ELEVEN
It was dark when Senora woke up hours later, neck stiff and head a little tender from leaning on the glass with only a thin jacket for a cushion.
“Where are we going?” she asked, voice husky.
“To see a friend,” Ty said, matter-of-factly. “Here. We stopped at a drive-thru, and Jessica and I couldn’t wake you. There’s a drink in the cup holder for you.”
She took the bag he was holding towards her and inhaled the scent of spicy fried chicken and pepper jack cheese.
“You remembered,” she said, grabbing the sandwiching and unwrapping it.
“You are the pickiest person I’ve met when it comes to fast food. It wasn’t difficult to remember.”
She nodded her head, mouth too full to respond. She didn’t even care that he was teasing her. The FBI required her to be fit and ready to run. With her naturally curvy body, she wasn’t going to add an extra run to her routine for anything less than her favorite.
The sandwich was perfect, but not nearly as perfect as the man.
She watched him out of the corner of her eye while he drove, his sleeves rolled up and one arm on the steering wheel while the other rested on the armrest. Ty was a man who was at ease no matter what they were doing, and being that comfortable in his own skin was so sexy. She remembered what he’d said to her when they’d hit the road, and she was glad for the cover of darkness. Her heart fluttered, and her body clenched in response, but her mind was a jumbled mess. He loved her? She couldn’t imagine how he could feel that way in the short amount of time that they’d known each other, but he’d been serious when he’d said it. Maybe it wasn’t the deep, unending love her parents had shared, but it was more than just lust. She could see it in his eyes when he’d said it, and she knew down to her very soul that they shared something special. What that was she hadn’t defined yet, but it was obvious that Ty had spent their time apart thinking about her. It was flattering, but at the same time, it made her uncomfortable. What if his feelings were stronger than hers? What if she didn’t want to be more than friends? Would he accept that? Would he be able to keep his hands off her if they vacationed together?
She groaned, then stopped herself.
“Good sandwich?” Ty said, teasing her.
“Delicious,” she lied.
At least he didn’t realize what she was really groaning about. She didn’t think that vacationing together was a good idea. She’d spent six months getting over him, and she didn’t want to set herself up for more heartache if she could help it.
“I’ve been thinking about vacation tomorrow. Maybe now isn’t the time to go.”
She trailed off, not sure what to say but relieved when Ty started nodding. The tension she’d been feeling left her body. He agreed with her, and she wasn’t going to have to fight him to cancel the trip.
“I was thinking about that. I don’t think we’re going to make the flight tomorrow.”
Guess we aren’t on the same page, she thought.
“This entire situation is so much bigger than it seems.” He motioned to Jessica, who was sound asleep in the back seat. “She’s not going to be safe until we get to the bottom of this, and I’m not willing to leave her with anyone else. Someone has brought shifters into this, and I need to know how. This isn’t what we do. One rogue WereDragon who’s lost a child is one thing, but a group of WereBears capturing a suburban housewife? That’s not us. Something is going on, and I’m not letting that woman or you out of my sight until we know what it is. If WereBears have been turned, none of us are safe.”
She ignored his insistence that she wasn’t safe and focused on the WereDragon.
“Have you found Ava?”
He shook his head.
“Following leads is difficult when you’re the only one working the case. Your contacts and mine combined made everything so much easier. You have access to files and software that I can only dream of, and it’s been a struggle to keep up on my end. I noticed that you weren’t working the cases we picked up in Colorado, and I’ve been trying to keep up with them myself. It hasn’t been easy.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t really have a choice.”
“You keep saying that, but the Senora I know doesn’t need someone to give her permission to do the right thing. Look at Jessica. You’re supposed to be on vacation, and here you are, saving a woman because it’s the right thing to do. This is the Senora Edwards that I know, and I’m glad that you’re back, at least for now.”
Senora wanted to argue, but he was right. It was like she’d been frozen for months, just going through the motions and doing whatever was put in front of her.
“There’s so much I want to do, but they’re breathing down my neck and monitoring everything I do. I haven’t even had a chance to look for my parents.”
“Have you tried?”
“I have. The firewall shut me down. My laptop is locked down over the weekend unless I get a call from the office. They have Betty activate it before they call.”
“They don’t know you two are close?”
“I guess not. If they did, they wouldn’t have Betty working in our department anymore.”
“You don’t think that’s suspicious?”
“I do. But I don’t know what I’m supposed to do about it. I’m still saving lives and helping victims of trafficking and kidnapping; I’m just doing it from the office. It’s not how I work best, but sometimes, you have to do grunt work to get the promotions you want.”
“Have you talked to J about it?”
“I haven’t heard from J in months. I’m not even sure the last two times I talked to him that it was him. He uses that voice altering software. You’ve heard it. Anyone using it could sound like him.”
“Do you suspect that’s what happened?”
She shrugged, the street lights casting an eerie glow in the interior of the vehicle.
