MICHAEL SAT next to Frank on the opposite side of the desk to their boss, waiting to see what he had to say to their suggestion.
Arlington steepled his fingers and glanced from Michael to Frank, then back again. Michael had plenty of practice enduring that look, and he waited for him to process the information they’d just bombarded him with, knowing he’d speak when he was good and ready.
“So.” Arlington glanced down at the folder they’d brought in. “You think Daryl White is involved with these murders?”
“We do.”
“But you have nothing that puts him at or anywhere near the scene of any of the three murders.”
Michael didn’t bat an eye. “No. But then White would never get his hands dirty. He has people to do that sort of thing for him.”
“You think he has a shifter in his employ? Because that’s what you’re implying.” Michael went to answer but Arlington wasn’t finished. “And if that was the case, wouldn’t he already know that one of his fighters was a shifter? It’d make sense to use him there since that’s one of White’s rules. And in your report, you say that Harper only sensed other fighters who were shifters, not any of Smith’s slash White’s men.” He huffed. “Why can’t they ever stick to their own name? It’s not like no one knows they’re the same person.” Resting his forearms on his desk, Arlington sighed. “Can you give me one good reason why I should authorise this?”
Michael met his gaze, unflinching. “My gut says White’s involved and that it has something to do with the illegal fights he organises. I don’t want to wait for another body to turn up.”
Silence filled the office for three long seconds and then Arlington sat back in his chair with a sigh. “Don’t make me regret this. Make sure we have sufficient backup in place to minimise any risk involved. I’d rather not have to face the alpha council and explain how we got one of their shifters killed.” He glanced over Michael’s shoulder and then added. “Get Bridgford and Stewart in on this too. I want to have as many eyes on him as possible when he sets foot in that place.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I want a report on my desk first thing tomorrow detailing all those involved, your plans to gather information, and contingencies for when shit hits the fan.” He made a shooing motion with his fingers, signalling they were done, so Michael stood, pushing his chair back. Frank followed suit.
Once they’d closed the door behind them, Michael grinned and pulled out his phone. “I’m gonna let Thomas know we want to see him, Harper, and Nash tomorrow morning.”
“I’ll go fill in Bridgford and Stewart.” Frank stalked across the room while Michael made his call.
FOR THE second time in as many days, they parked outside the Clapham Common Pack buildings.
Frank turned off the engine and paused, keys in hand. “You think they’ll go for it?”
Michael shrugged. “The alternative is a possible spell in Krillick Hall. What would you do?”
“Good point.”
They showed their warrant cards at the front door and made their way to the top floor, headed to Alpha Thomas’s flat again.
The door opened before either of them had a chance to knock, and Isaac stood there—arms crossed, not looking all that pleased to see them. Michael doubted that would change much after he heard what they had to say.
“They’re waiting for you in the living room.” Isaac stepped aside and ushered them in.
Michael walked down the short hall and stopped in the doorway to the living room, experiencing a strong sense of déjà vu. Alpha Thomas stood next to the fireplace with Harper and Nash sat on the sofa looking over their shoulders at him. Had it only been yesterday that they’d been here? It seemed longer than twenty-four hours.
Clearing his throat, he walked in and sat when Thomas gestured to the empty section of the corner sofa, Frank at his side.
“Detectives.” Thomas inclined his head. “We’re all here, as requested. What do you want?”
“Straight to the point.”
Thomas raised an eyebrow. “I don’t feel the need to exchange pleasantries. I’m pretty sure none of us are going to like what you have to say.”
Michael shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know. You might find some parts of it appealing.” He was offering them something in return after all.
“I doubt that, but do go on.”
Sitting forward, arms resting on his thighs, Michael turned to face Aaron better since it concerned him most of all. He faltered because, damn, he’d forgotten how attractive Aaron was. Recovering quickly, he said, “We want you to carry on fighting for Smith.” The room was silent, all eyes on him, so he forged ahead before any of them objected. “We strongly suspect he’s somehow involved with these murders, but we need proof—something to tie him to them.” He met Aaron’s eyes and tried to ignore his stricken expression and the guilt it evoked. “You’ve already caught his attention; he’s going to have his eye on you now. Sooner or later, either him or one of his men is going to let something slip, and with any luck, you’ll be close enough to hear it. None of them suspect you’re a shifter, right?” Aaron shook his head. “Good. So they won’t know to guard what they say within your hearing range.”
He paused, not liking the way no one had said anything. It wasn’t at all the reaction he’d expected, and it unnerved him. Sitting back against the cushions, he looked from Thomas to Nash and finally Harper. “Well? Is anyone going to say anything?”
Both Harper and Nash immediately looked to their alpha. Are they waiting for permission? Michael understood pack structure and the dynamics between alpha, beta, and pack members, but sometimes seeing it in person still surprised him.
Thomas turned to Aaron. “As far as I’m concerned, we’ve dealt with the matter of you fighting. You have your punishment and that still stands. This is something entirely different.” He met Michael’s gaze. “Am I right, Detectives?”
