Wolf Shield Investigations: Boxset

by Dee Bridgnorth

  “Sometimes. The baby likes being outside on nice days like this.” She rocked the stroller gently, gazing inside with a fond smile. She had never cooed at a pile of blankets before, but there was a first time for everything.

  “Nice touch with the stroller,” he murmured, raising his coffee to his lips.

  “Is it my imagination, or did that sound like a compliment?”

  “I’m not sure what it was yet.” The smile ran from his face like it was afraid of him, and she got her first look at the man underneath.

  Gorgeous, for one thing. The face of a god like something carved out of marble. He belonged in a museum, an art gallery. Perfectly symmetrical features, icy eyes which burned beneath thick, dark brows. His square jaw was dusted with black stubble, touched here and there by a strand or two of silver.

  If anything, it gave him distinction. Some men were like that; they started going gray early in life. If half of what she’d learned about their group was true, she wouldn’t have been surprised to find him completely white-haired and catatonic.

  And he was furious, at his wits’ end. Maybe she’d played with them a little too long—she could admit that, could admit to her penchant for theater—but the fact was she didn’t know for sure whether they were friend or foe until fairly recently. There was never any telling the motives behind the people whose lives she’d begun to uncover.

  Hence this little meeting.

  That and the fact the time was of the essence.

  “Like I said before,” she murmured, glancing toward the long-haired guy, then up toward the roof. “I asked you to come alone.”

  “You must’ve known I would never do that.”

  She shrugged, grinning. “Sure, but I had to do it. I mean, would I be half as good as I am if I didn’t at least try to take precautions?”

  He smirked. “You think you’re that good, hmm?”

  “No.” She wasn’t playing anymore either, and she leaned forward slightly. Lowering her voice, she muttered, “I know I am, which is why you’re here. If I were your average, run-of-the-mill hacker, we would never have gotten this far together.”

  “Together?” he asked, one eyebrow twitching upward. “Since when have we done anything together?”

  It was impossible not to giggle, though she did put a hand over her mouth to at least not rub it in his face. It was like she was maturing somehow because normally she wouldn’t have bothered to do anyone even that small of a favor.

  “I see,” she managed to reply. “What you’re telling me is you would’ve been in any way prepared to learn that Lydia was still alive and well. Right, Aimee? I know you can hear me.” She let her gaze wander upward and found the sniper glaring at her. She wasn’t even bothering to hide herself, too intent on letting Jenna know how she felt.

  Maybe professionalism flew out the window after a girl had been through everything Aimee suffered.

  Logan cleared his throat, muttering something unintelligible to Jenna’s ears before offering an answer. “I’ll grant you that you did us a solid by giving us the information you compiled.”

  “I didn’t compile it,” she informed him with a sweet smile. “But I did find it.” Sure enough, she caught sight of the long-haired guy twitching a little when she said it. They really were pathetic in their way, thinking they were untouchable, the best of the best. She could see right through them.

  The burden of always being the smartest person in the room.

  “You found it? Someone else compiled it?”

  She nodded. “Though I would use the word curated rather than compiled,” she explained. “And before you ask me who did it, I can’t tell you.”

  “Can’t or won’t?”

  “The difference is the same either way, isn’t it? So what difference does it make? I’m not going to tell you, but I am on your side, no matter what you might’ve thought before now. I’ve always been.”

  She sat back in her chair, her hands folded in her lap. She met his gaze with her own, straightforward, unblinking. He was trying to read her, trying to guess what she had up her sleeve. Naturally, that was how he would react—everybody had something to hide, didn’t they? Yes, that would be the way he thought. He would assume she was hiding all sorts of things, just waiting to pounce the second he let his guard down.

  He would be right on one account. She was hiding things, just not the sort of things he assumed.

  But she wasn’t waiting to pounce. There was no reason to. She wasn’t kidding when she said they were on the same side because they were. They were the good guys, even if this bigshot with all his money and power thought otherwise.

  It wouldn’t take much time to change his mind.

  His jaw twitched, the muscles jumping. His brows lowered over eyes that had gone hard, flinty. “If you are on our side, why the secrecy? Why the games? And don’t even try to tell me you haven’t been playing games up to this point—what has all of this been if not a game? You could’ve come right out and given us information and explained why you were giving it to us.”

  She frowned. Was this it? This was the tack he was taking? “I’m a little disappointed,” she winced, then shrugged. “Sorry, but I am. I thought more highly of you.”

  “And what does that mean?”

  “It means that I gave you credit. I imagined you were intelligent and that this team of yours is as good as they’re supposed to be. Don’t think I haven’t been following along with your antics for a while now—your average citizen might not know about you, but you haven’t managed to fly completely under the radar. You have to know that.”

  “You mean we have fans?” he smirked, revealing a dimple in one cheek. It caught her eye, almost enough to completely distract her, but she managed to rein herself in. Why did he have to be so good-looking? Her kryptonite, if ever there was any, after so many years spent alone.

  She might’ve been an elite hacker, but she was still human.