“I don’t know. J called me in, but he never said why. By the time I spoke to him after I was back in the office, it had been a few weeks. That’s when he told me that Agent Patterson would be my direct supervisor until further notice. I tried to contact him one more time, and he returned my call to tell me that I was to defer to Patterson.”
“And nothing about that strikes you as strange?”
“Everything about it strikes me as strange. But as long as the FBI is paying my salary, there’s nothing I can do about it.”
“Can you take a leave of absence?”
“I could take off almost a year and still get paid.”
“Why don’t you?”
“To do what?”
“Work on your parents’ case, help me find the missing shifter kids. Help me find Ava? She’s still out there; I can feel it.”
“I can’t do that. It’s a conflict of interest.”
“To take a sabbatical to consult with another branch of law enforcement on cases that don’t belong to the FBI? I don’t think that’s right.”
“That’s what they’ll say. I could lose my job.”
“There are other ways to find missing people without working for the FBI. You could be an independent contractor. You’d probably make more doing that than you do working for the government. And no one would be telling you what cases were worth your attention.”
“It’s not about the money.”
“Of course, it’s not. That’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying that you could do what you are passionate about and still get paid.”
“I don’t want to talk about this right now.”
“Why? Because you don’t want to admit that J has practically thrown you away? You don’t want to talk about the fact that a talented agent has been chained to a desk for six months because you stepped on someone’s toes? Doesn’t that frighten you? Doesn’t that make you wonder if someone in the office knows who the Gate Keeper is and doesn’t want you to find out?”
His words took the wind right out of her. It had been in the back of her mind, but hearing him say it out loud was almost too much. What other explanation was there? Why else was J so afraid to leave her in the field? Why wouldn’t he return her emails and calls? What had she found out that had forced her back into the office?
“You know it’s true,” Ty said softly. “Something is going on. Someone on the inside isn’t who you think they are, and you can’t trust anybody.”
“But Betty would know if anyone was going around and-”
“Anybody,” Ty repeated. “Even Betty.”
“She’s my best friend.”
“Since when?”
“As long as I’ve been with the bureau.”
“Do you have any friends that you’ve known since before that? Anyone you met outside the influence of the bureau?”
“No,” she said. “You know why.”
“You were found at thirteen, right?”
“Around there. No one knows how old I was.”
“Okay, and how old were you when you joined the FBI?”
“Straight out of college, so just shy of twenty-one.”
“So, you’re telling me in the eight years between being found and joining the FBI, you didn’t make one friend?”
She opened her mouth to protest, then closed it.
“I didn’t have time to make friends. I was trying to hold together the lie I’d fabricated so no one knew I was living alone in my parents’ house. I was doing my mom’s job from her home office. I didn’t want to get found out. I couldn’t afford for my only income to dry up. If they would have found out, that would have been the end of everything. The state would have come in and taken me away, and everything would be gone. The way it is right now, my dad’s pension goes into a savings account, and the weekly housekeeping comes out of the checking account. It took a lot of effort for me to keep up that façade when I was a teenager. It never occurred to me to let anyone in.”
“And what about J? Did he know?”
“Of course not. I worked for J. I felt close to him, but he was just my boss.”
“You work for J?” a small voice came from the back seat.
Senora turned to see Jessica, awake, hands shaking as she stared at Senora in disbelief.
“I did. I don’t anymore. Why?” Senora asked, brow furrowed.
Jessica’s eyes grew wide, and she lunged for the door handle. Senora heard Ty engage the child locks an instant before Jessica’s hand grabbed the handle, and the woman pulled with all her might with no luck.
Jessica started wailing. The loud, terrified sound filled the car while Jessica yanked on the handle and started kicking at the windows.
“What the hell?” Ty said, pulling over on the deserted highway and throwing the car into park. “What is going on?”
“She’s one of them!” Jessica screamed. “You’re one of them!”
“One of who?” Senora said, shouting to be heard over Jessica.
The woman was panicking, breath coming in frightened gasps, chest heaving under the interior lights that Ty had turned on.
“You work for J, just like the bears.”
“Jessica, what are you talking about?” Senora asked, still lost.
“Let me go! I’m not going with you.”
Jessica lunged at the door again, elbowing the window to no avail and screaming in frustration.
“Jessica, I’m not one of them!” Senora shouted. “I’m not the enemy. I’m here to help you.”
“That’s what they said. That’s what they all said. They’re there to help me, they want to fix me so I can get back to my family. I’m not broken. You can’t fix me. I want my Evie, and I want out of this car!”
Jessica turned and vaulted over the seat to the back. Ty cursed under his breath, reaching over Senora and grabbing something out of the glove box. He jumped out of the car and made it to the back hatch just as Jessica found the release and opened the door. In one smooth motion, he grabbed her, pressed something to her neck, then held her as her body went limp.
