Last Chance Mate: Sawyer

by Anya Nowlan

  Naomi turned to look at him, twisting around in her seat while her delicious scent filled the car.

  “Then what do you suggest?” she asked.

  There were many reasons why Sawyer shouldn’t even have been considering what he was considering. One of the reasons he had become a consultant was so that he wouldn’t have to get so involved in the cases. So that he could keep his distance.

  But he was already failing at that with Naomi.

  “You can stay with me,” he said, the words coming out easily despite all his reservations.

  I’m probably going to live to regret this…

  Fifteen

  Naomi

  Setting her duffel bag down in the hallway, Naomi looked around Sawyer’s apartment once more, this time feeling even more hesitant than before. In her head, she knew this arrangement made sense. Her apartment had become tainted the moment Verin stepped inside, and it would be easier to work together with Sawyer if they were actually… together.

  But, there was also a part of her that felt anxious as hell at the prospect of sharing this space with him. First of all, this was Sawyer’s apartment, and she was merely a guest of necessity. And secondly, being in an enclosed space with him, having him sleep in the next room at night…

  Well, that inspired some complicated feelings of its own.

  “Are you absolutely sure this is necessary? I don’t see how your place is any safer than mine. Verin could just walk up to any of your friends wearing the face of god knows who, and get your address if he were so inclined,” she commented, looking up at Sawyer, standing at her side.

  “No, he couldn’t,” he replied. “I don’t just give out my address.”

  Naomi’s eyebrows pulled together.

  “But your friends must know where you live,” she said.

  “I don’t really have friends here,” he just shrugged, grabbing her bag and walking over to a hallway leading to the other side of the apartment.

  Scrambling to follow him, Naomi couldn’t help but want to know more.

  “What about Detective Hill?” she asked, following him to a guest room right next to the master bedroom.

  “I already said I don’t get a lot of visitors,” he replied.

  “A lot is different from none at all,” she commented, as he deposited her bag on the floor.

  Now, it wasn’t that Naomi was some sort of social butterfly herself, but still, it was hard to believe that during his time in Tempe, Sawyer had had exactly zero people over to his apartment.

  “Haven’t you had a… girlfriend or something?” she found herself blurting out, immediately regretting she had said anything at all.

  That’s none of your business, Naomi!

  It was too late. Her curiosity had gotten the better of her. There were no signs of a woman in the apartment, but she couldn’t help but wonder… Sawyer definitely looked like a man that would have no trouble with the ladies.

  Facing her, Sawyer gave her a long look, making her squirm under his gaze. It didn’t seem he was offended by the question, more like he was curious why she had asked it. Naomi half-expected him to give a non-answer or start talking about where she could find fresh towels, because lord knew the man did not like to talk about himself. But to her surprise, he answered.

  “I’m not exactly boyfriend material,” he said, his dark eyes boring right into her core.

  Why? the question immediately popped into Naomi’s mind, but this time she kept her mouth shut.

  Sawyer’s personal life really wasn’t important when it came to the two of them working together, and she didn’t want to come across as prying. So she ignored how the burly shifter opposite her had piqued her interest like no man before, and focused on more important matters.

  “So, uh,” she started, eloquent as ever. “What’s the plan? Do we get over to the university right away in case Roy was wrong about the statue being delivered in a couple of hours? Or do I have time to shower and change?”

  “You have all the time in the world, since you’re not going with me,” he replied, stunning her for a good moment.

  “Excuse me?” she countered. “Haven’t we been through this? I want to be involved.”

  “In a potential robbery?” he cocked a brow at her.

  “Yes,” she said firmly. “I need to see this through.”

  “I get that Melanie is your friend,” Sawyer sighed. “But can’t you just let me handle this? I’m the one with the experience here, after all.”

  “Experience in what, demons?” Naomi huffed. “And I’m the one who knows my way around the university.”

  “I’m sure I can figure it out without getting lost,” he replied.

  The stoic, calm way he argued made Naomi even more annoyed. There was so much more at stake here for her than he realized. Verin had already gotten away with her parents’ murder, and there was no way she was letting him get away with David’s as well.

  Not that I can do much to stop him, she scoffed to herself.

  But she could try. That was the least she could do. And maybe, by facing this thing head-on, she could somehow make peace with what happened all those years ago.

  “Fine then,” she said, picking her bag back up off the floor. “If you’re not going to treat me like an equal, then I don’t see why I should stay here. You have things all figured out on your own, you don’t need me anyway.”

  The whole I’m taking my ball and going home approach was petty, and she knew it. And she would be lying if she said that there wasn’t a part of her that wanted to hide away and wait for this all to blow over, to bury her head in the sand.

  But she also knew she couldn’t live with herself if she did that.

  “Naomi,” Sawyer said, his tone a little less composed than before. “Let’s be reasonable.”

  “We had a deal. I thought we agreed that you weren’t going to sideline me. I don’t want your protection. I want you to see me as a tool. I can help you if you let me,” she replied.

  Sawyer looked to be mulling that over, as Naomi continued to stand there, her bag in her hand. She was well aware that when it came to physicality, she would be of little help against Verin. But she had her brain as a weapon, and she hoped Sawyer would come to see she could be an asset instead of a liability.

