6. Sebastian

6

Sebastian

S ebastian focused on finding the man that Tommy fingered. Not only did the police want to get Tommy to a safe place if the information he gave was legitimate, but they were also eager to get their hands on the man. Tommy didn't know who the top guy was. The person he named seemed to be a middleman, but that was one step closer to the person running the show.

"Kenneth Hines," Sebastian muttered as he looked into the man's background. "You have been a very naughty boy and involved in a wide range of sleazy activities, not just drugs."

According to what Sebastian discovered, Kenneth was also a bookie and into human trafficking for prostitution. The only decent thing that could be said about him was that, according to everything Sebastian could find, Kenneth never prostituted underaged people.

After tracking a shell corporation that was operated by another shell corporation, Sebastian discovered that Kenneth had a compound in Wyoming that was extremely well guarded.

He brought the compound up on Google Earth and studied it. Based on those images and others that had been put out on the dark web, Sebastian concluded that it wouldn't be hard for him and his men to breach the place – especially since he didn't have to follow the same rules as official law enforcement agencies did. A large house sat in the middle of the property. It was surrounded by high walls, which Sebastian assumed were armed with alarms. There were at least two armed guards stationed by the front gates and more roaming around the inner court.

"Is he really a middleman or is he the real deal? That is an awful lot of money and firepower for just a middleman. If he's not top dog, then he is either a high lieutenant or has his own things going on the side," Sebastian muttered to himself.

The thought of going into the field and seeing real action to take down a bad guy excited him. Sebastian was almost disappointed that he was still in the information-gathering phase. However, any type of operation took precise planning.

It had been a while since he had gone into the field to do any kind of real operations. He missed doing that. The adrenaline of the action was incredible, as was the excitement of accomplishing an almost impossible task. Besides, he didn't want to get soft.

He sat back in his chair and steepled his fingers. His mind wandered from Kenneth to Talia. Sebastian was surprised at how much he liked her and enjoyed spending time with her. Her scent still lingered and seemed to be embedded in his skin. He smelled it every time he inhaled. He had heard Zac, the alpha of the Nightshade Wolf Shifter Pack, talk about how he knew Olivia was his fated mate because he couldn't shake her scent. It haunted him and called to him.

Sebastian scoffed at the idea. "I don't believe in fated mates, and I certainly don't believe that Talia is mine. We're a long way from that."

However, his mind lingered on his next-door neighbor.

"She grew up, that's for sure," he muttered. "That little kid became a gorgeous woman who has my complete attention. Of course, everyone changes, just not always to that extent."

Sebastian knew he had changed a lot, too, and not just physically. He was a lot more mature, although he still enjoyed fun. When he was younger, he wouldn't have thought anything of having sex with a willing woman and forgetting her name the next day.

He was pretty sure that Talia was willing. Heaven knows that he was stiff and wanted to be buried inside of her, which was why he ended the kiss when he did. He wanted more – a lot more. There was no way that he was going to take her to bed – at least at this stage in the game. Since she was his neighbor and he would see her often, if they went down that path, he wanted it to be meaningful. He genuinely liked her.

His reverie was interrupted when Julian knocked on his office door. Sebastian quickly rolled his chair under his desk. If Julian noticed anything, he didn't show it.

"What's up?"

"You have a potential client. He is Yaretzi Duran's manager."

Sebastian looked at Julian blankly. "What is a Yaretzi Duran?"

Julian laughed. "She is a pop singer and is very popular with the younger crowd. While she's not as popular as Taylor Swift with all of her Swifties, Yaretzi does have a huge following."

"Oh," Sebastian said, unimpressed.

Julian shook his head and grinned. "Michael Jamison is worried about his client who, apparently, is being stalked by a crazy fan. He's concerned that the fan is dangerous."

"Send him in," Sebastian said.

"Thank you so much for meeting with me. When I got the word out that I needed a security detail for Yaretzi, everyone said I needed to talk to you because you're the best in the country. I'm Michael Jamison, by the way, and Yaretzi's manager and friend."

Sebastian shook Michael's hand. He brought up a new document on his computer screen and said, "Tell me about the situation."

"About six months ago, Yaretzi started getting letters and emails from a man named Fred Robles. At first, they were typical fan mail. She sent him an autographed picture, as she usually does for fans who reach out like he did, and figured that would be that. However, he took it as a sign that she was interested in him and started stalking her. He came to every single concert. She would see him waiting outside her hotel. Fred followed her to restaurants and everywhere else she went."

