“Oh, come on, Arch. We can’t have him in the office with us.”
“Why not?” He put a hand up to ward off Frank’s protests. “He’s right. He does know more of the men who work for Smith. He’s seen them, interacted with them. All we’ll have are voices. If he can put names to them, then that gives us an advantage.”
“Odds are they won’t be their real names, so what good will it do us?”
“When we eventually get to go to a fight, we’d know who to look out for.”
“What?” Frank spared him a quick glance. “It’s not a camera feed we’ll have on Nash. We still won’t know what they look like.”
“Harper can describe them.”
Frank laughed at him. “Admit it. When he flashed that smile at you, you caved.”
“Bollocks did I.” Fucking hell, he had. “And I only said I’d ask. Arlington’s bound to say no. So, no harm, no foul.”
“Mhmm.”
“Can we stop talking about Harper and focus on the case? We need to pick up some fake IDs from the lab. I hope you get a really shitty name this time.”
“Why would I need one? I’m not going undercover, remember?”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. You’re not, are you?”
“Nope. Someone needs to coordinate you lot.”
Michael grinned at him. “Does that mean you have to write up the reports on our Friday nights, then?”
“Yeah, you can fuck right off if you think I’m doing all of those on my own.” He indicated and pulled into their small car park. “Come on, I believe you have a question for our boss.” He laughed when Michael groaned and was still smiling when he got out of the car.
Arse. Why hadn’t he just said no and stuck with it?
Because shifters saw things differently to humans, that was why. Michael understood that Aaron and Harry were more like brothers than best friends, and Aaron was worried, scared for him, even.
It had absolutely nothing to do with the way Aaron had looked at him.
Nothing at all.
THE OFFICE was empty except for Bridgford. Michael looked around for Stewart but couldn’t see him.
“Where’s your better half?” he asked with a grin.
“Dentist.” Bridgford took a sip of his coffee and glanced at the empty desk next to him. “Damaged one of his fillings at lunch.”
“Ouch.” Michael grimaced. Going to the dentist was one of his least favourite things. “Will he be joining us later?” Since they’d both be going undercover at the club, they needed to be involved with everything from here on out. They probably should have come over to the pack buildings with them now that he thought about it. They’d meet both Harry and Aaron before long, anyway.
Maybe sooner than later if Arlington was feeling generous.
“Yeah.” Bridgford checked his watch. “He should be back in about an hour.”
“Good.” Turning to Frank, he gestured to their boss’s office. “I’ll be back in a sec.”
“Good luck.” Frank’s smile was huge, and Michael gave him a sarcastic one in return.
“Thanks.”
He knocked on Arlington’s door and was greeted with a gruff, “Come in.” Arlington glanced up from his paperwork and set his pen down when he saw it was Michael. “All set for tonight?”
“Yes, sir.” He paused, then figured it was best to come straight out with it. “Harper wants to be here when Nash meets with Smith’s men. He wants to listen in with us.”
