Page 21 of Wolf Revealed

Five minutes later, they all made their way back down to the first floor and headed toward the back of the house until they found the large living room that opened onto a huge chef’s kitchen. There was a beautiful twelve-foot-tall, lavishly decorated Christmas tree in one corner of the living room, as well as some holiday decor on the mantel above the fireplace. It occurred to Mike then that he was going to need to start thinking about what to give Kal for Christmas. A smile tugged at his lips as a dozen possibilities already came to mind. His parents were going to absolutely shower Kal with gifts when they found out their one and only grandson was alive. Of course, he couldn’t tell them until they neutralized Roman.

Everyone else was already there and had taken seats wherever they could find them, leaving one of the leather couches free for the three of them. Mike, Lark, and Kal grabbed some sandwiches and sides as well as drinks from the trays on the big kitchen island, then took their seats, Kal sitting between them.

“As far as the Dallas PD is concerned, we’re here from SWAT on loan to Wayne’s task force, doing our part to track down Roman,” Mike said, digging into his potato salad. “Now that everyone knows he’s back, the department has put all its focus on taking him into custody.”

“This arrangement gives us carte blanche to go after Roman, while also allowing us to keep an eye on Lark and Kal,” Xander added. “We just have to be careful about how we balance those two missions. We can’t let ourselves get tricked into sending so many people after Roman that we leave Mike and his family unprotected.”

“Violet and our pack will focus on protecting Lark and Kal,” Jasper said firmly. “We’ll do whatever we can to help you deal with Roman, but taking care of them has to be our first priority.”

“I agree,” Mike said.

On the other side of Kal, Lark frowned at him, worry clear on her beautiful face. “Are you sure it’s a good idea for you to go after Roman yourself? Clearly, the only reason he kidnapped Kal in the first place was to get to you and that flash drive. What’s to keep Roman from grabbing you and torturing you until you give him what he wants?”

Between them, Kal gulped, fear flashing in his eyes as he looked at Mike. “Would Roman do that?”

Mike felt like he’d been sucker punched. He’d missed so much of his son’s life already. He didn’t want to miss anymore. And knowing he was making both Lark and Kal worry made it even worse. But he also couldn’t sit here on his hands while Roman was a threat to his family.

“We’re not going to let that happen,” Xander said, coming to Mike’s rescue. “He’s never going out without at least three of us with him. And I promise we’ll do everything in our power to make sure he comes home to both of you every time, no matter what.”

Mike didn’t know if Xander’s words would actually help—especially since he made looking for Roman even more dangerous—but after a moment, Lark seemed to relax.

“Okay,” she said, reaching out to squeeze Kal’s hand. The simple contact immediately calmed his son’s rapid heartbeat. “But you have to promise to be careful, Mike. For both of us.”

The emotion in her eyes made Mike’s own heart beat a little faster.

“I will,” he promised. “I have too much to lose to take unnecessary risks. But Roman needs to be stopped, and this time, I’m going to do it.”

“With help,” Xander said firmly, his words quickly echoed by everyone else.

As they ate, they talked about how to guard the house. Jasper, in particular, was worried about how they’d manage to lock down a place this big with their limited numbers.

“I can help with that,” Hale said. “The cameras, motion sensors, and lights are worth having another half dozen people available, but I’ll also be giving everyone small radios with ear buds. That way, we can all stay in constant communication.”

“We’ll also be available to help pull guard duty any time we’re not actively out tracking down leads on Roman,” Xander added.

“Speaking of Roman,” Violet said, sipping her iced tea. “How are you going to find him?”

Before answering, Mike quickly brought Lark’s pack up to speed on the undercover case he’d worked a decade ago in Roman’s organization. Then he moved into current events, with the recent uptick in organized crime activity in the city, followed by the incident at the warehouse where they’d found Lawrence Stewart’s body.

“I think Roman set the entire situation up so he could confront me about his flash drive,” Mike added. “I’m not sure what could possibly be on it since none of the ones I handled when I worked undercover would have any value now.”

“It has to be something seriously important,” Carter pointed out. “Roman wouldn’t have risked coming back into the country just for a shot at rebuilding his criminal organization. Now that we know he’s here, he has to realize there’s no chance of pulling that off.”

“I agree,” Mike admitted. “But that doesn’t mean I know what Roman could be looking for. Or why he thinks I have the flash drive. It’s not like I kept any for old time’s sake. It’s probably with all the other evidence we collected. I’ll talk to Wayne about getting some people to look through the stuff and see what they can find. Either way, we can’t pin our hopes on finding a flash drive that might not even be there. Since we need to focus on finding Roman, I think the first thing we need to do is check in with the ME’s office to see if they have any leads, then talk to Roman’s known associates.”

Unfortunately, Kal didn’t know where Roman’s hideout was. From what Kal had told Mike, Roman had confined him to what sounded like a storeroom of some kind the whole time, with a TV to watch and video games to play.

“Anyone in particular we should start with?” Xander asked.

Mike thought a moment. “Yeah. A guy named Rogelio Roy. I didn’t know him very well, but he was Roman’s accountant when I was undercover. I tend to remember him wheeling and dealing his way out of any prison time. It’s a long shot, but maybe the guy might have heard something about where Roman has set up shop here in Dallas.”

“That’s the plan then,” Xander said.

After they’d finished dinner, everyone but Lark and Kal left, most taking up security positions around the property while the rest probably just wanted to give him some time with his newfound family. As Mike sat there with Lark and their son, laughing at the stories Kal told him about Nugget, and school, and hanging out with his friends back in Washington State, he couldn’t help forgetting about Roman and the threat he presented. For a little while, at least.

Kal was in the middle of telling him about teaching Nugget a new trick when his son let out a big yawn. Mike wasn’t surprised Kal was exhausted. He’d probably been going on adrenaline the whole day.

“Ready for bed, big guy?” Mike asked. “It’s getting late.”