had started to affect her health. Her spirit was exhausted. She’d needed to come back. And he’d needed to stay.
“Don’t tell me I’m hard. I’m just protecting what’s left.”
Why didn’t he ever hear things when he needed to?
He’d cut her deep. Maybe he’d never realized quite how much. Ted was so good at putting up a strong front that he forgot she needed more from him. She needed to be his Tea , not just everyone else’s Ted. She’d needed to have a safe place to show that softness, and when they’d been together, she did.
Then he’d taken it away.
So she locked that part of herself down tight. “Protecting what was left.” Who could blame her?
He was an idiot.
Why had he let her walk away that night?
He rolled over and banged his head quietly against the headboard. Where was the bourbon when he needed it? Not that getting drunk was a good plan. He’d need to be clear headed if he had even a sliver of a chance of fixing this.
His phone fell to the floor just as it started ringing.
Alex grimaced. No one called for anything good at 3:11 in the morning. Squinting, he looked at the screen.
Caleb Gilbert.
Immediate thoughts of Jena and the baby rushed into his head, and he slid his thumb to answer.
“Caleb? What’s wrong? Is it Jena?”
“No, Jena’s fine, man. We’ve got another problem.”
He shook his head and sat up. “What? What other problem? It’s three in the morning.”
“Alex, this is shit news, but… Marcus Quinn is dead.”
“What?”
“His body was found on your job site.”
Chapter Five
“Come to the desert, they said. It’ll be quiet, they said.”
“Seriously, Caleb, shut up.”
“All we have are drunk and disorderlies. The occasional vandalism or theft. It’ll be so peaceful.”
Caleb stood over the body of what used to be Marcus Quinn while Ted took the liver temperature. The body was a mass of vicious bites, and pieces of the face and stomach were missing. Whatever had happened to him first, coyotes had happened second, and it wasn’t pretty. They’d eaten around his clothes, tearing pieces of his shirt and dragging it and other parts away from the corpse. It would take hours to collect all the evidence. They weren’t even starting until the sun rose.
“Who shifts to a coyote around here?” Caleb asked.
“This isn’t shifters,” Ted said. “He wasn’t killed by coyotes.”
“Tell that to the Quinns before we have a riot. Jeremy already has Old Quinn in his truck. Had to escort him home.”
“How’d the Quinns find out?”
“Who the hell knows? One of the wolves found the body and called me, but who knows who he told after that.”
She looked up. “Which wolf?”
“Patrick McCann. He’s only sixteen. Think he was cutting through here on the way back from his girlfriend’s house. Past his curfew.”
“That’ll teach him to sneak in more make-out time.”
“Yeah, no kidding. His dad called me as soon as the kid got home and told him. I asked him to keep things quiet, but…”
“Patrick’s dad called Robert McCann about a minute after you, if not before.” She looked back down and continued to work. “In case you were wondering. So all the clan leaders know by now.”
Caleb’s eyes got hard. “I kept my mouth shut when this town took care of Missy the way they did. Jena was bleeding in my arms and saving her life was more important than the law. But that shit isn’t happening again. Not on my watch. This town is not going to deal out justice by mob.”
Ted kept silent. She had her own issues with what had happened to Missy Marquez, but she wasn’t going to talk to Caleb about it. It was cat clan business.
Caleb shivered at a gust of wind, clad only in a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and his hat, of course. Ted had thrown on a jacket as soon as she got the call from him. Nights were cold in the desert, and at crime scenes, there was a lot of standing around. Technically, she was just a consultant.
“Don’t tell me I’m hard. I’m just protecting what’s left.”
Why didn’t he ever hear things when he needed to?
He’d cut her deep. Maybe he’d never realized quite how much. Ted was so good at putting up a strong front that he forgot she needed more from him. She needed to be his Tea , not just everyone else’s Ted. She’d needed to have a safe place to show that softness, and when they’d been together, she did.
Then he’d taken it away.
So she locked that part of herself down tight. “Protecting what was left.” Who could blame her?
He was an idiot.
Why had he let her walk away that night?
He rolled over and banged his head quietly against the headboard. Where was the bourbon when he needed it? Not that getting drunk was a good plan. He’d need to be clear headed if he had even a sliver of a chance of fixing this.
His phone fell to the floor just as it started ringing.
Alex grimaced. No one called for anything good at 3:11 in the morning. Squinting, he looked at the screen.
Caleb Gilbert.
Immediate thoughts of Jena and the baby rushed into his head, and he slid his thumb to answer.
“Caleb? What’s wrong? Is it Jena?”
“No, Jena’s fine, man. We’ve got another problem.”
He shook his head and sat up. “What? What other problem? It’s three in the morning.”
“Alex, this is shit news, but… Marcus Quinn is dead.”
“What?”
“His body was found on your job site.”
Chapter Five
“Come to the desert, they said. It’ll be quiet, they said.”
“Seriously, Caleb, shut up.”
“All we have are drunk and disorderlies. The occasional vandalism or theft. It’ll be so peaceful.”
Caleb stood over the body of what used to be Marcus Quinn while Ted took the liver temperature. The body was a mass of vicious bites, and pieces of the face and stomach were missing. Whatever had happened to him first, coyotes had happened second, and it wasn’t pretty. They’d eaten around his clothes, tearing pieces of his shirt and dragging it and other parts away from the corpse. It would take hours to collect all the evidence. They weren’t even starting until the sun rose.
“Who shifts to a coyote around here?” Caleb asked.
“This isn’t shifters,” Ted said. “He wasn’t killed by coyotes.”
“Tell that to the Quinns before we have a riot. Jeremy already has Old Quinn in his truck. Had to escort him home.”
“How’d the Quinns find out?”
“Who the hell knows? One of the wolves found the body and called me, but who knows who he told after that.”
She looked up. “Which wolf?”
“Patrick McCann. He’s only sixteen. Think he was cutting through here on the way back from his girlfriend’s house. Past his curfew.”
“That’ll teach him to sneak in more make-out time.”
“Yeah, no kidding. His dad called me as soon as the kid got home and told him. I asked him to keep things quiet, but…”
“Patrick’s dad called Robert McCann about a minute after you, if not before.” She looked back down and continued to work. “In case you were wondering. So all the clan leaders know by now.”
Caleb’s eyes got hard. “I kept my mouth shut when this town took care of Missy the way they did. Jena was bleeding in my arms and saving her life was more important than the law. But that shit isn’t happening again. Not on my watch. This town is not going to deal out justice by mob.”
Ted kept silent. She had her own issues with what had happened to Missy Marquez, but she wasn’t going to talk to Caleb about it. It was cat clan business.
Caleb shivered at a gust of wind, clad only in a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and his hat, of course. Ted had thrown on a jacket as soon as she got the call from him. Nights were cold in the desert, and at crime scenes, there was a lot of standing around. Technically, she was just a consultant.
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