Landon nodded and moved with me back in that direction. “Do you know what you’re looking for?”
“No, but I’ll find it. I guarantee that.”
STEVE NEWTONarrived with Spencer Brisco. I had met Spencer—a shifter—only weeks before when my family was considered suspects in the death of a former warden who had been stalking us. Spencer outed himself while trying to make me understand that not every member of the FBI team that had been sent was our enemy.
I mostly trusted him. The same went for Steve. But I wasn’t letting my guard down.
“Hello.” Steve smiled at Landon and me, then turned his attention to the bodies in the trees. “This is … interesting.”
“We found a weird print over there,” Landon reported. “It seems to suggest someone was out here barefoot. Bay is interested in getting the bodies down because she wants a betterlook at the trees, but I told her we had to wait for the medical examiner.”
“We definitely do,” Steve agreed. “I have a special medical examiner coming. He’s the one I tapped for my new team right from the start. He’s willing to think outside the box a bit more than the other medical examiners I’ve met.”
“Meaning he’s willing to consider paranormal influences,” I guessed.
Steve nodded as he smiled at me. “Does this mean you’re part of the team?”
There was no way I was going to give him the commitment he wanted. “I’m willing to chase angles on this one,” I replied. “I am not willing to have you—or anyone else for that matter—bossing me around. I need to be able to work at my own pace.”
“That’s allowed.” Steve stared me down. “Bay, we’re not here to make you uncomfortable or try to force you into doing something that you’re not ready to do. We’re willing to work at your pace and allow you whatever autonomy you feel you need.”
“I would be careful with how much autonomy you offer her,” Chief Terry countered as he followed Steve into the clearing. “She’s not likely to abuse it—not much anyway—but if she brings Tillie or Thistle in, they’re another story.”
“Do you think you’ll be bringing your family in?” Steve looked more intrigued at the prospect than frightened, which only proved he didn’t know us well enough to have the sense to be frightened.
“I don’t know.” I wished I had answers for Steve. “Here’s the thing.” I breathed in deeply to center myself. “I have a lot of magical friends who often help me with things. They don’t want to be outed simply because I’m considering working with you. I need leeway to work with them without you breathing down my neck.”
“That can be arranged,” Steve replied amiably.
“Just like that?” I challenged.
“I told you that nothing like this has ever been done. At least as far as I know.”
“There are paranormal investigation teams all over the place,” I replied without thinking. “This isn’t the first. It might be the first in this part of Michigan, but there are others.”
Steve crossed his arms over his chest. “How do you know that?”
Immediately my mind went to Charlie Rhodes. She’d been part of a privately funded paranormal investigation team. They collaborated with law enforcement at times. I wasn’t comfortable volunteering any of that information to Steve.
“I know things,” was my only response.
Steve’s lips curved, and he shared a quick look with Spencer, something unsaid passing between them. “I know you don’t trust us, Bay,” he said. “I get it. You have to work overtime to protect yourselves because if the wrong people find out what you can do, it would get ugly.”
I didn’t respond, waiting for him to finish.
“I know you’re going to be especially protective of your wife going forward too,” Steve said to Landon. “For the record, I’ve had my suspicions about the Winchesters for years, since long before you joined my team. When her name popped up in your first report, I was intrigued.”
“You were?” I took a step forward. “You didn’t warn him about us?”
“I wanted to see if he was able to sniff anything out about you,” Steve admitted. “He wasn’t the most open-minded investigator in the world when we first met, but he was diligent. I thought he would do a lot of digging, and since he was already undercover, I didn’t think that digging would be all that difficult.”
“I bet you weren’t betting on us ending up together,” I said.
“Actually, that’s not true.” Steve smiled. “The first meeting I had with Landon after he met you—it was a brief lunch in a diner in Bellaire—he spent half the time talking about how infuriating you were. He also mentioned you were pretty three times.”
“Is that so?” I sent Landon an impish grin. “You were smitten right from the start.”
Landon made a face. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. I also told him I knew you were up to something.” He crossed his arms over his chest as he regarded Steve. “You could’ve tipped me off to what you thought.”
