One of his best friends was currently working as a freelance private detective. His name was Kemp, and he was an ex-military man. The two of them had been friends since they were young, which tended to happen when shifter kids grew up together—there were few enough of them around that those childhood bonds lasted a lifetime.
Kemp had always been the tough one: stronger, harder, and more resilient even that most of the other shifter kids they’d met, and that had carried over into adulthood, and only been amplified by his time in the armed forces. He wasn’t the sort of person who would be intimidated by anyone, let alone a spoiled rich boy with underworld connections and a penchant for hurting pretty ladies.
Kemp had underworld connections as well, Chase knew. His friend wasn’t part of any of those criminal circles, but he did occasionally enlist the help of people who were, and information he’d provided had helped Chase crack his cases more than once. Most recently, he’d been searching for information on the Corbyn family, his current case, though as yet he hadn’t turned up anything useful.
Hopefully, he’d have more luck with Hailey’s ex.
Chase dug through his contacts until he found the number he was searching for, then dialed it. He hesitated a moment, finger poised over the call button. Going behind Hailey’s back like this…it went against everything he believed in.
Protect our mate,his reindeer insisted.At all costs.
And normally, he’d agree. But at the cost of betraying her trust, the confidence she’d placed in him?
Protect mate. No matter the cost. Protect calf.
Chase exhaled slowly. Hailey would want the same thing, he was sure. Maybe not her own safety—she was selfless enough to make his reindeer restless—but Riley’s safety. And there was only one way he could guarantee that. He pressed the call button.
Chase just hoped the relief that her ex wouldn’t be able to hurt either of them anymore would be enough of a reason for her to forgive this breach of her trust.
“Hello?” a deep voice rumbled through the phone. He sounded awake and alert despite the late hour, which wasn’t uncommon. When Kemp got caught up in a case, mundane things like sleep tended to go right out of his head.
“Hey…you’re still up, huh?”
Kemp let out a hum, seemingly unbothered by the subtle rebuke. “Don’t worry about it. I had a nap a little earlier.”
“Sure you did. You wanna tell me when the last time was you took something longer than a nap?”
“…No.”
“You’re at least eating, right?”
“Ramen count?”
Chase snorted. “Not unless your bear stopped needing actual meat.”
“He’s not worried about food when we’re on a case.”
“That’s what worries me. When your case is over, I’m dragging you out for some actual food.”
“Yes, mother. You wanna tell me what’s up? I assume you didn’t just call to check up on my eating habits.”
“Are you busy? I wanted to ask you if you could look something up for me.”
Abruptly, Kemp was all business. “Name it.”
“I need you to do a bit of digging for me on a woman named Hailey Somerton. More specifically, I need you to find out everything you can about her ex.”
“Sure, I can do that. What’s her ex’s name?”
“I don’t know. She, uh, wouldn’t tell me.”
Another long silence greeted this reply. “What’s going on here, Chase? Sounds to me like this isn’t work related. Are you really asking me to dig into your new girlfriend’s ex?”
His friend’s tone was dripping with disapproval. Chase winced. It did sound bad when he put it like that.
“It’s not like that,” he protested. “Come on, you know me better than that. She told me he was abusive, and it sounds like he’s been stalking her, following her around even though she’s left him. Charges never stuck due to family money and connections—you know the drill, we’ve seen it before.”
“Still,” Kemp insisted stubbornly, “are you sure about this? You could land yourself in a lot of trouble.”
