• • •
They’d nearly finished the meal—Ciaran had changed his mind about ordering the second sandwich after he took the last bite of the first one—when Dimitri and Jaycee walked into the diner.
Angus didn’t bother waving for their attention. They’d have known where the Shifters were right away, even over the scents of hot sauce, sausage, gravy, and barbecue. The diner would never shake those scents, Angus had the feeling, even when its remains were unearthed in a thousand years.
Dimitri, a tall, red-haired man who walked with an easy stride, was a red wolf, his Shifter beast fast and powerful. Jaycee, who followed him, was on the short side for a Shifter woman, but she had even more grace, though she was restless with it. She wore her dark blond hair pulled into a ponytail and had the tawny eyes of a leopard. She and Dimitri were the best trackers Angus had ever met, including himself.
Discretion wasn’t going to rule here. Ciaran was out of his chair, arms outstretched as soon as the pair walked in. “Dimitri!”
Ciaran flew at Dimitri, who caught him and raised him high, spinning around before he hugged the cub.
Jaycee watched with an indulgent smile, then took note of Tamsin and came alert, her smile fading.
Jaycee had known Tamsin was sitting there—she’d chosen her moment to look at her, but not aggressively. Jaycee was a little more careful than that. Her assessment was calm, a tracker sizing up a newcomer to discover whether she was threat or ally.
That Jaycee had come with Dimitri at all surprised Angus. She was pregnant, and Dimitri had become highly protective of her. Of course, Jaycee wasn’t one to let a male Shifter tell her what to do, even her mate. Angus imagined she’d announced she was coming along and that was the end of it.
Dimitri dragged a chair over, sat down next to Tamsin and planted his elbows on the table. Dimitri’s hair was almost as red as Tamsin’s, though a different shade. Red wolf and fox. Both with attitude.
“So, who are you, then?” Dimitri asked her.
Jaycee seated herself next to Ciaran and across from Tamsin. “Don’t mind my mate. He’s rude as hell. I’m Jaycee.” She gave Tamsin a cordial nod.
Tamsin studied Jaycee’s neck, commenting without words about Jaycee’s lack of Collar. Jaycee studied Tamsin in return, clearly thinking pretty much the same thing.
“I’m Tamsin,” she replied. “A stray Angus picked up.”
Jaycee gave her a hint of a grin. “Angus does that. He picked up me and Dimitri once.”
“And that was the stuff of legend,” Dimitri said. “Get the story out of him sometime. I know he didn’t tell you already. He doesn’t like to talk much.”
Angus didn’t. He’d learned the truth of the saying Least said, soonest mended. Dimitri, a man who’d had a speech impediment most of his life, rarely stopped talking.
“Oh, I want to hear this,” Tamsin said.
Angus cut through the happy getting-acquainted party. “Did you bring it?”
Dimitri didn’t look offended. “We wouldn’t be here if we hadn’t.” He laid his hand, cupped palm down, on the table in front of Angus. When he lifted away, two keys on a key ring rested next to Angus’s plate.
No electronic key fob, so it must be an old car. Fair enough.
“Sorry it took so long,” Dimitri said. “It’s not the fastest vehicle on the road. But I’ve fine-tuned the engine so it goes quickly enough. Just not like, say, a Ferrari.”
“Anything is slow the way you drive.” Jaycee rolled her eyes. “I followed him on my bike so I can get him back home. He was going to hitch or take a bus, can you believe it? I almost ran over him about twenty times, the way he crept along. But he insisted I stay behind him.”
“It’s what Shifters do,” Dimitri said, giving his mate a meaningful look. “Males go first, to make sure the way is safe.”
“You go first to be a pain in my ass.”
“Yeah, but you like looking at my ass, so there you are.”
Jaycee gave him an exasperated glare, but she didn’t argue with him.
Angus had known Jaycee and Dimitri were madly in love with each other the moment he’d met them. When Dimitri had gotten himself captured, Angus had gone with Jaycee to help find him, knowing Jaycee would run after him on her own, no matter how many people tried to dissuade her. Angus hadn’t wanted to see her die, so he’d gone with her to protect her.
It was his curse, the need to protect people. Would get him killed one day. Nearly had already.
