But neither was anyone else who might wish Yvette harm. A police guard would be here soon. As soon as Yvette was strong enough, Shawn would suggest Yvette was moved somewhere private where they could help her convalesce and build her strength. Somewhere she would be safe.
Perhaps, somewhere like Cougar Ridge.
Chapter Twenty – Joanna
Shawn looked dead on his feet by the time they reached their hotel room and rolled into bed. He’d insisted he was fine, and a doctor was used to going without sleep for long periods. However, as his mate, her concern for him was overwhelming.
And so is his concern for us, her wolf reminded her.
Which was an unusual experience in itself. Joanna was an independent woman who answered to no one. She regularly volunteered to work all the unsociable hours that family people tended to avoid. She’d even been on duty for Christmas and New Year last year.
All that would change now that she had Shawn in her life. She had become a family person.
“Are you okay?” Shawn touched her arm and she jerked awake.
“Yeah, I was daydreaming.” She sighed. “Or maybe I was hallucinating. I’m so tired. All I know is there was a Christmas tree.”
Shawn chuckled. “Let’s sleep. Yvette is safe. We can pick this all up in the morning.”
“Agreed.” She pulled the bedcovers over her head and snuggled up to her mate. “Sleep. Food. Then we can talk.”
Her eyelids drooped and she inhaled his scent as she drifted off to sleep. Her whole body relaxed, molding around Shawn’s as he held her close through the rest of the night and into the early hours of the next morning.
Joanna’s dream was filled with fleeting images. She caught hold of snapshots of them. Most centered around her running, chasing down something that eluded her no matter how hard she tried to catch it.
Shawn was there. Sometimes by her side and sometimes he was the thing she chased. None of it made sense. As was the way of dreams.
“Someone’s here.” Her eyes opened as she spoke, and she pushed away from Shawn and swung her legs over the side of the bed as someone knocked at the hotel room door again.
Shawn groggily stumbled out of bed and was at her side as she reached for the doorknob.
“Who is it?” Shawn croaked before clearing his voice.
“It’s me.” Joanna and Shawn exchanged a surprised glance before she opened the door to Fiona.
“We must stop meeting like this,” Shawn said as he invited the dragon shifter in.
“I heard Yvette woke up and flew here while I still had the night on my side.” She shot Shawn a reproachful look. “I am disappointed I heard the news from someone else.”
“We didn’t want to wake you in the middle of the night since there isn’t much we can do,” Joanna jumped to Shawn’s defense. As she always would.
“You spoke to Yvette?” Fiona asked as she entered the hotel room and gave the interior a cursory glance. Whether it met her approval or not was hard to say. Despite all her years as a cop, all the hours she’d spent questioning suspects and honing her intuition, Joanna found Fiona almost unreadable.
“We spoke to her briefly,” Joanna admitted. “Although, after being in a coma for so long, she’s not exactly chatty.”
“No.” Fiona looked around. “May I sit?”
“Sure.” Shawn stepped forward and cleared his jacket off the back of one of the chairs. “We came in late last night…well, early this morning and just dumped everything.”
“As I see.” Fiona sat down on the chair and looked at the others expectantly.
“I need coffee.” Joanna crossed the room to where the courtesy coffee and tea making facilities were begging to be used. Her mouth was parched and her mind foggy. Too foggy to take on a pissed-off dragon shifter.
We couldn’t take her on even if our veins flowed with caffeine, her wolf reminded her with a yawn.
Want to bet? Joanna asked. Okay, maybe not physically, but mentally.
Hmm, her wolf answered and left it at that.
“Coffee, tea?” Joanna asked Fiona and Shawn, who had slumped down on the sofa and was now yawning widely.
“Yes, please.” Shawn shot her a tired smile as he rubbed his eyes.
“Coffee, please. Three sugars.” Fiona leaned back in the chair as if she owned the room. She was confident in her own skin and in control. As Joanna poured the coffees and passed them around, her annoyance at being woken early in the morning by a cranky dragon turned to admiration.
If we’re going to get this done, we need Fiona to work with us, Joanna told her wolf.
