Pack Investigator (8 page)

She had hope that Garrett wouldn’t be threatened by her work like some of the others. He didn’t seem like the type that’d stray because she wasn’t around. Add in the fact that he was putting his case before the start of anything with her, as he should, spoke of like-mindedness.

That hadn’t stopped her from pulling out her favorite vibrator that morning and fantasizing that it was him pleasuring her instead of her toy. She’d climaxed hard with his name on her lips. Now she couldn’t wait to see him again. She knew that he wouldn’t be at his sister’s this morning but she could still pick up traces of his scent in the air.

Julie came around the corner and smiled. “You better hurry or Nick’s likely to eat all the food.”

“He was pretty excited,” she agreed. She held up the carrier with the three to-go cups. “I bought the adults lattes.”

“Awesome!” Julie took the drinks and turned back toward the kitchen.

Lily hurried to follow behind. Nick was pulling out the wrapped packages and setting them in the middle of the table. Tom stood over his shoulder helping as Nick talked non-stop. “My dad takes me to the café every Sunday to get these sandwiches,” Nick said as he climbed onto his knees to be higher in the chair.

Lily was even happier that she was able to bring something to Nick that meant so much. She hoped that Garrett, Cooper and the others were closer to finding Randy. The last few days had been hard on the boy but that was nothing compared to what Nick would go through if Randy wasn’t found.

The Pack was searching the city up and down but last she’d heard there’d been no sign of where Randy could have been taken. She’d placed a call to the Alpha on her way over and even he had sounded more worried than he had before.

“Well, I hope to see you both there soon,” Tom told Nick. “I’ve only been there a couple of times but every meal I’ve eaten has been fantastic.”

“My dad says we go once a week ’cause it’s a tradiction,” Nick shared.

“Tradition?” Julie corrected gently.

“Yeah! That!”

Lily laughed. “That is important,” she agreed.

Nick started to put his food toward his mouth but paused. “I’m gonna see my dad again, right?”

“We’re doing everything we can,” Lily assured the boy.

“Okay,” he said then stuffed his sandwich into his mouth.

The smile on her face didn’t seem to want to go away. Lily opened her own breakfast and began to eat. “So what do you have planned for today?” she asked after swallowing her last bite.

“Tom’s going to show me how to breathe,” Nick answered.

Lily glanced up at the other shifter.

“Relaxing techniques,” Tom clarified.

“That’s a good idea,” she said and meant it. With everything that Nick was going through, the last thing they needed was for the boy to shift. The trauma of not knowing how to control the animal or transform back to human could devastate the boy.

Most shifters changed for the first time when they hit puberty. Of course, a small percentage transformed earlier or later than that. But as young as Nick was, he hadn’t started the training provided by the Pack to make sure he was ready. He still had a few years so Tom’s help would come in handy. Especially if the worst happened and Randy wasn’t found soon and wouldn’t be coming home to Nick.

“Then Julie said she’d play some board games with me. She has them all!”

Julie laughed. “Maybe not all but we do have a lot. We host a lot of barbecues with the Pack.”

“Maybe I can come next time,” Nick said.

“You’ll be the very first invited,” Julie told him.

“Thanks!” Nick bounced in his chair. “You wanna play?” he asked turning toward Lily.

“I’d love to but I have to go to work,” she replied. She made a pouty face. “If I don’t, my boss will show up here looking for me.”

“They can play too,” Nick offered.

“That’s very sweet,” Lily ran her hand over Nick’s hair. He was such a kind boy. She wanted to meet Randy and tell him what a fine job he was doing raising Nick.

Tom’s cell rang, drawing their attention. He pulled the phone from his back pocket to glance at the screen. “I’ve got to take this,” he told them before he stood and exited the kitchen.

“Is there anything that you need, now that you’ve had time to go through the bags I brought last night?” she asked, getting to the purpose of her visit.

Nick shook his head while Julie smiled at her.

“I think we have everything we need. I washed the clothes you brought earlier so he’ll have plenty of clean ones. I always wash new items since there is no telling where the store kept them. He loves his stuffed wolf,” Julie said.

“When I got scared last night I hugged him like Garrett told me and I felt better,” Nick said.

