Fuck
. With everything happening, he’d forgotten about the threat to the human woman.
“What waitress?” Logan asked.
As Luca explained what had happened the night before and how Seth had tried to get him and Zak to go back with him, Logan started shaking his head.
“We don’t need that kind of heat right now,” Logan replied. “I’ll make sure they lay off.”
When Logan stood, Zak grew excited thinking he’d have a minute with Luca. His spirits dropped after Logan waved over another stranger. Logan whispered in the guy’s ear but never left the table.
Leaning close to Luca, Zak did manage to slide his leg over to brush against Luca’s. Luca glanced over at him. Shifting in his seat, he pulled up the back of his shirt slightly. Luca’s eyes widened.
Zak nodded at him just as Logan retook his seat.
Straightening, Zak picked up his beer and drained it.
“I heard there’s one of the empty fields you guys use for training,” Logan sated. “Why don’t you show it to me?”
Getting Luca away from the others where they won’t hear the gun over the sounds of the barbeque. This is it.
Zak stood, bumping into Luca again. Either he or Luca needed to figure out what to do quickly. The short walk to the field wasn’t going to take long.
* * * *
Luca kept looking back and forth between Zak and Logan. He hoped Luca figured out something wasn’t right. Zak was relieved to see Luca moving so carefully and eyeing Logan.
The only option Zak could come up with was getting Logan away from the others and taking him down instead of Luca. Zak wouldn’t kill him but he was sure as hell going to make sure that Logan didn’t hurt Luca.
He might be able to keep his cover if he went along with the mission but that wasn’t as important as Luca’s life.
“So what are we really doing out here?” Luca directed his question to Logan.
“Need to have a private conversation,” Logan replied.
“Private?” Luca asked before humming.
They were far enough away that Zak couldn’t hear the others around the barbeque and knew no one could see them either.
Zak was a little surprised that Luca was as calm as he was acting. Scenting the air, he could smell only a slight hint of fear. Logan’s increasing unease was stronger, making Zak even more nervous.
“This is far enough,” Logan barked suddenly.
Luca turned to face the two of them while Zak braced himself for the confirmation.
“What now?” Luca asked, looking at Zak this time.
“Now we make sure you don’t make your next check-in, Agent Perez,” Logan taunted.
Luca closed his eyes for an instant. When he lifted his lids and peered at Zak, his gaze was peaceful. He nodded. “How did you find out?”
“Let’s just say you’re not the only one who can get people into places they need to be. As soon as your partner showed up and started working with the sheriff’s office, we knew we had a rat,” Logan told him.
“So you’re just going to shoot me?” Luca asked.
Zak noted the way his legs were braced while he kept his arms loose at his sides.
“Actually I’m not,” Logan said, glancing in Zak’s direction.
Luca followed Logan’s eyes to Zak.
“I get to take out the trash,” Zak confirmed, as he pulled out the gun from the small of his back. “Now walk.”
Luca glared at him. “Really?”
Zak stalked forward. “Yeah, you didn’t just betray the group. You played me like a fool!” he yelled. Grabbing Luca’s arm, he pushed the agent ahead of him.
Maybe if Zak could get Luca far enough away, they could get a few words in. If they worked together, they should be able to take Logan easily. Zak was pretty certain that Logan would give him a fight in either human or shifter form.
He tried not to shift—ever. As a tiger shifter, he was solitary like most of the large cat shifters. Zak hadn’t been taught to control his animal side like other shifters he knew. Since Zak was more afraid of his animal than he was of anything else, he did his best not to let the shift overtake him unless he was certain no one could get killed. When he was younger, he’d only made the mistake once to shift in front of someone else. It was a fatal mistake he wouldn’t repeat unless his life was on the line and he was out of options.
Luca stumbled ahead of him before whirling around. His hands were fisted by his side.
Shoving the small handgun back in his pants, Zak glowered at Luca. “You son of a bitch!” he yelled before punching Luca in the chin.
His friend went down, and Zak followed him to the ground. Grabbing the front of Luca’s shirt while continuing to pummel him, Zak finally had a plan. He held back his strength to not injure him too bad but still make it look good for Logan.
