Page 18

CHAPTER 18

Frankie

Soren was nowhere to be found and honestly, that was for the best.

I stared at my monitor without really seeing it and wondered how long I could get away with this before he called me out on it. Soren might be the quiet type, but he wasn’t one to let things slide.

Neglecting my duties as his senior and instructor wasn’t something I could get away with. This man was an ex-soldier. He’d report me for dereliction of duty or some shit and he’d be right.

I sighed and opened my desk drawer, rummaging around until I found my cherry lip balm. I slicked it on and tried to figure out what the fuck I was going to do about him and all the other fuckshit going on in my life.

Not like it was really all that easy to ignore Soren.

Then I found out Leo was back in town right after River confirmed our engagement was over. It had me more twisted than a tornado and I was doing a really shitty job keeping it all under wraps.

Escorting River to the Steele alpha’s birthday party was the last thing she needed from me. After that, our deal was done. We’d both go our separate ways.

To be honest, our engagement had lasted longer than I thought it would. River had kept up this act with me for almost four months before deciding to end things.

I was now established in my position and she had her sights set on someone else. Who was I to hold her back from achieving her goals? We weren’t scent-matched partners and we weren’t in love. There was no reason to keep up the ruse.

Even though I understood all that, I couldn’t help but feel weirdly distraught.

River was the last thing standing between me and an ugly truth.

It was immature and selfish of me, but I wasn’t ready to face it, and I’d shamelessly asked if there was anything else I could do to extend it, but…she didn’t need me anymore.

I had to let her go and find another way to keep my shit together before it all came crashing down.

The thought of failing my father before I could find another omega I didn’t hate made me sick to my stomach.

All the work he’s done to give me whatever I wanted – all the opportunities he’s given me, wasted.

I couldn’t let that happen. I’ve worked too damn hard to get this far to give it all up because of my stupid designation.

Without Lucy, or River, I had nothing to ground me.

So, what was I going to do?

Finding a solution wasn’t going to be quick or easy. I’d have to find someone else to fill their shoes that would satisfy my pack as well as my annoying need to be useful.

Going on a series of blind dates was probably the fastest way to make sure I didn’t falter, but just the idea of that was exhausting.

Dragging someone else into this mess didn’t seem like a good idea either.

Just last week my uncle was murdered and my father framed. I highly doubted that would be the end of it.

There was a target on my father’s back as well as mine, even if he was trying to keep that fact from me.

I needed a distraction, but I didn’t have anything to do.

All my paperwork for the last few cases was done.

My father hasn’t bothered to update me either and I didn’t feel like I could ask, not after the way I’d walked out on him.

Had Leo snitched and told him what happened?

Did he tell my father I was the one to stab him? Again?

I eyed my phone, wondering if I should ask Lucy for advice.

But the time difference made it difficult to catch up and I didn’t want to bother her while she was on her honeymoon. It was also risky to talk to her before I could get a handle on my emotions.

Lucy would pick up on my distress and I didn’t want her to worry about me.

Tossing the lip balm in my drawer, I turned my attention back to the report I was supposed to be writing on Soren’s progress.

Pushing him to spar with me had been a mistake.

I’d been so out of it after what happened with Taylor that I hadn’t noticed why Hart had been so reluctant to spar with me other than the obvious – he didn’t want me to lose in front of all those people.

Everything had seemed fine. I’d really thought he was just too scared to show me what he was really capable of in case I fired him on the spot like some petty alpha with an inferiority complex.

I’d believed that right up until his eyes had glazed over with hunger and I watched him press his nose to my inner thigh like he wanted to drown in my scent.

I dropped my head in my hands and tried not to panic.

Leo was out there somewhere, doing god knows what, and now I had Soren silently acting like a besotted alpha.

Ignoring them was the only solution I could think of, but that didn’t really work when I was in the same room as either of them.

Soren’s presence immediately caught my attention every, single, time. My body always strained towards him whenever he was close enough I could feel the heat radiating off of him.

