18

"I've never seen you here before, Sera," David greeted, looking me over like his next lay.

Fool. I was so out of his league it wasn't even funny, and he had no clue that my allure was what made him so bold.

Then again, he was such a pompous ass, he might have been stupid enough to do it on his own.

I barely shot him a glance as I flagged the bartender. "I don't know you, and that tired line of acting like I do when I'm on TV all the time is tired . So go back to your friends and tell them you struck out with some grace and—"

"I do know you," he snapped, not liking that I'd been loud enough to get the attention of others around us. "You just don't recognize me because I'm an adult now."

I sighed as if resigned to play the game while I waited to get the drink, but really one of my team was holding the bartender off to make this play out. "So you went to one of the schools I did? Right, okay, great, and I bet you have something you want me to invest in and we're such old friends that you don't have my number. Okay, bro." I rolled my eyes and went to turn back.

And the fool took the bait, grabbing my arm and stopping me.

"Let go or lose it," I warned him, swallowing a snort when he immediately did, always the brat but at least smart enough to know he wasn't the strong one here. "Fine, if you're so insistent you'd risk pissing me off—who are you?"

"David Butler," he said with a smirk.

And I just blinked at him. I gave him a moment to say more, sighing when he didn't. I waved for him to go on.

He frowned and then got pissed, glancing back at the table he'd come from like he knew they'd be laughing at him striking out. "Hank Butler's son. Marie Butler? You lived with us—"

"Yeah, I remember Marie," I cut in, studying him over. "Nah, I don't see that kid in you. You pulled something about my history or knew something from them."

"You think I'm playing you?" he demanded with a scoff.

I snorted. "That's not remotely the weirdest shit people have tried to play me on." I shrugged as the bartender finally headed my way. "Or show me ID." I ordered the three drinks I wanted since Eva and Mauro demanded to come in with me as part of the ploy.

"Here," David grumbled, handing me his license like he was pouting I wasn't more into it being him.

Idiot.

I grabbed it and looked at it, nodding before handing it back. "Okay, so you're him. So what?" I snorted when that stumped him. "You were a shitty little brat who was the reason I had to leave that house. Did you think I'd hug you and be excited to see you?" I gave him a look over and made it clear I was laughing at him.

"That was all—"

"Long ago and history, right, right," I drawled. "Well, I'm not interested in your start-up or shitty investment."

He snorted at me. "Please, like you actually have money. We all know it's bullshit. That's why so many call you names." He smirked at me when I looked at him. "No way you'd still be working for the FBI if you had money. It's all bullshit, and anyone with a brain knows that."

I couldn't even hide my mocking. "Riiiiiiiiight." I pulled out my wallet and handed the bartender a new one-hundred-dollar bill before putting it away and taking the drinks. I winked at the guy. "Thanks, honey. Have a good one."

I meant mostly for letting us hold him up to make this work, but it also worked for what people were seeing.

David was not happy that I ignored him as I headed for my table. I saw in one of the mirrors that he gave his friends a thumbs-up like he was in and hurried after me. Asshole.

Seriously.

"Apparently, anyone with a brain knows I'm not really rich since I still work for the FBI," I told Eva and Mauro when I arrived at the table with David.

Eva broke out laughing first. "You couldn't afford your apartment on that tiny salary they pay you much less your security. Oh dear, this is—your life is so amusing even if too stressful."

She had a point there.

David ignored the laughs at his expense and pulled up a chair. Whatever, I was done pussyfooting around with him, and we were in the corner without too many ears, so now I could get what I wanted. I put my influence on him and couldn't hide my smirk of victory.

"How did you fuck over Marie? Tell me everything ."

"Guy reached out to me," he told me. "Slipped me a card with a website. Dark web stuff. I had to answer some questions, and then I got an invite to a seminar on how to get guardianship over your elderly parents when their brains are dead."

Charming. Eva and Mauro couldn't hide their disgust, but I was used to criminals being revolting.

"It was legit at a hotel, a lawyer walking people through the process for people overwhelmed. But then the guy running the whole show told me if Marie wasn't there yet, he could help. He could get me my dad's money instead of that greedy bitch having it. He had it all set up start to finish."

