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CHAPTER FOUR

X av was alive and well, Lindsay told herself. His strong body was beneath hers, his melting smile bathing her in gladness. He had a few bruises on his face, but that was all. It could have been so much worse.

Lindsay should be reassured, but her heart continued to race with sickening fear.

When she’d seen his kidnapper train the gun on Xav as he walked out the door, she’d sprung from her hiding place where she’d half-shifted to answer the phone Diego had held out to her, and taken had Xav out of the way. She’d leapt sooner than she was supposed to, but to hell with the plan. Lindsay wouldn’t risk Xav getting hurt so Diego could execute his perfect strategy.

She knew Xav would want to jump up and rush back into the thick of it, maybe getting hurt, so she rested her entire weight on him and willed him to stay down.

Xav obeyed, to her surprise.

Behind her, she heard Bear Shifter Brody’s big voice inside the now roofless building. “Nice Glock. Too bad I hate guns.” Then a crackling sound as Brody broke the pistol into shards.

Three other Shifters hauled the lead bad guy out of the open door and dragged him to face Diego.

His lackeys lay subdued in the darkness—Lindsay’d had fun tripping them up as they came out so Diego and a couple of DX Security men could grab them. Leaping up onto the roof and jumping around on it had been fun too.

Diego had negated Lindsay’s idea to simply run into the building, take the guys out, and haul Xav to safety. No, they had to follow the plan.

She’d known there were three inside with Xav from their distinct scents. Diego had verified this using a camera that registered heat signatures—he always had to see things for himself.

Interestingly, Diego had only been able to register the heat signatures through the door. The rest of the building was too thick or shielded or something.

Once the leader was thoroughly searched and disarmed, his wrists bound, Lindsay quietly stepped off Xav and loped away into the darkness.

She located the backpack Diego had stashed for her under a creosote bush, struggled with the shift to her human self, and then donned the shirt and jeans she’d worn to leave the arena stakeout. So much for the party dress.

Lindsay rejoined the others, backpack slung over her shoulder. Diego and Xav had the four bad guys lined up, the scene illuminated by electric lanterns. The lackeys looked either scared or angry, but their leader was impassive. He was the dangerous one.

“So you decided to kidnap my brother,” Diego was saying in that calm way of his, which meant trouble wasn’t far behind. “You didn’t think I’d come after him?”

“I was pretty sure you would,” the leader said. “Counting on it, in fact. I thought you’d be alone, though. Or maybe with just her.” He nodded at Lindsay in a way she didn’t like. “You and your brother were always tight and didn’t rely on anyone else.”

Xav’s warm voice rumbled. “Things have changed.”

“Yep,” Diego acknowledged quietly. “Now when we work, we bring plenty of backup.”

He didn’t mean just the DX Security men in black fatigues, in plain sight in the circle of light. He meant the Shifters who loomed in the darkness, none of them in the best mood.

Only Brody, in human form, couldn’t stop grinning at the leader, a gleeful twinkle in his dark eyes. But then, Bears.

“Do we have to have a conversation right now?” Graham, the joint Shiftertown leader and head of most of its Lupines, snarled from the shadows. “I’m freezing my balls off out here.”

“If you’re uncomfortable, so is he,” Diego said in his cool tones. “Talk to me, AC. Why in the hell did you think kidnapping Xav was a good idea?”

Lindsay rested her on arm on Xav’s shoulder. She was still mad at him, in theory, but right now she was too relieved he was all right to keep away from him.

“What does AC stand for?” Lindsay asked Xav with nonchalance. “Air Conditioner?”

Xav chuckled as the man called AC shot Lindsay a glower. “Something like that,” Xav answered.

“I took him, because I wanted to get your attention,” AC stated. “Let me borrow the cat Shifter, and I’ll leave all of you alone.”

He pinned a stare on Lindsay, and Lindsay stiffened. “ Borrow me? What the fuck?”

Xav’s amusement vanished. “You touch her, and you’ll be a dead man before you know what hit you.”

Lindsay took a step forward. “What will hit you is four sets of cat claws in your face.”

“I don’t want to touch her,” AC said with an irritation that matched Graham’s. “I want her to do something for me. Nothing sexual,” he added rapidly.

