Werewolf CEO 4, page 12
“But--”
“Do you have any idea who you’re pointing your gun at?” a tall dark-skinned man dressed in a police uniform asked sharply as he approached.
“He said--”
“Get in the car,” the newcomer sighed in a disappointed tone. “Immediately, Johnson.”
“Yes, sir,” Johnson replied, and he reluctantly tucked his gun back into his holster and walked back over to his vehicle.
“I’m so sorry about that, Joshua,” the officer said as he approached us and held out his hand. “Police Commissioner Hutch. I’ve been meaning to come and introduce myself.”
Surprise flickered through me, and I scanned over this world’s version of Commissioner Gordan. Hallie always joked that I was werewolf Bruce Wayne, and honestly, I couldn’t deny it at this point.
“You’re Victor’s contact, right?” I asked as I shook his hand. “You helped clean up Central Park after the fight with the Guild?”
“That’s me.” He nodded with a warm smile. “It’s lucky I was out here, it would seem. I’m almost never out on the streets at this point in my career, but whenever there’s word of anything ‘supernatural’ in New York, I’m called in to oversee things. We’ve been getting a lot of those calls in the last few months, but tonight people were especially panicked. Hence why I was down here.”
“You got a call about the guys down there?” I asked and pointed to the alleyway.
“Sure did, got a lot of noise complaints and sightings of ‘green men on steroids,’” Hutch informed us. “Needless to say, I was dispatched immediately.”
“Then I guess it is a good thing you wound up here,” I said with a weak laugh. “And it’s nice to finally meet you in the flesh.”
“It is indeed,” he said. “I wish we were meeting under better circumstances. But at least I’ve got the chance to personally thank you now.”
“For what?” My brow furrowed.
“For saving New York,” the Commissioner said like it was obvious. “Numerous times, from what I hear.”
“Well, I don’t wanna toot my own horn, but--”
“He has,” Mia quickly cut me off and smiled up at me proudly. “He’s just being modest.”
“I suppose I can respect that,” Hutch said with a half-grin. “Still, I want you to know I’m eternally grateful for everything you’ve done for this place. You saved a hell of a lot of lives the other night, and every other time we’ve not been aware of.”
“Thanks, Commissioner,” I said with a polite nod.
“Please, just call me Hutch,” he said. “Consider me a friend from now on. Having a Police Commissioner as a contact has its perks, but having one as a friend…”
“Is definitely something I won’t say no to,” I said with a wolfish grin. “I appreciate it.”
“You said you got reports about ‘green men on steroids,’ does that mean you’re aware of what’s going on with Z-TECH?” Mia asked.
“Victor told us what you knew,” Hutch said. “But we haven’t been able to turn up anything. I’ve got my men on the lookout for anything suspicious, but it’s like chasing ghosts.”
“Tell me about it,” I grumbled and rolled my shoulders. “You don’t happen to have anything leading to a guy called Mitch, do you?”
“Mitch?” The Commissioner’s thick eyebrows furrowed. “I’ve never heard of that name before. Or, at least, nothing recently. And certainly not about this case.”
“Shit,” I mumbled under my breath.
“I’ll keep an eye out,” he quickly added. “I take it everything that’s going on with Z-TECH might be linked to him?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Arlo Whitlock talked about him in some video logs of him taking doses of Z-TECH serum, and the wolves I just fought mentioned him, too. Whoever he is, he plays a big part in the business.”
“I see,” Hutch said pensively and took his hat off to run his hand across his bald head. “I’ll get my boys to do some digging, but so far, we haven’t been able to turn anything up.”
“Neither have we,” Mia added. “But it will be good to have the police on our side looking, too.”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “The more people we have on this thing, the better.”
“Then I’d best get looking,” the Commissioner said. “After I clean up the mess down there, of course.”
He gestured to our bloodied clothes, and I smiled through a wince.
“Yeah… it’s not pretty,” I said. “But we didn’t really have a choice.”
