“Here we go.” Gabriel leans forward, attention fixed on the phone.
The call connects with a click. “Darrow here.”
Diaz speaks without preamble. “We have a problem. Gabriel Rockford was at my house twenty minutes ago.”
“What did he want?” Darrow demands.
“New security protocols at the docks. Focusing onunofficial boats, shift change transfers…everything we’ve been doing.” Diaz doesn’t pause for breath in his panic. “He knows, man. All the areas he targeted are the ones we’ve been setting up for Tony’s operation.”
“Was he alone?”
“No. Had another Alpha with him. Big guy, quiet.” Ice clinks as Diaz takes a drink. “Looked dangerous.”
“Describe him.”
My spine stiffens at becoming the subject of their conversation. Gabriel stiffens with me, then locks it down just as fast.
“Dark hair, muscular, maybe mid-twenties.” Diaz hesitates. “Lots of scars on his hands. The kind that comes from fighting.”
So much detail catches me off guard. Diaz barely looked at me during our brief encounter, all of his focus on Gabriel.
“Did Rockford introduce him?”
“No. Guy didn’t speak at all. I think he was there as Rockford’s bodyguard. You know how those assholes are. Always flaunting their wealth.”
I snort. “He’s one to talk.”
Gabriel’s lips twitch in response.
“This isn’t good,” Darrow snaps. “If the Rockfordsare monitoring those areas, we need to pause operations.”
“For how long?” Diaz asks, panic edging in. “Tony won’t like delays. He’s got buyers waiting. He’s already pissed he lost the cam boy Travis promised to bring in.”
A chill goes through me at the casual reference to Micah’s stalker. Did Diaz or this Darrow guy have a hand in his kidnapping? There had been two people involved in the smash and grab that almost killed his mate and cost my best friend his freedom.
“Tony has bigger concerns than impatient buyers,” Darrow says dismissively. “Gabriel Rockford is the problem. If they’re sending one of their own to investigate port security, we’re already fucked.”
Glass clinks onto a hard surface. “What about my shift tonight?”
“Keep to your usual routine. Do nothing that will appear suspicious.”
“And Gabriel?” Diaz asks.
“I’ll handle Gabriel Rockford.” His confidence raises the hair on my arms. “Tony has a plan for them.”
The call ends, leaving only the sound of Diaz’s heavy breathing through the speakers. Gabriel tapsthe phone screen, saving the recording before silencing the feed.
He leans back in his seat with satisfaction, as if everything went according to plan. A plan that now has him marked as a problem to be handled.
“You planned for this.” The accusation bursts from me before I can contain it.
Gabriel turns toward me, one eyebrow raised. “I suspected Diaz would contact his handler, yes.”
I stare at the windshield, the quiet playground leaving us too exposed. “You walked into his house knowing he’d panic.”
“I walked into his house knowing he’d choose self-preservation,” Gabriel corrects, as if that settles anything.
It doesn’t.