She will, her wolf replied. She wants justice done. And she’s willing to fight for it.
“The doctor will call as soon as Yvette is well enough to talk to us.” Joanna slumped down on the sofa next to Shawn. “We have no idea when that will be. They have a barrage of tests they need to perform, and they won’t bombard Yvette with them all at once.”
“Did you get anything out of her at all?” Fiona asked.
“No. It was mostly jumbled up.” Joanna shook her head thoughtfully. “We did meet Lance, though.”
“Lance?” Fiona turned her head slightly to the side, her eyes a little out of focus.
“Yes. He’s been visiting Yvette for a couple of weeks. He brings her flowers. And he’s in love with her.” Joanna pressed her lips together as she tried to figure out how to proceed. “Is Yvette a shifter?”
Direct has always been the best route, her wolf grinned.
“Lance has been visiting Yvette?” Fiona asked in surprise. “And has a crush on her?”
“Yes. We think he’s her mate and that’s what triggered Yvette’s recovery.” Joanna’s eyes narrowed. “She is a shifter, isn’t she?”
“Yes.” Fiona fell silent.
“Okay. That might have been useful information to share. But it doesn’t help us piece together what happened that night.” Joanna sipped her hot coffee and stared at the hotel room carpet.
“Why don’t we go over what you’ve found out?” Fiona suggested. “You have actually found something out, haven’t you?”
“Yes, we have.” Joanna kept her temper in check, reminding herself that Fiona was not goading them, she was simply being…Fiona.
“Tell me.” Fiona sat down, her attention laser-focused on Joanna and Shawn.
This must be how it feels if you are a dragon’s next meal, her wolf said drily.
I hope we never find out for real, Joanna answered.
“Okay. We went to the hospital and spoke to Yvette’s nurse, Samantha. She said that Yvette had spoken a couple of times. She thought Yvette said ‘testers.’ Joanna then came up with the theory that she actually meant Jester’s.”
“Which is a bar.” Joanna tapped her phone screen and brought up an image of the bar on Google. “We visited the bar last night. There we noted that a disproportionate amount of single men were entering the bar.”
“I went inside while Joanna questioned a pregnant woman who was around the back of the bar.” Shawn reached out and took hold of Joanna’s hand, instantly she felt calmer and more confident. With Shawn by her side, she was invincible.
“However, it all turned out to be nothing to do with this investigation. Although, one of the bartenders did say she’d heard the bar was once used to house pregnant women. They moved on. I’m going to check the dates, but I’m convinced we’ll find that the pregnant women were moved on at about the time Yvette was attacked.” Joanna let this fact sink in. The dragon shifter did not look happy.
That is actual smoke, isn’t it? Her wolf stared at the dragon shifter seated across the room from them.
It sure is. Joanna glanced at the ceiling. “Smoke alarms.”
Fiona let out a long, hot breath and the temperature in the room rose by several degrees. “They left and covered their tracks?”
“We assume so.” Shawn’s forehead creased. “But we’ll find them. There must be a trail.”
“Do you have anythin
g that links Gerald Comer to this?” Fiona asked.
“No. Not yet.” Joanna ran her hand through her hair. She needed a shower and to sleep for a day. Her mind was racing but she was tired, and her thoughts were not crisp and clear. She needed crisp and clear if she was going to piece this together. “But if there is proof, we will find it. I promise. Perhaps I can persuade my boss to send in someone undercover.”
“Yes, send in someone undercover.” The tone of Fiona’s voice changed. She had an idea. Joanna suspected one she would not like.
“Yes.” Joanna waited for Fiona to tell them her own idea.
“What if I went undercover?” Fiona’s suggestion was not what Joanna had expected.
“Undercover at the mayor’s office?” Shawn asked.
“No. What if we flip this on its head.” Her eyes glowed amber as she leaned forward. “What if I approach Gerald Comer and ask him about adopting a shifter child?”
“A shifter child.” Joanna looked sideways at Shawn. “That’s risky.”