“Trust me, I’m on your side.” He winked. “I’ll sort this out. Don’t worry about it. Just… try and get home as soon as possible without being seen.”
“Understood,” I said with a grateful nod. “Thanks, Hutch.”
“Friends, right?” He grinned. “It has its perks.”
“Clearly,” I snorted. “Keep me posted if you find anything.”
“I will,” he said as he put his hat back on. “You two take care now.”
I nodded again in thanks and grabbed Mia’s hand, and we quickly crossed the road and got into the car before anyone else could see us. I didn’t want to take advantage of Hutch’s grace and walk around drenched in tainted Z-TECH blood, and I definitely didn’t want to push our luck tonight.
I guess it really was about who you knew and not what you knew, and I was gonna be counting my blessings that he was already in the area dealing with reports of the Z-TECH junkies.
I started the car as soon as I was in the seat and started taking us toward Midtown so we could finally go home. The ride back was spent in silence as we both processed what had just happened, and it was kinda crazy to think that this was how our night had ended.
The message on the wall kept flashing in front of me as I drove us back. This entire thing was like a cat and mouse chase, and I was doing exactly what Mitch or whoever was behind that hood wanted.
But the only thing I could think of was why?
Why me?
Why toy with me?
And what the hell did my father have to do with all of this?
Chapter Nine
We eventually arrived back at the penthouse, and Mia and I beelined for the shower as soon as we stepped in the door. I gave a mental debrief on what went down to the pack through our shared bond, and I told them how Police Commissioner Hutch was going to be keeping an eye out for us. Not to mention we had a bit of a safety net when it came to getting in the way of the law now, and I knew I’d sleep a lot easier knowing we had a contact within the police department.
We’d gotten lucky up until this point, but I didn’t want to push my luck. Even if I did have enough money to get myself out of any legal predicaments, it was still a tricky road I’d rather not walk down.
And, now that we had Hutch on our side, I hopefully wouldn’t have to.
Hallie and Emily were already in their pajamas by the time we came out of the shower, and Mia and I climbed into bed alongside them. The day had dragged on long enough, and almost as soon as I hit the pillows, I was out like a light.
Thankfully, I didn’t have any nightmares. There was no indistinct line between wakefulness and sleep, and no fiendish versions of my parents taunting me. New York wasn’t on fire, and I wasn’t under a spotlight being forced to look at the destruction.
In fact, I dreamed of nothing. For a good few hours, everything was just black, and when my alarm went off in the morning, I felt like I’d slept for days.
I rolled over and slammed my hand down on the clock to turn it off. I couldn’t bring myself to go into work today, not after last night. I quickly texted Victor updating him on what happened and that I’d officially met PC Hutch, and the old wolf was more than understanding.
It was still hard to wrap my head around what had gone down last night, and in my sleep-clouded brain, I half thought I’d dreamed the fight with the juiced-up wolves. But, as crazy as it was, it had happened, and there was still that damned message I had to figure out.
Like Father, Like Son.
It made no sense. What did my father, Jasper St. James, in all of his deceased glory, have to do with Z-TECH?
If there was anyone in this city who could help me figure out the correlation, it would be Matt. Matt was my best friend, and he’d been that since we were kids. We grew up together, and he was practically like my dad’s surrogate son, so maybe he could help me rack my brain for links between Z-TECH and him.
It could be a long shot, but I also knew I wasn’t gonna come up with anything on my own. Plus, it gave me an excuse to see him again.
I reached for my phone on the bedside table across Mia and dialed his number. It was still pretty early, but Matt had a tendency to sleep in until noon anyway, so he could use the wake-up call.
Lo and behold, it took him ten rings to answer, and when he did, he sounded groggy and pissed off.
“Who the hell is this?” he grumbled down the line.
“Good morning to you, too, sunshine,” I said with a tired grin. “Are you up yet?”
“I am now,” he groaned, and I heard him roll over before tumbling out of bed. “Definitely am now.”
