Last Chance Mate: Sawyer

by Anya Nowlan

  “We deal with that if and when it comes to that,” he replied. “Don’t stress about the hypotheticals. But Naomi,” he added, turning his gaze toward her, “if anything goes wrong, you get out. I can handle myself, but I need to know you will get out of harm’s way if it should get to that point.”

  Naomi fell silent for a moment. If she were brutally honest with herself, she knew that against a demon, she was pretty much useless. Verin could swat her like a fly, and there wouldn’t be anything she could do about it.

  It wasn’t something she wanted to admit, and even as the thought crawled into her brain, she pushed it away. Inside her, there was a deep need to help, to be of use, to redeem herself in a way. But that was selfish, and she didn’t have just herself to think about.

  If putting her safety first was something Sawyer needed her to do in order to be at his best, then it would be foolish to argue.

  “Okay,” she said reluctantly.

  They sat in silence for a couple of minutes, with Sawyer looking like he was ready to leap out of the car at any moment. Naomi herself was on pins and needles. She had never really had a rebellious teenage phase. Not after moving in with her aunt, anyway.

  Sophie had just lost her only sister, and her brother-in-law, and was suddenly thrust into parenthood. Naomi was old enough to realize that her being a brat was the last thing her aunt needed. And since they were pretty much the only family they each had left, pushing Sophie away had never really been an option.

  Just like arguing with Sawyer wouldn’t have been a great choice at the moment.

  When she spotted the men from the van coming back out empty-handed, adrenaline rushed through her body. This was all really happening. She and Sawyer were going to walk in and steal a precious artifact.

  That fact hadn’t really sunk in until that moment. It had seemed like some vague plan to be executed sometime in the future. Squeezing her hands into fists, she sat still, waiting for Sawyer’s cue to act.

  “Shouldn’t we wait until nightfall or something?” she asked. “Sneak in under the cover of darkness?”

  Wasn’t that what criminals did? That’s what was always done in the movies, at least…

  “You mean when the doors are locked and campus security makes regular rounds?” Sawyer replied. “Right now, we can just walk in, and if someone sees you, you can easily come up with a legitimate reason for being there. Once we start breaking locks, we lose our shot at talking our way out of things.”

  Naomi nodded. That sounded reasonable enough. She had almost forgotten she was part of the staff, and that it wasn’t exactly unusual for her to come in during the weekends. Still, she would rather not run into someone on the very night that a priceless artifact goes missing.

  Especially after asking Roy how much the thing is worth…

  The men from the lab drove away, and after no one exited or entered the building for a few minutes, Sawyer opened the driver’s side door.

  “All right, let’s do this,” he said, sounding a lot more confident than Naomi felt. “I’m assuming you know where most of the security cameras are,” he added, as she pushed her own door open.

  “In that regard, I’d say we’re pretty lucky,” she replied. “We’ve been meaning to upgrade, but haven’t gotten through all the red tape yet. So it’s mostly just the doors, the parking lot, and a couple of the main hallways that have cameras up.”

  Sawyer leaned closer to her for a second, his arm grazing her knees as he reached for the glovebox, and pulled out a baseball hat. He put it on, pulling it down over his eyes.

  “You walk inside first. If I get caught, I don’t want you to be seen on the tape, walking in with me. Which floor is your office on?” he asked.

  “Second floor, in the east wing,” she replied. “Fourth door on the right.”

  “Okay,” he nodded. “Wait for me there, with the door open. When you see me pass by, come out and lead me toward the basement.”

  Every command was said with such self-assuredness, with no hesitance, that Naomi couldn’t help but nod and agree with everything he said. After all, wouldn’t a former cop know what he was doing?

  “Just act casual. If you run into anyone, react as you normally would. I’ll give you enough time that you don’t have to worry about me showing up before you get to your office,” Sawyer said. “Now go.”

  “Okay,” Naomi replied, running her palms down the sides of her legs. “I’ll see you soon.”