My phone buzzed and I glanced over to see my father’s caller ID.

Snatching my phone up, I tried not to freak out. “This is James.”

“Oh, how professional,” Leo purred.

I almost hung up on him, but there had to be a reason he was calling me from my father’s private phone.

My stomach lurched and I leaned back, trying to keep my cool as I asked, “Is my father still alive?”

Leo scoffed. “Of course he is. That old man is going to outlive us all.”

Relief hit me so hard I couldn’t stop myself from letting out a small breath.

I could practically hear Leo pause on the other end of the phone, able to pick up on the subtle signs of my anxiety even after all these years.

“I was told to inform you that we have a lead, but your orders are to focus on work,” he said. “We’ll handle it. You don’t need to worry about dropping everything to come running the second he calls.”

Relief gave way to anger and I wanted to throw my phone across the room.

So, my father had called Leo back home to help him with this mess instead of me.

I was never going to be good enough, was I?

“Why even bother informing me then?” I asked like I didn’t care, but I highly doubted Leo believed my act.

“Because you’re still making profiles on your family members.”

I narrowed my eyes, wondering if he’d gotten the login to my personal files from the security system or if he’d figured it out on his own.

Soren chose that very moment to walk into the office with his coffee.

Maybe I should ask him to check my computer for any strange activity. That was his job after all, but if I did, then I’d be replacing Lucy.

“Your rookie has pretty eyes,” Leo murmured, like he could see us somehow.

I sat up and kept my eyes on my computer screen instead of looking around for any sign of surveillance cameras. “Prettier than yours,” I agreed.

Leo chuckled, but he sounded like he might just snap given the smallest opportunity. “You should tell him that and see what happens.”

I rolled my eyes, knowing if I so much as looked at the new recruit in a way Leo didn’t like, he might actually try to kill him. “You should mind your own business and do your job.”

“Who says I can’t do my job and be nosy?” Leo chuckled again. “Which reminds me, you need to eat breakfast. It’s not healthy to starve yourself like this.”

How did he know what I was and wasn’t eating?

He was definitely spying on me, but I had no idea how.

A sick little thrill went through me and I had to remind myself this wasn’t what I wanted. I didn’t want Leo looking through my shit or getting involved with my work. I didn’t want him worrying about me either.

I really didn’t.

So, why did the thought of him worrying about if I ate or not make me feel almost giddy?

I sipped my favorite energy drink and pretended like I didn’t notice Soren sitting down at his desk, typing his password in like he didn’t give a flying fuck if I never looked at him again.

“Why are you calling from this number?” I asked, deciding that it would be best not to acknowledge Leo’s adorable concern for my well being.

“I didn’t think you’d answer if I called from a different one.” Leo was quiet for a moment and then said, “You know, I could be a detective too. I have the skills.”

Setting the can down on my desk, I considered that statement.

Leo was furious with me and for good reason, but he was still as dedicated and devoted as ever. I didn’t understand why or how, but I didn’t let it show on my face in case he could actually see me.

I tapped my nail on the top of the can and tried to decide how I wanted to respond.

Leo could definitely work as a detective if he really wanted to.

He’d be good at it if not necessarily ethical. He wouldn’t let anything get in his way if it meant getting the job done and as long as I was there to keep him from doing anything too crazy, everything would be fine.

But we both knew that wasn’t possible because it wasn’t him I didn’t like. It was everything else that went along with it.

I didn’t know how to be Francesca Lopez as anything other than an alpha.

“I’m not interested. The new recruits are more than satisfactory.”

Leo growled slightly. “Fine. Enjoy your energy drink, Francesca. Some of us have real work to do.”

He hung up before I could tell him off and I set my phone on my desk instead of slamming it down like I wanted to.

That asshole always knew exactly what to say to piss me off.

Popping my neck to ease some of the tension, I decided that ignoring Soren wasn’t going to work if Leo was watching me this closely. That asshole knew what that meant better than anyone and I couldn’t afford for him to figure out what I was doing.

