His wolf clearly wasn’t on the same page. And the truth was, Jaime wasn’t safe, with his name and face splashed all over the internet as every national news outlet covered the newest breaking story in Vera Novikova-Dugan’s murder trial. Especially if Finn and Silas’s suspicions regarding Monroe PD’s reasons for hiding his identity were correct, and Jaime would be able to testify to more than just Bishop’s identity, possibly having information on a connection between Bishop and Salt Creek.
The Salt Creek bastards in the police department were probably the ones responsible for the leak to begin with. What better way to cover up their interest in a key witness linking Bishop with Jeffrey Dugan, than to splash his face all over the news for the world to see?
Finn shook his head. He was making some dangerous assumptions. He couldn’t go publicly accusing the Salt Creekpack of anything without strong, non-paranormal friendly evidence to support the connection between Bishop and Dugan.
What the hell am I thinking?
A year of silence from Jaime, a year of hurt feelings and anger at himself for daring to hope, followed by resignation and the slow settle back into moving through the motions of his life, and not even ten minutes after hearing Jaime’s name again, Finn was already planning how he could protect him from the wolves at his door.
Literally.
Fuck, that was another thing to consider. Had Jaime actually seen Bishop shifted? Did he know that he was neck deep in shit with one of the most violent and dangerous wolf shifter packs in the country? Did he know about wolf shifters at all?
Finn needed to slow down, and take a deep breath. He didn’t know what Jaime knew. He didn’t know who leaked Jaime’s identity to the media, and he didn’t know why.
All he knew was that Jaime was vulnerable. Media trucks would be swarming his home within hours, if they weren’t already there, like vultures flocking to a fresh kill until something newer and juicier came along.
The thought of Jaime unprotected, at the whim of the media and every other intrusive weirdo out there had another involuntary growl rumbling from his chest.
If I sought him out, just to make sure he had even the most basic security protocols in place, would that make me one of those intrusive weirdos, too?
He could do it. It would be easy.
With just a few clicks of his mouse, he would know everything there was to know about Jaime Lamont. He had chosen not to do that a year ago—chosen to respect Jaime’s boundaries. He didn’t want to invade Jaime’s privacy; he wantedJaime to invite him into his world with open arms, not to burst through the door uninvited.
That’s what the weirdos will be doing in a few hours, you fool. Go!
He’d been in this job long enough to know how people behaved when they thought they had access to a person’s private life. Half of his job was to make sure those people weren’t successful in invading the personal space of their clients. Could he really sit back and do nothing, knowing how much danger Jaime was in?
No, he fucking couldn’t.
Jaime might hate him for it, might call him a creep and want nothing to do with him, but he couldn’t let him fend for himself. Not now that Finn knew he needed help. He’d look Jaime up, take the day off of work claiming he didn’t feel well, and go find him. After that, well.
He’d figure that out in the truck on the way there.
His inner wolf was less agitated now that Finn had made a decision—the right one—his wolf growled, but just as he was about to pull Jaime’s name up in their database, Sheppard’s voice hollered out from his office. He’d been on the phone all morning, and Finn prayed they didn’t have a new client to go deal with. It would make lying about being sick more difficult.
Cameron Sheppard, the owner of Private Security Solutions and Silas and Finn’s boss, started their team eight years ago after they were all discharged from the service together. When Finn and Silas graduated high school, they were contacted by a shifter representative from the military and recruited into an experimental, covert unit that specialized in ‘elimination of threats to national security using shifter assets.’
Whatever vague bullshit that meant.
They were assigned to Sheppard’s unit and joined by only one other shifter on the team—Joe Renner. Sheppard andRenner were three or four years older than Finn and Silas, but after training as a pack, they were soon thick as thieves.
Their shared history and friendship wouldn’t stop him from lying about needing to leave to find Jaime, but he would feel guilty about it.
“Winters! Granger! Come in here.”
Finn and Silas glanced at each other, eyebrows raised, before they stood and made their way over to Sheppard’s door. Finn leaned against the frame while Silas stood just inside, arms crossed and feet planted wide, always ready for assignment.
Finn just hoped this would be quick.
“Sir?” Silas asked.
Sheppard motioned them inside and told them to sit. “We’ve got a referral from Monroe PD. It’s a unique situation, and I want to discuss it with you both before you commit to the contract.”
Finn’s ears perked up at that. Monroe was not that big, surely there couldn’t be more than oneunique situationhappening today? Shooting each other wary glances, Finn and Silas sat in the chairs across from Sheppard.
“When was the last time you ‘consulted’ us before taking a case?” Silas asked, using his fingers to make air quotes around the word.
