Page 9

Irritated, he let his attention drift again, his eyes wandering over the gathered attendees from his vantage point in the back row. Old habits died hard, and he wanted to make sure that there wasn’t anyone attending who shouldn’t be.

Just because Hargreaves had suffered a setback when their mole inside the Agency had finally been brought into the light, it didn’t mean that they had stopped with their attempts to undermine the Agency. If anything, they were probably working harder than ever to infiltrate with new agents.

But there wasn’t anyone here that Robb didn’t recognize, and he relaxed a little, even as a small, traitorous part of him felt oddly disappointed.

Maybe he’d been stuck behind a desk for too long. The leadership role was what he’d wanted, what he’d aimed for, and there was a lot about it that was rewarding… but seeing his team members getting out there, putting their lives on the line, getting to shift – well, he would’ve been lying if he’d said that there wasn’t something about it that he missed.

In front of him and over to the left, a giant figure twisted awkwardly in its chair. Robb didn’t have to see the person’s face to know that it was Daniel Perkins from the Brisbane office – he would’ve known that flat-top haircut and giant musclebound frame anywhere.

Daniel had gotten involved in a bit of a mix-up with Rhys and his mate Maisie up in Queensland a while back, after which he’d apparently decided to try to strike up a long-distance, somewhat one-sided friendship with the two of them – much to Rhys’s consternation.

Watching now, he felt a twinge of sympathy as Daniel tried to find somewhere to put his knees, though not enough sympathy to tap him on the shoulder and offer him his aisle seat so he could at least stick one of his legs out. From what he’d heard, Daniel had become incredibly chatty ever since meeting his mate, and the last thing that Robb wanted was to get stuck looking at hundreds of happy snaps of the loved-up couple.

Besides, Robb wasn’t going to give up his aisle seat for anyone. He’d been in enough dangerous situations in his life to ensure that he always sat somewhere where he wouldn’t get stuck behind other people in an emergency.

I bet you’re great fun at parties, the Tahnee in his head said with a grin. Wait – I happen to know you are fun at parties. In your own unique way.

Robb’s phone vibrated in his pocket, and he had never been so glad to have an excuse to check his phone in an inappropriate setting in his life.

He didn’t even have to feel bad about it, as it was a work phone and therefore relevant. It wasn’t like it was going to vibrate if he was receiving a random social call.

You would require a social life to receive one of those, the dingo sneered.

Now you’re turning on me as well?! Robb thought in mild despair, even as he knew that the dingo was right.

He’d always been lucky – in a way – that his dingo was just as uptight as he was, if not more so. He’d never had to deal with getting sassed by his own shifter animal. He was starting to feel more sympathy towards those of his team members whose shifter forms had more antagonistic personalities.

The dingo turned back to the lecture with a hmph. It had never forgiven Robb for leaving his mate behind and fully devoting himself to his job, even as it had been an equal participant in that decision. Moral quandaries weren’t its strong point, and so it chose to believe that it had been Robb’s choice entirely.

Surreptitiously pulling his phone from his pocket, Robb glanced at the screen, expecting nothing more than an update from Euan, or some sort of deliberate test of his patience from one of his more free-spirited team members.

Huh. Unknown number.

His suspicion – well, and his curiosity – piqued, Robb slid out of his chair and slipped out the back door, answering the phone before it had even closed behind him.

“Who is this?”

A bit abrupt maybe – but he had a reputation to uphold.

“Robb? It’s Euan. Are you somewhere you can talk?”

“Euan?” It definitely sounded like Euan – Robb had known him long enough that he couldn’t exactly mistake his voice. The fact that he was calling from an unknown number was definitely odd, though. “What’s happening? Is there a problem?”

“Not exactly.” Euan sounded tense, which immediately put Robb on edge too.

“Then what? I’ve snuck out of a lecture for this, so make it quick.”

“I’m in trouble,” Euan said, his voice betraying the slightest hint of strain. For someone as undemonstrative as Euan, he might as well have been carrying a neon sign saying something’s wrong.

“Give me the details,” Robb said brusquely, as he raced down the stairs into the foyer.

Robb’s phone pinged suddenly, and he glanced at it to see a set of coordinates indicating a location less than a kilometer away.

Part of him wondered what Euan was doing in Melbourne, but that wasn’t his main concern right now – his team traveled to wherever they were required. The only thing he was really concerned about was the safety of his team.

“What’s the situation?” he asked, running out the front door and into the rainy evening.

“I was – bzzt – came and – crrrkt – didn’t see them coming –”