Page 4 of Her Forbidden Shifters
Noah nodded. “Yeah, sure.”
We stood up at once and followed Liam out of the room. We didn’t go very far at all. Just outside the door, but we kept our voices low enough Noah couldn’t listen in. Even through the walls and with his dragon hearing.
“As much as I hate to admit this, since he is a target, we can’t leave him unattended,” Liam started.
“Well, we assume he is a target,” I said. “And why do you hate to admit that?”
“Be realistic, Savannah,” Jacob said. “He watched the whole thing, and with the way one of those monsters had waved, they knew he was watching. They have never left witnesses before now.”
I nodded. “Right. So why start now?”
“Exactly,” Liam said. “We need to first determine if they are shaking up their MO, if this is a copycat group, or if they were making a statement. If we find out they truly are after him, we need to make sure we are around. Because, if my suspicions are right, they are going to take a shot. Just a matter of time.”
I shook my head. “I don’t like this. That would be playing him as bait. We need to do something more.”
“Like what?” Liam asked.
I looked at Jacob. He shrugged. I sighed and then said, “Protective detail.”
“Not happening,” Jacob said. “I’m not a babysitter. Especially for pampered brats.”
“Hey, he’s actually a really nice guy once you get to know him,” I said, coming to Noah’s defense. “Besides, this is our job. Like it or not, we have to do a little babysitting for this case.”
“Agreed,” Jacob said. “But for him? He can take care of himself. Our case is about finding your friend. Not babysitting him.”
I rolled my eyes. “You can deal.”
Liam held up his hand, pulling my attention to him. “We must go through the proper channels for a protection detail. If the SOTF provides such services to anyone, there needs to be a paper trail. And with you not authorized to work on these types of cases, I’m afraid you would be removed from the case. Regardless of if he requested you or not.”
“We should keep this one off the books,” I said. With the shocked looks I received, I quickly added, “I realize doing so would be tricky, but if we announce the problem now, it could make matters worse for us.”
“How so?” Liam asked. His eyebrows drew together over his eyes, and I forced down the rush of arousal his expression put me through. It was hard working with sexy shifters all the time, but my boss and partner were at the top of the list, which made things exceptionally harder.
“I’ve been thinking of there being a mole or maybe a double agent so to speak,” I said. “With all the other cases I was following, that was the only thing that made sense. But the problem is, no one fits the bill. The perps are human at best. Nothing else in the profile matches with shifter or witch.”
“You’d be surprised,” Liam said. “Regardless, I don’t like the idea of going against protocol. Regardless of the circumstances. Noah would have to live without protection.”
I shook my head. “Respectfully, sir, I disagree. With everything I know about this group, it would be negligent leaving him high and dry. We need to do the right thing here and provide him protection. If things come down to us needing help from the force, then we can let our superiors know, for now, I think we should be careful about who we tell about this.”
Liam leaned against the wall and leveled his gaze on me with the no-nonsense expression he often donned when I was training here. He was silent for several moments. Then he finally said, “As much as it pains me, I will agree to this. But if I see things going the wrong way, I will inform the proper channels.”
“Agreed,” I said. At least I had my way on this part at least.
“So, are we babysitting the trust fund baby?” Jacob asked.
“Don’t call him that,” I said, shooting my partner a glare.
“At least, not to his face,” Liam added. “We do have a decorum to adhere to.”
Jacob rolled his eyes.
I glared at both of them and crossed my arms over my chest. “I will not tolerate any disrespect aimed toward him. So, if you both insist on working with me on this case, keep that in mind. Capiche?”
The two of them exchanged a glance which had my anger flaring even more. They both nodded.
“Good. I’m glad we have an understanding,” I said. “Now, what to do about Noah?”
“We’ll have to book a room for him. Take turns with babysitting,” Liam said.