He snorted and tossed back some of his beer.

"Cost a lot to have it done. But I guess it's worth it. She's in some stupid retirement home in Florida the guy runs and can't contest anything. I got everything. Stupid bitch tried to steal my inheritance."

"You stole her grandmother's house that she inherited. It was never your dad's," I drawled.

He blinked at me. "She married my dad. It was all his then and now mine."

The fact he said that with a straight face and believed it was… Sometimes I lost all hope in the world. Truly.

He studied me after finishing his beer. "Why do you care? You have no…" A nasty grin grew on his lips. "No, you met your birth mother, right? I read about that. You're going to steal her money. I knew you were always a leeching bitch no matter how you—"

"Don't bother," I told Eva when she opened her mouth to defend me. "You two leave and be seen, and I'm going to hang here another minute with this idiot so his friends see us leave together and fill in the blanks."

It amused me that they both tossed back their drinks so they weren't wasteful for what I paid for but then headed out. I took a few minutes to get more details like names. He actually had the card of the website on him since he was supposed to pass it on if he found anyone in the same spot he'd been in.

How very helpful of criminals to try and have the assholes they helped be their referral process. It made things so nice for us when we caught them.

A few more minutes and I told David we were leaving for some more fun and to wave to his friends on the way out. He gladly followed me out of the bar and tried to touch me, but I was faster and dodged, letting him catch up. The moment we were in the alley without eyes, my people arrested him.

I smirked at David when he was in the back of the SUV. "I really am rich, you fucktard. Like I have billions with a B. I still work for the FBI because they need me and so do supes—Chicago. I never did it for the money." I snorted. What money? Fine to survive, but I spoke ten languages now fluently.

If I had ever been in anything for money… I had options.

I slid into the other SUV with Eva and Mauro and connected a call to Jennings and my other best techie of the Chicago office. "Sorry to bug you both on a Saturday night."

"No problem, boss, just thought you'd be at the group full moon thing?" Jennings muttered.

Right, the voodoo priest wasn't all into shifter stuff. "Everyone wanted to do their own thing the Saturday after the 4 th . We're doing a lazy Sunday BBQ thing tomorrow instead." I sighed at the card in my hand. "Well, the others will have to be Alpha for me now. This is bigger than here. This is pro-level, and I doubt Chicago is the first spot to be this smooth."

"Yeah, one of the other guys was saying that," the other techie muttered. "You don't start in Chicago. You don't do this small town, but you don't start Chicago."

"Not for your first con even if it wasn't like this," I agreed. "See you at the office." I started to connect to someone else and then glanced at Mauro. "You can be named Alena's aide, right? Or something to get you into the FBI without issues." I chuckled when he raised an eyebrow. "You want the full picture before you make a decision? I get it. You need to see this side too."

"I'll handle it," Eva promised, pulling out her own phone and connecting to someone in Greece.

We pulled up to the office and Eva said everything was already in the works. I talked her into going back to the apartment and getting some rest since she could be me at the joint function tomorrow and help me out. She thanked me for the excitement and headed off.

"He's cleared as an aide of Greece," I told security as we walked in, gesturing to Mauro. "I'll get the official paperwork to Perez, but for now a visitor pass since he witnessed the confession is fine."

"Of course, Chief Thomas," the guy accepted, waving Mauro to join him. "I'll have him sent up to your office when we're done."

"I can wait. I called people in, so they should…" I trailed off as several came in looking ready for bed. "We'll order coffee and food."

"Thanks, Chief," one of the agents who recently had a baby said with a yawn. Yeah, I felt bad for him for sure. I'd see about getting him a few lighter cases and some extra time off. The baby had some issues and his wife was struggling.

Not everyone could afford a nanny and full-time help after all. Though I might see if Maya could give them a hand and maybe some pointers for an afternoon. They were first-time parents without any local family and seemed underwater. I texted Dain asking if it was too much to ask since he knew her best, and by then they were done with Mauro and more people were there.

"I want him taken to interrogation since we still need it on the record," I told them, so someone grabbed David from my security. I handed the card with the website to Agent Brad Scott who was tech. "I want to know everything about that. Those questions, who's been there, the traffic, who's thought of being there—everything."

