“Fuck no! I usually just said I was looking for a special shifter,” Smokey said. “You know the drill. Don’t give any more details than absolutely necessary.”
“That’s why Panther thought you were tracking his mark.”
“Who’s he after?” asked Ghost, sitting down across from Glenn.
“A dragon shifter by the name of Alexandre Fouché. Riley is searching for him. While he’s doing that, I want you and Smokey to head down to Mexico and capture Panther. Here’s his location,” Glenn said, passing the information over to Ghost.
“What’s so special about that dragon shifter?” asked Smokey.
“Don’t really know. Riley can’t find him anywhere. All we know is he’s a trust fund baby,” Glenn said.
“Weird,” Smoky murmured.
Looking up from the documents in his hand, Ghost frowned. “A dragon with a trust fund? Doesn’t he have a hoard?”
“No idea…but I don’t think so. Usually the dragon’s credit cards are backed by his hoard and are linked to a bank that caters to dragons, but in Alex’s case, his cards are tied to his trust fund at a human bank.”
“It doesn’t make any sense,” said Ghost. “I never heard of a dragon without a hoard…how big is his trust fund?”
“According to Riley, this dragon has enough money so that he won’t have to work for several lifetimes,” Glenn replied.
“Now I’ve heard it all,” Smokey said, smirking. “Maybe this is the newest way…after all, hoards are a bastard to carry around.”
“Somehow, I doubt that,” said Glenn. “Having a hoard is part of a dragon’s DNA. Why this one has escaped the need for one is unusual, to say the least.”
“Maybe that’s why The Collector is after him,” mused Ghost.
“Could be, but I think there’s something more than that, but I won’t know for sure until Riley finds him. Regarding Panther…Riley is keeping tabs on him and will let you know if he moves from his present location. There’s only one road in and, Ghost, I want you to place some men along it, just in case Panther tries to leave. There’s not much cover so…”
“Understand…not a problem. All my men know how to become part of the landscape. Once they’re in place, Smokey and I…we’ll scale the cliff.”
“Once you have him in custody, shoot me a text. Be sure you bring back every piece of electronic gear you find there, along with any other stuff that might help us find out where The Collector is located.”
“Will do. What are you going to do about the dragon?” asked Ghost.
“Once Riley finds him, I’ll ride in on my white steed and rescue the princess.”
“Ahh…I think you got the story wrong, Sir Lancelot,” Ghost said, smirking at his friend, “especially the part about the princess. Remember, there’s a dragon in the story that can beat your ass any day of the year so I might recommend you refrain from calling him ‘princess’ to his face.”
“What are we going to do about Kevin and his parents? Something’s wrong…I can feel it,” Smokey growled.
“Noted,” replied Glenn. “As soon as Panther is locked up in one of Ghost’s cells, I want you two to head up north and see if you can find out what happened to Kevin’s parents. Riley hasn’t found anything on them or Kevin, so wherever they are, they’ve done an unbelievable job covering their tracks.”
“Which makes it all the more suspicious, cuz neither Kevin or his parents have any experience in covering their tracks,” Smokey muttered.
“Exactly,” agreed Glenn. “Which makes Kevin’s ability to evade even your skills unbelievable.”
“Unless The Collector has him already,” Ghost said. “And if that’s the case, it would explain why Panther is tracking the dragon and not Kevin.”
“The timeline doesn’t fit. According to Smokey, Panther was already hunting the dragon before Kevin went missing,” Glenn said. “Of course, there is a possibility The Collector hired someone else to grab the unicorn, but I don’t think that’s likely. If we look at the timeline, Panther was tracking the dragon long before The Collector went after my mother which is why he hired the goons he did, betting they could seize a female tiger without too much trouble.”
“Dumb move,” Ghost said, smirking.
“Yeah, he clearly underestimated my mother.”
“So if The Collector isn’t after Kevin, then why is he hiding?” asked Smokey.
“I didn’t say he wasn’t after him, just that I don’t think he has him, especially since Kevin’s parents are missing now also. Whatever is up, we need to find all of them and get them to the Blackwood Pack…at least until we figure it out. If it is The Collector, then any evidence you bring back from Panther’s house may provide the key in locating and killing him. Anything else?” asked Glenn.
