Seven
Rylee sat at the kitchen island as Niko threw the two steaks he’d seared into the oven. Each one was big enough to feed a small family. He glanced her way and grinned before going to the fridge. If he didn’t want her staring, he should have put his shirt back on, or at least done up the button of his jeans. As it was, she might jump him all over again. They could eat tomorrow.
“So, tell me about the job. What are we looking for? Do you have any clues as to where I can start my search?” he asked as he pulled lettuce and veggies out to make a salad.
She rose from the stool she’d parked her ass on when they’d come in, went to the sink, and washed her hands. “I can hold my own in the kitchen. I’ll chop while we talk.”
He plunked a heavy cutting board next to the spot he’d been working at and handed the knife over.
“A package meant for my client, an external hard drive, was intercepted three weeks ago. The information contained on it could be dangerous in the wrong hands. The person who stole it hasn’t surfaced since the day it went missing, which means either the vamps got him and he’s dead, or he’s not quite as stupid as he seems and has gone into hiding.”
Niko paused washing the lettuce to look at her. “The vamps don’t have it. If they did, they wouldn’t be after you. He’s in hiding.”
She was nodding before he finished speaking. “I suspect as much.”
“And you think he’s somewhere near here?”
“He went to U of M in Orono seven years ago. He did some camping in the woods surrounding Dexter on weekends and breaks.”
“Name?”
“Jason Manchester.”
He looked at her for a few seconds before shaking his head. “Doesn’t ring a bell, but that doesn’t mean anything. I’ll ask Jaxon and Emmett. Nothing goes on in this town that they don’t know about. Do you have a picture?”
She grabbed her phone out of her pocket and pulled it up.
He scrutinized it for a moment then shook his head again. “Nothing. Can you send it to me? I’ll show the others. If he’s in our woods, someone will have seen him.”
“Sure. What’s your number?”
He rattled off his digits, and she saved them before forwarding the image. The sooner they found the guy, the better. Her job had nothing to do with keeping the thief alive, but if she caught up to him and relieved him of the package, his chance of survival went up—at least a little.
“Do you know what’s so important to your employer that people are getting murdered to get it back?”
“Nope. And I don’t want to know. It doesn’t change anything for me. I’m not paid to have information. I’m paid to retrieve things.”
He raised his eyebrows, concern etching his face. “Sounds risky. And dangerous.”
“My job may not be all fun and roses, but I’m good at what I do.”
When his eyebrows lifted further, she laid a hand on his forearm. “I don’t take unnecessary chances. I screen my clients to make sure I’m not lining up with the wrong people.”
He gave her a small nod, but his frown remained.
***
Niko didn’t like it. Just the thought of Rylee being in danger had his wolf howling with rage, but what could he say? He was shoved into harm’s way almost every time he took on a tracking job. That didn’t stop him from doing what he needed to do, though, and he suspected it wouldn’t deter her, either.
“All right. So, first thing in the morning, I’ll go scouting around Wassookeag Lake. That’s the most likely place where he would have done any camping. There are smaller lakes around, but that’s the easiest to get to, and there are plenty of places to disappear if a person wanted to get off the grid,” he told her.
“Great, I’ll go with you,” she said, smiling.
“I’d love for you to, but I’ll cover a lot more ground in wolf form, and there’s no way your bike will handle the rough terrain. I wouldn’t bring any of my bikes there, either,” he added when she looked like she’d argue.
“What am I supposed to do all day then?” she asked, pouting her lips in a way that made him want to kiss her all over again and forget about the steaks.
He could offer for her to hang out at the house, but he didn’t want to leave her alone, and he could use Jaxon’s help. If he and Luca took one side of the lake, and Jaxon and Emmett took the other, they could cover the area in one day. But with the recent attack on Maple, the Alpha wasn’t letting her out of his sight. “I have an idea, but don’t feel like you have to say yes. You can always just hang out here and play with the bikes if you want. I can have one of the other men come over and do some work on the farm.”
“I’m all ears.” She half turned and crossed her arms over her chest.
“We were attacked a few months ago, and our Alpha’s mate was threatened. I could use his help to make things go faster tomorrow, but there’s no way he’s going to agree unless there’s someone to hang around with Maple to keep an eye on things.”
She tilted her head to the side, her brows furrowing deeper. “You want me to babysit a grown woman?”
“Babysit? No. She can hold her own, but we need someone observant around her. Someone who will notice if danger is coming and then know how to deal with it. Don’t get me wrong, Maple is awesome, and I respect her as the head of our pack, but she’s a new wolf, and her instincts aren’t quite sharp enough yet.”
“And she’ll be happy having a stranger just pop up and hang out with her?” Her tone said it all. If it were her, she’d never go for it. But it was Maple, and although she was the Alpha female, she still needed to grow into her position.
Besides, he’d be willing to bet the farm that when Maple found out he’d met his mate, she’d be banging on his door, wanting to meet Rylee. He was counting on it. Hell, he was surprised she and Jaxon hadn’t shown up yet.
She went back to prepping the veggies. “I’ll do it. Maybe we can go shopping or something. I don’t have any clothes except what’s on my back, and it’ll get pretty warm if all I have to wear are my leathers.”
Niko smiled. “Great. I’ll give Jaxon a call.”