Michael glanced at Frank before answering. “Yes. We’re offering to waive the pending charges against Mr Harper and Mr Nash in exchange for Mr Harper’s cooperation. And since this is at our request, Mr Harper will be exempt from any further charges relating to any fights he takes part in while working with us.”
Thomas sighed. “I see.” Addressing Harper again, his expression softened. “This is entirely up to you, Aaron. It’s your decision.”
Harper clasped his hands in front of him and dropped his head, staring at the floor.
Michael’s gaze was drawn to the long line of Aaron’s neck, where smooth-looking skin led to broad shoulders covered by a tight-fitting T-shirt. He followed the taut material down the length of Aaron’s body before catching himself and averting his gaze.
Since when did I start thinking of him as Aaron?
Focus!
“So if I do this, you won’t press any charges?” Aaron asked.
Blue-grey eyes met Michael’s, and he lost his train of thought for a second before replying, “That’s right.”
“And if I don’t?”
Please say yes.
For once Michael didn’t want to press charges, didn’t feel that burning need to see justice done. They’d broken the law, yes, but the thought of sending Aaron—or Nash, for that matter—to Krillick Hall, made him feel a little ill. Michael sighed. “Then we’ll have to consider whether or not to pursue our investigation.”
“With me?”
“And Mr Nash.”
“Fuck.” Aaron dropped his head into his hands for a moment. “I thought we were done with all of that. Pay off Harry’s debt, tell Smith I wasn’t fighting any more… Done.”
Michael met Aaron’s gaze, steadily. He might be pissed off with him and Frank right now, might think they were taking advantage of this situation—which they were—but really, they were doing each other a favour.
This way, both Aaron and Harry would only suffer whatever their alpha had judged necessary, but the matter would be taken no further by the SCTF. And in return, th
e SCTF would hopefully get the evidence they needed to connect Smith, and whoever he was working with, to the murders.
They just needed Aaron to see it that way too.
“How long would I need to go back for?” Aaron narrowed his eyes, gaze still locked on Michael’s, and the intensity in that stare made Michael’s stomach flutter. “How many fights?”
Unfortunately, that was something they had no way of predicting. “I can’t answer that in terms of days, weeks, months.”
“Months?” Aaron’s voice rose, an edge of panic to it. “I can’t go back there for months.”
“I’m hoping it won’t come to that. We want to get this wrapped up as quickly as humanly possible.” He ignored Isaac’s scoff at his word choice. “But the reality could be that it takes a while before you hear anything of use. Or it could be within the first week.” He held his hands out in front of him. “We have no way of knowing. I’m sorry I don’t have anything more substantial than that, but it really is a waiting game.”
Aaron scowled. “And in the meantime, I just carry on fighting. Hoping that no one picks up on what I am and that Smith doesn’t start asking me to fix fights.”
“Isn’t that exactly what you’ve been doing for the last however many months?”
Michael understood Aaron’s reluctance to do this since he’d only just made the decision to quit, but come on, it wasn’t as though they were asking him to go in there as a newbie. He knew the ropes, knew what he was letting himself in for.
“Yes, but—”
“You won’t be in there on your own this time,” Michael offered.
“He wasn’t last time,” Harry spoke up. “I was there for all of his fights.”
Michael raised his eyebrows. “I thought you said he was there to keep an eye on you?”
Harry rolled his eyes. “Yeah, but it goes both ways. Don’t forget, I’m a shifter too. If anything happened, if Smith or anyone else discovered that Aaron was a shifter, then I’d be there to help him.”
Michael knew what was coming next before the words left Harry’s mouth.
Squaring his shoulders, as though expecting resistance, Harry said, “If Aaron goes back there, then so do I. They know me.”
It was an excellent idea, one he, Frank, and Arlington had already discussed—two shifters were better than one. But he’d been waiting to get Aaron onside first, figuring it’d be easier to persuade Harry if they’d already got Aaron’s agreement. They should have known Harry wouldn’t let Aaron go back in there alone.
Aaron nudged Harry with his shoulder, his smile warm. “I haven’t said I’ll do it yet.”
“I know.” Harry returned his smile. “But if you decided to, I want you to know that you won’t be going in there without me.”
“Thank you.”
“From the look on your face, Detective,” Alpha Thomas said, “I suspect you have no objections to that. In fact, I’d hazard a guess it’s the exact outcome you were hoping for. After all, two sets of super senses are far better than one. Especially when one of them gets to freely move around the crowd of people, listening to all manner of conversations.”
Michael glanced at Frank, inclining his head ever so slightly to let Frank know he could answer that one. “It’s certainly a conversation we had before coming here, yes.” Harry Nash was, in fact, their in to the fights.
“I happen to agree with Harry,” Thomas said. “If Aaron says yes to this, then he shouldn’t do it alone, considering what you’re asking him to do. The longer he fights there, the greater the risk of being discovered. I would suggest that at least another member of my pack accompanies them both.”
Frank bristled next to him. “I believe Detective Archer already stated that Aaron wouldn’t be alone. Three members of the SCTF will—”
“With all due respect, Detectives.” Thomas kept his tone from being condescending, which was probably the only reason Frank allowed him to interrupt. “You’ll be entering a space where the men guarding Smith are all armed.”