“Play along,” Zak whispered. “I’ll get you out of here.”
“You need to shoot me,” Luca said quietly.
Zak jerked back. He brought his fist down harder than he’d meant to, and Luca grunted at the blow.
Logan was laughing from his position away from them.
“Finish him off, Zak,” Logan called.
“They won’t just let me go. Shoot me. I can handle it and they’ll think I’m dead.”
Zak wasn’t sure that was a good idea. Luca might be a shifter but too much could go wrong. He shook his head before dropping Luca down against the dirt and grass.
“Do it!” Luca ordered.
Zak stood and pointed the weapon at Luca’s head.
“Finish it,” Logan demanded.
Closing his eyes, Zak took a deep breath before lifting his eyelids and staring at the man who’d had his back for the last several months.
“The shifter Coalition,” Zak mouthed before firing at Luca’s arm. He pulled the trigger three more times but aimed just to the side of Luca.
Luca’s body jumped at the sound and the impact beside him.
Bending over, Zak brushed his hand over the wound, collecting some of Luca’s blood, acting like he was checking his pulse. If Logan didn’t believe their display, they both would die.
With Luca’s blood coating his fingers, he leaned close. “You better be okay,” Zak told him. “I want to see you when this is all over.”
Not waiting for a response, Zak stood and turned to Logan. He hadn’t noticed just how far they’d traveled from the big bodyguard. He stalked forward, making certain that Logan saw him wipe Luca’s blood across his jeans.
Logan was grinning as he slapped Zak’s back. “I wasn’t sure you had it in you.”
“Yeah,” Zak agreed while handing the gun to Logan. Now was the test. Would Logan turn the weapon on Zak now?
He tried to keep his thoughts from his face.
“I owe you a beer,” Logan said, throwing an arm over his shoulder.
“What…what about the body?” he inquired.
“We’ll dump him closer to the town. There is a good wooded area that should hide the body for a few days. If anyone finds him, he won’t be anywhere near our property. It’s a big if that he’ll even be found. I did my research. I think the animals will take care of most of his remains.”
Zak was walking along with Logan but couldn’t help glancing over his shoulder to see if Luca was moving. “If he is found, his body will be traced back to us,” Zak said.
“Don’t worry about that. We’ve got it covered. Every one of us will have an airtight alibi,” Logan assured him. “Now let’s get a truck and throw the trash out.”
“Sure,” Zak agreed. He’d just have to wait until he was alone to throw up his dinner.
Chapter Five
Abilene was dressed in a pair of comfortable sweatpants and a tank top. With a towel still on her head, she wandered back to the small desk where she’d left her computer running.
The program she used through the federal government still showed the icon that it was working so she strolled back to the bathroom.
Just as she finished braiding her hair, a loud knock sounded at her door, startling her. Quickly she grabbed her gun from the side table as she made her way toward the pounding. Whoever was outside appeared to be very impatient.
She glanced out of the peephole and saw a badge. The Shifter Coalition. Abilene knew one of the main offices of the Coalition was in Lake Worth but what in hell did they want with her?
She swung open the door, keeping her weapon behind her back.
“Can I help you?” she asked politely.
“Agent Fox?” a handsome, brown-haired man asked her.
She nodded looking from him to the scruffy man behind.
“Good.” Scruffy pushed past them both and into her room.
Abilene spun around with a growl.
“If you don’t mind, we need to speak with you and it would be better if no one else knew we were here,” the brown-haired man said, crowding her to follow Mr. Rude.
“Sure, come on in,” she said sarcastically. “Can I offer you anything? Coffee, tea, my kidney?”
The rude guy snorted but smiled. “Coffee would be good.”
Shaking her head, Abilene decided to just play along. She was a federal agent and was not going to let two strange men intimidate her. Since she’d already poured water and coffee grounds into the small coffee pot that the hotel provided, she switched the power button on before turning around.
Mr. Rude was standing over her laptop, watching as her program continued.
“Hey!” She sprinted over to the table and slammed the lid closed on her computer.
He chuckled.
“Who are you and what do you want?”
He was at least six foot tall so she had to tilt her head back to glare at him, but she was not backing down.
