Driving into work, Peter felt better about leaving Chad with Aiden than he had the day before. He’d had to go full alpha on Aiden to make sure he behaved himself, and even then he hadn’t been sure that Aiden wouldn’t do something to offend Chad.
It was a difficult situation.
Aiden didn’t mean to make Chad feel bad about himself; he just didn’t understand how his words affected the younger alpha. Chad wasn’t like them. Teasing and roughhousing went right over his head, and he always interpreted Aiden’s words and actions in the worst possible light.
But Chad was Peter’s mate. If Peter had to choose between him and Aiden, he’d always choose Chad. And so he’d told his friend in no uncertain terms that if Chad complained about him he’d see it as a personal challenge.
Aiden had been unhappy, but he’d agreed to be on his best behavior. Peter was relieved to see that he was sticking to his word.
Parking his car in the underground lot belonging to the building where Tank Security had their offices, Peter grabbed his briefcase and headed up into the elevator. When the doors opened on his floor David was there waiting for him.
“Good morning, sir,” David said, handing him a cup of coffee.
“Morning, David,” Peter said, taking a sip of the coffee as they walked to the office. “Did you set up another appointment with the Rockshaw Oil and Gas people?”
It was a contract Dawn had advised him to pursue. The old fashioned company was exactly the kind of operation that needed Tank Security’s services. They had an IT operation that was ten years out of date, and though they had been skeptical when Peter approached them, the dossier Dawn had put together to demonstrate just how easy it was to steal their data had made them eager to talk.
“Yes, sir. You’ve got a dinner meeting with Dawn and their CSO at five.”
Peter wrinkled his nose. A dinner meeting meant that he would be home late to see Chad, which left more time for him and Aiden to get on each other’s nerves. But there was no helping it. The Rockshaw Oil and Gas contract would not only be financially lucrative in and of itself, it would expose them to a whole sector of the business world that so far had been skeptical of their services.
“Very good, David. You’ve made a reservation at the usual place?”
David nodded. They had reached Peter’s office, and Peter stepped inside and put his coffee down on the desk. He removed his coat and handed it to David before sitting down.
“Do I have anything before then?” Peter asked.
“No appointments, sir,” David said. “You’ve got reports from the Strategic Operations Division to look over, and Mr. Merchant would like you to give him a call when you’ve got time to discuss them.”
“Okay, David. Thanks. I’ll call you if I need you.”
David nodded and left the room, and Peter grabbed the stack of folders on his desk and pulled them closer. He picked the top one off the pile and was about to open it when David stuck his head back in the door.
“Mr. Tank, Dawn is here to see you.”
“Send her in,” Peter said, putting the folder back on the pile and pushing it away. Hopefully she finally had something for him on Chad’s attempted kidnapping. Folding his hands on his desk, anticipation building in his gut, he watched as David pushed the door open and Dawn stepped inside. She looked like she had been up all night, her hair and clothes not nearly as put together as Peter was used to, but her expression was pure focus.
“We got them,” she said, not wasting any time. Peter almost shot out of his seat, eager to commence the hunt, but he restrained himself.
“Who was it?” he demanded.
“Andrew Silkwood,” Dawn said, handing him a folder that had been tucked under her arm and sitting down. “We managed to match the payment to Devlin’s account to an anonymous transfer made from one of his shell companies in the Seychelles. If you account for the standard thirty percent fee to the intermediate, the amounts match.”
“And the intermediary?” Peter asked.
“We still don’t know,” Dawn said, her voice clipped. “At this point our best chance at uncovering their identity is through Silkwood, though in my opinion even that’s a long shot. Whoever this guy is he’s very good at hiding his tracks.”
Peter did not like the sound of that. He wanted everyone involved in Chad’s kidnapping attempt to pay.
He opened the file Dawn had prepared for him, eyes drawn to the employee ID photo stapled to the upper right corner. He was surprised to see that Andrew Silkwood was a beta. The bloodlust that had been raging in his veins quieted, a pang of disappointment taking its place.
He’d wanted an adversary he could take down with his teeth. While Peter might have reacted to an insult from a beta by killing them when he was younger, those days were far behind him. These days he was firmly in control of his instincts and only a direct challenge from another alpha would trigger him to kill without thought or compunction.
Andrew Silkwood was not another alpha.
“And Silkwood went after Chad because?” He looked up at Dawn and found a frustrated grimace on her face.
“We don’t know. That part doesn’t make any sense. We know why he’s opposing the merger, but going after you in order to block it is… suicidal. We’ve been trying to figure out how he went from deciding to blackmailing someone on the board of Tank Industries to blackmailingyou, and we’ve come up blank.”
