Page 38 of Secret Wolf Baby

I couldn’t do it.

“And if I say no?” I asked. “If I refuse to help?”

Reacher took a step forward. He was close enough now that the pungent stench of tobacco and oak filled my nostrils, blocking out every other scent.

“Then I’ll tell Jackson exactly who Claire is,” he said, his voice low. “And I’ll make sure he knows you’re helping me, anyway. How long do you think he’ll keep you and your daughter in that fancy house once he realizes you’re a liar and a traitor?”

I didn’t say anything. My jaw clenched as I stared at them, willing my hands to remain steady even as they threatened to tremble.

When I stayed silent, Reacher added, “If that isn’t enough, then how about your daughter? You don’t want anything to happen to her, do you?”

I closed my eyes as I took a deep breath, but already I could feel any lingering resolve crumbling to sand. I couldn’t let anything happen to Claire. Not as long as I had the power to save her.

Ever since I started living here these last couple of weeks, I had started building myself up back to who I used to be. Just being away from my father and Reacher had done wonders. But all it had taken to bring me straight back down to that meek, timid place was a few minutes back in his and Reacher’s presence. And their triumphant smirks told me they knew it, too.

“All right,” I said. “Fine.”

Chapter 11 - Jackson

My jaw clenched in annoyance as I did my best not to hurl the screen across the room. No matter where I looked, I couldn’t find shit. I was nowhere near as good as Trent or Will when it came to research, but I wasn’t awful at it, either. I should have been able to find something incriminating about Reacher by this point. But I’d found shit.

The knock on my office door dragged my attention away from the computer. “It’s open,” I called.

Declan strolled in, walking closer toward me before leaning against the wall. “How’re things going?” he asked.

“Badly,” I grumbled. “I’ve been trying to look into Reacher’s time as alpha, to try and get some idea of what might be going on. But the information on him is surprisingly scant. It’s hard to find anything beyond bare bones.”

Tilting his head, he asked, “Have you thought about asking Audrey? Her dad is Reacher’s second, isn’t he? I wouldn’t be surprised if she knew something.”

Sighing, I leaned back, running my fingers through my hair. “I thought about it,” I admitted. “In fact, I tried to bring it up a couple of times, trying to feel out if she would be willing to talk about it.”

Declan raised his eyebrows. “And?”

“And every time I tried to bring it up, she would go pale and start stammering. She basically would say everything was fine and that there was nothing wrong before trying to change the subject.”

“And you’re guessing she was lying?”

“I think she’s scared,” I said. “Even if she’s no longer there, I think she’s still frightened.”

“Doesn’t seem like the Audrey I remember,” he mused. “Granted, I didn’t know her as well as you or Mira.”

I shook my head, drumming my fingers on the desk. “No, it’s not like her at all. There are times when she basically seems like an entirely different person. I never would have imagined her as timid or scared, but she jumps at practically everything.” I furrowed my brow before glancing up at him. “I’m worried about her. I’ve tried talking to her about it, and she won’t go into that, either. But jumping at everything that moves and not speaking up for herself can’t be healthy, can it?”

“People change,” Declan said. At my dubious expression, he relented. “Okay, if there is something wrong, just give her time to adjust. Let her come to you when she’s ready.”

I let out a low growl. He had a point, I knew that. But the idea of waiting was counterintuitive to me. I wanted to know what was going on now.

Declan seemed to read my mind because he said, “I know patience and letting other people take the lead isn’t your strong suit, Jackson. But it’s probably the best course of action here. Audrey needs time to get used to everything. So be patient.” He tapped the screen and gave me a meaningful look. “And in the meantime, you can put your mind to work elsewhere. Like taking a closer look into a certain alpha?”

“Right, right,” I said with a sigh. I drummed my fingers. Something he’d said had given me an idea. “Stick around for a sec, will you?”

He slouched down in the chair, pulling out his phone as he waited. Meanwhile, I pulled up a couple of databases and began following up on my hunch.

For a moment, I found nothing and worried I was way off the mark yet again. Then a small nugget of information I almost missed caught my eye. I straightened, my interest piqued.

“I found something,” I announced.

Declan’s eyebrows shot up. “Really?”

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