  Either way, it was important she put her foot down. This was the last time she wanted to have this argument with Sawyer, no matter the outcome.

  “I haven’t seen a lot of people fight this hard to be put in harm’s way,” he finally said, measuring her with his gaze. “I thought you professor types were supposed to be smart,” he added.

  Naomi would have taken offense to that, if it weren’t for the grin playing on the edges of Sawyer’s lips. From him, that kind of statement seemed to be more of a compliment than anything.

  “Sometimes you have to leap before you look,” she shrugged. “Smart and cautious aren’t always the same thing.”

  “I know someone who would disagree with you,” Sawyer chuckled.

  But there was an edge to his voice when he said it, and Naomi didn’t miss how he looked away, as if already evading the likely question of who?

  “You can shower,” he said, still avoiding her gaze. “But we should leave soon, just in case.”

  Naomi nodded, silent, deciding to take the victory instead of pestering Sawyer with any more questions.

  “Help yourself to anything in the guest bathroom,” he added, gesturing toward a door opposite the bed. “I’ll be waiting in the living room.”

  With that, he turned and left, closing the door after him. As soon as he was gone, Naomi plopped down to sit on the bed, closing her eyes as she took in a deep breath. She had gotten her way. They were going to the university together, to… do what exactly?

  Steal the statue before Verin can steal it? Get caught and go to jail? Run into the demon again and get their skulls crushed?

  Yet, with all of the possible unfavorable outcomes swirling around in her brain, there was
also a sense of calm in her that came with the knowledge she was doing the right thing. She couldn’t let fear rule her decisions.

  I’m seeing this through. No matter what.

  Sixteen

  Sawyer

  Sitting back in his car parked near the university’s main building, Sawyer settled in for what could be a long wait, as Naomi fidgeted in the passenger seat, regularly glancing at the leather-strapped watch in her wrist. Since it was the weekend, there weren’t many people milling around, which was good for them. Still, Naomi looked nervous, and he couldn’t exactly blame her.

  Smelling like his soap, with her blonde hair tucked behind her ears, she managed to look radiant despite her anxiety and lack of sleep. Clad in simple black jeans, ballet flats and a gray t-shirt, she looked like any woman running errands on her day off.

  But it also ripped away any façade that she might have usually put up. Hair not done, no make-up on, fresh out of his shower – it created an intimacy between them, despite the fact they were practically strangers.

  Sawyer kept her in the corner of his eye as he watched the university building for people coming and going.

  “You must have gone on a ton of stake-outs in your day, huh?” she asked.

  “I had my share,” he replied.

  “But you’ve never broken in and stolen something before,” Naomi said.

  “Not entirely true,” he admitted.

  He could have just said ‘no’ and that would have been the end of it, but sitting around in silence only made him overthink things. And there was something about Naomi that inspired honesty in him.

  She had laid it out there, from demons to her parents’ murder, after all.

  “What?” Naomi’s eyes widened, and there was a certain excitement to her voice. “Were you undercover with a gang of thieves or something?”

  “Nothing that thrilling, I’m afraid,” he chuckled. “It was in my days as a PI, not as a cop.”

  “Now that sounds distinctly illegal,” she replied. “What was the case?”

  “I don’t usually talk about my cases…” Sawyer started.

  “I’m betting you don’t usually stake out universities to steal archaeological artifacts, either,” she raised a brow at him. “Nothing you say leaves this car, promise,” she made a gesture of crossing her heart.

  “All right then,” he said, leaning back in his seat. “This was over two years ago. I’d only just moved to Tempe, and gotten my office set up, when this woman came in. I could tell she didn’t really want to talk to me. She was embarrassed. But as she said, she didn’t see any other choice.”

  Naomi rested her elbow against the door, listening intently. She had that quality of making your words seem important. So he went on with his story, the memories flooding back easily. He never forgot a case, or a name.

  “Her name was Jillian. She had been with her boyfriend, on and off, for almost five years. But she wanted to call it quits for real this time. There was just one problem,” he said, Jillian’s round, pleasant face coming into his mind’s eye.

  He had barely paused, when Naomi already leaned forward in her seat, eager.

  “What? What was the problem?” she asked.

  “Kyle – that was her boyfriend – was, now how do I put this lightly… An asshole. I found that out for myself after some surveillance, as if what Jillian told me wasn’t enough. And back when things had still been new and exciting between him and Jillian, they had made a home video of sorts.”

  “Oh no,” Naomi’s eyes widened. “Like a sex tape?”

  “Yup,” he nodded. “Stuck on a thumb drive, somewhere in Kyle’s possession. That was his leverage.”

  “Gross,” Naomi’s face scrunched up. “To blackmail your girlfriend with something like that… What a sociopath. So he was practically forcing her to stay with him, or he’d release the video?”

  “That was pretty much it,” Sawyer confirmed.

  A woman strolled out of the university building, walking over to a man who seemed to be waiting for her. They strolled away, hand-in-hand, walking down an empty street. There was still no sign of any lab workers, or any deliveries.

