Page 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
L indsay! Shit. ”
Xav sprinted to the helicopter, panic giving him a burst of speed, his men pounding behind him.
Tiger put one hand on the fuselage and easily pushed it upright. Lindsay slithered from the small opening he made, shook herself out, then looked around with mild surprise at the gathered men.
What?
Xav didn’t imagine the word this time. He read it in her eyes.
“Damn it, Linds, what the hell were you thinking?”
Lindsay walked to him with the pace of a cat who didn’t give a crap what the humans were yelling about, and dropped a small, rectangular package wrapped in brown paper in at his feet. Then she sat down and licked her paw, brushing it over the side of her face. One of her ears turned inside out as she worked.
Xav leaned down and picked up the package, tore a corner of it with his gloved finger, and peered inside.
A cluster of hundred-dollar bills met his gaze. He stared at it in surprise but not disbelief. The kind of men AC described as having taken Dean were accustomed to toting large amounts of cash.
The package was fairly small, which could mean it had been left behind by mistake, missed as the passengers were trying to scramble the hell out of the helicopter.
There was probably five thousand dollars in here, Xav guessed. Had this been dropped, unnoticed, because they’d carried out a bunch more packages like it?
This was a good find, but still, Lindsay had taken a stupid risk. We’ll talk later, he promised with a silent glare.
Lindsay seemed to understand, because she rolled her cat eyes and turned her back on him.
“Tiger,” Xav called to him, holding up the packet. “Any more of this in there?”
Tiger calmly ripped the rest of the door off and wedged it under the copter to keep it stable. He leaned inside and did a quick but thorough search.
“No,” he said when he emerged. “No personal effects either. No phones, no wallets, no dropped IDs. Nothing to identify anyone.”
“Was he in there, Linds?” Xav asked her. If Jeff had been telling the truth, Lindsay would have scented Dean among the passengers.
Yes. Lindsay gave him the barest nod, focusing tightly on him.
Tiger watched the two with enigmatic eyes. “No one in the helicopter was a captive,” he announced.
Xav regarded him in surprise as the rest of the men fell silent behind him. It would be useless to ask, Are you sure? because Tiger always was.
Lindsay had moved to Xav’s side, her warmth cutting the chill of the night. The look on her face said she agreed with Tiger.
“Stockholm syndrome?” Mitchell suggested.
“Dean has become a willing prisoner?” Xav mused. “Decided to join them instead of fighting them? Or is he faking, gaining their trust so he can escape?” He heaved a sigh. “More things we’ll have to grill Jeff about when he comes out of it. No wonder Jeff sounded surprised when we asked about Dean. Maybe to him, Dean was just one of the team.”
No one had any further contribution to this statement. They couldn’t know until they questioned Jeff or found Dean.
Tiger, finished with his report, had returned to studying the debris. February wind swept down from the ridge and made Xav shiver. Must be nice to have a fur coat, he thought, glancing at Lindsay. He swore she looked smug.
“All right, let’s call it a night,” Xav said. “I don’t think we’ll learn anything more out here. Take some photos, pinpoint the wreck’s location, and we’ll call it in to the local police. This, I’m going to study some more.” He hefted the package then tucked it inside his coat.
“Or take your girlfriend to Cabo,” another of the men joked.
“Sounds really nice, but no,” Xav said regretfully. DX Security maintained a reputation for staying on the right side of the law. He’d investigate where the money came from and turn it over to the Las Vegas police to take it on up the chain.
Lindsay began padding toward the ridge she’d climbed down, already finished. Xav gave a few more commands, then they scrambled back up the hill, Tiger assisting those who slipped or struggled. They hiked back to the nearest road, where Xav had radioed for the drivers to meet them.
Lindsay had run ahead, and by the time they reached the rocks behind which she’d shifted before, she came walking out from them, fully clothed and human, carrying her backpack.
Xav called in the helicopter crash to the sheriff of that county—by his GPS, the crash site was just outside the national park, and so the problem belonged to either Inyo County, the State of California, or the local tribal police. The lucky person who answered the phone at the sheriff’s department wanted a lot of details, and by the time Xav was finished—leaving his phone number and promising he’d be available for more questions—the SUVs were loaded and ready to go.
Lindsay rode with Xav and again said very little. Tiger was quiet, but this was normal. Lindsay was usually a chatterbox.
