“I can tell you it wasn’t someone who used the normal channels to hire this dude…so my guess is it was done in person or through a mutual acquaintance.”
“Hmm…there’s no way it was done in person. The risk is too great for blackmail,” Glenn said. “See if you can find a list of his satisfied customers…or maybe his targets.”
“On it…what about your mate? Should I work on that first?” asked Riley.
“No. If I can eliminate Luka and who hired him, it solves my problem with my mate. In the meantime, as long as no one knows about Sawyer, he should be safe.”
“Yup…oh, by the way…there’s a new post from the Collector,” Riley said.
“Oh yeah? Is he still after my mother?”
“Uhmm…I don’t know that but right now he is asking for information about a male omega dragon.”
“Why? There aren’t a lot of them but not that few to be considered rare,” Glenn said.
“Don’t know cause the post doesn’t say. Just thought you might be interested.”
“I am…send me the link,” Glenn replied, then added, “I’ll check in with my mother…just to make sure everything’s okay with her.”
“Will do. Anything else?” asked Riley.
“One thing…do you need any info from me about Ghost or Smokey?”
“Maybe Smokey,” Riley replied. “There’s a period of six months last year I can’t account for, but other than that, I have all the info about his jobs for the last five years.”
“Do you want me to ask him about it?”
“No…not yet. I still have a few more places to check,” Riley said.
“Fine. Oh…and thanks, Riley.”
“No problem. Talk to you later.”
~/~/~/~/~
Glenn leaned back in his chair, thinking about Smokey. Six months is a long time to disappear, and so completely, even Riley couldn’t trace him. That in and of itself raised a huge red flag in Glenn’s mind. He wondered if the empty bar or how quickly Smokey agreed to join him were related to something that happened during that time. And if it was, then it was also possible it was the reason behind the contract hit. Glancing down at Luka’s photo, Glenn saw the coldness in the eyes staring back at him. He knew there was only one choice—kill or be killed—a choice he had no problem making, if it would protect his friends, his mate and himself.
Snorting at the word “friends,” Glenn thought back to his early years at the agency, where he spent most of his twenties, learning everything he needed to do his job. Having friends wasn’t part of the lessons—which suited him just fine since he was a loner, something he chalked up to his tiger. But then he met Smokey on the first job he was sent on, and he quickly learned the value ofhaving a partner he could trust. A deep friendship formed between them; whenever he could, he always requested Smokey as his backup.
Ghost was assigned to him one of the few times Smokey wasn’t available which pissed him off royally. After pulling every string he could to get the agency to switch out Ghost for Smokey, he finally accepted there wasn’t any way it was going to happen. So he left with Ghost, ignoring him completely, that was, until Ghost saved his ass. Bad intel had set Glenn up to be ambushed by a militant group whose leader he was supposed to kill. It was only Ghost’s quick thinking that got them out of there with only a couple of minor bullet wounds. From that point on, Smokey and Ghost were not only his friends but brothers…brothers he’d fight and kill for just to make sure they were safe.
Running his hand through his hair in frustration, Glenn just knew Smokey was hiding something, and he’d bet it was connected with what his friend was doing during those six months. Maybe the shooting last night wasn’t part of it, but that possibility didn’t offer Glenn any comfort. Instead, guilt filled his body because if he’d left the agency when his friends did, Smokey would have been with them instead of who knew where. The plan was for the three of them to start their own private security business together and, for the first time in a very long time, none of them would need to be looking over their shoulders, waiting for someone to double-cross them and ultimately end their lives.
Everything was arranged and notices had been given, but then Glenn got a call from his mother that changed the direction of his life in a flash. Meeting his mother at some flea-bag place near the border instead of her home alertedhim something was wrong, but it wasn’t until he saw the fear in her eyes that he knew his dream of starting his own business with his buddies wasn’t going to happen. Instead, he made a deal with the agency, using their need to keep him at any cost, to provide the protection for his mother she refused from him. Even though Smokey and Ghost agreed he had to do it, his guilt over abandoning them had dogged him, until it ended the moment his handler stuffed the note into his pocket saying his mother had been kidnapped.
Saving his mother from the Collector also gave Glenn his freedom. Now she was safe—at least for the time being—while he had a month to use all the assets the agency possessed to find the son-of-a bitch who took her. Then he’d resign, ready to team up with Smokey and Ghost again. Finally, Glenn could see the light at the end of the tunnel but then Fate threw a monkey wrench at him when Sawyer appeared.A mate…a fucking fated mate…and if that isn’t all kinds of fuckery, I don’t know what is.
Shaking his head slightly at his last thought, Glenn scrolled through his contacts until he found his mother’s number. Glancing at the time, he dialed her, waiting for her to answer.
“Hi dear, are you finally getting some rest?” asked Willow Thatcher.
“Yeah mom, I am. What about you? Any problems…you know, from what the assholes did to you?”
“No, I’m fine. Mac checked me out…where are you?”
“I’m with Smokey and Ghost,” Glenn said.
“Oh my, I haven’t seen them for a while…how are they?”
