“And that’s the whole story.” I was just finishing braiding my wet hair when I stepped into the lab and heard Cash finishing up with whoever he was speaking with over Skype—his wide body blocked the monitor, so I couldn’t tell who was on the other end.

Until I heard her voice. “It pains me to know there’s anyone monitoring our transmissions,” Mary muttered darkly. “I can’t imagine how anybody found out about this.”

“Maybe your friend, Harrison, has other friends,” Cash suggested.

I gasped.

He turned, eyebrows raised.

Mary must have been able to see me, standing far behind him. “My dear, my dear, I’m so sorry. Cash told me. Your poor nephew.”

I nodded, biting my sore lip. I had bitten down so hard while I was on the phone with Tommy. “I just want to bring him home.”

“I know you do, dear. And we’ll do everything we can to help you.”

I looked at Cash. “You’ll help me?”

He didn’t reply—instead, he turned his attention back to Mary. “You’ll look into this?”

“Naturally. I’ll send a few other friends of mine to visit with Harrison, too. Friends who know how to get answers.”

“I find it hard to believe that he would do something like this,” I piped up as I moved closer to the laptop.

“He’s the most natural choice,” she argued. “I never told him the nature of the work I needed done, but he knows of my long association with shifters. It was a natural assumption. And I’m sure you didn’t deny that you were working with a shifter, if the people who took your nephew accused you of working with one.”

“I tried, I think. It’s all a blur, I was too upset.”

“He assumed, and they jumped on it. On you. My dear, I can’t tell you how it pains me. I only hope your little Tommy is as well as he sounded over the phone.”

“He sounds sad, but not in pain.”

“That’s a relief.” She went back to Cash. “So. Harrison, it is. I’ll find out what I can and get back to you within a day. Otherwise, I suppose it’s a matter of getting on with the work you two are doing there.”

“Yesterday’s test was unsuccessful, but I’m sure we’ll move closer over the next few days.” I leaned in. “Please, no matter what, it’s imperative that these people not find out that you know. If Harrison is questioned—”

“Leave it to me,” she replied, her voice tight.

She looked like somebody’s grandmother, pretty much exactly the way I had imagined her after hearing her voice, but right now she reminded me of a mafia hitman from the movies. Cold, heartless. She would do what needed to be done.

Mary nodded. “We’ll keep him quiet until Tommy is safe. I can assure you of that.”

I didn’t want to know how they’d do it—then again, if he was responsible for the nightmare I’d fallen into, maybe I did want to know. Maybe I wanted to be there when they made him pay, too.

When the call ended, it was just the two of us. Sitting there with him, arms touching, it was impossible to ignore him. His nearness. I didn’t know if I should be afraid or excited.

The one feeling which registered loud and clear was relief. I wasn’t alone anymore. I had Mary and her… employees. Whoever they were. I didn’t want to think too much about that. Whatever Harrison got, he deserved—if he was really the person who’d leaked my involvement with a shifter.

And I had Cash. Or did I?

“I’m really sorry,” I whispered, too scared to look at him.

“I know.”

“I didn’t want to hurt you. I wanted to tell you about it. But I was so afraid.”

“For Tommy. I know that, too.”

“Can you ever forgive me?”

He made me wait for an answer.

My heart was in my throat the entire time. Having a little more clarity, thanks to sleep and food and a hot shower and knowing there were people on my side, gave me the chance to reflect on how I wanted things to be different between us.

I wanted him to like me, to trust and respect me. Maybe even more than that. We had started off well enough. Other forces had gotten in our way.

“I don’t know that there’s anything to forgive,” he decided, speaking slowly. Like he was just working it out for himself as he said it. “I mean, I don’t love knowing you lied to me. I especially don’t love knowing you kept lying even when I kept trying to get you to open up. But I know there are reasons, too. You didn’t want them to hurt your nephew. If you hadn’t collapsed last night, you would still be lying, and I would still be knowing you were lying. And you would keep insisting you weren’t.”

“I don’t know how much longer I could’ve kept it to myself.”

“Neither do I.”

I looked down at my hand, surprised to find his fingers closing around it. Even more surprised at how good it felt. How much I had wanted him to do just that. And more. There hadn’t been any time to indulge the attraction between us when the need to free Tommy consumed me. The slightest touch of Cash’s hand unlocked everything I’d forced down inside.

I didn’t say anything. It seemed unnecessary.

It was enough to sit beside him, arms touching, fingers laced.