“How long would I need to go back for?” Aaron narrowed his eyes, gaze still locked on Michael’s, and the intensity in that stare made Michael’s stomach flutter. “How many fights?”
Unfortunately, that was something they had no way of predicting. “I can’t answer that in terms of days, weeks, months.”
“Months?” Aaron’s voice rose, an edge of panic to it. “I can’t go back there formonths.”
“I’m hoping it won’t come to that. We want to get this wrapped up as quickly as humanly possible.” He ignored Isaac’s scoff at his word choice. “But the reality could be that it takes a while before you hear anything of use. Or it could be within the first week.” He held his hands out in front of him. “We have no way of knowing. I’m sorry I don’t have anything more substantial than that, but it really is a waiting game.”
Aaron scowled. “And in the meantime, I just carry on fighting. Hoping that no one picks up on what I am and that Smith doesn’t start asking me to fix fights.”
“Isn’t that exactly what you’ve been doing for the last however many months?”
Michael understood Aaron’s reluctance to do this since he’d only just made the decision to quit, butcome on, it wasn’t as though they were asking him to go in there as a newbie. He knew the ropes, knew what he was letting himself in for.
“Yes, but—”
“You won’t be in there on your own this time,” Michael offered.
“He wasn’t last time,” Harry spoke up. “I was there for all of his fights.”
Michael raised his eyebrows. “I thought you said he was there to keep an eye on you?”
Harry rolled his eyes. “Yeah, but it goes both ways. Don’t forget, I’m a shifter too. If anything happened, if Smith or anyone else discovered that Aaron was a shifter, then I’d be there to help him.”
Michael knew what was coming next before the words left Harry’s mouth.
Squaring his shoulders, as though expecting resistance, Harry said, “If Aaron goes back there, then so do I. They know me.”
It was an excellent idea, one he, Frank, and Arlington had already discussed—two shifters were better than one. But he’d been waiting to get Aaron onside first, figuring it’d be easier to persuade Harry if they’d already got Aaron’s agreement. They should have known Harry wouldn’t let Aaron go back in there alone.
Aaron nudged Harry with his shoulder, his smile warm. “I haven’t said I’ll do it yet.”
“I know.” Harry returned his smile. “But if you decided to, I want you to know that you won’t be going in there without me.”
“Thank you.”
“From the look on your face, Detective,” Alpha Thomas said, “I suspect you have no objections to that. In fact, I’d hazard a guess it’s the exact outcome you were hoping for. After all, two sets of super senses are far better than one. Especially when one of them gets to freely move around the crowd of people, listening to all manner of conversations.”
Michael glanced at Frank, inclining his head ever so slightly to let Frank know he could answer that one. “It’s certainly a conversation we had before coming here, yes.” Harry Nash was, in fact, theirinto the fights.
“I happen to agree with Harry,” Thomas said. “If Aaron says yes to this, then he shouldn’t do it alone, considering what you’re asking him to do. The longer he fights there, the greater the risk of being discovered. I would suggest that at least another member of my pack accompanies them both.”
Frank bristled next to him. “I believe Detective Archer already stated that Aaron wouldn’t be alone. Three members of the SCTF will—”
“With all due respect, Detectives.” Thomas kept his tone from being condescending, which was probably the only reason Frank allowed him to interrupt. “You’ll be entering a space where the men guarding Smith are all armed.”
“We’re aware,” Frank replied.
“And are you also aware that you won’t be allowed to take your weapons in with you? You’ll be entering unarmed, whereas we—” Thomas spread his hands out, claws extended. “—will not.” Sheathing them again, he glanced from Frank to Michael. “I appreciate you’re both experienced members of the SCTF, but in this instance, members of my pack are in a far better position to protect Aaron and Harry than you.”
“I accept that you and your pack have advantages we don’t—and yes, we already considered the probability that Smith has people searched on entry to his fights—but we’re also trained for these situations. All members of the SCTF have been through extensive self-defensive training. And bear in mind, we’ve been taught techniques that would help protect us against shifters, so handling Smith or his bodyguards—even armed—would be a far easier task.”
“If they shoot you, no amount of self-defence will protect you from that.”
Michael offered him a wry smile. “We’d do our damnedest not to get into a situation like that. Something else which we’ve all been trained for.” He sighed and tried to find words that would make Thomas back down and accept that they knew how to do their job. “Alpha Thomas, Harry’s already a familiar face at these fights. We’ll need him to get us inside.”
“Um…” Harry looked suddenly uncomfortable. “I’m not allowed to bring people in with me.”
“What?” Both Michael and Frank turned to him. “Why not? Is there a limit on the number of spectators?”
