Page 21

CHAPTER 21

Frankie

Was Soren’s only goal to do a good job and nothing more?

I found it really hard to believe anyone would go to this much trouble to join a private detective agency if they didn’t have some goal in mind, but Soren really did come off as someone who just happened to hear about a job opening at a detective agency and decided, ‘why not?’

Maybe I was projecting too much.

There was a possibility Soren wasn’t ambitious. He really might not care about anything other than doing his job to the best of his ability, but the way he’d secured that rope told me he wasn’t as boring as he seemed either.

I could be overthinking this like I always did. What did I know? It wasn’t like I’ve ever been in the military. No one I knew personally has ever served either.

But I have gone through the kind of training even someone like Soren would have a difficult time with.

I don’t know where my father found his instructors. I’ve never asked and I’ve never wanted to know. Knowing something like that was way above my pay grade and I’ve never wanted to be burdened with all the behind the scenes shit that went on in all legacy packs.

Lucy knew though. She knew everything thanks to all the programs she had running on any and every machine she could get her hands on.

My father knew about them of course and he preferred she just asked for the information, but he’s always indulged her interests.

Francisco Lopez would give his children anything they asked for and to him, Lucy was as much his daughter as I was, but she had a very healthy distrust of alphas and did whatever the fuck she wanted.

I’ve always admired that about her.

But I’ve never asked Lucy about the secrets of the pack I was born into despite knowing she had all the answers I could ever want.

Typing another note on my phone to stop by the state park’s office before we left, I decided it was time to rectify that.

Lucy may be a Valentine now, but she was also a Lopez. Asking for her help while she was on her honeymoon wasn’t something I wanted to do, but she was the only person I implicitly trusted.

At the very least, I knew she could look into Soren Hart without alerting anyone in Genesis or the Lopez pack to what she was doing.

My best friend had the skills to get her grubby little hands on anything she wanted, even classified documents.

It freaked me out honestly. That kind of skill was insanely valuable, but I always worried that she’d get caught for cyber crimes one day.

That was one of the biggest reasons I decided to create my own agency instead of joining the police force like I’d originally planned. Lucy would need all the help she could get if she ever got into trouble.

Even though my father was one of the best lawyers in the country, there was only so much he could do.

Legally, anyway.

I wouldn’t put it past my father to do something…underhanded. Not if one of his children were in trouble.

Switching over to my messages app, I selected one of Lucy’s burners.

Frankie: I need you to look into someone for me. No rush though.

I selected the camera and held up my phone. “Hey Rookie! Smile. It’s your first official case.”

Soren and Garcia turned to face me at the same time and I snapped a few pictures, grinning when I saw the look of surprise on both their faces. Then I sent that picture to Lucy with the name Soren Hart.

Send me whatever you can find on my new recruit.

Any particular reason?

I also sent the picture to Soren’s phone to avoid any suspicion while I tried to figure out how to answer that question.

There were a lot of reasons I wanted to know everything I could about this guy, but almost all of them were personal.

If I told Lucy it was because of that damn knot he’d used, she’d laugh herself sick before teasing me for the rest of my life, but if I told her I was worried he might have an ulterior motive for joining the agency, she’d worry.

Tapping on her contact, I decided to go with as much of the truth as I could.

I’m trying to figure out who he should be permanently assigned to if he’s really as capable as his resumé claims he is.

And I don’t want to ask him to do something that’s gonna put Genesis in hot water if he can’t actually get it done.

Anyone else you want me to look into?

No, he’s the only one I’m in charge of and the only recruit who specializes in cyber security this year.

Okay, give me some time. I’ll start digging.

I tucked my phone in my pocket and grabbed the hair tie off my wrist, yanking all my hair up into a ponytail at the top of my head. Then I tied it in a knot to make sure I had as little fallout in a crime scene as possible.

Whatever secrets he may or may not have, Lucy would find them.

She could find anything.

Once I knew Soren could be trusted…

I bit back a sigh and followed Garcia to the crime scene.

Who was I kidding? It didn’t matter if he could be trusted.

I wasn’t trying to dig up his secrets because I was worried he might get Genesis sued by the state or some other bullshit. I was looking for any reason I could use to convince myself he was just a boring, if skilled, alpha who would go on his happy little way once his training was done.

If this guy came back clean and his skills were vouched for by Lucy, then great. Soren Hart would be a valuable asset to the agency regardless of his designation.

Hooray.

I readjusted my necklace and then pulled my wallet out of my back pocket so I could show the officers my identification.

Glancing over at the phone dangling from Soren’s neck, I tried to tell myself I was overthinking this, but I had a bad feeling I wasn’t.

If Lucy couldn’t find a reason for me not to like him, I was going to be shit out of luck and then I’d end up right back where I started but with even less control because Soren was nothing like Leo.

The two of them may have a lot in common, but the biggest difference? Leo wasn’t a normal person. He was a psycho who also happened to be obsessed with me.

