Masked

CHAPTER 6 | mind the personal space

For the first half hour, the drive back to Portland was spent in relative calm. The fact that neither of them spoke probably had more to do with that than anything, and Parker chose not to destroy the peace, but as the miles flew by, the situation became more awkward. Unable to withstand the pressure any longer, she cracked. "I'm assuming Morgan told you about the training program."

She glanced across at Daniel's profile in time to detect a hint of a smile threatening to emerge from his stern exterior. A wave of heat rushed through her body.

God, I need to stop staring at his lips. This is disturbing, to say the least.

When her phone beeped, she breathed a sigh of relief for the distraction, and scanned the message.

"Tell me about your two prodigies," Daniel said.

She thought about the question for a moment, then shrugged. "Not much to say really. Both of them are good—very good—truth be told. It's just going to take a while to get them to a level where they can train others."

Parker replied to the message from Jay, and continued. "It's been interesting. Zeke's just turned twenty-two, so his wolf isn't mature. It wants out, but Zeke has an innate need to finish what he starts."

She twisted in her seat to face Daniel, a grin on her lips. "I sometimes walk into the lab and find him having a conversation with his wolf. They are forever negotiating. It's like listening to divorced parents arranging custody of the kids. Except in this case, it's for who's going to have custody of his body."

Daniel let out an amused chuckle. "I know what you mean. We have a bizarre relationship with our wolves. It takes years before we find the balance that suits both sides." He turned the air con dial up before continuing. "What does your firm do exactly?"

Parker settled into her seat and considered the best way to explain. "The work is different based on the client's needs, but, in a nutshell, we offer computer intelligence forensic services. Which is a fancy way of saying we track and analyze information hidden in computers, and help organizations stop the gaps in their security."

She glanced down at her phone. "My company works on anything from following money trails to finding discrepancies in accounts, and in some cases we track down people. We spend hours and hours finding the information, and then even more time pouring over data and interpreting it. Our clients come to us when they need us to find information they have lost or are after, or if they have information they want to keep behind locked doors."

Daniel checked the rearview mirror and readjusted his grip on the steering wheel. "How do the omegas fit into all of this?"

"Well, both Zeke and Jay have different skills. Zeke is, without question, our hacker. Jay, on the other hand, is brilliant at analysis. He can take seemingly unrelated information and form a connection to give it meaning."

"So, if they were both petty thieves, Zeke could break into anything, and Jay could then tell you what was worth stealing?"

Parker grinned. "Not bad. We just may get you into the twenty-first century yet."

"How have you dealt with the omega's needs? I get that it requires dedication and a lot of commitment, what I don't understand is how Zeke and Jay can get the job done effectively."

Parker bit the inside of her lip as she considered the question. "I don't assign them any jobs that require us to track down people. That type of work is mission critical, and I don't have the luxury of time. They get assigned the stuff that can be worked on piecemeal."