Chapter 20

Rose

On the way back to my room, I nearly run into Eli, the tough-looking enforcer. He stops right in front of me, blocking my path. "Are you crying?" His voice is low.

"I'm fine," I say, waving him off.

He glances behind me, like he's looking for the person that made me cry. "Does Mav know?" he asks.

"Uh, yeah," I say with a small laugh. "I'm fine; I promise." He doesn't look certain, but he lets me go. I run into three more people on my way back to my room—all of them worried about me. I tell each person I'm fine and finally make it back to my room where I change into a tank top and shorts for bed before I decide I really don't want to be alone. Slipping on flip flops and a zip-up sweatshirt, I head next door to Ava's room and knock on the door. When she sees my face, she doesn't even say anything, she just opens the door wider so I can come in. I follow her in and sit in one of the chairs in her living room.

She curls up in the one next to me. "What happened?"

"Maverick." And then I proceed to tell her everything. When I finally finish, I wipe my eyes. She gets up and disappears a moment and comes back with a tissue and a water bottle. "Thank you." I take the lid off the bottle and take a long drink. "Thanks for listening."

"You didn't give me a choice."

I smile ruefully. "You didn't have to open the door." I take another drink and pause, staring at it for a moment. "Do you have more of these?"

Ava gives me an odd look. "Yeah. I always do. You know how I feel about anything besides bottled water."

"Yeah," I say absently. I face her full-on. "Have you felt sick at all?"

She looks at me like I've grown two heads. "No."

"No shivers, pain, tremors, muscle spasms?"

"No," she says more adamantly.

I stand to my feet. "I need to go talk to Cade." I'm out the door before I even hear her reply. I make it through the building without anybody stopping me this time. I figure most people are in their apartments for the night. Cade answers almost immediately. "Rose?"

"I think I've got something. Can I come in?" He steps back to allow me entrance. Amber comes out of the bedroom.

"Rose, are you okay?"

I hand Cade the half-full water bottle. "The water." He gives me a blank look. I hurry to explain. "That water bottle is from Ava. She has a thing about tap water. She never drinks it; I mean like never. She doesn't even brush her teeth with tap water." I wait a moment and then deliver the clincher. "And she hasn't gotten sick; she's one of the few."

Cade stares at me, and I can see the wheels turning in his head. And then I see it—hope. Hope that we've finally figured it out. He shakes his head and turns to Amber. "Eli, Maverick, Carl, Jacob, and Van are on their way." She nods, unsurprised and puts on a fresh pot of coffee. I wonder how many times she's had this happen in the evening. Within minutes, the shifters start showing up. I recognize Van and Carl as two of the enforcers often on duty near Cade and Amber's apartment. Eli shows up next, looking unsurprised to see me. Jacob shows up after that. Him, I recognize as the really friendly guy I talked to the other day in the hallway. Maverick is the last one to join our little party. By the time he shows up, I'm already regretting being here. There are too many men in too small a space, and I'm starting to feel overwhelmed. The door opens, and I know without looking that it's Maverick; I can feel his energy or presence or whatever it is across the room. When I turn, his eyes are locked on mine. A second later, his eyes drift over me from my neck to my toes, and I suddenly regret only wearing a tank top and short shorts. I pull my hoodie closer around me, wishing the zipper worked so I could zip it up.

"What's going on, Cade?" Mav asks first.

"I think we might have figured something out tonight, or at least a possibility. You all know that we've been dealing with strychnine, but we don't know how we're getting it." Cade faces me. "Want to do the honors?" I really don't, but I don't want to make a scene.

"It's the water," I blurt out. I try to steady my voice. "My friend Ava only drinks water from a bottle; she refuses to drink tap water. And she's one of the only ones that hasn't gotten sick."

"Huh," Jacob says. He walks over to me with a big smile on his face. "Good work, Healer." He puts his hand up, and I stare at it. He reaches down and picks up my hand and hits it against his in a high five.

"Knock it off, Jacob," Maverick says in an irritated voice. "We don't even know yet if that's even what's going on." I refuse to be discouraged by his words. He's only speaking the truth. But then his next words make me slightly better. "But if it is true, how would we find out?"

"I'm not sure yet," Cade says.

"Who would even be over the water? Isn't that the city?" Carl asks.

"No, we have a private company service our water." That catches everybody's attention. "We've never had a problem in the past, but..." Cade crosses his arms. "It could be nothing, or it could be something."

"How do we find out?" Jacob asks.

"We'll need to meet with them," Cade says.

Jacob snorts. "I don't think they're going to just tell us outright that they're poisoning our water."

