Page 141 of Night Call

“Sorry,” Pember said, ducking underneath their arms. “I have a meeting.”

They all sighed, letting him go. “We’ll take care of your lab, Pember! Don’t worry about anything,” Isla said, waving as he walked away.

When he stumbled back into the office, they had been joined by the inspector and Mark Matthews.

“Why didn’t you save me?” he muttered, handing Blake his mug of green tea.

The alpha shrugged. “You were being appreciated. And headhunted, by the looks of it.”

Pember flushed, taking a few hurried sips of coffee. “Nah,” he said, placing the cup on the table. The coffee tasted terrible, buthe appreciated the thought. “I think they were just glad to see a familiar face. This place can be pretty intimidating.”

Blake sniffed, pushing his glasses up his nose. “Nope, they came looking for you.”

“Ahem,” Caitlin said, clearing her throat.

When Pember turned to them he found her, Mark and the inspector looking at him from their positions around the desk. A low sound rumbled through Blake’s chest, more of a feeling than a noise as the alpha pressed himself against his back.

“Welcome,” the inspector said, holding out a hand. “Blake, please close the door.”

His hand looked dry and unpleasant, but Pember shook it, causing Blake to tense behind him. Reluctantly, Blake shut the door and Pember sat, because his legs were quickly turning to jelly under the growing tension in the room.

“Sir,” Blake said, standing behind Pember’s chair with his knuckles grazing his nape. The other alphas’ eyes immediately flicked to it, then back up at Blake. It was a statement, Pember realised—one that he was all too happy to make. “With all due respect, can you just get straight to the point?”

The inspector nodded, steepling his hands on the desk. “Very well. For the last twenty-four hours we have carried out covert surveillance on Maya Sharma, Sal Maverick, Leo Chantry and Rueben Atkinson.”

Pember shuddered at the mention of Ru.

“We have been actively monitoring their phone calls, and have covert surveillance units stationed close to each of their homes. Do you know what we discovered?” The inspector gave Blake a pointed look. “Absolutely fuck all. They’ve gone radio silent. None of them have left their homes and it doesn’t seem like they plan on leaving any time soon.”

“They’re waiting us out,” Blake said flatly. “To see if we’ll show our hand.”

The inspector nodded, sucking his teeth. “We’ve been granted authority to utilise certain… other, covert assets.” His eyes were unyielding as they snapped to Pember.

“No,” Blake said, the crack of his voice making them all flinch. His hand slipped from Pember’s neck to around his shoulders, cradling him protectively against his side.

Caitlin cleared her throat. “We have?—”

“No,” Blake repeated, his voice a low growl.

The hairs on the back of Pember’s neck prickled, and he automatically pressed his cheek to the back of Blake’s hand.

“We have the authority,” Caitlin said, cautiously placing a piece of paper in front of Pember. It readCovert Surveillance Authorisation - Police Personnel, Pember McArthur.There was a swirling signature at the bottom of the page, followed by a load of numbers and words Pember didn’t understand.

“Who signed it?” Blake snapped.

“The chief con himself,” Caitlin replied, stepping back into the corner of the room. She glanced at the inspector, but didn’t seem particularly interested in backing him up.

Pember could feel the anger radiating off Blake as his hand twitched against his cheek. He tried to ignore it, letting his eyes skip over the words in front of him.

“You underhanded bastards,” Blake snarled, “Sending me away so you could approach the chief about putting him in danger? You bunch of fucking cowards.”

“DS Smith!” the inspector shouted, slamming a hand on the table. “Continue with that tone and I shall ask you to leave.”

“Good luck with that, boss,” Mark said, pretending to inspect the back of his hand. “I told you he’d pull a face about it.”

Pember swallowed. “You want to use me to get tothem?”

Blake wrapped his knuckles against the sheet of paper. “Yes. They want to put you in danger to?—”

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