Lindsay planted her hands on her hips. “You couldn’t just ask me? You had to grab Xav and drag him and half of Shiftertown out into the desert?”

AC turned to address her as though they were the only two in the circle of light. “You think if I approached you on the street or at your club, you’d talk to me? Or that all these Shifters would let me near you? They’re very protective of their women.”

And the ladies were very protective of their men, Lindsay wanted to snarl. Humans didn’t understand that it went both ways.

“I’ve been watching you,” AC went on in a way that made Lindsay shiver. “You and Xav go out a lot. I figured if he called you, or got his brother to bring you to me in exchange, then we could have a talk.”

Because AC believed Diego would value his brother’s life far above Lindsay’s. Which might be true—Lindsay wasn’t certain how Diego felt about her—but again, the statement proved that AC didn’t understand Shifters. The ones around him were now growling menacingly.

AC didn’t understand Diego either. “I’d never have made an exchange like that,” Diego said. “Why aren’t you in prison, AC? Want to head back?”

“I served my sentence. Done.” AC dusted off his palms. “I’m not on parole—I did the whole thing. You let me ask Lindsay this favor, and you’ll never see me again.”

Lindsay knew she should scoff and head back to the waiting SUVs, taking Xav with her, and ignore the man. But the curiosity that was her besetting sin held her back.

“Why me?” she asked. “Brody’s bigger. Than everyone,” she couldn’t help adding.

Brody nodded, un-offended. “Pretty much.”

“I don’t need big.” AC’s mouth tightened, as though he barely held on to his patience. “I need fast and cunning. Of all the Shifters I’ve seen around, that’s you.”

“Cunning?” Lindsay repeated. “I’m going to take that as meaning smarter than most.”

Xav was next to her again, his shoulder touching Lindsay’s. “I don’t care what kind of Shifter you’re looking for, you’re not getting one. Not Lindsay, not any of them.”

“Shit, you’re arrogant, Escobar,” AC snapped. “You and your brother both. This is between me and the lady cat. You and your extraction team can go away.”

“Not gonna happen,” Xav said. “We’re taking you and your team to the local police, or maybe the county sheriff—whosever jurisdiction we’re in—for kidnapping, assault, and stalking.”

“At least let him tell us what he wants me for,” Lindsay broke in. “I have to know.” She glared at Graham. “And I don’t want to hear any Lupines saying that curiosity killed the cat.”

A few rumbles told her that, yes, some had been about to express that opinion.

Diego’s men already surrounded AC, but Graham now got behind the man and hemmed him in. Graham was far more intimidating than Diego’s guards could ever be, and AC finally looked nervous.

“I need her to find someone for me,” he said.

“Find who?” Lindsay asked before anyone else could speak.

“My brother.”

The Shifters, including Lindsay, went quiet. Shifters could smell a lie, and the scent coming off AC indicated he spoke the truth.

If any request would get a Shifter’s attention, it was this one. Shifters were all about family.

Lindsay’s own household was small, consisting of her mom and dad—Leah and Martin—and herself, as Lindsay had been an only cub. Moving to the Las Vegas Shiftertown, however, had tied Lindsay to many others she considered family now—Cassidy and Diego, Eric and Iona, their collective cubs, Brody and his brother and mom, and now their mates. Even Graham and his unruly Lupines had become part of the fabric of her life.

Shifters took a threat to a person’s family seriously, even if that person was heinous.

Diego sent AC a conceding nod. “We’ll talk about this someplace else.”

AC didn’t argue or even look dismayed that Diego wasn’t about to release him. He shrugged impassively. “Let my guys leave. They only did what I told them. I didn’t give them a choice.”

“Mm, I’ll think about it.” Diego jerked his head toward AC’s henchmen waiting in the dark. “Bring them,” he ordered his men.

The DX Security guys and Graham and his Lupines started herding AC and his subdued thugs toward the road and waiting vehicles.

Lindsay blew out a relieved breath once they’d all passed and turned to Xav. “You should go home and rest. Recover from this.”

Xav sent her an incredulous look. “While you do what? Watch Diego interrogate AC?”

