Oliver settled back in the booth. He tried to relax, but he couldn’t. The place smelled all wrong. It should be redolent with food, even the reconstituted rations. He should be able to smell coffee, sense warmth, hear movement in the kitchen.

  There should be people coming through the front door, dammit!

  He twisted in his seat, inspecting the partitions and the walls, and stooped so he could inspect the underside of the table and take a good look at the floor. Nothing.

  The place smelt dusty and deserted. Tension rippled over his body, making his human form waver. He’d be better equipped if he went hybrid…

  As the thought crossed his mind, his implant signaled an incoming call.

  Oliver tensed. He’d taken the implant off the grid as soon as he’d hit atmosphere inside the buildings at the edge of the Lunar One shuttle port. That had been when he’d checked Lewis and realized his friend wasn’t going to make it as far as the doc’s, and nothing he had in his field kit was going to save him.

  Yeah…biting Lewis hadn’t been a hard choice to make—and he hadn’t tried waking him up to get his permission beforehand. Firstly, because shaking the guy would probably have made him bleed out too fast for the mutagen to work, and secondly because he had a sneaking suspicion his friend wouldn’t have said yes.

  Not that they’d ever discussed it, but…

  Oliver sighed. That hadn’t been a place he’d ever wanted to go—and then he’d gone right there without Lewis’s having a say…which was forbidden under Lunar One’s pack law. He’d taken himself off the grid, while he tried to work out what he was going to do next.

  Which meant no one who had his implant link should have been able to find it, and that absolutely no one should have been calling it. The incoming call sign pinged, again, and Oliver debated whether or not to answer.

  The debate was ended before he’d had time to decide.

  “I hope you don’t mind,” a female voice told him, “but I knocked and there was no answer, so I let myself in.”

  Oliver gaped at her.

  The woman gave him an overly bright smile, extending a mental hand.

  “My name’s Florey. I’m the third name on Dr. Nielsen’s list. Li said you needed a flight out?”

  Oliver closed his mental mouth, and stumbled over himself accepting her hand.

  Light flashed as their palms met and he cursed himself for seven kinds of mental fool. Of course, she’d have a contact tracking program. Lewis would probably have thought of that, but he hadn’t.

  “Sorry, about that,” the woman said, not looking a bit sorry. “Precautions. Now, your head is secure from eaves droppers and other people like me.”

  Oliver refrained from saying that his head should already have been safe from people like her. She’d only have laughed, since it clearly wasn’t.

  “So, do you?” she asked.

  “Do I what?”

  “Require a flight out.”

  “I…oh, yes.” Oliver tried to gather his scattered thoughts. “I do require a flight out.”

  “How urgent, how many, and what’s your budget?”

  Oliver paused. “You’re not going to ask where to?”

  “That depends on your budget,” she told him, “and I need you to answer the questions in order.”

  “Urgent, like yesterday,” he told her, looking for a reaction and seeing none, “two people, and…uh…”

  He scrambled for his bank balance, mentally adding his share of what they were owed by Charlotte, before giving her his answer.

  “That’s not how much you currently have in your account,” the woman told him, and he stared at her. When she didn’t add anything more, but was clearly waiting for an answer, he explained.

  “We’re owed for a job. The amount I quoted includes my share.”

  The woman frowned. “Two minutes.”

  Her image froze and Oliver waited. Whoever this transporter was, she certainly believed in doing her homework. When she blinked, he gave her his full attention. She’d been away for much longer than it would have taken her to check his balance.

  “That contract is still in play,” she reported, “and delivery will be honored once it can be arranged. There is a penalty fee, though.”

  Again, Oliver gaped at her. This time she let him see she was pleased to have surprised him.

  “Mr. Landstrom, I always do a background check on potential clients. You have had an unfortunate run of bad luck, but your commission is acceptable and your ethics, given the trade you’re in, are honorable.”

  Oliver wondered what that said about her, but didn’t ask, and she wasn’t forthcoming.

  “As such, I can organize the data delivery, and broker the fee for the extra information. You are correct. Your client will appreciate the data on the company’s use of bio-scans in unexpected places—as do I. This extends your range of destinations.”

  Oliver stared, and then shook his head. “But we already have an agent.”

  “I will negotiate a delivery-guaranteed contract with her. She will accept the extra value from being able to deliver as opposed to the penalty for failing the commission.”

  Oliver supposed she would, at that. “Let me see the confirmation,” he told her, and she nodded.

