Chapter
Eight
The text came from Axel.Update on your case Thursday, 10 if that works. Let's do Sweet Summit instead of here. Easier to talk somewhere that isn't an office, and the coffee's better.
Steel Protection had monitors, locked cabinets, and a glass conference room. Sweet Summit had coffee, warm sugar, and people coming and going. She knew why he'd chosen the cozier location for her comfort. She was his mate.
That made the kindness harder to take. She thought of Stella and Blaze and the easy way they cared for each other. She wanted what they had, and wanting it scared her. She was still married to Wade, still pregnant, still one bad day from running.
But she'd hired Axel for a job and paid him two hundred dollars she could barely afford. She typedokayand spent the next several days trying not to think about the fact that she'd been matched with her fated shifter mate.
On Thursday, she caught herself standing over her packed bags trying to figure out what to wear. She had work clothes, the clothes she'd brought from Spokane, and the few items she'dbought in larger sizes since coming to Fate Mountain. Then she reminded herself it was a case update, not a date.
She grabbed an XL printed T-shirt with a kawaii cat illustration she'd found at the thrift store and a pair of jeans two sizes larger than the ones she'd brought from Spokane.
When she arrived at the café, Axel was already at the corner table with a coffee and a manila envelope.
"Reese," he said, standing when he saw her.
"Axel." She sat.
A redheaded woman came over from behind the counter, hair coming loose from its knot, her apron dusted with flour. "Morning, Axel."
"Morning, Brie."
She smiled down at Reese. "And you must be his ten o'clock. What can I get you, hon? It's on us. Steel Protection covers their clients at meetings."
"Oh. A vanilla latte, then. Thank you."
"And one of the kouign-amann. They're still warm, and you don't say no to those." Brie was gone before Reese could decline. She was back a minute later with the latte and the pastry, its layers golden brown and glossy with caramelized sugar. She set both down and left them to it.
"She's sweet," Reese said, watching her go.
"Brie's the best." He smiled. "Hunter's mate. Brings day-olds to the office like we'd starve without her."
Reese took a sip of her latte. "It's nice that your company covers your client's orders here."
"It's standard," he said, waving it off, his eyes shining in the morning sunlight.
He then told her that nine of the eleven data brokers had cleared both her names and had sent written confirmations. The two holdouts had received escalation letters. One had complied yesterday. The other usually took a second notice and three business days.
The monitoring flags had run silent since Axel set them. He slid the summary across the table. Green dashes filled the page. No searches. No alerts. Nobody had looked for her. She drank her coffee and felt herself relax for the first time in months.
"Something else you should be aware of," he said. "I found the Spokane police report. The assault arrest changes the risk profile. So does his current Concealed Pistol License." He kept his voice even. "I need you to know I'm treating him as armed and likely to escalate if he finds you."
She looked at her pastry, then back at him. "Okay."
"Okay," he said, opening an envelope. "Here's where we are."
Inside was a folded page and a small key. The page listed each part of the address change in plain language. The Idaho mailbox was set up and ready. That was the address she'd use on official paperwork from now on. It was registered under a holding name, not her legal name.
The second mailbox was here in Fate Mountain. Mail from Idaho would forward there. That box was not in her name either. The small key was for that mailbox.
Two items were still unfinished on the list on the page. Her utilities still needed to be moved to the Idaho address. Her car registration would be updated when the tags came due.
She looked at the little key. Two mailboxes stood between Wade and her apartment. Neither was in her name.
"And if he looks me up today?"
