Outside in the parking lot, the day was very warm. The sky was clear and beautiful golden rays of sunlight fell down, bathing the city in balmy perfection. The warmth rebounded from concrete and steel, yet this effect wasn’t unbearable. Sea breezes from the ocean blew in across the shores of Pensacola’s many nearby beaches, flowing up onto the city streets.

Austin turned his face into the damp wind, feeling sticky salt on his skin, scenting and tasting the tang of brine. For only a moment, he wished he could be out on a beach—any beach at all, even the mediocre ones—ignoring all his duties and just enjoying his own existence.

The temptation was easily ignored, easily shoved aside. He liked to think he was a cop to the core, even if it had taken him awhile to figure out this was what he wanted to do with his life. Nothing had seemed to call to him until he chanced across an announcement which said there would be an opening for new police officers in the near future. Just like that, it felt like the future had opened wide up for him, beckoning him, luring him in that direction.

He had gone and applied.

The Chief took one look at him and signed him on to the Academy, where he would undergo training that determined whether or not he would make the cut.

That had been a few years ago, shortly after he and Lucas had broken up. Austin wasn’t sure why the Chief had put him through the Academy, except that it was mandatory. Surely cops were born, not made. You couldn’t send someone off to a cop school and expect them to be molded into the perfect shape they already were.

Lucas was waiting nervously nearby, his fingers teasing endlessly over each other, stitching together like they were being sewn, then working their way apart once more.

The omega had always been nervous, too eager to please, and always too doubtful to do what he assumed needed to be done to please. He worked himself into knots in that way, causing himself unnecessary stress.

Austin thought he needed to relax, and he had said so on many, many occasions during their attempt to date. The smallest thing could cause Lucas to go off, like a defective firecracker.

“Relax,” Austin said aloud now, giving voice to his thoughts. He wanted to reach out and hold Lucas’ hands in his until they stilled, to show him there was nothing to fear.

Lucas came to an abrupt standstill, untangling himself so he stood beanpole straight. Frozen in position like that, he looked even less relaxed than before. “I’m sorry, Austin. Or, do I call you Officer Night now?”

There was a certain ring of authority to Officer Night. Austin almost agreed to that one, then stopped himself. Lucas wouldn’t know he was joking, because he didn’t have much of an idea of what fun was supposed to be.

The thing was, it was difficult to look at Lucas from a distance, to observe him beforehand, and realize this would be his nature. The omega didn’t look like he would be anxious or awkward.

He looked like a gorgeous catch, a beauty to tell your friends about. His hair was a truer gold than the sun, composed of endless luscious curls. His eyes were the color of the ocean, seeming to hold endless possibilities.

Though slender, Lucas had a wiry strength which was evident in the tight muscles on his forearms. He was tall, though not tall enough to go from slender to scrawny.

When Austin had seen him by that staircase, in the dusty nook of the two-story garage, Lucas had his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His clothes were old and patchy, and he wore them carelessly. His hair had dust and bits of gravel in it, and there was a smudge of something like oil or grease swathed over one cheek.

He had looked messily sexy, alluring in an effortless sort of way. He needed no fancy clothes, no proper setting, to look like a total snack.

Out here in the sunlight, the effect should have been magnified. Here was a man who worked hard, who was on the cusp of success in his career, with looks that any random passerby would be jealous of.

But that just wasn’t the case. Lucas was nervous and fidgety and anxious. It was saddening, in a way. He had the potential to be so much more.

“Austin is fine,” Austin said, answering the question posed to him. “Relax, would you?”

“I am relaxed,” Lucas lied.

“Uh-huh. Well, anyway. What I meant earlier is some of the suppliers in the city are looking a little untrustworthy.”

Lucas shook his head. “Suppliers? What kind of suppliers? What does that have to do with me?”

“You know. Suppliers.” Austin felt vaguely frustrated. “You know. The people who supply lumber. Supplies. For people like you.”

“Oh.” The fog didn’t clear from Lucas' gaze. He still didn’t understand. “How?”

“I’m afraid I can’t give out that kind of information. All I can say, is this looks like it might be a little bigger in scale than we initially assumed.”

“What does that have to do with me? Why would that stop me from working on the garage?” Lucas looked like he was winding himself up even tighter, a spring coiling.

