In the Shadow of the Wolf 3 - Splintered Lies (6 page)

Joe lasted thirty minutes before pretending to love cats became too much for him to handle. He exchanged a look with Nick who was standing with the Alpaca women and exchanging mindless conversation. Nick inclined his head subtly and Joe wandered away with purpose. To anyone watching it would appear he knew exactly where he was going. He followed the discreet sign for the bathrooms, exchanging nods with people he passed and with the single guard who leaned nonchalantly on the newel post at the bottom of a set of stairs. The guard had ear buds that looked suspiciously like they were linked to some kind of music player. Evidently he wasn't the greatest security available. More a suggestion of protection for whatever lay up those stairs. Was it arrogance on the senator's part that made him feel there was nothing anyone could want past his open rooms?

At first glance there didn't appear to be cameras in the narrow hallway and Joe contemplated the stairs behind the guard. They twisted back on themselves in a U shape and the first rise was only five steps. The guard had his back to him. It was a non-decision. With ease and the grace of a man channeling his wolf he vaulted the banister and landed with catlike grace on the first landing. He waited. The guard didn't even turn; apparently he hadn't felt a thing.

The scent of vanilla and chemical was less up here and in seconds Joe was checking doors. His ability to scent may be affected but his hearing was still perfect. There was no one up here that he couldn't avoid with judicious use of alternative routes. Finally he was at the last door on this upper floor. Checking his watch he realized he had already been away for an entire minute.

Come on Christie, pull yourself together
.
Gently he pushed the door open and relief flooded him as he realized he was in some kind of office. Files were fanned on the desk and the window was open to the mild evening air. Cautiously he rounded the desk and slipped the pen that Rob had given him from his pocket. Carefully he slid it open and twisted the end, exposing a USB memory stick. Pressing it in to the correct hole on the side of the desktop he waited as it flashed. Some kind of auto run capture process was at work. Thank God for Sam and his freaky tech brain.
"Wait until it stops flashing," Sam had said.
"How long will it take?" Nick had asked. Joe was interested in that point. How long would he have to download what was on the PC?
"How long is a piece of string?" Sam shrugged as he said this.
"Are we talking five, ten, twenty minutes?"
"Five at the outside. I've set it so it searches for specific algorithms."
At that point Joe had blocked out the talking.
He checked his watch. It was now coming up to four minutes since he had left the main room. Nick and he had agreed six minutes tops before Nick would make his excuses and leave. Six minutes meant Joe was caught, trapped, or had taken an alternative exit.
Talking in the corridor outside filtered to his ears and he glanced out through the crack before the door fully closed. Someone. An older guy with silver hair was talking animatedly to a woman who had her back to him. Dressed in navy she was tall and slim. She half turned as she gestured.
Her. The one from the pharmaceutical company.
He glanced at the drive and right then it stopped flashing. Lunging for it he slipped it into his pocket and assessed his available exits. Hallway was blocked. Nowhere in here to hide. Window it was.
The drop to the ground was maybe ten or twelve feet. He climbed through the open window, clung to the long, dark drainpipe, and managed to close the window almost shut behind him. Taking a deep breath he jumped to the soft grass below and rolled to lessen the impact, finally finishing in an alert crouch.
Casually he walked away, hugging the side of the building until he ended at the back windows to the bathrooms. Nick had done his job. Excusing himself from the charity woman it was his role to follow Joe to the bathrooms and open a window. Joe entered through the opening, casually strolled out of the bathrooms, and even stopped near the guard. He dropped to fiddle with a shoe lace on his highly polished shoes. Nodding to the guard who smiled in return he rejoined the masses.
After ten minutes of conversation about Alpaca versus cat, Joe mentioned he wasn't feeling so well.
Five minutes after that they were outside the main gates and walking away. Locating Dan in an unmarked vehicle a block away was easy but the adrenaline was pumping through Joe's veins and his wolf was restless. He looked over at Nick staring out of the window and Joe didn't know what to say. He just knew he wanted Nick looking at him.
"I saw that woman from Ardenvale talking to the senator in the hall outside the office."
Nick turned abruptly looking like he was going to say something. There was worry and concern in his expression. Joe wondered how much of that was directed at him.
"She has reason to be there with the Vitamins in Schools initiative," Nick observed.
"Their discussion looked pretty heated. Like she was telling him something and he didn't like it."
"Could you hear any of it?"
"Too far away. I heard snatches of words but they meant nothing. It was more the tone. Her tone was furious."
"I wonder if that has anything to do with us," Nick wondered aloud.
"We're going straight to Sam and Doug's—see what's on that drive."
Joe groaned.
Great. More cats.

