Chapter Five
Toby
The soft hum of the air conditioner was the only sound in the room as Toby watched Harper sleep, her face calm and serene in the dim morning light.
She looked beautiful asleep, her face soft and serene, and Toby asked himself silently how he had got this lucky.
He could have spent his whole life watching her sleep peacefully, but reluctantly he was forced to admit that their mission didn’t allow for peaceful mornings in bed.
He brushed a strand of hair back from her face, leaning down to whisper near her ear, “Babe? I’m going downstairs to see if I can find anything out about Jack. Can you check if you’ve heard from him again?”
Harper stirred, her eyes fluttering open slowly. “Morning,” she mumbled, her voice scratchy from sleep.
Toby’s coyote let out a sigh of contentment at the sight of her big blue eyes blinking up at him.
Harper reached for her cell phone then checked it briefly before shaking her head.
“No, there’s nothing yet. I hope he’s okay.”
“I’ll see what I can find out,” Toby said, trying to sound hopeful. “I might run into him in the bar. If not, perhaps someone down there has seen him around.”
The truth was, he’d been downstairs the night before after finally extracting himself from Harper’s sleeping embrace, but there had been no sign of her brother, and the bar person hadn’t recognized Jack from Toby’s image.
Harper had still been sleeping softly so there had been no point in waking her when he got back to the room, only to give her bad news.
She deserved whatever peace he could give her, for as long as he could let her have it.
It didn’t seem like her life had been filled with peace so far.
“Come down when you’re ready, okay?”
She nodded, sleepily. “I’m just going to grab a quick shower.”
“Take your time.”
He kissed her forehead gently, then slipped out of the room, feeling the weight of her safety pressing down on him.
He was still amazed by what had happened between them the night before.
He felt closer to her now than ever and his coyote had finally stopped pushing at him to claim her.
From the moment Harper had said she’d accept him as her mate, and their bond had been sealed with his bite, it had become official.
They were a done deal. Nothing would ever separate them again, but instead of feeling shackled, Toby was elated.
There was nothing he wanted more than a lifetime at Harper’s side.
The night before, Toby had called his friend and CIA teammate, Logan, to tell him the news of his mating.
He’d also mentioned the details of the mission that had brought him to Peru, including the run in with the wolf shifters in Fort Worth.
Logan had congratulated him on meeting Harper, and offered to fly down to Peru to help him protect her.
Toby had been filled with gratitude for the offer.
Then, less than five minutes after they’d ended their call, Toby’s cellphone had lit up with call after call from the rest of his team who all wanted to offer their congratulations.
The same offer to fly to Peru had then been made from every single one of them.
Their kindness had brought a lump to Toby’s throat, but he’d assured them he wouldn’t need them.
Logan had told Toby that their trip to Mexico had been delayed for a few days so if Toby was able to wrap up his mission quickly, he might be able to join them.
Weirdly, the prospect of another mission didn’t excite him as much as it once had, especially not with the prospect of leaving Harper so soon after meeting her.
Perhaps he could take a longer vacation?
Here in Peru, all that was left for him to do was to find Jack and talk some damn sense into him. Then he could retrieve the Cryptex for his parents, and spend a few days exploring the country with his new mate.
In the hotel lobby, Toby made his way to the bar, which was just starting to fill with the morning crowd seeking refreshments.
The bartender, a middle-aged man with a friendly face, was arranging bottles behind the counter.
It was a different bartender to the one who had been on shift the night before, so Toby hoped he’d have better luck this time around.
“Hi,” he greeted with a smile, pulling out the photograph of Jack. “Have you seen this man around by any chance? He’s my brother-in-law. He was supposed to meet me and my wife here last night, but we can’t reach him on his cell phone and my wife is starting to worry about him.”
Toby smiled sheepishly and shrugged his shoulders as if to say ‘Women, right?’
The bartender took the photograph and studied it for a moment. “Ah, yes. I know him. He was sitting here at the bar yesterday morning with a couple of local men. Trackers. They were talking about heading into the rainforest. He seemed in a rush.”
Toby’s heart skipped a beat. “Do you know who he was with? Or how I can get in touch with them?”