  With that, she took one last look at Sawyer before turning on her heel and marching over to the university. She had to keep herself from glancing back, and kept her shoulders squared, while hoping the anxiety in the pit of her stomach didn’t show in her face.

  Crossing the small courtyard out front, she stopped herself from looking in the spots she knew the cameras would be.

  I’m just going to go get something from my office. That’s a completely normal thing to do. I’m not here to rob the place or anything.

  By the time she got through the front doors, she was sure the back of her shirt was already damp from the sweat trickling down her spine. Who knew a lifetime of being a good girl would come in this… unhelpful.

  She climbed the stairs and walked through the halls on autopilot, barely noticing anything but her own feet. When she was finally only a few doors away from her office, she glanced up, just in time to almost run into Kate from accounting.

  “Oh, sorry,” the woman muttered, as they both stopped just in time to not bump into each other.

  “It’s all right,” Naomi replied, stepping aside to let the woman pass.

  For a moment, it looked like Kate was going to say something else. She got that look on her face that people got when they were about to say something like “I’m sorry for your loss”, or “My condolences”.

  But since she and Naomi weren’t exactly close, Kate seemed to think better of it, and just kept walking. So now there was at least one witness that put Naomi in the building, in addition to the security camera footage.

  Taking a deep breath, Naomi continued on, fishing a key out of her pocket and unlocking the door to her office. As Sawyer had told her to do, she left it open, and went to sit behind her desk, where she would have a good view of the hallway.

  She heard footsteps echo out in other parts of the building, but no one passed by her door. As the seconds ticked by, turning into minutes, she became acutely aware of her own heartbeat hammering against her chest.

  When she spotted Sawyer’s tall frame approaching down the hallway, though, some of the queasiness in the pit of her stomach subsided. Almost knocking her chair over in her hurry to get out from behind her desk, she rushed into the hallway, closing the office door after herself.

  She only looked over at Sawyer from the corner of her eye, as she passed him by and started walking toward the basement. If anyone were to walk by, they wouldn’t have guessed that she knew the man behind her at all.

  Unless that someone is Roy, she reminded herself, cold sweat forming on the back of her neck.

  What if their canceled dinner plans meant that Roy came back to get a head start on examining the statue?

  Don’t worry about the hypotheticals, she told herself, reminded of Sawyer’s advice earlier.

  Descending several flights of stairs, she listened to Sawyer’s steps behind her. They were very quiet for a man of his size, and she found herself softening her steps as well. When they finally arrived on the basement floor, they both stopped, hidden between the protruding walls on either side of the large double doors in front of them.

  She looked over at Sawyer, who pressed a finger over his lips, and angled his head toward the doors. A couple of seconds passed, feeling like an eternity for Naomi.

  “I don’t hear anyone inside,” Sawyer said quietly.

  Carefully, he pushed on the doors, and they exchanged a surprised look when they opened. Sawyer stepped halfway inside, with Naomi close behind him. It was then that they noticed another set of doors, these one
s looking a lot newer.

  A keypad was attached to the wall next to it, with a slot for an ID card.

  “Damn,” Sawyer muttered under his breath.

  Exactly what I was thinking, Naomi sighed. I knew it couldn’t be this easy.

  Eighteen

  Sawyer

  Sawyer’s wolf was not happy as he stared down shiny new metal doors, at least several inches thick. Part of him had known something like this might happen, and that he could fail in getting that statue. But now that he was actually faced with that possibility, it was hard to not let his frustration take over.

  “What do we do? Do we try and get a keycard? Maybe someone has left theirs in their office…” Naomi trailed off.

  “We can’t just start breaking into one office after another,” he replied. “That’s a surefire way to get ourselves caught.”

  Glancing over at Naomi, it was easy to see she was just as disappointed as he was, if not more. This was personal to her, in a way he could never understand.

