Oh, her role was such a blessed thing.
“I’ll serve Riley and Tao,” James told her, slipping behind the desk. “You go. We can hold the fort.”
Hiding her reluctance, she skirted the desk and faked a smile for Farrell. “Lead the way.”
Alex, the nosy bastard, stayed at her side as she followed Farrell down the street. She didn’t even bother to give the wolverine shit for tagging along. She was more concerned about what could be happening that warranted her intervention.
Farrell led her to the parking lot outside one of their pride’s apartment buildings. The large crowd there parted to allow them to pass. Fritz and his sour-faced teenage son were standing by a vandalized car, yelling at Fritz’s sister-in-law and her teenage son.
Dani was doing her best to get the situation under the control. All softness and reassurance, she said, “Please let me help with this, Fritz—”
“No, you’ll say whatever will make everyone calm down.” Fritz’s hard gaze flicked to Bree. “She’ll tell the truth.”
Conscious that Alex had planted himself behind her like a sentry, Bree folded her arms. “What’s the issue here?”
“Fritz is accusing my boy of vandalizing Junior’s car,” said Harriet, Fritz’s sister-in-law. “Parker is not a vandal.”
“Touch him,” Fritz told Bree. “Touch Parker. Read his emotions.”
Parker’s shoulders went stiff. “Omegas can’t sense lies.”
“But we can detect the emotions associated with lying, like guilt and shame,” said Bree. “Or I could just infuse a little guilt into your system; make it so that it bloats you into needing to confess. Of course, that could lead you to make a number of confessions for various things.”
Dani gasped. “Bree!”
Parker shook his head. “You wouldn’t do anything like that without a person’s permission.”
“Very true,” said Bree. “But why wouldn’t you give me permission? I mean, I could help prove your innocence. Wouldn’t you want that?”
The kid’s eyes fell closed. Seconds of tense silence went by. “Okay, I-I did it.”
Harriet whirled on him. “What?”
“I did it. But only because he spray-painted my Harley.” Parker jabbed a finger at Junior.
Fritz’s gaze slammed on his son. “Did you do that?”
Junior’s eyes widened. “Why are you turning on me?”
“I know my own son,” said Fritz. “You’ve been caught spray-painting people’s stuff a few times, and you did it to one of his possessions before—I saw it with my own eyes. So, I’d say I’m justified in asking you this question. Did you do it?”
Junior didn’t answer. He just stubbornly stared at his father.
“Bree, read him,” said Fritz.
Shrugging, Bree made her way toward the teenager. In truth, she wouldn’t read him against his will—she did have some morals—but he didn’t need to know that, did he?
Junior backed up. “No! No way!”
“Bree, don’t you dare!” warned Dani.
Ignoring her, Bree tilted her head at Junior. “You don’t want to prove your innocence?”
“Of course he does,” said Fritz. “Because he knows that if he makes this any worse for himself, his punishment will go on for a while.”
Junior’s shoulders drooped. His mouth bobbed open and closed a few times. “Parker’s telling the truth,” he muttered.
Fritz growled. “I figured that out five minutes ago, idiot.” He looked at his nephew. “Why didn’t you come to me with this?”
Parker’s face scrunched up. “I’m no snitch.”
God, it was amazing that a kid would rather get in trouble for vandalizing a vehicle than earn a reputation as a snitch. “Okay, I’d say the solution here is simple: You each pay for the damage to the other’s property. Not your parents, you. Or the only lesson to be learned here is that someone will always bail you out. Well, they won’t. Can we agree on that?”
Harriet righted her sweater. “Sounds fair to me.”
“He’ll pay,” stated Fritz. “There’s no way I’m doing it.”
“Super,” said Bree. “The mechanics can look at both vehicles and give you an estimate for the damages. Boys, let’s end the shithead behavior, if for no other reason than it pisses me off to have to haul my lazy ass down here to deal with it.”
Farrell snickered. “Thanks for the help, Bree.”
She nodded and then walked away.
Alex fell into step beside her. “You did—”
“What the hell did you think you were doing, Bree?” Dani demanded, hurrying after them, her heels click-clacking on the concrete pavement.
Without breaking stride, Bree shrugged and replied, “Solving the problem.”
Dani planted herself in front of her, forcing her to come to a halt. “You threatened to force an emotion into that boy.”
“I know.”
“And you don’t find that wrong?”
“It’s not like I actually did it.”
Dani’s mouth fell open. “Have you no ethics at all?”
“I have some. They sleep a lot.”
Dani shook her head. “Why fate would gift someone like you with omega powers is beyond me. The crap you pulled back there could have had your status stripped from you.”
Alex rumbled a curse in Russian. “Instead of bitching at Bree, maybe you could go do some primary-related tasks. You might as well enjoy the role while it’s still yours to enjoy. We all know you won’t manage to hold it for much longer.”