Page 33 of Evergreen Desires
"That is amazing!" I chimed in. "What were they alleging?"
"There was a whole gamut of accusations. Impropriety, off-book sales, bribes, underage employees, distribution. I could go on."
"That is crazy! Beau is one of the most honest and ethical persons I have ever met." Rage was building in me. "He does the right thing when no one is even looking. He let the valet off the hook when he couldn’t find his keys. He uses his turn signal even when he is the only one on the road. He turned to help me instead of running down those trespassers. He has resisted attempts by Rich to buy his wayout of this fucking headache. Even when that asshole in a tie and cufflinks interrupts our date." Beau put his hand on my shoulder, startling me and stifling my tirade with a smile.
"Ha! Now I get the 'my knight' thing," Will snorted, almost spitting up coffee.
"You should have seen him spout at Rich when he interrupted our date. I thought it might have been the drinks in him, but clearly, I was wrong." Beau pressed a kiss to my cheek, causing my cheeks to redden.
“My hunch is that Rich is behind most of this—or at least feeding someone the information,” Mateo said, his voice steady as we all zeroed in on his expression. “He’s one of those small-town power players. When he doesn’t get his way, he goes on the offensive.”
He leaned back slightly, arms crossed. “Technically, I was hired by the city manager—but it felt like Rich was the one really pushing for the town to have its own police force. Like he wanted someone in his pocket.”
Will nodded slowly, lips pursed. “I always thought it was strange we even needed a police chief. The sheriff’s office used to handle everything just fine.”
Beau let out a low grunt. “Rich has been consolidating power for years. The entire city council’s stacked with his people. And the city manager? He doesn’t push back. He just nods along.”
“I don’t know,” Mateo said, frowning thoughtfully. “I think the jury’s still out on the city manager. When I talked to him, it felt like he was looking for a way to shift things.Like he knew something wasn’t right but wasn’t sure how to fix it—or maybe he’s afraid of crossing Rich.”
He paused for a beat. “You know I’m from Texas. I lived near Crystal City.”
"Ha, okay maybe not so newsworthy up here, but I suggest you Google it. Practically the entire city leadership was arrested by the FBI for corruption on a massive scale. In my role at the county level as the under-sheriff, I was one of the ones aiding in the undercover investigation and the aftermath."
"So, you’re here to clean up?" Jake said
"Perhaps that is what the city manager was looking for. I am not sure Rich knows my background entirely, and I am thinking we should keep it that way."
We all agreed, still processing this new information.
"Thank you, I tend to stay out of the politics, but I don’t want anything coming back to bite any of us here. With that said, I am willing to help in any way" Beau responded nodding.
"So, why would any of this change my opinions about you? You’re just being an ethical lawman. Not to mention a sexy man in a uniform." Will quickly snagged another kiss from Mat, this time firmly on the lips. I smiled as clearly the cat was fully out of the bag to us, so Will was going to take full advantage of Mat being close by.
"Well, there’s another thing…" I could see beads of sweat appearing on Mat’s brow, as his eyes darted to Beau. "Are there any secrets amongst the three of you?"
Beau’s eyes narrowed slightly as if he was studying Mat. Will and I were shaking our heads no, but there seemed to be an awkward silence that settled in.
"No." Beau finally breathed out, still focused solely on Mat. "No secrets at all. Not between the three of us."
"No secrets?"
Will’s and my eyes were like a tennis match, bouncing between the hard stares they were giving each other.
"No secrets," Beau said, slumping back in his chair with a perplexed, almost resigned look on his face.
"Well, then I’ll share mine with the three of you." Mat took a deep breath to steady himself. "The wolf tracks you have been seeing here, the gray wolf. Well, that is a Mexican gray wolf. I am that wolf."
CHAPTER 28
BEAU
The revelation about Mat’s shifter status took a few days to fully sink in. Trusting us with something that personal—something most shifters kept hidden their whole lives—said a lot about the kind of man he was, and the trust that was slowly building between us.
I’d heard stories from my dad about other shifters out there, but until now, I’d never met one outside my family. And suddenly, pieces of the puzzle started falling into place.
Like that first time Mat saw Jake and me together at the store. He’d gone still, something in his eyes sharpening. At the time, I thought it was tension, or maybe surprise. But now I remembered the look he gave me—like he’d heard something no one else had. Because hehad.
I’d been growling under my breath without realizing it—just low, protective sounds when I felt someone watching Jake too closely. Most humans wouldn’t have noticed, but Mat wasn’t human. His senses were tuned like mine. He’d heard it. Felt it.
