Almost immediately a clear image of me pummeling Drake jumped into my head and a sudden jolt of satisfaction surged through me. I grabbed on to the edge of my desk to steady myself, leaving little half-moon nailprints in the cheap laminant wood. I had him by the neck. He was struggling, but it was no contest. A tide of endorphins rode through my blood-stream, dizzying me.

My wolf growled happily inside my head, snapping her muzzle in agreement.

Hold on there, sister. One step at a time.

I needed food.

I spent the remainder of the day making calls and eating. I shoveled in as much food as Marcy could lay in front of me. My hunger was insatiable.

It was sad, really, because at this rate I’d have to eat in private from now on. There was no way I could go into a restaurant and order three cheeseburgers at a time and then gobble them down in front of anyone with any sense. And there wasn’t enough time to go to three different restaurants for a normal-sized meal every time I was hungry. It kind of sucked, because I hated cooking, but I was going to have to learn in a hurry; either that or be resigned to the bleak fate of eating prepackaged food or takeout for the rest of eternity.

Marcy was positively gleeful as she dropped another greasy takeout bag on my desk.

I ripped into it without hesitation.

“Good Lord, woman,” Marcy said. “At this rate you’re going to be twice your size by the end of the week.”

“Be quiet or I’ll make you eat with me,” I managed between bites. “Not all of us were lucky enough to be born with the body of a supermodel.” Marcy was tall, svelte, and had incredible curves, which is exactly why normal women referred to women like her as “bitches.” It was completely unfair. She could ingest anything she wanted and still look phenomenal. I was hoping my newer, faster metabolism would shape me into a Marcy over time. Doubtful, but I could hope.

She took one look at my face and made a hasty retreat, but not before throwing over her shoulder, “If I ate like that, my stomach would explode. Then you’d be sorry.”

“Quiet, hot stuff,” I said, my mouth already around another burger.

After my third dip into food, I finally had time to call Nathan Dunn, my landlord, back. It was a quick conversation, and I heartily accepted his offer to help clean up the mess in my apartment. I briefly explained about the piles of furniture and he assured me he would have a team out there shortly to take care of it.

I was mildly surprised I hadn’t “heard” from Tyler yet. Communicating telepathically was handy. I gave a small tweak out-ward in my mind.

Tyler, are you there?

Nothing.

I wondered if there was a distance range. Weird.

Next I wrote my statement for the police and faxed it over to the station. I hadn’t had a chance to talk to James in person, but my dad was going to fill him in. Ray hadn’t shown up today waving an arrest warrant, so that meant the tranq findings hadn’t come back yet. Or they’d been inconclusive. Even better.

The last thing on my agenda was to retry my potential new client. I’d tried calling him earlier in the day, but hadn’t gotten through and there’d been no voicemail option, which was a little strange. Everybody had voicemail. I picked up Marcy’s note, which had his name highlighted as “the cute-voiced Colin Rourke” and a phone number.

“We’ll just see about that,” I mumbled as I dialed.

“Hello, this is Rourke,” a very strong male voice answered on the first ring.

I had to admit, it held a very nice bravado. There was also an intriguing trace accent I couldn’t readily place. “Hello, Mr. Rourke. This is Molly Hannon, of Hannon & Michaels. You contacted us yesterday about a possible problem? What can I do for you?”

“Ah, Ms. Hannon.” I could detect a hint of a smile behind those words. “Thanks for getting back to me. It seems I’m having some issues with my business partner, and I’d like to retain your services.”

“What kind of problems specifically?” I asked. We took most cases, but sometimes things weren’t nearly as dire as people originally thought.

“I believe he’s embezzling money from our company.”

Well, that sounded dire enough. “Okay, we’d be happy to help. Let’s see what we can do.”

“Ms. Hannon,” he said. “I want to make this extremely clear from the get-go. I’m retaining your services, and your services alone. This is a highly sensitive matter and I’m not interested in making it a three-ring circus. Privacy is of the utmost importance.”

I cleared my throat, immediately tamping down my annoyance. “I assure you, Mr. Rourke, Hannon & Michaels is a very professional firm. We treat everything we do with extreme privacy. Performing circus acts won’t be anywhere in your contract, not even in the fine print.”

Rich laughter echoed over the line. “I sincerely hope not.” Then his voice dipped, taking on a low, gravelly tone. “I’m looking forward to meeting you, Ms. Hannon. You come highly recommended for this line of work.”

