It took a week of digging, hunting and calling in every favor Dean was owed to get a lead on Max Redding. The name wasn’t all that uncommon in New York, and it seemed the omega was all but nonexistent on social media. Dean had chased down no less than twenty dead ends, and one omega he’d been sure was the right suspect had threatened a restraining order if Dean called his work again.

He certainly hoped he was off base with that one. When he’d finally gotten a lead, it had come from one of the wrong Max Reddings. This Max happened to be an Alpha who worked as a bartender, and he’d informed Dean that there had been a mixup once on his background check for work. His employers had pulled up the wrong Max Redding and mistaken him for an omega who’d once been brought in on charges of solicitation about ten years earlier. In the interest of clearing up the mistake, the other Max had agreed to send a letter to the bartender’s employer stating his name, address and unique social to prove they were, indeed, different people.

While Dean doubted that a prostitute had kept the same address for the last ten years, he reluctantly followed the lead to a ruthouse on the outskirts of a medium-sized town about an hour south of Buffalo. The place was as dingy as he’d expected, but Dean was surprised it was still in operation at all. Ruthouses were technically legal, but they were always courting some violation or another, and they tended to move around and rebrand to avoid prosecution or getting shut down.

“Hey there, handsome,” the omega at the front desk purred, leaning forward to push up her cleavage. “What’re you in the mood for?”

She was barking up the wrong tree, thought Dean. He smiled pleasantly and wandered over to the desk. “I’m not actually looking for an omega, but I’d be happy to pay you for some information.”

“Information, huh?” she smirked. “This some kinda cop and robber kink?”

“Not exactly,” Dean said, slipping his badge out of his pocket. If he still had a job by the time he found Gavin’s father, it would be a miracle.

The omega’s eyes widened. “W-we’re legal. We’ve got permits and everything,” she said, fumbling blindly through her desk drawer.

“Easy, I’m not here to bust anyone,” Dean said, putting his badge away. “Like I said, I’m just looking for information. There’s an omega who worked here about ten years ago named Max Redding. Maybe you’ve heard of him?”

“Ten years ago?” She cocked an eyebrow. “Honey, the turnover in this place is about three months.”

“That’s what I was afraid of,” he said with a heavy sigh.

She stood and kept her eyes on him as she inched away from the desk. “There is someone who might know him, if he was here. We’ve had the same cleaning lady for all eternity.”

Dean nodded. She disappeared through the beaded curtains that led into the back and when a stout older woman emerged, the desk worker was nowhere to be seen.

If there was one thing about the job that Dean hated most, it was the fact the people he actually wanted to protect were afraid of him while the ones who had reason to slink off like the scum they were always held their heads high, convinced their status as Alphas would get them out of anything. Usually, it did.

“Can I help you?” the older woman asked warily.

“The name’s Dean Garza,” he said, offering his hand. When she didn’t take it, he let it fall to his side. “I’m here because I’m looking for —“

“Max, I know. Cyndra told me. What do you want with him?” she asked harshly.

Dean hesitated. It looked like there was one omega who wasn’t afraid of him. “He’s not in any trouble,” he assured her. “There was an adoption about ten years ago. I have reason to believe it wasn’t voluntary, not on Max’s part. His son is looking for him, and I’m trying to —“ He broke off when he saw the look of shock that softened the woman’s hard features.

The older omega gasped, covering her mouth. “I can’t believe it…”

“Do you know where he is?” Dean asked hopefully.

“He doesn’t work here anymore. Hasn’t in years, and I was never happier to see someone leave,” she murmured. “Max was a sweetheart, and he deserved better than this place, even though the ruthouse he ended up at last I heard wasn’t too much of an upgrade.”

“Where is it?” Dean asked, taking out his notepad.

“It’s called the Western Den,” she explained. “It’s up on North Hammond Street. You keep going a few blocks to the right and past the big casino and you can’t miss it.”

“Thank you,” Dean said, hesitating. “Can you tell me anything about Max? I’m kind of going blind here, and I need to know everything about him I can before I get Gavin involved.”

“All you need to know is that there’s never been a parent in this world who loved their child more than Max loved that little boy,” she said with tears in her steely eyes.

“So Max didn’t give him up willingly?”

