To Catch A Croc (6 page)

“Marty was attacked by the same salties I encountered last night, or at least I think so. I brought him here to let Eaton patch him up and to ask him questions,” Denton explained.

“Why didn’t you have Eaton patch you up last night?” Isaac asked. Not that he didn’t appreciate being the person Denton turned to, but it would’ve made more sense to go home.

“Eaton was out on a date and I didn’t want to ruin it,” Denton explained.

From the expression on Marty’s face, that wasn’t an acceptable answer. “Who were you on a date with?” Marty asked. The scowl on his face should’ve made Eaton rethink answering the question.

If the eagle shifter cared even a bit for the person he saw last night, it was apparent to Isaac it would be better not to tell Marty any details.

“Some guy I met on a dating website,” Eaton said casually.

“How did it go?” Marty asked.

Isaac glanced at the hawk shifter and could practically feel the animosity oozing off of him. If Eaton had two brain cells to bump together, he’d deny having a good time even if it was the best first date in the history of dating. Isaac didn’t know the eagle shifter well, but he was supposedly brilliant—hopefully that carried over to his dealing with men. It didn’t take more than a little observation to realize the hawk shifter had a thing for Eaton.

Eaton shrugged. “There wasn’t any chemistry and the guy was human.” Eaton’s dismissive tone clearly made Marty relax again.

“Good.” Marty smiled.

“Tell me about the Salties,” Denton demanded. The croc shifter quickly assembled a sandwich as he waited for his answer.

That explained why Marty was there. Isaac lost interest once he realized the shifter wasn’t after his croc. Now he could turn his attention to the important aspect of tracking down those damn salties.

Marty pulled apart the piece of bread he’d placed on his plate. His fingers betrayed the nerves not reflected in his voice.

“As far as I know, they came into town last week. I hadn’t heard anything about them until then. They walked into my bar as if they owned the place and demanded protection money.”

“Seriously?” Isaac had never heard of a group of shifters trying to shake another group of shifters down. It was downright rude. To demand protection was to declare the other shifter incompetent and unable to care for his people, the ultimate shifter insult.

Marty scowled. “Of course, seriously. Why would I make something like that up?”

Eaton placed his hand on Marty’s shoulder as if trying to remove some of the tension growing there.

“Sorry. I just never heard of anything so stupid in my life. Do they actually think you’re going to pay? You guys don’t even stay in town very long. You only own that bar because it’s convenient,” Denton said.

As long as he’d known, hawk shifters left every year for migration.

“Like I told my boys, I’m sticking around from now on. My traveling days are over,” Marty said firmly.

Eaton made a noise Isaac didn’t understand.

“When you said no to the protection, they beat you up? Why didn’t your gang step in?” That was the most puzzling part for Isaac. Most flocks were pretty tight knit. For them to step back while a bunch of crocs hit him shocked Isaac a bit.

Marty wiggled uncomfortably in his chair. “They’re mad at me because I’m quitting the gang. They’re fighting amongst themselves to find a new leader. Helping me would be seen as weakness.”

“Bastards!” Eaton said. The words sounded strange coming from such an angelic looking man but, from what Isaac had learned, the sweet-faced eagle had a sniper certification. Looks could be deceiving in many ways.

“What do you know about the crocs’ home base?” Isaac asked, desperately trying to keep Marty on track. The hawk easily strayed from his conversation if it looked like Eaton would be interested in what he had to say.

“I heard them talking about their ship. It sounded like one of those that hauled containers to me. If they came in under radar, they could smuggle in practically anything,” Marty said.

Isaac had to agree. “There are only a few places you can land a container ship and have it offloaded for you. They’d have to bribe the crane operator to have any containers removed from their ship but, if they have a hand in the union pocket, it would be possible.”

“Or if they’ve threatened the right people,” Marty said. “They seem like the kind of people to use the stick instead of the carrot. They’d count on people being too afraid to say anything.”

“Their mistake,” Isaac said. The thrill of the hunt raced through his veins. He loved deciphering a mystery. “I’ll send out some of my boys to investigate where the crocs might be hiding out. Container ships aren’t tiny. They can’t be hiding just anywhere.”

“That would be great. It would be nice to get an idea of how many salties are here, too. If they are just a vanguard, then we might be able to scare them off before they can make inroads into the Seattle market. We have enough of our own criminals and drug dealers. We don’t need them imported,” Denton snarled.

