Page 29 of With the Stars

“Ring ding dong,” Minho murmured dryly.

“What the… What?”

Minho coughed. “Nothing. What did you want me for?”

“I’ve been tracking that kid you saw near your mate’s business.”

“He was there again, or I suspect he was. Peter saw someone watching him, but when he went to investigate where the person ran to, he wasn’t there and there was nowhere he could have gone to.”

“Unless he poofed his ass away.” Minho blinked at the word ‘poofed’ but remained silent as he watched Key’s fingers tap away. “When was this? Around the time I called?”

“Yes. Maybe five to ten minutes earlier just to make sure.”

“Hmm. Give me a sec.” Minho pulled a chair over, then nodded to Gray when he entered the room. Gray winced, thenrubbed the back of his head. “You piss Henry off?” Key asked without looking at Gray.

“How do you know it was me?”

Key stopped typing and glanced at Gray, an eyebrow arched. Gray coughed and shrugged, then turned to his monitor. “Thought so.”

“I asked for a blowjob! I’m not going to see him for a couple of days.”

“Again? How did you ask, Gray? Was it all sweet, and you showed him some good loving, or did you drop your jeans and say, ‘suck it.’”

Gray opened his mouth then slowly closed it. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Minho smiled as he focused on the monitor in front of Key. “There he is.”

Key paused the screen and leaned closer, eyes squinting as he focused on the image. “Hmm. Let me see what I can do to clean this up, but he’s good, which we already know. Face is covered and away from the camera. But… does he know about the new one we installed?”

“That’s in already?” Minho leaned closer, tilting his head. The image was too grainy, but as he watched, he could see it begin to come into better focus. “Yes, he keeps his head away from the CCTV he knows is there. What about the new one?”

Key grinned and tapped the keyboard. “There.” A new video appeared, and they sat watching the images flash by until— “Got him.” Key began to clean the image, then muttered, “Shit. Is that Maxim?”

Gray put his hand on Minho’s shoulder as all three of them stared at the image frozen on the screen. “No, but it could be the son.”

“They do look similar.” Key worked his magic and managed to clear the picture. “I’ll print it off now.” A few seconds later, Keypassed a sheet of paper to Minho and Gray. “My guess is the son.”

“And around Peter’s business.” Minho stared at the image he held in his hand. The boy, no, young man, looked like his father and similar to the other photographs they had.

“I doubt he knows about your relationship with Peter, so there has to be another reason for him to be there.” Gray returned to his chair and asked, “Could he have gone to the café and met someone there? A customer, maybe? That would give him a reason to be there. You said you’d seen him before.”

Minho licked his lips, his eyes on Maxim’s son. “I can’t say they are the same person with full confidence, but there are similarities.”

“The kid knows someone in the area or there is another reason why he’s hanging around the place. There could be no connection to Peter at all.” Key tapped away then muttered, “No sign of him leaving, either, so he poofed away, which increases the likelihood he is who we think he is.”

“But we’re not one hundred percent certain.” Minho continued to stare at the picture. “He hasn’t done anything of concern, but I think I’d like to keep a closer eye on the area.”

“It’s yours, plus your mate works there.” Gray sat in front of his computer, tapping away. “I’ll make the changes now. Have you spoken to the council?”

“Alma has requested my presence.”

“When?” Gray glanced up at Minho. “Am I going to take you off rotation?”

“I wasn’t given the impression that would happen. Alma sounded more… I’d say resigned to the situation.”

“You are the fourth, no fifth, vampire to have a human mate.” Key tapped away, stopping when Gray spoke.

“Fifth? Who?”

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