Addy’s father was a dirtbag millionaire who’d gotten involved with crime boss Alton Marshall, a man Addy’s mother, a Dallas assistant district attorney, had been in the process of sending to prison on multiple charges related to his organized crime operations. Dirtbag Dad had actually sold out his own family on Marshall’s orders. Both men were in prison now, but that wouldn’t necessarily stop either of them if they wanted to get revenge.
As scary as that sounded, the idea of them reaching out from behind bars paled in comparison to the other possibility Rachel mentioned—thatthingeveryone thought was dead.
While protecting Addy and her mother from an organized crime boss and his goons, Rachel had also been tormented by something called anachtmahr, a malicious spirit that feeds on its victim’s fear. And Rachel had been that victim. Rachel and her werewolf mate had killed the thing. But how could any of them be sure the spirit was dead?
Gage shook his head. “I don’t know the answer to that question. All I can say for sure is that Addy and her boyfriend, Ben, were in her bedroom doing homework, and now they’ve disappeared. It’s been close to sixteen hours with no contact or ransom demand from the kidnappers. Not even the standard threatening call not to involve the cops. That’s why the chief wants us involved. Her gut is telling her this isn’t a normal kidnapping for money.”
Connor had to agree with the chief, mostly because nothing in this city ever seemed to happen the normal way these days.
“Rachel, since you have a connection to the kids—and because I know you’d ignore me if I tried to keep you off the team—you’ll work with Connor on this. Trevor and Hale, you two are backup,” Gage said. “I’ve arranged for the four of you to meet with the parents and the detective in charge of the case this afternoon.”
Gage sighed. “I know what I’m asking you to do is outside most of your wheelhouses. But if nothing else, dig around and determine if there’s any supernatural involvement, then we’ll go from there. Maybe this really is a ransom grab or an attempt to extort something out of Addy’s mother, and the kidnappers simply haven’t made contact yet.”
“Either way, we’re going to find those kids and get them back safely,” Rachel vowed.
Connor silently agreed. And while he liked the idea of working this with Rachel, he was concerned about how personal it was for her. She’d bonded with those kids while she’d been protecting them and had talked to them regularly ever since. That connection might be helpful, or it could make this job damn near impossible.
***
When Connor and his pack mates left the training building, he was surprised to see Kat leaning against one of the SUVs. She had on the same clothes she’d been wearing earlier, though he noticed they looked cleaner. Maybe she’d magically washed them or something. She’d definitely washed her hair. It was all shiny and blowing lightly in the breeze, and he suddenly ached to run his fingers through it. It was strange, part of him wanted to still be upset at her for not somehow letting him know she was human, while another part was just irrationally thrilled that this beautiful woman was here in front of him.
She turned to look his way as they approached, and his heart seized as his feet got a little tripped up in the gravel. She was so beautiful, it took his breath away. And rather than mute her scent, the shower had only enhanced it.
Connor threw a covert glance at his pack mates, wondering how the hell they could pick up her delicious cinnamon-spice-cake scent and not remark on it. But none of them were even reacting. He could understand Hale not smelling it, but Rachel and Trevor? That made no sense.
It was only as he stepped closer that Connor realized the feline part of the scent he’d picked up earlier was starting to fade, like Kat was settling into her human form and the cat part was disappearing. He’d never experienced anything like it.
“We have to head out on a call,” Connor said as he stopped a few feet in front of Kat. A part of him wanted to be completely up in her personal space so he could inhale that magical scent. But the other part was still miffed at her for leaving and making him worry, so he didn’t. “When I get back, we can figure out someplace for you to stay.”
Something that looked like hurt crossed Kat’s face. He replayed his words, trying to figure out what he’d said that had bothered her.
“I’ll go with you,” Kat said, looking at him with that slightly haughty expression she’d always displayed when she was in her cat form. Despite the feline scent fading into the background, she was still all cat, all the time. In retrospect, on some level, maybe he’d known she was Kat the cat from the moment she’d walked up to him in that basement in San Antonio and kissed him.
“You can’t come with us on a call,” he said.
She folded her arms. “I always went with you on calls. It never bothered you before.”
“That was when you were a cat,” he said, nearly growling as he realized Rachel, Trevor, and Hale were watching them with amusement. His pack mates were eating this whole thing up, weren’t they? “Things are different now.”
When Kat didn’t say anything, he walked around her toward the front passenger seat of the SWAT vehicle. With a snort and a shake of his head, Hale unlocked the doors with the fob in his hand, then headed for the driver’s seat, leaving Trevor and Rachel to take the back seats.
Ignoring the urge to look over his shoulder at Kat, Connor grabbed the door handle and tugged. It didn’t open. He glanced at Hale, realizing his door wouldn’t open either. His pack mate looked confused as he thumbed the unlock button on the key fob again.
Connor tried the door, but it still wouldn’t open. He was about to suggest Hale grab the keys for one of the other response vehicles when he realized his pack mate was staring at something behind him.
Kat.
Connor spun around to find her still standing exactly where she’d been a moment earlier, an expression on her face that made her look like the proverbial cat that got the cream.Shewas behind this.
“Unlock the doors,” he said.
She arched a brow. “How could I possibly unlock the doors? Hale has the keys.”
When he only scowled at her, she rolled her eyes and casually waved her right hand in the air. Behind him, he heard his teammates open their doors.
“Thank you,” he said.
Connor climbed into the SUV and buckled his seat belt. He was keenly aware of Kat standing there but refused to glance over at her. When Hale didn’t start the vehicle, he glanced over to see what the holdup was. Hale was sitting there with the keys in his hand, an amused look on his face.