“Why? I can tell him I heard about his service.” She ground her teeth together as she spoke. “I can prove to him that I’m a dragon shifter.” She puffed smoke out of her mouth. A dragon was more closely tied to their human form than any other shifter she’d met.
“That’s even riskier.” Shawn didn’t like the idea. “Why don’t you let me do it?”
“No.” Fiona shook her head sharply. “We need to keep you out of it. You need to protect Jane. Sending you to the hospital to talk to Yvette is as close as I want you to this.”
“Fiona is right.” Joanna placed the flat of her hands together as if she were praying. “I also think that Gerald would be more likely to open up about this to a shifter who is secretive and rare. It’s like trading one secret for another.”
“It’s too risky.” Shawn bristled, the whites of his knuckles showing as he held his coffee cup. “You’ll be exposing dragon shifters everywhere. It might put your family and Kelos’s family at risk.”
“I am aware of that,” Fiona snapped. “But what about all the shifter children that are at risk already?”
“Fiona has a point.” Joanna got up. She needed more coffee.
“What if Gerald isn’t our man?” Shawn asked. “You would not be trading a secret for a secret. And if he’s corrupt then you are putting dragon shifters in danger.”
Fiona sighed. “You’re right.”
“Okay. We find proof,” Joanna said. “If we do, we go ahead with Fiona’s plan…with my boss’s blessing, of course. If he says it’s too risky then we don’t do it.”
“Agreed.” Shawn glanced sideways at Fiona. “Agreed?”
“Oh, I suppose.” She pressed her lips together and Joanna was glad she couldn’t read minds. Fiona was probably imagining how satisfying it would be to roast someone alive.
Gerald. She would picture Gerald, her wolf assured her. She knows what you and Shawn are saying makes sense.
“I know you are used to doing things your own way but sometimes you have to take a step back and think things through.” Joanna fixed Fiona with a look that challenged her to argue. The dragon shifter did not.
“I should go and let you two get some sleep.” She got up from her chair and placed her coffee cup down on the table. “I’m going to visit Yvette.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Joanna asked.
“Yes. I just need to know she’s okay.” She strode toward the door. “Yvette is in danger and I’m afraid that a police officer outside the door of her hospital room might not be enough to keep her safe.”
“We’ll talk later.” Joanna followed Fiona to the door and closed it behind her as she exited the room.
“Alone at last.” Shawn reached out his hand to Joanna and she went to him. Sliding down onto the sofa beside her mate, she leaned her head on his shoulder. “I should start combing through Gerald’s business activities to see if I can link him to any other potential location where they might hold the pregnant women.”
“After you’ve slept.” He stroked her cheek and her eyes drooped. Shawn was right. No amount of caffeine would help her function properly until she’d had a few hours’ sleep.
And she needed to function properly. To bring down the shifter baby business she would need to be on top of her game.
Chapter Twenty-One – Shawn
“Did you sleep at all?” Shawn asked as he stretched, attempting to shake off the last remnants of sleep.
“Yes.” Joanna leaned over and kissed his cheek before resuming her intense study of her tablet screen. She was propped up on a pillow looking through more documents, her forehead creased with concentration.
“Did you sleep enough?” Shawn studied his mate’s face. She was beautiful, she always would be to him but the lines around her eyes and mouth were a little deeper this morning and her features were pinched.
“Yes, Doctor.” She cast him a sideways glance. “I can sleep long enough when those women and their babies are safe. I’d hate for anyone else to get hurt in the way Yvette was. No one should ever go through what she has been through.”
“You need to take care of yourself if you want to help them,” Shawn persisted. “If you don’t stay healthy then you won’t be there for them.”
She gave a short laugh. “Are you insinuating that I’m not healthy?”
“No, but as your concerned mate, I want to make sure you don’t get sick and stress can cause a lot of damage to the body.” He sat up and adjusted the pillow behind his back. “Let’s eat some breakfast and then I can help you.”
Joanna sighed and tilted her head back, resting against the headboard of the bed. “I know you’re right but it’s hard to switch off when you’re in the middle of a case.”
