Chapter 10
Liam scrolled through his contacts and hit the call button for Uncle Nate. The phone rang twice before a gruff voice answered.
“Liam. Didn’t expect to hear from you today. Your dad said you were preoccupied with cleanup operations.”
“I was, but something else came up.” Liam shifted in his seat, keeping his eyes on the target house. “A mission that takes priority. We’ve got a situation that could use your particular skill set.”
“We?” There was interest in the older man’s tone now. “You got a team with you?”
“No, sir. Not a team. I’ve been tasked to work with an FBI agent named Lina Goodwell.
She’s also a cat, though not like me.” Liam glanced at Lina, who was still scanning the target property through her binoculars but clearly listening.
“We’re tracking Mrs. Entwistle. I’m pretty sure Dad briefed you about her. ”
A low whistle came through the phone. “That old witch is back in New York?”
“Yes, sir. Intel puts her in this area, and we’ve already discovered two of her aliases and safe houses. One blew up last night in Bayshore,” Liam admitted, grimacing.
“Saw that on the news,” Nate replied. “You did that? I thought we taught you better than that, kid.” His tone was disapproving.
“It was rigged to blow. We ran off the dock and took cover underwater,” Liam told his uncle, feeling a bit like a schoolboy who had just disappointed his teacher.
“Well, at least you had the sense to do that,” Nate said gruffly. “What about the second safe house?”
“We’re watching it right now. It’s a waterfront place in Center Moriches.”
“Let me guess. You need eyes on the water side.”
“You always were quick on the uptake.” Liam allowed himself a small smile.
“We’re sitting on the street side, but we won’t be able to stay here all day and night.
There’s dock access and probably a boat, though we can’t see for sure from here.
If Mrs. E is there and decides to run, she could slip away before we even know she’s moving. ”
“What’s the play?” Uncle Nate’s voice had shifted into mission mode, all business now.
“Lina and I are going to mount surveillance cameras after dark tonight. Get some electronic eyes on the property. But I’d like living, breathing backup in the water if you’ve got people available. Someone who can stay submerged for extended periods without drawing attention.”
“Seals in the water.” It wasn’t a question.
“If you’re willing. This witch is dangerous, Uncle Nate.
She’s already blown up one house trying to take us out.
She’s got access to some seriously dark magic.
Lina managed to save a bit of evidence from the Bayshore location.
There was evidence of demon summoning on a scale we haven’t really seen before, and we have reason to believe she’s planning something big. ”
There was a pause on the other end of the line. Liam could picture his uncle processing the information, running through logistics in his mind with the efficiency of someone who’d commanded Special Operators for decades.
“How big are we talking?” Uncle Nate asked finally.
“According to one of the coven elders, Mrs. E had a page from something called the Munich Manual. It’s a spell to summon a land-dwelling demon that could level whole neighborhoods, towns, even small cities.”
“Fuck.” The single word carried the weight of understanding. “When do you need us?”
“As soon as you can get here. We’re probably sitting on another bomb, and we really don’t know how long the fuse is.
” Liam rattled off the address and coordinates.
“There’s a private dock. Approach from the water, stay deep unless you see movement.
We just need you to watch and report. If she tries to leave by boat, we need to know immediately. ”
“Understood. I can have two of my boys there within the hour. They’ll rotate shifts so we’ve got continuous coverage.”
“I appreciate it, Uncle Nate.”
“Don’t thank me yet. You’re going to owe me for this one, kid.” There was humor in the older man’s voice now. “And your dad’s going to hear about you pulling my people into witch hunts.”
“He already knows all about Mrs. E. This is sanctioned by the Alpha himself.”
“Sam signed off on your mission? Good for you, young tadpole,” Nate sounded impressed.
Liam watched a car pass by the target house, slowing slightly, as if the driver was looking for an address, then speeding up again. He took his uncle’s teasing as expected and didn’t take offense. “Tadpole” was among the nicer things his uncle had called him.
“We can’t let her complete whatever she’s planning,” Liam replied.
“You won’t. Not with my boys watching the water and you two covering the land approach.” Nathan paused. “This FBI agent you’re working with. She solid?”
Liam’s eyes found Lina’s. She’d lowered her binoculars and was making notes in her notebook, her expression focused and professional. “Solid as they come. She’s got skills and good instincts.”
“Good. You need a partner you can trust on something like this.” There was a knowing quality to Nate’s tone that made Liam wonder how much the old SEAL could read between the lines. “All right, I’ll get my boys moving. They’ll check in with you on this number once they’re in position. And Liam?”
“Yeah?”
“Watch your six. If this witch has already tried to blow you up once, she won’t hesitate to try again.”
“Copy that. Thanks, Uncle Nate.”
“Stay safe, nephew.”
The call ended, and Liam lowered the phone. Lina was watching him with an expression somewhere between curiosity and disbelief.
“So that just happened,” she said. “I’m sitting in a car with a Navy SEAL who just called in actual selkies for backup on an FBI investigation into a demon-summoning witch.
” She shook her head slowly. “My training at Quantico did not prepare me for this. I mean, even though I am a shifter, I usually work on more mundane cases. I don’t really get called in to consult on the magical stuff often. ”
Liam couldn’t help but grin. “My father’s command is usually all about the magical stuff. Welcome to my world, Agent Goodwell.”
