Wild Cat

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

His mother’s house. Cassidy wasn’t sure how she felt about that as she slung an overnight bag into Xavier’s truck.

Diego was talking in a low voice with Xav a little way away from the truck. Cassidy worried a bit about leaving Eric and Jace here alone with Reid, but, interestingly, Nell had volunteered to stay over and watch him. She looked delighted, Reid apprehensive. Nell wouldn’t rough him up too much. Maybe.

Cassidy got into the front seat, leaving the door open, and waited. She pretended to study her hair in the visor’s mirror, but she strained her Shifter hearing to listen.

“You sure, hermano?” Xav was saying. “Enrique’s word isn’t necessarily reliable. He could be luring you down there for a reason. A dying man’s last nasty trick.”

“I can’t not check it out. First lead I’ve had in a long time.”

“If the captain finds out, you are dead meat. I like you, Diego. You’re not bad, for a pain-in-the-ass older brother.”

Diego shrugged. “Captain Max told me to take some leave. Nothing says I can’t go to Mexico for a vacation.”

“Yeah, but most people vacation in Mazatlan or Cabo. Not some bandit town in the middle of nowhere. Besides, what about Cassidy?”

Out of the corner of her eye, Cassidy saw Diego look her way. She busied herself rubbing at an imaginary dirt mark on the corner of her mouth.

“With Reid here, Cass will be good at Mamita’s,” Diego said. “Especially with you to look after her.”

“No way, Diego. If you’re going down there, I am too. You’ll do something stupid and end up in some Mexican jail, and we’ll never see you again.”

“It’s true that I could use your help. After I make sure Cassidy is safe.”

“Good. I’m with you.”

“Just don’t tell Mamita.”

Xav laughed. “You got that right.”

Cassidy put up the visor as they approached and pretended she hadn’t heard a word.

She wasn’t sure why Diego wanted to go to Mexico on the word of this Enrique, the one he’d been forced to shoot, but she sure as hell wasn’t letting him go alone.

Cassidy did want to see the house that Diego called home. She knew from what he’d told her that he hadn’t grown up in the modest house in Boulder City he took her to, but even so, Cassidy knew it was a home the minute she walked in the front door. Just as the house she lived in with Eric and Jace in Shiftertown was now home, so was this one. Loved ones were there, the people with whom you shared sleepy mornings around the breakfast table, who didn’t mind that your hair was a mess or your clothes unkempt.

Comfort and love. This house rang with it.

Diego hugged his mother, a woman half his height, with a firm embrace. “Mamita, this is Cassidy.”

Cassidy found herself under the scrutiny of a sharp-eyed, dark stare. The stare wasn’t unfriendly, just interested and assessing. So, this is the woman sleeping with my son.

“I heard you jumped out the window when you heard Xavier coming,” Juanita Escobar said.

Cassidy’s face heated to roasting. “I wasn’t sure who it was, and I didn’t want to cause trouble for Diego.”

“Because you’re Shifter.” The small woman nodded. “I understand that. Gang warfare is the same all over, even though humans and Shifters might not admit that’s what it is. Don’t be found with the wrong people.”

“Something like that,” Cassidy said.

“Diego won’t let anything happen to him because of you. Or to you because of him.” Juanita held out plump arms. “Diego tells me that Shifters don’t worry about showing affection. Very sensible. Come here, mi ja.”

Cassidy surrendered to her hug. The small woman held her tightly, and Cassidy returned the embrace.

“Now,” Juanita said when they parted. “That’s done with. I made another batch of chilaquiles, since these two boys ran off without eating any. We’ll have them now.”

Cassidy admired herself for her patience all the way through the flavorful dinner. She listened to Diego and Xav banter, answered their mother’s questions about Shifters, and praised Juanita’s food. Not until after she’d helped Juanita do the dishes, while the brothers went outside for an impromptu game of basketball, did Cassidy have the chance to confront Diego.

She walked out to the front driveway where they played in the growing twilight. Diego had his shirt off, Xav keeping his on-so they could tell which team they were on, she supposed. Not that she minded watching Diego’s well-honed muscles play under his dark skin.

Diego dribbled the ball, keeping his back to Xav, while Xavier tried to get around him. Diego shot, but the ball hit the rim of the hoop and bounced off. Cassidy dashed in, jumped, and tipped the ball into the ring.

Diego whooped, laughing, lifted Cassidy off her feet, and whirled her around.

“Hey, no fair getting help from your girlfriend,” Xav said, catching the ball. “Your tall girlfriend.”

“We make a good team,” Diego said. He set Cassidy on her feet and kissed her lips, turning the swift kiss into a lingering one.