He hadn’t been born into a legacy either. No, that asshole had become one all on his own.

For someone with so much power and strength, you’d think he’d be the ambitious type, but Leo has only ever been ambitious about one thing: me. Whatever he had to do to get my attention or acknowledgement, he’d do.

So, when I told him to leave, he did. It hadn’t been easy, but Leo would do anything for me, even let himself be manipulated.

But Soren?

I tucked my hands into my jacket pockets and stepped into the shade from the trees towering above us, their leaves rustling in the wind.

If Soren was really as dependable and unmoved by external forces as he seemed to be, I didn’t think I could do anything to redirect his attention if he decided he was interested in me. He may be good at taking orders, but I really didn’t think he’d listen to me if I told him to fuck off if I didn’t have a very good reason for him to do so.

The worst part was, that kind of unwavering dedication was one of my biggest weaknesses.

I already thought he was insanely attractive.

Every time he spoke I couldn’t do anything other than listen to him until he was done. His warmth wasn’t suffocating and the way he loomed over me pissed me off, but I kept finding myself leaning into it.

I wanted to stand in his shadow and know nothing could touch me.

This was exactly how I’d felt with Leo too. He’d scared the shit out of me as a kid, but I’d never felt safer than when he was by my side.

Now I was starting to feel the exact same thing with my rookie?

Soren slid the packet Garcia had given him into his backpack and then pulled out a small bottle of water. He silently offered it to me first and I shook my head, watching him even when I knew I shouldn’t.

He tipped his head back and poured a little of the water into his mouth, making sure his lips never touched the bottle. Then he slid it back into its spot and swung the bag onto his back.

His mismatched gaze met mine and he looked surprised to see me watching him, but it was only the tiniest shift in his expression. I doubt I would have noticed it if I hadn’t been studying him like I might get tested on his body language at any moment by my mean old psych professor.

Why did this rookie have to be so tall? Why did he have to have this insanely calming presence? And he was gorgeous . Of course he was gorgeous. He was a legacy alpha. No one else could be so fucking attractive and sure of themselves.

Soren Hart didn’t flaunt his strength or power though and there were only two possible reasons for that – either he knew he couldn’t possibly win so he didn’t even try, or he was very, very sure he would, no matter the circumstance.

I jogged to catch up with Garcia, taking note of our surroundings as we went.

Normally, I’d be taking in the crime scene with one hand on the small of Lucy’s back so I could keep track of her while I studied every single person in the area, cataloging their usefulness, and any obvious personality traits and habits, as well as what the forensic team was doing.

But all I could look at was that stupid cord wrapped so precisely around the phone that I almost walked right through the crime scene tape. I stopped just in time and narrowed my eyes at the people on the other side, forcing my eyes to focus.

My palms were sweaty. That wasn’t good. If my palms were sweaty, I was more nervous about this new, miniscule piece of information about my rookie than I was letting myself feel.

I could bury down my emotions, pretend that I didn’t feel them so well I could even convince myself they didn’t exist, but my body has always known better.

I really shouldn’t be nervous about this, but my entire life revolved around my ability to understand the people around me—my survival depended on that.

Soren was already difficult to read, but I thought I had a general idea of who he was and what he did and didn’t like, but…

You know what? It didn’t matter. His personal preferences were none of my business.

“Would you like to take a look at the crime scene first?” Garcia asked me, glancing at Soren like he wasn’t sure the rookie could be trusted not to ruin all his hard work like a bull in a china shop.

“Give me a second to brief the rookie and then yeah, we’ll take a look around. I want to make sure he’s got a handle on what I expect before I start talking to people.” I glanced over my shoulder at the average looking woman sitting on a bench with a plaid blanket around her shoulders. “That the hiker who stumbled across this nightmare?”

“Mhm.” Garcia checked his watch. “Officers have already questioned her. She’s just waiting on us.”

“Okay, give me a few minutes.” I took Soren’s wrist and pulled him to the side, far enough away from the cops that I was pretty sure they wouldn’t be able to hear me.

I looked up and found him staring down at me, patiently waiting for whatever came next.

His black hair fell into his eyes, hiding his red eye from anyone who wasn’t looking too closely and the baseball cap covered it in shadow.

Then I realized I was still holding onto his wrist and I dropped it, hating how obvious it was that I still haven’t figured out how to deal with him.

Shoving my hand into my pocket to hide the awkwardness as much as possible, I yanked out two pairs of nitrile gloves and handed him one.

“Whatever you do, don’t touch anything ,” I reminded him. “Normally, Lucy and I split up once we cross the line, but I’m going to shadow you this first time around.”

Snapping on the gloves, I eyed the scene and tried to remember what she did without me. It’s been so long since I’ve worked with anyone other than her and this was my first time with a new recruit.

I may be the senior detective, but I was just as new to this as he was and I had no idea what I was doing.

Maybe I was more worried about trusting him than I thought I was. If I saw how well he did and started to rely on him…

Could I really do that without his designation becoming a problem?