Page 99 of Tracking Wolfe

He laughed, short and humorless, unfolding his arms and leaning back in his seat. I assumed the posture was meant to look relaxed, but it missed the mark.

“Reasonable. That’s me.” He studied the floor for a moment. When he looked back up, there was a sharper quality to him. “He tell you about Fletcher Coe?”

He said the name like he was dropping an ace on the table between us. But I merely looked at him without moving or speaking and watched his certainty waver by degrees as the silence stretched.

Inside, I’d gone still and cold. I wasn’t surprised to hear Fletcher’s name. But having Wolfe’s most protected secret weaponized by this man, in that particular tone, in this sterile building, in view of a running surveillance camera, didn’t just make me angry. It brought me back to a time in my life I hardly ever thought of anymore. To a Trace I barely remembered. The one who’d survived on the streets for years.

I wasn’t that powerless man anymore.

“Fletcher Coe,” I repeated. “Sounds familiar.”

Jake’s jaw tightened slightly. He’d expected more of a reaction. “Wolfe’s journal was pretty illuminating. He mentioned you.”

It was galling that this man knew more about Wolfe’s inner thoughts than I did, though I refused to let it show on my face. I almost wished I’d snuck a look at the journal so I’d know exactly what kind of “proof” Jake had. But I wouldn’t betray Wolfe like that.

I also knew the proof didn’t matter. All Jake had to do was connect the two names to the rabid public, and Fletcher Coe’s fans would do the rest.

I’d spotted the connections. So had Gabe. They would, too.

“The person you’re fucking with has a family. A very large, very well-resourced family with deep connections in the legal and entertainment industries specifically.” I paused. “Jude Marian… more specifically, his bodyguard husband… does not take threats to his family lightly.”

“Then they’ll be eager to⁠—”

“His family,” I continued, keeping my voice level, “has protected its people from significantly more sophisticated threats than this one. Journalists. Lawyers. People with a great deal more leverage than a stolen journal. If that name—the one you just said—surfaces anywhere publicly, if anything in that journal is shared, copied, or sold, the consequences will arrive fast.” I paused and met his eyes. “And they will not be compatible with a successful music career for your sister.”

Jake stared at me for a long moment. It was obvious he hadn’t fully thought this through. He hadn’t realized that Wolfe was surrounded by people who weren’t as sweet as Wolfe himself. “And if I do nothing? What do I get out of that? Seems to me like it still ends in a jail cell for me, no matter what.”

I shrugged. “He didn’t drug himself, Jake. He didn’t tie himself to a fucking tree. You’ll get whatever the state decides you deserve.” And it still wouldn’t be enough, as far as I was concerned. “Your sister, on the other hand…”

Jake’s eyes turned speculative. “What about her?”

“I’ll promise to introduce Shay to Jude Marian if you agree to sign an NDA related to the journal.”

I despised how Jake had made his sister a pawn in his game, but I wouldn’t let him do the same to Wolfe.

His eyes closed in a disbelieving blink. “You will?”

I nodded, hoping my back teeth didn’t break from my anger. “I’ll have someone send over the agreement in the morning. You can take a look and decide if you want to sign it. The deal is simple. You sign the NDA and agree not to share anything from the journal, and your sister gets the opportunity of a lifetime. You don’t sign it—or you do, and don’t stick to the terms—and your sister gets blackballed from the music industry for life.”

It was clear Jake was pissed. He’d already cast himself and his sister as victims of some imagined injustice. But he also knew I represented the kind of power that could actually ruin her chances.

And Jake was very interested in this deal, even though it didn’t help his own fate one bit.

“You’ll help Shay?”

“It depends. How much does she know?”

His eyes widened. “Nothing. She doesn’t even know he’s Wolfe Marian.”

I shot him a disbelieving look, if only to see if it would get a reaction. He kept talking. “I told her I was going to record the two of them performing a song together. That was it. She still thinks he’s a regular guy who knows a lot about the guitar.”

I hesitated before nodding. “Okay. I keep my promises, but it’ll be in writing anyway. Deal?”

I would follow up on my promise to introduce Jude to Shay, but that was it. What Jude decided to do with the situation would be out of my hands.

And Jude Marian wasn’t a fool. He was a fiercely protective father, backed by an even fiercer husband who’d rather burn the entire world down than let one of their children feel a moment of unease. If and when he learned the truth of what had happened in Hush, Jude Marian would probably feel the way I did. Furious, but unwilling to let an innocent young woman bear the brunt of her brother’s bad decisions.

His jaw worked. “Send over the agreement.”