This was sheer matchmaking at its finest. Uncle Will had given Heather a job that set her with Barney in order to force him to acknowledge the bond, all with the appearance of legitimacy. It was brilliant, and there was nothing Barney could do about it.

Barney shot her a worried look before clearing his throat. “All right. This is what we’ve got so far. Francois is still working on tracking down our handler, but it’s not looking good. His credit cards and bank accounts haven’t been touched, and his landlord hasn’t seen him in three weeks.”

“You think he’s dead?” Chloe shivered. “Why?”

“One of the many, many things we’re working on.” Barney managed to get the chili away from Ryan and gave some to Heather, much to her surprise. He then put some in his own bowl before passing it along to Gabe. “I’m beginning to wonder if we’re dealing with more than one faction of Senators.”

“A case of the left hand trying to jerk off while the right hand makes a peanut butter sandwich?”

Everyone stared at Sarah.

Sarah sank in her chair, her face red. “I’ll shut up now.”

Spencer grinned at her. “Do you have a sister?”

Sarah shook her head, smiling shyly. Gabe glared at Spencer and wrapped a possessive arm around Sarah.

“Damn. Too bad.” Spencer grimaced. “All joking aside, as an outsider to all of this, I disagree with Sarah. I mean, what are the odds that you’d have some secret operation to eliminate a group of people simply because they’re half-breeds and not have the whole shifter world aware of it? You’d think someone would get suspicious, right?”

Barney’s brows rose. “We are suspicious.”

“And the CIA doesn’t necessarily know what Homeland Security is up to, and vice versa. It’s possible.” Gabe used a biscuit to sop up the last of his chili. “The real question would be, why?”

“And how does it tie in to the white shifters, or is that a different issue altogether?” Jim took hold of Chloe’s hand.

She squeezed, trying to reassure him. “What about the person Francois was supposed to get ahold of? Has he found phlegm yet?”

“I got a call from Francois. He finally got a hold of Artemis Smith. He and his sister will be arriving in Halle shortly.” Barney winced. “I really hate dealing with those two.”

“Why?” Chloe couldn’t understand the distaste on Barney’s face.

“Because they… Well, they’re sort of… They kind of like to…” He huffed out a breath like a two-year-old. “They’re fucking annoying, okay?”

She stared, wide-eyed, and wondered just how bad the Smiths had to be to get this sort of reaction from Barney. “Okay.”

“But they’re damn good at their jobs,” he added begrudgingly. “I just wish they’d grow the hell up.”

Gabe choked out a laugh. “This from the man who broke into my house to play with my Wii?”

Heather was staring at Barney with unholy glee. “I can’t wait to meet them.”

“Over my dead body.” Barney stood. “I’m outta here. Keep Frodo away from anything dangerous or I’ll pull a Nazgul on your asses, got me?” Heather snarled, but Barney pointedly ignored her, turning instead to Gabe. “I’ll let you know when the Smiths arrive.”

Barney left without another word to anyone.

Heather slumped in her chair. “That was fun.” She shoved a biscuit in her mouth and stared longingly at the door.

Chloe smiled, hoping to lighten the mood. “Pie?”

“With ice cream?” Spencer’s puppy eyes were almost as cute as George’s. George, who was currently being loved on by Ryan, had been a good boy while they ate, sitting quietly at Jim’s feet until Chloe stood to get dessert.

“Sounds good to me. Need help getting it?” Jim also stood, tugging her into the kitchen without waiting for an answer. “What’s up with Heather and Barney?”

“They’re mates and Barney doesn’t want to acknowledge it.”

“Why?” Jim pulled out the ice cream while Chloe began slicing the apple pie.

“She’s young, he’s a Hunter, she’s a Bunsun-Williams, who knows.” She began plating the pie, smiling as he put ice cream on each slice. “But he won’t be able to deny the mating bond for too long. The dreams will see to that.”

“I hope so. I don’t want to see your cousin suffer the way you did.”

Jim sounded so remorseful she couldn’t help but hug him. “We’re over that, remember? No more beating yourself up, okay?”

He stared at her for a moment before hugging her back. “I really don’t deserve you.”

She laughed smugly. “I know, sweetie. I know.”

He followed her back into the dining room, their arms loaded down with pie.

Three days. Jim stared out at his back yard, the desire to shift riding him hard. It had been three days since the Hunters left his house, reassuring him that they were working on Chloe’s case.

Three. Fucking. Days.

He hadn’t heard from anyone except Ryan in that time, and Ryan had mostly shrugged and asked how Chloe was doing.

It was driving him insane.

Chloe was sleeping upstairs, exhausted from her first few days on the job with him and Irene. She’d done well, but she still got flustered when dealing with their patients’ owners, and her physical ailments made doing simple tasks more difficult. Her speech impediment was also a source of embarrassment for her, but so far he hadn’t run across any complaints.

He expected that would change. Not everyone was as kind as the people he worked with. He would try to shield her from that, but Chloe was stronger than anyone he’d ever known. If anyone could survive a little rudeness intact, it would be his mate.

A sudden movement outside caught his eye. What was that? With the windows and doors closed, it was difficult to get a whiff, but Jim sniffed anyway. Was it an animal?

The hair on the back of his neck stood up. Whatever—no, whoever—was out there was a shifter. There was the faint scent Wolf, a familiar one.

The asshole who’d attacked him outside his clinic was back, and this time, he’d come to Jim’s den.

Jim took off his clothes and opened the back door before allowing the shift to flow over him. His senses sharpened as his paws hit the dirt, scanning for the invader.