Chapter 2 #2
Harrison eyed him silently for a couple of seconds. “He knows they’re from the most recent fire?”
“Yessss,” Emerson hissed.
“I need them bumped,” Harrison said. He turned toward the doors that led to the lab. “They need to be done ASAP.”
“Oakley said they’ve been moving your stuff to the top of the list and plans to do so again. He hopes to have something for you in a day or two.”
Harrison’s frown deepened for a second before he shook his head, expression softening a little. “I should’ve been there.”
“I figured I could handle the menial task of escorting the evidence in while you got a few extra minutes of sleep.” Emerson dangled the keys in front of his brother. “Sorry for being considerate. I’ll try not to let it happen again.”
Harrison blinked a few times before he scrubbed his face. “Sorry. I don’t mean to bark. I woke up… and freaked.” He reached for the keys. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Harrison eyed Emerson. “This thing with Raimy… it’s still really new.”
Emerson frowned. Why was Harrison bringing their omega up again? “So you’ve already said.”
“I just wanted to make sure you knew that’s why I’m not inviting you to dinner. Not because I don’t want you to meet our omega.”
Our omega. For something new, Harrison sounded all in. He wondered if Cassidy felt the same. It still blew his mind they were adding an omega to their mix. “It’s cool.”
“I’ll introduce him to you and the rest of the family soon,” Harrison said. “We just need some time to get our heads straight in all this and figure out how we move forward.”
“It’s okay, Harry. I get it. I won’t say anything.”
Harrison smiled softly, though he still looked exhausted. Considering he was chasing after a serial arsonist singlehandedly and starting a new relationship at the same time, he had to be.
“I think I snapped a little when you asked about dinner earlier. I didn’t want you to think I didn’t want you around.”
Emerson’s chest tightened. He saw the emotion in his twin’s eyes and wasn’t prepared to get into it then and there. They’d grown too distant over the years. “I wasn’t really trying to snag an invite on date night. I was just busting your balls.”
“Ah,” Harrison said. “Well, I appreciate you keeping this quiet for now.”
“No worries.”
“And… maybe I can do the same for you down the road. You know… if you had a new relationship you wanted to keep quiet for whatever reasons.”
Emerson’s gaze jumped to his brother’s. “Why would I need to hide a relationship?” He scoffed before Harrison could answer. “You know me. I just fuck around. No omega’s tying me down.”
“Yeah, sure,” Harrison said, an odd light in his eyes. “But even so… you know I’ll protect you, right?”
Emerson held his brother’s knowing stare, the urge to share his secret clawing in his throat. A car came roaring into the garage and sped past them, forcing them to step out of the way.
He clapped his brother on the shoulder, the moment passed. “You gonna be okay to drive home or do you want me to drive you there?”
“It’s only a ten-minute trip. I’m fine,” Harrison said. He paused, grinning. “Plus I got a nap in, so… I think I can make it home.”
Emerson hoped so.
“You good to get home?” Harrison asked.
“I’ll grab a trolley.”
“Where’s your truck?”
“I drove in with Dad. My truck’s at his place.”
Harrison frowned. “I can drive you over there?”
“Nah. Get your ass home,” Emerson said, backing up a few steps. “I have an errand to run anyway. Text me when you get home so I don’t worry, heh?”
Harrison met his gaze, a hint of a smile on his lips. “Will do.”
Emerson watched Harrison climb into his work truck and pull out before dragging out his cell to call their youngest alpha brother, Randall.
“Hey, where are you?”
“Work,” Rand replied, the sound of ringing phones and murmuring in the background.
“I was hoping you might want to grab a drink. If you’re close to getting off?”
“What do you want?”
Emerson walked out of the parking garage. After pausing for a passing car, he trotted across the street toward the trolley line. “To see if you wanted to hang out with your handsomest, smartest older brother.”
“Surrrree…”
“Oh, we both know I’m totally the finest and brightest,” Emerson joked.
“Uh-huh. You’re also the brother who never calls me unless he wants something,” Randall said.
“That hurts.” He winced, grabbing his chest in mock pain. The ache was real, though. Randall wasn’t too far away from the truth but not for the reasons he probably thought.
“Just tell me what you want, Em.”
Em paused on the opposite side of the street, closing his eyes to the tone in his brother’s voice. “I need you to do a background check on someone.”
“As if I don’t have enough work on my desk?”
