25. Tate

TWENTY-FIVE

TATE

Steff was looking at me expectantly as I came through the door. Blayne and Miles were hunched over a computer and didn't notice me until I closed the door. The envelope in my hand was like a lead weight pulling at my arm, even though it only weighed a few ounces.

Steff nodded to the package. "Whatcha got there?"

Holding it up so they could see it, I said, "Ortiz decided to leave Harley a little gift. On her fucking front porch."

"Shit," Blayne hissed, "Did you see him on the cameras?"

I shook my head in disgust. "I checked them while Harley was on her way over. No sign of him. All the mail was delivered by the Post Office. Totally normal. Whatever this is," I shook the envelope, "he sent in the regular mail."

"Okay," Miles said. "What are we thinking? Like, how crazy is this guy?" He pointed at the padded envelope. "Vial of his own blood crazy or dead mother's engagement ring crazy?"

"Only one way to find out." I tore the top off the envelope and glanced inside.

Inside the package was another envelope. Beside it It was a familiar light greenish-blue draw-string jewelry bag. I'd never bought anything there, but I knew the place well. I'd walked past the storefront near Rockefeller when I was working in New York. Lastly there were two embroidered baby booties. Sky blue for a boy.

As I lifted the booties, my dragon's irritation sparked. Then I read the embroidery. One bootie read: Baby Boy . The other read: Luis Jr. Breath hissed from my nose, and I crushed the booties in my fist, grinding the cotton together until my knuckles cracked. Filled with rage, I pulled the smaller envelope out. My hands shook as I opened it and read:

Hey, babe. I'll be in touch soon so we can talk about my son. -Luis

My vision went red; my dragon was absolutely raging inside. It knew that the baby was ours as much as I did. We could feel the magic growing inside Harley. The connection to her was undeniable, and there was only one explanation. My son growing in her. Ours. The fact that he was trying to claim him made me more furious than I could have ever thought possible.

I was on the verge of slamming my closed fists onto the conference room table when Miles put a hand on my shoulder. Had I been anywhere else, I would have swung at him, thinking he was Luis. Thankfully, I remembered I was in a safe place with friends before my fists flew out at him.

"Bro? Are you good?" Miles asked.

Looking up, Steff and Blayne were staring at me, a combination of fear and concern on their faces. I took a breath to calm myself before throwing the note and booties into a waste bin under the table.

"I'm fine. That guy's just an asshole. What was in the bag?" I asked, looking at Steff.

Steff tipped the little bag out into his palm. Two earrings tumbled out. They were both teardrops, with a blue gem in the middle surrounded by diamonds. They were gorgeous and looked expensive.

Steff pulled out his phone. "Okay, I've got to see how much these bad boys are worth. Hang on a second."

While Steff tapped and swiped at his phone, I stewed on how angry Luis had made me. I was synced with the baby inside her. The magic the child gave off was so similar to mine that I could almost taste it. Surely he felt the opposite. Could he feel any connection to the baby inside Harley's belly? Did he even try? Or was he too concerned with taking what he thought was his?

"Holy fuck." Steff gasped. He looked at us and laughed humorlessly. "These freaking things are fifteen-thousand goddamned dollars. Who the hell is this guy?"

I was already on edge with everything Harley had told me about Emily. Not only did we have Luis skulking around town, making life miserable, but we had a witch to deal with as well. A witch whose intentions weren't entirely clear, but were more than likely nefarious. It was enough to drive me crazy.

Trying to get my mind off Luis, I asked, "What have you guys dug up on this Emily Heath chick?"

Miles and Blayne shrugged almost in unison. Miles said, "It's like she doesn't exist. We couldn't find anything on her. Could be a totally fake name, but she's a witch. With her magic, she could stay fully dark to the web. If she doesn't have any need for credit cards or I.D. or anything else we could track, then there's no reason to think she isn't living on the fringes. Biding her time."

"Biding her time until what? What is her end game?" I asked.

"I don't know. Is she torturing and killing shifters to get some kind of information? Is there some spell she's trying to complete that needs shifters? Is she just a fucking bigot and hates us? Your guess is as good as mine. Basically, we have no idea." Dejected, Miles flopped into his chair.

The unknown was scary. The dragon didn't like it; neither did I. It meant we needed to up the security for Harley and the girls. There were two direct threats now. One was known, understandable, trackable, easily dealt with once caught. The other was unknown, confusing, untraceable, and of unknown strength. Luis and a witch. It seemed life was getting much more difficult with every minute that passed. We needed to find Emily, whatever it took.

