***
The drive was swift, and he pulled up at her hotel less than twenty minutes after leaving. The guest parking was full, but that was the benefit of having a bike. He drove up onto the concrete sidewalk and parked it out of the way of any walking pedestrians. Then, taking a deep breath to try and calm his nerves, he headed to the bank of elevators inside. Shay was on the sixth floor, room 606.
Knock.
Knock.
He stepped back from the door and waited for her to answer.
Nothing happened.
He had missed her. Damn. Shay must have left early to continue her search for her father. Where would she go at such an hour, he wondered?
Stepping forward, he raised his fist to try one more time, but before he could make contact, the door swung open to reveal Shay finishing pulling her top down. He caught a swift glimpse of soft pale skin on her stomach before the red material dropped down, concealing her from him.
“Justin?” she asked, looking confused.
Shit. Should he not have come? Was this a breach of etiquette? Fuck fuck fuck! He hadn’t meant to throw her off. Why else would she give him her hotel room?
“Yep, the one and only,” he replied, his brain thinking fast, trying to come up with something better than “I wanted to see you” as his reason for being there.
“I can see that now,” she said with a little smile, looking up at him. “I’m just surprised to see you here.”
He frowned. “You gave me your hotel room…I thought...” He looked down the hallway, at a loss for words. “Should I not be here?” he asked.
Shay giggled softly. “I just figured you would call ahead or something.”
Now he was thoroughly confused. “You don’t have a phone though…”
“You can call the hotel and have them connect to my room you know.”
Flames erupted across his face as he realized his mistake. The heat was so intense he was surprised his skin wasn’t just falling off in pieces, melting away from the burning embarrassment.
“Right,” he said at last. “I did not think of that. Clearly.”
He could see Shay trying not to laugh at him as he made a complete fool of himself.
“I, uh, I can go then,” he said, taking a half-step back toward the elevators. “I didn’t meant to intrude on you. I just thought... after last night and running out, that maybe we could...” he took a breath. “Yeah, sorry. This was inappropriate.” He turned to go.
What the hell was I thinking, coming here like this? Of course she wanted me to phone ahead. Then she could have told me she already had plans, instead of me making this awkward as all hell!
“Wait,” Shay called after him. “Justin?”
“Yeah?” he said, spinning back around.
“I’m going out to look for my father again, at another place.”
He saw something flash behind her eyes. Something troubling and almost fearful.
“Where?” he asked, stepping back to the doorway.
“Downtown,” she said slowly. “If you aren’t busy, maybe you could come with me?”
The way Shay phrased it let him know immediately that there was a twofold request there. One that she was willing to voice was her desire to see him again. He felt that matching burn inside of him. That initial ache when you meet someone knew, where all you want to do is spend every waking and sleeping second with them, talking to them, getting to know them and more.
It was the undercurrent of her tone that left him unsettled. Unless he missed his guess, she was asking him to come along so that she would feel safer. Justin was positive he hadn’t sensed anything like that the night before when he had last seen her. What had happened in that timeframe? It was also clear to him that she didn’t want to talk about it. Again, Justin wasn’t sure how he knew this, but he did, and he had to go with his gut on it. Shay would tell him when she was ready.
Inside, his bear recognized the basic thought behind all of this, and it started to growl its displeasure. Shay was scared. Must protect. The basic instinct to protect one that he cared about was a big part of him. If he was around, Shay would never need to fear.
“I can do that,” he said, looking deep into those greenish-blue eyes as he nodded solemnly, letting Shay know that he would be there for her in all ways. As a friend, companion, and if necessary, protector.
His bear growled a silent challenge to all comers, daring them to even look at Shay wrong.
“Where are we going?” he asked lightly, trying to change the subject.
“I want to go ask around here,” she said, handing him a photograph with a grateful smile. “Maybe he frequented a shop there or something. Someone has to recognize him.”
He took the picture, glancing down at it as Shay talked.
It took every bit of willpower in his body to not react to what he saw in the photo. He tried to play it off by pretending to study the picture deeply, but in reality, he was suddenly regretting agreeing to help her.
In the foreground were two people. One was a slightly above-average-height male with long hair down to his shoulders, and a big, bushy beard. He had a smile on his face and looked genuinely happy. There was another much cleaner-cut man standing next to him. The pair were giving the cameraman a thumbs up. Justin didn’t recognize either of them, or the building in the immediate background.
But behind that, farther down the street they were standing on, was a building he did recognize. A squat concrete building, much shorter than any of its neighbors. It was painted an off-white color. It was a building Justin knew it intimately. Every Sentinel was familiar with it.
After all, knowing the home base of your enemy was critical.
He was going into the lair of the beast.
“Is everything okay?” Shay asked, looking at him oddly.
“Yep,” he said tightly, knowing she would see right through that. He just hoped that, after he had given her a break by not asking what had her so afraid, that she would do the same to him now.
Shay’s eyes narrowed slightly, but then she relaxed as he stood his ground. “Okay,” she said, giving him a nod similar to the one he had given her just a few moments ago.
Secrets. Everyone has their secrets.
Justin hated that he had to keep so much from Shay, but he hadn’t been cleared to tell her yet by either Madison or Jared. Until one or both of them said he could tell her, he would have to keep her in the dark about his true purpose in King City. He was fairly sure that in the end she would be okay with the reasoning, but he still didn’t like it.
“At some point,” he said as they waited in the elevator a few minutes later, “I may have to take off. Like I did yesterday. I hope not, because I’m tired of feeling like I’m running away from you, but I need to warn you it might happen.”
Shay looked at him. “Just promise me something?” she asked, and he could see the humor in the look she was giving him.
“And what’s that?” he asked.
“Give me a hug before you go this time?”
He laughed. “I can certainly do that,” he assured her. Without thinking, he stepped closer, putting his arm around her as they both shared a happy moment.
Justin latched on to that moment as Shay tilted her head slightly to rest it against his shoulder. If he didn’t, he knew his nerves about being so close to the Agency headquarters would get the better of him.
Right then, Shay needed him to be strong. For her, he would always be strong.
He had to be.