“I wanna come and see you,” I said. “Are you free?”
“You mean I need to cancel my plans of rotting in bed all day? Damn,” the human playfully huffed. “I guess.”
“Alright, I’m on my way,” I said with an amused chuckle. “I’ll be there in an hour.”
“Sweet,” Matt drawled in a croaky voice. “I’ll definitely be up and ready by then.”
“You know, that tone isn’t filling me with confidence,” I joked as I carefully climbed over Mia and headed for the bathroom.
“What do you mean? I’m so totally going to be ready in an hour,” he said in a sarcastic tone. “Just make sure you knock extra loud, okay?”
“Sure thing,” I said with a playful roll of my eyes. “See you in an hour. And don’t fall back asleep.”
“Mhmm… yeah,” my best friend mumbled, and I knew he was already slipping back into unconsciousness. “See you.”
“Bye, Matt.” I hung up with a fond sigh and shook my head at his antics.
Typical Matt.
I hopped in the shower and brushed my teeth before I combed through my hair. There was no use rushing, especially since he was definitely already knocked out again.
After that, I got dressed in some casual clothes. I figured I needed a change of pace from my suits, and if we bumped into Z-TECH cronies again, I didn’t want to ruin another expensive designer one, so I opted for a black shirt and blue jeans.
The girls were still sleeping by the time I’d finished getting changed, so I quietly made my way over to them and pressed a soft kiss to each of their heads.
Mia stirred first, and the blonde wiped her sleepy eyes with the back of her hand as she came to.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“I’m going to go and see Matt,” I whispered to her as I knelt at her side of the bed. “I want to see if he can think of how my dad’s tied to all of this.”
“Mm, do you want me to come with you?” my mate asked sweetly.
“No, it’s okay,” I chuckled as I reached out to stroke her hair. “You stay here and catch some sleep. I told Victor we’re not coming in today. I figured we deserved a day off.”
“Oh, I won’t say no to one of those,” she joked with a tired smile. “Are you sure you’re gonna be okay going on your own, though? I don’t mind getting up.”
“It’s fine, babe,” I reassured her and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “Get some rest.”
“Okay,” she mumbled as she closed her eyes again. “Love you.”
“I love you, too,” I said back before I stood up and went into the hallway to slip on my sneakers.
Hallie and Emily were still completely unconscious, and I didn’t want to disturb their precious beauty sleep, so I quietly opened the door and headed straight down to the parking lot. Then I hopped into my Porsche and took her for a spin, and even though I hadn’t forgotten about my Aston Martin, I was really loving driving around in my Porsche. Plus, it was too expensive not to drive around and show off, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy all of the looks I got.
I headed straight for my old apartment I’d given to Matt, and it was kind of weird making the drive back. It reminded me of my old life and my old routine, and that wasn’t exactly something that was great to look back on.
After my parents died, it was like the world had been sucked out from under me. There was no joy left in that place for me, not that there was much to begin with. It became my cave I’d hibernate in, and that’s exactly why I needed to get out of there as soon as possible.
Matt had recently come back from traveling the world and needed a place to stay other than his mother’s, who was a handful, to say the least, so I’d given him my apartment temporarily, but as I parked outside and started making my way up the creaky stairs to the third floor, I realized I needed to find him somewhere else.
I’d had rose-tinted glasses living in this place for a long time. It was my little haven, right up until my parents died, and then I realized how much of a shithole it had become. There were cockroaches climbing up the yellow-stained walls in the hallway, and one of the doors to another apartment on the third floor had been busted down and was left wide open.
I kinda felt bad for leaving him in this place, but he’d never complained about it. Even though I was trying to do something good by giving him a one-way ticket out of the Mother Matriarch’s totalitarian state back home, maybe I’d neglected finding him somewhere better with everything going on.
I knocked loudly on the door that used to be mine, and I could hear Matt grumbling from the bedroom. His feet shuffled closer to the door, and then I heard the locks on the other side click and slide.
