Chapter 2
“I can’t believe Landon split up your team,” Trevor Maxwell said.
Tate Evers grunted. He’d joined the dark-haired coyote shifter and his partner/girlfriend, Alina Bosch, on one of the benches along the edge of the training area on the DCO complex a little while ago to watch his former teammates navigate the obstacle course with their new partners. Tate had worked with Brent Wilkins and Gavin Barlow, along with bear shifter Declan MacBride, for nearly a decade, but the DCO was currently going through a lot of changes, and that meant a lot of changes for his team, too.
“Landon needed veteran agents to pair up with the shifters they recently recruited,” Tate said. “Brent and Gavin are two of the most experienced field agents he has, so it makes sense to pair them up with the newbies.”
Some of Alina’s strawberry-blond hair had come loose from its bun, and the fall breeze toyed with it. She reached up to tuck it behind her ear. “That all sounds very professional, but aren’t you pissed you’re losing your guys?”
Tate opened his mouth to say he wasn’t, but then stopped. Why bother? He might have recently met Alina, but he and Trevor had been working together since he’d first come to the DCO. The coyote shifter knew him as well as anyone. Besides, Trevor had always been clever. He’d see right through the lie.
“Yeah, it does kind of suck,” Tate admitted, scratching his scruff-covered jaw. “I’ve always worked with a partner, even back when I was in the marshals. When the DCO started bringing in new recruits, I saw the writing on the wall and figured I was going to lose Brent or Gavin, if not both of them. But Declan, too? That’s tough.”
Trevor did a double take. “Wait, what? Declan has a new partner?”
“No,” Tate said. “Landon has him training the new recruits instead of going on missions so he can stay close to Kendra and the kids.”
Understanding lit Alina’s face. “Can’t blame him for that. I’ve heard the twins are a little wild. What are they, two months old?”
Tate couldn’t help grinning. “Yeah. They’re growing like weeds. I think they’re going to take after their dad.”
The mountainous bear shifter was like a brother to him, so while Tate was genuinely happy Declan was able to spend time with his growing family, he was also bummed not to be working with him anymore. Without his team, Tate felt damn useless at the moment. The DCO seemed like it was moving at a hundred miles an hour these days, and he was stuck in neutral.
“So is Landon going to team you up with someone new soon?” Trevor asked.
“Yeah, just not sure when. Kendra’s been working overtime with that fancy compatibility computer program of hers trying to find someone for me, but no luck so far.”
Trevor’s hazel eyes glinted with amusement. “Are you saying you’re a hard man to work with? Say it isn’t so.”
Tate snorted. “Yeah, I’m not too sure how to take that, either.”
If this were any other organization, Tate would probably go on missions solo, but that wasn’t the way the DCO did things. The whole purpose of the DCO partner program was to pair shifters and humans together. The shifters had the ability to handle themselves in the field. The human part of the equation was to make sure their secret never got out. If people knew the government had shifters working for them, there was no telling what would happen. In Tate’s experience, most people didn’t like anyone who was different than they were. And saying shifters were different was an understatement.
As he watched the new teams move from one part of the obstacle course to the next, Tate had to admit that Brent’s and Gavin’s partners matched up with them well. His buddies were moving through the ridiculously difficult terrain faster than they ever had with him and Declan. He guessed Kendra really did know what she was doing with that compatibility program of hers.
“Speaking of changes,” Alina murmured, motioning off to the left with her chin. “If someone would have asked me to lay odds on Hamilton ever letting that happen, I would have said slim to none.”
Tate followed her gaze to see Sage Andrews and Derek Mickens strolling along the perimeter of the training area, their shoulders bumping occasionally as they walked, their mouths moving in soft conversation. There wasn’t an armed guard in sight.
It wasn’t the fact that the feline hybrid and the Army Special Forces soldier were having a quiet conversation together that was so unusual to see. The couple had been attached at the hip since Landon had gotten the army to allow Derek to spend a couple of months here on temporary duty. No, the fact that the DCO had let Sage out of her room at all was the big shocker. The hybrid had been held prisoner at the DCO for months, locked in a secure dorm room supposedly for her own protection.
“I’m starting to think that we grossly underestimated Hamilton and Rebecca,” Trevor said. “So far, they’re doing a damn good job of running this place.”
Tate couldn’t argue with that. Everyone at the DCO had been stunned, not to mention more than a little worried, when John, their former boss, had told them he was walking away. Tate could understand why he’d done it—his wife and kid had almost died. There was also the whole issue of his ten-year-old daughter going through her first shifter change years before she was supposed to thanks to the fear and stress of seeing her mother get shot. If anyone deserved some time away, it was John. Rumor had it he’d moved his family to the Seychelles Islands…or maybe Fiji. Then again, they could be living in Iceland. Who knew?
“I agree they’re doing a good job—they’ve definitely brought in more shifters than I ever would have thought possible—but that doesn’t mean I’m ready to trust them,” Tate said. “Especially since we know for a fact that Rebecca Brannon was involved with hybrid research up in Maine.” He pinned Trevor with a look. “It’s almost a certainty she was funding Mahsood’s program at that mental institution where you went undercover, even if there isn’t any proof.”
Alina shuddered. “I’m less concerned about the possibility that a congresswoman was funding the research than I am that she knew Mahsood was using her daughter as a guinea pig. It scares me to think how cold-blooded a woman would have to be to allow that.”
Trevor grunted “Oh, I never said Rebecca was a saint. She’s definitely up to something, which means we still need to keep an eye on her, as well as that Hamilton guy she handpicked to serve as director. I’m just saying she’s doing a good job rebuilding the DCO. Landon and Ivy are only bringing in all these new recruits because Rebecca has given them the go-ahead. As for Hamilton getting rid of the bars and locked doors on Sage’s dorm room, that’s okay with me, even if it turns out later he’s an evil bastard.”
“Okay, I’ll buy that,” Tate said. “But have you noticed how much time Ivy and Landon are spending out on the road? I know they’re busy recruiting new agents, but a suspicious person might think Rebecca and Hamilton are purposely keeping them, as well as most of the other teams, out of the way for some reason.”
Shit. Another reminder Tate didn’t have a damn thing to do to keep himself occupied while everyone else was going balls to the wall. Effing great.
Maybe he could go out to Washington State and check on Zarina. It’d been a while since anyone at the DCO had heard from the Russian doctor. She might have gotten herself into some trouble. And since she was probably keeping the satellite phone she was carrying turned off to conserve the battery, they couldn’t even get a fix on her location.
He was just wondering if she’d found Tanner when Alina’s phone rang. She pulled it out of her back pocket and held it to her ear, then listened attentively for a few moments before throwing Trevor a look.
“We’re on the way,” she said, then hung up.
Trevor stood. “We’d love to stay and chat some more about no one liking you enough to be your partner, but duty calls. That was the operations center. They have us booked on a plane for London. Some crisis involving thieves with claws and fangs.”
Tate wasn’t surprised Trevor was the one to fill him in on the conversation instead of Alina. Of course, the coyote shifter had picked up every word that had been said over the phone. Shifters had exceptional hearing to go along with their other skills.
“Lucky you,” Tate muttered. “Bring back a souvenir for me.”
“Sure thing.” Alina smiled as she got to her feet. “One tourist T-shirt coming up.”
She and Trevor were a match made in heaven. Tate wondered if they spent their free time trying to one-up each other in the sarcasm department. He scowled as he watched them walk away, acutely aware his professional life—and his social one for that matter—sucked.