Jefferson’s face was sympathetic. “Hey. I get it. Five years on the job, I’ve only seen it happen once, and if I ever get to see it again you couldn’t pry me away. Not with a bar of topless dancers.” Cooper smiled weakly and Jefferson slapped his arm. “Don’t fret, kid. There isn’t an agent here who wouldn’t get distracted by a shift. It’s only human. So to speak.” Jefferson barked a laugh and then added, overly casual, “Pultz got released yesterday anyway.”
“What?”
“Yeah. Bethesda says he’s got an alibi. Spent the whole day at an arcade, apparently. Shows up on a couple of security tapes. It’s the flimsiest alibi I’ve ever heard. Mark my words, that wolf’s guilty, but Bethesda already cut him loose.”
“So we’re going back?”
“Nah, Santiago said she’s sending Carver. Fresh eyes. More like bleeding heart.” Jefferson rolled his eyes. Carver seemed to always have more open cases than closed and was known to be an adamant “Trustee,” or supporter of the Trust and wolf rights. “Speak of the devil.”
Cooper turned around. SAC Santiago was striding toward him. She’d been a legend in the FBI before moving to the BSI at its conception. The opportunity to work under her had been one of the reasons Cooper had agreed to sign up for a job he hadn’t fully understood. He wondered if she’d known what she was getting into. Did she have any regrets? Right now she just looked pissed.
“Dayton,” she said, as if in answer to an unspoken question. If that question was who is on the top of your shit list today. “You’re not early.”
“No, ma’am. I’m sorry. The out-of-towners slowed me down.” Well, he’d bought last night’s bottle of red out of town, anyway. Who knew where the man on the metro was from. Hopefully far, far away.
“Walk with me,” she said, turning, and then called over her shoulder, “Jefferson, I thought I told you to go home.”
Jefferson saluted her and winked at Cooper, who hurried after Santiago. She moved like a bullet out of the main office and down the hall.
“Ma’am, I apologize again. I—”
“Shut up, Dayton.” Cooper shut his mouth and Santiago stopped a couple doors away from the Director’s office. “Now I don’t have time to pre-brief you the way I’d hoped and we both have to make do with the CliffsNotes.” She paused. For all her urgency a minute ago, she seemed unsure what to say next. “Look. You’re being assigned a new case. And the Director wants to try something...different.”
“What—”
“He’ll explain. I don’t have the time.” She shot him a quelling look. “But I know you’re not going to like it. So I’m asking you now, as your supervisor, to put your big-boy pants on and for fuck’s sake, keep them on for this meeting. You want to whine, we’ll talk about it after.” She reached out as if to grab his arm, but stopped. “This is bigger than you,” she said, and without any more explanation continued into the Director’s office.
Cooper followed.
“Ah, Santiago. You’ve found Agent Dayton, good, good.” Director Furthoe stood from behind his desk and shook Cooper’s hand with his big, soft paw. He was a bear of a man, with a bald head, thick gray mustache and a barrel chest, but he moved surprisingly delicately. Walking as if always tiptoeing across gravel in his bare feet.
Furthoe didn’t offer his hand to Santiago and she didn’t wait for it, moving to the side of the room and taking a spectator seat by the wall. The way she moved in the room told Cooper she and Furthoe had already been talking before he’d been collected. His unease increased.
“Sir. Sorry I’m late.” Was he? Or was he just late for the informal pre-briefing Santiago had wanted to have?
“Nonsense. We’re glad you could cut your weekend short. You’re a dedicated agent, Dayton. One of our best. Which is why we knew you’d be perfect for this case.”
Cooper relaxed a little at the praise and they took their seats.
“We got flagged for a couple of killings in Florence, Maine. Small town about an hour and a half out of Portland on the border of the White Mountain National Forest. A third person went missing yesterday. We’ve booked you a flight up there this afternoon.”
Cooper nodded. He was used to sudden trips. He kept a go bag ready and his neighbor’s kid, Ava, was always happy to feed Boogie. She was often coming by to feed him even when Cooper was in town. “Yes, sir. Is Jefferson flying out with me?”
“No. Jefferson hasn’t been assigned this case.” Furthoe exchanged a look with Santiago. “It’s a bit complicated. Which is why we wanted to have this...chat. We—the BSI, I mean—have been getting a lot of bad press recently.”
“Bad press, sir?” Seemed like a difficult feat for a secret organization.
Furthoe twirled his short, thick fingers. “Complaints from the wolf community, from the Trust, even from here within the bureau. Demands for change from every corner since Syracuse.”
Cooper shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Syracuse was a tragedy, sir. But are we going to change the entire system because of one terrible incident?”
“It’s not just one incident, though,” Santiago spoke up from the corner. “You haven’t been here long enough, Dayton, but this is a systemic problem. More and more cases aren’t being closed properly. The wrong werewolf is brought in. We have complaints of unnecessary force being used. Werewolves go missing. Run off the radar by poor agent conduct, while the actual criminals slip through our fingers because agents don’t take the time to look, or more often than not, don’t even know what they’re looking for.”
Cooper thought of Ben Pultz. Santiago had a point. He should just nod and let them get on with it. But that stupid argumentative streak was rearing its head. “I don’t disagree,” he said slowly. “But what else can we do? With all due respect, we’re overtaxed. There aren’t enough agents for all the flagged cases and when we do get there we don’t have the information or experience needed. Not to mention bad relations with the wolves don’t make them any more willing to be helpful.”
Surprisingly, Director Furthoe looked pleased, almost smug. “I’m glad you agree, Agent Dayton. When Cola suggested you for this, I knew you’d be a perfect fit.”
