Page 58 of Broken Wolf

I nodded and gave back his phone before writing down Nina’s information and handing it to him. “She’s not just some witch, but an elder and extremely talented. She might not be able to do anything more than the doctors can, but when I have an issue or worry we might, she is who I go to. If I was in your shoes and it was my kid, I’d talk to her. I have.”

“Your son,” he hedged, giving me a curious look.

I nodded. “He is a huge target. He has magic on him to help just in case. I won’t say more than that, but he also has a fairy nanny and guards. You know why.”

“Your money alone, but yes.” He shook the paper. “Thank you. I will—there’s no harm in asking, and if it’s someone you trust—”

“She’s one of the reasons I survived my abduction. I was dead. I was dying coming off that plane and it was a miracle I survived. Nina and Dr. Sloan pulled off a miracle. A few from what I know.”

He thanked me again and then we focused back on work, the men snagging a few appetizers, but it was completely fine. I was halfway into the thick file of what the attorney had already pulled when my blood ran cold. I was about to shake it off because the name wasn’t a strange one or—Butler was a super common last name.

There had to be a lot of them with the same first name.

Except I flipped a few more pages and found another name that was probably common… But together as mother and stepson wasn’t so common.

“Chief Thomas?” the attorney said, his tone making it clear that it wasn’t the first time he’d spoken.

The door opened quickly and two vamps from my detail came inside, glancing around looking for a threat.

“This just became personal for you, didn’t it?” the judge asked, putting the pieces together fast. “Your face suddenly drained of all color and your security came bursting in here, so they sensed a change in you.”

“Maybe,” I admitted. “Marie and David Butler aren’t rare names—there’s probably ten of each in Chicago, but together and…” I flipped a few pages to check something, slowly bobbing my head. “That’s about the right age for her. Yeah.” I set everything down and rubbed my eyes. “I have to check my DCFS file when I get home.”

“You shouldn’t have that, Chief Thomas,” the judge said, his tone ice cold.

It was the attorney clerking for him who jumped in before I could. “And I’ve always had a serious problem with that.” He nodded when the judge did a double take. “That’s—we believe in transparency. Everything filed and public records. You grant access to sealed records because people have a right to know who works for them and more. You believe this.”

“It’s illegal to hide my medical records from me or anyone,” I added. “I can have every record—credit filing—anything with my name or social security involved but not my records from when I was in the care of the government as a child? You have to see how incredibly shady and flawed that kind of thinking is, Your Honor.”

“You’re right,” he accepted after a moment. “I do. It’s not what I normally deal with, and I didn’t think of that.” He opened his mouth to say more, but I cut in faster.

“I obtained it through the proper channels.” I bounced that around. “Technically. Some strings might have been pulled behind the scenes, but—the fact that was needed disgusts me. The Navy was able to get it because I was deemed high-risk, but I couldn’t even have it.”

He studied me closely. “Off the record then. How did you get it?”

I shrugged, not thinking it was his business. “The Navy realized how much of an asset I was when I kept tearing through language classes in college and acing everything. I was brought before someone high ranking and they wanted me to work with intelligence. I made it clear to consider that, I wanted intelligence as well. On myself.”

And I wouldn’t apologize for that. Ever. The fact I had to fight for my DCFS record was a joke.

I glanced at one of the guys on my security and switched to French. “This just became personal. I need your team ready to get to work and I might cover my eyes for a bit. But I need this woman found and information on this guy. I’ll play it straight with him, but—I need help with this.”

He dipped his head to me. “Whatever you need, Mistress. I also just received a call from Councilman Dubois. There is an update on the vampire transfer situation. The council will probably be stepping in, and if Chicago is available, the council hopes that Master Noah will accept the vampires.”

I practically said all of the cuss words in French and several other languages. “I’ll speak with Noah, but I hope there will be a conversation had with either the councilman and these possible transfers or at least Goran that they’re super dead if they even think to pull a fast one. That we don’t play Caesar in Chicago and rip hearts out if people even think it.”

He nodded. “I’m sure that can be arranged. He wants this handled quietly. Apparently, you’ve done them a favor by quietly letting them know there was a problem.”

“There’s always a fucking problem for me to handle,” I grumbled. “Okay, after we’re done here. Give Noah the heads-up. Thank you.” I sighed when they left and rubbed the bridge of my nose, flinching when I remembered that I wasn’t alone. “I apologize.”

“It’s fine. Obviously, it was bad news,” the judge muttered, wanting to push but probably knowing it was over the line.

I opened my mouth but then closed it. “Some days I just want to remind people that I’m only thirty and to stop asking me to clean up their damn messes just because I’m powerful or rich or I can. And I don’t mean just supes.” I snorted, yeah, the FBI was one of the worst culprits of that.

I shook off my mood and we finished the dinner meeting, glad at least that we were all on the same page and moving forward with it all.

16

I was going to jump right into the vampire situation, but when I smelled something on Carter that about set me off, I simply pushed past him and went for the elevator. I didn’t let anyone join me and acted like the spoiled little girl that I never got to be, hugging my grandma when I found her and just wanting comfort.

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