“I’d burn his files if I had to return to that office,” Chelsea informed them. “And I’m sure he’s completely destroyed my filing system by now.”
She’d taken a week for vacation once; when she’d returned, the filing system was a disaster, not to mention the files strewn from one office to the other. What was it about men and their files?
“I don’t intend to send you back to filing hell,” Rule promised with a quirk of his lips. “I wanted to apprise you of the situation, let you know that he’s likely aware of the operation you’re a part of.”
Well, at least she didn’t have to worry about explaining it to him now.
“Maybe he’ll let it go now.” She shrugged. “His curiosity has been assuaged and he can go back to his own job and leave mine alone.”
She had to admit, knowing he was at the clubs the night he’d followed her had given her a sense of security she hadn’t known in the weeks before, or the past two nights. For some reason, the knowledge that Cullen was there meant far more than knowing Draeger and Tobias were shadowing her.
“I wouldn’t bet on it if I were you,” Cassie whispered, her voice almost too low to hear.
Chelsea refrained from shooting the other woman a warning look. Cullen hadn’t cared one way or the other what she was doing until that responsibility complex of his had kicked in at the news of her attack. Then he’d felt he had to protect her. He’d never considered the thought that protection wasn’t what she needed.
“I’m betting on it.” Chelsea gave a firm nod, determined she was right.
She knew Cullen. She’d worked with him for four years; she knew how deep his sense of responsibility went. He felt responsible for her. Felt he had to protect her. That was the reason he hadn’t wanted her in Command or in Ops. He could keep her safe in the office.
Cassie snickered beside her while Lawe and Rule cast the other woman a hooded look. No one had ever accused Breeds of not being weird.
“If that’s everything?” She rose slowly to her feet, her gaze encompassing the three Breeds currently seeming to have some joke at her expense. “I’d like to get to the operations center and go over the pictures and video that’s come in over the past week so I’ll to know where to concentrate my interest when I head back out.”
Rule nodded as he and Lawe rose to their feet once again.
“Draeger and Tobias are waiting for you outside the office,” Lawe stated, nodding to the door.
“I’ll be down to join you in a bit,” Cassie informed her as she headed for the door. “Give me about thirty minutes.”
“You know where I’ll be,” she called back to the other woman.
Leaving the office, she was aware of the two Wolf Breeds waiting for her as they rose to their feet and trailed behind her.
Cassie seemed certain Cullen wasn’t going to let this go so easily. Chelsea sincerely hoped the other woman was wrong. She knew Cullen. Working with him on this would be impossible, and she wasn’t about to quit and turn it over to him or anyone else.
As the door closed behind Chelsea, Cassie lifted her gaze from where she’d been concentrating on a chip in the polish on her nail. As advanced as technology had become, one would think nail polish wouldn’t chip. Especially professionally applied polish.
Her gaze locked with Rule’s concerned one, and she knew what worried him; it was the same thing worrying her now.
“I had no warning of the attack on her,” she told them, though she knew they were aware of that. “She shouldn’t have been attacked.”
It made no sense. There was no reason Chelsea should have been in any danger whatsoever. There was nothing there to tell her why Chelsea had been attacked, or to lead her in the right direction. All Cassie could see was the shadow of a Coyote, ragged, worn, watching her from her periphery. That Coyote had been a steady companion for years now.
“Do you think it has anything to do with her rescue of the Cerves daughter? Those Coyotes as well as the Cerveses have been hunting for the girl that rescued her,” Rule pointed out, his hard expression concerned.
“That’s definitely not it,” Cassie assured them. It was one of the few things she was actually certain of. “Samara and her family are back in New Mexico. They took their daughter there for burial. Samara’s determined to learn Chelsea’s identity, but her reasons aren’t clear. As for the three Coyotes . . .” She grimaced with the memory of the terror they’d inflicted on a child. “Samara Cerves is damned intelligent. She had the doctors at the estate swab for DNA as they tried to close the bite marks on her daughter’s body.” She covered her lips, her hand shaking as she turned away from the brothers and fought to hide her own emotions and the sickening horror of what that baby had suffered. When she turned back, she could at least speak. “Samara turned those swabs over to Jonas and told him if he could prove he had the Breeds responsible for her death as well as the young woman that returned Louisa, then they’d align with the Breed Underground and begin legitimizing their operations. He took them up on it.”
“Not because he believes them,” Lawe snorted. “Still, keeping them from aligning with the Council is what matters.”
No, Jonas believed the cartel leaders. It had been in his eyes, in his stark expression, when Cassie had accompanied him to see what those animals had done to Samara’s child.
“Samara loved her daughter, Lawe,” Cassie stated, absolutely certain of that. “I met with her when Jonas was called in. She was inconsolable, broken. And so desperate to get her hands on those Coyotes she would have promised anything, and because of her child, she’ll never break that vow. But I have no doubt the Cerves cartel will never align with the Council whether Jonas agreed or not. As for Chelsea, I think Samara wants the girl who rescued her daughter so she can express her gratitude, though, not to harm her.”
Samara Cerves wasn’t the woman she had been before the night her daughter was taken from her bedroom and brutalized by the three Coyotes. The Blood Queen wasn’t dead, but the blood she wanted had nothing to do with criminal activities now. She wanted the Genetics Council. Not just their soldiers, but the Council itself. And Cassie knew she’d be unstoppable.
“Graeme has three Breeds trailing Chelsea and the Wolf Breeds we assigned her.” Rule pushed his fingers through his hair, his expression tightening in irritation. “We have no idea what designation they are, or who they are. We haven’t been able to identify them.”
“Draeger and Tobias have sensed them.” She nodded. “They’ve tried to draw them in close enough to scent them, but they’ve not exactly been cooperative.” She stared down at her fingers, smoothing one finger over the chipped polish again. “I believe one of them is female, but I have no confirmation.” And no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t sense the answers to her questions.