My best friend’s sleepy face greeted me, and he held up a hand as he leaned against the doorframe.
Matt had curly black hair, just like me, and we’d often been mistaken for brothers across our lives. The only thing separating us was our eyes. His were blue, but mine were dark brown. Other than that, it was like we were the same person. Or, at least, we were before I shifted and turned into a muscled hunk.
“Good morning, oh early one,” he said in a croaky dramatic voice. “Come on in.”
I stepped into my old apartment and was immediately hit with the smell of mildew and damp. My nose wrinkled as I tried to hold back my grimace, but it was pretty hard when my nostrils were getting assaulted.
“Jesus, Matty, do you not keep a window open in here?” I asked as he led me into the living room.
It looked pretty much the same as when I’d left it. A shitty couch that was clinging on for dear life and a half-busted TV set on a rickety wooden coffee table filled the small room, and the kitchen looked as small and as unappealing as ever.
“Next door got robbed the other night,” he mumbled as he ran his hand over his face. “I don’t wanna risk it.”
“Shit,” I said to myself. “Alright, get dressed. We’re going apartment hunting.”
“You want a new one already?” Matt teased.
“No, dumbass, for you,” I said with a grin. “I’m not letting you stay in this shithole anymore.”
“Hey, I happen to like its charm,” he said defensively.
“Matt, this is borderline squalor,” I deadpanned. “I’m getting you a new place.”
“Josh, you don’t have to do that,” the human said as he walked over to the kitchen and tugged hard on one of the cabinet doors to get it to open. “I’m perfectly happy where I am. This place is a goddamn palace compared to living with my mom in her shitty spare room.”
I stifled a laugh as Matt almost tore the cabinet door off its hinges and pulled out a glass to fill up with water from the tap.
“Matthew, please don’t play the humble card right now,” I joked. “You deserve better than this. And it’s my fault for not sorting you out with somewhere nicer sooner.”
“Bro, I’m not kidding,” he said as he leaned against the counter and sipped from his glass. “I’m genuinely happy here. And you know I don’t expect anything from you just because you’re a multi-zillionaire now.”
“Not a zillionaire,” I fired back with a wolfish grin. “But I’ve got enough to put you up somewhere that doesn’t have mold fused into the walls.”
“Ugh, you’re not gonna take no for an answer, are you?” he groaned.
“Nope,” I said and popped the ‘p’ as I looked around at the claustrophobic living room. “This place needs to go.”
“Bad memories?” Matt asked with a frown as he realized what being here probably brought up for me.
“Yeah,” I sighed. “And the fact that it is just an awful apartment.”
“Alright.” He nodded and downed the rest of his water before he shuffled down the hall to the bedroom. “But you’ve got to be reasonable with wherever we go and view. I don’t want you picking out a luxury apartment just for the hell of it.”
“You willingly want something modest?” I asked. “I might not be a zillionaire, but I can do better than just ‘modest’ for you, Matt. You’re my best friend.”
“I’m all about being modest, man,” the curly-haired human said in a surfer dude accent. “No sweat. If I’m letting you do this, you’ve gotta meet me halfway and be reasonable. And I want to pay for some of the rent.”
“Matt--”
“Halfway,” he said in a stern voice. “Meet me there.”
“Alright,” I reluctantly agreed. “Modest apartment. And you can cover some of the rent.”
“That’s what I’m talking about.” Matt nodded and shot me finger guns. “Give me five minutes, and I’ll be ready.”
“Okay,” I said as I pulled my phone out of my pocket and took a seat on the couch. “I’ll start looking for viewings now.”
“Sounds good!” he called from the bedroom before he shut the door.
There were a ridiculous number of places on the first website I clicked on, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little overwhelmed. I had no idea where to even start, but now that I had a better understanding of who owned which territory, it was safe to say I wanted Matt set up somewhere run by the current peace treaty members. Which meant nothing in Gramercy, because that was where August had claim, and I wanted to put as much distance between me and that asshole as possible.