“Have you eaten?” Tamsin asked. “The po’ boys are spectacular.”
Ciaran nodded in agreement, pinching the last crumbs of chips and loose debris between his fingers. “Bloody terrific.”
“Come to think of it, we are hungry.” Dimitri sent his warm look to the waitress, who hurried over.
Angus frowned at them all once she’d taken their sandwich order—one crawdad and one beef. “We’re trying to be inconspicuous.”
“Doesn’t mean we can’t eat,” Dimitri said. “This is a restaurant. It would be more conspicuous if we didn’t eat.”
“Stay relaxed,” Jaycee advised. “The more natural you act, the less attention you attract. We’re just old friends meeting up, as far as the other diners are concerned.”
“She’s smart,” Tamsin said to Angus, then turned back to Jaycee. “You’ve done this before.”
“All my life,” Jaycee said. “You get used to stealth, Angus. After a while, you’ll be great at it.”
“I’m a tracker,” Angus said, pitching his voice low. “I know what I’m doing.”
Jaycee reached over and patted his arm, giving Angus the excuse, when she released him, to slide the keys into his pocket. “He’s my hero, Tamsin. Stood up to some scary people with me, and helped Dimitri and me get home safe.”
“That’s my dad,” Ciaran said proudly.
The restaurant’s business was picking up, as it was the time humans usually had supper, and they had to wait a while for Dimitri’s and Jaycee’s orders. But there was something to what Jaycee said. As they talked about nonsense things, Tamsin taking easily to Jaycee and Dimitri, the other patrons ignored them. Angus and his group weren’t behaving any differently from the other humans crowding around the tables.
Jaycee and Dimitri enjoyed their food, praising it, sharing bits with Ciaran, who declared he could eat more now. Tamsin then ordered a piece of cheesecake, which she split with Ciaran and Dimitri.
Finally, finally, the food was eaten, the bill presented. Angus started to dig for cash, but Dimitri beat him to it, tossing money onto the little tray the bill came on and telling the waitress to keep the change. She thanked him graciously.
They strolled out of the restaurant and around to the parking lot as though they had nothing more to do tonight than go home and watch TV. Angus made sure, however, that Tamsin and Ciaran walked in the middle of the pack.
Jaycee’s motorcycle was parked near Reg’s SUV, but Dimitri didn’t head for it. He led them instead to a vehicle that sat on the street, deep in the shadow, and was too large to fit into the tiny lot.
“There you go.” Dimitri waved a hand at it. “Wheels.”
“Cool!” Ciaran said in an enthusiastic whisper. Tamsin looked pleased, but Angus halted in dismay.
“Seriously?” He swung on Dimitri. “You want me to get away in that?”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Angus’s wolf growls rumbled next to Tamsin, filling the air.
The vehicle Dimitri had brought was a huge black box sitting high on double wheels, its windows tinted and dark. It was the cab of a semitruck, polished and glinting even in the shadows.
“I hitched a ride in one of these once,” Tamsin said. “I loved it. Trucker wanted too much to show me the bed in the back though, so I hopped out as soon as he slowed down.”
She spoke lightly but he’d scared her,
that scumbag. She’d leapt to the ground in the tiny town he’d had to decelerate to drive through, and had run to the nearest gas station, hiding in the women’s bathroom until he was gone. But she’d liked the truck—wasn’t its fault it had been driven by an asshole.
“We’re trying to be under the radar,” Angus told Dimitri.
Dimitri shrugged, the streetlight glinting on his bright hair. “No one will be expecting a Shifter in that. You’ll blend in with all the other truckers. If anyone asks, you own the cab and are between hauling jobs, heading out with your family somewhere or other.”
“His idea of stealth,” Jaycee said, cocking her head.
“Hiding in plain sight,” Dimitri corrected her. “A person tiptoeing around, glancing furtively over his shoulder is way more suspicious than a man going about his business. Just like eating in the restaurant.”
Angus looked irritated as hell, but Tamsin saw him tamp down his anger. “Thanks, Dimitri. I appreciate the help.”