“That’s good.” Lily patted his hand. “That’s why I brought him to you.”

“I think my dad will like him too,” Nick said.

Tom entered the room, and Lily could easily pick up the scent of excitement. “Hey, buddy, why don’t you wash up and meet me in the living room.”

“’Kay,” Nick said as he climbed down from his chair.

“What is it?” Lily asked after Nick was gone.

“That was Garrett. They think they’ve found the guys. They’re getting ready to go after them,” Tom said.

Lily jumped up. “Really?”

“That’s great.” Julie was next to her.

Tom strolled closer. “Hopefully Randy will be there. They found an abandoned property that would be perfect for hiding someone,” Tom said quietly.

Lily glanced back toward the doorway that Nick had gone through. “Let’s pray.”

Tom nodded. “I’ll stay here and make sure no one comes after the boy. They’ll call as soon as they know for sure.”

“Can you stay?” Julie asked her.

“Of course,” Lily replied. “We’ll want to see how Randy is doing but our first priority is to reunite Nick with his dad.” She would have to call into the office but she had no doubt that her boss would want her with Nick while the cops did their job.

“I’m going to try to keep Nick and myself distracted. I’m going to go ahead and work with him. We don’t know what condition Randy will be in,” Tom said.

“Yeah,” Lily agreed. No matter what, Nick would need to see his father to know that he’d really been found.

“I’ll make some more coffee,” Julie offered.

“Thanks,” Tom said before he went to join Nick.

Lily walked back to the table and sat. “I hope this is really it.”

“Garrett wouldn’t give us false hope. They must have something solid if he’s calling Tom,” Julie stated.

Just hearing Garrett’s name had Lily’s body flushing with heat. Julie laughed, making her glance up.

“I used to react the same way when anyone mentioned Cooper. Should I ask what your intentions are toward my brother?” Julie teased.

“Depends,” Lily joked back. “Are you asking about the next forty-eight hours or long-term?” Because she knew how she wanted to celebrate with Garrett. Her plan would involve the closest flat surface and her and Garrett naked. She probably shouldn’t mention that to Julie.

“Forget I asked,” Julie grinned while waving her hand in the air.

* * * *

Garrett watched as more Pack members showed up at Haas’ office to help with the search that they were heading up. Cooper and his partner, Josiah, had been the first to arrive, followed closely by the Alpha, Beta and several guards. It was lucky that the Clear Creek police and fire departments had so many shifters in their employment. But he wasn’t certain that would’ve mattered anyway. He had a feeling that the Pack would have shown up either way. Garrett spotted Steve entering the office and rose to check in with his friend.

“Tom’s going to stay at your sister’s house to make sure she and the kid are safe. The social worker is over there too. Hopefully by the time we get through with this that boy will have his dad to go home with,” Steve told him.

He had to hope. Garrett didn’t know how most of the cases like this turned out but he wanted Nick to go home even if Garrett would miss him. He hadn’t been lying when he’d told Nick that Garrett would be around. Now that he’d spent time with the boy he had an interest in ensuring that Nick remained happy and healthy. He was going to do his best for the child. Since they were Pack and Garrett was allowed to mingle and attend Pack functions due to his sister, he wouldn’t lose track of Nick.

“I don’t want to get his hopes up but I really think we’ll find Randy on this property,” Garrett confessed. “It just makes the most sense.”

“So we’re not dealing with shifters? And this threat isn’t to shifters, just to Randy specifically?” Tom asked.

“From all the intel we gathered, Randy has been the target the entire time. Ralph Money went up against him in court. He’d been injured and tried to sue his employer. He’d been hurt on a camping trip with some friends. Randy interviewed those guys and that’s when he first met Rodney Hampton and Alex Franks.”

“How’d they go from a lawsuit to arson and kidnapping?” Steve questioned.

“We’re guessing they set the fire to keep the company in California from buying up the property. If the property was damaged it wouldn’t be worth as much. He didn’t want to sell while his brother did,” Garrett explained.

“Okay, I can see that,” Steve agreed.

