Page 38 of Expecting The Unexpected

Turning to Spencer, “How sure are you that the flash drives are in these locations?”

Spencer shrugged, “I can’t be positive, but my gut is telling me they are. I can’t explain it, but my intuition has never failed me before. I learned the hard way to listen and listen close.”

Hron turned to Groth, “I want my Viata guarded at all times. Men you trust, Groth.”

“Yes, Caliph. I’ll have Mennen with Petree every moment and it will be his head if anything happens to him.”

“My brothers and I can go as well,” Turq offered.

Shaking his head, Hron said, “No. I want you and your brothers on high alert here. I don’t want to be gone and find my clutch is under attack because I’m not here.”

“Peth, you’ll need to come as well. I not only want a doctor I can trust there, but you’re also a part of my inner circle. Nug, I don’t like asking you to do this, but it does give us a good reason to join you.”

Jory gasped, “But, you can’t let him. He’ll get into trouble, Caliph. You know how he is. He won’t mean to, but it will happen and who’s going to be there to get him out of it?”

Hron shook his head, “There will be no trouble for Nug to get into. All he’s going to do is visit with his brother and talk to him about joining our clutch.”

“He will! He gets these harebrained ideas and can’t help but do them without thinking it through, or he just says whatever is in his head, and the next thing you know he’s getting his butt kicked. He can’t help himself,” Jory argued emphatically.

Groth placed a gentle hand on Jory’s. “I’ll keep him safe, Itty Bitty. I promise.

“Jory, it will not be Nug going after that flash drive.” Hron stated.

Jory sniffled and stood, “I need to go. They need me in the kitchen.”

Groth and Nug both called to Jory, but he rushed out of the room, clearly upset. Nug slumped down, and Throg didn’t miss the misty eyes the little Nakaka had.

“I’ll go talk to him,” Caden said, standing up and leaving the room.

When the door quietly closed behind Caden, Hron said, “I think the best bet would be for Throg to go for it. If I remember correctly, Tumm had a bit of a crush on you. I think it would be easier for you to get what we’re after than anyone,” Hron stated.

Throg watched as Spencer went ramrod straight in his chair. He didn’t say anything, but it was clear the man was not happy about Hron’s suggestion. However, there was no other way around it. Hron was right. Tumm always did have a crush on him, and that meant he was the best bet at getting what they needed.

“What about me? Shouldn’t I go, so I can verify the drive when you get it?” Spencer asked.

Shaking his head, Hron said, “No. Throg will get the drive and bring it to you.”

“But he’ll notice it’s missing. If that happens, then the others involved would be on alert, and if those drives are in the bookend, necklace, or other places Spencer showed us, they would surely move them,” Turq said.

“I can get you some blank drives, or better yet, falsify information on the one I already have. This way, Throg can just switch out one for the other. I highly doubt if these guys go around looking at the thing on a daily basis. If we move quick enough it should work out.” Spencer said.

Groth asked, “How will be know this is the flash drive, and not something that’s just private and they don’t want anyone seeing it?”

Elijah snickered, “You mean like porn?”

Khall shook his head, “Pipit, this is serious.”

“So is porn. I’ll show you later,” Elijah said, without missing a beat, and the others couldn’t help but laugh... well, all but Mason, who just looked disgusted.

“Okay, Nestling is in two hours. Nug, will that give you time to contact your brother about coming for a visit?” Hron asked.

Nug nodded, and Hron said, “Okay, Groth, Throg, you have two hours to put together the go team. I’ll contact Caliph Redmen and let him know of our pending visit in two days’ time, if possible. I’ll explain that Nug is so excited about visiting his brother after so long, and apologize for the late notice.”

When Hron stood up with Petree by his side, everyone stood up as well. Spencer cleared his throat. “Hron, are you sure you don’t want me going as well? If they know I’m expecting, it will bring them hope for that as well. You know... knowing that the Nakaka will go on?”

“No!” Throg snapped unintentionally, but the fear he felt at the moment, for both his mate as well as their unborn chickpea, had him unnerved. He was already in danger here, where he more or less knew the people around him. “We don’t know shit about any of the people in that other clutch. Nug said his brother feels as if there might be another clutch attack. I don’t want you anywhere near that.”

Throg could see the stubbornness building in his mate, his typical sharp tongue ready to slice into him as it usually did. However, it was Petree’s calm voice that stopped Spencer, “Spenc, Throg’s right. We don’t know these Nakaka, or what danger they may present. I know you don’t like to be treated differently right now, but you have to think of that baby and its safety. Hron and the others are going to be stretched as it is trying to keep an eye on Nug as well as me. If they stretch themselves any more, someone could get hurt or killed.”