“Of course,” Lindsay said, as though it should be obvious. “He asked for my help specifically. I want to know why.” She laced her arm through Xav’s, running her fingers along his biceps. “Then maybe I can come over and help you heal.”

Xav didn’t soften under her touch. “What’s going to happen is you are going back to Shiftertown and staying put. I don’t like that AC singled you out, and I don’t care about any sob story about his brother. The man can’t be trusted. I don’t want you near him.”

“Then shouldn’t we find out what he really wants?” Lindsay asked in surprise.

“Yes, I should. And Diego. I’ll tell you all about it, I promise.”

“Wait, you’re saying you’re going with Diego now?” Lindsay demanded. “Even though you’ve been beat up, kidnapped, and stuffed into this place—whatever it is—in the middle of the desert?”

“They didn’t hurt me that much. Irritated me, mostly.” Xav’s bruised face belied the words, though he wasn’t sagging in pain, and the arm she held was strong. “And it’s a bank vault.”

Xav gently slid from Lindsay’s grasp and started for the distant road, where SUVs were sputtering to life. Headlights swept arcs into the darkness, taillights reddening the dust and dried grasses.

Lindsay jogged to catch up with him. “It’s a what?”

“A bank vault,” Xav answered without stopping. “Built by a manufacturer to demonstrate that his vaults could survive a nuclear blast. Back when this was a testing area, a few people shut themselves inside the vault and waited for a nuclear bomb to detonate nearby.”

Lindsay gaped at him. “Are you shitting me? Were they nuts?”

Xav shrugged his broad shoulders. “It worked. They survived. The door blew off but the walls and roof stood. No one’s ever come to tear the vault down and take it away.”

Lindsay stared back at the tiny building, standing mutely in the starlight, a testimony to the vast destruction that had been developed in this remote place.

She knew it had been many years ago, and probably the radiation had dispersed by now, but she shivered and hurried after Xav to the warm and waiting vehicles.

* * *

Xav held in his irritation as Lindsay followed him into DX Security’s offices, which lay on Desert Inn Road not far from Boulder Highway.

Lindsay had ignored Graham’s order that she should get into the SUV heading back to Shiftertown with his Lupines. He’d assured her that one of his wolves would drive her car home for her, but Lindsay had walked past him, wind ruffling her shoulder-length, light golden hair, and climbed into her driver’s seat.

“No way am I letting a Lupine drive my car, Graham,” she’d said, then slammed the door.

Graham might be a joint leader of Shiftertown, but Lindsay wasn’t required to obey him. She only had to do what Eric, her own leader, said, and Eric wasn’t here.

Xav had made for her car so he could at least keep arguing with her as they drove back, but Lindsay had glided away before he could reach it.

He understood why she’d resisted going home, Xav told himself when she waltzed into DX’s offices. AC had singled her out, and Lindsay needed to know why. Xav knew he could not have gone tamely home and waited for a phone call to fill him in.

One contingent of DX men had taken the three thugs who’d grabbed Xav to the police. All three had outstanding warrants, Xav discovered as he’d looked them up on the drive back to town.

AC, however, came to DX Security with them. Diego wasn’t ready to turn him over yet.

When Lindsay tried to follow Diego into the interrogation room, Xav seized her by the arm and steered into the chamber next door. Here, a thick glass window shielded them but would let them watch and hear the questioning.

Lindsay glared at Xav and jerked from his grip as he shut the door.

“Don’t bother railing at me,” Xav said in a hard voice. “I’m not letting you in there with AC. He has no reservations about killing people who get in his way. His guys tied me up and stuffed me into the back of a truck, even though I’m trained to not let that happen.”

Lindsay released the breath she’d drawn for the argument in a long, slow exhale. “Fine. I’ll stay behind the window. There’s no room in there, anyway.”

True, the chamber was crowded with the large AC behind a table, plus Graham, Brody, two human guards, and Diego.

Diego knew how to design an interrogation room. It was small enough to be claustrophobic, with no windows except the mirrored one that the captive would know others watched him through. Its electronically locked door was solid, though Xav had a keycard in case he and more guards needed to rush in.

