Page 9 of Red Boar's Baby

“She didn’t get here on her own,” Luis pointed out. “There wasn’t supposed to be a baby on that flight. She was kidnapped, or—something.”

“I know. And that’s the other thing. What if we enter her into the foster system, and she’s immediately kidnapped again? Or something else happens to her?”

Luis rubbed his mouth with one sturdy hand. “If anyone finds out we falsified a report and hid a baby ...”

“I know. Our careers will be toast.” Diana stroked her palm lightly over the baby’s fuzzy head. “I’ll set my career on fire if it’s needed to do the right thing. I just don’t know what the right thing is. And once the decision is made?—”

“—There’s no going back,” Luis agreed. “I’ll back whatever your move is.”

Diana grimaced. If only there were shifter emergency personnel on the scene, other than the two of them. She and Luis had dealt with shifter-related medical emergencies before, and she had worked with the SCB to help cover up shifter incidents. But there was no one to call in this isolated place, no one but the two of them to make a decision. Once they got in the air and reported in, whatever they told the dispatcher was going to be the account of record.

“Listen,” Luis said quietly. “If it’s her physical welfare you’re worrying about, we can take her to my place to give her a full exam. I have medical supplies there, because I sometimes treat shifters off-books. After that, I don’t know.”

“After that,” Diana said, and the rightness of her choice crystalized even as she spoke, “I know a guy.”

CHAPTER4

As the loweringsun slanted through the windows of Costa’s office, he ran through a quick check of work emails and messages on the intra-office chat—from which he deletedyet anotheranonymously posted “feral hogs” meme and its associated cluster of “haha” emoji.

It was either Delgado or Caine; they’d found an online treasure trove of the things and kept sending them to him or leaving them on his desk. Someone in the computer department was definitely in on it, because they were the only people who had the know-how to post things anonymously on the intranet. He had been running the place long enough to know that making a big deal out of it would only make things worse. Everybody loved a boss with a sense of humor. Anyway, he’d been hazed a lot harder than this as a new agent.

Still. There would be retaliation. He was positive Caine was in on it, even if Caine hadn’t been the original instigator, and the guy had a wedding coming up at some as-yet-unannounced time in the summer or fall. Which meant Costa had a bachelor party to plan.

Oh yes. There would be payback.

Speaking of the devil. Caine caught him stretching his hamstrings in the hall by the drinking fountain. As Caine sauntered up in his usual sunglasses and dark suit, Costa teetered wildly, nearly fell, caught himself and leaned casually on the wall.

“You’re here early, Caine. Know anything about any recent posts on the office chat?”

“Haven’t even checked it,” Caine said, perfectly straight-faced. “So what’s this about you showing up at noon, drenched in sweat and staggering?”

Costa glowered at him. “Nearly every part of that is a lie. You weren’t even here.”

“You ran all the way here from the U of A campus, didn’t you?”

“It’s only, what, ten miles?”

“More like fifteen.”

“Whatever. Can’t a guy jog fifteen miles without everyone giving him the side-eye?”

Caine swiveled around to lean his shoulder against the wall. “Something’s eating you.”

“You get engaged and suddenly you’re all touchy-feely,” Costa grumbled. “I liked you better when you had no sense of humor, hated everyone, and barely said ten words a year.”

“I still hate everyone, especially you,” Caine retorted. “So this is the thanks I get for coming in while the sun’s still up. Fine, keep your problems to yourself and run your feet off.”

“Thanks, I plan to. You’re here early, so I’m gonna head home. I have a family shindig and a date to prep for.”

“A date with?—”

“A date with no one who is any of your business. Walk with me to my office; I’ll give you a quick rundown of anything to watch out for on the night shift, although there isn’t much happening these days.”

“Are you limping?”

“No,” Costa snapped.

Luckily shifter healing would make short work of blisters.

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