"We'll get into it, Chief. Shut it down without them knowing it?"

"Let me clear that our warrant allows that or get the correct one," I countered. "Or at least trace them for now." I waited until he nodded as we walked to the elevators. "I got more names, and I want the trail on all of it. The doctor isn't just the doctor but the office. Get the warrant request for all of them. I want financials and proof of who was taking bribes.

"I want the attorney, his people, and anyone else who could have had their hands in this. I want it tied to the evictions we have, and I want to start quietly getting people found. We can have the pack or coven handle it on the side to be quiet, but we have the full puzzle now. I want this hotel and the presentation. Everyone. No one slips this. I want the court in Cook County as well."

"Yes, Chief," they all accepted, different ones taking their assignments and designating where they were setting it all up to connect it all together.

"It sucks, but we're overnight on this," I told them as the first elevator filled up and the doors were about to close. "And we all know why."

I was glad when they accepted it.

"I don't actually know why," Mauro muttered, giving me a curious look.

"Have you ever heard anyone from the military complain that they rush, rush, rush only to wait? It's common, especially in the US, but I know other countries are the same too." I waited until he shook his head. "It's like Murphy's Law or just the law of shit. There will undoubtedly be another one of these seminars right around the corner.

"And most people would think ‘Oh, that's convenient and well-timed.' But the truth is it fucks us. We're not prepared. The one after it will probably be months out, and that is the real problem because that is too far then. So yeah, we rush, rush, rush to get it all ready fast so we don't miss the chance but then tend to have to wait for the right timing."

He nodded but held me back as the next elevator arrived and I waved for the others to go ahead.

I glanced at him when it was just us, waiting for whatever he was going to say.

"I'll help you." He gestured around when I couldn't hide my shock. "What you do here is important and I can't do it. I think it's important to admit that and not leave the important stuff up to those who can do it without supporting them. So no matter what is going on, I'll help. At least for now and make sure your life isn't about to collapse."

"Thank you. Really."

He chuckled as he extended his hand to me. "We'll see if you feel that way after you hear my opinions… Cousin."

I studied him and took his hand. It was clear he meant that in the way that all wolves were "related," but we were the siren strain so cousins like that. So he wasn't signing up for more than that.

Hey, I was totally cool with that. "Thanks, Cousin. And I can take hard truths. I know we can do better. I don't tolerate berating or talking down to my people, but we can take criticism and change. We've had a lot of both to get this far."

"Fair enough."

We went upstairs, and I jumped right into directing traffic. I got Perez on the phone and updated him since this was going to be much deeper now, and with not just one court, but two and maybe more police. Just to be safe, I also called the judge and got a few extra warrants for the website and more… Even if it was dark web stuff that was already illegal.

I liked covering everything so I never ended up in an ethics hearing that a lot of people were itching for. Especially now that I'd pissed off another president.

We worked all night to get a lot set up and ready to hand over to the next group to come on. Right as it was time for some to take a break and move to the next step, we got the call for a kidnapping, which the FBI always handled. It was for ransom, but there were several things that were hinky with it, so it was suspected a family member trying to divert attention.

And now that I could get involved with human crimes like this, I did.

Even if I was exhausted and going on no sleep. I was Alpha and had the best sense of smell of any Chicago supe.

She was four. She was just a baby.

Yeah, I was going.

I showed up on the scene just before nine in the morning and it was already a madhouse. The local police weren't wanting to turn it over because… I didn't give a shit. Penises?

I let out a whistle, staring down their ranking officer. "Can you sniff her out? Because I can. Until you can, shut the fuck up and get out of my way because it's the full moon and I have a trigger fuse and haven't slept because we're buried. She's four. That trumps all else." I turned to the mother and asked for several pieces of clothing with her daughter's scent.

"You're seriously going to strip down and change here into a dog and Scooby Doo the kid?" someone snarked.

"Get out of my house if you wouldn't do the same to save my daughter," the mother blasted, waving me to follow her. She apologized that it was dirty laundry but then shook her head, realizing that was what I'd really wanted. She went to hand it directly to us, but I had her bag each item in separate baggies so no one's scent crossed with it but hers.