Jaycee laughed. “It hurt you to say that. I argued with him, Angus, but Dimitri said the truck has a legit license in the human way, registered to an independent trucker—he calls himself Rufus Trucking. Rufus for Canis Rufus, Red Wolf. Hilarious, right?”
“I like that,” Ciaran sang out. “Uncle Dimitri is smart.”
“Hey, the truck is nothing connected with Shifters,” Dimitri said. “I found the cab in a scrap yard and refurbished it myself.” He cast a worried glance at the gleaming black chassis. “Don’t bang it up, okay?”
Tamsin snatched the keys from Angus’s hand. “We’ll take great care of it. Come on, Ciaran. Let’s see what’s inside.”
She and Ciaran darted forward before Angus could stop them, and Tamsin unlocked and opened the passenger side door. She boosted Ciaran inside and then followed him.
The cab was tall, with several steps leading up into it. The front bench seat was wide, with padded headrests, a big radio, and a dashboard with plenty of dials and buttons. In the back was another bench seat and a large storage space, which indeed contained a bed. The bed was wide enough for two, and possibly three if that third person was as small as Ciaran.
“Bet I know why Dimitri put in such a big mattress,” Tamsin said to Jaycee, who had opened the back door. “Your blush says it all.”
Jaycee climbed up inside, settling herself on the back seat. She was a gorgeous woman, all curves and sleek hair, her leather motorcycle pants and dark top hugging her body.
She gave Tamsin a frank look from her golden eyes. “Not to be nosy, but who exactly are you? Angus is going to a lot of trouble for you.”
Tamsin let out her breath. “I know he is. And I’m Trouble with a capital T. I can’t tell you everything you want to know, but I promise you, as soon as I can, I will keep Angus as far from my problems as possible.”
“You could leave right now,” Jaycee pointed out. “While he’s busy chewing the fat with Dimitri, take whatever car you came in and go. If you need to hide out, I’ll tell you how to contact Shifters who are good at hiding people—like Zander and Dylan.”
Tamsin hadn’t heard of Dylan. “I already met Zander.”
Jaycee pulled out her phone, which was a modern one, not Angus’s ten-year-old model. “Then he’ll probably be willing to help. Dylan is even better, but he’s iffy. You never know what Dylan will do.”
The slightly worried look in Jaycee’s eyes when she mentioned Dylan’s name was concerning. The thought of Zander and his let’s-get-this-done attitude was more reassuring. Zander had a mate though, with a Collar, and Tamsin didn’t want to endanger her. The pair had already risked a lot to help her.
But she couldn’t throw away the possibility of his assistance. “All right, give me Zander’s number,” she said with reluctance. “In case. You’ll have to write it down the old-fashioned way. I ditched my phone a long time ago.”
Jaycee rummaged in her pockets and found a scrap of paper, and Tamsin unearthed a pen from the catchall tray in the dashboard. As Jaycee wrote, Ciaran watched, his mouth open.
“No,” he said abruptly. “You’re not leaving.”
Jaycee looked up, brows rising, and Tamsin settled on the front seat and gathered Ciaran to her. “I might have to, sweetie. I don’t want to bring Shifter Bureau down on you or your dad.”
“No, we go together.” Ciaran’s voice held a hint of tears. “No matter what, we stick together, and we’ll be all right. That’s what my dad says.”
Jaycee exchanged a glance with Tamsin, then went back to writing.
Tamsin smoothed Ciaran’s hair. “Honey, that might not be practical in my case. Shifter Bureau already nabbed you once, and frightened you a lot. I know you won’t admit it, but they did scare you. Scared Angus even more. You want that to happen again?”
Ciaran squirmed away from Tamsin and knelt on the seat. “It won’t happen now that I’m with my dad. He’ll take care of you. Of us. You can’t go.”
“Ciaran—”
“Dad!” Ciaran did a one-eighty on the seat as Angus opened the driver’s-side door. “Tamsin’s trying to leave. Tell her she has to stay.”
“Tamsin, you have to stay,” Angus said. “Jace, are you going with Dimitri or are we giving you a ride back to Kendrick’s?”
Jaycee unfolded herself and scrambled down from the truck, but not before palming the slip of paper to Tamsin. “I’m out of here. See you soon.”