“That’s it, then. I’ll call around. Denton, you figure out what we’re going to do once we find them and you two, decide how you want to help out.”

“Who put you in charge?” Marty snapped.

Isaac didn’t hesitate. He had to strike when he could. “Denton did when he agreed to be my mate.”

Denton’s mouth dropped open. Isaac decided that was the perfect moment to leave. He gave Denton a quick kiss and left the mansion before Denton could deny he ever said any such thing. Isaac didn’t even make it to his car before Aden intercepted him.

“You hurt that boy and I’ll have a new puma skin rug in my cabin,” Aden said without bothering with the niceties of a greeting.

“Nice to see you again, sir. I have no interest in hurting Denton. I want him for a mate.”

Aden frowned at him. “You think a puma and a crocodile can be mates?”

“I think I’m willing to do anything to make it happen,” Isaac countered. He wanted to tell Carey’s father to go fuck himself but the fact Denton considered the man his father held him back. Well, that, and truthfully, Aden was one scary man. If eyes were truly the windows to the soul, then Aden’s had permanently iced over, until no emotion could cross the wintry tundra of his being.

“Good. Denton’s a good boy. A little wild, but I figure it’s the croc in him. It needs to bite every once in a while to prove its still wiggling. If you love him, don’t let his snap scare you away.”

Isaac barely prevented his jaw from dropping. That was actually good advice. “Thank you, sir, I’ll keep that in mind.”

“You do that.” Aden walked away and vanished around the side of the house. If the man had disappeared while Isaac had still been watching, he wouldn’t have been surprised about that, either. Aden did eerie with a certain panache. Luckily, his son didn’t have that same skill.

Isaac ruthlessly suppressed the urge to give in and call Broden. He missed his boss and best friend with a surprising ferocity. They’d never been apart for so long before. Luckily, he had Denton to keep him distracted.

Pulling out his phone, Isaac began his calls. He needed to find those damn croc shifters before they caused any real harm.

Chapter Five

Denton almost called Isaac back into the house.

“He really likes you,” Eaton said, a wide smile crossing his beautiful face.

“Did we go back to high school? Are you going to pass me a note next?” Denton asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Yep and it’s going to say Isaac loves Denton,” Eaton said in a sing-song voice.

“Remind me to beat you later.” Denton grabbed a piece of cheese only to have Marty grab his wrist.

“You touch my boy and I’ll snap your neck, lizard man.” Marty’s tone had none of the teasing that had accompanied Denton’s threat.

The hawk’s grip tightened when Denton didn’t respond immediately. The soft click of a gun’s hammer being pulled back sounded as loud as a firecracker in the stillness of the room.

“I’d advise you to release Denton before I put a bullet through your thick skull,” Aden said in his deep drawl.

Marty slowly loosened each finger and carefully lifted his hand to show he’d released Denton. “Sorry, sir, I lost my temper for a minute,” Marty replied respectfully.

“I don’t believe I’m the one you owe an apology to,” Aden growled.

Denton propped his left elbow on the table and set his chin on his fist. “I’m ready.” He batted his eyelashes outrageously at Marty as he waited for his apology.

“I’m sorry I threatened to break your delicate bones,” Marty said through gritted teeth.

“Now that wasn’t so hard, was it?” Denton grinned.

Aden lifted the gun from Marty’s head and Denton heard Eaton take a deep breath.

“Sorry, Eaton,” Aden said.

“That’s okay,” Eaton waved it off, even though the frightened expression his eyes told a different story.

“Sorry, Eaton?” Marty’s shock made Denton laugh.

“Well, he’s not going to apologize to you. You were the one hurting his boy.” Denton pointed to himself in case Marty didn’t get the message.

Marty rolled his eyes. “I see how this works.”

Eaton scooted closer to Marty.

To Denton’s surprise, Marty’s hard gaze softened at the eagle shifter. Maybe the hard ass shifter did have a soft spot for Eaton.

Aden sat at the table. “What’s the plan?”

“Isaac is going to find out where the crocs are hiding out. They seem to like playing boogieman. First they jump me, then they try to get protection money from Marty, and those are only the ones we know about. There are bound to be more people they’re threatening who we know nothing about. They aren’t randomly picking shifters—they are picking them for a reason.”

