Page 46 of Old Secrets

As time favored none of us, I turned my attention to the two Chinese delegation members seated at the far end of the table. They spoke with Aiko, as they had from the moment of their arrival.

Jake squeezed my hand, and he nodded his head in Amelia’s direction.

Several Japanese Fenerec males did their best to charm her, and for the most part, she proved immune to their posturing.

Jake asked, “See the short one in the corner?”

I did; the morning’s basic briefing indicated he was the eldest of the Fenerec wolves, an unmated Alpha old enough to worry the Inquisition. “He’s been quiet. Aiko warned me to step lightly around him.”

“Not for the reason you think. He’s an enforcer, much like Desmond, and he lives for puppies. He views us as abused puppies in dire need of strong familial structure, but Amelia distracted him. He doesn’t view her as a puppy because his wolf is panting as much as the others are. If he can launch a successful courting, I bet Amelia would fit well with the Japanese packs. She wants the isolation they can offer her, and the packs here have quiet places off the beaten path she would like. And she’s strong enough to stand up against him.”

Uh oh. “Won’t that cause us problems?”

“If we can get him to go with us, not at all. That should be one of our plays—to convince that Alpha to join our ranks for this. Amelia’s been unstable for a while, and he’s strong enough to keep her wolf on the right side of the line.”

A chill crept through me at the thought of Amelia losing control of her wolf. “But she’s been fine with us.”

“We’ve been offering her stability. But how we’ve been living won’t last forever. Once Greenwich is gone, her support structure will start to collapse.” Jake winced, and then he heaved a sigh. Leaning closer to me, he whispered, “If you think something is amiss, squeeze my hand three times so I know to pay closer attention. We’ll talk about what we learn when we are somewhere private.”

I foresaw talking in a shower again to make certain we kept our secrets secret. I nodded before asking, “Do you think this wolf is a good match for Amelia?”

“I think he could be. She’s snapped and snarled at the other males, but he was able to talk to her for at least ten minutes without her driving him out of her space. That’s a good sign.”

It was? On second thought, I’d been shy around Jake for at least a year before warming up to him being my partner. I realized I’d done similar behavior with Jake, shying away from him without fully driving him from my territory or establishing more boundaries.

He’d given me just the right amount of space to learn how to work with me and around my skittish yet driven nature.

“Would I have gotten rid of you if I’d given you less time?” I teased.

“No.”

Wolves. “Does that make you more stubborn or stupid than the ones that Amelia’s driving out of her territory?”

“It makes me more patient.”

That I could believe. “Anyone else you want for the team?”

Jake considered those around us, who minded their own business and talked to others. “Just that Alpha. He’s pretty quiet, and the dossier I read on him indicates he’d rather just leave names out of the equation unless we become friendly with him. Just use sir on him; he understands it’s a term of respect in the United States.”

“When have you had time to go over anyone’s dossiers?”

“Mostly while you were sleeping,” he admitted. “When I’d wake up after a few hours of sleep, I’d work for an hour or two before sneaking back into bed. And before you worry, I’ve been getting sufficient sleep.”

When I wasn’t trying to get Jake out of his shirt, I’d mastered the art of worrying about him. My fox held some responsibility for that.

Upon clueing in he still struggled, she’d decided she needed to protect her den. For the most part, he was our den.

I foresaw a battle of wills the next time I crossed paths with Jake’s mother.

“Okay. You can fill me in on the work you’ve been sneaking in later. Anything else you think I should know?”

“Not offhand. Just treat it like you do when we have a black market and Inquisition calls, and you’ll be fine. It wouldn’t surprise me if there are a few black market ops in this group somewhere. They’re sneaky, and they won’t let us know they’re in here. But they’ll likely supply us, especially since the Inquisition is involved directly now.”

I’d wondered about the relationship between the Inquisition and the black market, but I hadn’t been brave enough to ask. Questioning seemed a little too much like biting the hand that fed me, and they paid significantly better than the FBI. Of course, I left most of the finances to Jake, especially after the banking incident where I’d forgotten about opening accounts. Mellisa swore she’d conquer my issue with finances, but she was the first to admit it was minor compared to the other issues Jake and I battled.

Once we buried Greenwich, we’d have to talk about our future in the FBI—and if we realistically had one.

Would we be happy together working the violent crimes circuit? Unless something changed significantly, I doubted I would return to CARD. After learning the depths of my ma’s betrayal, coping with my pa’s death, confirming the truth behind their baby’s slaughter, and the memories surrounding what had torn me and Jake apart and thrown us back together, I doubted either one of us would remain stable.