Page 6 of Her Forbidden Shifters
“Or they are intending to use you as a warning,” Liam added.
“Awesome, so the news just gets better and better,” Noah said and ran his fingers through his hair.
I bit my lip. I loved the feel of his hair.
I cleared my throat as Liam shifted his glare toward me. “We can only speculate on all of this for now. Until we have the facts to back up our theories, this is all we have to go off of.”
“But why my sister?” he asked.
I shrugged. “I can’t answer that. At least, not yet. Whatever had made them branch out, it’s a bad sign. No one is safe from them.”
“Whatever is going on,” Liam added, “they are clearly upping the stakes and making our jobs harder.”
Jacob re-entered the room with a piece of paper in his hand. He passed it to Liam, and he glanced over the writing. Once he was finished, he nodded and slipped the paper into his pocket. “Detective Abadi has secured a safe location for you to stay under guard until we can figure all of this out. For now, you are under our protection.”
“Like hell I am,” Noah said.
“Noah, please listen…” I said. “This group isn’t known for patience or being gentle. Not a single person they have taken has come back alive. I’m hoping to change that, and in order for said change to happen, I have to be sure you are safe.”
He smirked. “I knew you still cared.”
“Of course, I do,” I said.
Liam and Jacob shifted uncomfortably in their seats.
I was going to have to set some boundaries with these two if they kept on with this nonsense.
“Still, my answer is, thanks, but no thanks,” Noah said.
“I’m not giving you a choice,” I said.
“I am not going to be babysat,” Noah snapped.
Jacob snorted.
I snapped my attention to him and glared. He met my gaze and shrugged.
“I’m not arguing with you on this. If you want me to work this case, you have to be placed under protection,” I said. “So, what will it be?”
Noah frowned at me. “Don’t do this.”
“If you want my help, protective custody is necessary,” I said. “That is the deal.”
He groans. “Fine. But will you be taking first shift? I would love to catch up with you.”
“Let’s not jump ahead of ourselves,” Liam quickly said. “First, we need to get you checked in and we have other steps we need to follow. Detective Abadi will be taking the first watch.”
Noah sized Jacob up from the corner. “Okay then.”
Minutes later, we arrived at the hotel room situated squarely between mine and Jacob’s addresses. I wanted to call him out on that, but I didn’t have the energy. My focus needed to remain on the case. And that was what I intended to do. If things got too far out of hand, then I would be forced to say something. Until such a time came to pass, I needed to wait.
Another half an hour later, we werre in the room where Noah will be staying. The layout wasn’t much in the way of luxury as he was used to, but he would have to deal. For now, this was the best we could do, especially with keeping things off the books.
The second Noah was settled, I turned to my partner and boss. “I’m going to head to Avery’s place. I want to scope things out and see if I can find any clues while the scene is still fresh.”
“I’ll go with you,” Liam said with a nod.
“Fine by me,” I said then switched my attention to my partner and ex-fling. “Behave yourselves. This will only be harder if you don’t.”
