Page 15 of Marked By Moonlight

“Busy.”

“Yeah? Doing what? ’Cause it sure as hell isn’t what you’re supposed to be doing. I called all weekend. I had some tips on a new location I needed you to check out. Where’ve ya been?”

Gideon averted his eyes from Cooper’s piercing gaze. Damn. He shouldn’t have looked away.

Gideon covered the slip by snagging the remote and clicking on the channel guide. “Just busy.”

Cooper shook his head from side to side. “You wanted this, remember? I warned you. About the demands, always being on call, always available. But you wanted in—”

“Hell, I’ve been at it for almost fifteen years. I’m no rookie,” he snapped. No. Not a rookie. Maybe just burned out? What other explanation could there be for why he wanted to protect Claire Morgan when it was his job to destroy her? He shook off the thought and continued, “I had some deliveries for my grandmother. Not to mention a few orders to finish up,” he lied smoothly, nodding toward the door leading to the garage where he did his carpentry work.

Cooper snorted and tossed a handful of Cheetos in his mouth, his jaw flexing as he chewed. “What? Slaying lycans doesn’t pay the bills?”

“I need something legit to show the IRS.” Thinking the interrogation over, Gideon clicked the channel to ESPN.

“Saw the Dodge parked out back,” Cooper commented mildly, referring to the old pickup Gideon used to haul furniture. “I didn’t think you could cart armoires, chairs, and the like in the back of that Jeep. Guess you weren’t running deliveries today, huh?”

Gideon smiled easily despite being caught in his own lie. A mistake he wouldn’t make again. He might owe Cooper a lot, even his life, but that didn’t include a play by play of his every move.

“Fine,” Cooper grunted. “Keep your secrets. Just hope you’re not getting involved with some woman. You know this lifestyle isn’t conducive to that sort of thing. Told you when you got in you could never lead a normal life. No wife. No kids.” He leaned forward in the La-Z-Boy as if shortening the distance between them could better convey his next words. He stabbed the palm of his hand several times with his finger. “NODEAL is your life.”

Gideon understood perfectly. He always had. “I know.” He smiled without humor. “Love ’em and leave ’em. I learned the code from you. You drilled it into me. How could I forget?”

“That’s right.” Cooper nodded, still looking unconvinced as he settled back in the chair. “Let’s talk shop. The body you called in the other night has been identified as one Leonardo Becker. Age seventeen. Born in Houston and birth certificate looks legit. Of course, no record of him in the files,” he said.

NODEAL’s confidential database was used by agents throughout the world for the cataloging of all known lycans, living and deceased. It was no surprise to Gideon that the kid wasn’t documented. Gideon already knew he was newly infected.

Leonardo Becker. Lenny, Gideon silently mused, experiencing a strange flickering of sorrow for the kid whose last thoughts had been not for himself but his teacher. “He’s probably too new to have made it into the database,” Gideon murmured.

“What happened Friday? Anything unusual?” Cooper eyed him speculatively. “I sent Foster to run detail and he said everything looked clean. Aside from it being such a young kid. Easy kill?”

“Yeah,” Gideon muttered. “No sweat.”

Nodding, Cooper asked, “Any leads?”

He hesitated before sealing his act of deception with an indisputable lie. “No.” There. He’d done it. Without even a stutter. No going back now. “He operated alone.”

“What?” Cooper’s brows dipped into a frown. “No buddies?”

Lycans operated in packs—at least two or more. Never, or rarely, individually. That’s what made hunting them so dangerous and why inexperienced agents were assigned to a team until deemed fit to hunt alone. Gideon had completed his team training quickly. In fact, he held the record for quickest promotion to IAS—individual agent status. But then, he had something other trainees didn’t. A grudge.

“That’s right. Solo.”

“Unusual.”

“I know,” Gideon retorted. He wasn’t some grunt, new to the ranks. He didn’t need Cooper questioning his every answer. Even if they were lies.

Cooper rubbed his bristly chin. “What’s your take on it?” he quizzed in his best mentor voice.

“He could have been accidentally infected,” Gideon offered, one possibility that couldn’t be overlooked, even if unlikely. Lycans didn’t run around accidentally infecting people. They fed. And when they fed, they gorged until their victims were dead. Recruitment into their packs was very deliberate, and they didn’t abandon their inductees.

“Or…” Gideon’s voice hung in the air for a long moment.

“Or?” Cooper prodded.

“Or there’s a new player in town,” Gideon finished. “One who doesn’t follow pack tradition.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

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