  “I would insist on it. Also verification,” she told him, “although you have not asked.”

  Oliver’s mouth felt dry. Truth be told, he hadn’t dared to ask.

  “There is a reason I am on Doctor Nielsen’s list,” the woman told him. “I am third on that list, because there are certain…ethical…considerations I insist on, and not all his clients can comply. You are the first in a very long time.”

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “But Li…”

  “Li is at the top of that list because he asks no questions as long as the fee is paid.”

  Oliver was sure he sensed a hint of disapproval in her tone, but she didn’t expand on how she felt, and he thought that was another question he’d rather not have answered.

  He and Li had a long history…and most of it was good. He didn’t want to know how real the darkness was that he sensed lurking in the man’s shadows. Everyone had their secrets, and sometimes it was best to let those secrets lie.

  The woman gave him a long, thoughtful look, and Oliver wondered just how deep her intrusion was. It was another question she did not answer.

  “To business,” she told him, “I already have a delivery to make. Adding you and your friend will pose no particular difficulty.”

  Oliver opened his mouth to tell her about Lewis, but she held up a hand and went on.

  “I am aware of Lewis Haversham’s difficulties. It will not be a problem.”

  Oliver subsided, and she continued.

  “We will discuss destination, but not here. Your budget allows options, but we need to ensure you are secure before we speak.”

  Secure? Oliver left the implant and surfaced abruptly. While he’d been in there, he hadn’t been focusing on the booth or the café. It was a mistake that could have gotten him killed in the past…or seriously compromised.

  The first thing he did was snuff the air, taking small quick samples, and comparing them to what he had smelled before. The scents were mostly the same, and he realized the alpha and his second had not wandered far. They were nearby, but keeping a discreet distance.

  On overwatch, then, he concluded, and relaxed just a little.

  He could also smell food cooking and the heat of a stove…and the slightly bitter aroma of coffee winding through the rest.

  “I’m not secure?” he asked, returning to the implant, but keeping a better eye on his surroundings.

  The woman paused. “You are secure for now, but that situation may not remain once you leave. I would like you to reach the rendezvous uncompromised.”

  “I would like that, too,” he agreed, and she smiled.

  “Good. It is decided, then. I will take the deposit from your account, now, and you will meet my contact at the Observatory Reserve two hours from now. Enjoy your meal.”

  She was gone before he could protest at her accessing his finances, or before he could ask where in the Observatory Reserve he should wait…or even what her contact looked like.

  “What have you let yourself in for…” he murmured, snapping his head toward the booth curtains as they opened.

  He was on his feet his blaster partly drawn, before he recognized the alpha and his scent. The waiter standing in front of the wolf was new. He was also human, and more than a little startled by Oliver’s reaction.

  His face paled and he almost dropped the tray. “I…I’m sorry, sir. I…I can bring it back.”

  Oliver’s eyes went from the youth’s face to the tray he held in his hand. The meal was covered, but the smell of it made his mouth water. Li had gone to some expense to feed him, and Oliver wasn’t going to pass up a steak or gravy of that caliber.

  “It’s okay,” he told the young man, reseating himself. “Leave the meal. I’m sorry if I startled you.”

  He gestured to the table and glanced at the alpha hovering behind the boy, explaining, “I received some concerning news.”

  The alpha stilled, catching Oliver’s emphasis on the word ‘concerning,’ He jerked his head toward the café proper and barked a single syllable. The waiter jumped, almost dropping the tray, but the alpha reached around and steadied it, letting it go so the boy could set it down.

  In the background, Oliver heard a chair scrape followed by the soft clump of boots moving toward the front door. He gave the alpha a respectful nod, and the wolf withdrew, taking the waiter with him.

  “I’ll bring your coffee, sir,” the youth managed, as he left, and the alpha gave Oliver a drop-jawed smile.

  “Thank you,” Oliver replied, including them both, as the curtain dropped, blocking them from sight.

  In the stillness that followed, he contemplated the tray, and the testing kit he’d left on the table. For a moment, he thought about not using it, but the transporter’s warning rang in his ears, and he decided not to take any chances.

  So, Li took any commission as long as the fee was paid, did he? Oliver couldn’t say he was surprised, but the news dismayed him. He was going to have to be a lot more cautious around his old friend…especially now there were no outstanding debts to curb his morals.

  Outside the curtain, someone made a point of clearing their throat, and Oliver quietly drew his blaster, setting it on the bench beside him where it was available but out of sight. He kept one hand on it as the curtain opened and watched the boy’s eyes dart from the unopened tray, to the kit, to his face and the way his arm disappeared below the table.

