“So, what did you want to talk about, if it isn’t…that?”
“I just wanted to make sure you understand that what happened to Davey isn’t your fault. And wearegoing to get her back.”
“Oh, I know we’ll get her back. I’m just not sure we’ll get her back alive.”
“You can’t afford to think like that.”
I blinked up at him. “I can’t afford not to. You know that. Or have all of your missing persons cases had happy endings?”
“I’ve only had one. Covington is not a large town. In fact, it’s actually shrinking.”
“And did you find your missing person?”
Austin held my gaze, but his forehead furrowed. “Yes. With a bullet through his skull.”
“Then you understand why I can’t afford blind optimism here. I need to prepare for the reality that’s actually in front of me, and there’s only one reason Cam Senet would take my sister.” I frowned with a sudden new thought. “In fact…” I motioned for him to follow me as I headed back into the front of the building.
“Tucker,” I said as I pushed my way through the swinging doors, and he looked up from his screen.
“Yeah?”
“Let’s think this through before they head back to Hideaway.”
“Never a bad idea,” he said, lifting his mug for a sip.
“It makes no sense for Cam to go after my sister.” It hadn’t occurred to me before, in my near-blinding fear and rage. “There’s no upside to that for him. If she survives, which is clearly his goal, we’ll know who infected her. And if she dies, we’ll never stop hunting him. So, there’s zero chance he expects to get away with this. So why would he do it? Why take such a high-profile target?”
“Opportunity,” Austin said, before Tucker could hazard a guess. “I’ve seen that before. Criminals make a stupid, risky move because when opportunity presents itself, they just can’t resist.”
“What opportunity are we talking about?” Bishop said, drying his hands with a paper towel as the men’s room door swung shut behind him.
“The opportunity to take Davey, when that was not in his best interest,” Tucker explained. “There’s no quicker way to bring himself to our attention, even if we hadn’t already been onto him, than by taking the Marshal’s sister. The surrogate baby sister to every cat in the zone.”
“You think we should call them in? All those ‘big brothers?’” Bishop asked.
“I think that would be chaos,” I said. “And it would dramatically lower the chances of us bringing him in alive, when we really need to question him.”
“Also, it’s against protocol,” Tucker pointed out. “They’re not employees of the zone or the Pride, and they’re not trained, so they dramatically increase the chances of bringing this to human attention.”
“I’m not trained either,” Bishop pointed out.
“Yes, but you’re already in the know, you’re directly involved, and you’re under close supervision,” I reminded him.
“Yours, or his?” Bishop glanced from me to Austin.
“Both,” we replied in unison.
“Okay,” Tucker said, pulling us back on track as I settled in across the table from him. “So, we think that Cam took Davey because, what? He just ran across her, randomly? Doesn’t he see her all the time, here? Why take her now?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “Maybe he knew we were onto him.” I shrugged. “If he thought he was going to have to run anyway, why not make off with everything he could.”
“Was he packed?” Austin asked. “When you were in his trailer, did you see suitcases, or empty drawers, or anything?”
“No.” I’d glanced in his bedroom after I’d found my sister’s bag, but nothing had stood out. “Maybe he didn’t know he should be on the run until he spoke to Davey. Maybe she accidentally tipped him off.”
“Maybe he could tell she was upset, after your fight,” Tucker said.
“Maybe, but she wouldn’t look to him for comfort. She knew he was our prime suspect.”