Cassidy liked him like this, smiling, relaxed with his family. Happy.

“Diego, we need to talk,” she said.

“Uh-oh,” Xav said. “Never a good way to start a conversation.”

“You’re in on this too,” Cassidy said.

Xavier raised his hands, the basketball still under one arm. “What did I do? Whatever Lindsay told you, I only danced with her, I swear. That’s all. So far.”

“Nothing to do with Lindsay.” Cassidy took the ball from him, set up a shot, put it through the hoop, and caught the ball on its first bounce. “It’s about Mexico.”

Diego shot Xav a look, and Xav shook his head. “I didn’t say a word. When would I have had time?”

“Shifters have good hearing,” Cassidy said. “You’re going to Mexico to find the guys who killed your partner, aren’t you, Diego? That Enrique guy told you something about them, and you’re leaving to check it out.”

“Not so loud,” Diego said. He retrieved his T-shirt and pulled it on. “I don’t need Mamita worrying.”

“Or chewing out your ass,” Xav said.

“I understand why you want to go,” Cassidy said. “For the same reason I went after Reid; for the same reason I still want to find the human hunters. But I’m not letting you go without me.”

Any humor in Diego’s eyes vanished. “Like hell I’m taking you to Mexico. It can be fucking dangerous down there, and you’re a Shifter. You can’t exactly go back and forth across the border. Hell, getting permission to go from state to state is tough for a Shifter. You want to end up in some Shifter Division cell, in Mexico?”

Cassidy waited for him to finish. “How were you planning to get there?”

“Xav’s truck. We’ll probably need four-wheel drive for where we need to go.”

“Conspicuous. Why not fly in as close as you can and find transportation from there?”

Diego shook his head. “Because I’m not a rich boy with a private plane.”

“If you let me come with you, I can provide the plane,” Cassidy said. “And the pilot.”

Diego blinked. “How?”

“First, promise you’ll take me with you.”

“Cass…”

Cassidy folded her arms and waited. At the beginning of the week, she’d have never admitted to Diego, a human, that Eric knew people who could help with clandestine trips, but things had changed. Diego had saved her life-more than once-and he hadn’t had to. He’d kept her from being locked up by Shifter Division, helped her with Reid, and understood what she was going through.

Diego watched her a moment, then he let out an exasperated sigh. “All right, but only because I’m desperate. And you’ll stay far out of the way if we find these guys.”

Cassidy smiled and gave him a nod. Not that she’d agree to that restriction. But she’d argue that point once they found them.

Cassidy’s pilot awoke every one of Diego’s cop suspicions.

Diego had assumed that the contact to secretly fly Shifters where they wanted to go would come through Eric, but Cassidy blithely made a phone call, then directed Diego to drive them out east of town.

Once the city dropped behind them, Cassidy directed Diego to a little-used highway, which sped them out to the middle of nowhere. Dramatic scenery surrounded them, stark, knifelike hills, wide sky, white desert.

They made another turnoff to a dirt road, which was wide and well graded. Beyond a few deep washes, the road ended in a flat stretch between hills. A trailer house stood incongruously in the middle of this dusty field, with two small planes parked behind it.

The slim man who walked out to meet them-armed with a handgun on a belt holster-broke into a smile of delight when Cassidy got out of Diego’s car.

“Cassidy,” he bellowed in a voice too large for his wiry build. “How are you, girl?”

“Just fine, Marlo.”

Cassidy walked right up to him and embraced him, which Diego didn’t like. He knew by now that this was the normal Shifter way of greeting, but Marlo seemed to enjoy it a little too much.

“This is Diego,” Cassidy said. “He’s the friend I mentioned who needs the ride.”

Marlo looked Diego up and down. “He looks like a cop.”

“He is a cop. How can you tell?”

“Experience. He’s not a drug runner.”

“You’d better not be either,” Diego said.

Marlo’s eyes narrowed. “You want my help or not?”

“Not if you’re a drug runner, no.” Drug runners might think about only the money they were making, but their product ended up in kids who died. Diego would never look the other way for that.

“I gave up that shit a long time ago. Too dangerous, too stupid. Now I’m just a pilot for hire, for people who need to get places in a hurry.”

“Like Shifters?” Diego asked.

Marlo spread his hands. “I believe in freedom and equality for all. Why should Shifters not be allowed to travel like anyone else? So, if they need a ride, they call Marlo. Cassidy vouched for you, so I know you won’t be reporting this to your cop friends.”

Cassidy had been vouching for him a lot, lately. “I need to go down to a place in Mexico, in Durango,” Diego said. “Can you get me there?”

