Call of the Wolf (15 page)

* * * *

Seth tamped his hostility with an effort as he settled across from Agent Milner on Abby's couch and eyed the man assessingly. He had to hand it to the man. He had a hell of a poker face. Not by the flicker of an eyelid did he let on that he was the least bit unnerved by the men surrounding him. Unfortunately for him, Seth could smell it on him.

It bothered him in an indefinable way. He was willing to admit they must seem like an intimidating bunch, even if Milner didn't know exactly what they were, but there was something about Milner's uneasiness that seemed ‘off.'

Maybe it was nothing more than the fact that they'd gotten the drop on him down by the fairgrounds, but he wasn't as convinced as he would've liked to be.

"Now, what were saying about why it took you so long to come check on Abby?” he murmured coolly when Abby had left the room.

Milner gave him an assessing look. “Actually, I don't think I said—bureau business."

Seth met the man's gaze with a hard one of his own. For a handful of moments, the agent held his gaze, but he broke contact first. “Partly, I was assessing the situation and checking into possible relocation,” he said finally, glancing around Abby's living room and finally getting to his feet and pacing to the window. “As you might imagine, a set up like this takes quite a while to manage and it's expensive."

Seth grunted. “Yeah, I see you spared no expense on Abby's account. This house was bought by the government for five hundred dollars thirty years ago when the owner died without issue and it went on up for sale on back taxes. It was renovated fifteen years ago, which included bringing the wiring and plumbing up to code, replacing rotten wood, coating the roof instead of replacing it, and a new paint job—exterior. Everything else is the same as it was when the house was first built."

Milner turned away from the window. “The title's in Ms. Winthrope's name,” he said coolly. “Also the car."

"Another government issue, three years old—that's when they usually replace them with the new models, right?"

Milner returned to his seat, eyeing Seth with disfavor. “And your point is?"

Seth smiled at him lazily. “You didn't ‘give’ Abby a fuckin’ thing. You sold her condo, her car, and her designer clothes, I would imagine, for a good bit more than I'm seein’ here."

Milner's eyes narrowed. “You've been doing some research."

"I have,” Seth said pleasantly.

Milner eyed him speculatively for a moment and finally shrugged. “She's a felon. She got immunity and a new identity. She got more than she deserved. Her condo—everything she owned—was seized since it couldn't be proven it wasn't bought with her lover's money. It became government property."

Fury surged through Seth at the lie. It took all he could do to prevent it from showing. “That's not the way I heard it."

Milner smiled. “She give you the old ‘I didn't do anything. They took advantage of me’ routine? You didn't expect her to admit it? She never did—even after we offered her immunity for her testimony. I think your ... interest in Ms. Winthrope may have skewed your perspective."

He glanced away from Seth when he heard the door close to Abby's room. Seth took the opportunity to flick a warning glance at the others since he could sense their rage. They tamped their anger as he had but reluctantly. He could see they wanted to beat the bastard to death as badly as he did.

Abby glanced around the living room a little uncomfortably when she reached the door. He got up and met her, guiding her to the couch. When she'd settled, he sat down beside her, laying one arm along the back of the couch and settling his hand in her hair. She glanced at him a little uncertainly. He smiled at her reassuringly. “I was telling Agent Milner that we wanted you to stay, that we'd take good care of you."

Milner narrowed a glance at him. “Unfortunately, that isn't her decision, or yours ... or even mine. I came down to assess the situation and report back. They're not going to be happy that there are so many people here aware of her situation. Her safety depends on as few a number of people being aware of her true identity as possible. The more who know, the more potential for disaster. The mob has eyes and ears everywhere."

Abby eyed the man with dislike. “No one knows except the guys and that's because they were here when Seth found out. I'm safe here. I trust him and I trust them. I want to stay. I don't want to be moved again when I'm just starting to settle in and I don't see any reason why I should be."

Milner pursed his lips. “You're in no position to make a rational decision. You're emotionally involved with Banner."

Abby couldn't help but feel a flicker of discomfort, but she didn't deny it. “You said you'd checked him out thoroughly before you brought me. If I doubt him, then that brings
your
judgment into question, doesn't it?"

He shook his head and rose abruptly. “I'll put in my report,” he said tightly. “I can't guarantee it'll make any difference, but I'll be sure to pass your preferences along."

Abby was frowning when she'd seen the agent out and returned to the living room. She glanced at the men as she entered, feeling a fleeting sense of discomfort about the incident at the fairgrounds, but dismissed it determinedly. She didn't
know
that they'd seen anything at all, or heard anything. Seth had saved her from the worst sort of embarrassment anyway, as upset as she'd been about
that
at the time. As embarrassed as she'd been that they might have seen them, they hadn't been naked or even half naked. They hadn't actually had sex.

She
had
actually come twice, but she wasn't even sure Seth knew that.

Of course, they'd all looked at her like she was a tasty morsel, but then she'd been kissing them earlier, and they'd had the same look on their faces when they'd left the booth.

In any case, there was something about Milner's attitude that was bothering her, that made it easier to focus on that than her earlier embarrassment. She couldn't quite put her finger on it ... until Seth hit the nail right on the head.

"Took him long enough to get anxious,” he muttered when she'd settled on the couch again.

She glanced at him at that but then frowned thoughtfully again, wondering if Milner's behavior was from something else entirely since it seemed unlikely, as Seth pointed out, that he was actually concerned about her in any sense. He had to be ticked off, after all, that Seth had made a fool out of him when he was supposed to be such a hotshot trained agent. Maybe that was why he'd behaved like he had? “I don't know,” she murmured finally. “When he didn't show up before, I figured it was because he knew I'd be safe with y'all. You don't think it was just that he was pissed off because he was embarrassed?"

