Page 136 of Their Knotty Pack
"Like a librarian when you're ten days late on returnin' your library book. Like me mum after I came home with a nose ring. Like a priss witha ten foot pole shoved up 'er—"
"We got it," Brody says quickly, clearing his throat.
"Anyway, I got out my trusty parabolic microphone, but thena groupa cacklin' hens sat behind 'em and the sound was all muddy. Couldn't picka word out to save me life, But, I did take pictures—I'll send 'em over so you can see if you recognize 'er. After that, they spent the rest of the day at the office, and left at five. I tailed them home and now they're enjoying some pretentious-as-fuck amuse bouche or some shite—Mav just got here and is taking over until the morning."
"Thank you, Theodore," Hunter sighs, "we appreciate your help."
"Fuck off with all that," Teddy huffs, "only the government calls me Theodore. An’ I hate the government."
"Sorry, um, thank you,Teddy," Hunter corrects himself.
"No need to thank me, mate, just doin' my job. Mind you, it is for free, but we all benefit at the end. I'll send you those pictures in a jiff."
"Thank you, Teddy," I pipe up. "Really."
"Well, let's not get too sappy just yet, ducky," his voice is warmer than when he told Hunter to 'fuck of with all that', "it ain't done yet, innit? You can thank me once we nab these wankers."
We hang up with Teddy, and Miles is the first to break the silence. "Well…he seems fun."
"Could hardly understand half the things he was saying," Damien mutters.
"Who do you think Grayson was meeting with?" Brody frowns. "If it was an omega…I suppose it could have been a client?"
Then my phone dings with incoming messages—the photos, as Teddy promised.
My heart stops. The woman sitting with Grayson…that's Mrs. Lopez.
"Holy shit," I gasp, not quite able to believe what I'm seeing. "Why would Mrs. Lopez be meeting with Grayson?"
"Who is Mrs. Lopez?" Kieran asks, his arms tightening further around me. I don't think he even realizes he's doing it.
"The director of the Starbrook City branch of the OMS," I tell them, my eyes still studying the picture. Mrs. Lopez doesn't look like someone who just had half her staff quit in the last two weeks…no, she looks…smug. "The one who fired me."
"So PackHansen shows up to your work, causes a scene…" Hunter starts, the wheels in his mind turning, "which she uses as an excuse to fire you, and two weeks later, she's meeting a member of that same pack for coffee?"
"Do we think she's involved in casing out the women?" Brody frowns. "As the director of an OMS branch, she'd have unlimited access to their information.
"Something smells fishy," Miles sing-songs, standing from his spot next to me. He freezes at my expression, then sits back down, grabbing my face between his hands. "Nymph. This is a good thing. We're going to figure it out, okay?"
My cheeks still squished together, I nod as Miles presses a kiss to my smooshed lips. "Good." He grins. "Now how about we let the rest of our pack clean up dinner while you and I go make digital versions of each member of Pack Douche Canoe on the Sims and kill them off in creative ways?"
"I'm going to call Georgia and fill her in," Hunter adds, running a hand through his hair. He looks especially tired. "She's the only one I trust with this right now."
Kieran sets me on my feet, smacking my ass. "Go ahead, sunshine. We'll take care of it down here."
"You mean I'll take care of it down here," Damien mutters, standing and gathering dishes, "since you all can't seem to not leave water stains on everything." But he presses a kiss to mine and Miles' temples just the same, telling us to go have fun.
When the entire pack finds us huddled in the nest, staring at the laptop on Miles' lap as a Sim named "Preston Douche Canoe" tries to get out of a pool without a ladder, Kieran snorts.
"Who needs therapy when you have this?"
"Thisistherapy," Miles insists as Kieran settles next to him.
"And it's a lot cheaper than someone telling me I need to 'deal with my emotions in a healthy way'," I roll my eyes and use finger quotes. Hunter slides in next to me, and I shift so I'm laying against him. He's been more physically affectionate recently, something that I will never complain about. Brody settles at the edge of the bed, and Damien stands in the doorway, staring at all of us with an indecipherable look on his face.
"What's wrong?" I study him closely. I can't tell if he's upset or…something else.
"I've been…I've been working on something for you, and I wanted to give it to you after dinner, but then Teddy called, and then it wasn't the right time…"
