Garrett pulled up in front of the Cross City Country Tavern and came to an abrupt halt next to the police tape wrapped around the lot. This time, the entire parking area was empty and most of what remained of the tavern could only be described as ashes and rubble. His heart nearly dropped in his stomach. How many ways were there to tell Autumn that her family business was gone?

His cell phone vibrated on his hip. He answered right away without checking the caller ID.

“Yeah?”

“Hey Garrett. It’s Alejandro. You in the city yet?”

“I just pulled up.”

“Pulled up where? Here?” Alejandro asked.

Garrett had talked with Alejandro earlier during a pit stop. They’d compared mental notes on what they had learned about the whereabouts of Simon and his bodyguards. Since the fire, no one had seen any sign of him.

“No, not yet. I’m over at the tavern.”

“It’s a fucking mess, isn’t it?” Alejandro exclaimed. “More than half of the people who worked there belonged to our Pack. Now we’ve got some of them roaming around here worrying about how they’re going to pay their bills. How are the North girls holding up?”

“They’re all right at this point. Their safety is the most important for me right now. The tavern can be rebuilt. We can find new jobs for those affected until then.”

“Of course. I have to update the main man here. When can we expect you?”

When he mentioned the main man, Garrett knew that he meant Benjamin Sr., his boss.

“I’ll head out that way once I’ve checked out a couple of the leads I have.”

He pulled out a gold chain from his back pocket and rolled the piece of jewelry over and over again in his palm. After Garrett had sent a few men to clear up after the fight with Simon in the fields, they’d returned with the chain, claiming it had been lying under the dead driver’s body. Oddly enough, Garrett had seen Simon wearing a gold chain just like it.

“Gotcha,” Alejandro said. “We’ll be waiting.”

“Which part of the city is your jeweler located?” Garrett asked, his suspicions rising drastically.

“East of the post office. On the corner of Fairfield and Whitmore. The owner’s daughter is mated to one of our own. They’re good people. Why?”

Garrett returned the piece to his back pocket. “Just keep your phone with you. If I find Simon, I’m sure you’ll want to be the first to know.”

“Roger that. Hey, did you bring any of the guys with ya or do you need me to come meet you somewhere?”

“No. I’m solo this time. Believe it or not, that’s the way I work. I don’t want anyone else getting injured or killed on my account.”

“Understood,” Alejandro exclaimed. “Just watch your back. The cops are out looking for an arsonist and questioning everyone they know with a criminal record. They’ve been holding two members of our Pack who weren’t even there the night of the fire. With your record, you need to stay clear of them or you’ll get snatched up real quick.”

“Thanks for the heads up,” Garrett said. “I’ll be in touch.”

After Garrett hung up the phone, he turned his attention toward the small convenient store across the street. A couple customers were lingering around on the sidewalk, smoking cigarettes. A young boy was seated on the ground next to one of the gas pumps. Garrett cranked up his motorcycle again and drove the short distance to the store. He parked his bike in front of a tank. The young boy stood immediately to help him with the gas.

“Fill ‘er up?” he asked.

“Yeah,” he said, handing over a few bills. “That should do it. Keep the change.”

The young boy tipped his cap and proceeded to fill Garrett’s tank.

The customers standing on the sidewalk eyed Garrett suspiciously. Only one of the men was a shifter. The pair exchanged a few words with each other and then the human walked into the store, leaving the shifter outside.

“You aren’t of this Pack,” the boy said, catching him off guard.

“I’m not,” Garrett replied. “Just rolling through.”

“Are you an Enforcer or something? I haven’t seen that symbol before,” the boy said, looking at Garrett’s Pack symbols.

He nodded. “Something like that.”

Wolves officially deemed outlaws didn’t carry the same symbols as the ranking wolves of the Pack.

“Soon as I turn sixteen, I’m going to get my first tattoo. The design is going to be of my former Pack’s symbol so that I never forget where I can from,” the boy said, anxiously.

“That’s honorable,” Garrett told him. “What happened to your Pack?”

“We disbanded about half a year ago.” The boy frowned. “Our home state was clearing up forest debris near our Pack home so they could use the area as a landfill. One of the big machines they were using caught fire and the blaze got out of control. The fire spread to our land and destroyed everything that our Pack owned. All twenty-five thousand acres burned out in less than two weeks.”

“Sorry to hear that. I’m glad you and your dad found another Pack home. How long have you been working here?”

“I just started last week.”

“Where do you go to school?”

“I don’t.” He shrugged.

Garrett shifted his full attention from the shifter, who suddenly looked anxious, to the boy. “You look like you’re school-aged.”

“I got kicked out. I’m not going back either. I’m a wolf. I don’t need any formal education anyway,” he said.

“Even wolves need education,” Garrett told him. “What did you do to get kicked out?”

“I punched another kid in the face because he wouldn’t get up from my seat. They said I can’t come back until the end of next month.”

“Well kid, that ain’t gonna cut it. Why didn’t you just take another seat?”

“There was this girl I wanted to sit next to and he was in my way,” the boy said, sheepishly.

Garrett scoffed. “You’ll have plenty of time to fight over women, but you won’t win her over unless you’ve got the brains in addition to the strength. Trust me on that one.”

The boy smiled. “I guess.”

Garrett honed in on the front of the store again where the men had been lingering around despite the big white sign on the window that said: No Loitering.

“Those men you keep looking at are there to protect the place,” the boy said. “Jim, the owner, can’t afford to have his gas station torched like that restaurant.”

Garrett swung around. “Right…of course.”

“I saw you pull up in front over there. There’s another fast food place up the street if you’re looking to eat,” the boy said after slipping the pump back onto the leather. “It’s too bad about the tavern, though. My dad says they had the best pulled pork sandwiches in the State.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah, but he hasn’t been going there lately, though. He says the place was bought out by the same flake that keeps harassing folks for money in the name of the Pack.”

“A flake?”

The boy diverted his gaze and then shoved his hands down into his pants pocket. “Well, you’re all set.”

“What do you know of this flake?”

“Um…I could get in serious trouble for saying anything.”

“I won’t say anything. If you had information that could save this town, save your Pack, and save lives, wouldn’t you want to help?”

The boy shuffled from one foot to the next. “It’s forbidden to speak out against him,” he said keeping his tone low.

“By any chance, do you mean Simon, your Beta?”

The kid nodded.

“You don’t have to say anything else,” Garrett said, giving his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “Remember what I told you, kid. Get back in school and stay there. You need more than a good right hook to win the girl.”

Garrett had already mounted his bike and was beginning to slip on his helmet when the kid asked, “Can I at least have your name?”

“Garrett.”

The boy grinned. “I’m Nathan. If it takes brains to win a girl, what does it take to become what you are? Aren’t you wearing an Enforcer’s symbol? ”

Garrett smiled. “It’s a little complicated. I’ll tell you what, Nathan. I’ll be coming through here a lot more often. Next time I come, you prove to me that you’re back in school. We can talk about what it means to be an Enforcer then. Deal?”

“Deal.”