Page 69 of Stray Cat

“Ron fell over in the dark,” she announced. “Looks like he’s hurt.”

Dean scowled, but motioned to his goon. “Go check it out. Round up Jack and Kurt.”

“You going to be okay in here, boss?” the man asked, glancing at Xav.

“Escobar is cool,” Dean said. “Right? If he doesn’t want his girlfriend to be toast.”

“Should I shoot her?” the henchman asked with chilling indifference.

“Nah,” Dean answered with the same detachment. “I like her. I might kill Escobar but keep her. Just make sure she behaves.”

“Sure.” The henchman was skeptical, but he holstered his weapon and obediently marched out.

“Let’s get back to calling your brother.” Dean gestured to the phone. “Keep it simple. You found me, you need to meet. He brings AC, and we all have a family reunion.”

“Right.” Xav kept his expression neutral as he picked up the phone.

Whatever had happened to Ron out there was Lindsay’s doing, and so was the power cut. Xav knew that like he knew his own name.

You go, sweetheart.

He remembered her leaping down from on high at the stadium to wipe out the arms dealer who’d been about to shoot him. Xav wanted to laugh. Dean’s guys would not know what hit them.

At the same time, Xav couldn’t dial back his anxiousness about her. A gun might go off and wound Lindsay, or they might bring out the tranq darts again. He could only pray she was too fast and too tricky for Dean’s men.

Dean shot Xav a hard look when he began to tap in Diego’s number. “Keep it simple. No extra words, no coded messages. Got it?”

“Hey, what’s between you and AC is your business,” Xav said without heat. “I’ll deliver him and whatever, and then I’m gone.Withmy brother, and Lindsay.”

Dean gave his uncaring shrug. “We’ll see how it goes.”

Keeping his expression neutral, Xav tapped the last number and listened to the phone ring on the other side.

“Hey, bro,” he said rapidly when Diego answered with,Who the hell is this?“I found Dean. This is his phone. Grab AC. I’ll text you a meetup point when we get there. See you soon.” He pressed the Off button as Diego began to splutter questions. “Good?” Xav asked Dean.

“Guess so,” Dean said.

Xav nodded, laying down the phone, waiting for his moment to take Dean, find Lindsay, and get the hell out of there.

* * *

Lindsay layon top of the tall shelving unit in lynx form once more—she’d shifted enough to answer Ron’s walkie-talkie before turning it off, placing it carefully next to her, and melding back into her cat.

The second man who’d been in Dean’s office came striding out, obviously looking for Ron. He found him easily enough, sprawled on his back at the base of the shelves, where Lindsay had left him.

“Shit.” The man bent over his colleague, lightly shaking him. “Ron. You okay?”

He never heard Lindsay coming. She dropped from the shelves and landed on him in complete silence, toppling him to the ground. One paw pressed his face into the floor while Lindsay let the other become a hand long enough to grab the taser from his belt.

Before the man could drag in a startled breath to yell, she jammed the taser to his shoulder and stunned him. Maybe weaponsdidhave their uses.

Because Lindsay had been holding him down, she couldn’t avoid receiving part of the shock but jumped away fast enough that she only singed her fur. Stifling a growl, she rose into her half-human, half-beast form.

Lindsay powered off the taser so it could recharge, held it between her wildcat teeth as she became all lynx, and swarmed up the shelves to her hiding place once more, making sure not to dislodge any boxes as she went.

Later she’d have a good rummage through the crates, to see if there were any more decent shoes. They shouldn’t go to waste gathering dust in this old place.

But first she needed to save her mate. Dean was dangerous, in a calm, cold way, uncaring about what happened to anyone he left in his wake. She knew he had no intention of letting her and Xav go, no matter what he offered.

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