“Sure. How many passengers?”

“Three-me, my brother, Cassidy.”

“And Shane,” Cassidy said.

Diego shot her a look. “What?”

“Eric would kill me if I left without Shifter protection.” Cassidy’s answer was serene. “Besides, we might need him.”

Shane could turn into a fifteen-hundred-pound grizzly bear, true, but if Diego’s prey was armed to the teeth, which they would be, being a grizzly might not help him.

“It might be too dangerous even for Shane,” he said.

Cassidy cocked her head. “Then it’s too dangerous for you.”

They shared a look, Cassidy’s determined. “If we get Shane killed,” Diego said, “his mom will never forgive us.”

“Nell understands danger like this. Besides, if you or Xav get killed, I can imagine what your mom would say.”

“She’d go on a rampage. I know. Fine. Four passengers.”

“Four thousand dollars,” Marlo said.

Diego swung around. “What?”

“Hey, I said I was for hire, not a charity. I have to buy fuel, maintain my plane, take you down to the middle of nowhere in dangerous country. A grand a piece, that’s my price.”

Diego started to argue, but Cassidy broke in. “Call Eric. He’ll get it to you.”

“Don’t,” Diego said. “I’ll spring for it, but, Cass, I really want you and Shane to stay the hell home.”

“No.” Cassidy came close to Diego again. She touched his face, firing his blood. “Take this as my gift to you, Diego. I understand why you need to go. Let me do this for you.”

“Where is Eric going to get four grand?”

Cassidy’s eyes flickered, but she didn’t look away. “Let Eric worry about that.”

She cradled his face between her hands, her eyes darkening, then she gave Diego a long kiss.

The fire leapt. This woman was fine, like a diamond he’d stumbled upon in a sea of sand. He opened her mouth with lips and tongue. Cassidy kissed him back, the taste of her wild.

Marlo chuckled beside them. “Looks like you mean business, Cass.”

Cassidy broke the kiss and grinned at him, but she didn’t look all that embarrassed. “Take it, Diego,” she whispered.

It was important to her. Diego saw that in her eyes. He’d discuss it with Eric later-such as how Shifters who weren’t allowed to have decent jobs would be able to cough up four grand-but Diego nodded. Cassidy kissed him one more time.

When she did that, Diego stopped worrying about petty details like money, getting to Mexico on an ex-drug-runner plane, and what he’d do when he got there. Dangerous, he thought. I’m liking forgetting way too much.

At Diego’s house that night, they slept in separate bedrooms. Diego bunked with Xavier in the room that had been Xav’s, and Cassidy stayed in Diego’s old room.

Diego’s mother had placed on the dresser a photo of a very young Diego in his Marines uniform and one of him when he’d graduated from the police academy. Juanita had also framed his military service medals and his commendations both from the Marines and the police. A proud mother honoring her son.

Cassidy touched each medal, reading the certificate that went with it, trying not to think of Diego lying warm and solid in a bed in the next room. Cassidy tried to shut out the mating frenzy that was winding her up, but when she at last climbed into bed and slept, she dreamed of only Diego.

“Sure this thing’s safe?”

Shane looked nervously out the window as they glided south, following the Colorado River as it snaked between California and Arizona. The view was beautiful, the plane far smoother than Diego had feared it would be.

“Yep,” Marlo called back from the pilot’s seat. “Just tuned it up.”

“I don’t like to fly,” Shane said. “If Shifters were meant to fly, they’d be able to turn into birds.”

“So, why can’t they?” Xav said, looking up from his magazine.

“Huh?”

“You have big cat Shifters, wolf Shifters, and bear Shifters. Why not raptors, like eagles or hawks?”

Shane stared at him. “Hell if I know.”

“The Fae created us,” Cassidy said. “They chose the animals. Who knows why? Or why not?”

“I guess an elephant would be tough,” Xav said. “You’d need a lot of space. Or whales. What if you shifted in the middle of the ocean? You’d need to stash scuba gear somewhere.”

“Very funny,” Shane said.

Xav chuckled and returned to his magazine.

Diego found Cassidy’s gaze on him from where she sat beside him. He didn’t mind looking down into her gorgeous eyes, but he wondered why she kept looking at him. Different looks every time. Coy, frank, thoughtful.

The trip was long enough for napping. Diego rested his head against the window, not minding the miles down to the ground. Airplanes didn’t bother him either, he’d discovered. But then, they didn’t have balconies.

Cassidy curled up nicely into his side. He draped his arm around her and dozed off, happy with her against him.

