Abandoned and Unseen (Branded Packs #2)(61)

Sinclair grimaced. He half expected the creepy dude to rub his hands together and cackle like a madman.

Grant, on the other hand, simply looked annoyed. “Another supposed animal mauling you found posted on the Internet?”

“No, this time I have the real thing.”

Opening the back door, he bent down so he could reach inside, nearly disappearing from sight before shuffling backward. Sinclair prowled forward, a bad feeling clenching his stomach.

Even before Viker was dragging the unconscious female from the back of the vehicle, Sinclair had caught the musk of a wolf shifter. Then, as the man dumped the female onto the dirt road, Sinclair’s agitation became outright horror.

He recognized that particular shifter scent. It was the female who’d been sniffing around the park last night. The one that Rios had told him Tucker was not only intending to claim, but was also helping to track down the bastard responsible for killing her son.

Shit, shit, shit.

Where was Tucker?

Grant made a choked sound, his ruddy face paling at the sight of an unconscious woman with blood trickling from her forehead being dumped at his back gate.

“What have you done?” he rasped, his gaze moving to the unmistakable collar around her neck.

“She broke into my house and tried to attack me.”

Muttering under his breath, Grant moved forward to pull open the gate. Then, yanking his handgun from his holster, he moved to stand next to the female, gingerly poking her with the toe of his boot. When she didn’t move, he leaned down to shove up the sleeve of her sweater, revealing the brand that was nearly covered by the intricate tattoo on her forearm.

He gave a shake of his head. “A wolf? How did she get out of the compound? And what the hell would she be doing in your house?”

Viker hunched his shoulders. “She’s the mother of the kid that died.”

Grant took a hasty step backward. “Are you f*cking kidding me? How did she find you?”

“The animals are smarter than you give them credit for,” the man muttered. “I’ve tried to warn you.”

Grant gave a shake of his head and stepped back to study Viker with open suspicion.

“If she truly attacked you, then why are you still alive?”

Viker’s gaze flicked down to the unconscious female before returning to Grant. Sinclair didn’t need to see the sly little smile to recognize that the man was about to play his ace in the hole.

“Because first she was trying to convince me to admit that I’d been hired by the SAU to murder her son,” he said, deliberately pausing to give his next words extra weight. “It’s clearly a political ploy by the shifters to destroy the agency.”

Sinclair felt a flicker of admiration. Clever female. If Viker had truly been hired to kill an innocent child, then he would be priceless to the Unseen. If they could actually prove…

His distracted thoughts were sharply interrupted as Grant poked a finger in the center of Viker’s chest.

“Why did you bring her here?” he demanded. “She has to be destroyed.”

Sinclair tensed, ready to strike. Dammit. The last thing he wanted was to expose himself, not when they were so close. But he couldn’t stand there and watch them murder Tucker’s female.

“Wait.” Viker stepped between Grant and the unconscious woman. “I have a better idea.”

Sinclair remained poised to pounce if necessary.

Grant frowned with impatience. “What?”

“She wasn’t alone,” he admitted.

“There’s another shifter on the loose?” Grant rasped in disbelief.

“No. A human,” the man reassured him. “He probably helped her escape.”

Tucker. It had to be. Sinclair struggled to keep his face devoid of emotion. He didn’t think anyone had noticed him inching his way forward, but he hadn’t managed to infiltrate the enemy camp by being careless.

Grant looked at his companion in disbelief. “Why didn’t you bring him with you?”

Viker slowly smiled, that glitter even more pronounced. “He was…indisposed.”

Sinclair’s hands curled into fists. If the bastard had hurt Tucker, he was going kill him.

Straight up.

“Just answer the question, Viker,” Grant snapped.

“I had to shoot him.”

“He’s dead?”

“Yeah.”

Sinclair’s low growl of fury was thankfully drowned out by Grant’s loud, inventive string of curses.

“You’re sure?” the head of security at last managed to regain enough of his composure to ask.

Indifferent to Grant’s seething anger, Viker smiled with smug satisfaction.

“I shot him in the heart, and he fell to the ground bleeding like a stuck pig,” he said. “What more proof do you need?”

Sinclair felt a sharp stab of relief. No one wanted to be shot. It hurt like a bitch. But a bullet was usually only lethal to the very young, or the very old. Even if Tucker had been hit in the heart.

There was a very good chance that he was swiftly healing.

Grant was far less pleased with his friend’s explanation.

“And you just left his body in your house that’s rented by the SAU?” he asked, his voice rising to a shrill pitch. “Are you a complete moron?”