Page 406 of Love Bites

Reno’s eyes cut to mine and he sized me up. “No shit. I thought Denver was pulling my leg,” he remarked, pinching his stubbly chin.

Austin handed Reno his wallet and keys. “Scan the house; do your thing. If I’m not back in an hour, take her to our place.”

“Wait—” I started to say, but Austin interrupted in his take-charge voice.

“You do as I say.”

How could I argue? I hardly had a plan of my own, and these guys didn’t want to call the cops. Not that the cops would do anything except speculate my mom took off with Maizy.

Austin kept talking to Reno. “Tell Denver to sit tight and I’ll be joining him. It’s been a while since this happened; the milk on the table is warm and so is the house. The thermostat is set to seventy-two,” he added. “If I pick up a trail then I’ll stay on it, but I got a feeling they’re long gone. Maybe the kid wandered off to a friend’s house or something. I’ll mark the yard in case one of ours was involved; then they’ll know who the fuck they’re dealing with.”

I watched him storm out the back door and out of sight.

“Mark?” I asked.

Reno straightened a picture on the wall and glanced around. “Leave our scent. He’s marking territory. We might get some help this way.”

“Someone is going to smell Austin’s pee and help?” I threw my hands up. “This is ridiculous!”

“You don’t know pack rules, do you?”

And I didn’t care. I just wanted my family found safe. I called April and explained I’d had a personal emergency. Then I called Naya, because I’m sure she was going to immediately notice a hot guy outside my apartment rigging up a camera. She was at work on her cell, so I just told her I planned to stay away for a day or so and not to worry.

Naturally, she worried. Naya knew I wasn’t a “stay away from home” kind of girl.

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