The Bucklin Wolves Next Generation: Return Read Online Free PDF Page A

and he fought not to roll his eyes.
    “Well, thank you for that, Ms. Wilson,” Seth said. “How about we sign these contracts? We can’t do anything until it’s in ink, right?”
    “Of course,” Ms. Wilson said, dropping a stack of papers in front of Seth.
    It took almost as long as the first part of the meeting for Seth to sign everything, and he began to hate the phrase “initial here” as spoken by Ms. Wilson. Soon the words lost all meaning, his hand went numb and he was running on complete autopilot, leaving his John Hancock on the paperwork. Luckily William had assured him they had received advance copies and he had vetted everything.
    “What’s this security agreement?” Seth asked as they drew to a close.
    “That’s for me,” Jacko said, spinning in his chair. “It basically gives me the authority to police how I see fit while I try to protect our investment.”
    “But we have police here,” Seth said.
    “And they’ll still be here,” Jacko said, leaning forward with a shit-eating grin that Seth wanted to wipe right off his face. “But they won’t have any authority over me and my team. We’ll have a makeshift holding facility for any criminals and we will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law. As for anyone that the law doesn’t know about, like say a wild werewolf or bear, well, we will deal with that as we see fit.”
    Seth began to open his mouth to protest, but William’s hand snaked across the table and squeezed his wrist with force. He looked up to see William shaking his head, eliminating Seth’s protest. This didn’t sit right with him at all. How the hell could they give up this much authority to a man who was obviously bad news?
    “It’ll be okay,” Jacko said, trying to reassure him with all the care and comfort of a snake coiling to strike. “We usually just sit around bored during these jobs, anyway. There’s nothing to worry about, right? Your citizens are well behaved and you don’t have wild wolf incidents, do you?”
    “No,” Seth said, nodding in agreement. “I suppose you’re right.”
    Reluctantly he put his pen to the paper and signed the document before finishing off the rest of the stack.
    Ms. Wilson squealed with delight and slid them into a large attaché case. “Splendid! This is the best decision you’ve ever made, Mr. Mayor.”
    “I don’t think I’ll regret it at all,” Seth said, standing to shake hands. “I’ve studied you guys enough to know what you do for towns like ours. I’ll be excited to get the construction started.”
    “There is one more thing,” Ms. Wilson said, then reached over and motioned for Maribel to stand. The shy girl reluctantly rose to her feet, still looking at the ground as she did so. “Maribel is our risk analyst. She has to complete a report that will go back to corporate to determine our security needs and the amount of insurance needed for this project. She has some more questions for you, a short interview if you will.”
    “That sounds wonderful,” Seth said, feeling the wheels turning in his head. He was cleverer than most gave him credit for and a plan was already formulating in his head. “How soon does this have to be done, though?”
    “As soon as possible,” Maribel said, finally looking up at him. It took everything he had not to grab the back of her head and pull her in for a rough kiss.
    “Oh, that’s not good,” Seth said, wincing. “I have another meeting I really have to get to.”
    “I wasn’t informed of that,” William said, standing up.
    “It’s not work-related,” Seth said. He was making this up on the fly and he didn’t need William prying. “I’m hiring an out-of-town contractor to put new energy efficient windows in my house. I’ve already rescheduled on him twice.”
    “Okay,” William said, backing down. “Of course, after this deal is done you won’t have to worry about bills ever again.”
    “Those windows do save you thirty-two percent on your heating