“I might have misspoken a little earlier.” Austin stifled a growl at himself. He hated admitting to any sort of mistake, especially one that he had made. “I just meant things might go slower as I’m doing my investigation. That’s your best case scenario. Worst case is you might have to look harder for the things you need, if I end up having to shut down some places.”

“Do you mean stores like, Home Depot and Lowes are doing something?” Lucas looked baffled.

“No. The people who supply to them. And other companies.” He hesitated. “Maybe, if those stores are involved. I can’t say more than that.”

I don’t want to say more than that, because then it’ll be obvious I’ve got no fucking idea what I’m talking about.

This was, more or less, his first day actually investigating. He had caught word, through a friend of a friend of a Lethal Freedom pack member, that the garage was about to undergo a series of renovations. He had figured he would start here because it was more exciting to think about than visiting a whole bunch of offices and shit.

And, it had felt kind of like his God-given right as a cop to go nosing around in the business of these wolves. Gangs of any kind were not to be trusted. He gave his loyalty to no pack, to no group in particular, except for his brothers in blue.

Austin reached into his pocket and pulled out the little notebook he always carried around. He had no pen, but just because he carried this book around didn’t mean he’d ever actually used it. It was a prop to get people to think what they were about to say was very important, so they would be less likely to waste his time. This was a trick he’d been taught by the Chief himself, ages ago. People who believed they were significant acted significant.

Maybe it would work on Lucas.

Lucas' gaze flickered as he saw the notebook come out, clouds crossing over his ocean eyes to cast their brilliant depths in shadow.

Apparently not.

“So,” Austin said. “Ever had any shady business dealings with anyone? Anything that didn’t seem right? Prices a little too fair? Strange delivery processes?”

Lucas thought hard, then shook his head. “I don’t think so. But, I’ve only ever done small jobs before this. I go and get the supplies myself. I do everything myself. The person you’d really want to talk to is my dad.”

Austin looked at his notebook, as if he was checking something on his list. In actuality, he had no list. It was a blank page. He was checking nothing. “I’ll be sure to do that. But this job you’re about to take on, you aren’t going to be able to do that, are you?”

“Maybe not,” Lucas admitted. He crossed his arms over his chest, the gesture not defiant but somehow reassuring, as if he was comforting himself. “I’ve always been more hands-on, but if I take this job, it can’t just be me. I’ll be more of a supervisor, recommending things to Destiny. Destiny’s the man who wants this done. You’ll need to talk to him, too. He’s busy today, but he’d make an allowance for the law.”

His original purpose in coming here was to speak to Destiny. He had been following the guidance of another wolf who pointed him in the direction Destiny should be, only to discover he was not there, and then had run into Lucas instead.

“I’ll also be doing some of the work. The parts I can do, anyway. But Destiny’s going to need plumbers and electricians. People with specialized skills. All I can do then is make sure things are getting done smoothly.” Lucas frowned hard. “Although, that’s a lot more difficult than it sounds.”

“Uh-huh.”

None of this was going to help his investigation, no matter how interesting it was to learn that Lucas was here, Lucas was sexy as hell these days, he hadn’t changed a bit since the day they broke up.

“Well,” Austin said. He tucked the notebook away in his breast pocket. “If you say Destiny’s busy, I suppose I’ll come back later. I can’t waste my time waiting around for him.”

At the mention that he would be coming back later, something in Lucas' expression tightened even further. He was nervous to begin with, and Austin’s continued presence was only going to make that worse.

“In the meantime, if you learn anything, let me know, okay?”

Lucas glanced away a little. “Sure.”

That wasn’t good enough.

Austin stepped forward, getting very much into the other man’s space. The aura which hung around Lucas was tremulous and uncertain, burning with dozens of different emotions. Buried deep beneath the fear and doubt was something that could almost certainly be called desire.

He didn’t press his advantage any further, knowing it wouldn’t be right. Leaning in, he brought his lips very close to Lucas' ear and whispered, “You’ll come to me if you learn anything.”

A shiver raced through Lucas' body. His body shuddered, and he accidentally brushed against Austin. Where their bodies made contact, there was a sense of burning, of heightened desire.

“Okay,” Lucas breathed, tremulous.

Pulling back, Austin turned and walked away in the direction of his police cruiser. There was more work for him to do, though none of it would be as interesting as this.