Page 28 of Shadow of Fury

He glanced around and lowered his voice, just in case, “Will they meet with me?”

“The ones I reached out to will. In fact, they’re probably waiting for us at the flower shop now.”

Logan raised an eyebrow, “The flower shop?”

Dominic grinned, “The Rose family boarded up the windows before they left town so nobody can see inside.”

“And how do we get inside?”

“Dillon remembered that Grayson once showed him where the hide-a-key for the back door was and, miracle of miracles, it was still there.”

“Why do I get the feeling this isn’t the first time you’ve arranged a covert meeting at the flower shop?”

“Probably because it’s not.” Dominic glanced around and then jerked his head towards an alleyway across from them. “Come on. We better hurry before they get tired of waiting and leave.”

Logan followed as Dominic headed across the street. Despite his words, his friend didn’t hurry at all. He strolled along, hands in his pockets, so Logan did the same. It took him a minute to realize Dominic was doing his best to keep from drawing the attention of the few other people out and about. About the time he did, Dominic ducked into the alleyway, out of sight, and picked up his pace, forcing Logan into a jog to keep up with him.

The alley converged with another and they turned left, heading east. The backside of the buildings on either side of them had doors every few hundred feet. Several large dumpsters also took up one side of the path. Most of them were empty but a few were piled high with boxes and bags of trash. Logan took that to mean the businesses behind those doors were still operating. It was hard to tell which door led to which shop since they all looked the same for the most part but the flower shop was easy to find with its mural of faded multi-colored wildflowers painted onto the brick exterior.

“In here.” Dominic pulled the door open and Logan slipped inside, shuddering at the chill that accompanied the dark, empty space.

It took his eyes only a second to adjust and when they did he noted that they were in a small hallway. Dominic let the door swing shut behind them and it didn’t even make a sound as it clicked shut. Logan wondered, again, what his friend had been using this place for but he didn’t have a chance to ask because someone poked their head into the hallway through a dark curtain at the other.

“There you are. It’s about time.”

“Don’t start.” Dominic growled, pushing past Logan and forcing him to follow.

“Drake?” Logan’s eyes went wide when they stepped into the main room and he realized that the man Dominic had spoken to was the middle brother of the McMurtry family.

“Hey Logan. It’s good to see you.”

“You too.” He clapped the younger man on the back, surprised yet again by the changes that time had brought while he was away.

Where he remembered Drake McMurtry as a lanky, slightly awkward teen, the man who stood before him was neither of those things. He wasn’t quite as tall as his older brother, or as bulky, but he was fit and muscular, with a dark five o’clock shadow and the same square jawline beneath it as Dominic. Logan tried to do the math in his head. Drake was the middle child, two years younger than them, which would make him about 24, and that seemed as impossible as the ring that Logan noted on his left hand.

“You’re mated?”

“Mated and married.” Drake practically beamed and Logan tried to ignore the slice of pain the words caused in his chest.

“Do I know the lucky lady?”

Drake chuckled, “Sunny. Her last name used to be Reynolds.”

Logan scratched his chin, “The name sounds familiar.”

“It should. She works for your parents up at the house.”

That pulled him up short, “What?”

“She works at the Alpha’s house. I thought maybe you’d seen her already but couldn’t put a face with the name.”

“No. No, it’s not that.” Logan shook his head, “I only just got back last night but I haven’t seen anyone around the house yet. What does she do?”

“Oh…” Drake’s dark brows furrowed just like his older brother’s did when he was trying to figure something out. “I assumed you knew.”

Logan only raised an eyebrow and Drake stuttered but hurried on.

“Sh-She uh… she’s a healer. She takes care of your mom.”