Caleb didn’t want West and Austin to be right, dammit.Besides, that wasn’t why he was angry with Austin.“I never said he wasn’t right.I do think it would be smart to contact a police officer, tell them what we know, and let them handle it.”
“Will you do that, then?”
“I don’t even have a name, West.How can I talk to any of my contacts if I don’t have that?I can’t tell them who to investigate.Besides, I’m not even sure they’ll do anything.They need more than the word of a firefighter to investigate another firefighter.”
“Caleb?”Jonathan called out from the direction of the kitchen.
Caleb narrowed his eyes at West.“You didn’t tell him why I’m here, did you?”
“He didn’t even know you were coming.The only reason I did was that Austin called me.”He grinned, and Caleb knew he was in trouble, but before he could say or do anything, West opened his mouth.“Yeah, he’s here,” he told Jonathan.“And he has something to tell you.”
Caleb glared at West, but it was too late.Jonathan was going to besopissed.
He appeared at the kitchen door, a towel in his hands.He smiled at Caleb, but he looked confused.“Tell me what?”he asked.
“It’s about the arsons,” West continued.
Caleb had to resist the urge to kick him.Maybe he shouldn’t.West deserved to be kicked.
“What are you talking about?”Jonathan asked.He narrowed his eyes at Caleb.“Caleb?What’s he saying?”
Caleb wouldn’t get out of this.Jonathan wouldn’t let it go, just likehewouldn’t let it go if their positions were reversed.Jonathan would be angry, but he would also be on Caleb’s side when it came to Austin and what he’d done, and that was good.He needed someone in his corner.
He sighed and moved toward the couch, dropping down onto it.“Austin and I have been investigating the arsons,” he told Jonathan.“And before you start worrying, that just means that we’ve been making lists of the businesses that burned down, the people who owned them, things like that.I didn’t know we were anywhere close to finding out who the arsonist is until Austin told me he knows.”
Jonathan blinked.“What does he know?”
“Who the arsonist is.He refused to give me a name.We’ve been working on this together.That’s what we agreed on when we started, and that hasn’t changed, even though we started dating.He kept me out of it on purpose.”
Jonathan shook his head.“That wasn’t nice, but what the fuck were you two thinking?”
“I’m fine, Jonathan.I don’t even know who Austin thinks the arsonist is.”
“That doesn’t mean they couldn’t hurt you.What if they’d found out you were investigating them?”
Why did everyone seem to think that Caleb was weak?“I’m a shifter.I could have taken them.”
“You don’t know if they’re a shifter, too.You don’t knowanything, so don’t tell me you weren’t in danger.”
“Maybe I was, but I really don’t think so.Austin says he thinks that the arsonist is a firefighter.He’d know if there was other shifter firefighters, right?”Caleb turned to West for confirmation.
“We don’t work with every firefighter in the city,” West explained.“Although we do cross paths with a lot of them.I’ve never noticed another shifter working with us, but I could be wrong, and so could Austin.It’s not like we sit around and chat.”He hesitated.“But no, I don’t think that the person Austin suspects of being the arsonist is a shifter.That’s not the point, though, Caleb.Austin was trying to protect you.He might have gone about it the wrong way, but he doesn’t want you to get hurt.He cares about you.”
West was right.Of course he was.Austin had told Caleb that he was a protector.It was why he’d become a firefighter.It made sense that he’d want to protect Caleb and that he was ready to do so by any means necessary.
“Fine,” Caleb grumbled.“I get why he’s doing this.It doesn’t mean I’m happy with it or that I won’t argue against it.”
“Good,” Jonathan said, and something in his voice made Caleb frown.“Because you and Austin are both in trouble.You kept West and me out of it, but that’s over.We won’t let you do this alone.”
Caleb opened his mouth to tell Jonathan that he didn’t want him to get involved.The last thing Jonathan needed was to deal with something like this.He’d been through enough, and it was Caleb’s job to protect him, even though they weren’t dating.
Well, shit.Now Caleb really knew how Austin felt.