“Make sure Reg’s SUV is left somewhere safe,” Angus said before she could disappear. “Tell Dimitri to mail him the keys.”
Jaycee landed lightly on the ground, her leopard’s grace in evidence. “Stop worrying. Dimitri and I will handle it. We’re good at this.” She sent Tamsin a look. “Take care of yourself.” Then she slammed the door and was gone.
At the same time, Angus started the truck. The engine was surprisingly quiet but powerful enough to send intense vibrations through the cab.
Angus slammed the door. “Ciaran, get in the back seat and buckle up. Tamsin, keep your hand off that door handle. If you try to jump out, I’ll haul you into the back and tie you up.”
Tamsin glanced at the bed, her heart beating faster. “Promise?”
“Yes. But it won’t be any fun.” Angus gave her a hard look, but his cheekbones stained red.
A shy wolf. Wasn’t that sweet?
He’d be a strong and tender lover. Angus’s big hands would caress her as he pinned her with his weight, his kisses gentle yet powerful.
Tamsin swallowed and looked away. She went through the motions of putting on the seat belt but couldn’t have sworn afterward how she got it buckled. The thought of being in the bed with Angus, his body bare for her touch, her lips, pushed everything else out of her brain.
Definitely horny. One cold shower, and I’ll be fine.
Tamsin knew, as Angus pulled the truck from the curb and Jaycee and Dimitri waved, their arms around each other, that she’d never be fine. Angus had touched something within her, and she wouldn’t shake that anytime soon.
* * *
• • •
Angus drove carefully into the night. Dimitri had been right that no one gave the truck cab a second glance, except to move out of its way. Plenty of truckers drove lone cabs between loads or rode home in them to sleep. Once Angus got onto the interstate, they’d be pretty much invisible.
“You know how to drive one of these things?” Tamsin asked him.
She’d drawn herself up to sit cross-legged on the big seat, and was now busy checking out the compartments and buttons and levers on the dashboard.
“Yes,” Angus answered as he geared down for a turn. “I drove a rig for a while, back before Shifters were outed. Good way to make a living.”
“You did?” Ciaran asked. “You never told me that.”
Angus shrugged. “That was a long time ago, son. Can’t do it anymore.”
He hadn’t wanted to talk about it. But it felt good to sit high above the road again, the big steering wheel in front of him. Angus had driven all over the country for several years, earning enough to support himself and then a mate, back when Shifters had to hide what they were. Shifters weren’t allowed such jobs anymore, as humans worried that Shifters, with their stamina and strength, would push them out of the workplace.
The humans probably weren’t wrong. Shifters were smart, driven, and tireless. At least some Shifters were. Others were complete idiots. Shifters came in all flavors, as did humans.
Maybe one day humans would understand that. Maybe they’d realize that Shifters were just trying to live life, and would never be a threat.
“Are we still going to Kendrick’s?” Ciaran interrupted his thoughts.
Angus took the on-ramp onto the I-10, heading west. If Dimitri and Jaycee on Jaycee’s bike were following, Angus couldn’t see them.
“Best place,” Angus said, although he was having second thoughts.
Tamsin would be safe with Kendrick, without doubt. She’d be in the middle of a horde of un-Collared Shifters who’d lived under the radar for twenty years and knew how to keep hidden. Dimitri and Jaycee would take care of her.
But if Shifter Bureau was after Tamsin as hard as they could be, Angus might be leading Bureau agents straight to Kendrick and those in his care. In spite of Dimitri’s assurances about the anonymity of the truck cab, in spite of Angus’s firsthand knowledge of the security of Kendrick’s place, it was starting to feel not right to him.
He glanced at Tamsin. She turned a dial, and a radio blared to life. Smiling happily, she began to push buttons, trying station after station until she halted on one belting out country music.
“Hey, I love this song.” She leaned back and started to sing at the top of her lungs.
Angus hadn’t heard the song, which seemed to be about a man and woman kissing in the moonlight, and then both of them thinking about the kiss, alone, all night long. Tamsin’s voice couldn’t quite hold the tune, but she sang with enthusiasm, squeezing her eyes shut to warble out the emotional phrases. Ciaran leaned forward, listening in fascination.