Chapter 3: Del

She blinked at that, whipping through her memory, but nothing. “I think you have the wrong girl. I would definitely remember you.” She felt her cheeks flush at the way that had come out. But it was truth. Jake was not a body, er, a person, she’d forget.

“Well, not me directly. My family.”

“Oh. What’s the name?”

When Jake didn’t answer, she looked back at Xavier. He cast a glance at his friend that she couldn’t read. The kind of look only longtime friends understood. She didn’t have any of those but she’d seen enough to know it was some secret language she couldn’t possibly understand. A language based solely on shared history.

Xavier cleared his throat. “We’d rather not say. If that’s a deal breaker for you, I understand.”

She sat back. Well, that was unexpected. But she couldn’t fault them for it. Not wanting to share the source of a referral was a privacy issue, and in her business, privacy was everything. “I can understand not wanting to share personal information. I just need your word that you’ll share everything pertinent to the job you’ve hired me for. Beyond that, your lives are your own business.”

Xavier nodded and Jake visibly relaxed. He shot her a smile that made her nipples hard. God, that guy had a gift.

She cleared her throat and found Xavier watching her. So effing busted. “So, what exactly is the job you’re hiring me for?” she asked, ignoring the heat that rose to her cheeks at being caught ogling.

“I’m afraid the details are a little scarce right now,” Xavier said but Delilah grabbed a pad and pen from her bag anyway. “It’s come to our attention that the DOT—”

“DOT?” she interrupted.

“Department of Transportation. They oversee Blue Bear Search and Rescue. Our budget, our performance, everything goes through them. We do a good job, we get money for equipment and the supplies we need.”

“Got it.” She waved a hand for him to proceed, still scribbling.

“DOT has received a number of complaints about our crew, citing unsafe rescue methods and disregard for city policy. On top of that, we’ve had a disturbing increase in illegal hunting on the backside of Blue Hole Mountain.”

Delilah stopped writing and shook her head, confused. “And you want me to see if these are somehow related?”

“I’ve already surmised the common denominator is us,” Xavier said, his expression darkening. She decided to take his word for it as the air in the room thickened. Wow, she’d never felt the crackle of energy from an alpha shifter before. It was kind of awesome. “I want you to find out how they’re both related to us and why,” Xavier said. “The hunters we arrested last week specifically said they’d come to hunt polar bear shifters.”

“Fucking poachers,” Jake muttered.

“I don’t understand. I thought shifters were welcome in Blue Hole. In the world in general. To have a Search and Rescue team run entirely by shifters would suggest an accepting town.”

Xavier nodded. “We’ve been here twenty-five years. I’ve led Blue Bear Search and Rescue for ten of those without a problem and my father for fifteen before me.”

“So why now?” Delilah asked almost to herself. She tapped her pen thoughtfully against the page. Her wheels were already turning.

“That’s what you’re here to find out. I think people will talk to you easier than they would us or another local. And you aren’t biased or swayed because you don’t have history here. If you want the job, it’s yours,” Xavier said. “As we discussed on the phone, we’ll pay salary plus expenses, but this is off the books. None of this goes through official channels.”

Delilah grinned. “I can’t resist a good mystery,” she admitted. “Besides, you guys have the cleanest air I’ve ever breathed. I’m in.”