"We agreed to come here, not go on a whole freaking field trip."
Lucas glared, ignoring the silliness of his door tug of war with his cousin and not willing to budge there or about this.
"Back me up here." I addressed my partner.
Temple sighed, as if taking my side was a chore. “Bolton already tried to take matters into his own hands once. Going on a tour of all the places you’re likely to be isn’t the best idea.”
"Perfect!" Lucas brightened even as pounding started on the other side of the door. “That’s exactly why we should go to work.”
He dropped the doorknob and backed away in the nick of time for the door swinging open to not nail him in the face. Lucas forced Jack back inside and shut the door once more.
…
My partner and I exchanged expressions of bewilderment
"Do you have any idea why he thinks he won that argument?"
Temple shrugged. “Let’s indulge him.”
"Seriously?" We were on the same side a moment ago. “That’s a risk.”
"Yes, and youhaterisks.” Sarcastic bastard.”
"We’re supposed to be on the same team here,” I reminded. “We’re partners. That ring a bell?”
"Are we?" Bastard actually sounded as if that was news to him. “Nobody told me we were that kind of partners.”
"The kind that back each other up?"
Cool grey eyes watched me. "The kind of partners that trust each other."
Damn. Pointing out our distinct lack of mutual respect and trust felt so unnatural. Usually our issues went unspoken.
“This is our chance to see Lucas’s life,” Temple said. “It may come in handy later."
We were operating under the theory Bolton went after Lucas because of a misunderstanding. Lucas’s life should have no connection to the events unfolding now. What was he getting at?
"Youthinksomething else is going on?"
"Maybe.” He shrugged, looking over the neighborhood. “It’s only a suspicion, can’t say more yet."
"Can’t or won’t?"
"That depends."
"On what?"
Those grey eyes met mine again. “Whether we’re the kind of partners who trust each other or not."
Temple and I were total opposites from the get-go. The wolf vs. the fox. The guy blended into the background when he chose to and never revealed too much, at least not personally. I knew thedetectivewell after months together, just not theman.
Right as Merritt opened a covert investigation into Matthias Hodge, fox shifter and a formerly high-ranking member of the DSA accused of being dirty, there comes the new agent. A fox shifter transferred in from Nevada of all places, his reason for relocating a vague ‘change of scenery.’
No overt link to Hodge or his skulk. But the timing, the move across the country. It was a hell of a coincidence.
A well-placed inside man spying could make a world of difference. Though I had to admit Temple… he was a solid agent. Dedicated to his job, he seemed to genuinely care about the victims on cases. The fox connection alone seemed too shaky to put him on Hodge’s side. I’d hate someone presuming I’d side with any wolf just because they were a fellow wolf.
If Temple did have ulterior motives, he was only a risk in matters with Hodge involved. Nobody was letting him get close enough to the Hodge case to see what he’d do. Which meant, as his partner, we were both kept far away and out of that action.