Seth considered it. “Possibly. You know him better than I. Is that what you think?"

She grimaced. “I don't actually know him. He was assigned to me after they'd made the arrangements here. He coached me to prepare me, but it isn't as if we were friends or even friendly acquaintances. He's very ... reticent, not a warm person at all. And anyway, I despised them. I didn't want to get to know any of them on friendly terms. But he always struck me as a pompous ass. I could easily see where it would annoy him no end to have been bested by a small town sheriff and his men when he has such an inflated opinion of himself."

Cameron, Adrian, and Jerico, who'd ranged themselves around the room from the time they'd arrived at the house, moved to the couch and chairs and joined them. “You believe him when he said it wasn't his decision? Isn't he supposed to be in charge of your case?"

Abby looked at him in surprise since she hadn't considered that. “So he said ... at least, he was my contact if I ran into trouble and I assumed that was the case. I don't know if he ever claimed it, but as I said, he's an arrogant prick. I can't picture him admitting it wasn't his call unless he was telling the truth. Actually, from what I did know of him, I would've thought that he wouldn't admit it, that he would just have passed the issue off as something he had to consider before he made the decision."

Seth shook it off. “I'll make some calls tomorrow and see if I can track down who really is in charge."

They decided, since it was still fairly early, to head back to the fairgrounds to eat and look at some of the booths. Abby was a little surprised that they all intended to go, but then again, she realized, that was their main reason for coming to Ajax to start with. Reminded that Julie had said she was there to look for unique items to sell in her boutique, she couldn't help but wonder what had drawn them.

Cameron, she had discovered, ran a nightclub/gambling casino. Adrian was in commercial construction, and Jerico ran a security consulting business. She couldn't imagine that the festival was the sort of place where they'd find anything of any interest business-wise and finally decided that, maybe, they'd primarily come for the excuse of a reunion.

They had barbequed ribs. She was pretty sure she had barbeque sauce all the way up to her eyebrows before she was done, but she discovered she felt comfortable enough around the gang that she wasn't self conscious about eating with her face. Anyway, they were the best ribs she'd ever had, and she was starving. It was worth the mess. She doubted they would've been half as good if it hadn't been sloppy eating. When she'd ducked into the washroom—which thankfully was a real bathroom located inside the pavilion—she came out again to discover their party had doubled ... and then some. Apparently, the men who'd lined up to kiss her at the booth were friends of theirs, although she couldn't figure out whether they were Seth's friends, or a mixture that was partly his acquaintances and partly the other guys'. She felt just a
lit-tle
awkward being introduced to them
after
they'd had their tongues down her throat, but she supposed, with wry amusement, that that was better than not actually being introduced at all.

They were attractive bunch, but she decided she was either getting used to being around a gang of hunky males, or she just found ‘her’ guys more attractive.

It did feel a little strange walking with such a gang of men, but she noticed their group wasn't unique. There seemed to be far more men at the festival than there were women and the few women who were there were inundated with men. They passed Julie, who was surrounded by nearly a dozen men herself, but still took the opportunity to give her the evil eye as the two groups passed. Elaine, who'd shared the booth with her and had obviously gone home to change as she had, also passed them with six or eight men in tow, though she waved and smiled instead of snubbing Abby as Julie had.

It lifted Abby's spirits instantly to see a friendly face.

Right or wrong, it made her feel more strongly that she'd made the right decision when she'd told Milner that she wanted to stay. She knew it was mostly because of Seth, because, as the bastard Milner had pointed out, she
was
emotionally involved. She also knew that it might not last—probably wouldn't—and it
had
worried her to think that she might be basing her entire decision on something that was tentative at best.

It was also true, as she'd told Seth, though, that she was already beginning to think she was going to enjoy being a teacher. It wasn't the career she
had
chosen for herself. It wasn't a career she thought she would ever have chosen, but now that the decision had been made for her she thought it had the potential of being far more rewarding and challenging than the career she'd had to give up.

It hadn't been an impulsive decision, she decided, and she didn't think she would regret it. Even if nothing came of her relationship with Seth, if it turned out that he was merely doing his job and thought he might as well enjoy the perks, it was a friendly town. She thought she could settle comfortably here, and she thought she would be safe. Nothing, she'd come to realize, was more important to happiness than a sense of security.

Leaving the men to entertain themselves whenever the mood struck her, she explored whatever booths drew her attention. She hadn't even realized there were still people that practiced handicrafts, let alone so many, and such skilled artisans. It was just as well she couldn't really afford to spend wildly. She coveted at least half of the things she stopped to look at.

Finally, deciding it was just plain rude not to purchase a few things when the entire objective of the festival, obviously, was to boost the local economy, she began a more serious search for something that wasn't too frivolous. Before she'd managed to make up her mind, though, they began to close down the booths.

As disappointed as she was, she decided it was probably for the best. She could sleep on it and return the following day to buy something practical.

She hadn't realized any of the men were actually paying her that much attention until she told Jerico, who'd asked her why she hadn't bought anything, what her intention was. Cole, one of the men who'd joined their party after supper, reminded her that the barbeque and dance was scheduled for the following night.

"Oh but ... won't the dance be after the booths close for the evening?” she asked, abruptly torn by the desire to shop, and felt dismay at the thought of missing the dance when it would give her the chance of a slow dance with Seth—and maybe Cameron, Adrian, and Jerico.

The question not only prompted a general discussion, but so many offers of escort that she was more dismayed. They were all nice. How was she supposed to choose? Especially when Seth, Cameron, Adrian and Jerico
also
asked her, damn their hides, and she couldn't just say she'd already accepted an invitation.