Nick stared out the sliding glass door leading to the deck of Doug and Sam's house. Waiting to hear what information they'd managed to obtain made time pass at a snail's pace. Exhausted and flush with excitement over their success they'd arrived the night before only to find the whole household in bed. Doug let them in and took the memory stick to give to Sam, but insisted they all get some sleep. Unable to argue with Doug's logic that they needed rest regardless of what information was on the drive, they had allowed themselves to be put to bed.

The young wolves each had their own room, but had chosen one to sleep all piled together on a huge feather mattress on the floor, so bed space hadn't been a problem. Nick and Joe had gone to sleep in separate rooms, and it had surprised Nick when he woke that morning to find Joe pressed tight against him, one arm around his waist, and Joe's face pressed behind Nick's ear hot and damp against the sensitive skin. Joe had seemed to sense the moment Nick woke up and edged away. He had shifted and slipped out the door before Nick could turn around. After Joe fled, Nick had lain awake for a long time looking at the partially open door. His emotions were in such a tangled mess Nick wasn't sure he'd ever figure out what he felt. He wanted what was best for Joe, but at the same time he wanted… Joe. Deciding he'd let his personal issues eat up enough time, Nick had climbed out of bed, dressing in borrowed clothes, to face the day.

Lost in thought about what it meant that Joe had sought him out for comfort, it startled Nick when Doug walked up beside him. Doug laughed at how Nick jumped.

"Are you sure you're a cop?" Doug teased and grinned at the glower Nick gave in reply. They stood together watching Mark play with the wolves in the backyard.

It was good to see Mark run with the wolves, laughing at their antics as they played. They growled, yapped, and nipped playfully at the young shifter's ankles, trying to get him to shift but he stayed on two legs, kicking the soccer ball skillfully between their bodies. "This is good—him being away from me."

Doug nodded. "I agree. It's fine, look at them. He's already part of the pack. As long as he's not allergic to cats he'll be great. He can stay as long as he wants."

Deliberately they didn't talk about Joe, or the vitamins, or a senator, or in fact any damn thing concerning the whole clusterfuck of a case. Doug was focused on the wolves in the yard and Joe was off somewhere being impatient. Nick knew exactly where he wanted to be.

While they watched, Mark looked up and waved at them, then moved over to sit on the edge of the deck. One wolf broke away from the rest to follow him. The gray wolf stretched out beside Mark, laying his chin on Mark's thigh, looking up at him with amber eyes. The men heard the murmur of Mark's voice, the words indecipherable, as he talked to the wolf. A half-grown cat appeared, settled just behind the wolf's head on his neck, and kneaded the thick ruff happily. A tiny kitten joined them, black fur shining in the early morning sun, and claimed the other half of Mark's lap. Mark glanced around and grinned at Nick before turning back to the animals. He petted the kitten and scratched wolf ears, seeming content with the silence.

Nick glanced over at Doug who was frowning and staring right at Mark. Doug had matured right in front of everyone's eyes into a kind of modern day super alpha, a natural-born pack leader. When wolf society chose to be integrated into human society they stopped forming packs, answering to the human-established government instead. The result of that decision meant the Alpha Primes often ended up in prison. Being naturally aggressive, and with no pack to expend that energy protecting, the end result inevitably landed them in trouble. Thankfully for Doug, he'd been in the right place to adopt a faux pack. He managed the home for the shift-challenged wolves along with Sam and half a million cats.

It had seemed like happy endings all around, with Rob over his wolf-as-a-mate phobia and settled happily with Jamie, his wolf lover, Sam and Doug ran the home for wolves, and even Joe had been making progress. Not so much now though. Funny how things could change so fast. Doug's voice pulled Nick out of his thoughts.