She looked away. “He wouldn’t say what happened exactly. Whoever the Alpha was, Max was scared of him, and I assume he had reason to be. But he never stopped looking, and every dime he made went to trying to find that baby.”

The door chimed as another customer stumbled in, half-drunk. “Is there anything else?” the omega asked.

“No,” Dean murmured. “Thank you. That’s all I needed to know.”

* * *

Finding the Western Den proved as straightforward as the omega at the first ruthouse had promised, but finding anyone else who remembered Max was considerably less so. He waited around at a coffee shop that offered free Wi-Fi and decent scones until he finally got a call back from the owner. She didn’t remember Max personally, but she’d found his name in her records as a past employee and he’d worked there until six years earlier. Dean had her record keeping to thank for the next two ruthouses he’d tracked the omega to, which was how he’d ended up at the door to the Cabin.

The Cabin was by far the nicest place he’d been all day, and while it was far from the kind of establishment he ever would have set foot in for any other reason, compared to the others, it looked like a luxury hotel.

“Good evening,” a lavishly dressed omega called from behind the desk. The entire lobby was decorated with Moroccan accents and luxe velvet couches lined the wall on the other side of the desk. Dean could smell the mixture of pheromones and high-quality drugs in the air, but he’d already decided to approach this lead as a civilian. “Can I escort you to one of our private rooms, or do you have a reservation?” she asked in a sultry tone.

“Neither, but thanks,” Dean said stiffly. For most Alphas, being surrounded by the scent of omegas in heat might have been a test of will, but Dean had seen the ugly side of the industry far too intimately to find the idea of a ruthouse anything other than off-putting. “I don’t have an appointment, but I am looking for an omega named Max. Does he still work here?”

The woman’s guard seemed to fly up instantly. “I’m sorry, sir, but Max left a while ago. If you’re interested in male omegas, we have plenty to choose from.”

“I appreciate that, but I need to find Max specifically. It’s not that kind of personal call.” He decided being vague wasn’t getting him any further than flashing his badge had at the last place, before he’d had the common sense to try bribery, so he added, “It’s about his son.”

Her eyes widened with terror. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m sorry, I have to go,” she said, turning to leave.

“Wait,” Dean pleaded, taking her arm. The guard by the door charged toward them and Dean held up his hands. “I’m not trying to hurt him.”

“We got a problem over here, Anna?” the guard demanded.

“It’s Chris,” she said in a trembling voice, pointing at Dean. “That’s the creep Max was always scared shitless of.”

Chris. So that was the bastard’s name. “I’m not him,” he said urgently, pulling his badge. The guard went for his gun but Dean was a faster draw and the man stopped short and turned pale when he saw the bronze. “I’m a cop.”

“So was Chris,” Anna seethed, hiding behind the guard. “That didn’t stop the prick from doing half the shit he did to Max.”

“You know Max?” Dean asked hopefully.

“Yeah, and I’m not gonna help you get to him,” she snapped.

“Look, I understand why you’re scared. I know you’re just trying to protect your friend, but I’m not here on official business,” he promised. “I’m here to help Gavin.”

“Gavin?” Anna’s eyes widened.

“Yeah. Max’s son,” he said, pulling out his phone and scrolling through the photos he’d taken at the last family get together. Gavin was smiling next to Claudia and Dean’s nephew as they posed for a photo op next to the birthday cake. Claudia was insistent about everyone in the family having a birthday, whether they wanted one or not, and the new addition, however temporary he was, was no exception. “This is him.”

Anna’s gaze softened as she looked at the picture. “He’s got Max’s eyes…” she murmured, looking up at the guard. “It’s okay, Toni. I’ve got it.”

The guard reluctantly took a seat on the couch and started flipping through a magazine, but Dean could feel himself being watched. Anna motioned him into the back and he followed her. She led him to a private room with a separate bar and poured herself a tall glass of wine. “What’s your poison?”

“None, thanks. I’m driving back to Pennsylvania tonight.”

“That’s where the kid is?” she asked sadly.

“Yeah.”

She shook her head, collapsing on the sofa. “I can’t believe he was that close all this time.”

“Where is Max?” Dean asked, sitting down across from her. “I’m trying to help Gavin, and if Max is the person I hope he is, I’d like to help them both, but I need to know everything I can first.”

