Page 68

AVERY

“ W hat about that?” I asked, pointing at Zayde’s computer screen. “Doesn’t that mean it’s a camera?”

Zayde shook his head. “No, it’s just an icon.

It’s grayed out, see? They either haven’t installed hardware to access, or the hardware was taken offline.

Looks like they don’t have any cameras connected to the internet at all,” he went on.

“This North Crest place has even less tech than what I can see in Harbor Mills. That’s impressive in this day and age.

From what I’m seeing here, North Crest is at least twenty years behind the times when it comes to this stuff.

It made it easy to break into their system, but it also means there’s not a lot to check out.

” He shook his head. “Small towns, man. It’s crazy. ”

Porter paced the living room, glancing out the windows every few minutes, checking the street outside. “I’ve been meaning to ask. Who are the shadows across the street?” he asked.

I glanced out the windows at the truck parked across the street. The pack members Cole had assigned to watch my house.

“Oh, them. Extra protection,” I said. “After what happened with Ashton, Cole wanted to make sure I was safe.”

Porter nodded appreciatively. “Your boyfriend has his bases covered.”

“He’s not my—well, Cole is just…” I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. “It’s complicated. Let’s say that.”

“Got it. Long story. Understood,” Porter said, giving me a sarcastic grin and a double thumbs-up.

“Don’t be an ass,” I said.

“Who would I be if I didn’t provide some sparkling commentary?”

I ignored him and went back to watching Zayde work.

The others had been gone for almost two hours.

I was getting worried. What if Kyle had ambushed them in North Crest or something?

As Zayde scrolled, clicked, and typed, I kept imagining Cole, Trent, and Langston tied up in the back of a trunk or dead.

Again, I saw that poor man Kyle had killed, dead in the truck with his brains blown out, but in my mind, his face transformed to Cole’s, his wide eyes staring at me as a silent scream burst from my throat.

“They’re back,” Porter said, and I flinched, my nightmare vision vanishing.

“They are?” I stood, relief washing over me.

“Yup,” Porter said, opening the door.

Cole came through first, and I rushed into his arms.

“Hey, are you okay?” he asked, rubbing my back.

“Sorry,” I mumbled. “You were gone awhile. I got nervous.”

“You had every right to be,” Cole said. “Things are worse than we thought.”

I gasped. “Ashton?”

“No, no, no.” Cole touched my face. “Sorry. I didn’t mean him. We didn’t find any sign of Ash or Dallas. No, it’s something different.”

Langston flopped onto an armchair. “Whoever this Kyle guy is, he’s got a hell of a lot more pull than you all first thought.”

Cole explained what they’d seen in North Crest, the strange reactions to asking about Kyle, followed by everyone vanishing from the streets once word got out, ending with the old lady and her revelations.

“He’s got a racketeering scheme going on for a whole town?” Porter asked, brows furrowed in confusion.

Trent shrugged. “Maybe not every single person, but enough of them that it’s got the whole town too spooked to do anything about it.”

“How can he do that?” I asked. “I mean, is that even possible?”

“No idea,” Cole said. “He’s got to be involved in something bigger than just conning old drunks out of their fortune.”

He was talking about his father, of course. Kyle had stolen hundreds and hundreds of thousands from Cole’s dad and the Harbor Mills pack, but that was nowhere near enough to pay for what he’d done in North Crest. Something wasn’t adding up.

Langston rested his elbows on his knees and addressed Zayde. “Can you check into anything in North Crest? Not security stuff, but financials?”

“You thinking about bank records?” Zayde asked.

“Yeah. Bank records, wire transfers, real estate deals, things like that. Something dirty that’s being hidden in some way.”

“I got you.” Zayde stood and stretched. He turned to me. “You got a room I can hunker down in and work? I concentrate better in the quiet.”

“Sure, down the hall. You can work in Ashton’s room. It has a desk. It’s the room with the posters of rock stars and basketball players taped to the wall.”

“Much appreciated.” He picked up his equipment and went to Ashton’s bedroom.

“I can put all your other stuff in the guest room,” I said.

Cole’s head snapped around, and the tension in his shoulders and arms returned.

“I’m gonna walk the perimeter,” Porter said.

Once Porter and Zayde were both out of earshot, Cole pinned me with his stare.

“Are these guys all really staying here?”

“We’ve already been over this, Cole,” I said.

Langston eyed us warily.

“It’s just…” Sighing, Cole ran a hand through his hair. “Maybe it would be better if they stayed somewhere else. Give you some space to relax. This has been stressful, and you don’t need to be waiting on these guys hand and foot?—”

“Hang on,” Langston interrupted. “We have no intention of treating Avery like a maid or something.”