I got up from my desk and waved at my chair, raising my eyebrow at Soren when he just stared at me. “See if there’s been any rats going through my shit.”

He hesitated, clearly thinking I was fucking with him, but he got up and slowly sat in my chair, giving me the time to tell him I was kidding.

But I was dead serious about this.

Soren glanced at me one last time before he pushed his glasses up and started typing.

I sat in his chair and sipped on my cherry-flavored energy drink as I watched him go through my computer with the same speed and skill Lucy had.

His right eye was partially covered by his black hair and if I didn’t know it was red, I’d think he was a normal alpha. The other eye was a pretty brown that always caught the light like some kind of jewel. It reminded me of a tiger’s eye stone actually.

The most impressive thing about him was how unassuming he was despite his size. He didn’t hunch or try to make himself look smaller either. He never pushed out an aura that grabbed someone’s attention.

He just existed.

Soren Hart was a quiet piece of furniture who did what he was told and nothing more. So, seeing him react the way he had in the gym wasn’t just startling, it was devastating.

I had no idea he could make a face like that or look so fucked up on nothing more than the taste of my sweat.

Good thing he’d looked disgusted the second he’d snapped out of it otherwise I’d be fucked six ways to Sunday.

I couldn’t afford to have someone as reassuring as Soren act like that around me because I was already failing.

My father didn’t want me to help him figure out who was behind my uncle’s death even though it was my fucking job.

I literally had an entire agency full of private detectives who could help him ferret out the threat sooner rather than later. But no. He’d called Leo back all the way from China to deal with it instead of asking me for help.

Why? What exactly had I done wrong?

My phone rang again and I ignored it, not wanting to talk to anyone right now.

I focused on Soren instead of the incessant buzzing of my phone, watching the way he rolled his bottom lip between his teeth while he worked.

He was nothing like Lucy.

They really couldn’t be more different, but it was still weird to have him doing everything she used to do for me.

My phone buzzed again and I grabbed it, sliding it open without even bothering to look at who was calling.

“What?” I snapped, hoping Leo had a good explanation for being so fucking annoying.

“Ms. James?” a somewhat familiar voice asked. “It’s Garcia.”

I pulled my phone back and saw it wasn’t some random number, but one of the police department’s lines.

Shit, that wasn’t good.

“What can I do for you?” I asked as I pinched the bridge of my nose, irritated that Leo and Soren were getting me so riled up that my mask was slipping.

“We haven’t received a response to our request, so I’m calling to follow up,” the calm beta stated. “Have you decided if you’re going to take the case or not?”

“What request?” I frowned and got up, leaning over Soren to take the mouse from him.

Clicking on my email, I really hoped this sneaking suspicion of mine was wrong.

“We sent a request out to your agency on Monday,” the officer explained. “We were hoping you could help us with a case as a consultant.”

I didn’t see anything in my email so I switched over to the company’s email, going through the admin account Lucy had made for me.

Soren went completely still beside me and I angled my body so he couldn’t see what I was doing. I’d have to change my password after this, but it didn’t matter. I had to see if my suspicions were right.

There was nothing in my inbox or my spam, but when I checked my deleted folder I saw the initial request, as well as the follow up email.

Someone had deleted it without telling me and only three people had access to this account, including me. Lucy was on vacation and my aunt had no reason to hide this from me.

There were definitely rats in the building.

I scanned the email and then pushed away from the desk. “Yeah, I’ll take the case.”

“Perfect. We actually have a fresh crime scene for you to take a look at.”

I checked my watch, glad I hadn’t eaten anything yet. “Send me the location. We’ll be there as soon as we can. Oh, and send over any relevant information. I’d like to take a look at it before reviewing the crime scene, but send it to my phone, not my email.”

“Sure thing.” Garcia sounded relieved. “Glad to be working with you again, James.”

He hung up and I logged out of that email. “Come on, Rookie. We’ve got a serial killer to catch.”