The Alpha's Stolen Luna - Chapter 199: Chapter 199

: Lucas
We arrived at the cabin with enough time for Ned and Max to do a security sweep of the area. This was one of our various safe houses we had throughout the territory, so it was regularly checked and maintained. However, I was more than willing to take the extra precautions to keep this meeting secret.
We met the helicopter at the field to greet Swift. He was taller than I expected but looked older in person. Humans age faster than lycans, so it was hard to determine what age he was. We made our customary greetings before heading back to the cabin.
“Before we proceed, I’d like to know what you plan on doing with the information I give you?” Swift said once we were safe inside. “I have a lot of connections in this industry. If this weapon leads back to one of them, they won’t be too happy if they find out I pointed you in their direction.”
“Your name never needs to come up,” I said. “We have more to lose should knowledge of this meeting get out. We won’t take that risk. So, as long as you keep your mouth shut, you have nothing to worry about. Unless it’s turning on a potential friend that you’re more concerned about.”
Swift shook his head. “No, dealing with the lycans is off limits. It’s a cardinal rule in both legitimate and underground sources. Breaking that rule isn’t something I can look the other way on.”
“Good,” I said. “For that, I will do whatever I can to keep the fallout from this away from human territory.”
Swift nodded his acknowledgement. With that topic out of the way, I took my phone out of my pocket to call Hunter.
“I have someone who needs to know what we find here,” I told Swift. “He can’t be here in person but he’s on a secure line.”
“Just don’t give him my name,” Swift replied.
“Done.”
We connected with Hunter as I led Swift to a lockbox on the kitchen table and opened it for him. He casually looked it over before removing it from the box. With clear skill, he began to take the weapon apart. Once he had the parts laid out on the table, he removed a backpack from his shoulder and pulled out a container. Using a magnifying scope and a few different lights, he thoroughly looked each part over. His expression becoming more serious with each piece.
“Well… this is… not what I expected,” he finally said curiously. “I can tell you that this didn’t come from anyone that I know.”
“How can you tell?” Jaden asked.
“Every gun is manufactured with identifying markers,” Ned explained. “Primarily a serial number but there are also additional engravings. Your legal firearms will have the manufacturer’s logo.”
“What about illegal firearms?” Max pressed.
“Traffickers have their own tags,” he stated. “Although they aren’t as easy to spot as you can imagine. You would need to know where to look and what to look for.”
“But you didn’t find any indicators?”
Swift shook his head.
“So, we’re at a complete dead end?” I remarked, keeping my frustration in check.
“Actually…” Swift continued, “maybe not. Truth is, handguns like these are common enough. Even if there was a marker, I couldn’t confidently tell you it made it into pack lands because of that dealer. It could have passed through several other hands first. If it was a rifle or an automatic, that would be another story.”
“And how is this not a dead end?” I pressed.
“This doesn’t even have a serial number,” Swift stated. “No manufacturer’s logo. No trafficker tag. Nothing. There’s not a single identifier on this piece. Nor any evidence that there ever was.”
“What do you mean ‘no evidence’?” Jaden asked.
“There aren’t really any underground manufacturers, per se,” Swift explained. “All weapons are basically made legally. Which means they all have at least a serial number. Traffickers will remove those serial numbers, for obvious reasons. However, it’s not foolproof. The etching is obvious and there is a way to chemically reverse the damage to reveal the numbers.” He held up the hand of the gun. “This gun — has none of that.”
“What does that mean for us?” I asked, resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of my nose as a headache started to come on.
“It means this wasn’t made in human territory,” Ned commented.
A knot formed in the pit of my stomach at the implication. If there was any legitimacy to them, things just got a whole lot more complicated. And even more dangerous.
“Hunter, are you getting this?” I asked through the phone line.
“Yep,” he said slowly.
“And…?”
“And this is more of a lead than we thought,” he replied.
“Hold on…” Jaden said incredulously. “Are we thinking that the Dawn Stalkers are manufacturing guns? How would that even be possible? There’s no way he could manage to keep that from the Council.”
“He has half the Royal Council in his pocket,” I snapped. “All he would need is a large enough bribe for the necessary Council members to look the other way on a new project. They may not even know what he’s truly up to.”
“Okay, let’s back up,” Jaden argued. “This… this is insane to even think about. If you’re right, this is beyond dangerous. This is more than we can handle. More than we should even try to handle.”
“And what do you suggest I do?” I asked him. “Even if the Royal Council took me seriously and didn’t assume this was a piss-poor attempt at payback, there’s no guarantee he can’t talk or bribe his way out of it. We need proof and we need motive.”
“Why motive?” Max questioned. “If Hunter can get some pictures or video of the operation that shou…”
“Again, he has half the Royal Council in his pocket,” I growled.
“What about the ammo?” Max jumped in, removing the bag of bullets from the lockbox and dropping them in front of Swift. “Can that tell us anything?”
Swift sighed as he dumped the bag. “Not like…” He went silent as the bullets rolled onto the table. “Um… hang on.”
“What is it?”
“I’ve never seen this kind of ammunition before,” he replied.
He grabbed some pliers from his stack of tools. With some effort, he managed to pry one of the bullets apart. A silver liquid spilled out onto the wooden table and every lycan in the room froze. Ned stepped in and touched the substance.
“Is that…?”
Ned nodded. “Mercury.”