“Shoulder’s fine,” he said.
Zarina nodded, turning back to gaze out the windshield at the brick diner with its metal roof and photographs of happy people enjoying burgers, fries, and Cokes pictured in each of the windows. “You never told me your brother was a cop.”
She hadn’t mentioned his brother once on the drive down or while they’d picked up supplies and equipment for the camp. Not even after he’d talked to him on the satellite phone. But now that they were about to meet Cam, he supposed her curiosity had finally gotten the best of her.
Tanner didn’t blame her. He’d never talked about himself much, even though Zarina had tried to engage him on the subject hundreds of times. The obvious tension in his voice during the short phone call with his brother probably hadn’t done anything to lessen that curiosity.
“Cam was only fifteen years old when I left to join the army,” Tanner told her, smiling a little as his mind filled with images of his little brother. “I tried to get home as much as I could, but my Ranger battalion deployed all the time, so I didn’t get a chance to see him or the rest of my family nearly as much as I wanted to. Time just sort of gets away from you, and you tell yourself there’ll be time to make it up to them later.” He sobered at that thought. “When I finally got out of the army, I expected to come back and see the same little brother I’d always had, only to discover he’d gone out and grown up on me when I wasn’t looking. He’d already joined the Seattle Police Department and was close to finishing the academy before I got a chance to talk to him. I didn’t even know he wanted to be a cop.”
Sighing, Tanner glanced at the Seattle Police cruiser parked beside them. It was crazy to think the brother he’d tossed the football around with in the backyard between army basic training and reporting to Fort Lewis after Ranger School was a cop.
“Was that the last time you saw him?” Zarina asked, turning her head to look at him. “When you got out of the army, I mean.”
Part of Tanner wanted to tell her what happened the last time he’d seen Cam, about all the horrible things he’d done and how those few short days had changed his whole life. But it would be stupid to unload his problems on Zarina when there was nothing she could do to change any of it. More than that, though, it would be unfair. His burdens were his alone to carry, no matter how much she might wish otherwise.
He reached out to switch off the engine. “It was a long time ago.”
Beside him, Zarina got that same determined look in her eye she got whenever she wanted something, and it was all Tanner could do not to chuckle. He’d come to be wary of that part of her personality at the same time as he’d grown to adore it. When Zarina felt she was doing the right thing, there was little that would stop her from continuing down the path she was on.
“I think it’s time we head inside,” he said, opening his door. “This meeting won’t get any easier by putting it off.”
Tanner stepped out of the truck before Zarina could try to stop him—or ask him what he’d meant by that comment. He busied himself for a few moments tightening the tarp over the load of supplies they’d already picked up before going around to help Zarina out.
Tanner resolutely led her to the door of the diner. He forced himself to ignore his racing heart, the quiver in his stomach, and the nearly overwhelming urge to run back to the truck and get the hell out of there. Instead, he focused on putting one foot in front of the other, moving closer to the entrance and a meeting he dreaded with every step. He might have slowed a bit, maybe even stopped once or twice. He wasn’t sure, since Zarina didn’t call him on it or ask him what was up.
Cam was still his little brother, all grown up or not. He could do this.
He picked up Cam’s scent the moment he stepped inside the diner. Which was kind of crazy, considering he hadn’t seen his brother since he’d been turned into a hybrid. But in some strange way that only made sense to the animal living just beneath the surface of his awareness, Tanner knew his brother’s scent even though the diner was packed with people.
Tanner ignored the awards filling the walls proclaiming Darryl’s one of the best restaurants in Wenatchee and instead followed his nose, taking Zarina’s hand and winding through a maze of red laminate-topped tables until he found his brother seated near the very back, around a corner that shielded the booth somewhat and provided at least some measure of quiet in the otherwise bustling restaurant. His brother was seated facing the door, dressed in the dark blue uniform of the Seattle PD. It suited him.
His brother glanced up from his menu at their approach, as if sensing Tanner. They locked gazes for a moment, Cam’s blue eyes widening slightly. Tanner had always been taller and more muscular than Cam, but now that he was a hybrid, the differences were even more pronounced.
Cam recovered quickly, taking in Tanner’s long hair, old jeans, worn hiking boots, and the scruff on his jaw. When he was done with him, Cam turned his attention to Zarina, no doubt wondering who she was and what the hell she was doing with someone like Tanner.
“You look different,” Cam said, glancing his way as he put his menu back in the rack near the wall.
Tanner didn’t blame him for not shaking hands or giving him a man hug. Could this get any more uncomfortable?
“You’ve changed, too,” he said.
He wasn’t lying. Cam had changed a hell of a lot since the last time Tanner had seen him nearly three years ago.
For one thing, his brother’s dark-blond hair was shorter than he remembered. His shoulders and chest were also quite a bit bigger. He even had biceps to fill out the sleeves of his uniform shirt. Joining the police force had clearly done him good.
Tanner and Cam regarded each other in silence for what must have been at least a minute before Zarina sighed and moved around Tanner to slide into the booth across from his brother.
“I don’t know about the two of you, but I’m starving,” she declared, taking a menu from the rack. “What’s good here? By the way, I’m Zarina. You must be Cam, though that’s completely a guess on my part, since Tanner has told me next to nothing about you.”
That seemed to break the ice. Cam chuckled as Tanner took a seat beside Zarina on the wooden bench seat.
“Nice to meet you, Zarina.” Cam gave her a warm smile and extended his hand. “I’ve never eaten here, but I was going to order the chili cheeseburger. The menu says they mix chili cheese corn chips into the burger before they cook it.”
Zarina raised a brow. “I have no idea what that would even taste like, but it sounds delicious. Though to be truthful, I’ve been living on beef jerky and granola bars for days. Anything with grease sounds good at this point.”
Cam chuckled again, then fixed Tanner with a glare. “So, where were you for the past three years? Mom has worried herself sick, and Dad thinks you’re dead.”