“Moving to the next fire we come across Alex’s motive to help. Alex is estranged from his family so we assume the house fire was to hurt his parents. His parents found a journal from a long time ago that Alex had written several posts in about wanting to purposely burn down the house. They’d given it to Randy to hold since Randy was handling all their legal papers. Alex’s parents thought right away that their son might be responsible. Randy had the journal in case the cops wanted it later. The file we found from Randy’s place makes it appear that Randy was collecting evidence against Alex.”

“Once you know who all the players are it isn’t difficult to connect,” Steve said.

“Yeah, they were going to get caught one way or another. They made too many mistakes. Still, I don’t think they’re the sharpest guys. One name led to another to the next. They all went against Randy at some point. Add in that each one was involved in the place that the fires happened and it just clicks together. Not sure what they thought would happen after they kidnapped Randy,” Garrett replied.

“Maybe they were going to blame the fires on Randy?” Steve guessed.

Garrett shook his head. “I don’t think so. They would have had to make sure Randy didn’t have an alibi for each one. I don’t think these guys are that organized.”

“Huh.” Tom scratched the top of his head. “Money?”

“That’s a possibility,” Garrett said. “Or maybe they just hated him and wanted to make sure he disappeared. I don’t think they planned on the Pack getting involved.”

“Then they don’t know anything about our Pack,” Steve told him. “We wouldn’t have given up searching.”

“Thank God,” Garrett said. “But I don’t think they know much about shifters. I can’t really explain why I believe that but it’s my gut feeling.”

“So basically this just comes down to a bunch of punks burning shit down and targeting Randy?” Steve asked.

Garrett’s gut cramped. “Yeah.”

“That’s fucked up,” Steve stated.

“I know.”

“Sullivan!” Haas called from across the office.

“I’ll catch up with you in a bit.” Garrett patted his friend’s shoulder before jogging over to his partner. “What’s up?” he asked as he reached Haas, Cooper and Josiah.

“The CCPD is going to run this operation and we’ll stand as back up,” Haas said. “You can’t carry since you don’t have your investigator qualifications yet so I want you to stay with one of the shifters as much as you can. You’re standing second entry team so the place will be secure before you move in.”

“You think they’ll be dangerous?” he questioned.

“Yes, they kidnapped someone. There is no telling what condition Randy is in. Once we get inside, your job is to help the team find him. The shifters with you should be able to pick up on his scent. The ambulance will be close by,” Haas answered.

Haas pointed at a map. Once Mike had told them about the property that Alex’s uncle had owned and was still abandoned, they’d had a pretty good idea that was where they would be hiding. They’d downloaded the property blueprints from the county clerk. Mike having told them that the buyers wouldn’t be back for another three weeks made it almost obvious where Randy could be hidden. The Pack would be able to pick up any sign of him and they could go into the rescue and arrest with an advantage. “Here’s where you’ll enter,” he said. “I’ll go in the front doors with CCPD.”

Garrett nodded.

“We’re ready to go,” Cooper called out to them.

Garrett followed his partner, feeling the excitement rush through his blood. His adrenaline was high as he climbed up in the back of the van that would take them to the property. This was even better than fighting fires. There was just something about the investigating part that had always been a draw to him. He liked putting the pieces of the puzzle together and making sure the bad guys couldn’t hurt anyone again. He would’ve gone into police work but he also enjoyed actually fighting the fires—well, saving a family home or a business that the victims had put all their heart and soul into. At five years old, when he’d gotten a bright red fire engine for Christmas, he’d been determined to wear the uniform.

Inside the van with him were four other men. If Garrett understood correctly, they were all shifters. He was the only one that wasn’t armed and that pissed him off. On the one hand, if he’d have finished his qualifications he’d be able to go in with the full team taking down the suspects. However, he’d never regret his decision to come to Clear Creek. He’d just have to make sure that he buckled down and finished his training.

“Hey, man, I’m Johnny.”

Garrett shook the hand of the tall red-headed man next to him. “Garrett,” he replied.

“You’re Julie’s brother, right?”

“Yep.”

Johnny laughed as he bobbed his head up and down. Garrett would place Johnny’s age in his early twenties. Johnny had a puppy quality to him but Garrett would never admit that out loud. He didn’t want to insult the man even though Garrett found it endearing. “She’s made Cooper real happy. We’re thrilled they’re back together. Welcome to the family.”