Sentinel Lost (Mind Sweeper Series Book 5) (10 page)

When he finally stopped in front of me, the other men who’d been circling us seemed to slink away at the same time.
Interesting.
Definitely the alpha in the room, even if he wasn’t a shifter.

He showed his teeth and ran his eyes over me. “I understand from Johnny that you weren’t inclined to join me without an introduction.”

“He’s correct.”

“What about now?”

I shrugged. “Still waiting for the intro.”

He barked out a laugh. “I’m Eli.”

“Hello, Eli. I’m Carly. And this is Shauna.”

He dipped his chin in Talia’s direction as a greeting. “You two friends?”

“Yes. We do everything together.”

Eli’s eyes flared for a moment, and then he grinned. “Good to know.”

Eli Miller was a smarmy, smarmy demon. Why was I not surprised?

“Will you both join me?” He held out his hand to me, and I took it.

Talia joined us, and we wound our way through the people until we were in the back alcove. He gestured to the corner table with burgundy leather, and Talia and I slid into the booth. Which wasn’t easy in extremely short dresses. At least for me. As usual, Talia handled it with aplomb. Of course a waitress appeared as soon as we were seated.

“Would you like something to drink?” Eli asked.

“I’ll have a white wine,” I answered.

“I’ve got a special supply of AB neg you might like, Shauna.”

“That sounds great,” Talia said.

The waitress hustled away, and Eli settled back into the booth. “I haven’t seen you in here before. Are you two new to the area?”

“I’ve lived here for a while. Shauna moved here a couple of weeks ago. I’m introducing her to everything Northeast Ohio has to offer.”

“And what made you decide to visit us?”

“We heard it’s a great place through the grapevine.” I stopped talking while the waitress placed our drinks on the table. I picked up the wine and took a sip before continuing. “We also were hoping to discuss a little business venture with you.”

Eli’s eyes tightened on my face. “I don’t deal in drugs or prostitution in my club.”

“McKinley,” Dalton growled in my ear piece, but I ignored him.

I shook my head. “Not even close to what I’m talking about.”

“What type of venture?”

“We hear you also deal in transportation.”

Eli sat up straight, and his guard took a step closer to the table. “Who told you that?”

I hesitated, and he grabbed my arm and squeezed. I managed not to gasp, but Talia flashed her fangs and hissed.

“Is she your bodyguard, too?” Eli asked.

I pulled my arm from his grasp and didn’t rub it. No way would I show him any weakness. “It pays to have your friends close.”

Eli looked pointedly at his bodyguard. “I couldn’t agree more. Who told you about me?”

“Charles Jenkins.” I held my breath waiting for his reaction.

After a moment he seemed to relax.

“What type of transportation are you looking for?”

“I have a friend who needs to travel to the demon realm.”

He nodded. “I’m only the front man for these deals. I do the negotiations. Which start at 100K.”

I didn’t blink at his number. “We have the funds.”

“When does your friend need to cross over?”

“As soon as possible.”

Eli frowned. “It takes time to set these things up. We don’t want the border patrol to get a whiff of it.”

“We’re not looking for trouble with them, either. Our business is urgent.”

“Let me see what I can do for you. But a rush job costs more.”

“Fine.” I pulled out a fake business card. “Contact me when you have an idea of when this will be a go.”

I started to slide out of the booth, but he laid his hand over mine. “How about you stick around for a while?” He rubbed his thumb over the back of my hand, and I bit my lip to stop it from curling up in disgust.

I smiled. “My rule is business before pleasure. If you’re able to pull this off for me, then I’ll pay you another visit with pleasure in mind.”

I finished sliding out of the booth, praying my butt wouldn’t stick to the leather. Because that wouldn’t be sexy, and I was trying my damndest to be confident and sexy.

Talia and I collected our wraps from the coat room, the bouncer at the door smiled at us, and we smiled right back as we stepped out onto the street.

Talia grabbed my hand and I jumped. “Slow down, Kyle. Don’t blow it now.”

I glanced back at the bouncer who looked at our joined hands and then at our butts. When he looked up at me, I winked at him, and he chuckled. I was so pulling off the sultry right now.

“Meet us at the office,” Dalton barked in my earbud.

My sultry deflated like a day-old balloon.

Chapter 12

“I’m confused, McKinley.” Dalton paced back and forth in front of the whiteboard like an irate schoolteacher.

“Confused about what?”

“Do you not understand what a fact-finding mission is?”

“Of course I do. And we found out a lot of facts on our mission.”

“We talked about this before you went under cover. You were to casually ask around, not set up a meeting with Eli.”

“How exactly was I supposed to find out if Eli was dealing in crossovers if I didn’t set up a deal with him? He wasn’t going to blurt it out during polite conversation.”

“She’s right,” Talia chimed in.

My eyes widened. I was so used to fighting the overbearing sea of testosterone that it was a nice change of pace when someone agreed with me. Apparently having another X chromosome handy was a good thing.

I reached down and pulled off my sandals. “If I’m stuck torturing myself in four-inch heels, I’m going to find out the truth and fast.”

Misha chortled. “You both did a good job.”

Jean Luc nodded, and I pointed at him while I glared at Dalton. “Even he thinks we did a good job, and he’s ridiculously overprotective of Talia.”

Jean Luc’s gaze narrowed on me. “You and Talia will not be going to the next meeting alone.”

“We won’t need to. Now that Eli knows we need to send a demon over, we can bring Misha into the picture.”

Talia sat at the table and pulled off her own heels. “They’re going to probably want a down payment to prove we have the cash.”