“Some guy approached Harrison and I today. He was supposedly hired by Quinn McCreary to protect Harrison, Cass, and—”
Shut up, dumbass! It had only been hours since Harrison had confided in him and he’d almost spilled the tea about their new omega.
“Protect them from what?” Randall asked. “Has there been another threat?”
“Another threat?” What did his little brother know that he didn’t? He’d sensed Harrison hadn’t told him everything that had been going on as of late. But then, it wasn’t like he told his twin everything, either.
“Well, the… bomb threat… at Fitz’s ceremony,” Rand said, his tone hinting he knew more than that.
“There was a bomb threat?”
“It wasn’t a bomb threat. Someone crashed the reception and since it’s the guy Tanner thinks burned down his studio, we lied and said some teenagers called in a fake bomb threat to clear the venue so we could search for any explosive devices.”
“Tanner believes it’s Charles Macklin,” Emerson said after checking that the coast was clear.
“Oh, so you know about Charles, but not him crashing?”
“That was left out of the report I read,” Emerson said, pissed Harrison hadn’t told him. Or their father.
Randall sighed. “Maybe if you hadn’t left the reception early, you’d know more about what’s going on.”
He’d gotten tired of extended family and friends of his parents asking when he was going to settle down with a nice omega and split. “I was there for the ceremony and… half of the reception,” Emerson countered.
“I hope whichever omega’s bed you landed in was nice and warm while we were trying to protect our family and friends,” Randall muttered.
Emerson rolled his eyes. “Did Dad tell you I’ve been promoted? I’m now working investigations with Harry.”
“No, he didn’t,” Randall replied. “I’m glad someone’s there now. Harrison needs the help.”
“Exactly. Harry’s got enough on his shoulders chasing this arsonist down. I want to make sure this guy leading the security detail is on the up and up and won’t cause more trouble than it’s worth.”
Emerson closed his eyes, wincing. Add lying to his brothers to his list of sins.
Though, in all honesty, knowing that Dash was a good guy and Harrison was in safe hands wasn’t exactly a bad thing to investigate, either. Two birds, one stone.
“Alright,” Rand said. “You gotta name?”
“Dashiell Keller,” Emerson replied.
His body tensed at the sound of the alpha’s name coming from his lips.
“Oh, Dash is doing it? Keller Security’s one of the best firms in the province. I don’t think you’ve got anything to worry about.”
Emerson’s shoulders sagged with relief. “I’d still prefer to see the details in black and white. Just so I can rest my mind.”
“He’s ex-Guard. Way up there, I think,” Rand said. “Highly decorated from what I hear.”
“Can you just put his name in the system and send me his details?” Emerson snapped. He took a deep breath as silence met him on the other end. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to bark. This is Harry and Cas we’re talking about. I just want to be sure they’re in good hands.”
I’m going to hell. No way he was telling his little brother he had a hard-on for another alpha and he was using Harry’s safety as a cover to get details.
“If that helps you sleep tonight, sure,” Randall said from the other end. “I’ll send you details in a few. You still have your department email?”
“Yeah,” Emerson said. “I really appreciate it, Rand.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Randall groused before hanging up.
Emerson eyed his phone, wishing his relationships with all his brothers could be better. Keeping them at arm’s length was a necessary evil, though. The less he was with them, the lower the risk they’d see through all his lies.
He snagged a passing trolley’s rear post and then took a seat. The cool evening breeze was welcome, especially after getting a little heated thinking of Dashiell Keller.
Halfway home, he checked his email and found one from Rand. A photo of Dashiell Keller popped up on his screen a couple of seconds later.
Emerson stared at the photo, his heart quickening. It wasn’t the only thing affected, either. He scrolled down and noticed the basic stats.
Six-six. Two-thirty.
Black hair. Blue-gray eyes.
University educated.
Ex-Black Guard.
Fuuuuuck.
Emerson had sensed a Guardsman but not that.
The Black Guard were the top tier within the Guard, so secretive that few knew what they really did.
Basic Guardsmen acted as security at events.
The Red Guard were the upper level of province security.
From what was known, the Black Guard worked within all the provinces, keeping the entire continent safe from dangers from within and without.
All others took their orders from the Black Guard.
Emerson’s shock faded into a bit of smug satisfaction.
His suspicions had been correct about the guy being Guard, but that only added more questions than answers.
Alphas were typically considered too violent for the Guard, though the guidelines had been changing.
Randall had been one of the first in the province to make it in as far as he knew.
Dash had spent a few years there, and already retired four years ago at the tender age of thirty.
Why had he retired so young?