LITMIR.BIZ

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assembly room, pacing back and forth, until the meeting had disbanded and Kristine joined him. Despite his keen wolflike hearing, even in human form, he hadn’t been able to make out much of what was said.

      Since the meeting had been short, he didn’t expect that there’d been much of substance anyway.

      Only speculation.

      While waiting, he had tried texting, then calling Simon and Grace again. Both calls had gone straight to voice mail, and he had received no responses to any of his attempts to reach them.

      “Probably not,” Kristine answered. Sitting in a stiff military pose in the chair beside him, she raised her head, jutting her chin out in a characteristic motion he had noticed before. It showed her determination. Her stubbornness. Her beauty.

      All right, maybe it wasn’t her most beautiful feature, but he liked it. Enough that he had an urge to touch that strong chin with his fingers. Better yet, cup it and pull her forward so he could test her stubbornness with a kiss …

      He stopped, mentally punching himself. Where had that come from? He had just met her a few days ago, at Simon’s wedding. Yeah, she was a looker, and she’d seen him buck naked—and the thought of her eyes on him started his privates stirring even now.

      But she was also all military. His assigned aide. A nonshifter. Not someone to get all hot over.

      Was worry for his brother turning him into some kind of nutcase?

      Maybe. He’d have to be careful. “So the powers that be, people I don’t even know who can send orders down the pipeline to me, think that my brother and his wife just went on some kind of shifting rampage and killed a couple of innocent folks right out of the blue?”

      Kristine ducked her head, causing the cap of her dark hair to feather around her face. “You could say that.” She grimaced. “They did.”

      Before Quinn could express what he thought of that, the door opened and Drew appeared. “Come on in,” he said.

      Quinn had been in the general’s office before—when he’d been interrogated about whether he really wanted to join Alpha Force, and also what he could do for it.

      It was quite an office. Not that Quinn had any idea what military offices were supposed to look like, but he figured this might be the epitome. The desk was made of a dark polished wood that looked like mahogany. There was the usual U.S. flag, but the brass pole was anything but ordinary. Then there were the worn classic books on shelves behind the general, written by some of the English-speaking world’s most renowned authors, like Robert Louis Stevenson and Bram Stoker.

      There was a slight scent of brandy that Quinn could smell with his enhanced senses. He glanced toward a closed wooden cabinet behind the desk. The general might fortify himself in here for what he faced while commanding Alpha Force.

      Drew had told Quinn after the last time he’d been here that the general had subsidized all the office furnishings himself just because he wanted to, and this was a getaway from the Pentagon.

      Quinn waved Kristine through the door before him. He might as well act like a gentleman here, since he was committed to being a soldier.

      Damn it.

      Where are you, bro? his mind shouted silently. What the hell’s going on?

      Quinn liked his new sister-in-law, Grace. Had been glad that his brother seemed so happy.

      But he hadn’t been thrilled at being the best man at the wedding, wearing a monkey suit. Being in the middle of a bunch of fawning people, most of whom he didn’t know. Military types. Even a couple of Department of Defense guys, including the one from the DSPA.

      At least he’d never have to do it again. Wolves mated for life. Even shifters.

      Grace was part of their pack. He was as concerned about her as he was about his brother. Almost.

      Drew, Kristine and he sat in the chairs facing the general’s desk. Greg Yarrow stood, then glared at Quinn. “I should strip you of your rank for insubordination,” he growled.

      Quinn closed his eyes for just a second. He had a role to play here, and he’d better do it right if he wanted any chance at helping Simon. And Grace. “I understand, sir,” he said quietly. “I would like to apologize and—”

      “Let’s not lay it on too thick.” Greg smiled grimly, causing divots to form in the cheeks of his aging face.

      “Okay.” Quinn smiled briefly, too. Then waited.

      “Here’s where we are,” Drew said from beside him. “Acadia is a national park, so the feds are involved in the investigation into the deaths of the tourists. So are the local police. Since the disappearance of Simon and Grace is assumed to be related, both are looking into that, too.”

      “So we go as members of Alpha Force and find out what the hell happened,” Quinn predicted.

      “No.” The general stood. “That’s what I hoped for, in the multipronged investigation. But I’ve been told in no uncertain terms that since members of Alpha Force might be the perpetrators of a crime here, we need to let other agencies take the lead.”

      “No!” Quinn almost stood but felt Kristine’s restraining hand on his arm again. He took a deep breath, then another. “Sorry, sir,” he managed. “But my brother wouldn’t have killed anyone, whether he was shifted or not.”

      He would probably have been shifted under the full moon, on the night of the killings. He might have taken the new version of the changing elixir even then, because of its benefits. As Kristine and he had discussed, some of the modifications resulted from incorporation of parts of Simon’s shifting medication, now that he had joined Alpha Force and turned over his formula.

      But the combined new version might not have been tested adequately….

      Yet Quinn had felt fine after taking it. Once. A reduced dose. Still, he wasn’t about to mention even a hint of concern about that.

      Besides, he didn’t know for certain whether Simon had brought any of the Alpha Force elixir with him, or his own medication, or any shifting formula at all.

      “We hope you’re right,” the general said. “But suspicion otherwise is partly what Team Leader Olivante’s dig was about. There’s a faction in the DoD that doesn’t know details of Alpha Force’s special abilities but even so doesn’t trust a unit that’s different. They’ll potentially shut Alpha Force down if it’s proven that any of its members have gone rogue.”

      “I can help as much as anyone to find Simon and Grace. Maybe better.” Quinn struggled to keep his tone controlled. Of course he felt frustrated. Why the hell hadn’t Simon responded to any of his attempts to reach him? “And with that attitude in the organization … well, I don’t trust anyone else to find them safely. To find the truth. You know my background, sir. I’m a private investigator. You’ve got to let me …” He stopped, hazarding a glance down at Kristine who nodded encouragingly. “Okay. I enlisted. I get it. You don’t have to do anything I say. But I do have investigative skills I’ve developed over time. I’ve got to at least try to find Simon and Grace and figure out what happened. Please, sir.”

      That last was a real effort, but he intended to do all he had to, to help his brother and new sister-in-law. Even act the role in which Simon had cast him.

      Before either Greg or Drew responded, Kristine spoke up. “You know, sirs, I haven’t taken a leave for a long time now. I realize that Lt. Parran is too new a recruit to be entitled to one, but … well, I think he and I both need to take some time off. Maybe even take a trip. To Maine. And if we happen to end up in Bar Harbor just for the fun of it, who knows what we might uncover?”

      General Yarrow’s laugh was a bark of humor. “I wasn’t exactly going to approach it that way, but I had something similar in mind.” He looked toward Drew. “What do you think, Major? Could you give these two Alpha Forcers a little time off to have some … fun

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