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CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
L indsay remained docile as the henchman walked her to a pair of doors not far from the office and gestured to the one marked Ladies.
“Don’t lock it behind you,” he commanded. “You have five minutes, and then I’m coming in.”
“There are some businesses that can’t be rushed,” Lindsay told him with a smile. “But don’t worry. I don’t want your big boss in there to hurt my guy.”
“Wise.” The man opened the door. It was a regular door, not a push open, like in a public restroom, and the doorknob had a lock. Beyond was a single room with no windows that held a toilet, a sink, and a shelf with a mirror so its occupant could primp before returning to work.
Lindsay scuttled inside without thanking him—why should she?—and pointedly waited for him to close the door.
She turned on the sink’s faucet to cover any noise she might make, pleased that it had good flow, not a trickle. Then she made her way to the toilet, because she really did have to pee.
Once she finished and washed up, with the toilet flush further disguising sound, Lindsay pulled out the cell phone she’d lifted from the thug as he’d walked her out here. Her biggest worry was that he’d get bored and try to check his messages or scroll social media, but a look at the phone told her there was no Wi-Fi connection and only a weak phone signal.
She opened the text function, input a number she knew by heart, typed her brief but coded message, sent it, and deleted the text.
Lindsay pocketed the phone and was out of the bathroom with a minute and a half to spare.
“All done,” she said sweetly.
The thug, whose face hadn’t softened one iota, seized her by the arm to propel her back to the office. Lindsay suppressed her lynx’s instinct to throw him across the floor and used the opportunity to slide his phone quietly back into his pocket.
When they reached the office, she sent Xav a reassuring smile and resumed her seat.
“Dean was just saying he wants me to bring AC to him and kill him myself,” Xav told her. “Probably so he won’t be charged with AC’s murder. He hasn’t explained how I’m supposed to do that when I don’t even know where I am.”
“You’ll have AC taken to the location I’ve already picked,” Dean said with exaggerated patience. “You’ll ride there with me. Your girlfriend will remain here as a guarantee you won’t try to get away, deceive me, or otherwise cause damage. I’ve already described what will happen if you mess with me.”
“I suppose all I have to do is tell Diego I’ve found you,” Xav said, as though logistics were his only concern. “And have him bring AC to a meetup. Diego won’t come alone, though. He’ll bring serious backup.”
“I’d expect him to,” Dean acknowledged. “Doesn’t matter. I really don’t give a rat’s ass. I might have hired you to find AC in the first place if I’d known about you and that he was stalking me. Bring me AC, go the hell home, or on your vacation in Tahiti. I don’t care. You just need to make sure your bro doesn’t help AC try to kill me .”
“I will, but this means I do have to call Diego,” Xav pointed out.
“Yep.” Dean nodded. “We’ll get to that.”
Xav had edged closer to Lindsay’s chair during the conversation. He seemed calm and resigned, but Lindsay scented his tension. He was readying himself to fight.
She wanted to tell him he only needed to stall, but she couldn’t say anything with Dean and his two goons keeping their beady eyes on them both.
Lindsay reached for the mate bond inside her and sent her thoughts to Xav. This would only work if he was also forming the bond, but might not even then. Xav couldn’t read her mind, only understand the gist of what she was trying to convey.
Xav stiffened the slightest bit, and Lindsay’s heart thumped. Had he felt that?
His smoldering glance at her told her he did.
Lindsay subsided, her body flushing with joy and inconvenient rising mate frenzy coupled with vast relief. The doubts that had made her nearly ill the last few days—no, since she’d met Xav in the first place—receded before a rush of exhilaration. With that came even more mating need.
Good thing these guys weren’t Shifters, because Lindsay would have just given herself away big time.
“I’m not even sure what time it is,” Xav was saying to Dean. “But if I call Diego in the middle of the night, bouncing him out of bed with news that I found you, he’ll be very suspicious. He sent me home to enjoy time with my girlfriend, not continue the hunt.”
Dean didn’t seem impressed. “We have a couple of hours before we start. By the time we reach where I want to go, it will be a reasonable time of day. He’ll believe you.”
It was likely that Dean wanted to go back out to the area around Death Valley, Lindsay reasoned behind the blur of her Shifter euphoria. He could bury AC’s body in a mine shaft or in a crevice in its badlands. He might try to bury Xav there too.
Not this Shifter’s mate, Lindsay vowed silently. Dean Parkes had messed with the wrong girl.
“What kind of warehouse was this?” Lindsay asked him genially, as though the discussion didn’t interest her. “They have any shoes?” She pointed her bare toe. “My feet are cold.”
Dean studied her a moment, while Lindsay kept herself from springing at him and ripping his face off. She had to wait, to find out how many people were actually in and around the warehouse, and to make her move when she was certain Xav would be safe.
For now, she pretended to be the slightly dim girlfriend of the hot Xav, not quite sure what she’d gotten herself into. The kind of woman who wasn’t a danger to the big bad criminals.