Cade gives him a look, and he goes quiet. "Obviously not. We're going to have to ferret out the information."

"Sneak into their headquarters or something? See if we can find evidence?" Van asks. He's been quiet; he's pretty low-key.

"No, too risky. We don't want to tip them off that we know. We don't know if they're wolves or have wolves with them. If they catch our scent, they'll know we're on to them and we'll never catch them. They'll be able to cover their tracks," Cade says. "No, we need to get a confession out of them somehow, but they can't know we know."

"Cade, it sounds like something out of a movie," Amber says with a short laugh. "Somebody mic'd up gets them to confess without them even knowing it."

It goes quiet in the room. "That would work," Carl says.

"You're serious?" Amber asks.

"How would we do that?" Maverick asks. "If they have wolves on staff, they'll smell us coming a mile away."

"Don't send a wolf," I say suddenly. "Send me."

"No," Maverick says without skipping a beat.

The room goes quiet again. "It could work," Cade says after a moment.

"No," Mav says again.

Van shrugs. "They wouldn't know she was with us."

"And they'll be too distracted by her to pay any real attention," Jacob says with a grin. He faces me. "Wear something low-cut with a–-"

"No."

Everybody goes quiet at Maverick's growl. Cade faces Maverick. "Think with your head, Mav," he says quietly. "It could work. Stu can get her everything she needs." He faces me. "Stu is our tech guy, but let's not decide tonight. Everybody sleep on it, and we'll meet first thing in the morning. We need to make a move quickly before they figure out that we know what's going on."

The guys file out one by one. "Night, Rose," Jacob says with a grin as he walks past. I manage to give him a small smile. Suddenly, Mav is in front of me.

"You make a habit of parading around barely dressed?" he asks in his usual condescending way.

Knowing what I know now about him, I refuse to let anything he says or does bother me. "I'm perfectly covered, Maverick. Of course, if I would have known I would have been in front of a bunch of men, yes, I would have changed." I take a chance and reach out and touch his arm. I've decided to take any and every opportunity to touch him, to give him what he never had growing up. "Thanks for looking out for me, though." I wave to Cade and Amber. "I'm heading to my room. Night."

"Bye, Rose," Amber calls out. Cade merely nods at me before he's back in conversation with Eli.

I let myself out and am about two steps down the hallway when somebody steps up next to me. I know without looking that it's Maverick. For some reason, it makes me smile. He doesn't say anything, and neither do I. We get all the way to my apartment before I look up at him. "Thanks, Mav." He says nothing, and I walk into my apartment and shut the door behind me.

When I lay in bed a few minutes later, everything that happened today runs through my mind, especially everything I learned about Maverick. I mentally renew my commitment to giving him the tender care and touches he never received as a child. Some people wouldn't understand, but I do. I understand all too well.

The next morning, I'm up early. I want to know what Cade has planned. After my shower, I braid my wet hair and slip into jeans and a casual shirt. I slip on my flip flops and make my way to Cade's. He texted late last night that everybody from last night is meeting at eight. When I get to Cade and Amber's apartment, a shifter points me in the direction of the meeting room. I enter the room and realize I'm the last person to make it besides Maverick. I take one of the last two open chairs. Mav comes through the door a minute or two later and sets down a large tray of food. Everybody gathers around, and I wait for an opening to be able to grab something. Maverick takes the open seat next to me and puts something in front of me. I look down at the bagel sandwich. "Oh, thanks."

"That's the only one without egg," he says. It shocks me, and I stare at him. He gives me a wary look. "You're not going to cry, right?"

I smile and bite my lip because I was considering it. "No, of course not," I say, but we both know I'm full of baloney.

"Rose!" I jerk in surprise as Jacob leans over me and puts a plate in front of me. Or at least he starts to before he notices the sandwich already in front of me.

"Oh thanks, Jacob, but Maverick already got me a sandwich," I tell him politely.

"No worries. Have a second one," he says and places the plate in front of me.

"She's not going to eat it; she doesn't eat eggs," Mav practically growls at him.

Jacob gives me a wide-eyed look. "Really?"

"Yes, sorry. Thank you though."

He looks so dejected as he walks away, it makes me laugh. "Idiot," Mav growls next to me.

"Hey, play nice," I tell him, touching his arm again. I don't keep it there but a second, but it seems to affect both of us. Or maybe, I'm just ultra-sensitive to him. I'm not really sure. "Thank you for the egg-free sandwich, Mav," I say quietly as Cade starts the meeting. He doesn't say anything, but he stays close to me the entire meeting. That counts as a win in my book.