harris grunted. "floor it." he disconnected then glanced at us. "he'll be here within half an hour. i would suggest you two move away from the doorway so as not to spook him."

we did. i walked across to sit on the desk beside evin, but quinn merely stepped to one side of the doorway. ready to block off any immediate escape once west saw who, exactly, was waiting for him.

we waited patiently - although in my case, that wasn't exactly easy. i mean, after all the confusion of the last few days, i just wanted to hunt down all the clues and catch the bastards behind both crimes.

lights eventually swept across the front windows as a truck rumbled into the driveway and stopped. a car door slammed, then footsteps approached.

a second later, the front door opened and west stepped in. his gaze swept the room and came to rest on me. there was a brief flash of surprise, but nothing else. he obviously had no real clue as to why we were all here.

"denny and his friends have lodged a complaint about you," he said, walking across to the coffee machine and helping himself to a drink. "i told them they were damn fools and that if they didn't get charged with kidnap and blackmail, they'd be damn lucky."

"i'm not here to lay charges against denny and his friends," i said calmly.

"then you're a damn fool, too."

"she didn't say i wouldn't," evin snapped. "and trust me, those bastards will pay."

"good. they need to be taught a lesson." west took a sip, then turned around to face harris. "where do you want me to start?"

"i think a good place," harris said, voice flat, "would be by telling us exactly what you know about the kidnapping of riley jenson - whom we happen to know as hanna london."

he didn't even look at me. just raised an eyebrow, his expression even and unfazed. "i have no idea what you're talking about."

"lie," quinn said impassively.

west glanced at him. "who the hell are you?"

"riley's lover, and a consultant to both the vampire council and the melbourne directorate." his sudden smile was neither warm nor friendly. in fact, it reminded me of a predator about to consume its prey. quinn's anger and need for revenge might be less visible than my brother's, but that didn't mean it was absent. far from it. "it is the first of those you should be worried about, because trust me, i ache for the chance to see justice done."

"that," west said, "sounded very much like a threat."

"mike," harris said heavily. "hanna - riley - is a guardian. being involved with kidnapping a guardian puts you beyond our laws. i'd seriously advise you to stop the pretense and start cooperating, or they will make you."

"i'm an officer of the law. that gives me rights against this sort of - "

"no, it doesn't," i cut in, my voice edged with the anger roiling through me. he had no choice and nowhere to run - surely he could see that? "whoever is behind this has not only kidnapped me and messed with my mind, but they're holding evin's pregnant mate hostage and they attempted to kill quinn. that means we can legally question, torture, or even kill any nonhumans involved in this case, and there's not one damn thing harris or anyone else can do to stop us. so quit messing with us, west, or we really are going to start messing with you."

the threat tasted bitter on my tongue and i had to resist the urge to rub my arms. with a lot of my memories back in place, the ache not to do this job was coming to the fore again.

i didn't want to be a guardian. didn't want to threaten people - and worse - for a living.

i had to get out. i really did.

then you need to let me help you. quinn's thoughts ran lightly through mine, gentle and yet filled with a strength that made me just want to step back and let him sort out the mess that my life had become.

but i'd been standing on my own two feet for too long now and, as stupid as it sounded, part of me was afraid to start leaning on someone else. at least when it came to something like this - something that was going to affect the direction of the rest of my life.

which wasn't saying that i wouldn't let him help, either. that i didn't need his help.

jack won't let me quit.

he doesn't want you dead, either. there are always options, riley. trust me.

i do. with my heart and my life. but i need to sort out one mess at a time.

then we'll sort out your kidnapping first, followed by the directorate. and we'll do it together.

i hesitated, then said, a touch reluctantly, okay.

but with that brief, one word of acceptance, i suddenly felt a whole lot better. i wasn't alone. i hadn't been alone for a long, long time. and it was about time i accepted that - and let the man that i loved in.

west shrugged. "it's not like i know a whole lot."

"another lie," quinn said.

west swung around. "damn it, keep out of my thoughts."

"no." quinn crossed his arms. "although i merely read your surface thoughts, not deeper layers. be thankful for that."

confusion crossed west's face, and i can't say i entirely blamed him. even i wasn't sure what quinn meant - i mean, reading deeper thoughts wasn't painful for either the reader or the readee. though maybe it could be, if the reader wanted revenge rather than mere information.

"harris," west said, "surely you can - "

harris was shaking his head. "you've basically just confirmed what everyone in this room already knew, mike. i'd given you the benefit of the doubt, but that belief was obviously misplaced. i will try to ensure fair treatment, but you had better start answering their questions. as they said, they can legally do what they want with you."

west slumped back onto the nearest chair. he took a sip of coffee, then said heavily, "i was only doing a favor for a friend."

"a friend who was going to return the favor by getting you transferred to a city location." it was a statement, not a question. west had told me as much earlier. "in many respects, that could be considered accepting a bribe."

"he was just going to recommend me for positions," west retorted. "i wasn't being given anything."

"a technicality in this day and age," harris said heavily. "especially given the many corruption inquiries over recent years. surely you understood the risk?"

"but i needed the help, damn it!" west exploded. "being stuck in this goddamn piece of nowhere is killing me. no department wants a cop whose only experience is in a backward country town where nothing happens."

two murders in twenty-four hours isn't what i'd call nothing. but then, maybe that was simply because i was here, and i tended to attract trouble.

