As soon as Max left work and was reasonably sure he wasn’t being followed, he headed over to John’s office. Despite the fact that he was clearly better at his job than any of the other private investigators in the area, John kept modest quarters on the upper floor of a near-abandoned office park. The light was still on upstairs when Max parked in the lot and he carefully navigated the patches of black ice on the pavement.

When he arrived at the top of the stairs, Max could hear the sound of classical music coming from underneath one of the doors. John’s seemed to be the only office on the floor that was rented out, so Max knocked loudly to be heard over the music.

A few moments later, John appeared at the door and the music spilled out into the hall. “Max,” he said, clearly surprised to see the omega. “Did we have an appointment I forgot?”

“No,” Max said, doubting the beta had forgotten anything in his life. He hesitated. “Chris showed up at work, and he knows you’re working for me. I just wanted to warn you.”

John looked out into the hall and put a hand on Max’s shoulder to usher him inside. “Come on in.”

The office was warm and surprisingly inviting, but unlike every other store and office Max had been in since Thanksgiving, there was no evidence of the holidays. Not so much as a string of tinsel or a poinsettia on the desk. John was so efficient and he was always talking about juggling multiple cases at once, so Max had assumed he at least had a secretary, but it was clear from the layout of the tiny office that the beta worked alone.

“Are you alright? He didn’t hurt you, did he?” John asked worriedly.

“No, he just scared me half to death and cost the store two-hundred dollars in samples,” Max muttered.

“He must have done something if you drove all this way just to warn me,” John said, reaching into the refrigerator. He pulled out a couple of bottles of beer and offered one to Max.

The omega had quit drinking years ago, but he decided that night was a special occasion and took the bottle gratefully. He took a seat in the chair John offered to him and racked his exhausted brain for a place to begin. “He threatened me and you indirectly, I guess. He said he knows you’re investigating, and implied that if I kept looking for Gavin, I’d lose everything.”

“Spoken like a typical bully,” John muttered. “At least we know he hasn’t changed.”

“You’re not worried?” Max asked doubtfully. “He’s with the feds now. He could come after you.”

“I’m sure he’ll try,” John said with a chuckle. “Wouldn’t be the first. This job has a way of pissing powerful people off. They’re the ones who have the most reason to hide the truth, and the most to lose when it comes out.”

“I guess so,” Max said, not sure how the beta was staying so calm when he wasn’t nearly as invested in the outcome of the investigation as his client. Max also knew he wasn’t paying nearly enough to put up with harassment. “I’d understand if you couldn’t keep helping me.”

“Who said anything about quitting?” John scoffed. “I’d rather die than cave to a man like him.”

“Please don’t say that.”

“It’s fine,” John assured him. “In a way, it’s providential. I was going to call you in the morning, but I managed to get ahold of the caseworker for the Gavin you saw in that file.”

Max eyes widened. “Are you serious?”

“She said she’s not willing to discuss anything over the phone, but she did agree to meet with us both in person.”

“That’s great!” Max cried, jumping out of his seat. “We have to go.”

“I know that’s how you feel, and I’m sure you’re not going to want to hear this, but I don’t think that’s a good idea. Not right now.”

“What? Why?”

“If Chris is watching you that closely, going to Gavin’s caseworker is only going to push him into following through on his threats.”

“But he doesn’t have anything against me,” Max growled. “I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“I know that. But men like him are good at hiding the most egregious crimes in plain sight and manufacturing evidence where it just isn’t there. We need to play it carefully. No matter what this social worker says, just getting visitation rights to Gavin isn’t going to be easy,” he said gently. “From the court’s perspective, you’re an omega who gave up his son and wants to come back into his life twelve years later out of nowhere.”

“But that’s —“

“I know that’s not the truth, but it’s how they’ll see it,” John interrupted. “We have to build a case, and if you show up guns blazing with Chris hot on your heels, all they’re going to see is drama that doesn’t belong in Gavin’s life.”

Max knew the beta was right, but that didn’t make the words any easier to hear. He forced himself to nod, knowing he’d see the wisdom in John’s plan in the morning. “Okay,” he choked out. “But I can’t just sit back and do nothing.”

“Of course not. But what you’re doing now at your new job, building a stable life, that matters. It all matters, and when the time is right, it’s going to help you win this case.” He paused. “Did you have the chance to get those files I asked you for?”