“I know. I understand. Which is why I’m here.” He took the tablet off her lap and nodded toward the bathroom. “Go take a shower. Then we’ll go and grab some breakfast. I’ll check in with the hospital and Fiona and you can call your boss. Then we make a plan of action.”
“You speak too much sense.” She kissed his mouth, slid out of bed and padded across the carpeted floor to the adjoining bathroom, leaving Shawn staring after her. A small smile crept over his face. She was his. Forever.
Tapping the screen of the tablet, he took a quick look at what Joanna had been looking at. More to keep his mind off joining her in the shower than because he thought he’d be of any use. He stared at the screen for a full couple of minutes before the words came into focus and the image of his mate in the shower faded.
Joanna had been searching through the files she had on Ostabell. He’d gone to jail for money laundering along with murder. Shawn sighed as he noted how much information had been gathered about Ostabell. Joanna was then cross-referencing everything with the files on Gerald Comer. This was not going to be a quick search.
There must be a link between Gerald and this Ostabell guy, his cougar said.
It’s a long shot. What are the chances of Gerald being openly linked to Ostabell? Surely, they would make sure there was no way to connect them. Shawn noticed another tab open and clicked on it. Now he saw what had sparked Joanna’s curiosity.
Norton Spader, a property developer, was pictured with his newly adopted son in a post on social media. Further down the page, he was photographed at a fundraiser, shaking hands with none other than Gerald Comer who was tagged in the post. Shawn scrolled back up the page. There was a slew of comments below congratulating Norton Spader on the adoption. He peered closer to the image. Was this one of the shifter children? Could they use Norton Spader as leverage?
“You’re not messing up my investigation, are you?” Joanna asked as she came out of the bathroom wearing a bathrobe and a towel wrapped around her head. Her slender neck just begged to be kissed but Shawn reminded himself that the work they were doing was more important.
He pushed down his desire for her. This was not the time. Even though his body reacted as if it was the time all the time. He was addicted to her s
cent, to the touch of her skin under his fingertips. He coughed and shook off the primal need that gripped him when his mate was near.
“No, I was looking at the photo of Norton Spader. Do you think Comer and Ostabell were involved in supplying his child?” Shawn handed the tablet back to Joanna.
“I can’t say for sure, but the guy has been involved in some dodgy dealings. I might be wrong, but I figured it was worth looking into.” She sat down on the edge of the bed and looked down at the photo. “I just hope all the shifter babies that have been adopted are in happy homes.”
“Me, too.” Shawn closed his eyes and Jane’s face came into focus. “I just worry about how many children there are like Jane. Children that might have been abandoned or worse because they weren’t wanted. Taking on the responsibility of a child is both mentally and physically tiring. I’m sure some of the people who circumvent the usual adoption procedures aren’t prepared.”
“They probably think it’s all sweet-smelling cuddles,” Joanna added. “Not realizing babies are more sleepless nights and dirty diapers for the first few months.”
“And you’re not put off?” Shawn asked hopefully.
“Compared to some of the people I’ve interviewed and arrested, they are sweet-smelling.” She sighed and looked down at the image.
“It terrifies me,” Shawn said. “Anyone could buy one of these children if they had the money.”
“We can’t dwell on that,” Joanna told him. “We have to focus on what we can do and right now the only thing we can do is gather enough information to shut down the whole operation.”
“What can I do to help?” Shawn asked.
“You can go through some of the files, too.” She smiled brightly. “Or you could go out for breakfast.”
“I’ll go for breakfast first and then I’ll help.” He looked at his watch. “Although, I’m going to have to head home today.” He glanced at Joanna who was scrolling through the documents on her tablet. “If you need to stay, I can make my own way home.”
“There’s little I can do here until we’re permitted to interview Yvette. The investigation into a new building to house the pregnant women is something I can do anywhere. Plus, I need to get back to work. Trent made it clear this investigation would have to go forward on our own time until we have some new evidence.” She placed her index finger on the screen and scrolled through to the next document. Her breath caught in her throat and she leaned closer, before turning the tablet around for Shawn to look at.
Shawn Spring Shifter Seasons Page 15