"Can you remember if anyone was with her when she wore them?" I asked her as I started handing my guns and gear to Sander to lock up. The mom was confused, so I continued. "My son's nanny is always holding him, so I would scent her too. Maybe a playgroup or—"

Understanding filled her eyes, and she held up one bag among the rest. "This—it was just us at home. I wasn't feeling great Friday, so I took the day and we were bums. It should be just me and her and our house."

"Perfect. Seal it, and they'll open it where she was taken so I'm better in tune."

"Thank you, Chief Thomas, thank you," she rasped, handing the sealed bag to one of the ancients. "I'm sorry they'll mock you for this and tear—please, just bring my baby home."

"I'll do my best."

And I did.

I undressed out of view and got some good whiffs of the girl's room before hopping into the back of the SUV as a wolf. They drove to the park a few blocks away where she was taken, and I caught her scent the second I hopped out. She was a kiddo after my own heart liking the swings.

I sniffed the bag just to get my wolf a better hit of what we needed.

"I'm trusting you to bring her home. I do trust you . We took a hit and we'll heal but not today. Today, we find a little girl who needs us to save her. Got it?"

I had the mental image of my wolf nodding and sharpening her claws to handle whoever would hurt a child.

I couldn't agree more.

It was definitely someone she knew because her scent ended at a bus stop, and there was no way she wouldn't be screaming her head off with a normal kidnapping. I ran along the line of the bus, Sander catching on and looking up the route so he could tell me when to turn.

I picked up her scent—and the man's I now caught with hers—ten stops later. I followed it, and there was a bit of circling back before it led me to a coffee shop. I gestured with my head that it was here and then caught a glimpse of the girl in the window. Hunkering down, I crawled towards the window.

It was her dad with her—I recognized him from the photos the mom had laid out—a man who looked like him and an older woman. So uncle and grandma if I had to guess.

I caught the girl's gaze since she was sitting at the window playing… Which they were really stupid to have her visible like that. But it worked for me. She giggled when I went closer and licked the gross window.

I apologized to my wolf, and she knew it was for the greater good. It worked, and the girl giggled again about a puppy and moved away from the table to follow me. That was all we needed to be safe, and Sander zipped inside with a few of the ancients to arrest them. They dropped the cover-up for me that I kept in my SUV, and I threw it on after I shifted.

"Hey, honey, let's go see your mommy," I said gently as I collected the little girl, turning her away from where her dad was being arrested.

"You were the puppy," she whispered, staring at me with awe.

"Yup, you saw your first wolf shifter change forms," I told her. "You were very brave."

"Pretty," she giggled, touching my hair.

"Get your hands off my daughter!" the dad bellowed. "You have no right to—"

"We're FBI. You're caught, idiot," I hissed at him. "Don't make this worse for her."

"He wouldn't have had to do this if that bitch hadn't stolen his child," the older human said. "Telling lies that—"

I took her outside and ignored the rest. Our vehicles pulled up, and I got in one with the little girl who now seemed scared. I hurried to keep her focus on me and seeing her mom. I told her about the other "puppies" in my pack and even our rabbits. She was so excited then and wanted to meet them.

Whoops.

We were at her house in fifteen minutes, her mother already notified.

She was standing outside with tears streaming down her cheeks as we pulled up and Sander let me out.

But I didn't hand over her daughter just yet which shocked everyone there. "For my own sanity—did you tell lies to get full custody? That's their excuse of why."

Pain filled her eyes, but she glanced at her daughter before meeting my gaze again. "No. Not one. She doesn't need the details though."

No, no she did not. Sander nodded that she was telling the truth, and I handed over her daughter.

"Mommy, she was a puppy and pretty," she babbled, completely oblivious about what she'd really just been through. "She said she has pretty birds and bunnies in her family."

I gave a half shrug when the mom looked at me. "I had to distract her a bit."

"Thank you. Thank you so much, Chief Thomas."

I nodded and made sure the team from the regular office was there to finish it all up and get what we needed for the reports. I told the SAiC I'd give my statement in the morning, but I needed to crash.

And crash I did… For a few hours at least.

Until the next issue.