Both thugs watched her closely, but they took their cues from Dean. To think, Lindsay had pictured him as a scared, anguished victim of the gang that had imprisoned him.
That the cruel leader Jeff had mentioned was Dean himself explained Jeff’s slight confusion when they’d asked if Dean had escaped the crash. Also his sudden impulse to run, if he’d thought they were either working for Dean or out to kill the man and his gang. And, while AC clearly hadn’t known Jeff, Jeff had likely seen the strong resemblance between him and Dean and concluded who he was.
Dean looked Lindsay over thoughtfully, but she could tell he came from a world where women were either used or dismissed. Xav said nothing at all, only watched and waited, the connection Lindsay had felt strengthening with every heartbeat.
“I don’t know what all the hell is out there,” Dean said to her. “Explore. Have fun. I need to talk Xav anyway.”
“She does like her shoes,” Xav said with a touch of amusement.
Dean gave a curt nod to the thug who’d escorted Lindsay to the bathroom. “Watch her. Keep in touch.”
The henchmen acknowledged this and gestured Lindsay to the door. Lindsay skirted Dean, taking her time, sending him a coy glance as she went around him. Then she did a finger wave at the three men as she scooted out with the guard.
“Wow, a whole warehouse,” Lindsay said loudly once they were clear of the office. “Free shopping.”
She sashayed toward an aisle lined with tall shelving, pretending to scan them. Now to put her plans into motion and hope that her message had been received.
* * *
Diego jerked out of sleep next to Cassidy, who’d come awake and alert with Shifter speed. Someone was pounding on the back door of the house, beating on it without remorse.
Cassidy skimmed out of bed with the grace of her cat, heading down the hall while Diego was still untangling himself from covers. She didn’t bother with a robe, but ran in her thin sleep shirt, which she could easily throw off to shift if necessary.
Eric was already at the back door by the time Diego, weapon in hand, reached it a few steps behind Cassidy. Diego didn’t push in front of his mate, because he knew Cassidy wouldn’t let him, plus she could strike faster if he wasn’t in her way.
Both Eric and Cassidy relaxed at the same time, which told Diego that whoever was outside wasn’t dangerous. Eric opened the door.
Leah Cummings stood on the doorstep, a bleary-eyed Martin behind her.
“You have to help Lindsay,” Leah said in a rush, her voice holding near hysteria. “Round up Shiftertown. Let’s go.”
Diego came alert once more. “Where is she? Is she with Xav?”
“I don’t know,” Leah snapped in frustration. “ Find her.”
“Stop.” Eric’s low but commanding tone made Leah draw a long, shaking breath. “Talk to me, Leah. How do you know she’s in trouble?”
“Because she sent me this .” Leah thrust a small, old-model cell phone into Eric’s face so he could see the message on it.
Diego peered over Eric’s shoulder, as did Cassidy, her fragrant hair touching Diego’s nose.
The text beneath a ten-digit number Diego didn’t recognize read XO .
When Diego had been a kid, Xs had meant kisses, Os hugs. Girls would write them on notes, and his mom had used them sometimes when she was feeling whimsical.
Diego wondered if the letters meant something different to Shifters, but Eric looked baffled. “I don’t understand.”
Leah jerked the cell phone back. “It’s Lindsay’s way of telling us she’s in trouble. We taught her that as a cub when we lived in the Yukon. She could sketch it on a tree in the woods or on a street in a town, and we’d know she needed help. We’ve kept it as our family SOS ever since.” Leah gazed at Eric pleadingly. “She wouldn’t send it if it wasn’t serious. You’re her leader. Lead .”
“Diego, where’s Xav?” Eric asked.
Diego had been texting Xav before Leah finished her explanation, but with no response. He put through a call to hear a few rings before it rolled to voicemail.
This is Xav. Leave a message.
Xav’s work-only cell phone did the same thing.
Lindsay was the most capable woman Diego had ever met, apart from Cassidy, and he knew she wouldn’t ask for help lightly. If Xav couldn’t assist her, that meant Xav was in trouble as well.
“Let me see the text again,” Diego asked Leah gently.
Leah willingly handed over the phone. “Can you trace her by the number she used?”
“ I can’t,” Diego said. “But I know someone who can.” He touched another contact on his own phone, this one for Neal, who answered with his wolf’s growl. Diego explained the situation, and Neal’s snarls increased.
“There’s only a baby computer up here,” Neal said, whatever that meant. “But I’ll give it a shot. AC’s asleep. At least someone is relaxing. I’ll keep you posted.”
He signed off without a goodbye, but Diego knew Neal well enough now to understand that his abruptness meant he was troubled.
“I’ll start at Xav’s house,” Diego announced. “That’s where he was heading when I last saw him, eight hours ago.”
“Good.” Leah turned away. “Let’s go.”
“Leah.” Eric called after her. “We have to think about this first. Pinpoint where she’d most likely be instead of running around over the entire state.”
Leah swung back. “We do what Diego says and go to Xav’s. If she was there, I can find her scent and track her.”
