you and Karen to diffuse this situation. The other sentinel has Fate"

That seemed to work. Hunter's attention snapped to Bess, "How?"

Behind her, Quintin and the team moved swiftly to get the hog tied sentinel into the back of the ambulance while Bess moved Hunter over to the pop-up canopy command center that the police had set up.

"I'm not quite sure, I've been keeping an eye on the house for any disturbances. Torres and Harley had a look around the area and are processing it now. It's a huge mess, kid. This stuff just doesn't happen these days."

They pushed through the flap into the hastily erected canopy. Karen immediately popped up from where she'd been standing,commisserating with Torres, the head guide of the entire county. The sheriff and Torres' long-time bond mate, an older sentinel named Harley sat nearby at a table pouring over a laptop and photos of the scene delivered from forensics. A few of the perimeter officers milled about taking refuge from the driving snow.

Even though he was pushing sixty with his hair more salt than pepper, Harley was still a man in his prime. Tall and broad like most sentinels, he seemed to take up the entire room when he stood. However Bess remembered Jackinher mind's eye,and now the size of the sentinel they had piled in anambulance for stabilization.

They were out oftheirdepth here and everyone knew it.

"Is there anything we can do?" Hunter frowned, stepping directly over to look over the files.

"'Fraid not, son," Harley gruffed, "Torres did a read and they're deep into bonding already. Even if we did manage a break-in and separation, the shock is almost guaranteed to kill the guide. She's had too much input if forensics is right about the fight."

Harley brought the pictures up on screen while Torres empathetically had Karen turn away. Hunter's face lost all color while Bess' pinked with rage. The snow made the events far clearer than normal. There was blood, broken trees, bits of fur and most damning, a large divot where there had been a one-sided struggle. One of the sentinels had tried to strangle Fate before the other pulled him off.

There was no way to know which one it was. For all they knew, Fate could be in a full fledged bond with her attempted murderer right now. Years of legislation had created pretty good protections for guides before they bonded but once the bond was established, it'd be impossible for her to even file charges without jumping through endless hoops.

There was always that old adage,"The bond chooses better than the brain." Coupled with the fact that guides that were ripped from a true bond tended to die horrifically, the court liked to err on the side of "try to work it out"

"I thought we left this shit in the sixties" Bess muttered under her breath.

"We at least need to make sure she's okay," Karen whispered, running to Hunter for comfort.

"What do you suggest?" Torres sat down beside Harley to help him focus.

"I have an idea."