“I’m so happy to have you all. And Ransom and Isabelle told me everything.” Genuine concern marred her pretty face, a long scar up the side of her cheek deepening. “It all sounds awful.”
“And that little creature stuck to his favorite person in the whole world is Evan.” Isabelle beamed at her son, who buried his face in Silke’s shoulder and tightened his grip on the stuffed rabbit. One of its ears was coming unstitched and the fur had that matted, loved-to-death look that only came from being dragged everywhere. “And that’s Mr. Guppy. He got him for his birthday.”
“Mr. Guppy?” Olivia couldn’t help but smile.
“Mr. Guppy goes where Evan goes,” Silke said with a grin. “And Evan goes where Aunt Silke goes. Right, sugar?”
Evan peeked out from behind Mr. Guppy and nodded solemnly.
“His friend Annie gave it to him for his birthday a couple months ago. He’s already loved it half to death.” The Lupa glanced at the rabbit and rolled her eyes in exasperation. “I keep trying to wash it while he’s sleeping and he wakes up screaming like I’ve committed a crime.”
Silke grinned. “Well, y’all standing around out here isn’t going to get anyone fed or rested. Ransom, can you get them sorted in their cabin?”
The Alpha nodded. “Yeah, Proby just finished cleaning up Sabrina and Cross’s place.”
“Great. Ow!” She winced as Evan grabbed a lock of her hair and yanked on it. “That was cute a couple months ago, but now that you’re growing stronger, we’re gonna have to break that habit of yours.”
“Would you mind watching him for a while?” Isabelle asked.
“Of course not.” She rained kisses down the boy’s cheeks which made him giggle. “I’ll see you guys later? Maybe I can give you a tour of the place.” With a final wave from her and Evan, they disappeared through the lodge’s front door.
“Follow us,” Ransom gestured to the beat-up pickup truck next the SUV. “You’ll be staying in the non-public part of the land, along with the rest of the clan.”
They all piled back into the SUV and followed Ransom and Isabelle’s truck as they wound around the lodge, down a gravel path in the back and into the trees. The road opened up after a few minutes, revealing cabins set back from each other with enough distance for privacy. They stopped at one of the cabins, the last one on the row.
As soon as she stepped out of the SUV, a breeze blew by, carrying mountain-scented air. Olivia’s she-wolf yipped in happiness and rolled around, wanting to break free and run. It had been such a long time since she’d shifted into her wolf. Since her job mostly brought her to cities like Paris and Hong Kong,there was just no space and privacy. Once in a while, in between jobs, she found somewhere to shift into her wolf and just let loose; she and her wolf needed it after all. Maybe there would be a chance for that here. And with Eli too.
This isn’t a vacation,she told herself and her wolf. There was a real danger out there. But maybe when it was all over, she could relax more and find time to let her she-wolf run free.
A change in the air drew Olivia’s attention to the cabin’s front porch and Cross appeared in the doorway. Her hybrid cousin looked the same as always, tall, lean, with that unsettling calm about him. He gave Olivia a nod as he walked toward Jacob and Sloane.
“You guys ready?” Cross asked.
“Just about,” Jacob said. “Before we go, Sloane got an update from Lizzie this morning about the fire at Lone Wolf Investigations and Security.”
“She managed to pull up all the surveillance footage. It was definitely Garret.” Sloane pulled out her phone and scrolled. “Lizzie tracked him from the moment he arrived outside the building.” She held the phone up. The footage was grainy but clear enough. A large man in a baseball cap, skulking outside on the street. “Took the emergency stairs to avoid the lobby cameras, though Lizzie picked him up on the stairwell feeds. Got into the offices by slipping in behind the evening cleaning crew, then hid in the utility closet in the pantry.”
“Outside janitorial company,” Jacob said. “They come in after hours.”
“Once the crew left, he started prowling around,” Sloane continued. “But he couldn’t get into any of the individual offices since those are all locked up with biometrics, not to mention, reinforced with steel. The footage shows him trying doors for hours. At one point he just sat down on the floor and stayed there.”
On the small screen, Garret’s massive figure was cross-legged on the carpet of Lone Wolf’s lobby, eerily still.
“Then he set a small fire in a lobby trash can,” Sloane said as she fast-forwarded the footage. “Enough to trip the alarm and the emergency door releases. Walked out the same stairwell he came in.”
“So, he was looking for something,” Ransom said, his eyes narrowing.
“Or someone,” Jacob replied, glancing at Eli.
Eli’s face was unreadable. Olivia put her hand on his forearm. He didn’t pull away, but his muscles were rigid under her fingers.
“He’s old school,” Eli said. “He wouldn’t know how to hack a system. He’d go for paper files. Personnel records.”
“Killian’s overhauling security,” Jacob said. “New protocols, new crew. Lizzie’s running a full digital audit, but it’s looking like he didn’t have the tools for electronic access.”
Cross checked his watch then nodded at Jacob and Olivia. “We should go.”
“So soon?” Isabelle sighed. “All right, well give my love to Sabrina,” she said to Cross. “How is she holding up with the pregnancy?”
