Chapter 3

Walker

Venezuela.

I"d never been to Venezuela. It was uncomfortably hot and a bit dusty as I left the plane with my arm around Taylor, or I should say, Tayla Grimes, wife to eccentric billionaire and Collector, Walter Grimes. For this mission, that was once again me.

Tayla and Walter were long time cover names as we slowly infiltrated the network of Collectors. So far we hadn"t raised any suspicions. I"d lost track of how many auctions we"d attended and witches we"d saved in the process.

As far as the other Collectors knew, we had a large menagerie of witches. Since most of them were extremely paranoid, especially after a few collections had been dismantled over recent years, there was no need to actually prove this. Still, it would help with our cover that this time we had Nate.

Nate was a wolf shifter we"d rescued previously. The guy had lived his entire life in captivity and didn"t know anything else. He"d practically begged us to put him back in and after weeks of therapy and evaluation by our resident psychologist, Lachlan, had cleared him for this mission.

Taylor and I were going to be selling him in a large auction right here in Venezuela. The idea wasn"t sitting well with anyone, but Nate was confident that he could make a difference from the inside, and really, wouldn"t any of us do the same?

We"d sent others inside horrifying situations before as long as the final outcome warranted it. I had to believe this was no different.

Still, the realization that the guy I"d grown to know, my friend, was sitting in the dark, locked inside a covered cage right now made me want to puke.

Taylor reached over and squeezed my hand. To the outside eye we were just an adoring couple with more money than we knew what to do with.

They didn"t see the turmoil it caused us every time we transitioned into the Grimes family. It was a lengthy process. Compared to some missions I supposed it wasn"t much. We used just enough latex prosthetics to disrupt facial recognition. The least amount possible had been the original design. It made for an easy transition now and less chance of screw ups. However, it also left both of us susceptible to recognition.

"We have company," Ben said through coms. "Eleven o"clock. Just watching so far. All else clear."

I laughed like Taylor had just said something funny.

Her hand swatted out and teasingly shoved my chest before I wrapped an arm around her.

I heard her mate Grant give a small warning growl that had me genuinely laughing. I knew this wasn"t easy on him either. As a final step into Tayla Grimes, Taylor had to cover up his mating mark on her neck. Anyone within the Collector world who saw it would immediately recognize her as a shifter and potential witch. The risk was too high, but it left them both feeling uncomfortable and overly aggressive in the first few hours. By now I was used to it.

"Hey, careful with that, you idiots. You"re moving precious cargo," I yelled out to Grant and Tarron who were moving Nate"s cage.

We all knew damn well they were being careful.

"Nice. Focus has shifted to the box," Ben assured us.

It was exactly what I was hoping for.

Tayla and Walter had never put up a witch for auction but we"d purchased some highly sought after ones at ridiculous prices over the years and there were rumors of private exchanges. We all knew that this entry would draw interest and pique curiosity. Baine, who was in charge of explosives and extraction, even had a pool open as to the amount we"d get for Nate. I wasn"t a betting man, but if I were, I"d be wagering on a pretty high six figure, possibly even seven figure number.

As we were driven over to our hotel, I held Tayla"s hand and stared out the window. From the second we stepped off the plane we were no longer Taylor and Walker. Until we were given the all-clear and the mission ended, we would strictly be Tayla and Walter. That was the way it had to be for our safety and the safety of our teams.

Finally in our room, Tayla fussed and complained over the quality of the bathrobes. She always found something to complain about. It had become almost comical, and I always looked forward to seeing what it would be this time.

When a knock sounded at the door, I went to answer it and tried not to smile too much when I saw my friend Elliot standing there holding a new robe.

"The manager sends his apologies and hopes that these are up to your standards."

I stepped back and allowed him to pass into the room.

"Ma"am," he said, nodding to Tayla.

To anyone watching, we didn"t know Elliot. He walked around and into the bathroom. T and I both knew he was sweeping the room to ensure it wasn"t bugged. Just like we knew he"d done it before we arrived and would again several more times throughout our stay.

Elliot worked on Echo team, which oversaw all the latest and greatest in technology. But he wasn"t on our security detail as far as the outside world was concerned. That role for this mission fell to Ben, who was always watching our backs both for show and in actuality. Then Painter and Baine were by our sides and standing guard outside the room at all times. The good thing about this role was that there was already an expectation of paranoia and heavy security, so no one thought anything of our shadows.

"We still have company. Same guy. He"s watching you closely," Ben said.

I rolled my eyes and tried not to show my frustration. But I knew what needed to happen.

"Sweetheart?" I asked.

"Better," she conceded.

"Please let me know if you need anything else," Elliot said before leaving the room.

His comments had no trace of concern or code words for warning, so I could relax a little knowing there were no listening devices within the room. Not that either of us would slip up on a mission, but just in case, it was good to know.

I took Tayla"s hand and walked out to the verandah. She smiled and looked up at the sun as I pulled her into my arms. I always hated this part, but if someone was this insistent on watching our every move, then we needed to sell the happy couple we were supposed to be.

I leaned down and kissed her neck letting my hands roam lightly down her back. Grant"s growl in my ear told me he was watching everything. I really did hate this part.

"Walk away," Silas"s gruff voice said in my ear.

I knew he wasn"t talking to me. As the leader of Bravo team, he was ordering Grant to step back before he did something stupid.

"You know how much I love you," T said before she kissed me and let me lift her into my arms to carry her back to the bedroom.

We both knew she wasn"t talking to me but reassuring her mate. We never talked about it on mission, we couldn"t risk something like that, but we"d had several discussions about it in debriefings. It was nice to know she was just as uncomfortable.

In a perfect world, Grant would be playing the part of Walter Grimes. I couldn"t even remember why or how I"d gotten tossed into this role, but now that I was here, I was stuck. My disguise wasn"t drastic enough to throw another male into the role. So we just had to make the most of it while on mission.

"Good job, guys," Ben assured us once we retreated to the room and closed the curtains in the process,making it appear that the happy couple wanted some privacy.

In truth, the second we were clear, I tossed her down onto the bed and she immediately grabbed her phone to curl up and calm her mate down via text. It was a damn good thing our phones were cleared for it too. Tarron had worked with Echo team and Archie to ensure the ultimate security on our phones.

As for me, I plopped down in a chair and played some dumb game on my phone to pass the time. The sun was already setting and we"d made it clear that Walter and Tayla were in for the night. I was sort of off-duty until morning with nothing but my thoughts to keep me company.

In times like this I almost longed for a mate that I could curl up and talk to like T was with Grant. The way her face lit up was mesmerizing. Would anyone ever look at me that way? Did I even want them to?

Several of my friends had found their mates while on missions. At this point I was probably becoming paranoid by believing mine was just around the corner waiting to cross paths with me. It was stupid. And I wasn"t sure if I would run to her or far, far away if it actually happened, but I was always looking for her anyway.