Rising Storm (Westin Force #2) - Julie Trettel Page 0,68

day, but it was okay now because I knew Emma would be home waiting for me.

She’d told me that before I’d left, but hearing her there with Shelby and that she’d taken a job too had to be good news for us. She was going to stay. She was going to choose me.

As I settled into my hotel room later that night and closed my eyes trying to recall every inch of my beautiful mate, I felt at peace again.

The next morning, with Patrick and the Verndari gone, we flew back to San Francisco where Stephen Daniels lived. He wasn’t there, and there was no security on his house beyond a basic surveillance system that Tarron could have bypassed blindfolded.

Once inside, we moved quickly to place bugs and discreet cameras throughout the entire house, especially in his office, bedroom, and bathroom. It was amazing how many people talked in the bathroom. According to Taylor, it was the most popular place used for confidential phone calls. Who thinks to bug the toilet? We do, that’s who.

There were signs that Trevor was also using the house, and there were three cars in the garage that we also secured.

“Hey, get in here. You need to see this.” Ben yelled.

We all moved in. It was Trevor’s room. On his desk, right out in the open was pictures of Jackson Holt at a video game convention in Seattle. I’d been called in for that job, so I knew exactly where and when the pictures were taken.

“These are old,” I said more to myself than anyone.

Ben looked at them. “Yeah, that’s when we went in as a favor to Chase to look after his friend. Unless they’re still monitoring Jackson for some reason, then these are old news. Maybe he hasn’t been here in a while.

Grant opened the closet doors to a huge walk in closet. “Uh, guys?”

Inside the walls were covered with pictures. How many shifters was this guy monitoring?

“I don’t like this, it feels like a setup,” Silas said. “Take pictures of that shit, finish your job, and let’s get the hell out of here.”

Baine was frozen and staring at a set of photos taped to the back wall.

“What is it?” Grant asked.

“That’s my clan. Why are they watching my clan?”

“Bears? You’re sure?” Silas asked.

“Don’t you think I know my own kind?” Baine barked.

“Calm down. We’ll check on them,” I assured him.

Baine stomped out of the room.

“Go after him,” Silas told me.

“I thought he hated his clan,” Ben said.

“I heard he was banished,” Tarron said.

“Stop gossiping and get back to work,” I ordered before following after him.

Baine was outside pacing by the pool.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just fine.”

“We’ll get a team with eyes on them right away. No one’s going to hurt your clan on our watch.”

He nodded, but it was clear he didn’t want to talk about it.

“Guys, get in here quick,” Tarron said over the radio.

Baine and I looked at each other and then silently turned and walked back in.

“What is it?” I asked before I saw the candlestick wrapped in newspaper and placed in a box in the back of the closet. The three other missing items from the warehouse were there too.

“Shit. We’re sure this place has crappy monitoring?” Silas asked.

“Positive,” Taylor confirmed.

“Then why do I feel like we’re being watched?” Grant asked.

“Because I’m watching, you moron,” Tarron confirmed. “We did a full sweep. There’s nothing here.”

“Yet clearly we just missed him. Pack up, we’re out,” Silas said.

It felt like another trap, but to our relief we got out in one piece with no issues. As we were driving away, a flashy red sportscar rolled past us. I kept my head low, but it was clearly Trevor Daniels.

“We should take him now. He’s alone,” I said.

“No, we need more information. For now, we’re just monitoring. Is that clear?” Silas ordered.

“Yes, sir,” we all replied, though it was obvious I wasn’t the only one silently questioning the decision.

It had been a long mission. We’d gotten some good leads, but tempers were running high as there had been little action or resolution.

As we loaded the plane for our final run, I couldn’t help but feel relieved that we were finally going home.

We landed a little after midnight on Saturday night. Some of the guys were hyped and talking about hitting the Crate for beers to unwind. The deployment had screwed with all of our heads as we’d learned some of the deeper seeded plays going down within the Verndari. The lines