They landed after dark, on an airstrip Diego couldn’t believe Marlo could see. But the man brought the plane down with only a few bumps, and then they stopped.

Hot, dry air wafted over them as they climbed from the plane. “Where are we?” Diego said as he stretched.

“About forty miles from your little town of La Nébeda.”

“Forty miles?”

“Yep,” Marlo said. “I figured you didn’t want to get too close to whoever it is you don’t want to see you coming. Planes landing near a town that small are going to be noticed. My friend here has a jeep that can take you in.”

Marlo wouldn’t leave his plane, so Marlo’s friend at the airstrip gave Xavier keys to a rusty but sturdy jeep, and Xavier drove the four of them to the town. Shane sat in front with Xav, and Diego and Cassidy rode together in the back.

This part of Mexico was definitely off the tourist path. It was the territory of drug runners, human traffickers, and people looking for a place to hide. There were no resort hotels for rich Americans here, just long stretches of empty roads and bad men with guns.

“I want the two of you to keep out of sight the best you can,” Diego said to Shane and Cassidy over the whine of the engine. “Who knows how people here will react to Shifters?”

“I’m here to back up Cassidy,” Shane said. “So where she goes, I go.”

“Then you’ll both stay out of it,” Diego said.

Cassidy didn’t answer, but the stubborn way she wouldn’t look at him told him much.

The town, when they reached it, was nothing but old buildings, open bars, dogs, and insects. This was siesta country, where everyone slept during the heat of the day. The sun had gone down an hour ago, and people were emerging now into cool darkness, the town coming to life.

Lights were brightest in the cantinas, three of them in this tiny town. Xavier parked the jeep in the dark at the end of one street, beyond one of the cantinas. Diego climbed down and checked the stash of guns in the back. Shotguns, three of them, in addition to Xav and Diego’s handguns.

“Shane, can you shoot a gun?”

“I’ve done it,” Shane said. “I don’t like to. Claws are better.” He scratched the air, his dark eyes gleaming, sending Diego a sly grin.

“You might have to use a gun if things go bad,” Diego said. He handed Shane one of the shotguns. “Shoot to defend Cassidy, and then get her the hell out of here.”

Cassidy hopped out of the jeep and finally spoke up. “Screw that. I’d not leave you to die. That’s not why I helped you come here.”

Diego checked his gun’s magazine and stashed spare ones in his pockets. “I want to bring these guys in, Cass,” he said, “but to be honest, I don’t know if I’ll be able to.”

Cassidy put her hands on her hips. “We’ll be able to. The four of us together. These men killed your partner, and they deserve to be brought to justice. Shane and I are fighters. Use us to fight.”

“Hate to say this, Diego,” Xavier broke in, “but she might be right.”

Diego worked with women all the time. One of the toughest detectives he knew was a female lieutenant in homicide. No one questioned her competency or made jokes at her expense-not twice, anyway. Cassidy was just as competent as that lieutenant, probably more so. But the difference was, Diego wasn’t falling in love with the homicide detective, didn’t feel as though he’d protect her with everything he had in him and then some. If something happened to Cassidy, Diego knew it would kick him like nothing else ever had. Not even losing Jobe would compare.

“She’d make good bait to draw them out,” Xavier said.

Both Shane and Diego stared at him. “You mean a honey trap,” Diego said.

“It’s a good idea,” Cassidy said, moving to stand next to Xavier. “If you go muscling into the cantina or wherever, Diego, they’ll know what’s up right away. They’ll run or fight. If I go in…” She opened her hands. “I can draw them out, right into your waiting arms. You tie them up and take them to jail.”

“No,” Shane said, at the same time Diego said, “It’s too risky.”

“It will work,” Xavier said. “Think about how we wrapped up this last case, Diego. Jemez went into the dealer’s house with her big brown eyes and her short skirt, and those guys fell all over themselves trying to impress her. She got more evidence in one afternoon than the rest of us did in months.”

“I know, and I didn’t like sending her in there either,” Diego said. “Honey traps can be dangerous.”

Cassidy slanted a smile at him. “I’ll be sure to be sweet.”

Damn it. Diego shook his head. “We can’t trust them to react the way you expect them to.”

Cassidy’s good-humored look vanished. “I haven’t always lived in Shiftertown, Diego. In the wild, Eric and I fought other Shifters to protect our family. Sixty years ago, a world war came close to our shores, and we fought then too. We might not have worn uniforms or used guns, but we crossed the North Sea, joined the underground movements, and sure caused a lot of trouble.” She grinned. “They never had any idea how Eric and I did what we did, but we did a lot of damage. Those were fun times.”