Page 43 of Stray Cat

Tiger’s assertion was not a boast. As Lindsay had mused not long ago, his help would be invaluable.

“In that case, I can go back home,” Lindsay teased. “You all organize the mission and send for me when you’re ready to go. Tell Carly I said hi. Better still, send her over. We can talk about you guys while you’re working.”

Tiger shook his head. “You are needed, Lindsay.” He turned, gesturing with his big hand to the house.

Lindsay swallowed her trepidation and headed after him.

Carly was indeed in the living room, her musical voice rising in conversation with Cassidy and Iona, who both crooned over Seth, Tiger’s small cub. They all greeted Lindsay, but Tiger indicated Lindsay should follow him into the kitchen.

There, Diego and Eric hovered behind Xav where he sat before his laptop at the kitchen table. Eric and Diego turned to pin Lindsay with keen stares when she and Tiger entered the room.

Tiger stepped to the side, as though he could blend into the woodwork, and nursed a cup of coffee that had waited on a counter for him.

“Ah, Linds.” Xav greeted her in his warm but offhand tones, as though there was nothing awkward between them. He turned back to the laptop, which held maps with colorful dots on them. “We’ve pinpointed a broad location where the helicopter might have landed. North of Death Valley Junction near the border between California and Nevada. Lots of wilderness to hide in there, so we decided it was time to call Tiger.”

“I wasn’t busy,” Tiger said calmly.

“From there, our quarry might have been picked up and taken anywhere,” Xav continued. “Or tried to hike out on foot, which is a bad idea, even in the middle of winter.”

True, February temperatures could rise to the nineties during the day in Death Valley, though it was still bitterly cold at night. Plus, Xav was right—the area was vast. The helicopter had landed a long way from anywhere.

“Where do we start?” Lindsay asked. “At the landing site?”

Xav swiveled to face her. “Youdon’t start anywhere. Tiger’s agreed to help, so you can stay home and not wear out your paws.”

Lindsay gazed right back at him. “We’ve had this argument before. AC hiredme. I’m going, even if I don’t like the idea of racing around Death Valley in the middle of the broiling afternoon.”

“We will need her,” Tiger rumbled from his corner.

“It’s dangerous,” Xav said firmly.

“We need her nose,” Tiger continued. “Lynx Shifters have a superior sense of smell.”

Lindsay pointed at Tiger. “What he said.”

“Linds …”

“Forget it, Xav, I’m coming with you. AC is payingme, and I want the money.”

Xav’s eyes narrowed in both suspicion and surprise. “What for?”

Lindsay shrugged, evasive. “To buy new shoes.”

“You have a lot of shoes,” Xav said with a touch of amusement. “I mean, a lot.”

“And your point is …?”

Xav rose from his seat, Diego and Eric wordlessly melting out of his way as he headed for Lindsay. Xav gripped her by the elbow and steered her from the kitchen and out the back door of the house. Thankfully, no one followed them.

Xav walked Lindsay briskly from Eric’s yard and down the shared land behind the houses, saying nothing. Lindsay realized he was heading for the open desert beyond, where they’d gone before to have a discussion. That one had ended in disaster, and this one might be even worse.

Lindsay glanced around uneasily as they went, worried that Graham’s Lupines might try to confront Xav while he was apart from Diego and Eric, but she sensed no one. Hopefully Graham was keeping his unruly wolves at bay.

Once they reached the fringes of Shiftertown, Xav released Lindsay and faced her. “You said you wanted to talk,” he stated. “Never a good thing, as you implied. So—talk.”

Lindsay’s mouth went dry. She remained silent for a time, while a cold wind blew her hair into her face, and Xav watched her with his intense, dark eyes.

She drew a breath, summoning courage. “We have to decide now.” Her voice was faint, cracked. “Are we breaking up? Yes, or no?”

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