Justice seemed equally at a loss. “Jacob and I discussed the matter. Do you remember when they sent agents here to question Jeanie Shiver? They weren’t happy with our refusal to hand her over to them. I’m having True and his mate transported to Reservation right now. Their helicopter should leave in twenty minutes.”
“You believe she came here to kidnap True’s mate to be handed over to the FBI?” Darkness was furious.
“Possibly.” Justice’s eyes gleamed with the same emotion. “It won’t happen.”
“I’ll escort her to the front gates and walk her out.” Darkness turned but Justice gripped his arm.
“Wait.”
Darkness hated the way his stomach churned. He faced Justice. “She caused no harm to us. You said she works for the FBI. It means she was given orders. They aren’t ones we agree with but I don’t believe she should be taken to a holding cell or transported to Fuller Prison. Allow me to escort her off Homeland. She’ll go back to the FBI empty-handed and that will be punishment enough. She’s not from Mercile or a hired mercenary. She’s law enforcement, as misguided as her mission was. We also owe her something for effectively handling the threat at the gates.”
Justice released him. “I was thinking more along the lines of allowing her to stay and pretend we believe her cover story.”
The stunning words cured Darkness of his painful erection. “Why?”
“We assume she came here for Jeanie but what if she’s here for another reason? I’m curious.”
None of it sat well with Darkness. “Why else would they send someone here?”
“I’d like to find out. Jeanie will be safe. We’ll allow the FBI agent to teach classes while we keep an eye on her every move. She’ll let her guard down and reveal the truth.” Justice smiled coldly. “Then we’ll decide what to do about it. I’m having Security clone her cell phone and install tracking devices on her belongings in case she slips by our officers at any point. We’ll constantly have her under electronic surveillance. I’m sure, with her training, she’d spot anyone in physical proximity. I’ll assign someone to stick within sight, though, or she’ll become suspicious.”“I could go back in there and continue working on her. I’ll find out why she’s here and what she was ordered to do.”
Snow snorted. “You mean you just want to mount her after you got her all hot and bothered?”
Darkness took a threatening step toward him and snarled.
The male held his ground and flashed fang, prepared to fight.
“Enough!” Justice’s voice deepened. “Snow, leave Darkness alone. He’s good at what he does for a reason.”
“Step into that room and breathe deep. You’ll know what he’s been doing.” Snow frowned. “He’s good at attracting a female. I couldn’t get away with those tactics if I were allowed to interview her.”
“You don’t have his background or his control over his physical responses, Snow.”
“I saw how much control he had and you would have too if you’d looked at his crotch when he stepped into the hallway.” Snow glanced at the front of Darkness’ pants. “He’s got it under control now.”
“I wouldn’t have mounted her,” Darkness growled. “What is your problem?”
“Stop,” Justice snapped. “Darkness is an excellent judge of what it requires to get a prisoner to talk and each prisoner is different. Darkness, I know you could learn her secrets but she is FBI. I’d rather take a less aggressive approach since she comes from a government agency. Let’s call it a professional courtesy and do it to appease my curiosity.”
“Fine.” Darkness inclined his head. “What would you like me to do?”
“Go in there and blame someone on our end for the mistake. Pretend to buy everything she tells you and take her to human housing. A team is there now to make sure every room is covered. She won’t do anything without us knowing about it.”
“All right.”
Justice glanced between them. “I’m leaving now. I have some calls to make. The press is going crazy over what happened at the gates and every law enforcement agency is calling us to ask if we need assistance. No fighting. We have enough to deal with. We’re all stressed.”
Darkness waited until the sound of Justice’s footsteps faded. He glared at Snow. “What is your issue?”
“I can see why you didn’t want me to go in there with you.”
“Do you know the female? Is there a personal connection?”
“No.”
“Then what is your problem?”
Snow clenched his teeth. “I want experience with interrogation. You didn’t want the job so I thought I could work here full-time doing it.”
“You mostly live at Reservation.”
“I want to stay here.”
“Then tell Fury and Slade not to assign you anywhere else.”
“I don’t want to walk perimeter or work the gate. I want to do something useful.”
Darkness sighed, relaxing. He hadn’t liked the idea that the male had a personal interest in Kat but it wasn’t about the female, it was his job. “I don’t do interrogations often and only with special cases.”
“Only important ones.”
He studied the Species. “What is really going on?”
Snow hesitated. “I feel useless.”
“You aren’t.”
“There are Species who stand out and get special treatment. I want that.”
“I don’t stand out. I get no special treatment either. I live in the men’s dorms, as you do.”
“Our people fear you and you have special skills. You heard Justice. You can seduce a female prisoner and he doesn’t even question it. I’d be sent to Medical for evaluation if I did that. They’d worry about me having a meltdown.”
Frustration rose but he pushed it back. “I didn’t force any of that. She was the one to initiate my actions. We’ll discuss this later. Right now Justice is correct. We’re all stressed because of the attack. It’s normal to feel ineffective after such an ordeal. You wish to do something to help our people.”
He wasn’t good about dealing with males who were experiencing emotional upheaval but he liked Snow. The male was easygoing most of the time and had a quick wit. He also didn’t avoid direct eye contact, something Darkness appreciated.
“We’ll work out a solution. I need to go in there and act stupid. It will be difficult.” He smirked.
Snow nodded. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to take it out on you.”
“It hasn’t been a good day. Why don’t you work off some of your energy by helping with cleanup? The front of the security building is a mess. They’ll need to rebuild as fast as possible and that means removing the debris.”
“I’m on it.” Snow stalked away.
Darkness watched him go and took a few deep breaths. Kat, or whatever her real name was, worked for the FBI. It alleviated his fear that she was a hired killer sent by someone associated with their enemies but that didn’t make her a friend either. She’d come to Homeland for an undisclosed reason. He was going to figure out what it was. He just wouldn’t be doing it by keeping her on that table. Part of him regretted that, while part of him felt relieved. She was too tempting.
He opened the door and entered. She slid off the table and watched him. He closed the door behind him and approached her slowly.
“We need to talk.”
Wariness filled her eyes. “About what?”
“Someone in Security messed up. They are new. Some Species are learning their jobs and this one was in charge of running your background check.” She’d accept the excuse easily if he gauged her right. She desperately wanted them to believe her cover identity. “Another ran your information and everything came back just as you said. Your name is Kathryn Decker and you work for the Bakersfield Police Department as a crime technician.” He grimaced, hoping it passed for a show of regret. “I apologize.”
She blinked rapidly and he could almost see that information spinning in her mind. “Good.” She licked her lips and straightened, her shoulders going back. “Great. I told you that.”
“You did.” He reached in his pocket, located the key to her cuffs, leaned over and unlocked them. She withdrew her wrists and rubbed the skin. “I am sorry for what you suffered at my hands.”
Her cheeks colored and she broke eye contact. “You have nothing to apologize for, except for being a tease. I’ll survive.”He could still smell her. His dick stirred but he quickly imagined the worst moments of his life. That killed his sexual desire. “I’m certain you’ll want to leave us now, rather than being escorted to guest quarters. Your car was damaged but we can provide your passage home. We’ll return the rental to the company you leased it from after repairs are done to it. It’s the least we could do.” He knew she wouldn’t go. She was formidable and didn’t disappoint.
“No. I came to teach classes. Shit happens. I’m good. I wouldn’t mind some clothes though.”
He admired her spirit. Some females wouldn’t recover quickly from facing a difficult situation to dealing with a new one. The only flaw in her armor was the slight trembling of her legs. He noticed everything about her.