Chapter 18
Driving into work, Peter felt better about leaving Chad with Aiden than he had the day before. He’d had to go full alpha on Aiden to make sure he behaved himself, and even then he hadn’t been sure that Aiden wouldn’t do something to offend Chad.
It was a difficult situation.
Aiden didn’t mean to make Chad feel bad about himself; he just didn’t understand how his words affected the younger alpha. Chad wasn’t like them. Teasing and roughhousing went right over his head, and he always interpreted Aiden’s words and actions in the worst possible light.
But Chad was Peter’s mate. If Peter had to choose between him and Aiden, he’d always choose Chad. And so he’d told his friend in no uncertain terms that if Chad complained about him he’d see it as a personal challenge.
Aiden had been unhappy, but he’d agreed to be on his best behavior. Peter was relieved to see that he was sticking to his word.
Parking his car in the underground lot belonging to the building where Tank Security had their offices, Peter grabbed his briefcase and headed up into the elevator. When the doors opened on his floor David was there waiting for him.
“Good morning, sir,” David said, handing him a cup of coffee.
“Morning, David,” Peter said, taking a sip of the coffee as they walked to the office. “Did you set up another appointment with the Rockshaw Oil and Gas people?”
It was a contract Dawn had advised him to pursue.
The old fashioned company was exactly the kind of operation that needed Tank Security’s services.
They had an IT operation that was ten years out of date, and though they had been skeptical when Peter approached them, the dossier Dawn had put together to demonstrate just how easy it was to steal their data had made them eager to talk.
“Yes, sir. You’ve got a dinner meeting with Dawn and their CSO at five.”
Peter wrinkled his nose. A dinner meeting meant that he would be home late to see Chad, which left more time for him and Aiden to get on each other’s nerves.
But there was no helping it. The Rockshaw Oil and Gas contract would not only be financially lucrative in and of itself, it would expose them to a whole sector of the business world that so far had been skeptical of their services.
“Very good, David. You’ve made a reservation at the usual place?”
David nodded. They had reached Peter’s office, and Peter stepped inside and put his coffee down on the desk. He removed his coat and handed it to David before sitting down.
“Do I have anything before then?” Peter asked.
“No appointments, sir,” David said. “You’ve got reports from the Strategic Operations Division to look over, and Mr. Merchant would like you to give him a call when you’ve got time to discuss them.”
“Okay, David. Thanks. I’ll call you if I need you.”
David nodded and left the room, and Peter grabbed the stack of folders on his desk and pulled them closer. He picked the top one off the pile and was about to open it when David stuck his head back in the door.
“Mr. Tank, Dawn is here to see you.”
“Send her in,” Peter said, putting the folder back on the pile and pushing it away.
Hopefully she finally had something for him on Chad’s attempted kidnapping.
Folding his hands on his desk, anticipation building in his gut, he watched as David pushed the door open and Dawn stepped inside.
She looked like she had been up all night, her hair and clothes not nearly as put together as Peter was used to, but her expression was pure focus.
“We got them,” she said, not wasting any time. Peter almost shot out of his seat, eager to commence the hunt, but he restrained himself.
“Who was it?” he demanded.
“Andrew Silkwood,” Dawn said, handing him a folder that had been tucked under her arm and sitting down.
“We managed to match the payment to Devlin’s account to an anonymous transfer made from one of his shell companies in the Seychelles.
If you account for the standard thirty percent fee to the intermediate, the amounts match. ”
“And the intermediary?” Peter asked.
“We still don’t know,” Dawn said, her voice clipped. “At this point our best chance at uncovering their identity is through Silkwood, though in my opinion even that’s a long shot. Whoever this guy is he’s very good at hiding his tracks.”
Peter did not like the sound of that. He wanted everyone involved in Chad’s kidnapping attempt to pay.
He opened the file Dawn had prepared for him, eyes drawn to the employee ID photo stapled to the upper right corner. He was surprised to see that Andrew Silkwood was a beta. The bloodlust that had been raging in his veins quieted, a pang of disappointment taking its place.
