Tares City

84. Hostile Takeover

Quinn Brooks sped away from the airfield, checking over her shoulder to ensure neither of them was behind her. Things had not gone the way she planned, but it wasn't all for nothing. The tracking device was secured on the plane, hidden. A scowl was on her face as she thought about the events. Arrow Berlin was perhaps one of the biggest hypocrites she'd ever come across. A Lycan hunter, head of an organization, working closely with not one but two Lycans. 

They had Vanessa at her organization, being interrogated since the moment she arrived, but Quinn didn't think there'd be another. Though, why stop at one? No wonder her organization is the mess it is, Quinn thought. Arrow Berlin should not call herself a hunter, a despicable shame to the job. A disgrace was what she was. Quinn decided then and there that the Berlin Organization did not deserve to stand. Arrow Berlin did not deserve to lead people when she wasn't even true to their cause, their ethics, or their code. 

Her phone begins ringing as she maintains her speed, heading back to her organization. Grabbing it, she answers the call and puts it on speaker. "Brooks here." She answered. "Brooks, it's me, Bennet. Shit Quinn, you're not going to believe this! Where are you now?" 

"About ten minutes away. Why, what is it?" Quinn replies. 

"Hurry back, you have to hear it yourself." Bennet says to her, piquing her curiosity. 

 ~

 At her organization's headquarters, Quinn heads to the IT where Bennet had said to meet him. "Listen." He says, holding out a pair of earphones to her the minute she walks into the room. Placing the headphones on, she nods at him to play, listening carefully to the audio. "Holy shit!" She rises, pulling the headphones off her ears, looking wide-eyed at Bennet. 

"Your comm fell out, and no one knew. Their entire conversation!" 

"Arrow Berlin is a Lycan." Quin mumbles as she tries to process the information. Working with them was one thing, but actually, being one was crazy. 

"And a cure exists?" Bennet says, his voice excited and disbelieving. 

"It has to be true. Rockwell has that kind of reach around him, and he's connected to L-XV so it adds up". Quinn responds in thought. 

"So you think is legit?" 

"Yeah, it has to be." 

"I never thought that was possible." 

"Yeah, me neither." Quinn answers. "Look, I want you to sit on this and keep it to yourself. I have to talk to Josh first. This is big, and it opens up so many avenues for us. I need to see how he wants to do things." 

"Got you." Bennet nods. 

Quinn exited the room, heading to her private office located on the top floor of the building. She shared the floor with the Kennedy siblings, each having their own office. Pulling out her phone, she dials Josh, anxiously waiting for him to answer. "Quinn, what's up?" Josh answers on the second ring. 

"I have a massive update. Can you speak now? I need your full attention." Quinn says to him. 

"Yeah I can speak. Just dropped Milky off with her dad, I'm heading back to Clearmeadow now." Josh says. "Have you got my break-in situations under control?" He asks. 

"I've sent out teams. I had to use the new beta teams as the majority of the others were already on high profiles. Side note on them, I don't think they're cut out for this. Showed no respect."

 "Hm, Iet Jerald know, he'll deal with them accordingly."

 "How's the Clearmeadow business?" Quinn asks. 

"Quinn." He says with a sigh, a slight warning in his tone. 

"I know, I know. Forget I mentioned then...Just be careful." Quinn says, dismissing the topic.

 "What is the update?" Josh asks. 

"Arrow Berlin is a Lycan." "WHAT? IMPOSSIBLE!" 

"Nope, it's true. Heard it from her." 

"How? She would never admit something like that..." 

"She didn't know anyone was listening. My comm picked it up. It fell out during the scuffle." 

"Scuffle? Are you alright?" Josh asks fiercely. 

"Yeah, I'm good. I got out." Quinn answers softly. 

"Tell me what happened." 

Quinn went into detail about the encounter, replaying to him the conversation they had on recording. "The plane is being tracked, but where specifically she's going, we don't know." 

"Double down on her Lycan informant. She must know something. Find this Nicholas, too. He didn't go with her to find him and get the information out of him. Do whatever you have to on those two." 

"Consider it done." Quinn answers. "Also I think now is the perfect time to become the only hunting organization in Tares." 

"I'm listening." 

"A takeover. We should destroy the organization and remove every trace of it from this city." 

"Do it. Take the employee in as well. Question them and then offer them a spot if they seem fit. Take their resources as well, everything of use to use...there's no one to stop it." Josh states. 

"Consider it done." 

"Detective Straken is also another good lead." 

"Do what you have to." 

"Also...are we keeping this a secret?" Quinn asks him. 

"No. Destroy her and everything she built. Run it all through the mud. Expose her." 

"Done." "You're on this, Quinn. I'm leaving it to you." He says to her. 

"You know I'll deliver." 

"Never doubted it." 

"When will you be back?" She asks tentatively. 

"When I'm able to settle things down here. Axel isn't answering, I've sent Phelps, but he hasn't gotten back to me, and enough time has passed." 

"Is she really worth the trouble, Josh?" Quinn asks hesitantly, nervous of upsetting him. 

"You think I'd be doing all this if I didn't think so?" 

"I just don't want this to get out of hand, and you get yourself in a bad situation." Quinn tells him. 

"Worried about me?" Josh teases. "It'll be fine, Quinn, don't worry. Nothing is going to happen. My plans will work. I'll call you later. Go get started on this. We need to find Berlin and Rockwell... before they find each other."