I run a hand over the short bristles of my regrowing hair, my skin feeling too tight. ‘We’re running out of time.’
Bryn grimaces. ‘You know, when you first told me about all this my only real thought was how satisfying it would be for Lance to end up behind bars. Now I feel like if we don’t stop him, the consequences could be so much bigger than whether or not I get revenge on the fae who ruined my life.’
I want to make some playful comment about him growing as a person, but my brain sticks on what he said about Lance behind bars.
‘Hold that thought,’ I sign, rushing over to the other end ofthe table where Kit insisted we leave the laptops well away from sticky fingers.
It takes me a few minutes to find the correct part of the BSG task force contract—it contains hundreds of pages—by which time Ayo has returned with a tray full of teas and coffees, and everyone is retaking their seats.
“Raj?” Ethan asks.
‘Bryn gave me an idea. Just give me a minute to check…’ I trail off, reading through the relevant section, then clicking the link to check the associated subsection. ‘Got it.’
I take my seat, my pulse racing. ‘I’ve got something, but it’s not a perfect solution.’
“Let’s hear it,” Ethan says, leaning back in his chair.
‘We may have enough evidence to arrest Lance for either gross negligence, or health and safety breaches related to the explosion Bryn and I were both injured in.’
“As necessary as that is, how does that get us any closer to finding the weapons lab and the missing shifters?” Skye asks.
I smirk, my previous fatigue replaced by buzzing energy. ‘Because when we arrest someone, we can search the premises for further evidence to back up the reason for arrest, and seize anything we find.’
“So all we’d have to do would be to arrest him at the warehouse to be able to search everything in there,” Cal says.
“Including their computers,” Kit says, their eyes lighting up. They’ve been wanting a legal excuse to go into Far Out Freight’s IT systems since I started investigating the company back when we found the link to Nyoka.
Bryn frowns. ‘Do you have enough evidence to charge him with either of those offences? He has excellent legal representation, so anything you have would need to be rock solid.’
‘That’s the beauty of it,’ I sign, my hand movements as enthusiastic as my voice. ‘Right now we have enough for his arrest. What we find in the boxes—presumably weapons in atleast a few, if they’ve not already been shipped out—will be enough to charge him. And whether or not we find those, there may be a digital trail we can follow to find the location of a lab if it exists, perhaps a record of what happened to our missing shifters, or even the source and destinations of the weapons, all of which could also bring about criminal charges. It’s a multi-pronged approach.’
Ethan points at me. “I like it. We have a lot of details to nail down before I agree to it, but this is our best idea so far.”
‘My biggest concern is that when we enter the warehouse to arrest Lance it’ll reveal my true identity, which puts Bryn at risk of retribution.’
People don’t tend to react well when they find out I’ve been working undercover, but usually by the time they realise who I am I’ve already left, or they’ve been arrested or killed. I’m kicking myself for not considering the fact that I was getting involved with someone when we both have to live and work in the city afterwards, especially because Bryn will be on the fae-run work programme for several more months. My rule about not getting involved with someone while undercover centred on them not knowing my real identity—an obstacle that was removed in Bryn’s case—and whether I could really trust them. For all my overthinking, I clearly missed a critical angle.
‘I’m sorry,’ I sign to Bryn. ‘I’ve been so caught up in the investigation, I didn’t think through the implications for you when this ended.’
‘Don’t worry about me. Stopping Lance is more important.’ There’s a steadiness to Bryn’s gaze that lets me know his priorities really are in that order.
I’m glad he’s here for this discussion, because I’ve learnt my lesson about taking steps to protect him without his input, yet no matter how unconcerned he seems I can’t dismiss the risk so readily. This isn’t about how capable he is or isn’t; it’s about the realities of being linked to an undercover operative, and I’d neverforgive myself if something happened to him because of my carelessness.
Kit frowns at Bryn. “Can’t we get you released from the programme by filing for an exemption due to concerns for your safety?”
Bryn shrugs. ‘Maybe, but someone at Realm Enterprises will likely find an unconnected business to reassign me to, and frankly I need the guaranteed income for the next while.’
Ethan rubs his beard. “Actually, there’s another option I’ve been mulling over. Raj, what if we keep you as a permanent undercover officer? We can arrest Lance without you, and keep you working remotely when you’re not actively on assignment.”
My tiger bristles and I stiffen, my chest tightening to the point where I feel like I can’t breathe. I don’t think I can do this again, be without my pack when they’re so close by. Being permanently undercover would mean not moving into the manor as well, because I’d need to live in a place that fits my fake identity, and would likely mean far fewer visits here, if any. I’d rarely see the people who mean the most to me.
Ethan’s asking too much, but how can I say no to my alpha? Especially when what he’s suggesting would be the safest way to protect my boyfriend.
My phone rings, obnoxiously loud in the silence. I pull it out to reject the call only to pause at the name on the screen. ‘I have to take this.’
‘Are you ok?’ Bryn asks, his lips pursed and his eyebrows drawn together.
‘I’m fine,’ I sign tightly before I shove my chair back and stride from the room, heading for the front doors as I swipe to answer. “Father. How are you?”
