I don't reach for the folder. "What kind of assignment?"
"Protective detail."
My jaw clenches. "I'm not a babysitter, Captain."
"You are whatever this department needs you to be, Detective." Her tone leaves no room for argument. "And right now, we need you to protect Dr. Dahlia Baldwin."
I know that name. Everyone in shifter circles does.
"The geneticist?" I finally pick up the folder. "Why does she need protection?"
“Her lab was broken into last week. All her research on the Crimson Plague was stolen or destroyed." Captain Raine leans back in her chair. "Blackthorn Biotech has requested our best officer for her security detail."
"Blackthorn." I can't keep the contempt from my voice. "Since when do we take orders from Evan Blackthorn?"
"Since he pays half the city's taxes and sits on the police commissioner's board." She narrows her eyes. "I know you have... reservations about scientists, Leo. But this isn't optional."
Reservations. That's one way to put it. Images of Tessa flash through my mind. My sister, hooked up to machines in some lab, studied like a specimen while the Crimson Plague ate her alive from the inside.
"With all due respect, Captain, I'm a homicide detective. Not a bodyguard."
"And she's our best chance at finding a cure for the virus that's killing our kind." Captain Raine's voice softens slightly. "I know about Tessa, Leo. I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important."
I clench my jaw so hard my teeth might crack. She's playing the Tessa card. And worse, it's working.
"How long?" I ask, already knowing I've lost this fight.
"Indefinite. Until we find who's targeting her." She hands me another file. "Here's the address. She's expecting you within the hour."
I stand, tucking both folders under my arm. "Yes, ma'am."
"And Leo?" she calls as I reach the door. "Try not to scare her. We need her brain intact."
I don't respond. I'm too busy fighting the urge to punch something.
Forty minutes later, I'm standing outside a modest apartment building in the university district, still seething. I've read through Baldwin's file twice. She's a brilliant scientist with multiple degrees and a leading researcher on shifter genetics. She probably also thinks my kind are fascinating lab rats.
I take a deep breath, trying to center myself the way my father taught me. The bear inside me is restless, agitated by my anger, and that is not a good combination.
I press the buzzer for apartment 3B.
"Yes?" A woman replies cautious.
"Dr. Baldwin? Detective Leo Byers, Metro PD. I've been assigned to your protective detail."
Silence. Then: "Come up."
The door buzzes, and I make my way to the third floor. My instincts are on high alert, scanning for threats out of habit. The building seems secure enough, but the locks are basic. Anyone determined could get in.
I knock on 3B, standing to the side out of ingrained caution.
The door opens, and I'm hit with a scent that nearly knocks me backward. Sweet honey and rain. I have to grip the doorframe to steady myself.
Omega.
Dr. Dahlia Baldwin isn't just any scientist. She's a shifter. An Omega.
And she reeks of another Alpha.