"so what is the name of this friend you did the favor for?"

west wiped a hand across his face. "his name is tyson jenson. he's the pack leader from the cona creek -

which is in queensland - london pack."

i frowned. "how can tyson be the leader of the london pack? he's a jenson."

even as i said the words, something inside me twisted angrily. tyson jenson might not be from my jenson pack, but he was related. he was blake's brother.

evin's hand touched mine, squeezing gently. he might not be able to read thoughts, but he could smell anger, and right now, his senses were probably swamped with it.

west shrugged. "he challenged for the lead. i guess since he was mated to the pack leader's eldest daughter, they allowed it."

then they were fools. "so what, exactly, did he ask you to do?"

"he told me he needed to get a troublesome wolf out of the way for a week or so. he asked me to keep on eye on both her and her brother, and to report back anything and everything they did."

"did he tell you why?"

west shook his head. "he just said you were causing serious trouble within the pack, and he needed you out of the way while he calmed things down." he hesitated. "i asked how the hell i was supposed to even keep you here, and he said that wouldn't be a problem."

"because i was being drugged and i had my memory tampered with."

"he didn't tell me that. he said it was evin's job to keep you calm."

"but surely to god you suspected something was up?" harris said, frustration edging into his normally smooth tones. "you're a good cop, mike. you had to have to have been a little suspicious."

"i've known tyson for years. we went through training together - although he washed out during the last few weeks." west shrugged. "i had no reason not to trust what he was telling me. not initially."

"and yet you didn't send through harris's request for information about me to the directorate. was that at tyson's order?"

he hesitated. "it wasn't an order."

order or not, it wasn't right and he knew it. "did he say why?"

west took a sip of coffee, then shrugged again. "he asked me to delay it a day or so, that's all. when i asked why, he begged off, saying it was related to the mess he was trying to sort out."

"and this didn't raise your alarms?"

"of course it did. that's why i was keeping an even closer eye on you. and how i knew that damn fool denny was up to something." he hesitated. "i did go out to the whaling station to rescue you. i wasn't involved with that idiot's plans in any way, shape, or form."

"so why did you keep driving toward the whaling station when we passed you on the road?" evin asked.

west frowned. "i didn't see - " he hesitated, and snorted. "you were in grant's truck. that's why he was so pissed off."

"shame we didn't actually wreck the truck," evin murmured. "the bastard certainly deserves it."

i smiled. evin might not be blood kin, but he certainly thought like us. "how do you contact tyson?"

"he phones me."

"home or cell?"

"cell. every night at ten."

i raised my eyebrows. "even tonight?"

"yeah. he was furious when i told him that denny had snatched evin and was holding him hostage against your appearance."

"so you also went out there because he ordered you to?"

anger flashed through his expression. "as i said, i went out there because i'm a cop and it's my duty to stop him. no one told me to do anything."

but the fact that his duty and tyson's orders coincided wouldn't have hurt.

"is tyson the only contact you've had?"

"yes."

"what number does he phone from?"

"i don't know. the number is always blocked."

i gave him a disbelieving look. "you're a cop, and you're trying to tell me that didn't bother you? when this man is your friend?"

he smiled thinly and reeled off a number. "it's a northern territory number. tyson's pack is in queensland."

i glanced at evin, who shook his head. "the number i phone is a melbourne one."

"so we have tyson in the northern territory and the people holding your mate hostage in melbourne. meaning tyson's not alone in this."

"we all knew that from the beginning," quinn commented. "just as we all know who is behind this."

i glanced at him. "we can't move until we've rescued evin's mate. and a little concrete proof would be nice, too." certainly it'll make it easier for jack to issue a retribution order.

or a death order.

something within me shivered. i really didn't want blake dead, no matter what he'd done, but i might not have that choice anymore. i'd given him one chance already, and he'd thrown it back in my face.

and i had no doubt he'd keep at me until he achieved his aim: my death, and maybe even rhoan's.

we had a pack of our own to consider - we had a child on the way. it went beyond my and rhoan's safety now.

"we have two choices, then." quinn's face was still impassive, but the sense of menace brewed like a storm around him. "we go after tyson, or we hunt down those who have evin's mate."

"if we go after tyson, the game is up. besides, such a move would only endanger lyndal - evin's mate," i said.

"then we do a trace on the number evin calls, and hit them before tomorrow night."

i raised an eyebrow. "jack wants us to solve the other case first."

"you're not the only guardian he has, riley. blake - and whoever else is behind this - needs to be stopped immediately. otherwise, next time they might just settle for an assassin's bullet."

and as he'd already said, jack didn't want me dead.

i glanced at west. "do you know if tyson has any other spies in this town?"

west shook his head. "not that i know of. besides, it'd be overkill."

if it meant their plans for my eventual end ran smoothly, i had no doubt that both tyson and blake would employ as much overkill as they thought necessary.

"then you need to keep playing the game. report on time, and don't give anything away."

west didn't look happy, but i was betting he was smart enough to know he had little choice in the matter. "and if i do?"

"then maybe you get to keep your job."

as i spoke, a sliver of energy spun through the air. west blinked and his eyes went briefly lifeless - although if you weren't watching him carefully, you wouldn't even have noticed it.

what did you do? i asked, without looking at quinn.

just applied a little insurance. he won't be able to warn tyson even if he wanted to.