"We gotta call the cops, right? At least about Luis. I doubt they'll believe a rogue witch is on the loose," Blayne said.

We all exchanged a look. The cops in Lilly Valley were not huge fans of us, and we all knew it. Part of the problem was that we didn't have a lot of respect for them. We were more thorough in our investigations. Even their best detectives weren't as good as Miles, and their forensics teams couldn't hold a candle to Steff and Blayne. It caused tension. So much so that we rarely even took jobs anywhere within the tri-county area. Instead, we focused on bigger clients in larger cities. Blayne was probably right, though. If nothing else, they needed to know Luis was in town and stalking Harley, especially since the order of protection was still active.

Steff sighed and stood. "Okay, I'll head over to the station. Out of all of us, I'm the least grumpy and most friendly. They won't give me too much hell. I'll need those little gifts out of the trashcan, Tate. Tell them about that restraining order and whatnot. I'll give them everything we have about him. I may even mention we've spotted him with a woman. Give them Emily's description. Cops won't be able to do much against a witch, but it could flush her out if they're looking for her."

"Good call," I said. "I need to make a statement to Ortiz. He needs to know that Harley and that baby are mine. It's childish, but I want to do something to hit back. Any ideas?"

Blayne raised his eyebrows. "In-vitro DNA tests are a thing now. I mean, they've been a thing for a long time, but they're super safe now. You could do that with Harley. It would go on her medical paperwork, too. If this Ortiz guy has a team monitoring her, then he'd see that pop up. It would be a slap in the face."

I winced. "That might offend Harley. Like I don't believe the baby is mine or something."

"It's all in how you present it," Miles said. "You're wanting to have it on file or whatever. Present it like it's the best thing to solidify your fatherhood. I'm sure you'll think of a way to keep her from getting pissed."

"Easier said than done, but I guess you're right. Once he sees the kid isn't his, he may give up and go home."

"Okay, that's all we can do about Luis for now," Blayne said. "The witch needs to be the main thing we focus on. She's killed shifters, allegedly, and I think she's the bigger threat at the moment. How do we catch her? We have to do that to get the answers to our questions."

Miles sighed. "Harley. That's the connection we have to exploit."

"The hell? You want to use her as bait?" I rarely got in arguments or fights with the guys, but I really wanted to slug Miles for suggesting it.

"What else do we have that can bridge the gap between us and Emily? Answer me that, and I'll pull it off the table."

Glaring at him, my mind flipped through any possible scenario, then I finally said, "That Siobhan lady? Your friend, can't she…" I waved my hands vaguely, "…track her magic or something?"

Miles shook his head. "She already said she couldn't. The spell is over the whole town, and it's a strong conjuring. If she's in town, all that magic from the spell will hide her. No go."

No other thoughts came to me. Blayne and Steffen were no help; they both looked like they agreed with Miles. Grinding my teeth together, I nodded in reluctance.

"The jewelry she gave Harley all had protective spells placed on them. Maybe she really is trying to protect her. She may be watching her to make sure she's safe," I said. "We can figure out a plan. But under no circumstances is she to be placed in harm's way. I'd rather be extra careful and not catch her than get sloppy and have something happen to Harley. Understood?"

The guys nodded. We spent the next ten minutes coming up with a plausible story as well as a plan. Blayne created a few documents to help sell the lie. It wasn't great, and I hated the idea of lying to Harley. The only other option was to tell her the truth. That I was a magical shape-shifting half-man half-dragon. My other friends could turn into wolves, bears, and panthers. Oh, also your new friend is a witch, like a real-life witch with magic powers, and she might be trying to murder me and my shape-shifting friends. Sound good, sweetie?

That shit wouldn't fly. Best-case scenario, she'd get mad we were telling stupid stories. Worst-case scenario, she'd run screaming from the building and buy silver bullets.

We had Kennedy get Harley from my office and bring her to the conference room. She looked confused and a little irritated. I'd left her there longer than I thought I would. Things would already be difficult enough without her being pissed at me. I sat with her and put an arm around her shoulders.

Miles sat at the table in front of us. We'd decided he would lead the discussion and explain the plan. Better him than me. I wasn't sure I could pull off lying to Harley the way he'd have to.

"Emily Heath?" Miles said. "This is the woman Tate said you've been looking for?"

Harley looked unsure. "Um, yeah."

