“Not a thing.” I tugged my earlobe and looked at the table. Crush and Christian were playing rock, paper, scissors. Others were laying down bills and betting on them. “I have the name of a bear sleuth who likes chaining up women. Are you interested?”
Ren’s jaw clenched. “You sure about that?”
“Yep. They’re not in city limits. We freed one woman, but I don’t think it was the first time they’ve done something like that.”
“Yeah. Give me a name.”
I was relieved he took the offer. Maybe that would distract him enough to stop thinking about the missing Relic. “Franklin. Just do me a favor and leave a man named Ferro alone. He lost a son.”
“If he’s part of that group, he’s part of their dirty crimes.”
“Maybe, but all the same, I don’t want to see a grieving father slain. Turn him over to the Council.”
Ren gave a curt nod. “You got it.”
“Sorry I couldn’t solve your case.”
He fell into stride beside me. “Something tells me you already did, but we’re not gonna talk about that, are we?”
“Nothing to talk about.”
“That’s what I thought. But I think it’s worth underscoring that a lot of packs are out a Relic. It’s not easy finding a qualified replacement.”
“I’ll see what I can do to help out with that problem.”
He adjusted his glasses. “A problem you don’t know anything about.”
“Exactly. And Ren? No more side favors. This was a really messy case, and people got hurt. If you ever need help, you’ll have to go straight to Viktor.”
“Understood.”
Harley started barking uncontrollably at the restaurant entryway. Suddenly a few people put their beers down and stood. A tall man lingered in the doorway, a duffel bag slung over his shoulder. This was primarily a Shifter joint, and everyone knew everyone.
No one knew this guy.
But I did.
And so did Blue.
She turned to look. “Matteo? What are you doing here?”
Harley kept barking, drool flinging left and right.
Matteo acknowledged everyone before turning his attention to Blue. “May I speak with you privately?”
“Later,” she said. “Not here.”
“I’m leaving. I just wanted to say goodbye.” He turned his Chitah gaze to the onlookers and felt their cold reception. “Goodbye, Blue.”
Crush patted Harley’s side and fed him a hunk of meat as a reward.
I sat down in front of Blue. “You should talk to him before he’s gone. He came all this way.”
Her eyes swung up to the empty doorway, and a look of regret crossed her expression before she ran after him.
* * *
Blue stumbledinto the restaurant and rushed toward the front door. It was rowdy in there—a dizzying mixture of laughter, boisterous chatter, and rock music. She accidentally bumped into a woman while rushing outside.
