Page 83

Nate

A nita glanced at her watch, then pushed her plate aside. “I’ve got to head out and get back to work. I’ve told you everything I know. Most of that has been passed along to Ollie as well.”

“We understand,” I said, my head spinning from the information she’d given us. “We don’t want to take any more of your time.”

Anita reached forward, extending a hand to each of us to shake. “It was nice meeting you. Between me and you? I hope we nail this fucker.” She shot a wary glance in Cameron’s direction. “Ollie told me you were a journalist. If you use anything I said, please?—”

“I’ll keep your name confidential,” Cameron said with a nod.

Anita’s shoulders sagged. “Thank you. I have a son to think about. I can’t afford any blowback. Not from a psycho like Lincoln Masters.” She glanced at Cameron. “I’m running a background check on this guy who attacked you in the garage. I should have it for you in the next hour or two.”

“Thank you,” Cameron said.

Anita waved at us as she left. Cam and I sat in silence for several minutes, decompressing.

Everything about it was crazy, yet it made sense in a weird way.

Being able to control a feral like Lenny would have been impossible without something to tempt, entice, or bind him with.

A drug addiction was probably one of the only things on earth that could do that.

The desperation and bone-deep need for another hit would have been enough to keep the madness of ferality at bay to complete whatever orders Rick gave out.

Christ, it was sickening. Imagining the hell Lenny Nash had gone through made my stomach twist and flip.

“Do you think we can trust her?” I asked, pushing my plate away. I’d barely touched my food.

Cameron craned her neck and looked out the window, watching Anita climb into her car and drive away. “I think so.”

“Seems trustworthy. My bullshit detector didn’t go off once.”

Cameron ran a hand through her hair. “True. Everything sounded matter-of-fact. I didn’t get the feeling she was acting or trying to lead us down a dead end.”

“Right. I guess we take what she gave us and run with it.”

“Yeah. Let’s get out of here,” Cameron said. “I’m exhausted and want to get settled into a hotel.”

“Good idea,” I agreed.

After paying for the meal and getting in the car, I turned to look at her. A malevolent rage coursed through me.

“Cameron?” I said, feeling an overwhelming sense of anger at the story we’d heard from Anita.

“Yeah?” She frowned as she studied my face.

“If that fucker had ever hurt you the way his old man hurt his mother…” I trailed off, shaking my head, unsure how to explain what was going through my mind. She waited, letting me gather my words. When I spoke again, there was a hardness to my voice that I didn’t like but couldn’t suppress

“If he hurt you, I’d never stop hunting him. His days would be numbered. He would bleed. I would make him hurt. Badly. Do you understand?” I said, my entire body trembling.

Cameron stared into my eyes with a mixture of fear and wonder. “I do,” she whispered.

Unable to stop myself, I wrapped my fingers around the back of her neck and pulled her close.

She let out a yelp the instant before my lips crashed against hers.

The cry of surprise melted into a contented sigh as my tongue slid across her lips.

Her scent and her taste drove all other thoughts from my mind.

A sound echoed up from the depths of my subconscious.

My wolf, growling with satisfaction. He was just as elated by this kiss as I was.

He also understood the anger pulsing through my blood.

Hearing what Lincoln had done to Rick’s mother and seeing what Anita’s mate had done to her made me livid.

I could barely keep myself from imagining Rick doing something similar to her.

I pulled away, looking into her eyes again. She looked drunk. To tell the truth, she looked how I felt. If time and location had allowed, I’d have torn her clothes off and taken her right then and there. Cameron licked her lower lip, and I could see the same thought reflected in her eyes.

She cleared her throat, swiping her thumb over her lips. “I guess we should get going?”

“Probably,” I grunted, and tried to get comfortable in the driver seat. My erection was straining painfully against my zipper.

As I started the car, I gave Cameron another long look, and she put her hand on my knee.

I drove to the nearest hotel to check in.

My travels had taken me many places and to far-flung outposts.

Sometimes, I’d ride my bike for nearly ten hours straight.

Yet, after the conversation with Anita, I was more road-weary than I could remember ever being. I needed rest, in the worst way.

