Page 23 of Stray Cat

Maybe that’s what Dean’s captors had meant for him. To leave him or his body here for the coyotes and buzzards to pick over.

Lindsay smelled no death on the air, however. She’d have noticed that right away.

She kept moving, easily avoiding the hazards that would trip humans, her paws cushioned against the sharp pebbles on the ground.

Xav caught up to her while the others trailed behind. He moved with near-Shifter agility, avoiding cracks in the earth or stray rocks that could induce a fall. He’d told Lindsay he’d been hiking this wilderness since he’d been a kid, and he’d know this world even better than she did.

Lindsay and her folks had lived in a Shiftertown in Nebraska after they’d been rounded up from their home in the northern Canada until about ten years ago. Then their Shiftertown had closed and consolidated, Shifter Bureau thinking nothing of breaking up friendships and ties between Shifters to relocate them.

The move to the Las Vegas Shiftertown had been hard on Lindsay. If it hadn’t been for Cassidy and her family, she’d have despaired.

Now she had Xav on her mind, all day every day, to stir her mating frenzy. Inconvenient, because he’d just broken up with her.

Lindsay blinked moisture from her eyes—stupid dust—and continued.

The scent trail led her to the campground, remote, dark, and empty. No one had bothered to pitch a tent on this freezing cold winter night.

The group she tracked had been here. Lindsay easily picked up Dean’s scent, stronger this time, meaning their stay here had been more recent. And he’d been worried.

Lindsay turned to Neal, trying to explain in body language what she’d found. He was Lupine, she Feline, and cross-species communication was difficult, but Neal got the gist.

So did Xav, surprisingly.

“He was here,” Xav announced before Neal could speak. “Linds, do you know how many were with him?”

AC watched Lindsay intently, as though he expected her to pound out the number with her paw, like a trained horse.

Lindsay smothered a sigh, extended a claw, and traced out the number5in the loose dirt.

“Fuck.” AC muttered. “I don’t want to fight off five guys on my own.” He switched his hard gaze to Xav.

Xav shook his head. “You hired us—no, you hired Lindsay—to track down your brother. If you want us to help you fight to free him, that’s extra.”

AC glared. “You really are a bastard, aren’t you? I knew that when you and your brother hauled me off to jail before. No mercy.”

“Oh, we have mercy.” Xav sent him the smile that made villains wonder if he was truly a good guy or not. “But we’re not sacrificing ourselves for you. We’re helping you search because we feel sorry for your brother. No other reason.”

Lindsay edged closer to Xav, signifying she agreed with him. Plus, she’d take any excuse to be next to him.

She reminded herself that he’d left her today. Implied it was over—whateverthiswas.

So why had he showed up tonight? To protect her? That’s what Neal and Diego were for, not to mention the other security men. Xav had no real reason to come along.

The idea that Xav had wanted to make sure Diego and their employees didn’t fail Lindsay brought a warm glow to her heart. She tried to banish the cozy feeling, but in her lynx form, complicated human emotions tended to fade, and straightforward ones took over.

Her Shifter self acknowledged that Xav was hot and that he cared about her safety. It was enough. All the words just got in the way.

AC scanned the darkness. “So, where are they now?”

Lindsay made herself leave Xav’s side and continue her circuit of the campsite. Dean and his captors had lingered here longer than they had at the cave, maybe even sleeping here, but why and where they’d gone after that was fuzzy.

She wandered past the campground, trying to ignore the lantern flashlights everyone but Neal carried, which impaired her night vision. She found more traces of scent, very faint, and followed them.

Lindsay again wondered why Dean’s captors had come to this remote area. To meet someone? To pick up something left for them? To hand off Dean to another crew? They hadn’t dumped him, or she’d have found him already.

She didn’t smell anyone other than Dean and his captors in or beyond the campsite. No one had used this place since the weather had turned raw, so there were no confusing overlaying smells. From what she could tell, only Dean and the other men had been here recently.

She also couldn’t pinpoint a scent trail that led away from here. She did smell oil and diesel, and concluded that a truck or some other vehicle had awaited the group and taken them away.

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