“That’s why Shawn and River dropped me off here. Gavin wouldn’t let me ride my bike.”
“That’s good. That also means no camping,” Bas stated.
“But—” Stryker frowned. “We promised. And we were really looking forward to this. We even bought new tents and sleeping bags.”
“It’s not safe,” Bas said. “Until the hyena pack is caught, no one should go out into the woods off property.”
Stryker’s chair went flying back as he stood suddenly. “But EJ is out there!”
“Damn it!” Bas was already pulling out his cell phone. “I’ll send the guys out there to find him.”
“I haven’t met this EJ,” Leo said. “Why is he out there?”
“I told you he loves the outdoorsy stuff,” Stryker replied.
Leo glanced at Aaron. “Could he be involved with the hyena pack?”
“He’s human!” Stryker shouted.
“That doesn’t mean—” Leo started.
“EJ is a sweetheart,” Stryker argued.
Damn, this was a mess. “No,” Aaron said. “EJ is fully human, a firefighter, Hudson’s best friend, and a good person. There is no way that he’s involved.”
“How can you be sure?” Leo demanded.
“I think I would know,” Aaron said. “The dreams aren’t always clear, but I think I would know if EJ was involved or not.” At least he hoped.
Bas strolled back into the conference room with the phone to his ear. “Trevor and Shawn are going to track EJ down and bring him back to town. Hudson has a few ideas where EJ likes to camp out.”
Stryker relaxed. “He’s a good guy.”
“I agree,” Bas said. “Nothing will happen to EJ. You have my word.”
“This isn’t where our concern should be,” Leo said again.
Bas shrugged. “He’s Hudson’s best friend. I can’t let anything happen to him.”
“He’s my new buddy.” Stryker sat back down.
“Great,” Leo said. “Wonderful. Can we get back to tracking down the hyena pack?”
“Sure. Mason has game cameras set out all around the state park,” Stryker said. “I don’t even have to hack the account since he gave me the password.”
“I could have done that,” Aaron complained. He needed to do something. Anything to keep his mind busy so he didn’t think about Carter and the fact that he was going to have to explain things to Carter.
“A word?” Leo motioned with his head toward the hall.
Aaron sighed but followed his friend out of the conference room. Leo strolled toward the break room in the back. “We’re going to have to repair that hole in the wall Bas made with his fist.”
“Just hang a picture over it,” Leo suggested.
“We are literally friends with the owner of a construction company,” Aaron pointed out.
“Good point,” Leo said, sending a wink over his shoulder. “I just think it would be fun to remind Bas of this later. When he’s lecturing us on something.”
Huh, that might be a good idea. “Maybe we’ll just frame it.”
