Page 10 of Cause Of Death

I’d give my eye teeth to know the details surrounding that incident, as well as the location of the former head of security. Something tells me the dude isn’t in the realm of the living anymore, andTHATtells me all I need to know about the power, influence, and reach of the upper echelons of the Prince family. No wonder they want Kieran’s death to look natural, it’ll prevent questions.

“He was searching for you.”

Steve breaks his silence without warning, and the suddenness of it means that it takes me a moment to figure out who he’s referring to.

The alpha.

“What do you mean?” I respond, unable to follow the direction of Steve’s thoughts. “I mean, I know he kept popping up near where we were, and sniffed the air a few times, but that doesn’t mean he was searching forme.”

Steve takes his eyes off the road for a brief moment to glare at me. It only lasts a second, but the heat of it burns me to my core.

“You’re not stupid, Disa, nor are you ignorant. His appearance and interaction with you this morning was one thing. It could be chalked up to happenstance, but if that had been it, we wouldn’t have encountered him again. Even a possible crossing of paths this afternoon could be explained away as coincidence, if it was simply seeing him once as we all went about our business. But to have him pop up several timesin a place we’d been only minutes earlier, and visibly sniffing the air as if he could catch our scent? No. You know what that means.”

I do. Steve isn’t wrong in his calculations. As the saying goes: once was happenstance; twice was coincidence; but three times? That’s enemy action. Adam Knight’s behavior indicated something else was at play, and him potentially following us or seeking us out could prove problematic.

“Plus, I know that after the first time we spotted him that I couldfeelthe cameras attention zooming in on us several times. I was able to keep you shielded, but I have no doubt that they could see me clearly,” Steve continues, and my stomach plummets to the floor.

FUCK!

“So, what does this mean for us? Do you think your cover is blown?” I whisper, dreading the inevitable answer.

Steve hums thoughtfully before sighing.

“I don’t know this person, but I know what I would do in his place. I’d be searching for any and all traces of us. He’s seen me, he knows what I look like. I’d also put money on him knowing my scent by now, as well as yours. I don’t know if he’ll have been able to get eyes on my Jeep, but it’s a safe bet that if he has someone skilled enough, he can find me.” Steve glances over at me for a moment, reluctance in his gaze.

“I think from this point onward, if you’re going to recon Royal Tower, you’ll need to do it as Wisp. Just to be on the safe side, it might be better for either Leslie or Kimberly to accompany you. After all, they weren’t the ones with you today—that was me. You can anchor to them so you don’t get lost or drift away. This way, the alpha wouldn’t suspect them, unlike me.”

I grimace at his reasoning, but knowing what I do about Adam Knight, I can’t argue with it. I don’t think I’ll be dragging Kimmy along with me, though, despite her being “local” enoughfor it to not arouse suspicion. She’s too close to me, and therefore at greater risk of being discovered. No, I think I’ll be enlisting Leslie’s help for the task, and not just because Steve suggested them. Leslie knows how to navigate the world in ways that Steve can’t, both due to their designation and experiences with the black-market. They’re the perfect chameleon, and sometimes I wonder how the fuck they haven’t already been recruited by one of the alphabet agencies.

“I’ll talk to Les once we get home. They may have some other information for us that could alter our plans and whatnot. Besides, I’ve been scouring the information that the Guild sent me regarding the personnel surrounding Kieran Prince, and if I’m correct, then I know who this alpha is. We’ll need to be cautious.”

Steve grimaces, a low growl of displeasure rumbling from his chest, but simply nods at my instructions.

This job has just become a whole lot trickier, and I’m starting to wonder if I’m going to regret agreeing to it in the first place.

Only time will tell.

By the timewe arrive back at the house in Merced, I’m absolutely shattered. I’ve been riding high on adrenaline for most of the day, especially after catching the attention of Adam Knight. Neither Steve nor I spoke much after our conversation. He concentrated on driving and getting us home as quickly and discreetly as possible, and I trawled through all the mental files pertaining to Kieran Prince, especially in regards to Adam.

The outcome doesn’t look good.

Henley’s Bronco is parked in front of the house again, this time in the drive. Steve steers his Jeep onto the drive and parks behind it, before stepping down from the lifted cab and walking around to my side to help me down. I internally roll my eyes—both him and Henley are giants, so I can kind of understand their desire to drive macho, manly trucks that they can simply step into and out of. However, I havenoidea why they feel the need to further lift their vehicles until it feels as though I’m climbing Mount Everest while trying to enter or exit the cab. Getting into a car shouldn’t be a full body workout for those more vertically-challenged, and while I can always dissipate and reform at will, doing so means that I’ll be freaking naked. Steve is temptation enough—put me naked in a room with Henley, and all bets are off. There’s a reason why the alpha has never spent a heat or a rut in close proximity with me. We’d end up bitten and bonded in the blink of an eye, and neither of us are ready to take that step.

Not yet, at least.

“C’mon, short-stack. Let’s get you inside and share our intel with the others. Then you can shatter all our expectations and plans with this new information about the alpha.” Steve reaches up and grasps me around the waist, his hands are so large that they encircle and enclose my waist. He quickly lifts me from my perch and settles me on the ground, slinging an arm around my shoulder as he locks up the car and we walk to the front door.

Voices raised in heated discussion reach our ears as we push open the wooden barricade, but it doesn’t sound like an argument. No, the sounds filtering through the house are more on par with an excited Kimberly or Leslie bubbling over with enthusiasm at whatever it is that they’ve discovered. Steve and I kick off our shoes as I lock the door behind us before making our way back to the kitchen and living areas. These rooms seem to have become our de facto meeting space. We easily find Henley,Kimberly, and Leslie standing around the island bench, papers strewn over the surface, while Leslie eagerly babbles away and jabs their finger down at individual sheets.

“I knew it, I justknewthere was something dodgy going on inside that family. Nobody—and I meannobody—is that squeaky clean, not with that much wealth and power at their disposal! They tried to hide this information, but they didn’t do a good enough job of covering their tracks.” Leslie’s triumphant boast rings out as Steve and I look down at where Leslie’s pointing.

I have no clue what I’m looking at.

“What are we supposed to be looking at, Les? I figure these are bank statements or something, but I have no clue whose they are or what they represent.” I ask, frowning as I also don’t recognize the logo of the financial institution in the top left corner of the page. In fact, I’m not sure itisa financial institution. Then again, I’m not like Leslie or Kimberly, I don’t always know the ins and outs of the various corporations and their subsidiaries, not unless it’s essential for my job. There’s a reason that they both play major roles in my support team, and it’s so I don’t have to remember all the nitty gritty bullshit that is otherwise irrelevant to me.

“This,” Leslie explains, waving their hands in a credible Vanna White imitation, “is the smoking gun when it comes to the Prince family, Disa. They’ve made fuckingbillionson the basis that they’re a company based on family values, that they’ve invested millions in numerous children's and family charities, and that they abhor any sort of corruption and cruelty when it comes to the vulnerable.”

I take a closer look at the sheets before me, but still can’t make neither head nor tail of it all.

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