  “I…brought your coffee, sir,” he managed, setting a second tray on the table and leaving before Oliver could a reply. The youth’s lingering scent was touched by fear.

  Oliver let him go, catching the scent of the alpha nearby. He waited for the wolf to intrude, relaxing as his scent faded and his footsteps showed he’d moved several booths down. Once he was sure he wouldn’t be disturbed, Oliver lifted the cover on the tray, and laid the blaster on the table beside it.

  It didn’t take him long to run the tester over his meal, and he was relieved to find it uncontaminated. The coffee, likewise, passed the test. Oliver checked the time inside his implant, and settled to his meal. There wasn’t much time for relaxation, but there was enough to enjoy what Li had provided.

  He pushed aside the thought that every moment he delayed was another moment for his enemy to get into position, but he figured if things got too serious outside, the alpha would tell him…surely…

  The thought nagged at him, but he ate his steak, then slowly sipped the coffee to wash it down. When he was done, he replaced the lids on the trays and set them at the end of the table for easy retrieval, before holstering his blaster and pushing the curtain aside.

  The alpha was out of his seat, and blocking the way to the café’s entrance before he’d taken two steps.

  “There are some…complications,” he told Oliver, as his second came to stand behind him. “I have been authorized to show you a more secure exit.”

  A more secure exit, hey? Oliver quirked an eyebrow, and the alpha lifted a lip in a half-formed snarl.

  Oliver dropped his gaze. “I would be most grateful,” he managed.

  The alpha grunted his acceptance, and pushed past him. When Oliver waited for the second to do the same, the wolf indicated he should go next.

  A guide and a rear guard? Apprehension rippled over Oliver’s skin. In his mind’s eye, he ran the routes from the trader’s market to the Observatory Reserve. There were a few.

  He tried to remember some of the less direct ones, and had chosen a few alternatives, by the time the alpha led him through the kitchen, into the cellar and out a hidden portal in the wall.

  “This way,” the wolf told him gruffly, “and be grateful Mr. Aram said you did not require a blindfold.”

  Oliver was, at least grateful enough not to demand what the alpha would have done if he’d refused.

  “I’d have made sure you understood the necessity,” the wolf growled, and Oliver realized it had read him. He stiffened, glancing over his shoulder at the second.

  How much else had it read?

  “Enough to make a full report to Mr. Aram regarding your arrangements,” the wolf assured him, and Oliver wondered what his employer would think of him revealing his abilities like this.

  “I act only on his orders,” the alpha assured him, and Oliver nodded.

  A show of power, then. It did not bode well for the future of their relationship. Things were shifting, now Aram’s strange of sense of honor owed no debt.

  The alpha turned, moving left down a narrow passage and then turning right, before taking a second door which led to the lower floor of a boarding house. There, he signaled a full stop, and moved ahead.

  “All is clear,” he said when he returned. “It is safe to leave, but I do not know how long it will take them to find your trail.”

  “They have weres?” Oliver asked, and the alpha thought about his answer.

  “One group has made some good hires in our quarter. The other uses other means,” he answered, “and then there is the bounty hunter who’s taken one of the contracts.”

  “Which one?” Oliver asked, hiding his alarm that there were multiple hunters.

  The wolf’s jaw dropped in amusement.

  “You’ve had enough free information for today,” he said, gesturing toward the door.

  When Oliver moved to leave, the wolf laid a hand on his arm. “There is one more thing…”

  Oliver stopped, and the wolf continued.

  “Do you agree that Mr. Li has fulfilled his side of the bargain?”

  Oliver thought it over, and he did it fast. “Yes,” he finally decided. “Li Aram has fulfilled his side of the bargain.”

  He tensed for the inevitable betrayal, but the wolf only looked at him and said, “And the debt between you?”

  “As agreed,” Oliver replied. “The debt between Li Aram and Oliver Landstrom of the Dust Pack is fully cleared. Li Aram has no favors outstanding.”

  The wolf dipped his chin. “Acknowledged and recorded.”

  He slapped Oliver’s shoulder. “Now, go.”

  Oliver went. He didn’t know if there was treachery waiting when he reached the front door, but he was reasonably sure he was safe, that Li had not betrayed him, yet.

  As he slid out onto the street, he wished he’d asked how long that amnesty would last.

  Or even if it existed.

  The last thing he wanted was someone like the alpha on his tail.