Beaumont, Duron was pleased to see, checked out the window before moving towards Wyatt, eyeing the bleeding man.
“I thought you were trying to infiltrate the gang, not capture them?” Beaumont’s voice was low, but Duron heard him while he remained by the window, checking constantly that Wyatt wasn’t followed. Not that it had ever happened, but it paid to remain vigilant.
“This one,” Wyatt dropped the guy next to Beaumont’s feet, “was supposed to head to where the Iguazú river borders with the Argentine province of Misiones and the Brazilian state of Paraná. The city of Curitiba is the place where he’s meeting some people closer to the Devil. I’m gonna take his place.”
Duron paid more attention to the guy on the floor, who looked a bit like Wyatt. Part of their training had been learning to blend in, and Wyatt shared his body with a chameleon, too. “Do you have all his ID, wallet, and cell phone?”
Wyatt gave Duron a look he’d seen a time or two, one that suggested Duron was being stupid to ask. “Got it, along with a bag of his clothes. I just need you guys to give this one to Kylo to keep on ice for the time being.” He shrugged and eyed the guy. “You never know, Kylo might get something out of him, with Beaumont doing his crazy snapper impression.”
Duron bristled on behalf of his mate. “Do not talk about my mate like that, or you’ll find your chameleon won’t be able to fix your fucking smile.”
He didn’t miss Beaumont’s twitching lips or the twinkle in his eyes, despite the chuckling in his head.
“Alright, keep your hair on.” Wyatt’s expression turned serious. “I’ve texted you from his cell phone after I changed the passcode. I’ll message every six hours from now on. I’ve put the tracker back on so you’ll be able to find me if something should happen.” He nodded at Beaumont. “Make sure you look after my friend, he’s more delicate than he looks.”
Before Duron could ask what the fuck Wyatt meant he disappeared out the back of the building. A blush rose over his cheeks when Beaumont met his stare. “Your friend Wyatt has nothing to worry about. I’ve lost one family; I won’t let it happen again…”
The sheer determination rolling off Beaumont made Duron miss what he said next. “What was that?” His blush increased when Beaumont got a knowing look in his eye.
“The tracker thing Wyatt mentioned. You tensed.”
Had he? The trackers were under the heel of their foot. It was a safety precaution the council wanted, so they knew where their assassins were at all times, so no unwelcome surprises. Duron and his friends had quickly figured out how to jam the signal, and eventually the council had given up, thinking they’d removed them.
Ajani was the one to suggest they’d be handy for each other to use to keep them safe if something went wrong on a job. They each had an app on their cell phones and computers to track each other. It had come in handy in the past, although none of them liked the memories it stirred when they switched the trackers back on. “I’ll explain on the drive home.” Duron eyed the guy on the floor and lifted him, flinging him over his shoulder. “Let’s get out of here and go see if we can remove Kylo’s grumpiness.”
“I’m not sure that’s possible,” Beaumont murmured.
Duron had to agree. The man needed to get laid. It worked for him.
Chapter Ten
Beaumont
There was something nagging at the back of Beaumont’s brain, and it wasn’t anything to do with his mate, or even his mating. Duron had explained about the tracking system—Beaumont was both impressed and freaking annoyed that the organization he now ran was responsible for keeping tabs on the men, who, through no fault of their own, killed on council orders. He accepted Duron’s explanation that the tracking devices could now be used by him and his friends. The app was a good idea. So, Beaumont let it go… for now.
As expected, it had not impressed Kylo; he had another person to join the other one in the cells under the family home, muttering something about the danger to the family each new body represented. But no, it wasn’t him that was causing Beaumont’s issue. He privately felt the oldest Putney brother seriously needed a break away from his brothers, his homestead, and most definitely his job. A couple of weeks away, sunning himself by a resort pool with an energetic and sexy companion of choice would’ve been his recommendation if Kylo asked for it, but that wasn’t Beaumont’s call to make.
No. It was the nagging sense of unfinished business that had Beaumont encouraging Duron to hang onto the keys for the jeep the brothers had loaned them, having them leave the Putney home again as soon as they’d gotten free of their captive. Wyatt turning up when he had distracted them from the SUV that had arrived at the building across the road from where they’d been hiding. More specifically, from the powerful shifters that the SUV had contained.
“What are your instincts telling you?” He asked as Duron navigated the road back into town. “Was it coincidence, them turning up when they did? Or has someone tipped them off about Wyatt, or something to do with us being in the area?”
Duron shook his head. “We weren’t seen. No one knew we were meeting Wyatt, except the brothers, and they are under as much suspicion from the locals as we are.”
Good point. “In comparison to a lot of people we’ve seen, these guys had money and weapons. When you took in their scent, what did that tell you? You said something about how they smelled a bit like me.” Beaumont was missing something; he knew he was.
“Apart from the fact they were shifters, which we already knew.” Duron was silent for a moment, focused on the road, but he was thinking. “They weren’t furry shifters,” he said finally. “I’d not heard of that happening before. Marvin, and I’m only mentioning him because he used to visit so many of the boys when they were in captivity, and used to talk about them sometimes. He said he didn’t want any of his lost boys, which is what he called them, forgotten or abused again. But in all the boys he’s mentioned, and the ones me and my friends have come across over the years, all of the experimented on shifters were originally something furry. Wolves, bears, cats—that sort of thing.”
Beaumont suppressed his pleasure at Duron being worried he might object to hearing about the man his mate had pined over at one time. “When I met Marvin and Ajani at my home that time, they came to question me. They thought I might’ve been responsible for the kill order put out on him. I thought to look at him, Marvin had ape characteristics, but he smelled mostly of wolf.” He didn’t feel threatened by the man or who he was in Duron’s life, and hoped by talking about him, Duron would understand that.
“We all smell weird,” Duron muttered. The jeep took a sudden turn, and Beaumont realized they were going down a tiny gravel trail he’d barely noticed. “No point in going into town when we could be overheard. No one will hear us out here.” Shutting off the jeep’s engine, Duron half turned in his seat.
“I’ve thought a lot about what me and my friends have been through since meeting you.”
Do you ever sleep?Beaumont nodded. “You know you can talk about it anytime. There will be no secrets between us, just things we might not have had time to discuss yet,” he added, remembering he had a lot to share with his new mate himself.
“Maybe one day.” Duron shrugged and looked away for a moment. “Can’t think why it would be important, unless you’re worried about something to do with what we went through.”
“I’m very happy with the man I see in front of me.” Reaching over, Beaumont took Duron’s hand. “You were talking about the scents—how the smell was weird. Weird how?”
