Page 37 of No Strings Attached

“I know why he was at my house,” Morgan said. “Sam tells me he took a duffel bag from Daryl’s the night he fled. That’s what the bastard is searching for.”

“Where did Sam stash it?”

“It’s in his trunk, and I need you to get it before Daryl does. I want to know what’s so important that he’s breaking into a cop’s house.”

“A polar bear’s house,” Dominic replied. “I thought it was pretty suicidal of him, but now we know why. I’m at the station, so I’ll walk back there and get it. I’ll call you when I see what’s inside.”

“I’ll be waiting for your call.” Morgan hung up and headed for the vending machines. He was still going to ask Hendrix if Sam could have the stuff, and if not, Morgan would gladly eat it because he was starving now.

He had to go down to the ground floor, so Morgan searched for the doctor first. Leaving Sam unguarded wasn’t an option.

Dr. Baldwin was just coming out of a patient’s room when Morgan spotted him and headed his way. “Sam has a sweet tooth. Is he allowed to have some junk?”

Even though Morgan only had eyes for Sam, he had to admit Hendrix was a handsome guy. An alpha, which wasn’t Morgan’s taste, but still damn good-looking.

Hendrix grinned. “Thanks for checking first. He’s not on any dietary restrictions so I don’t see why he can’t have a few things from the vending machines as long as you don’t overdo it. Let me guess, you also want me to watch his room.”

“I’ll buy you a single malt whiskey with your dinner. You look like someone who enjoys aged and smokey.”

“I enjoy the finer flavors,” Hendrix admitted. “Don’t be long. I just saw my last patient and I’m heading home.”

“Be back in a jiff.” Morgan moved swiftly toward the elevators. On the ground floor, he not only bought what Sam wanted but some snacks and a drink for himself.

His arms were loaded when his phone rang. Morgan set everything down on a nearby chair before he grabbed his phone from his pocket and answered. “That was quick. What did you find?”

“Nothing good,” Dominic said. “Not only were there at least ten stacks of cash, all large notes, but drugs, guns, and a small black book, too. The black book contains names of people he owes, how much, and what product they provided for him.”

“We have a dealer on our hands,” Morgan growled. “I’m going out on limb and guessing the money in that bag is for paying the people who fronted him the drugs.”

“That would be my guess, too,” Dominic said. “There’s not only a huge bag of different color ecstasy pills in there, but a large storage bag filled with small vials of cocaine, and from what the list says, because some of this stuff I don’t recognize, also ketamine, fentanyl, and heroin.”

“Daryl is a naughty little plug,” Morgan said.

“Plug?”

“Someone who provides a wide variety of drugs,” Morgan said. “And if he can’t supply what someone needs, he connects that person to who can provide it.”

“We just arrested a small-time drug dealer six months ago,” Dominic reminded him. “Now I see we missed the bigger one.”

The thought of drugs flooding Midnight Falls had Morgan grinding his molars. If people wanted to put that stuff in their body, it was their business, but when drugs ran rampant in any area, the crime rate went up and the community suffered.

Midnight Falls might only be a blip on the map, but it was Morgan’s community, too. He wanted to protect their way of life, not let it be destroyed.

“When we catch Daryl, I want to go after those who supplied him. I’m tired of this shit in our town,” Morgan said. “We have enough preternatural problems to deal with. We don’t need drugs added to that.”

When an area had a large number of nonhumans, there were always issues. From hellhounds preying on people to vampire attacks to demons being dickheads and using their powers to cause chaos. And the list went on.

“I’m going to not only see if I can enlist the help of the alpha males in our town to crack down on this, but I’m going to hire more fucking people,” Dominic said. “We’re getting spread too thin lately, and I’m sick and tired of not spending enough quality time with my mate.”

Morgan stood. “I have to get back upstairs. Dr. Baldwin is watching Sam while I make a snack run for my mate, but the doc is ready to leave for the day.”

“I’m locking this bag up,” Dominic said. “Hell if I’m letting Daryl get his hands on it. We’ll use the money for the town. The donation center needs some repairs and upgrades.”

Since Daryl wouldn’t be arrested, the duffel bag wouldn’t be processed as evidence and Dominic wouldn’t have to put in a request to keep the money.

“Noble cause,” Morgan said. “I gotta go. I’ll call you later.”

After Morgan hung up, he grabbed the stuff from the chair, and headed to the elevator. When he was upstairs, he jostled a bag of cookies from the stack in his arms. “For you, Doc.”

---