"The wolf with Mark is Corbin," Doug said. "I think we have the best chance of succeeding with him but still it's not going to be soon. He seems to like Mark though. Maybe having someone else to hang out with will remind them all that being human isn't bad. The doctors are sure every single one of my wolves can shift, physically anyhow, but something is keeping them 'wolfed up' as Rob would say."

Nick picked on the use of 'my wolves', and his inner wolf approved.
"Have you managed any communication with any of them? As a wolf?"
"When I shift they cower. They certainly don't approach me. Hell, they're even in awe of Sam. They don't shift so they can't talk to us." He frowned. The facial expression made him appear older. "We don't know if not shifting is by choice or not."
"I guess the details don't really matter, conscious or unconscious, the result is the same." Nick hadn't meant to sound sad, but that was exactly how the words came out of his mouth.
Doug tilted his head toward the backyard with a resigned shrug. "I guess if they all shifted tomorrow, I'd be out of a job."
They watched for a minute more. That Doug wished he was out of a job clear in his expression. Finally he turned away. "Let's go talk to Sammy and see how far he's gotten with the data."
Nick followed Doug up the stairs, stepping over cats as he went. He was bemused to think that the entrance of one small blond wolf into Rob's life had been the start of all of this. Jamie looked so innocent but he damn sure knew how to stir up a can of worms. Good thing the kid was so likeable.
Sam sat in front of his screen and a whole series of folders and images was open.
"I wish I'd never kept that first file." Sam's voice was sad and Doug crossed to him. He placed a gentle hand on Sam's shoulder in reassurance and Sam leaned his cheek against it. Nick watched them, surprised by a sudden surge of jealousy. He wondered what it was like to have that sort of support and open affection. He doubted what he and Joe had would ever climb out of angst-ridden remorse and anger.
"I'm glad you did," Nick said.
Sam lifted his head at that, his expression broken. He couldn't meet Nick's gaze. "I don't know what to say to Joe. I want to tell him I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault. Joe doesn't blame you. Finding that evidence means there is a chance Mara's killer isn't going to get off scot-free. That means something." Silence fell between them. With nothing left to do, or say, Nick knew he had to get moving. "Do you have anything else for me from the new information?"
Sam took a breath and met his eyes. "There is a lot of financial data on the stick, nothing that obviously ties the senator with Ardenvale Pharmaceuticals other than the normal kind of correspondence."
"Okay." Nick gave an unconvincing smile. "I guess we need to wait and see if Rob comes through with anything."
"Good luck with that," Joe said. Nick turned on his heel to face his friend. Far from looking angry he simply appeared resigned. That single expression cut deep into Nick. "Who's to say Rob has anything worthwhile. We may as well call it a day."
"This isn't you talking."
"I don't see anyone else standing here," Joe said. A quick glance around them confirmed both Doug and Sam had disappeared from the room. Evidently they expected trouble.
"You're not the man I thought you were if you roll over and show your belly to these bastards."
"This isn't my kind of policing. It never has been. We need to get guns and go in and demand answers."
"We have no reasonable cause—"
"Fuck reasonable cause, Nick. If you want me to stand here and listen to Rob spout shit about paperwork and waiting around for answers then you don't know me very well."
Nick swallowed his immediate response. Escalating whatever this was to a fight was what Joe wanted. Nick was not going to let that happen. Instead he placed the flat of his hand over Joe's heart and held in there firmly. At least Joe didn't back away at the touch.
"Let's see what Rob has to say," Nick said firmly. "Since Sam didn't find anything useful for us, if Rob doesn't have anything, then we'll finish this our way."
Something glinted in Joe's eye. Expectation? Relief? Nick couldn't get a real handle on it. Joe reached up and placed his own hand over Nick's and grasped his fingers tightly.
"Not our way. Not you. You stay here with the real people. I'll deal with it myself."
He stared at Joe, daring the other man to say anything different. Nick shook his head.
"You go to the senator, guns drawn, and demanding answers, you're going to need someone at your six. That will be me—"
A cough interrupted the emotional connection.
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," Rob said. He placed a file of papers on the desk with a thump and Joe and Nick separated at speed. "Someone get me coffee," he added.