  And with the fragility of a thousands-of-years-old statue, Sawyer figured its arrival wouldn’t be hard to miss. It wasn’t something one carried inside in a paper bag.

  So he carried on with his story, while Naomi hung off his every word. Vaguely, in the back of his mind, it occurred to him this might be the longest conversation he had had with someone in a while.

  “Jillian had given up finding the thumb drive, and she thought that even if she did find it, she couldn’t know if he had copies or not. So, she wanted me to find something on him that she could use,” he said.

  “Ah,” Naomi remarked. “The old nuclear stalemate approach.”

  “Exactly,” Sawyer nodded. “I researched Kyle, went through his record – a couple of drunk and disorderlies – looked through his social media. Then, I surveilled him. From his sales rep job to his favorite fast food places and strip clubs.”

  “That must have been fascinating,” Naomi commented.

  “Kyle did like his routine,” he chuckled. “But, after a month of tailing him, the only thing I really found him guilty of was being a scumbag. Most everyone around him already knew that, so that was of no use to Jillian.”

  “That’s where the breaking and entering part comes in, I bet,” Naomi nodded.

  “I was getting frustrated, to say the least, and Jillian was still trapped,” he replied.

  Naomi was no longer looking at her watch, or drumming her fingers, or squirming around in her seat. It seemed the reason they were parked outside the university building had been wiped from her mind as she listened to him tell the story.

  And if his sordid tale of blackmail and criminal activity helped her take her mind off things, he was happy to know he had plenty more where that came from.

  “Now, I’m not proud of this,” he told her, “but yes, I did break into Kyle’s apartment, while I knew he would be at work. I don’t even know what I hoped to find. I went for his laptop, first. And you can probably guess what I found on it.”

  “The video,” Naomi nodded. “But you knew he must have had copies. Deleting it wouldn’t have done any good.”

  “You’re right,” he agreed. “Now, I had opened the file before I knew what it was. If it had been labeled ‘homemade sex tape’ for instance, I probably wouldn’t have even clicked on it. Jillian deserved her privacy. And it was a damn good that I did open it. Because when I saw the video, I realized I didn’t need to delete anything.”

  Raising her brows, Naomi studied him, anticipation clear on her face. Sawyer let the silence carry the suspense as he suppressed the grin tugging at the edges of his mouth. It was fun to keep her hanging, literally on the edge of her seat.

  “Oh, come on,” she chided him with a small laugh. “You have to finish the story now. I’m dying over here.”

  “The video started how you might expect – Jillian and Kyle kissing in his bedroom, with the camera propped up somewhere opposite the bed. But just as things started to get hot and heavy… The camera tumbled over, landing in a sea of cheap carpet.”

  “No,” Naomi exclaimed, her hand flying to her mouth. “You’re kidding.”

  “Turns out, Jillian herself had never even watched it. She was too embarrassed. Kyle got up from the bed first, and propped the camera back up. As far as Jillian knew, it had been there the entire time,” Sawyer replied.

  “Now that sounds more like a true crime show than reality,” Naomi tilted her head at him.

  “Exactly how it happened,” he said. “Promise,” he added, crossing his heart like she had before.

  They both laughed at that, and Sawyer found it way too easy to forget they were on a stake-out, and not on a date. Even the fact that that particular thought crossed his mind was enough to jar him out of the moment.

  There’s a reason I like to go it alone these days… he thought, lookin
g at Naomi smiling at him in the passenger seat.

  Ironically, his animal side didn’t appreciate the lone wolf approach. His wolf seemed to have taken a liking to Naomi in particular. And what was there not to like? Not only was she gorgeous, she was also smart, a loyal friend, and someone who didn’t back down when she had her sights on something.

  Just the combination to get me in trouble…

  “What?” Naomi asked, still smiling, and he realized he had been staring at her for a good couple of seconds.

  “Nothing,” he replied, turning his gaze back toward the university, just in time to see a van pull up.

  Origin Laboratories the painted lettering read, and that meant story time was over.

  Seventeen

  Naomi

  Naomi followed Sawyer’s gaze to a van, where two men got out, with one of them holding what looked like a cooler of some sort. Sawyer tensed at her side, his hand hovering near the door handle.

  The delivery they had been waiting for was here. And for all they knew, so was Verin.

  Even if Naomi was right and the demon couldn’t change faces whenever he wanted, that didn’t mean he couldn’t still show up, looking like his creepy self. Sawyer had banked on the creature not taking that risk, but they couldn’t really be sure of anything.

  I don’t think logic really applies to cold-blooded serial killers from hell.

  Heart starting to pound, she looked over at Sawyer.

  “What now?” she whispered, even though the men now walking toward the university building couldn’t possibly hear them. “Do we follow?”

  “We wait for them to hand the thing over. Then we go in,” Sawyer replied. “The fewer witnesses that see us here, the better.”

  “Right,” Naomi nodded, as if she knew anything about witnesses or sneaking around unseen.

  “What if we run into Verin?” she couldn’t help but ask.

  It wasn’t really a productive question, and what-ifs were rarely helpful. But now that her nerves were kicking in, causing her mind to race, she was having trouble staying quiet.