He’d wanted an adversary he could take down with his teeth.
While Peter might have reacted to an insult from a beta by killing them when he was younger, those days were far behind him.
These days he was firmly in control of his instincts and only a direct challenge from another alpha would trigger him to kill without thought or compunction.
Andrew Silkwood was not another alpha.
“And Silkwood went after Chad because?” He looked up at Dawn and found a frustrated grimace on her face.
“We don’t know. That part doesn’t make any sense.
We know why he’s opposing the merger, but going after you in order to block it is…
suicidal. We’ve been trying to figure out how he went from deciding to blackmailing someone on the board of Tank Industries to blackmailing you, and we’ve come up blank. ”
“Well then let’s go talk to him and find out exactly what he was thinking,” Peter said, pushing back his chair and standing up.
“You want me to come, sir?” Dawn asked. Peter looked at her, surprised to see that her face had gone a little pale. Then he realized what she was worried about.
“I’m not going to kill him,” he said, surprised that she assumed he would. “He’s a beta. I’ll let the police handle him—after I’ve got a confession and an explanation, of course.”
“Yes, sir.” Dawn said, standing up. She still looked a little green around the gills, and Peter decided that there was no need to expose her to violence. That wasn’t in her job description.
“But no, I don’t need you to come. I’ll take Merchant.”
Merchant would have no problem doing whatever it took to gain Silkwood’s cooperation.
***
“So are we grabbing him or doing this at his office,” Merchant asked after Peter had filled him in on the very limited information Dawn had dug up.
“Do you think we should grab him?” Peter asked, looking at Merchant over the roof of the SUV.
He didn’t see the point of going to those lengths himself.
Light Energy had standard security—and none of the minimum wage guards staffing the lobby and security room would interfere with a pair of alphas like Peter and Merchant.
The most that would happen is that they’d call the police.
“Depends on what we’re doing,” Merchant said, getting into the car. “If you’re going to get messy it might be best to do it off-site.”
Peter shook his head, getting behind the wheel and turning the key in the ignition. He was tempted to take Silkwood somewhere private and spend a few hours tearing him into tiny little pieces, but then he thought about what Chad would say and the temptation faded.
“As long as he doesn’t deny his involvement I don’t see the need for that,” he said, pulling out of the underground parking lot.
“I’m surprised,” Merchant said, looking at him like he was trying to figure him out.
“Why?” Peter asked. It would have been different if Chad had been hurt, but as things stood he didn’t see the need to extract extrajudicial revenge.
“You’re not exactly a level headed guy when it comes to people touching your things,” Merchant said, shaking his head. “I’m surprised you’re being this easy going about it, that’s all.”
Peter frowned and gave Merchant a sharp look.
“Chad isn’t one of my things,” he said, his voice hard and clipped. “He’s my mate.”
Merchant gave him a look out of the corner of his eye like he couldn’t believe Peter was trying to sell him that line.
Peter squirmed. Chad was his own person, and Peter tried very hard to give him both his space and his independence.
He made every effort not to let his possessive instincts get out of hand, and for the most part he felt he was successful.
Chad’s job as a private contractor for Tank Security was proof of that.
“I know that,” Merchant said, sliding his hand into his pocket and removing a packet of gum. He tossed two pieces into his mouth. “But can you honestly say that you don’t think of him as belonging to you?”
“Of course he belongs to me,” Peter said, getting angry. “And I belong to him. That’s how it works.”
Merchant rolled his eyes, and an angry growl rumbled in Peter’s chest. Merchant responded by holding his hands up defensively.
“Sorry, sorry,” he said, not sounding particularly apologetic. “You know your relationship better than I do. I didn’t mean to offend you.”
Peter snorted. Merchant lived to offend people, and they both knew it.
“We’re not going in there like a pair of savages,” he said, changing the subject. “Silkwood is going to tell us why he targeted Chad, then he’s going to give us everything he has on the intermediary, and after that we’re letting the police handle it.”
Merchant just shrugged.
“You’re the boss.”
***