Margaret Cola was the head of the Trust. Hearing that the most powerful wolf in the country even knew who he was shocked Cooper. “This, sir?”
“For this case we’ve decided to pair one of our agents with a Trust, ah, agent.”
Furthoe continued talking about fostering goodwill and a new age of collaboration, but the words may as well have been coming out backward.
“A Trust agent,” Cooper interrupted.
“Yes.”
“But that means he’d be a wolf. Or she’d be a wolf,” Cooper amended. Though it seemed ridiculous to be gender-conscious when Furthoe was suggesting partnering with another sort of...species? Another sort of something, anyway. He shifted in his seat, desperate to be standing. To be moving.
“Yes. Agent Park is a werewolf.” Furthoe’s voice had a hint of impatience now. “He is also very familiar with the town of Florence. Ms. Cola and I have agreed that Agent Park will be extremely helpful during liaisons with the local wolves. And a public show of cooperation between the BSI and the Trust cannot come too soon.” Furthoe frowned, clearly thinking of Syracuse again.
Cooper opened his mouth, but Santiago interrupted. “As you said yourself, Dayton, the BSI is struggling. Not only are we understaffed but our human agents aren’t trusted by the wolf community. They don’t understand wolf politics or culture and are fumbling relations. Working with werewolf agents could help both sides.”
“Not to say we’re on opposite sides here,” Furthoe added quickly. “Just the law-breaking and law-abiding.”
Santiago stood before Cooper could comment on that. “Perhaps it’s time to introduce Agent Park, sir?”
“Yes. I agree.” Furthoe stood and Cooper quickly got up as well. He felt a b
it dazed. “Agent Dayton, I’m sure you’ll represent the bureau well.” He shook Cooper’s hand firmly and beamed. “I have a good feeling about this. A really excellent feeling.”
“This is a disaster,” Cooper hissed after the Director’s door had closed.
“It could be. If you don’t make it work. But you will make it work,” Santiago said, leading him down the hall. They passed portraits of fallen agents and past supervisors. Their blank, uniform stares seemed shocked today under Cooper’s own wide-eyed bewilderment. He felt the familiar prickling of nerves and adrenaline he got before interrogating a suspect. But the wolf he was about to meet was no suspect. This would be his partner. He realized he was absent-mindedly tracing the four long scars on his belly, which seemed to burn and tighten more the closer they got, and quickly dropped his hand.
Cooper had never met a member of the Trust before. After the big coming-out, their work with the BSI had dropped behind the scenes, policy shit and putting together educational programs for agents about wolves that mostly involved Margaret Cola starring in corny little videos they showed new recruits.
We’re just like you. We’re your neighbors, your friends. Chances are you know a wolf even if you don’t yet realize it. And other equally useless tutorials.
Santiago interrupted his apprehensive musing. “Furthoe didn’t give you the whole story, but we’re on the edge of a cliff right now, Dayton. Tensions with the wolf community haven’t been this high since the coming-out and every ignorant comment and action on our part makes it exponentially worse.”
“But—”
“But nothing. There are whispers of rebel packs forming, protesting the very existence of the BSI, wanting to make a statement. Fringe groups for now, but every fuckup on our part is fuel to their fire. The Trust doesn’t want them gaining support any more than we do. You working with Agent Park is an experiment. If it works, we’ll pair more of our agents with theirs. It needs to work, Dayton.”
“Agents? They’re not agents, though, are they? How can I trust him to watch my back?”
“If you mean because he’s a werewolf—”
“I mean because he’s an office lackey. A PR guy. A politician. What’s he going to help me with, paperwork?”
Santiago smiled, a bit tight-lipped. “I think you’ll find Agent Park plenty capable. So if we could hurry this crisis of yours up, I’d rather not leave him waiting any longer.”
“He’s here already? Now?”
“He’s been waiting in my office. Got here before you, I might add.”
“Jesus...”
Santiago spun, forcing Cooper to come to an abrupt stop. “Big. Boy. Pants,” she said. “Any issues you’ve got with werewolves—”
“I don’t have—”
“Shelve it. Dayton, this—” She took a deep breath and shook her head a little. “This is bigger than us. Trust me. You need to make it work. All right?”
Cooper nodded and Santiago led him into her office.
A tall, broad-shouldered man in a crisp gray suit stood by the window, staring out.
“Agent Park, I’m sorry to have kept you waiting,” Santiago said.
The man turned around and Cooper exhaled sharply. He knew this wolf.
“Agent Park, this is Agent Cooper Dayton, your partner for this case.”
The guy from the metro smiled and held out his hand. “Looks like we’ll get that shake after all.”
Don’t miss The Wolf at the Door by Charlie Adhara.
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Copyright © 2018 by Charlie Adhara
Also available from Charlie Adhara and Carina Press
The Wolf at the Door
And stay tuned for the next book in the Big Bad Wolf series
Thrown to the Wolves
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Acknowledgments
Thank you to Mackenzie Walton, editor supreme, for always knowing what to do. And to my family for all the distractions. I didn’t think I’d thank you for it but here we are.
About the Author
Charlie Adhara has always loved a good story and, on occasion, a bad one. After getting her degree in neuroscience, Charlie decided she’d much rather study the heart. She now writes contemporary, mystery, paranormal, queer romance. Or some assortment of that. Whatever the genre, her stories feature imperfect people stumbling around, tripping over trouble and falling in love.
Charlie has done a fair amount of stumbling around herself but tends to find her way back to the northeast US.
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ISBN-13: 9781488089367
The Wolf at Bay
Copyright © 2018 by Charlie Adhara
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The Wolf at Bay (Big Bad Wolf) Page 29