Once we’d settled in, we sat on the couch. Neither of us had the energy to do more than turn on the TV for background noise. Cameron tugged her laptop from her bag and opened it on the small coffee table.

I put my hands on her shoulders and kneaded the tension out of her muscles. Cameron moaned as I dug into the knots.

“God, that feels good.”

“I love when you say things like that,” I said.

“Very funny,” she said, but rather than pull away, she reached back and rubbed my thigh while the computer booted up.

“What are you doing?” I asked, glancing over her shoulder at the computer.

“Getting some notes down before I forget what Anita said. Gotta start building the skeleton of the story I’m going to write about all this.”

As though summoned by saying Anita’s name, my phone buzzed with a text from her.

“Holy shit,” I muttered as I read.

“What?” Cameron spun around. “What did she send?”

“Lenny Nash’s last-known work address,” I said.

“We already know that. Keeble and Jax construction.”

I shook my head and turned the phone around for her to see. “No. It looks like he was working for a garage here in Detroit. The dates of employment are basically the same dates that his cousin Mitch said he went missing.”

“That’s weird,” Cameron said. “Why vanish only to go work at a garage?”

A second text came through, and when I saw what Anita sent, I chuckled ruefully. “Looks like that garage is run by one of the many shell companies Lincoln Masters owns.”

“Damn.” Cameron sat back, frowning in confusion. “What the hell would Lincoln have wanted Lenny to do there? How would that connect to the drugs?”

“No clue.” I tucked the phone away. “But I’m going to go take a look tonight.”

“Seriously?” Cameron’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Yeah.” I rubbed my face. “I need a nap, though. This day has sucked it out of me.”

Cameron lifted an eyebrow. “I could make an inappropriate joke about that statement, but I’ll leave it be.”

I snorted, then stood. The hotel suite had a small living area separate from the bedroom.

“Are you good if I sleep?” I asked.

She went back to her computer, the click-click of rapidly punched keys erupting from the laptop like machine-gun fire. “You sleep. I’ll be fine.”

I walked to the bed, kicked off my shoes, and lay down, falling asleep almost instantly.

Several hours later, I was ready to leave. Cameron had her shoes on and stood by the door as if she was tagging along.

Narrowing my eyes, I pointed at her, then the door. “What do you think you’re doing?”

She shrugged on a light jacket. “I’m going with you.”

“Absolutely not.”

“What are you talking about?” Cameron glared at me and crossed her arms over her chest. “Of course I’m going.”

Sighing, I rested a hand on the hotel room door. “No, Cam. This is going to be stealth. Do you know what the enemy of stealth is? More people . A single person can move more quietly and inconspicuously than two people.”

“I can be quiet,” she said, a dangerous, stubborn gleam in her eye. I was in trouble if I didn’t figure out a way to explain this to her without hurting her pride.

“That’s not the only issue. I need you here researching and working with any contacts you have at the paper to trace any illegal dealings back to the Masters.”

“I can do that anytime,” she retorted.

“Aren’t we on a bit of a time crunch?”

Cameron huffed. “Maybe.”

“Also, I’m going to be in my wolf form almost the whole time.

Sneaking around a busy city like that, with how new you are to it, might freak you out.

It could be difficult for you to focus and stay in tune with your wolf.

Car alarms, flashing headlights, the fucking loud-ass sirens?

It won’t be quiet and calm like back in the woods.

I’m sure you’ll be fine one day, but this is not the place to practice. ”

That finally sank in. An irritated frown spread across her face, and she looked at me with bitter but resigned understanding.

“Fine,” she said, flopping onto the couch. “I’ll stay. And I’m going to be very angry about it.”

I grinned at her as I unlocked the door. “I’m sure you will. I’ll check that everything outside is safe before I go. Keep this door locked, and do not open it for anyone but me. Got it?”

“Got it, boss.”

I ensured there were no strange people loitering around in the hallway and the lobby, then made three circuits of the grounds, checking for anyone who might be watching us or had somehow managed to follow us.

I walked around the parking lot, then around the businesses surrounding the hotel, then shifted and ran a full mile around the place.

Only when I was completely satisfied that no one was around did I take off toward Lenny Nash’s last employment location.