  “I don’t know if I would call them fans,” she snickered. “But there’s been chatter, make no mistake. You guys are good. You must’ve known somebody was bound to notice. Unfortunately, you know how it is…” She shrugged, toying with her coffee cup. It had been empty for a while now, and she probably shouldn’t have emptied it as quickly as she had. She was starting to get jittery after already having downed an energy shot before leaving for the café.

  “No, I don’t know how it is. Enlighten me.”

  “You’re not very good at socializing, are you? You just charge straight ahead. Conversation is lost on you.”

  He was starting to unravel, which made it even harder to hide a grin. There was something empowering about watching this towering wall of muscle crack under her banter. “We are not here to engage in idle conversation, and I don’t know why I have to remind you of that. Is this something amusing to you? Because to me and my team, it’s life-and-death. Nothing less than that.”

  She leaned in, whispering, “I know. Which is why I took the chance of revealing myself in the first place. Do you think I meet face-to-face with everybody whose network I manage to hack into? Might as well kiss my freedom goodbye.”

  “You could still kiss it goodbye if I decide you’re not helpful enough to keep around.”

  “Don’t bother with your empty threats,” she grinned. “You need me, and we both know you do. Otherwise, somebody would’ve snatched me away from this table long before now like this guy over here.” She nodded to the guy with the hair. “Or that one across the street reading the paper.”

  She looked straight up at the roof. “Or she could’ve taken me out, though it would’ve looked absolutely terrible and called more attention to your group than is probably healthy for you. I mean, what would it look like? A young mother getting her brains blown out in broad daylight?”

  “But pretty soon, they’d realize the stroller was empty,” Logan grinned.

  “Since when is it a crime to sit with an empty stroller? My partner could be inside the restaurant or shopping with th
e baby. Who’s to say?” She flashed what she knew was a winning smile and was rewarded with a genuine smile in return.

  But neither of them were fools. They weren’t relaxed; they weren’t feeling friendly. They were playing a game of chess or performing a dance to which only they knew the steps. There was no music except for that which played in their minds as they moved together. One step forward, one step back. Who was leading? She had the feeling that the answer would depend upon who offered it.

  “As much fun as this has been,” Jenna concluded, reaching into her wallet for a few spare bills, “I’m going to have to leave. You will be hearing from me soon. Just hold tight, try to keep yourselves safe.”

  “Wait a second. Where do you think you’re going?”

  “Away from here. I have work to do.” She smiled down into the stroller, reaching into pat the pile of blankets she’d arranged. “And it’s way past naptime for this little one. Believe me, you don’t want to be around her when she hasn’t had her nap.”

  “I’ll bet she’s a real monster when she doesn’t get her way,” Logan mused, and it didn’t take a genius to know he wasn’t talking about her imaginary baby.

  “Oh, you have no idea.” She dropped him a wink as she stood. “And by the way, don’t even think about having anybody tail me when I leave. I will burn you all down, mark my words. I wouldn’t want to have to do that, but I don’t take being crossed lightly. I didn’t have to go out of my way for you. Get it?”

  He held up both hands, palms facing out. “Understood.”

  Not that she believed him, not even for a second. Still, she went about the motions of getting herself ready to leave. “I’ll be in touch soon. And by the way, tell your network guy no hard feelings. He’s very, very good.”

  She flashed Logan one last smile over her shoulder before starting off. “But I’m better.” And if anybody ever asked her, Jenna would swear she didn’t purposely put an extra little swing her hips as she walked away.

  Though she knew she did.

  Nothing she’d learned about Logan could in any way have prepared her for what it would be like to be in his presence. The man practically oozed sex appeal, and whatever it was about him that made him special cried out to something in her.

  Maybe this would be more enjoyable than she’d imagined at first.

  Chapter Three

  “What’s our move?” Aimee asked. “I still have eyes on her. She’s moving down the street, probably to the parking lot at the opposite corner.”

  The next move? How was Logan supposed to prepare the next move after having been blindsided by a speeding train?

  “Logan.” Sledge had abandoned his table, dropping the pretense. Braxton was doing the same, crossing the street. Zane was circling the block in his truck—he just happened to be passing the cafe, and he made eye contact with Logan. There was a question in his eyes.

  Logan wished he knew the answer.

  “What are we doing?” Braxton asked when he reached them. “What’s the move?”

  He shook off the daze the girl had put him under, standing. “I’m gonna follow her. The rest of you fall back. Return to Marnie’s.”

  “Are you sure about this?” Zane asked. “I’ll tail her right now. I just have to get back around the block.”

  That made sense, and in any other circumstance, Logan would’ve gone with that idea. The chances of the girl having taken note of Zane were slim—it was one thing to point out the guys, and even Aimee, lingering by the café. Zane was just another driver.

  Then again, was she aware of the vehicles they drove? There was a chance of that, he realized. She had obviously done her homework.

  He wanted her to know that he was the one following her. Nobody else.

  “Negative. I’ve got this.” With a firm nod, he backed away from Braxton and Sledge, making a beeline for the truck he’d parked only a few spots from where he’d been seated.