  “Hey,” he said, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. “We’ll figure something out.”

  She nodded at him, her heart still beating fast from all the excitement. They stood there for a moment, with Sawyer having a hard time letting go of her. It was as if the casual touch had connected them somehow, and even his wolf was calming down, purring deep in his chest.

  But that purr turned into a growl a split second later when a muted voice reached his ears. Seeing him tense up, Naomi looked around, her head whipping from side to side. She couldn’t hear it yet.

  “What?” she asked, eyes widening. “Is it him? Verin?” she whispered.

  “No,” he replied, grabbing her hand instead of her shoulder, and pulling her back up the stairs. “Someone is coming.”

  As quickly and as quietly as he could, Sawyer made a dash for the first floor hallway, with Naomi trailing behind. He kept her hand in his, her skin warm and soft, not letting go until they were tucked away behind a wall in the first floor hallway.

  The voice he had heard grew louder, accompanied by a thudding of steps, as Naomi caught her breath beside him. Pressed against his side, he could hear her blood pumping. That combined with her heavy breathing filled his mind with all kinds of scenarios, none of them appropriate for the situation they were in.

  He glanced over at her, her cheeks flushed, a bead of sweat on her forehead, and suddenly all he could think about was what it would feel like to kiss her. Naomi’s eyes widened, and for a foolish moment, he actually thought that maybe she was thinking the same thing.

  But no. She was just finally hearing what he had heard.

  “That sounds like… Roy,” she mouthed, peering toward the edge of the wall.

  Sawyer cursed under his breath, inaudible. She was right. The voice did sound like Roy. Just when Sawyer had hoped he would never have to see that weasel again…

  It seemed the man was speaking on his phone, with long pauses and no one else’s voice mixed into the conversation. Sawyer nodded at Naomi, confirming she was right. But that also meant they were pretty much screwed.

  If Roy was there, it was probably to go work on the statue. And that put another wrench in their already failing plan to steal the thing. As tempting as knocking Roy out from behind and running off with the statue sounded, he knew Naomi was unlikely to go along with hurting anyone.

  Either way, he didn’t want to risk Roy recognizing him, and connecting the whole thing back to Naomi.

  Just as he was about to gesture to Naomi that they better get out of there, she caught him off guard, dashing past him and all but skidding around the corner. Sawyer was just a split second too late in grabbing her, his fingers clenching around air as he attempted to pull her back.

  Fuck!

  Hadn’t she promised to stay out of danger? As a former cop, and a PI, he should have known better than to take her on her word… But that was exactly what he had done. His wolf side had taken such an immediate liking to Naomi, it must have clouded the judgment of his more cynical side.

  Or maybe I’ve just gotten rusty at this whole thing…

  Every fiber in Sawyer’s body wanted to follow her, but he knew he couldn’t. Roy would probably not think too much of Naomi showing up at the university, but neighbor Tom trailing behind her might raise eyebrows, and ruin the impression she came into the building alone.

  So, he gritted his teeth, keeping his senses sharp as he listened to her footsteps as she caught up to Roy.

  “Hey,” she said, slightly breathless.

  “Naomi?” Roy asked. “I’ll call you back later,” he added, ending whatever phone call he had been on. “What are you doing here?”

  “Well…” she hesitated for only a moment. “I forgot my memory stick in my office, and I have this new article I wanted to work on. But I’m actually really glad I ran into you.”

  “Uhh,” Roy stuttered. “And Mr. Whiskers?”

  “Oh, she’s doing a lot better,” Naomi replied.

  There was a second of silence, where Roy must have wondered why Naomi would be wandering around the halls in the archaeology department, but Naomi quickly filled the quiet.

  “I was kind of hoping I would run into you,” she said, and Sawyer could hear the smile in her voice. “I’m sorry about ditching you at the coffee shop like that. I had a great time chatting with you.”