When they reached DX Security, Xav had to report to Diego and couldn’t corner Lindsay for a talk. He asked Neal to make sure she got home safely, and then she was gone before Xav had time to say goodbye.
This was one reason why he’d avoided becoming serious with Lindsay, Xav reminded himself as he strode to meet Diego outside the interrogation room where he’d been holding AC. His job didn’t exactly have regular hours. Xav couldn’t leave Diego with all the work to go sort out his love life.
Tiger’s unnerving stare told Xav he thought he should.
Xav tried to ignore him while he and Diego stepped into Diego’s office, where Xav briefed him in more detail on what they’d found, including Tiger’s assertion that Dean might not have been a captive at that point.
Diego digested all this then told Xav that AC had at least given them a possible location of the former hideout the gang was moving from. Diego had assigned men to check it out.
Jeff was in the hospital with DX men to watch over him in case his colleagues found him and decided to keep him from talking.
The two brothers returned to the interrogation room once they’d exchanged information, where AC was being guarded by Brody and Tiger.
AC could steal another taser and try it on Tiger all he wanted, Xav thought with faint amusement, but it wouldn’t matter. Tiger would shrug off the shock and break the taser into tiny pieces. By the AC’s uneasiness, he realized this.
When Tiger shut the door, Xav wrinkled his nose. Lindsay was right—it got ripe in there quickly.
AC still showed no remorse about attacking Jeff. “He’s part of the gang who kidnapped my brother,” AC growled when Diego began his questioning. “He didn’t care.”
“Did you recognize him?” Xav asked.
“No.” AC shook his head. “Never seen him before.”
Tiger had situated himself near the door so anyone trying to get out would have to pass him. He nodded to AC’s assertion, indicating the man wasn’t lying.
AC risking tasing Jeff meant he was up to something . He might be honest about not knowing the man, but he could be concealing the truth about many other things.
For now, it was late, and Xav was growing tired of dealing AC. “You get to stay our captive until we find Dean,” Xav told him.
“Then it’s off to be arrested for what you did to Xav,” Diego put in, his tone brooking no argument.
AC shrugged. “Fine by me. Your house, your rules. But only when Dean is safe.”
Xav watched him closely, but AC was too practiced to give away his secrets. He’d try to escape at some point, Xav decided. He wouldn’t be AC Parkes if he didn’t.
Xav left Diego organizing the transfer of AC back to the cabin—Brody and Tiger would settle him in, and Neal would reprieve Tiger later.
AC went quiet under Tiger’s stare, meekly letting himself be carted out for the drive to Mount Charleston.
Xav shucked his vest and fatigues, locked away his weapons, and stashed the bundle of cash in the safe. By the time Diego returned to the building, Xav sat at his own desk in jeans and sweatshirt, reluctant to return to his empty house. He was equally reluctant to drive back to Shiftertown, where Lindsay’s parents and other Shifters would be watching, wondering if they would soon have a mating celebration or not.
Diego paused in Xav’s doorway. “Go find Lindsay,” he said. “Obviously you have things to sort out.”
Xav leaned back in his chair, lacing his hands behind his head. “I thought making the mate-claim would calm things down, but it’s just stirring me up. I don’t want to be anywhere Lindsay isn’t, but she drives me insane when I am with her.”
Diego grinned. “Welcome to life with a Shifter. I hate to say this, bro, but it will never calm down. She’ll always keep you on your toes, and you won’t want it any other way.”
Diego and Cassidy were deliriously happy, Xav had to admit. “I wish she’d have answered me,” Xav said. “I’m not sure whether to rejoice or worry.”
“Worry.” Diego nodded. “Always. But enjoy it.”
“Thanks. I appreciate your support.”
“And don’t wait too long to tell Mamita. You know, so she doesn’t kill you. You’re still young. Have your whole life ahead of you.”
“Love you too, hermano .”
Diego’s grin became a laugh. “Yeah, you do.”
Emma chose that moment to appear, a draft from the closing front door announcing her entrance.
“You guys are so cute,” she said. “Don’t let me interrupt the moment.”
Diego stepped away from Xav’s office door but didn’t lose his smile. “What have you got, Ems?”
“I already found out where the money came from.” Emma stated this matter-of-factly, with no implied boasting about how quickly she’d found the connection. “Money-laundering operation out of California that tried to move into Vegas territory. Needless to say, they weren’t successful. Another gang waylaid them, relieved them of all their cash, and ran them out of town. Took a couple million off them, rumor goes.”