  “Gunmetal gray four-door,” Aimee announced. “She’s just pulling out of the lot now, heading east.”

  He could only hope Aimee’s binoculars hadn’t failed on her as he brought the truck around, following the direction she’d pointed out. Soon enough, he caught sight of a gunmetal gray four-door two cars ahead of him. One of the benefits of riding up above everybody else was the ability to see over the tops of the cars in front of him.

  “Are you sure about this?” Val asked. She’d listened in on the conversation, just as everyone else had.

  “She’s bluffing,” he muttered, most of his attention focused on the movement of that car. The one she was driving. Dammit, he should’ve gotten her name. What was he thinking?

  Though he doubted she would have given him her real name. If anything, he might have respected her a bit less if she had.

  She. A girl. Well, a young woman, in her late twenties at the oldest. She’d tricked him, playing up her wholesome, all-American good looks. Honey blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes. A healthy glow to her cheeks, a pair of fleece-lined boots on her feet though it wasn’t technically boot weather. It would have to cool down considerably for those boots to have been necessary—though she wasn’t the only woman he’d seen wearing them, walking past the tables on the sidewalk, their leggings and long-sleeved sweaters speaking of a craving for the months to come.

  She knew how to blend in. She knew how to use her looks to her advantage.

  Why did it still come as a surprise, knowing how clever she was?

  Because he’d been expecting a man. His hands tightened around the steering wheel as he turned left, still following her at what he hoped was a safe distance. He’d never considered himself sexist—the fact that there were only men on his ground team was simply the result of chance. All of the soldiers rescued, held back from the brink of death, had been male.

  At least, as far as he knew. Had any women been used in these experiments to which they’d all been subjected, things might’ve been different.

  He was already seeing part of himself that left him uncomfortable. Hadn’t he learned long ago making assumptions was dangerous? He was supposed to be a leader, for God’s sake, yet he’d stepped straight into the oldest trap. More than one trap, in fact, since even after being given the choice of a woman with a stroller and a man doing virtually anything, he’d chosen the man.

  And she’d probably known he would—though that didn’t necessarily have to be anything personal. She probably knew anyone would make the same assumption and had been playing with that.

  He wasn’t so special. He was just as blind as the next person.

  “I’m following you,” Val piped up, as if she needed to.

  “I would expect nothing else,” he replied, turning right, taking the car east again after having headed north for a few miles. “It looks like she’s going out of town. There’s a lot of farmland around here if I remember correctly.”

  “Yes, the few areas of North Jersey still devoted to farmland,” Hawk confirmed. “I grew up around there, in fact.”

  Logan ignored this chatter in favor of keeping up with this mystery woman—a rather gorgeous mystery woman, at that. He wasn’t blind, and he wasn’t made of stone. Not only was she extremely easy on the eyes, there was something else, the charge in the air when he sat across from her, a playfulness in her demeanor which should’ve infuriated him but instead had excited him. Yes, he could admit this to himself, if no one else. He would’ve walked on his own tongue rather than admit it to anybody on the team.

  God, she was so smart—not just when it came to what she did either but smart when it came to people. He always had a great deal of respect for people who understood human nature—and even more respect for anyone who knew how to use human nature to their advantage.

  The fact that she happened to look so good while doing it was a bonus.

  Soon, dirt road took the place of pavement, with the hacker moving even further east. “Where are we going?” he asked his team.

  “I wish I knew,” Val confessed. “From what I
’m seeing, there’s nothing but woodland. Then, it opens up, and you’re in a shore town.”

  “So either she’s leading me into the ocean where she hopes I’ll drown, or she hopes to get me hopelessly lost.”

  “She could be leading you home,” Hawk suggested, though the heavy doubt in his voice told Logan he didn’t believe this any more than Logan did.

  “I doubt it, somehow,” Logan muttered, still watching the car. There were no longer any cars between them, but he was still careful to follow at what he considered a safe distance. Close enough to know he was still on her tail but far enough that the most he saw as they twisted and turned through the woods was a flash of gray, the glint from sunlight hitting the window.

  “No, she’s more likely leading you out to the middle of nowhere just for the sake of playing a game.” He could hear Val clicking her tongue, disapproving. “You would think she understood the importance of not wasting time here.”

  “She still thinks this is a game,” Logan agreed. “Maybe if it was her life on the line, she would feel differently.”

  “Do you think there’s a chance she’s doesn’t know the stakes?” Hawk mused.

  “Until I can get a straight answer out of her, I don’t know, but if she thinks I’m going to let this go on much longer, she has another thing coming.”

  Indeed, because everyone’s life depended on this, human and shifter alike. If their cover was completely blown and their enemies came after them, that would be the end of it. Sure, he’d fitted headquarters with the most expensive, most impenetrable security system known to man. A hell of a lot of good that would do against an invasion by military forces.

  He could see it all play out in front of him like it was really happening. The media would get a hold of the story, but naturally, it would be spun for public consumption. His team would be painted as radicals or terrorists—bad guys. Evidence may or may not be planted, confirming whatever story the government decided to pin on them.