  It seemed she was getting better at lying by the second. Sawyer couldn’t see her body language, but just the tone of her voice was more convincing than it had been before. Then again, high-pressure situations tended to bring out hidden talents in people.

  “You did?” Roy asked, sounding pleased.

  “Of course,” Naomi replied with a small laugh. “So, you decided to come in and do some work after all?”

  “I would have preferred dinner with a beautiful woman, but examining priceless artifacts will do in a pinch,” the man said.

  Fists clenched at his sides, Sawyer had to consider if he was imagining the smugness in Roy’s voice because of how the guy was hitting on Naomi, or if Roy really was as slimy as he suspected.

  Either way, listening to the two of them flirt had not been how he thought this evening would turn out. He had to grit his teeth and take a deep breath to quiet the growl inside him. Not being able to see her and Roy interact only made things more difficult.

  Was she touching his arm as she laughed at his cheesy compliment? Was he letting his eyes wander over those delicious curves of hers? Sawyer had never considered himself an especially jealous man, but it seemed Naomi was opening up all sorts of sides to him he hadn’t expected to discover.

  “You must be excited to find out the results of the tests,” Naomi said.

  “Sure,” Roy replied, but he didn’t sound all that convincing. “It was more David’s idea, though. But I promised the dean I would finish what he started, so here I am.”

  “Is that who you were on the phone with?” Naomi asked.

  “Yeah. So unfortunately, I’m going to have to go and look over those results before I can get out of here. Are you still up for dinner? It will be a little wait, though.”

  “That’s all right, maybe I can hang around while you work, and then we can go eat?” she replied.

  “Sure,” Roy replied, the eagerness in his voice only adding to Sawyer’s annoyance. “Maybe I can even give you a little peek at the statue.”

  “Ooh,” Naomi giggled. “Exciting.”

  “All right, follow me then,” Roy said, accompanied by the sound of two pairs of footsteps.

  Sawyer leaned forward, glancing at the hallway from behind his wall. Both Roy and Naomi had their backs to him as they walked over to the first door to the basement. Only Naomi was gesturing with her hand pressed behind her back, wiggling her fingers as if that was supposed to mean something.

  If you’re trying to say I should follow you, I’m already on the same page, he thought. Leaving you alone with Roy in some basement? Yeah, that’s not going to happen.

&nb
sp; Slinking out from behind the wall, Sawyer kept his steps as soft as possible as he slowly trailed behind Roy and Naomi, watching them disappear behind the first set of doors.

  “I’ve never even been to the basement before,” Naomi was saying. “Now that’s some high-tech stuff,” she remarked a moment later.

  “David lobbied to have it installed,” Roy replied. “You can only get in with a keycard.”

  Waiting quietly at the first set of doors, Sawyer listened to Roy slide his card through the slot in the keypad. Then there was a small beep, followed by the sound of doors whooshing open.

  Peeking through the slit in the double doors he was hiding behind, Sawyer saw Naomi fall behind Roy, letting the man go inside first. When it was her turn, she pushed the door as open as it went, reaching back to keep it that way as she entered.

  Sawyer waited for as long as he could, only passing through the first set of doors when the second door was about to close. At the last moment, he slid his fingers between the door and its frame, making as little noise as possible in the process.

  He had no idea what the floorplan was like beyond the door. Was it just a big open space where he would be visible as soon as he entered? Or was there something there to hide behind?

  But, he knew he had to act either way. Getting ahold of that statue before Verin did was important, he just knew it deep in his gut.

  All right, here goes, he thought, gently pulling the door open.

  Nineteen

  Naomi

  Looking around the large room filled with lights, shelves and steel doors leading to who knew where, all Naomi could think about was…

  Did Sawyer make it inside?

  There were different work stations set up, computers and laptops scattered around, along with latex gloves, tiny brushes, stacks of papers and tools she could only guess the function of. Large shelves lined the door she had tried to hold open for Sawyer, so it was possible he had gotten inside and was hiding between them.