“This waylaying gang is the one that has Dean?” Xav asked.
“No one admitted to knowing the perpetrator, which I found interesting,” Emma said. “Means my contacts aren’t afraid of the California gang returning but are afraid of the ones who vanquished them. One of my old friends told me—in person, not on the phone, only way he’d speak to me—that it was indeed Jeff’s gang. He says its leader is seriously ruthless. If Dean is in his clutches, I suspect he’s not getting away easily.”
“Does your friend know whether Dean’s joined them?” Diego asked.
Emma looked surprised at the question but shook her head. “He doesn’t know much more, except that they’ve deserted their old headquarters. In his opinion, they’ll use all the money to buy a mansion and live the good life.”
“Or they’re stashing the cash until the attention dies down,” Xav suggested. “Somewhere they have to reach by helicopter? I thought maybe they were flying Dean out to kill him, but in that case, they’d have left his body at the crash site to make it look like he died in the accident. But if they didn’t intend to kill him, why take him along?”
“Either he really has joined them, or they need him for some reason,” Diego said.
“To get to AC?” Emma wondered.
“Possibly,” Diego said. “Maybe that’s why AC isn’t trying harder to get away from us, and why he shut Jeff up. Could be he suspects they’re dangling Dean as bait, and he wants to spring their trap, with DX Security as his backup,” he finished wryly. “Thanks, Emma. I appreciate the extra effort. Now, both of you, get out of here. I’m going home. We all have lives.”
Emma didn’t hesitate. “Yep. Night is young. Want to go have some fun, Xav? Call Lindsay, and we’ll party.”
“Maybe I should head up to the cabin,” Xav said without moving. “If Emma’s hunch is right that the gang is using Dean to lead them to AC, we should make sure he’s safe.”
Diego raised his brows. “If you think anyone is getting past Tiger , you’re losing it. You being there or not isn’t going to make a difference.”
He had a point, Xav conceded. Xav also had to admit he was looking for excuses to avoid confronting his suddenly complicated relationship.
“Go talk to Lindsay,” Emma said. “Don’t be a chickenshit. Yes, I know about the mate-claim. Brody told me.”
“So nice to have privacy.” Xav heaved himself up, telling himself that Emma was right. “Okay, okay. I’ll go. Where? My business.”
He grabbed his jacket and headed out of his office. Xav was usually the last to leave the building, the one who locked up, but he sensed Diego wouldn’t let him do that tonight.
Diego and Emma stood back to let him stride past them out the door, and Xav pretended to ignore their knowing grins. He made for the back parking lot, shrugging on his jacket against the chill when he made it outside.
Lindsay emerged from the shadows and fell into step next to him.
“Shit.” Xav jumped, the jacket settling on his shoulders. “I thought you left with Neal.”
“I told Neal I wanted to wait for you.” Lindsay slid her hand up Xav’s arm as though she couldn’t stop herself. She wore only the light sweatshirt and cargo pants she’d dressed in for the mission, no coat in sight, but her touch was warm. “He understood. Mating frenzy is a real thing.”
Xav’s heart beat faster. “Is it?”
“Sometimes happens after a mate-claim.” Lindsay’s hand moved to his shoulder, turning him to her. “The Goddess speeds up our instincts. Or something. I don’t know. I only know it makes me want to do this.”
She dragged him to her for a sudden and satisfying kiss, one that cut the chill of the breeze. By the time Xav caught his breath, she’d twined herself around him, her body hot.
“How about we take this inside?” Xav whispered as he leaned to nibble her enticing earlobe.
“Emma and Diego are still in there.”
Xav laughed softly, his choice of where to go this evening suddenly settled. “I meant to my house. Away from prying Shifter eyes.”
Lindsay hesitated, but Xav sensed it wasn’t because she didn’t want to continue what they’d started. He had the feeling she was ready to pull him into the bushes that lined the iron fence around their property and get on with it.
Xav’s heartbeat sped even more imagining them sweaty and laughing as they tried to have sex with branches scratching at them.
“Fifteen-minute drive,” he promised.
“Mm.” Lindsay kissed him again, licking across his lower lip. “I might be able to hold it in that long.”
“I’m willing to find out.” Xav took her hand, and they started for his car at a run.