The bartender nodded, reaching for the phone. “Let me make a call to see if I can get hold of one of them.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it.”
As he waited, Toby took the time to glance around the room.
During his time working for the CIA, he’d been trained to spot suspicious characters, but there was no one in the room who met the criteria, and he hadn’t scented the wolf shifters who had attacked Harper in Fort Worth.
Hopefully that meant their trail had run cold in Texas.
The bartender put down the telephone. “One of the men is on his way here to talk to you,” he said.
Toby nodded. “Thank you.”
He ordered a coffee then gave the bartender a large tip before settling in to wait.
See mate? his coyote asked hopefully.
She’s sleeping. Toby reminded the annoying beast. He could finally understand why his friends were always in such a rush to get back to their mates after a mission had been completed. They had to deal with not only their own desire to see their mate again, but their inner animal’s, too.
After a few moments, he glanced over his shoulder, seeing Harper stepping into the bar, her expression hopeful as she headed his way, and his coyote let out a groan of relief.
Toby waved her over, feeling a sense of relief at her presence.
The short time away from her had made him begin to feel anxious, and he wondered if that was a normal effect of the mate bond or because of the risk from the people who were hunting for Jack and the Cryptex.
Probably a little of both, he decided as she approached.
Toby slid his arm around her waist and pulled her in for a quick peck on the lips.
Harper came willingly into his arms and leaned her body against him after they had pulled back from the kiss.
Toby hoped that meant she felt closer to him now that their bond had been sealed.
“Any news?” she asked.
Toby nodded and told her about his conversation with the bartender. “Hopefully this man will be able to help us.”
Harper nodded, biting down on her bottom lip again. Toby hated that her idiotic brother was causing her so much anxiety.
“I hope so,” she said. “I’m going to kill Jack when we catch up with him.”
Despite the ferocity of her words, there was no heat behind them, and it was clear that she was more worried than angry. Toby on the other hand…well, he wanted to throttle the man.
When a rugged-looking man entered the bar, the bartender called him over then introduced him as Mateo.
“This is the man who can help you,” the bartender said, gesturing toward the newcomer.
Mateo approached, his gaze sharp and assessing, but not unfriendly. “Hello. I heard you’re looking for brother-in-law who has gone into the rainforest.”
Harper sucked in a breath and her gaze flicked to Toby’s but she didn’t say anything.
Toby nodded. “That’s right. We are.”
“My friend Jose is a tracker, like me,” he said. “He took your man in. I talked to them here and saw the map they used. They found it in a Cryptex, right?”
Toby exchanged a look with Harper, both surprised and hopeful. “Yes, that’s right. Do you remember the map? Would you be able to take us to him?” he asked.
Mateo tapped the side of his head, considering. “I have a very good memory for details, yes, but it will cost you. It’s not an easy journey, and it can be dangerous.”
“We’ll pay,” Harper said quickly, her voice firm. “Just get us there safely. Please.”
Mateo nodded, setting the terms for their expedition.
As they finalized the details, Anticipation and dread warred for dominance in Toby’s mind.
They were about to venture even deeper into unknown territory, trusting the word of a man who claimed to remember a map that Toby himself had never seen into a territory that promised more than just geographical challenges.
This type of mission would generally be all in a day’s work for Toby, but now he had Harper’s safety to consider.
He tried suggesting that she stay in the safety of their hotel room until he got back, but she wouldn’t even entertain the idea, much to Toby’s dismay, but little to his surprise.
His mate was tough, and determined, and hell if that didn’t just make him crave her more.
“Are you sure you remember the way?” Toby asked.
Mateo nodded. “It’s quite a trek, but the final destination isn’t too far past some ancient ruins. I’ve taken people to see them many times, but I’ve never gone much further so when we pass them, the territory will be new to me, too. From there, we just need to keep heading north.”
After their meeting with Mateo, Toby and Harper went to withdraw the money to pay him.
He had agreed to take half to begin with and the other half upon their safe arrival at their destination.
With Toby’s enhanced senses he knew that he would be able to get them back to their starting point without any trouble.