Maximus nodded slowly. “That sounds good enough for me to look into.”
“You gonna kill some people?” Ken didn’t sound bothered by the idea.
“You don’t need to worry about what I’m going to do with the info. You got paid, and you gave me info. Our relationship ends there.”
Ken shrugged. “I don’t care either way. Was just curious. Don’t burn down the forest, but other than that, you can do what you want to whoever you want, but be careful.” His smile wavered. “Just because it’s paradise doesn’t mean there’s not a lot of hidden darkness here.”
“Sure.” Maximus stood. “I’ve seen Hawaii 5-0, too. And you’re sure this commercial isn’t a cover for something?”
Ken laughed and shook his head. “Brother, I’m not hundred percent sure about anything, but it wouldn’t be the first time someone decided to launder a little money around here with the help of Hollywood.” He raised his glass. “Good luck to you. For what it’s worth, I hope you find who you’re looking for, and I hope you mess them up good.”
Maximus scoffed and turned away. Hybrids couldn’t rely on humans, and his Alpha Squad was even more isolated than others of his kind, but for now, at least, he had some leads.
He headed out of the bar, not bothering to look back.
CJ stood from his crouch near the door, frowning. “I couldn’t hear anything with all that music.”
“I’ve got what we need,” Maximus replied. “We’re not making our next move until tomorrow. There are some things I need to do in prep.”
“You’ve got a target then?”
“Yeah.” Maximus grunted. “Local bureaucracy.”
Chapter Four
Selena could do this. She had to do this. Her job was on the line, and she didn’t want to give Bill and Chris the satisfaction of thinking she’d failed. All she needed to do was take care of the mix-up.
She drummed her fingers on her knee as she sat in the cramped waiting room. She’d been lucky to get another appointment at the office issuing shooting permits, even though the county worker she’d talked to over the phone about the previous permit was conveniently on vacation after revoking it.
It took a lot of self-control, but she had been nothing but polite. She was sure there was just some mix-up at the office. Yelling at some secretary because of her own asshole boss’s pressure wasn’t Selena’s style.
A hint of suspicion made her question why the employee she’d dealt with before was now suddenly on vacation, but she quashed it. It wasn’t like anyone would go out of their way to interfere with a commercial shoot. What possible motive could they have?
Selena frowned. Chris and Bill were both dicks. If they’d wronged some previous production assistant, such a person might have prepared some sort of revenge plot against them. They were both annoying enough the idea wasn’t impossible.
She shoved the thought away. It was ridiculous. There was no conspiracy, just a simple mistake. She would talk to someone in charge, get the permits restored, and the filming would go on. Then she wouldn’t have to worry about her idiotic director or Chris Silvers. The first step would be getting the local government to admit they’d made a mistake. Not an easy task, but more likely than launching a revenge plan.
Selena blew out a breath glancing over at the empty service window. Why did she have to wait? There was no one there. Had they called her there just to mess with her? Maybe this whole situation could be explained by bored bureaucrats messing with a mainlander from Hollywood. She almost couldn’t blame them.
Selena sighed. She couldn’t let paranoia control her. A simple mix-up, nothing more. It had to be that, or she wouldn’t be able to fix the problem.
A huge shadow appeared behind the frosted glass door leading out to the hallway. Maybe Bigfoot had shown up to get some permits of his own. They probably wouldn’t jerk him around. The door opened, and a bear of a man stepped through. Not quite Bigfoot, but maybe some Sasquatch DNA in there given his height.
Selena’s breath caught at the man’s rugged handsomeness. Everything about him appealed to her, from his broad shoulders to his dark hair and beard. She swallowed as her heart kicked up. Even his indoor sunglasses came off hot rather than pompous like they would have on Chris.
She bit her lip. It might not be love at first sight, but it was some solid lust. It’d been a long while since she’d visited anything but self-service land in bed, and she wouldn’t mind tall, dark, and rugged providing her with some full-service help.
Heat assaulted Selena’s cheeks, and she averted her gaze as the new arrival looked her way. She was grateful for her padded bra. It wasn’t like she didn’t see hot men all the time back in L.A. She wasn’t sure why this man was setting her off. A combination of stress and frustration, perhaps. More likely the fact that L.A. was full of pretty people. Men, women, they were all pretty. This guy was full-on sexy mountain man, and she wanted nothing more than to conquer that mountain.
The man’s attention lingered on her for far too long, so long she glanced down to make sure her body wasn’t betraying the truth. He finally walked over to the other side of the small waiting room and sat. His huge frame was almost comical in the already small chairs.
Disappointment chased down the lust. It didn’t matter that the man was built like a Greek god. She had a job to do. She didn’t have time to hit on random men, no matter how great they looked. They could chat after she sorted out her permit situation if he was still around.
Selena flipped through her documents, including a printed-out map. It slipped away from her folder. She snatched at it, pushing it farther away. Her map ending up halfway across the room was