Sebastian typed as Michael talked. The man twisted his hands together, and he talked faster and faster. "Then, he got brave and tried to touch her a couple of times. We filed a restraining order against him when he grabbed Yaretzi's arm and tried to pull her into his van. He's not allowed within fifteen hundred feet of her, although he pushes the boundaries."

"Are you documenting every encounter?"

"Yes, even the encounters we can't prove are him. She'll get calls in her hotel room. The person will breathe heavily and hang up. Sometimes he even says disgusting things and tells her all the terrible things that he will do to her once he gets her alone. I need someone who will protect Yaretzi until we can get enough to have him put in jail."

Sebastian did a quick search on Fred and discovered that the man had a history of mental illness and stalking. He had been arrested twice for assault and once for attempted sexual assault. The woman's boyfriend came home from work before Fred could do anything more than hit the woman over the head and undress her.

"He is a nasty character," Sebastian said. "I have just the person for you. Let me make a phone call."

Half an hour later, Callie Russo walked into his office. She was five foot four and thin, but muscular. She was a dragon shifter who had been with a special regiment of the Army Rangers that consisted only of shifters. Not only was she capable of fighting as a dragon, but she was also very competent in human fighting.

"I'm Callie, nice to meet you."

Michael had clearly been expecting a man and looked at Sebastian dubiously.

Sebastian grinned. "I assure you that Callie is more than up for the job. She is our best bodyguard and the toughest on our crew. The great thing is that Fred won't expect her to be the bodyguard. He'll just assume it's one of Yaretzi's friends."

"All right, I guess, if you say so. I'm told you are the best, so you must know what you're doing."

"Trust me, I do. Callie, do you have your go-bag?" Sebastian printed off what he had learned about Fred and a picture and put it in a folder for her.

"Yes, sir," she said. "Mr. Jamison, I'm ready when you are. I'll follow you."

"Michael," he said distractedly. "Let's go. She's holed up in her hotel."

Sebastian worked late, working on reports for clients and doing research. He ordered a pizza and worked until his eyes wouldn't stay open anymore. He couldn't help but glance over at Talia's house when he got home around eleven. All of the lights were out except for the kitchen.

He had just gotten to sleep about an hour later when his phone rang. It was the alarm company.

"Someone set off the alarm at the house next door to you and was caught on camera. The intruder tried the doors, looked in the windows, and tried to open them. I guess the alarm going off sent him running."

Sebastian jumped into his jeans and boots and ran outside, but whoever had been lurking around had disappeared. Talia ran out onto the porch.

"What is going on?" she asked. "I got a call from the alarm company and they said they called you."

"They said they saw someone on camera trying your doors and windows. By the time I got out here, they were gone."

She rubbed her face and shook her head. "Great, that's all I need."

"Do you have anyone who might be stalking you?" he asked.

"No," Talia said, surprised at his question. "It must have been a burglar."

Sebastian wasn't so sure about that after reading up on Darius. He knew that some people could go to a lot of lengths if they didn't get what they wanted. However, he chose not to say anything to her.

He glanced at her and noticed that her hair was a mess. She was wearing a long, thin T-shirt without a bra and panties. Her nipples were obviously hard, and he briefly wondered what they tasted like. His jeans started to get tight, and he wanted nothing more than to throw her on the grass and fuck her right then and there.

Stop it, Dumb Ass. Now is not the time.

"Whoever was here is gone. Go back inside, lock the door, and set your alarm." He hugged her, brushed a kiss across her lips, and gave her a gentle push toward her house. Sebastian waited until he heard the lock click before he went home.

The next morning, after she left for work, he walked around her house, looking for any evidence that the intruder might have left behind. He saw a footprint in the mud at the base of one of the windows. Sebastian went back to his house, grabbed a ruler, and then took a picture of the print.

Then, he made a phone call to Gene. "Can you come out with the plaster of Paris and make a mold of a footprint for me?"

"Sure, Boss. Shoot me the address."

Sebastian texted the address and looked around the area again, making sure that he didn't miss anything important. He didn't.

Once he got to the office, Sebastian researched boot patterns and discovered that the print was made by an urban operator H20 side zip boot that security guards often wore. It was the right boot, sized eleven. It showed wear on the outside toward the little toe which indicated that the person's foot rolled outward with each step, which put more pressure on the edge of his foot and his little toe. This could be a sign of either high ridges or a previous stress fracture. There were a couple nicks in the tread, so if the person was found wearing these boots, he could be easily identified.

Sebastian's first thought was Darius, so he got onto the man's social media pages.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here," Sebastian said, taking a screenshot of one of the pictures Darius posted. He was wearing the exact same style of boot of the print outside of Talia's window. It wasn't enough to go have a chat with the man – yet.