“Your world is insane.” But she was smiling too, that hint of wildness in her green eyes that his inner cat recognized and responded to. “I assume these boys of your uncle’s are experienced?”
“They’re retired SEALs who are also seal shifters.
Some of them have been doing this longer than we’ve been alive.
” Liam settled back in his seat, feeling better now that he had water coverage secured.
“They know how to stay hidden and how to track targets. If Mrs. E is in that house and tries to leave by water, they’ll spot her. ”
“And what do we do in the meantime?” Lina gestured at the quiet house in the distance. “Just keep watching?”
“Keep watching. Document everything. And when it gets dark, we move in and plant those cameras.” He glanced at her. “You ever done tactical surveillance installation before?”
“A few times. Usually with a full tech team, though.” She tilted her head. “Why? You worried I can’t keep up with a big bad SEAL?”
The teasing challenge in her voice made his lion rumble with approval. “Not worried. Just want to make sure we’re coordinated. Last thing we need is to trip over each other in the dark.”
“I promise to stay out of your way.” Her eyes sparkled with amusement. “Mostly.”
They fell into comfortable silence again, both watching the house. The sun had climbed higher, warming the interior of the SUV. Liam cracked the windows to let in some air, catching the salt-sweet scent of the nearby water mixed with Lina’s subtle fragrance.
His phone buzzed about forty minutes later with a text.
UNKNOWN NUMBER: In position. Two hundred yards offshore. No movement from target location. Will maintain watch and advise. – M
Liam tapped out a quick response and sent it before showing the message to Lina. “Uncle Nate’s guys are in the water.”
She read it and nodded. “Fast response time.”
“They’re professionals. And they were probably bored. Retirement doesn’t suit everyone.” He pocketed his phone. “Now we wait and see if anyone shows up.”
“The glamorous life of surveillance work.” Lina pulled out the bag of biscuits Mrs. Peabody had given them. “At least we have snacks.”
She offered him one, and he took it, their fingers brushing in the exchange. That simple contact sent awareness crackling through him, making his lion awaken inside him. Every interaction with this woman seemed to intensify whatever was building between them.
Maintain professional boundaries, he reminded himself. They were on a mission.
But as they settled in for the long wait, sharing Mrs. Peabody’s biscuits and trading quiet observations about the neighborhood, Liam couldn’t shake the feeling that those boundaries were becoming harder to keep up with every passing hour.
And the most dangerous part? He was starting to not want to have them at all.
Lina did her best to tamp down the attraction she was feeling for her partner on this investigation.
Liam was like no man she’d ever known before.
Sure, he was her first lion shifter acquaintance, so that was new, but he was also compelling in other ways.
His steadfast courage and unfailing wit drew her in during every exchange they shared.
He’d been amazing during the explosion, both making sure they were both safe and in his calm approach to what had been a harrowing situation.
That made her think this Navy SEAL lion shifter had been in more than his fair share of harrowing situations in his career and lived to tell the tale. But he wasn’t talking, and that made sense seeing as how most of his work was probably still classified. She respected that too.
She glanced sideways, watching the play of light and shadow across his strong profile as he scanned the street through the windshield.
She noted the easy strength in his hands on the steering wheel, and the quiet confidence in the set of his shoulders.
He radiated control, even when he wasn’t trying to. Her lynx liked that far too much.
But this wasn’t the time or place to indulge her instincts or attraction to the ruggedly handsome male.
The elderly woman they were hunting was ruthless, and if Lina let herself get distracted by his smile, or by the sinfully low rumble of his voice when he spoke, people could die.
She forced her attention back to the house down the street, reminding herself that she was an agent on duty, not a woman caught in the thrall of a powerful predator who happened to be sitting close enough that she could feel his heat.
The job came first. It always had. Still, her heart didn’t quite seem to understand the instructions from her head.
Lina shifted in her seat and reached for her phone, grateful for a distraction. Any distraction. Work was safer ground than the dangerous thoughts prowling through her mind. Her thumbs flew over the screen as she checked the latest search results from the county records database.
The address they were watching popped up again, this time, under a holding company she didn’t recognize. Pentagram, Inc. Her brows drew together. “Subtle,” she muttered under her breath.
She tapped deeper into the trail, following the breadcrumb links that had tripped her investigative instincts. Pentagram, Inc. led to a registered agent who didn’t exist. From there, the trail wound through two more shell corporations before landing on a name she did know.
“Penelope Atwood,” she whispered, feeling a spark of satisfaction. The alias tied back to the PO box they’d already flagged. That was confirmation, and another lead. The final filing listed a second officer of the corporation, a name they hadn’t seen before.
“Marguerite Ainsworth,” Lina murmured, the syllables tasting wrong somehow, yet familiar in a way she couldn’t quite place. She pulled up a few cross-references, and her pulse kicked up a notch. The address history overlapped with several of Mrs. Entwistle’s earlier entries.
She started a new file on her screen, fingers moving fast. She’d just found a possible new alias and made a note to cross-check all prior hits on that name. Every new connection was another thread in the web Mrs. E had spun, and another chance to unravel it.
For a long moment, the hum of the nearby construction and usual neighborhood traffic filled the silence between her and Liam. Then she exhaled quietly, a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.
“Gotcha,” she whispered, more to herself than to him.