“One so far. Crawford.”
Claude scratched inside his ear. “You mean the older male in the Armani suit?”
“That’s the one. Grey-haired and a mole on his left cheek. He gave me his card last night.”
Claude stared at the leftovers in my Styrofoam container. “What does he want?”
I shrugged. “I guess I’ll find out. He said it has something to do with earning extra money, but he gave the card to me after the ruckus last night. He’s a VIP with a lot of money. I’ve never seen him go into the rooms or upstairs. Have you? He just drinks and watches people.”
“I don’t recall specifically. Shepherd must have gotten some bad vibes from him if he’s on the list.”
I glanced at the bed. “What’s in the bag?”
Claude sat back and glowered. “My gold panties.”
“It must hurt to be that good-looking.”
“I’m average.”
When I regarded him with a pointed stare, he gave me a winsome smile. Claude had sensual lips, and combined with his beguiling eyes, he could set off a fire alarm.
“Okay.Aboveaverage,” he confessed before standing. While he got plenty of attention in the gold shorts, I could tell that being sexualized was wearing him down.
I noticed my clothes laid out on the bed. Part of me wanted to bail and hide out at my dad’s house instead of going back to the club.
Claude looked down at me. “How do you feel? You can take a night off. They’ll understand. Viktor will understand.”
“We can’t afford to. I need to jump on this Crawford lead while it’s hot. I don’t want him tracing my call back to the hotel, so I have to use the phone at the club. A day off would be great, but it’s not the assignment that’s getting to me; it’s everything else. Dressing in that outfit, people leering, all the stuff that goes on in there. The sooner we close this case, the better.”
“Agreed.” He sat at the foot of the bed and rubbed his eyes. “It’s only been just over a week, but it feels more like a month.”
“I don’t know why a guy like you signed up with Keystone. You’ve got the salon, clients—you could totally go out on your own.”
Claude lowered his head and clasped his hands together. “I didn’t have the salon until Viktor hired me.”
I remained quiet, knowing I’d crossed a line by poking into his past. We all respected one another’s privacy—most of us wanted to leave the past behind.
“Are you familiar with kindred spirits?” he asked.
I knew a little about it from a diary I’d read on one of our jobs. “A Chitah’s mate.”
“Not quite. Chitahs have free will to mate anyone we choose, but a kindred spirit is someone we were born to love. It’s our soul mate.” Claude stared vacantly at a painting on the wall. “Not all of us find our intended. We’re often born in different times or countries, but the Prides now have what they call a Gathering. It’s held every year locally, and then there are national and international ones.”
“Sounds like a giant dating game.”
“A male knows his kindred spirit the moment he sees her and draws in her scent. She doesn’t. So if we want to court her properly, we must prove ourselves worthy and win her love. I met Josephine in 1965. My parents had passed away by that time. They were old.”
“Don’t Chitahs live for hundreds or thousands of years?”
“They had my sister and me very late in life—past the age that most females will consider children. Chitahs usually live with their siblings, but my sister was born different, so our parents were protective and kept her home with them.”
“Where’s your sister now?”
Claude’s voice softened. “She died many years before they did. It was a hard adjustment, and I couldn’t abandon my parents. I stayed with them until the end. So after they died, I was lost and on my own.” He smiled wistfully. “Literally lost. I decided to move from Pennsylvania to Cognito, and I got mixed up. I approached a young woman to ask for directions, and when she turned around, I knew instantly that I’d met my kindred spirit. An empty part of my soul instantly filled up.” He held his fist to his chest. “All I wanted to do was mark her and make her mine.”
“That might have made it a little awkward in the middle of the road. Do you really do that?” I wrinkled my nose.
“There’s no greater honor.” He steered his gaze to me. “It’s not as vulgar as it sounds. Our chemistry changes, and a unique scent lifts off our skin. It lets every other male know that this female is claimed, and it letsherknow that she has a serious suitor. One who will die for her.” Claude leaned back on his hands. “She backed up a step when she caught it wafting off me. I didn’t mark her, but the imprint lifted off my skin as if it were searching for her. Josephine was like no female I’d ever known. She wore patchy bell-bottoms, and two flaxen braids were tied in the back. Her top was so skimpy that I almost took off my own shirt to cover her up.”
