“Yeah, Zack’s in solitary again. Even if he hates it, he’s safer there.” He puffs a little, no doubt striding down the sidewalk. “Hold on, Ricky. I believe we’ll have him home within two weeks.”
My heart leaps. “Fuck, that would be amazing.”
The red warning light over the studio door flicks off and I push away from the wall and slip inside. Red grins and waves before turning back to talk to the assistant director.
A faint ball of unease in my belly unwinds; it seems to appear any time I don’t have eyes on my omega. I might need to read some articles to see if all alphas feel this way.
Callisto’s voice muffles as he covers the phone and gives the address for his office.
“You heading back to the office?”
“Yeah. No rest for the wicked, right? The judge threw out an affidavit today, saying it was submitted late, so I need to do some digging and probably fire someone.”
“Couldn’t have been Hale.”
“Right. We’ve been pretty swamped, so he might have asked an intern to take care of it. I should’ve done it myself, but with the way things are currently . . .” He doesn’t need to finish because I know exactly how crazy busy he’s been.
“Will it damage your case?”
Callisto grunts. “I’ll see what I can do to fix it overnight. If I can find something wrong with the other party’s submission, I’ll get everything zeroed and we’ll start again.”
It feels like it’s been months since we’ve talked about a case that wasn’t Red’s, and it reminds me of the all-important goal Calli used to talk about. “What’s your win streak at?” I ask.
Silence comes down the line.
“Calli?”
“Um, yeah. I just realized this is case number one hundred.”
“What?” I screech, drawing gazes from all around the studio. I duck behind the set and cup my hand around my mouth. “I can’t believe you’re at ninety-nine already! What’s Shiloh Laurance’s record again?”
“One hundred and two. Damn.” He huffs out a big breath, as if the impact of the moment settles on him.
“You got this,” I say. “Smash that home run, baby.”
He chuckles, deep voice soothing in my ear.
That suave rumble heats my belly, reminding me how affectionate Calli’s been ever since Red’s last heat. Some days, when we’re alone in the tent, it feels like I’m all Red’s got now, but that’s not true. Callisto has our back. Those bills I was stressing about? He’ll take care of them, just like he’s doing everything required to get Zack home. No way will Zack ignore all this man’s done for us. I won’t let him.
I smile, cradling the phone to my ear.
My phone beeps, letting me know another call’s incoming. When I see Agent Josef’s number, I ask Calli to hold.
“Rickon Jones here,” I answer.
“Hey, Rickon. Sorry to bother you but we have a bit of a situation here at the tent.”
“What’s going on?” I ask. The set suddenly feels darker and more cramped, and I duck out from behind the staging, searching for fresh air.
“Well, the police are here, demanding we pack up and go home on account of illegal camping.”
I sigh. “Man, we can’t catch a break.”
Red walks toward me, and she frowns as she watches my expression.
Agent Josef sighs. “I’ve tried to talk them out of it, agent to agent, but I think they’re getting signals from their higher-ups.”
“Okay. I think we’re done for the day so we’ll be there in about an hour.”