“Thank you.” I think. “I look forward to meeting you too, Mr. Rourke. We can set a time to further discuss your situation right now, if it’s convenient. When are you available next?”

“It’s Rourke, no need for the ‘Mr.’”

“Excuse me?”

“My name. It’s just Rourke.”

“Um … okay, Rourke. When would be a good time to meet?”

“I’m heading out of town on business for the rest of the month Thursday morning, so the only possible time I can meet is tomorrow night.”

“That should work.” We arranged to meet over drinks the next night in a nearby bar.

“Looking forward to it,” he said.

If I was being honest with myself, I’d have to say I was intrigued. My wolf had taken notice too, surprising since she’d been relatively quiet since we’d come to work. However, the moment Rourke had come on the line, she’d begun to prowl. Having her in my head was beyond strange. It was like two separate parts of myself were alive and could operate independently. It was going to take some getting used to. But I pushed it out of my mind for now. I couldn’t afford to dwell on it, since my top priority was still business as usual. Once things settled back to normal, like I was madly hoping they would, I was going to allow myself to take as much time as I needed to figure everything out.

I stood and stretched. It was after five and I needed to run a few errands before Nick and I met with the lovable Drake Jensen. I was eager for him to make his move tonight, so we could be done with it.

“Have you talked to Dreamsicle yet?” Marcy asked pointedly as I passed her desk on my way out.

“I have. And he did sound pretty darn dreamy. I’m meeting with him tomorrow evening at eight o’clock to discuss the case.”

“Okay, I’ll jot it down.” I watched her simply mark tomorrow night’s calendar date with a big heart. Smartass. “And just so you know, I have a good feeling about this one,” she said with a saucy wink.

“You say that about everyone.” I rolled my eyes. “You’re starting to lose credibility. Plus, you know I never date clients. It goes against my high ethical standards.”

“When you’re done with the job, he won’t be your client anymore. Voilà,” she said. “And I’m bound to be right one of these times. I have witchy instincts, you know.”

I chuckled. “If Nick calls, tell him I’ll pick him up at six-thirty.” He’d been gone all day, which wasn’t unusual. We were both out of the office a lot. His current case was trying to track down a mystery graffiti artist whose art enthralled those who came too close. It was a tough one.

“I’ll be sure to do that,” Marcy said.

I walked to the door.

“And, Jess?”

“Yep?” I turned.

“I’m really glad you’re back.”

“I’m really glad to be back.” I smiled.

“No need to get a big head about it.”

7

I shut my car door and a soft ping floated through my head, followed by my brother’s voice. Heading home already?

Yep, but I’m leaving on another assignment in a couple of hours with Nick. It should be no big deal, just a stakeout. Are you nearby?

I’m a couple blocks away. I can see your car from where I’m standing. Everything’s been quiet on all fronts.

That’s a relief. I glanced out my window and down the street. I couldn’t see Tyler or his completely unsubtle shiny red Mustang anywhere, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t see me. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but nothing sounds perfectly great to me.

Nick is in charge of covering you tonight, so if you two decide to split up you have to give me a call.

Okay. Have you heard anything new from up north? I was hoping the wolves on the Compound had calmed down overnight.

I haven’t heard anything specifically. Dad still has everybody on lockdown now. They were going to have several meetings about it today. I don’t think they’re buying you haven’t changed, and Hank has been on a rampage, shouting garbage about you as usual.

Shit. That’s not good. Well, to top off that crappy news, Ray Hart is the detective on my case.

The asshole who gave you trouble on the force?

The very same. He also found my tranq. They have it at the lab as we speak. He thinks it’s highly illegal and is hoping to pin it on me.

We should’ve taken care of him years ago.

Killing people is not always the perfect solution to everything. Dad didn’t think it was a problem and has Doc on it already. They’ll come up with something plausible. I also told Ray I wasn’t home because I was camping with my new boyfriend, James.

He half snorted half coughed.

Yes, and to top it off, we were so madly in love he made me forget my purse and all the necessities a normal person needs on vacation.

Tyler laughed. That’s a good one. I’m sure James will play along; he’s a good guy, even though that’s the funniest thing I’ve heard in a long time. And don’t worry about trouble cropping up, one of us will be close by from now on, including Danny. I’ll get you a Pack cell phone shortly. You can use that to get a hold of the rest of us. The Pack changed their cells more often than an infant soiled their diaper. I’d never bothered with one. Honestly, if I’d had a problem big enough to bother Pack with prior to this—I might as well have just used my own damn phone.