The Epilogues: Part I: Badge of Honor (The Potentate of Atlanta Book 6), Hailey Edwards [year 2 reading books TXT] 📗

“No.” A single drop rolled down her cheek. “Thank you.”

Without another word, she jerked to her feet and bolted out the door, slamming it behind her.

Necromancer hearing wasn’t much better than human, but he still waited until she got in the elevator to tell Hadley what his nose had relayed to him.

“She’s lying.” He exhaled. “Selkies are shifters, but they’re also not. It’s clear she’s had some practice in…not suppressing her emotions exactly, but in muddying them until it’s hard to tell which part of what she’s said is false.”

“What’s your best guess?”

“Given how milk and cookies sent her running for the door, I would say her kids aren’t at the hotel.” The feral half of him believed worse. “I doubt her husband is there either. I think she came alone, but she’s letting everyone believe her family traveled with her.”

“He’s right.”

The voice at his shoulder prompted an annoyed growl from his inner beast, but Hadley squeaked.

“Remy.” She slapped a hand over her heart. “I forgot you were here.”

“Then I did my job right.” She buffed her nails on her shirt. “I would ask for a bonus, but since I’m my own boss—” she gave herself a high five, “—bonus granted.”

“If you’re done patting yourself on the back…?” Hadley raised her brows. “How so?”

“She lied. A lot. But she lied carefully, so as not to get caught on the finer details. The other thing? She was tense. Really tense.”

“She was in enemy territory,” Midas reminded her. “She was bound to be nervous.”

“Her shoulders twitched every time you mentioned her husband or her kids.”

“She might have been uncomfortable sharing personal details with a potential enemy.”

“Do you guys even need me here?” Hadley bit into a cookie. “You’re good cop/bad copping like pros.”

Remy’s instincts often fell in line with his, probably due to their fae heritage and predatory natures, but Remy was also cocky. Forcing her to work through the details was honing her skills as well as his.

“I always need you,” Midas said while Remy made gagging noises.

“You earned a cookie.” Hadley placed the reward between her teeth, rose on her tiptoes, and let him take it from her with his mouth. “Good boy.”

“What about me?” Remy pouted. “I like cookies.”

“I’m not going to Lady and the Tramp with you, but yes. You also deserve a cookie.” Hadley tossed her one. “You sent one of yourselves after Sue, I assume?”

“Yup.” Remy swallowed it whole. “I wanted to see where she goes from here.”

“Good thinking.” Hadley tossed her another cookie. “I approve.”

Remy, who’d missed out on dinner, sat and began shoveling in leftovers with relish.

As she used the last biscuit to scrape the final drop of gravy off her plate, her phone rang. “Hmph?”

Sharp as his ears were, he missed nothing, but he let Remy share her findings with Hadley.

“Four says Sue went straight to the hotel on record and right to her room.” Remy stole Hadley’s glass and chugged sweet tea. “From her vantage, she couldn’t see anyone in the room waiting on her. The kids might have been asleep or in their rooms playing on their phones. She booked three total. Who knows? But unless the hubby was in the bathroom, or with the kids, he wasn’t there.”

“Ask Four to keep an eye out,” Hadley decided. “We need to know who she brought with her.”

“I’ll update you when I hear back from Four.” Remy stole the rest of the cookies and shoved them in her pockets. “I’m going to veg. I had a long flight, and I’m tired of people-ing.”

“Hold on.” Hadley snapped her fingers. “I almost forgot to ask. Can I borrow your phone?”

The number Hadley left at Lockdown made a lot more sense now. “That’s the contact you left them?”

“Keep it.” Remy tossed it to Hadley. “I’ve had it six weeks. It’s time for a change.”

The OPA gave Remy an allowance for burner phones, for her and her counterparts, since they lost them with all their multiplying and subtracting during the course of their activities. It shouldn’t surprise him that Hadley would keep tabs on Remy’s ever-changing numbers.

“Thanks.” Hadley set it on the counter. “I’ll toss it when I’m done.”

Remy let herself out, trailing crumbs, and Midas began clearing the table to give Hadley time to think.

About the time he finished loading the dishwasher, Hadley’s phone rang.

“Reece,” she answered, switching it to speaker. “Go ahead.”

“Sue bought seven plane tickets, but only one got punched. She picked up a compact rental at the airport and drove straight to her hotel, where she booked three rooms for seven days. She’s ordered in food every day she’s been here, but she only purchases one meal.”

The inconsistencies in her behavior troubled Midas. Sue was covering some of her tracks while leaving others exposed for anyone looking to find. The mixed signals further confused his predatory side.

“She came alone.” Hadley frowned at the chair where Sue had sat. “Why not be upfront about it?”

“No one would have expected her to bring her family into a tense and possibly hostile situation,” Midas agreed. “Faking it has only drawn attention to her, not diverted it.”

“We don’t have the same resources in Phoenix that we do here,” she addressed Reece, “but tell me you can work your magic.”

“It will take longer, but I can do it the old-fashioned way. Give me twenty-four hours.”

“Sounds good.” She exhaled. “We’ll be here.”

The call ended, and Midas knew beyond a shadow of a doubt his mate wouldn’t sleep today.

Not without help.

He went to her, cupped her face between his palms, and breathed, “I love you.”

He pressed his lips to hers, tasted her frustration and doubt, and challenged it with a firm nip on her ripe bottom lip. Impatient noises rose up her throat, and her hands slid beneath his shirt, yanking on the fabric until he tugged it over his head to give her more access.

“I love you too.” She branded the words into his skin with tender kisses over his heart. “So much.”

Scooping her