Anna hesitated before answering, “Max doesn’t work here anymore. He got a job with a good company last month. He wanted to turn his life around for his kid, and he was working with some dick who was gonna help him find him.”

“Dick?” Dean arched an eyebrow. “You mean a detective?”

“Yeah, that’s it. He’s been pouring money into those fools since I started working here, but he had a lot of faith in this one. Guess he never figured the kid would come looking for him.”

Dean felt a weight lift off his shoulders, even if it was immediately replaced by another one. On the one hand, he’d been dreading the idea of having to tell Gavin that his birth parents weren’t looking for him. On the other, there was still the chance that no matter how much Max loved him, Gavin was still better off with the Newports. A month of trying to start over couldn’t erase ten years of working in ruthouses or a charge of solicitation. It certainly wouldn’t be enough in the court’s eyes, but he knew Gavin wouldn’t be able to see any of that. All he would hear was that he had a parent out there who wanted him and who’d been searching for him since he’d lost him.

“What can you tell me about Gavin’s other father? About Chris?”

Anna’s eyes narrowed and her nostrils flared. It seemed to be a common reaction among anyone who so much as knew of the infamous Alpha in passing. “I don’t know his last name or anything, but I know he was some big shot. A cop, or at least, that’s what he was when he and Max were together.”

“From what I understand, Max was young when he got pregnant,” Dean pressed. “Do you think Chris took advantage of him?”

Anna scoffed. “That depends on who you ask. To the rich pricks who keep men like that out of jail while omegas get locked up just for trying to survive, no, I’m sure he didn’t do anything wrong,” she said in a biting tone. “To anyone with half a brain, yeah. I think the guy’s a Class-A perv who preyed on a naive kid and when the consequences got a little too real, he tried to threaten him into silence and when that failed, he got rid of the evidence.”

Her version of events lined up with the unsavory tale Dean had already pieced together, and his mood hit the basement floor. “And you have no idea what the guy’s name was?”

“No, Max wouldn’t tell me. Took years to get that much out of him,” she murmured. “Whoever he was, Max lived in terror that he’d come walking through those doors. I hope he finally got away from him for good.”

“Can you tell me where he is now?” Dean asked hopefully. He could feel the doubt and mistrust coming from the omega across from him, and he couldn’t blame her for any of it. “I know you’re worried about protecting your friend, but my only goal in all of this is to do what’s right for Gavin.”

“Who is he to you?” she asked warily.

That was a good question. Dean knew the answer in his heart, but just because he felt a fatherly attachment to the kid didn’t mean that was what was best for Gavin. So far, the Newports were still looking like his best option. “I took him in on a temporary basis,” he said, deciding to go with the truth. “He ran from his other foster family, and they want to adopt him, but not knowing about his birth parents is holding him back. I care about him too much to see him throw away a sure thing, and I’m hoping one way or another, giving him the chance to meet Max will help him move on. But first, I need to meet Max so I can figure out if that’s the right move for Gavin.”

Anna listened and she seemed to be considering his words carefully, even though Dean could tell the implication that Max might not be the best thing for is son insulted her. She took out a piece of paper and scrawled down an address, handing it to Dean. “You’ll find him there,” she said, holding his gaze. When he reached for the paper, she held onto it. “Max has been through a lot of shit trying to find that kid. I know how guys like you think, even the good ones. You think you’re better than the Alphas who come in here looking to fuck us, but the same entitlement and pride that makes it okay to them is what makes you think it’s okay to look down on us. You go find Max and you finish your little assessment, but know this: I don’t care how rich that foster family is, or how ‘respectable’ the omega happens to be. There is no one in this universe that loves Gavin more than Max does, and no one who deserves a second chance more than him.”

Dean took the paper and slipped it into his pocket. He stood, sensing he’d outstayed his welcome. “I’ll keep that in mind,” he said, clearing his throat. “I’ll show myself out.”

“You do that,” Anna muttered, watching him leave through the curtains. The guard was already by the door, ready to show him out.

Dean stared down at the slip of paper in his hand. It had been a long and crooked path to get to Max, and he sure as hell hadn’t expected it to end at an upscale department store, but life had a way of throwing curveballs. He just hoped this one went in the right direction.