Hunger's Mate Read Online Free PDF Page A

afford Dior and whatever other designer tie he wanted. As for Ezra, he made a good salary as a Lead Guard because that was his full-time job, but he was no way in the same league as Bas in being able to buy expensive things at the drop of a dime. This tie had cost him three hundred dollars and it was nice, very nice. And dammit, Bas was right, it was Dior.
    â€œBut your face looks like you haven’t slept in days. What gives?” Bas continued with his accurate—even if annoying as hell—assessment of him.
    â€œI’m tired. Jet lag,” he replied, trying for a nonchalant air as he sat back in the chair, bringing one ankle to rest on his knee.
    â€œYou’ve been here for weeks, you should be over the jet lag by now. It’s something else.”
    Bas sat back in his chair, smoothing his own butter-yellow tie as he did so. He was looking at Ezra as if he could possibly see through to his inner thoughts, could push past all the physical mojo to get to what was inside Ezra’s head.
    â€œI’m fine. I just want to get to the lab so we can find out what’s going on in there,” he told him finally, with a look that he hoped conveyed how he did not want to continue this line of discussion.
    Jacques, Bas’s closest friend and Lead Enforcer, must have caught Ezra’s tone because he immediately chimed in. “Your immediate supervisor is a Mr. Dabnus Rudger and his assistant is Coleen Ramsey in the Research and Development Department. Your workstation is located directly outside of the research lab and you will be responsible for running security checks on all incoming and outgoing files, data and text. This will put all the information coming into and going out of Comastaz in your hands. While you’re scanning for security you’ll also be scanning for any mention of the shifters, or ‘cat people,’ as the humans like to call us.”
    Ezra nodded. “The perimeter is protected by a seven-foot-high fence, barbed wire around the edges. The gates are locked, opening only to an employee code. No armed guard, just computer surveillance. Once inside, the building is four stories high, the basement used for storage purposes. I know this from blueprints only. R and D is on the third floor, west end of the building. At least fifteen hundred employees working morning and twilight shifts go in and out of the building each day. At night there’s a secondary security system. There are seals along the windows and probably something else but I couldn’t really tell from the outside.”
    Bas rubbed a finger along his chin. “How do you know all this?”
    â€œI’ve been staking them out for the last few weeks while we waited until my new identity could be completed,” he announced.
    â€œHow did you get inside the gates?”
    Ezra paused then admitted, “She had a pretty smile and she thought I had beautiful eyes.”
    Bas released a loud burst of laughter while Jacques tried unsuccessfully to hold his in. “You slept with one of the employees already to get inside? That’s impatience, man. You know sometimes this stuff takes X a while, but making sure that everything is airtight is much more important than rushing and blowing the whole operation.”
    Ezra shook his head. “I didn’t sleep with her. She came on to me. We kissed, did a little touching. Then I intentionally got lost, wandered off, and that’s when I assessed the setup.”
    â€œGreat plan,” Jacques continued with a slight chuckle.
    â€œGet in and get out,” Bas said with a lift of a brow.
    â€œVery funny,” Ezra replied, standing from his seat and giving both shifters a momentary glare. “I’ll look for any mention of shifters or unexplained beings.”
    â€œNot UFOs,” Jacques added.
    Ezra sighed. The two of them were enjoying this situation, even though it was a very serious position the shifters found themselves in