AC’s wrists were zip-tied in front of him but Diego let him rest his hands on the table, no extra restraints. Brody and Graham were deterrent enough.

“Tell me something,” Lindsay said to Xav. “Why did you get so mad at me when I helped out at your bust, but it was okay for Diego to bring a bunch of Shifters along to fight only four guys?”

“Because the one at the arena was an official police sting,” Xav answered without having to consider. “This is personal, and Diego didn’t know exactly what he’d be dealing with. Besides, Diego would never let a Shifter touch a human captive.”

Lindsay sent him a steady stare, not indicating whether she was satisfied with the answer. She silently turned to watch as Diego took the seat across from AC, sitting in his upright but relaxed way.

“All right, talk to me,” Diego said. “Why did you want Lindsay, in particular, to help you find your brother?”

“Like I said, I need someone small and quick.” AC cast a glance at the hulking Brody, whose Shifter was a massive grizzly, and Graham, a wolf who was nearly as massive. “Someone no one will see coming.”

Brody sent him a toothy grin. “They’d see me, all right.”

“You believe someone has taken your brother hostage?” Diego asked, ignoring Brody. “Do you have evidence of this? Did they ask for a ransom?”

“No, no ransom. No one would be that stupid.” AC made an impatient noise. “When I was inside, my brother, Dean, who doesn’t have a lot of sense, started running with some very bad people. He’s in deep with them now, and they won’t let him go. He doesn’t understand that they’re using him, and that in any risky situation, it’s going to be him who gets killed. I want someone who can pinpoint his location so I can bring in my own extraction team and haul him out.”

“Sounds like you know exactly where he is,” Diego said. “If you think you’re sending Lindsay in like a canary down a mine shaft, think again.”

“I’m not going down a mine shaft,” Lindsay said softly, wrinkling her nose. “Too dirty.”

“It’s a metaphor,” Xav said.

They’d drifted closer together to listen to the questioning, though Xav didn’t know if Lindsay realized it. She didn’t move away at his correction, only rolled her eyes.

“I know it’s a metaphor,” she said. “I was joking.”

“Sorry.” Sometimes it was hard to fathom what Lindsay was thinking. “With AC, he might literally want you to go down an old mine shaft.” Nevada’s and nearby California’s mountains were littered with them.

“Well, too bad for him.” Lindsay remained close to Xav, which was as distracting as it was gratifying.

“I know where he was ,” AC was explaining to Diego. “These guys stay on the move. If I can get the Shifter to their last known location, maybe she can get a bead on them for me. And maybe sneak into their new hideout, when we find it, and make sure Dean is okay.”

“Then you retrieve him,” Diego finished. “Got it. What happens to Lindsay?”

AC shrugged. “I figure she can take care of herself. I once watched her … discourage … a couple of human guys who were bothering her in a club. Those dudes will leave her alone from now on. You know, when they can walk straight again.”

Lindsay chuckled. “That was fun.”

“You almost got arrested that night,” Xav reminded her. “We barely got away before the cops arrived. We’re lucky no one reported you to Shifter Bureau.”

Lindsay lost her smile. “Don’t take all the joy out of it.”

Xav decided not to answer. She was right—it had been exhilarating to watch Lindsay swift-punch two men who had been all over her, cornering her the second Xav had stepped to the bar for more drinks. He’d returned to find Lindsay standing over two groaning assholes, and he’d had to drag her away when she wanted to stay and gloat.

Why couldn’t they ever have a conversation without squabbling?

Because Xav had to let himself be fascinated by an unpredictable Feline Shifter. Who was even now at the door and zipping out into the hallway.

“Lindsay, what the hell?”

Xav realized, as he stormed after her, that she’d lifted the keycard to the interrogation room from his pocket. Damn it, he’d never felt a thing.

Lindsay was fast. By the time Xav caught up to her, she’d unlocked the door and let herself into the roomful of humans and Shifters.

“I’ll do it,” Lindsay announced and beamed a smile on AC. “For pay, of course. I’m not risking my life for nothing.” She wrinkled her nose and fanned her face with her hand. “And, please, keep the door open, Diego. It truly stinks in here.”