Cole turned his head, the movement slow and threatening, until he was looking directly at Langston. “Did I ask for your input?” Cole snarled.

“Between the beds and couches, there’s plenty of room,” I said. “They’re here to help. No reason to make them pay for a hotel on top of their plane tickets and everything else.”

Anger radiated off Cole. I wasn’t even a shifter, and I could feel it. Trent’s mouth was set in a thin line as he watched his friend circle behind the couch. Langston was watching Cole as well, but he looked more confused than anything.

Cole was embarrassing me. What the hell was going on with him?

“I don’t like it,” Cole finally said, resting his hands on the back of the couch. “We barely know these guys.”

That did it. I rose from my seat and rounded on him, pointing back toward Langston.

“These guys , as you call them, are family. They were there for me when I was alone. They helped take care of Ashton when he was little. They gave us structure. I’ve known them for a decade.

” Sighing deeply, I did my best to control my temper before saying something I’d regret. Instead, I tried a different tactic.

“Cole, you should be happy about what they’ve been able to do for Ashton,” I said gently. “He’s had a rough go of it. No pack to rely on, no father to?—”

Cole flinched as if I’d slapped him. Despite my best efforts not to say something regretful, I’d managed to do it, anyway. He stared at me like a wounded animal.

“I didn’t mean it like that, Cole,” I added quickly. “I know the circumstances were?—”

“No, no, it’s fine,” he said, but I could tell it wasn’t fine. “I wasn’t there for you or Ashton. These guys were. I get it.” When he smiled, I could see bitter shame in his eyes. My heart hurt for him.

Langston rose from his seat. “Listen, we don’t want to cause any trouble.”

“You aren’t ,” I insisted.

“I’m not sure about that,” Cole said, glaring at Langston.

A frustrated sigh escaped me, and I shot an angry look at Cole. This was exhausting.

“We’ll get a room somewhere. I saw a little bed-and-breakfast in town on our way in. I bet they have a few rooms free,” Langston said.

“Yeah,” Cole said. “Maybe that would be best.”

Langston’s shoulders sagged. “My man, I don’t know what issue you have with me and my friends, but Avery’s right. You need to get that ego in check.”

Cole let out a deep, rumbling growl—an obvious threat.

Langston chuckled ruefully. “You need to stop before you embarrass yourself even more than you already have.”

Before Cole could respond, Langston called down the hall, “Zayde, let’s go. We’re leaving.”

The other man appeared a few seconds later, carrying his stuff as he came back into the living room.

“What’s up?” Zayde asked, shoving his computer back into his bag.

Langston tilted his head in Cole’s direction. “There’s only room for one alpha in this house. We’re gonna get a room in town.”

Zayde’s eyes bounced from Cole, standing with rigid lips peeled back, back to Langston. “All right,” Zayde muttered. “Sounds good.”

He stood and hurried out the door, obviously hustling to get out of the tension-filled room.

Langston turned to Trent. “If we find anything, I’ll make sure to keep you updated,” he said, making sure we all knew he meant Trent and not Cole.

“Yeah, cool,” Trent muttered. He looked like he wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

“See you later, Avery,” Langston said as he headed outside. I heard him call for Porter, then a moment later, the sound of an engine roared to life.

Trent turned his gaze to Cole. “What the absolute fuck is the matter with you?”

“Nothing,” Cole grumbled.

“Well, that’s bullshit,” Trent said. “We already talked about this on the way to North Crest, so be straight and tell me what’s going on with you.”

“He’s right,” I said, glaring at him the same way Trent was. “You’ve been acting weird since Langston showed up this morning. What the hell is this all about?”

Cole refused to look at us. He kept his head down, jaw muscles ticking as he ground his teeth together. His silence told Trent and me all we needed to know.

Trent shook his head in disappointment, looking at Cole like he’d let him down in some way.

I wish I could have only felt disappointed, but I was so damn irritated with Cole.

I’d called in friends to help us save our son, and all Cole could do was butt heads with them and act like another wolf had come to piss on his territory.

I understood that he was upset—I was upset, too—but his behavior was pointless, childish, and ridiculous.

My sympathy for him was evaporating and becoming harder and harder to find the longer he was acting like this.

“You’re acting like a spoiled kid,” Trent said. “Is this some sort of alpha thing?”

“I don’t think that’s it,” I said, and Cole raised his head to look at me. I scanned his face. “Is your wolf jealous?”