“True. We need to get numbers. Maybe your man can get them for us. I’ll give him until the end of the day.” Aden stood up and walked out of the room.

“I wonder how he gets through security.” Eaton asked, watching Aden leave.

“He created it—he probably has a passkey or something,” Denton said. He had doubts even if they bought a new system and installed it that anything could keep Carey’s father out. Not to mention they didn’t want to. It might be eerie how he wandered in and out of the house, but the ex-Special Forces soldier had protected them since childhood. Denton wouldn’t be the one who told Aden they didn’t need him anymore. He’d rather shoot himself in the foot.

“He’s kind of creepy,” Marty said.

Eaton and Denton burst into laughter. “You have no idea,” Denton said.

Denton’s phone rang. He didn’t recognize the number. Curious, he answered the call.

“Hey, babe, I think I’ve got a line on the crocs. Chester called and told me there’s a container ship just off Harbor Island. I think it might be the crocs. No one wanted to talk about it. I figure we should check it out tonight.” Isaac enthusiasm came over the line.

“Okay. What time to you want to pick me up?”

“Be ready by seven. We can get something to eat afterward.”

“Will do.” Denton hung up before he gave into the urge to be mushy. Isaac might have decided they were mates, but good meshing of personalities didn’t necessarily mean a good bonding.

“So you and Isaac? When did that happen?” Eaton asked.

“Last night.” Denton replied. “I’ve had my eye on him for a while but we hadn’t done anything.”

He might have drooled a bit on Isaac’s feet but he hadn’t acted on his interest.

“How was it?” Eaton asked, leaning forward as he waited for Denton’s reply.

Denton gave Marty a leery glance.

“Oh, don’t worry about me. Go ahead with your girl talk,” Marty waved a hand for them to continue.

“Don’t you have a bar to return to? I can drop you off,” Denton offered.

Eaton wrapped a protective arm around Marty’s shoulders. “I told him he could stay a few days until he gets everything straightened out. If you don’t mind. There’s the spare room on the third floor.”

Denton took in Eaton’s anxiety. The eagle shifter nibbled his lip as he waited for Denton’s verdict. Carey had left him in charge. He didn’t have it in him to be a complete jerk, not with Eaton. If it was merely about kicking Marty to the curb, he could do that with a clear conscience, but he’d never seen Eaton this wound up about someone before.

“Sure, that’s fine.” He gave Eaton a reassuring smile. He didn’t like to upset his friend. Eaton asked for so little when he pulled his head out of his books. If Eaton wanted Marty, he’d tie the damn bird up and leave him in Eaton’s bed.

“Spare room?” Marty’s expression made Denton wonder if maybe Marty wouldn’t mind being left as Eaton’s present.

“You don’t want to stay here?” Eaton asked. His puzzled frown had Denton biting the inside of his cheek to hold back the laughter. Poor Marty.

Marty sighed. “No, that’s fine. Thanks for thinking of me.”

“Good.” Eaton bounced up and kissed Marty on the cheek. “I’ve got to go work on my dissertation. Eat something. Denton could you…”

“Yes, I’ll show him the spare room,” Denton agreed.

“Thanks.” Eaton raced away, his mind probably already filled with some obscure equation only six other people on the planet could decipher.

“Is anyone really that naïve?” Marty asked.

“It’s not that he’s naïve, he just doesn’t understand that anyone could find him interesting. He lives in his head,” Denton explained.

“But he’s stunning,” Marty argued.

Denton shook his head. “You still don’t get it. Eaton doesn’t see a beautiful young man when he looks in the mirror. He sees the son rejected by his parents when he came out. He sees someone who needs to protect the people he loves. When he says he wants you to stay, he’s telling you he cares enough to put you in his nest.” Denton didn’t know how to tell Marty what a big step this was for Eaton.

“So even though he didn’t invite me into his bed, he still wants me?” Marty’s doubtful expression had Denton ready to yank out his hair. When did he get appointed feather fucking godmother? He took a deep breath to control his annoyance and grabbed onto his patience with a tight fist.

“Yes. If you want to keep Eaton, you’ll have to use words. He’s not the subtle type. You, me, and your entire gang might figure out you’re staying behind for Eaton but it would never occur to him that there was anything behind your not wanting to travel anymore,” Denton explained.