Miles nodded, looking like he'd heard exactly what he wanted to hear. "Tate had us look into her. Turns out she's a known scam artist. Do you know what a grifter is?"

Harley shook her head. "I think I've heard it before but… wait, what are you saying?"

"This Emily is a wanted criminal. She's traveled all over the U.S. and Canada, pulling off these small-time swindles. Pretending to be someone she isn't. She inserts her way into people's lives, scams them out of money, and then disappears before she's caught. She usually preys on the elderly and single older men. Jumping from town to town, staying one step ahead of the law."

Harley leaned away from me and looked into my eyes. "Is he serious? There's no way."

By some amazing strength of will, I didn't look away. Instead, I looked her dead in the eyes and said, "It's true. We've seen the proof."

Miles went on as Harley looked around the room like she had found herself in the middle of a circus. "Her latest victim was a lady in the nursing home you visited. She used a false name and pretended to be her long-lost grand-daughter. Got the lady to sign over her power of attorney. The bank account has already been cleaned out."

Harley put a hand to her mouth. "Oh my god. This can't be happening."

Blayne stood and pulled two pieces of paper from the printer, then handed them to Harley. She looked down, and I looked over her shoulder at the papers. Blayne had put together two shockingly realistic pages. One looked like a screen grab of some regional paper in the north east which gave an accurate description of Emily as well as a rundown of the crimes she was accused of. The other was an FBI wanted poster. He'd used a picture from Harley's security cameras, but had altered the hair color and the background. While Harley stared at the pages and read, I looked at Blayne and raised an eyebrow. He'd done amazing work in fifteen minutes. If he wasn't already a partial owner, I'd have given him a damned raise.

Harley was close to tears when she finally handed the pages to Miles. "I thought she was my friend."

The sadness in her voice was almost enough for me to stand up and call the whole story off. I didn't do that, but it was damned close. My dragon was actually mad at me. All it wanted to do was protect and care for her, and here I was making her cry with this sham.

Managing to get my voice, I said, "She's wanted by the FBI. They've been looking for help capturing her. We think you may be able to help with that. Like Miles said, her latest victim has already been taken advantage of. She's not going to stay in town much longer."

Harley sighed. "You have some sort of plan?"

Miles nodded. "She gave you the jewelry gifts, so we think she does actually care for you as a friend. Or, if nothing else, she may view you as a secondary mark she can swindle before bouncing out of town. Our plan is that you and Tate break up , somewhere public. Lots of witnesses. Then in your distraught state, call Emily for comfort and support. It's a long shot, but she may agree to meet. You guys talk for a bit, and when you go your separate ways, the authorities move in and arrest her."

It was a good plan. If we could keep her in public, it would be easier to capture Emily. She wouldn't dare use her magic in front of humans. It would be as dangerous as me shifting in broad daylight downtown.

Harley chuckled humorlessly. "It's almost like you guys wrote a scene for a movie."

The four of us exchanged a nervous look before Harley said, "Okay. I'll do it. If what she's been doing is true, she needs to answer for it. I can't believe this is happening. It's crazy."

Later that night, when we lay in bed, Harley curled into my chest, and said, "With everything that happened about Emily, I forgot to ask. What was in that box Luis left?"

My heart skipped a beat, and for half a second, I thought about lying. That idea fell apart fast. I'd already lied through my teeth today. There was enough being held back from Harley. In this one thing, I could be honest. I told her about the booties, the earrings, the note, everything. I also told her what I wanted to do to get back at Luis. After I was done, I held my breath, waiting for her response.

Finally, she said, "God, he's such an asshole. I'll take the DNA test. It's not because I question who the father is, but because I want to shove it in his face. It'll be for my peace of mind and to put it to rest once and for all."

I squeezed her close and said, "It makes sense to me, too. I'll schedule an appointment for the test after our fake break up."

"Oh lord, I forgot about that. I hope I don't screw it up. I was never a very good actor."

I'd thought the same thing about myself until today. Sometimes you surprise yourself. I said, "You'll do fine. Honestly, I think part of why you felt like someone was watching you was that Emily might have someone watching the house. We really think you might be her next victim."

"Maybe. It would make sense. It sort of breaks my heart that I was starting to trust her, and she was lying about everything."

"I'm sorry," I said automatically.

"Why are you sorry? You didn't have anything to do with it."

I said nothing––partly because I didn't know what to say, and partly because I was fairly certain it had everything to do with me. If anything happened to Harley because of what I was, I'd never forgive myself.