Senora’s mouth was hanging open in shock when he motioned to her to climb into the back seat and help him transfer her over the seatback and onto the back bench again. Jessica’s mouth was slack, but to Senora’s relief, she was breathing.
Senora set her down, then stared up at Ty.
“What the hell just happened?”
“I don’t know,” he said, breathing hard. “But I’m glad I caught her in time. What does she mean you’re working with them?”
“I don’t know, Ty. I’m not the shifter. I was hoping you would have some insight.”
“She didn’t freak out until you said you worked for J,” he pointed out. “I don’t think that I’m the problem.”
“I don’t know why,” Senora said. “She’s under a lot of stress. Maybe she misunderstood someone.”
“Or maybe she knows something you don’t.”
Senora shook her head.
“There’s no way that J is involved in any of this.”
“I’d sure love to know what he did to earn your blind trust. So much to be suspicious about, but you’re sure that J is one of the good guys.”
Senora glared at him, but she didn’t argue. It was late, and though the highway was deserted, they needed to leave.
“We need to go,” she said.
Ty nodded and slid out the back hatch, closed it and locked it from the outside, then made his way to the driver’s seat and calmly pulled back onto the highway.
They rode in silence for a long time, then Senora looked over her shoulder at the still sleeping Jessica and back at Ty.
“What did you give her?” she asked.
“It’s a quick-acting sedative. When she wakes up, she’ll stay calm for a while before she fully metabolizes it.”
“Why do you have it with you?” she asked.
“I carry it everywhere. It’s in a pen diffuser like adrenaline, but it’s not the same. It goes right through security without question.”
“But what do you use it for? What were you planning on using it for?”
“I had no plans for it,” he said. “I have a go bag, and when Betty called me and told me you were on vacation and why, I brought it with me. It’s a pack with certain things, and I have those things in certain places when I’m working. I didn’t think for a moment you were actually going to go on vacation when Betty called me just before I boarded my flight to tell me that you were having her track Mr. Baker’s GPS and it didn’t look good. I knew you were going to go after the missing woman. I didn’t know what to expect, so I packed one in the glove box and two in the backpack before we headed out. Aren’t you glad I had it available? That much stress can’t be good for her heart.”
“I just don’t understand why you have it.”
“You have to admit crazy things seem to happen to you and around you. You’re a magnet for this stuff. I was thinking about getting you your own apprehension kit, just in case.”
“I’m not buying that you needed it right there and easily accessible. You could have packed it in your overnight bag and been done with it. Why have it right there within reach?”
Ty sighed.
“Don’t tell me you’re going to go on a raving conspiracy tirade, too. They’re for apprehensions. There’s a lot of times that I’m bringing in a rogue shifter or someone else that’s more than hand cuffs can handle, and the sedative gives me the edge I need to keep them under control. We didn’t know what we were getting into, and the sedative helped. Sometimes, we have to use it for the good guys.”
“Is that even legal?”
He shrugged.
“Most of what I do is just this side of legal, and if I’m dealing with a WereDragon, my car can’t sustain the damage that a dragon shifting would do to it. So, I hit them with a bit of this special sedative, so that they can’t shift for twenty-four hours, and it keeps them calm for six hours or more.”
“It’s not going to hurt Jessica?”
“No. I gave her a tenth of a hit. She’s fine. And she’ll be fine.”
“I just wish I knew why she went off like that.”
“We’ll find out soon enough. By the time we get to my buddy’s house, she’ll be awake and talking.”
“Who is this man we’re going to see?”
“His name is Michael. He’s an old friend of mine, and he’ll be able to get the information we need to figure out why there are WereBears involved in this mess. I want to start there and figure out how they fit in, and while we’re at it, we’ll see if there’s someone named Jay involved. Jessica must have overheard something, and it wouldn’t have occurred to her that Jay isn’t the same as your mentor’s code name ‘J.’”
“I hope you’re right.”
“And if I’m not?”
“I don’t know,” Senora said, shaking her head and closing her eyes.
She didn’t know what she was going to do if J was actually a part of all this. Shuddering at the thought, she sighed and continued.
“What does your friend do that he has access to all this information?”
“It is not what he does but what he is.”
“Is he another Werewolf?”
“No,” Ty said.
“I hope you’re not saying what I think you’re saying.”
Ty chuckled.
“He’s a WereBear,” Ty confirmed.
“Are you nuts? What if he’s one of them?”
“There are thousands of shifters in this state alone. Being a WereBear doesn’t make him one of them.”
“It doesn’t mean he’s not either.”
“Look, he’s the only contact I have out here. This isn’t exactly my home turf. Michael will know something. And if he doesn’t, he’ll know someone that does. We need to find out why there are WereBears after this woman.”
“Why?”
“Because they won’t stop until they find her. She’s important, and finding out why will lead us to who. Someone wants this woman bad enough to go to great lengths to get her back. When we find out why, then we’ll know who’s behind it.”