“Thanks!”He took his tablet with him but left the package on the counter.Once the driver locked the bathroom door behind him, Web picked up the box and gently shook it, his stomach rolling as his suspicions were confirmed.Both from the feel of the contents and from the strong scent his wolf nose picked up.He set it on the counter where the driver had put it.
The kid made it back to the counter just as Trent and Badger pulled up in front of the door, parked crossways, and ran in.
“Here they are now,” Web said.
The driver smiled.“I just need an ID for my system,” he said.“It only says Bleacke, so anyone with that name will do.Sorry about that, but my bosses are strict.When it says recipient only without the box checked for any signer, it means it.”
“No problem.”Trent showed him his license, the kid scanned it, and then Trent signed with the stylus the kid gave him.
“Where’d it come from?”Trent asked.
Badger laid a hand on the kid’s shoulder, but the driver gave the same answer he’d given Web.
Badger nodded at Trent, indicating the kid was telling the truth.
Then the driver pointed to a plastic pouch on one side, which contained what looked like a shipping invoice.“All the deets should be in that.Have a good day!”He left.
When the door swung shut, Trent asked, “Web, we alone?”
“Yep.”Web was already rounding the corner to lock the front door.“Want to open it in back?”
“I don’t want to open it atall,” Trent grimly said.
Trent
He didn’t need to be a Prime to already know what Web thought it was, because he was certain he knew, too.
Fortunately, the scent wasn’t one he knew well.While he didn’t know the person’s identity, he did sense they were a wolf.
Please don’t be someone we know… PLEASE don’t be someone we know!
Web had a mop basin on the floor by the back door, and that’s where Trent set the box.
Trent pulled out his pocketknife.“Badger, get pics of it first, please.”
“Want gloves?”Web asked.
“Not a bad idea,” Trent said.
Web fetched him a set of blue nitrile gloves.After Badger took stills, he started filming video while Trent slit open the packing slip envelope.All the paperwork said was where it was shipped from, the weight, and the time it was shipped.Smith was the name given as the shipper.Contents were listed as miscellaneous.
Insured for $100.
And the fee was paid in cash.
Badger snorted.“Guess it’s someone not worth verra much, aye?”
“Probably the default amount,” Trent said.“Not like you can declare ‘decapitated head’ on the shipping manifest.”Next, he carefully slit the tape on the top of the box and opened the flaps.
Inside sat another box sealed with packing tape and completely encased by several layers of blue-tinted shrink wrap.
Badger grunted.“No, that’s not suspicious at allll.”
“Web,” Trent said.“Get my phone out of my back pocket, please, and take stills before I go any further.”
He did, and then Trent carefully slit the shrink wrap and packing tape, exposing another cardboard box inside that one.
All three wolf shifters leaned back when the smell hit them.