“It might be more complicated than that,” Eric tried.
Leah glared at him. “I think I can track my own daughter. Come on. Let’s do this . ” She marched away, Martin following her with the same grim determination.
“I’ll take them, Eric,” Diego said, hoping Leah would at least give him a few seconds to dress. “Round up who you need to. Iona, I think you should have the job of waking up Tiger. He’s less likely to rip you to shreds.”
Iona sent him an amused nod. “I’m on it.” Tiger and Carly, with Seth, were staying with Graham, whose large house could accommodate guests. Not that Graham had complied docilely with Eric’s request to let Tiger in.
Eric scowled. “Hey, since everyone else knows what to do, maybe I’ll go back to bed.”
“No, you won’t,” Diego said as he started down the hall to his and Cassidy’s bedroom. “Meet up with us at Xav’s. We’ll use it as a base. Keep the bigger Shifters out of sight, though, so his neighbors don’t freak out and call Shifter Bureau.”
“I can do my job, Escobar.” When Eric used Diego’s surname, Diego knew he was on the edge of losing his leopard temper.
“Good,” was all Diego said. “See you there.”
Diego reached the bedroom and pulled on clothes he always kept ready for emergencies. Cassidy had followed him and dressed even more quickly.
“I’m coming with you,” she announced as Diego did up his belt.
“Cass …”
“Lindsay is my best friend,” Cassidy said in a hard voice. “I can track her almost as well as Leah can. Iona will be here to look after Amanda.”
Diego gazed into the beautiful eyes he loved, and relented. He knew she was right, and he missed working with Cassidy by his side.
He leaned forward and softly kissed her lips. “Let’s go then, querida .”
Cassidy bathed him in her warm smile and proceeded him out the door.
Not until they had driven halfway to Xav’s, Leah and Martin sitting firmly together in the back seat, did Diego realize they had stowaways.
“Is this another adventure, Uncle Diego?” a little boy asked from the very back of the SUV.
“Don’t worry,” his identical twin brother said to Leah and Martin, who didn’t seem as startled as Diego was. “We’ll find Lindsay. Lindsay’s nice.”
It was far too late to turn around and drive them back to Shiftertown. Diego sighed, hoping Graham wouldn’t kill him for taking Matt and Kyle once more into danger.
* * *
“These are cute.” Lindsay held up a pair of sneakers in delight. She’d dug them from a mountain of Styrofoam peanuts in a box she’d asked the henchman to lift down from an upper shelf for her. The shoes were years out of date but crisply new from whatever factory had made them, bright blue and studded with sparkling stones. She waved them at her watcher. “Don’t you think these are cute?”
The man slapped dust from the box off his hands and shrugged. “They aren’t bad.”
“You should scrounge some for your girlfriend,” Lindsay suggested. “Or your sister, or mom.” She winked. “Get on their good side.”
“Maybe.”
At least the guy was talking to her. He’d gone from silent menace to halfway human during Lindsay’s jabbering, lowering his guard.
“Ooh, I should try on some of these shirts.” Lindsay beamed as she lifted a pink and gray T-shirt from another box he’d heaved down. “But then, I’d have to take this one off.” She plucked at her loose sweatshirt, which had been easy to shuck for shifting. “Would you like to see that?”
The man started, but his guard went down even further. “I guess I wouldn’t mind.”
“While the boys shut us out, we should have some fun.” Lindsay danced down the aisle, deeper into shadow. “You stay right there.” She pointed a forefinger at him. “And I’ll put on a show.”
The man didn’t seem surprised by this offer, but if he lived in Las Vegas, he might think Lindsay was a dancer at one of the burlesque clubs, used to baring herself. Some Shifter women did work at the clubs, and the men too, as Shifters saw no shame in showing their bodies. If you’ve got it, flaunt it, they said.
Lindsay had no shame about her body either, and this man would have already seen it if he’d helped his fellow goons drag her and Xav to the van or into the warehouse. But the way he glued his gaze to her was creepy. If Lindsay could figure out another way to quickly get out of her clothes to shift, she’d take it.
The man leaned against a stack of boxes, relaxing, as Lindsay turned her back and shimmied off her sweatshirt, twirling it around before tossing it away. She had no bra or underwear on, because they hadn’t been nice enough to bring them along when they’d kidnapped her.
Next, she slipped off her pants, which left her completely bare-assed.
Lindsay didn’t give the guy time to have much of a show. She darted around the end of the shelves into darkness, laughing as though teasing him, daring him to follow.
Her heart beat wildly as she started the shift, but thankfully, it came a little faster tonight. The Shifter in her must know Lindsay needed to be in the form that gave her the most advantage.
“Hey,” came a shout behind her. “Where’d you go?”
She heard his footsteps around the corner, but by the time her guard reached the dark end of the aisle, Lindsay had sprung high on her lynx paws, noiselessly making it to the top of the shelves.
The man halted in bewilderment, but Lindsay didn’t stay to gloat. She sprinted across the tops of the shelves, putting her plans into motion.