Page 80

Cameron

“ D o you really think this is gonna help?” I asked.

We were hunkered down behind a dumpster, waiting for our car to be dropped off. Nate kept glancing out behind the big metal bin toward the parking spot JC had told us to keep an eye on.

“What do you mean?” Nate asked.

“This whole Detroit thing. We don’t even know who this woman is. There’s no way of knowing if she’ll be of any help at all. I started thinking about it this morning when we were getting ready.”

Nate turned his full attention to me, settling his eyes on mine. “What else are we going to do? Better one lead than none. We won’t really know anything until we speak to her.”

“True,” I sighed. “I guess you can’t judge a source until you’ve heard what they have to say.”

I wasn’t entirely sure why I was hesitant about this.

Part of it was probably what had happened the day before.

My anxiety and paranoia grew with each passing day.

Rick or his father or whoever was controlling all this was always a step ahead.

Although, JC appeared to be doing the best he could to mitigate it.

“Is JC like other pack alphas?” I blurted the question out before I even realized I was going to ask it.

Nate’s brow furrowed. “Huh?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s very helpful. When you described packs and the hierarchy and whatnot, I got the impression alphas were probably douchey assholes who had a superiority complex or something.”

Nate sighed heavily and checked around the dumpster again before responding. When he spoke, there was a sort of begrudging acceptance to his words.

“Are there shitty alphas? Sure. Is JC one of them? No. I can tell he’s a genuinely good guy trying his best to help us.

All the stuff he’s done is part of why nearly all shifters enjoy being in a pack.

Help is always a call away, for the most part.

Packs…” He hesitated, then grimaced as if he didn’t want to say what he was thinking.

“Well, packs can be a good thing. They just haven’t been for me. Not usually, anyway.”

Before I could dig into that any further, the sound of a car cut off our conversation.

Nate and I both leaned out to check if it was our special delivery.

Two vehicles approached, a truck and a small sporty sedan.

They swung directly into the parking spots JC had told us to watch.

A big man parked the sedan, then got out.

Without glancing around, he held the keys up above his head and shook them twice.

Obviously, he knew he was being watched.

He put the keys on the back tire, then got into the truck.

We waited until the truck drove off before we stood.

“I guess that’s us,” Nate said, and reached out to take my hand. “Let’s go.”

We took our time as we walked to the car, not drawing attention.

I glanced around, a little worried we’d be attacked again.

I imagined a shifter or a group of shifters lunging out at us, dragging our bodies down and into some unmarked van.

A hundred bad fantasies flowed through my head, but in the end, nothing happened.

Nate retrieved the keys, and we were heading down the road in only a few seconds.

“Wow,” I said, smiling faintly and gazing out the window as we drove. “It’s kinda like we’re spies or something.”

Nate made a sound somewhere between a grunt and a chuckle. “I guess you’re right. It kinda is like that.”

Ten minutes into the drive, my phone rang. Brent, my editor.

“Crap,” I mumbled, grimacing. “I need to take this.” I accepted the call. “Hey, Brent. What’s up?”

“Kid, are you being serious right now?” he asked, breathless with either excitement or worry. I couldn’t tell which.

“Uh, yeah. I think,” I said dumbly.

“I’m hearing a lot of weird things right now.

Were you, or were you not, in an officer-involved shooting?

The team is getting word from their police sources that not only were you there, but that Rick Masters was arrested in connection to it.

What the hell , Cam? Isn’t that your boyfriend? Mr. Moneybags?”

Sighing heavily, I pressed my hand to my forehead.

When I’d called nine-one-one after the initial attack, the police had been dispatched.

Thankfully, I’d called JC as well. He’d managed to use his influence and power to ensure that only pack member cops arrived, but a full report still had to be made.

It was a foregone conclusion that someone at the paper would have noticed my name on a police report that came across the wire.

“Sorry, Brent,” I said. “It’s been a crazy few days. I should have let you know.”

“No shit ,” he barked, though his tone was not unkind. “Are you all right, kiddo?”

“I’m good,” I said. “Safe and sound.”

“Listen, it sounds like a bit of an ordeal. Not sure if you heard, but Rick made bail not long after he was taken in. Apparently, the cop IDed him as the shooter. Not sure how that guy’s gonna stay out of prison. I can’t imagine what you’re going through.”

