Page 13 of Wolf Revealed

“Okay,” Gage said softly through his earbud as he walked into the museum courtyard. “I have most of the Pack taking positions in a perimeter between two and three blocks from the museum, while Lark’s pack mates will be closer, some of them on the museum property itself.”

Mike’s gut clenched, his inner wolf pawing to come out and protect the woman he considered his mate. He didn’t like the idea of Lark being so close to Roman and his crew, either. But before he could say anything, her voice came over the radio.

“I’m staying back on the edges of the perimeter with Gage,” she said, as if sensing Mike was on the verge of losing it. “There’s too much chance Roman knows what I look like.”

Mike felt himself relax. He hadn’t expected Gage to give Lark access to a radio, but he was glad his boss had. Hearing her voice was exactly what he needed right then.

Since he wasn’t sure where Roman would approach him, Mike wandered around the courtyard, putting on a show of looking at the metal art pieces and wall murals while also keeping an eye out for Roman and Kal. Taking his phone out of the back pocket of his jeans, he scrolled through the photos Lark had sent him, pausing on a close-up of their son. He realized then that Kal looked a lot like Mike when he was that age.

Mike was so lost in thought he almost dropped his phone when it rang. The number Roman had called him from earlier was displayed on the screen.

“Game time, people,” he said softly before thumbing the green button and putting the phone to his ear. “Taylor.”

“Lift your jacket and shirt up, then turn in a slow circle,” Roman ordered without preamble. “I want to see if you’re carrying a weapon or wearing a wire.”

Mike didn’t bother to argue the request. Ignoring the stares his behavior generated from the people walking around, he yanked up his leather jacket and T-shirt, turning in a slow circle while at the same time trying to figure out where Roman was watching him from. Unfortunately, there were simply too many places the man could be hiding, from the upper floors of the museum to the trees across the street from the courtyard.

“We good here?” Mike asked into his phone after making two complete turns while holding the bottom of his jacket and T-shirt up all the way to the top of his chest.

“Now pull up the legs of your jeans,” Roman said, apparently satisfied with the whole upper body thing and already moving on. “I want to make sure you don’t have a gun in your boots.”

Mike cursed but did as Roman instructed. He had to admit, the a-hole was being thorough. Thankfully, he’d changed out of his uniform into civilian clothes, or this would have looked even more weird.

He’d just finished lifting one pant leg, and then the next, showing he had no backup weapon shoved into the top of his boot, when two teen girls came running over holding their own cell phones.

“Is this a new TikTok challenge?” one of them asked excitedly. “Can you show us how to do it?”

Mike realized then how absolutely ridiculous he must have looked, spinning in circles with his jacket and shirt up and then standing on one leg to show the top of his boots. The only thing more absurd was that these girls wanted to do the same thing so they could put it on the Internet.

“Head north along Harwood Street on foot,” Roman said. “I want you on the north side of Warren Park in five minutes.”

Mike didn’t have a chance to ask where Roman wanted him to go because the man had already hung up, leaving him with two teenagers who clearly expected an answer to their questions.

Ignoring them, Mike turned and left the museum courtyard at a jog. Because, really, what could he say?

“I’m on the move,” he said into his radio. “You tracking me?”

“We’ve got you,” Gage said.

“Copy that,” Mike said. “Tell everyone to stay out of sight. Roman definitely has eyes on me.”

“Any idea where he wants you to go?” Xander asked in his earbud. “There’s nothing anywhere along Harwood that’d be a good spot for a hostage exchange.”

“No idea,” Mike said, keeping his head down as he spoke in case Roman was watching.

He reached the southwest side of Klyde Warren Park just as his phone rang. Mike didn’t have to wonder who it might be.

“Take out the flash drive and hold it above your head, then turn around slowly,” Roman instructed.

Jaw tight, Mike reached into his front pocket and closed his fingers around the generic black flash drive he’d picked up from the supply room at the SWAT compound before leaving. This was the part of the plan where everything could fall apart in the most catastrophic way. He only vaguely remembered the various drives he’d been responsible for delivering all those years ago for Roman. Some of them could have looked like the one he’d grabbed. But if it didn’t, things could get ugly fast.

He held the thumb drive up and held his breath.

“Okay, here’s what’s going to happen,” Roman said. “A man on a motorcycle will pull up to the curb in exactly sixty seconds. You’ll hand him the drive and once I confirm the data on the drive, I’ll call you with a location to pick up your son.”

“You can’t let him have the flash drive!” Lark said desperately in Mike’s earbud. “Once he figures out there’s nothing on there, he’ll kill Kal.”

Mike didn’t need Lark to tell him that, but he understood all the same, practically feeling her panic over the radio.