“We’re aware,” Frank replied.
“And are you also aware that you won’t be allowed to take your weapons in with you? You’ll be entering unarmed, whereas we—” Thomas spread his hands out, claws extended. “—will not.” Sheathing them again, he glanced from Frank to Michael. “I appreciate you’re both experienced members of the SCTF, but in this instance, members of my pack are in a far better position to protect Aaron and Harry than you.”
“I accept that you and your pack have advantages we don’t—and yes, we already considered the probability that Smith has people searched on entry to his fights—but we’re also trained for these situations. All members of the SCTF have been through extensive self-defensive training. And bear in mind, we’ve been taught techniques that would help protect us against shifters, so handling Smith or his bodyguards—even armed—would be a far easier task.”
“If they shoot you, no amount of self-defence will protect you from that.”
Michael offered him a wry smile. “We’d do our damnedest not to get into a situation like that. Something else which we’ve all been trained for.” He sighed and tried to find words that would make Thomas back down and accept that they knew how to do their job. “Alpha Thomas, Harry’s already a familiar face at these fights. We’ll need him to get us inside.”
“Um…” Harry looked suddenly uncomfortable. “I’m not allowed to bring people in with me.”
“What?” Both Michael and Frank turned to him. “Why not? Is there a limit on the number of spectators?”
Harry shrugged. “I don’t know about that, but I always go with Rob and give him twenty quid each time. He’s a member. Only members can bring guests, and they have to vouch for them.”
“So you’ll become a member, then.” Michael had thought for a minute they had a real problem.
“It’s expensive.”
Michael hoped Arlington would back him up. “We can cover that. When are you supposed to pay your debt?”
“Thursday.”
“Right, so when you meet whoever it is, you can ask to become a member too.”
“Assuming Aaron agrees to fight,” Isaac cut in. “I haven’t heard him agree to anything yet.”
Fuck. Isaac was right, they’d been getting ahead of themselves.
Michael sighed. “Aaron,” he said, meeting his eye. “We need a decision before we can proceed. Are you willing to keep fighting and help us find out if Smith’s involved with the three murders?” He forced himself not to hold his breath but couldn’t do anything about the way his heart raced in anticipation. They needed him to do this.
Aaron looked to his alpha and Thomas walked over to him, placing a hand on the side of his neck. Stroking the skin there with his thumb, Thomas leaned down and rested their foreheads together. “This is entirely your decision. But know that we’ll support you no matter what you choose to do.”
The whole thing seemed far too intimate to be done in front of a room full of witnesses, but judging from the lack of reaction from the other two shifters, it was probably only him and Frank that might think that. Was this normal pack behaviour? Or were the two of them involved? That last thought didn’t sit too well with him, but he refused to examine exactly why that might be.
“Well?” he prompted when Alpha Thomas stepped back, giving Aaron some space.
Aaron sighed heavily, and Michael braced himself to be disappointed.
“I’ll do it.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Oh fuck.
As soon as the words left his mouth, Aaron wanted to take them back again.
But he didn’t.
Couldn’t.
He didn’t want to carry on fighting, especially after spending the weekend accepting that quitting was the right thing to do. Initially, he’d felt a pang of loss at the thought of not experiencing that rush of adrenaline, but the more he thought about it, the more he knew it was the right decision. He’d been happy—they’d come clean with Sam, and everything
was out in the open.
He should have fucking known it had been too easy. There were always consequences to bad decisions. He’d thought enforced curfew and being put on probation was the extent of it for him, but obviously, he’d been wrong.
Apart from the fact he didn’t want to be arrested by the SCTF and possibly end up spending time at Krillick Hall, people were dying. All evidence pointed to the murderer being a shifter, and things would only get worse for his pack and all the others in London if he or she wasn’t stopped.
He had no wish to be avoided on the street, have people look at him in fear, or have humans start to boycott their businesses. There was only one possible choice, and he’d made it.
He just hoped Smith was guilty and had a loose tongue.
“You’re absolutely sure?” Detective Archer asked him, searching Aaron’s face for something as he spoke.
Aaron nodded. “Yes.” Whatever expression he had right then seemed to be satisfactory because Archer gave him a grim smile and then turned to talk to Sam.
“I know you want more of your pack involved, but please trust me when I say that I think it’s a bad idea. There’ll be three SCTF members there, and that’s not negotiable. If Harry suddenly brings in a slew of newbies, then it’s going to look suspicious. We’re trying not to draw much attention to ourselves.”
Sam glanced up at the ceiling, and Aaron could tell by the way he clenched and unclenched his fists that he didn’t like the idea. “You’re asking me to trust that you’ll keep my pack members safe.”
“I am.” Archer sounded sincere enough. Aaron believed Archer thought he could do it. “We’re good at what we do.”
“Fine.” Sam narrowed his eyes. “We’ll see how things go, but I want to revisit the situation if it goes on longer than a month or if either Aaron or Harry feel threatened at any time.”
Archer glanced at his partner who gave him a slight nod in return. “Okay,” Archer said. “We can work with that.”
Aaron wrapped his arms around his body as a cold shiver ran through him. “So now what?”
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