“It’s fine. We broke up, anyway,” I said.

Nate smirked at me.

“I can’t keep track of who’s with who,” Brent said.

“You young kids, it’s like watching a soap opera.

Anyway, since you’re all right, I wanted to ask if you’d thought about writing up what happened to you?

Since you were directly involved, it would be more of an editorial.

Your emotions, your feelings, what it was like, that sort of thing.

Would you be down for that? This is a huge story about one of the most powerful families in Toronto. ”

His words struck a note in my head. An idea formed, one that sent a wave of excitement through me.

If I did do this, then it would be my way of fighting back.

I could use Rick the way he’d used me. My story could have major repercussions for him and his father.

It could shine a goddamn spotlight on them, and it wouldn’t be flattering.

They might get nervous enough to make a mistake or an ill-timed move.

Plus, an editorial? That was huge . It would help get my name noticed. If I wrote the piece well enough, it could really further my career. Two birds with one stone.

“You know what, Brent?” I said. “I think that’s a great idea.”

He belted out a laugh. “Wow. I’ll be honest, kid. The newspaperman in me told me I had to ask, but I assumed the answer would be no.”

“Well, you thought wrong, big guy.” My face twisted into an embarrassed grimace at the nonchalant way I’d addressed him. What was wrong with me?

If Brent took offense, he didn’t tell me. Instead, he laughed even harder. “Cam, you do what you need to do. Try and have the piece to me in three days or less, if you can. You know how fast the news cycle is. If we don’t jump on this quick, we’ll lose the momentum.”

“Got it. I’ll start as soon as I can.”

“Take care of yourself, kid. We miss you around here. Maybe once all this weird shit is over, we can see that smartass face of yours back here.”

I grinned. “Sounds good. I’ll talk to you later.”

When I hung up, a savage glee I could barely contain spread through me. As bad as my life had been these last weeks, it looked like things would be improving.

“You look happy,” Nate commented.

“My boss wants me to write up a story about what happened with Rick.”

Nate swung his head over, glancing at me with a frown before returning his attention to the road. “Seriously?”

“Yeah. I can’t be totally honest, of course, but I can get the point across. It might help put more of a spotlight on the Masters family. And it’ll really help my career. Brent wants it to be a featured editorial. That’s crazy , Nate.”

I turned the radio on. The car came equipped with satellite radio, and I put on the poppiest, happiest music I could.

“Let’s get a treat,” I said, my excitement almost bubbling over.

Nate scowled. “A treat?”

“Yeah.” I pointed out the window at a coffee shop ahead. “Use the drive-thru. My treat.”

“You mean JC’s treat?” Nate smirked, taking the credit card out of his pocket.

I rolled my eyes. “ Whatever . I’m going to get the biggest damn coffee they have. Lots of caramel, sugar, and cream—the whole nine yards.”

“Sounds good to me. We’ve got over four hours of driving ahead. I’ll need some caffeine.”

“You know,” I said, “I almost always get herbal tea or something like that when I come to these places with Lesley or Mom. Some little voice at the back of my head always tells me it was healthier and better for me, but screw that. After everything that happened with Rick, I’ve sort of opened my eyes a bit.

I’m done with choosing what’s safest or easiest. I’m going to take what I want from now on. ”

“I like that. You should do what makes you happy. What makes you feel good.”

Turning my head to him, I saw the mischief in his eyes. Heat rose to my cheeks and butterflies swirled in my stomach as I remembered the night before. He’d made me feel really good.

“Very funny,” I said, but couldn’t quite dispel the mental imagery that came from the comment.

Though, that idea might not be a good one to indulge in.

Regardless of how well we meshed and how compatible we were sexually, there was still the very real chance that Nate and I would never see where this relationship could really go.

There were so many things that could prevent it.

The pack and all the rules, him being a lone wolf, and all the baggage I had.

The odds of us working out were so low that I didn’t want to even think about it.

Almost five hours later, Nate pulled up in front of a small café, where we’d be meeting Anita. When we climbed out of the car, both of us stretched, our road stiffness making the first few steps toward the café painful.