“Oh. Actually, yeah. They came today at work,” Max said, reaching into his messenger bag for the folder detailing Roman Enterprise’s employee resources. “What did you need this for, anyway?”

“From what I’ve heard, there’s a legal assistance program for all Roman Employees who’ve been working for the company longer than three months,” said John, opening the folder. “I’m hoping they’ll be inclined to bend the rules a bit if I talk to them.”

“You’d do that?” Max asked warily.

“There’s only so much I can do to help you once we make sure this Gavin is your Gavin,” the beta replied casually. “You’ll need a lawyer, and a good one.”

Max blinked. “That’s part of the reason you want me to stay, isn’t it?”

John smiled. “Reputation is everything when it comes to these things, Max. I know it’s tempting to run and act as soon as you have any information to go on, but this isn’t going to be a quick fight and you could use all the help you can get.”

“Yeah,” Max murmured. At least he had one person on his side he knew he could trust. He hesitated. “Why are you so kind? I know I’m not paying you nearly enough to put up with all the questions and harassment, never mind Chris. Why do you do it?”

John chuckled. “You are a bit of a handful, but I don’t mind. I guess the honest answer is that you remind me of someone.”

“Who?” Max asked curiously.

“My mother.”

Max scowled. “I’m not that much older than you.”

John grinned. “In personality only, I assure you. Truth be told, I’m not in this for the money, as you can tell,” he said, glancing around the shabby office. “It’s personal for me. Always has been.”

“Oh,” Max said, warring with his own curiosity. “Would it be wrong of me to ask why?”

John was still giving him a patient smile, but it didn’t meet his eyes. “Let’s just say I was on the other side once. That’s how I got into it, I guess,” he said, setting down his empty beer bottle. Max noticed from the others on the desk that it wasn’t his first.

“What happened?” he asked softly. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but you’ve listened to my sob story enough.”

The beta sighed. “It’s pretty typical, really. Helping you is a breath of fresh air. Most of my clients are jealous partners who’re convinced the other person is cheating on them and they want me to find proof. Most of the time, they’re right. I was one of those times.”

“I’m so sorry,” Max said, his heart aching for the man he was realizing he’d spent hours with without ever really getting to know him. He couldn’t understand how anyone could do something like that to someone like John. Sure, the beta was a bit eccentric, but he was kind and smart and quite good looking. If Max had been capable of thinking about anything other than getting his son back, he knew he might easily have fallen for John already. The fact that the beta had never shown him anything other than compassion and professionalism just increased his appeal.

“It’s in the past,” John said with a sigh of resignation. “At least, that’s what I tell myself. And hey, it turned out I was so good at being paranoid that I make a living off it now, so I can’t complain.”

Max reached out to touch his arm. “You’ll find someone else, John. Someone who deserves you.”

“That’s kind of you, but at this point, I think I’m a bit too cynical for anything of the kind. It’s hard to fall in love when you’re used to predicting how it’s going to end from the beginning.”

“I guess so,” Max said, yawning. “I’m sorry… I’ve been up since five.”

“You should get some rest. You’re welcome to stay at my place. I can’t imagine the roads are any better than they were a few hours ago, and it’s quite a drive to Buffalo.”

Max hesitated. “I don’t want to put you out…”

“Don’t be silly. Come on, it isn’t far,” he said, motioning for the omega to follow him out of the office. A few steps later, he came to a stop in front of a door across the hall.

“Did you forget something?” asked Max.

“Nope,” John said, unlocking the door and stepping back to let Max inside. “This is it.”

“You live right across from your office?” Max asked in disbelief as he walked into the small apartment.

“Can’t beat the commute, and the rent is cheap since the place is practically abandoned,” he said, smiling. “The sofa pulls out. Can’t say it’s luxurious, but my upstairs neighbor snores and I sleep like the dead, so I think it’ll suit you better than the bedroom.”

“It’s perfect. Thank you so much,” Max said, sitting down on the couch.

“Well, goodnight,” John called on his way into the bedroom.

“Goodnight,” said Max. He stared in disbelief as the bedroom door closed. It wasn’t the first time a man had invited him back to his apartment, but it was certainly the first time such an invitation had led to them both sleeping in different rooms.