“No problem,” Misha said.

Dalton’s eyebrows climbed. “You’ve got that kind of cash available?”

I gestured at the lime green sofa. “I know the seventies décor here screams cheap, but we’re not a nickel-and-dime operation.”

“I knew that when I saw the surveillance equipment you use,” Dalton fired back.

I opened my mouth for a retort and then stopped.
What was the point?
Being snarky with him didn’t help, and I was committed to being the new and improved Kyle. He wasn’t the same Dalton, either, and he sure didn’t need to deal with my baggage. Hell, he didn’t even remember I
had
baggage—namely him.

I got up, holding my heels dangling by their straps. “I’m going to go change out of this getup, and then we can discuss next steps.”

My phone beeped as I walked down the hall, and I pulled it out. Misha had hooked up the number I gave Eli to ring on my phone, but I doubted Eli would be calling so soon. It was Griffin.

I answered the phone. “Hey.”

“Hi. Just checking on you.”

“I’m fine. We’ve finished the operation for tonight, so you can quit worrying.”

“Yes, ma’am. How did it go?”

I sat at my desk and swung side to side in my chair. “Good. We were able to set up a meet with Eli. Hopefully we can get a better handle on how this crossover process works.”

“And Dalton?”

“If he helps us solve the case, then I can live with it for now.”

Griffin paused for so long I thought I’d lost the connection. “Are you still there?”

“Promise me you won’t do anything crazy, Kyle.”

I wasn’t sure if he was referring to the case or something else, but I didn’t want to dwell on it. “I promise. I’ve got to go meet with the team to do some planning.”

“Okay, my sweet. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

I turned back to face my desk and jumped, dropping my phone. Dalton was leaning on my office doorjamb.

“Who were you talking to?”

He was eavesdropping on my conversation and had the nerve to speak to me in that tone? The new and improved Kyle McKinley had left the building. “None of your damn business.”

He took a step into my office. “It is my business if you compromise the case. Do I need to explain again that I’m in charge of this case?”

I jumped to my feet. “I’ve been working these types of cases for ten years. I’m not a novice.”

“Well, telling someone outside the team about our operation is a novice move.”

“He’s my…”
Partner?
Boyfriend? Lover?
“…boyfriend, and he worries about me.”

“Is he human?” His gaze tightened on me.

“What does it matter?” I glared at him.

“It matters, because another supernatural will keep the secret, right?”

“I keep the secret. You and Captain Morrison don’t go around plastering it on billboards, either. And we’re all human.”

“I would still appreciate it if you didn’t tell him about the specific details of the case.”

“Give me a break. You never told Lauren about your cases?”

Oh, shit.

His jaw tightened. “How do you know about Lauren? We haven’t been together for years.”

How the hell did I know about his ex?

He practically shook with anger, or was it indignation? “Did you do a background check on me?”

“Umm. Yes. We needed to know who you were. You aren’t the only one worried about exposure. Don’t tell me you didn’t drill Morrison about all of us before you took on this case. Hell, you watched us in the interrogation room at the police station like animals in a zoo.”

His eyes widened slightly. Apparently I had hit the bullseye. He backed out of my office. “Get changed and come up front. Let’s get this over with.”

I shut my door and leaned against it, my heart beating a staccato rhythm as I tried not to cry.

By all means, let’s get this over with.

* * *

Forty-five minutes later, we finished the team meeting and Dalton left. When the door shut behind him, I slumped and scrubbed my hands over my face.

“You okay, little one?” Misha watched me warily.

“He’s…”

“Demanding?” Talia supplied.

“That’s an understatement. He was cautious before, but now he’s driven by regulations.”

“You’re not the only one with demons, Kyle.” Misha laughed at his own joke. “You know what I mean.”

Jean Luc sat next to me at the table. “Do you remember two years ago, when your car skidded on black ice and ended up in the guardrail?”

“Of course. But I’m not sure what it has to do with anything.”

“After the accident, you drove under the speed limit for months.”

I sat up straighter. “It was cold and icy, and I didn’t want to end up in another guardrail.”

Jean Luc smiled. “Exactly. You were overly cautious and followed the rules. Misha is right. Joe almost died, and he is still recuperating. Still facing his demons.”

* * *

I dumped my dress and shoes on my couch, fully intending to consume the entire quart of mocha swirl I kept in the freezer for emergencies. Today had been a mocha swirl kind of day.

While I stared into my empty freezer, I bit my lip to keep from bursting into tears. Son of a pup. When had I eaten the emergency quart? And why the h, e, double-hockey-sticks hadn’t I restocked it? Before I could launch into even more colorful expletives, someone knocked.

I peered through the peephole and did a brief happy dance before opening the door with a straight face. “Hey, Tony. What brings you here tonight?”

Tony was about my height and twenty years my senior. He owned one of the best Italian restaurants in Little Italy and was part empathic demon, which he used to select perfect dishes for his customers. I had become his pet project, and he brought food to me, or sent his son with it, when I was upset.

“Kyle. I have a delivery here for you.” He held up a white paper bag, and I gave him a quick one-armed hug.

“What do you have for me tonight?”

“Some biscotti and a pint of spumoni.”

“I could kiss you on your empathic lips, Tony.”

He chuckled. “I am old enough to be your father, and I don’t think my Anna would approve of you kissing me.”

“I know. Thanks so much. As usual, you showed up with exactly what I need.”

Tony gazed at me for a moment before nodding. “Do you also need a friendly ear?”

I gave him another quick hug. “I’m good, Tony.”