Pulling a badge out of his back pocket, he tossed it to her.
She caught it and gave it a quick glance. Jamie Ward. Looking over at the nicer guy, she raised an eyebrow.
“I’m Cody Johnson and you’ve just had the pleasure of meeting Jamie Ward. We’re here to speak to you about your investigation.”
Abilene dropped Jamie’s badge on the table next to her laptop and crossed her arms over her chest. “What about it?”
“Stop looking into Zak Lewis,” Jamie demanded.
The pieces of the puzzle started to click together. She also tried to push back the thrill that shot through her body at knowing that Zak wasn’t a bad guy. “He’s one of yours?” she asked anyway.
“Yes,” Jamie admitted. “And by digging into his background, you’re putting him at risk.”
She scowled. “Well, it’s not like I knew he wasn’t one of those assholes,” she replied.
“Oh, he’s an asshole, but he is one of the good guys,” Jamie told her.
It wasn’t easy to frustrate her but Jamie Ward was getting on her last nerve. “Listen you—”
“Hey!” Cody shouted.
Both she and Jamie turned to him.
“Can we maybe start over and talk about this like adults?” Cody asked.
Damn
. Arguing with Jamie wasn’t very professional. She took a step away and waved to the table. “Why don’t you sit and I’ll check on the coffee,” she offered.
Being able to busy herself while listening to the two agents move around helped to ground her. If she wasn’t mistaken, Jamie was some sort of bear shifter. She’d worked with a brown bear shifter in the past so she was able to recognize the unique scent.
Cody on the other hand was something she couldn’t place. That surprised her. In her line of work, she’d come across numerous shifters. She and Luca weren’t the only ones with the ability at the ATF. Of course when she’d learned about the new Shifter Coalition, she’d considered applying for one of the positions so she could work closer with others like her.
In the end, she’d realized she enjoyed her job too much and didn’t want to lose Luca as a partner.
She grabbed the sugar and cream containers along with some mugs and took them over to the table.
Cody had sat at the second chair while Jamie stood behind him with a pout on his face. She’d heard them whispering and could only guess that Cody had gotten onto his partner.
She went over and grabbed the coffee while trying to figure out what kind of shifter Cody was. Her mind kept wanting to go back to thinking about Zak not being one of the bad guys, but until she knew for sure what was going on, she needed to avoid thinking about him.
She poured the coffee before setting it on the table between her and Cody. “So what can I do for you two agents?”
Jamie leaned forward but Cody held up a hand. “As soon as you started to go deeper in your search for records on Zak, our commander was notified. He’s spoken to your boss. You’ll be getting a call soon, and we’re to see what we can do about combining our intel on our investigations.”
“Share?” Abilene repeated.
What fucking bullshit!
She and Luca had been working their asses off to get what they had. She was almost ready to make a bust and now the Coalition was going to come in and try to take over?
I don’t fucking think so!
“Since both the Coalition and ATF are running stings on the same operation, our undercover guys are already working together, so why not us?” Cody questioned.
Abilene hated it when people used logic against her. “And who runs the show?” she asked back. Because if Cody thought she’d take a back seat to the Coalition, he had another thing coming.
“We’ll work out the details,” Cody told her.
“Whatever,” she replied childishly. “Until I talk to my boss, I’m not giving you anything.”
Jamie pushed off the wall, glowering at her.
“What?” she challenged.
He growled, the sound low and menacing, and at the same time her cell phone started to ring.
Jamie laughed. “You’d better get that.”
She didn’t take her gaze off him as she strolled across the room to where her phone was charging. Keeping her head to the side, she lifted the small ringing device before swiping her finger over the screen.
“Hello?”
“Agent Fox,” Deputy Director Otto’s, her boss’s, voice came over the line. “I take it the two agents from the Coalition are there?”
“Yes, sir.”
“We’ve been ordered to work with them.”
Shit!
“With all due respect, sir—”
“That’s an order,” he interrupted.
“Fine.”
“We’re ordered to work along with them. Your investigation and Luca’s mission are still on. Find out what you can and give me a call back. I’m not about to let this sting be taken away from us.”