Once Tom had given Matt his list, they headed out again. In wolf form this time, since the steep hill that Tom wanted to climb wasn’t particularly horse-friendly.
“It’s too far for a sniper, but close enough for recon,” Tom said. “I want to get eyes on it myself, see exactly what they’d have line of sight on.”
Although the hill lay outside pack territory, Bryce had gone with him. He told himself it was because they didn’t want a Council-affiliated stranger wandering around unmonitored, but if he were honest, it wasn’t just security that had Bryce offering to show Tom the route up to the place they called Lookout Point. It was the fact he enjoyed Tom’s company. And that he was plenty easy on the eye.
Up at the ledge, they shifted, and as Tom stood, looking out toward the distant ranch, Bryce pulled their stash box out from the crevice it was hidden in.
“Way too cold for casual nudity,” he said, and when Tom turned to him, he tossed some sweats and a hoodie at him. “Rolled-up socks are in the pocket,” he told him, and quickly dressed himself.
Then he passed Tom the binoculars they kept in that particular stash and sat on one of the boulders scattered across the ledge. The land was federally owned, but they treated it as part of their extended buffer zone.
The vantage point offered a panoramic view of the valley below, the town nestled amidst the rolling hills, bathed in the light of the sun. He knew Dave loved to come here and meditate, and though Christian called what he did up here discipline drills, he had the feeling the spot held the same meaning for him. Bryce liked it too, so long as he stayed away from the edge.
The problem was, while it was beautiful, it also happened to offer an almost bird’s-eye view of the rear of the ranch house and much of the back yard.
“Shit,” Tom said, as he swept the binoculars over the house and surrounding land.
“It’s always been a weak spot,” Bryce admitted. “But we had no reason to worry about it until Jesse came along. Before him, there’d never been any incentive for anyone to take an interest in us.”
Tom was silent a moment. Then he lowered the binoculars and stared out, eyes narrowed as he thought.
“It’d be a solid place to coordinate an op, multiple teams hitting from different angles. But if they had that kind of firepower, they wouldn’t be managing it remotely for a pack your size.” He glanced at Bryce. “Meaning no disrespect.”
“It’s true.”
Tom nodded, then turned back to the view. “Other than someone coming up for a quick recon—and why would they,when they can get satellite imagery on their phone?—I don’t see much tactical advantage.”
Bryce tilted his head in agreement. “S’what we figured,” he said. “Though really, that was Karl’s call.”
“Has he considered setting a trail cam up here? Something to flag if anyone’s casing the place?”
Bryce huffed a laugh. “Word for word,” he said. “I really must introduce you two. Yeah, we decided in the end it wasn’t worth it. There’s an eagle pair nesting just up the rock face, and they’d drain a battery faster than you could get back up here to replace it.”
Tom sat down beside Bryce on the sun-warmed rocks, looking out at the view before them. After a few moments, he sighed slightly, and wriggled into a more comfortable position, looking more relaxed than he had all day.
“Bit different from Washington?” Bryce suggested, and Tom grinned. There was an ease in his face that Bryce hadn’t seen before, as if he really were relaxing. Fresh air and sunshine would do that to a man.
“Just a little,” Tom said. “For one thing, my office is practically underground. No natural light to be seen, which means I can go the entire winter without seeing daylight.”
“How did you end up doing this?” Bryce asked, and then he realized he needed another answer before Tom got to that one. “I mean, what exactlyisit you do?”
Tom settled back, propped against the rockface behind them. “My alpha heard they were recruiting just when—when I’d gotten some bad news about what I’d planned to do. It seemed as good a job as anything else, and it got me away. It was straightforward security for the Council at that point,” he added, shading his eyes to watch the golden eagle swooping low over them. “But then I was seconded to Councilor Steadman’s personal detail to bump up numbers because of a threat againsther. She liked the way I thought, apparently, and said I was wasted on security.”
He wrinkled his brow. “I never much liked that statement. I’m not sure people who haven’t done it understand what good security takes. But her job offer came with better hours and better pay, so I took it. And that’s how I—”
He broke off abruptly.
So abruptly, it piqued Bryce’s interest. “That’s how you…?” he asked.
Tom shook his head. “That’s how I met my ex. He was heading a subcommittee on Infrastructure and Settlement. Not something of particular interest to Steadman, but she needed a presence. So I got seconded. Again.”
Bryce glanced over. Tom was looking out at the valley, and there was something tight around his mouth.
“That sounds like it could get complicated, working together.”
“It did.” Tom’s voice was level, but his fingers picked at a seam in his borrowed hoodie. “He was ambitious. Always thinking three moves ahead. Alwayson. I guess we were kind of a power couple. Until he got promoted.”
Had the ex upgraded his partner as well as his job? That seemed to be what Tom was implying, but Bryce wasn’t going to be crass enough to ask. He didn’t say anything, just let the silence stretch and watched Tom relax again. A breeze moved over the ledge, lifting Tom’s hair and sending the scent of pine rolling past.
