Shifter Town 3 - Big Cats Don't Purr (18 page)

“Why the fuck do we have to wait? Cutter’s here, he’s up to speed. The longer we just sit here twiddling our fucking thumbs, the more time that bastard has to kill Kinsey and hide her body.” He slammed his fist down against the rail a few times, trying to let off steam to keep his anger in check. Trying not to rip up the whole porch and heave it across the lawn.

“Brandt is working on getting us a plane.”

That stopped Rift. A Hound getting them a plane to go kick some lion ass? He doubted that. His gaze narrowed and Mace held up his hands. “They’re taking her disappearance very seriously.”

“Your father must have some major pull.”

Mace looked away and Rift grunted.

“What happens when we get there and a fight breaks out? Think they’re not going to turn on us too?” Rift felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and jerked.
Please God, let it be Kinsey
. He dug it out and hit talk, his hand shaking.

Mace jerked his hand, waving for Brandt, who was on the phone across the yard.

“Shit. We should have set him up for a trap and trace,” Brandt muttered, but Rift silenced them all with a jerk of his hand.

“Kins?” his voice came out hollow as he spoke into the phone.

“Close,” Dougal Slade’s familiar rumble came over the line and Rift felt his heart squeeze.
Shit, shit, shit.

“You son of a bitch, you hurt my daughter and I’ll kill you.”

Dougal laughed, a sound that sent chills down Rift’s neck and lifted the hair on his arms. “Now, now, Callahan. Let’s set some rules. I know you’ve contacted the Hounds. If there’s even a whiff of them, you know what will happen.”

“You even think about hurting her...”

Dougal tsked softly. A cruel, mocking sound that set Rift’s teeth on edge. He was going to rip this bustard apart with his bare hands.

“I will break every bone in your body, Dougal. You will definitely know the meaning of pain when I’m done with you.”

He was going to kill him. Even if Dougal never touched a hair on Kinsey’s body, Rift was going to kill him. Fuck laws. He’d call it a damned pride scuffle if he had to, but he would tear through the son of a bitch if it killed him to do it.

A growl rippled up his chest, choking out any words he could have said, and it was only the tight grip of Mace’s hand on his shoulder that kept him from bolting to a car and driving like a madman back to Cane Creek.

“How eloquent. But I’m willing to make a simple exchange. You for her.”

That implied Rift was stupid enough to believe Dougal would actually trade.

Not since the death of Emma, he wouldn’t.

Both Tavis and Dougal had made it perfectly clear that they considered the accident that had killed their sister to be entirely Rift’s fault. They’d hunted him for months before Rift had managed to disappear. No, they wouldn’t give Kinsey up.

They want to hurt him as badly as he’d hurt them. He’d hoped for years that they’d never have the chance, but apparently the time had come.

“It wasn’t my fault,” Rift whispered, “and was the last thing I wanted.” His throat suddenly dry. “If she could have walked away and left me dead, I’d have traded places with her.”

A growl was his only answer.

Rift closed his eyes, hating the way his whole body shook.

“I’d give your sister back alive if I could.” Shit, he hated begging. But for Kins he would do it.

“Yourself for your daughter, Callahan. Are you game or not?”

A shiver ran down Rift’s spine and he jerked. “I’m on my way, but I want to speak with her.”

“I don’t really care what you want.”

“And I have no reason to come unless I know she’s alive. So I will hear her voice or I’ll know that you’ve killed her and cut my losses.”

His heart squeezed painfully at the words. He’d do no such thing, but his voice shook with the effort to make it sound believable.

“I don’t think you will. I think you’ll take your chances.”

And this chance was enough to make Rift weak in the knees. “She’s dead then? Fine.”

Rift hung up the phone and pressed it into the rail, his whole body a knot of frustration and sheer, bloody terror. If Dougal didn’t call him back, or if he hurt her because of this little game, Rift would never forgive himself. Ever.

He stared up at the sky and struggled for control. His breathing came sharp and fast, and his lion was that close to breaking loose and ripping up anyone near him. He heard someone moving over the grass and jerked his attention toward the sound, a snarl ready to rip out into the night.

Sawyer stood on the lawn, her face pale. Her gaze darted to his phone and then up to him. She nodded. “He’ll call back.”

“I sure as hell hope so,” Rift whispered.

He watched as she crossed the lawn and walked up the steps to stand at his side. Her hand slid over his arm and down to hold his wrist. Sawyer leaned into him. “He will.”

“What are you doing here?”

A sad smile slipped over her face. “We have a lot to talk about.”

Rift watched as she glanced out at a red-haired woman with a baby in her arms talking to Brandt. His gut told him she was another Hound. The woman looked at Sawyer and smiled. But before Rift could ask, the phone buzzed in his hand. He jumped, but Sawyer held him steady.

“Answer. But don’t let him know I’m here. Don’t let him know you have a pride now.”

He blinked at her. How did she know?

The phone vibrated again and Rift took a deep gulp of air and answered. “What, Dougal?”

“Dad?” Kinsey’s voice sucker-punched him and he swayed. Sawyer stiffened beside him. She bit down on her bottom lip and pressed her head into his shoulder, but she didn’t move away. She stayed close enough to listen. Rift leaned his head against Sawyer’s, relief flooding him.

His kid was still alive. They had that much, at least. Tears burned at the back of his eyes and a roar built in chest, but he held himself together. Forced himself to speak.

“I’m right here, Kins. Are you okay?”

Kinsey gave a small huff and Rift could imagine her rolling her eyes. It almost sounded normal. “I’m fine,” she said, but her voice quavered and then, “Hey!”

Dougal’s sharp voice cut over the line. “Happy? She’s unharmed, just pissy as hell.”

Rift didn’t even realize he was growling until Sawyer’s hand tightened on his wrist. Her lips found his neck as she gently kissed her way up to his jaw.
Relax, big guy,
he could almost hear her in his mind. Soothing.

He leaned into her touch. Allowed it to be his strength.

“You have a deal. I’m on my way. Me for her.” Rift said and hung up.

Cutter looked up at him, Mace beside him. “Brandt said the plane should be ready in a half hour. All we have to do is get to the runway.”

Thank God.

Rift looked at Sawyer.

Her soulful brown eyes met his and she smiled. “I’m coming with you.”

“I’m counting on it.”

“We’ll talk on the plane.” Her voice sounded a little hoarse as she pulled away. She shook hands with Brandt, then turned to the red-haired Hound. “You need a ride to Mel’s?”

The woman shook her head. “Mel’s already on her way. Don’t worry about me.
You
stay safe. Ollie is going to be bummed about the change of plans.”

Sawyer smiled. “I’ll come visit.”

“We know you will. Go get that little girl. Brandt’s going with you. His pack will have your back.”

It was a show of friendship Rift had no idea how to interpret. But he seemed to be the only one here who found it odd. None of the Reyeses seemed to give it a second though as the two women shook hands and Sawyer leaned in to kiss the baby’s forehead.

Obviously the friendship between the Reyes family and the local Hounds ran deep.

Rift had never heard of anything like it.

“I’ll drive,” Cutter said, jerking Rift’s attention back to the task at hand: getting to the airport. “We’ll take Mace’s Explorer. There’s enough room for all of us, though Brandt will follow in his car. His pack should be meeting us there.”

Mace lifted his eyebrows. “My car and you’re driving.”

“I’m the one with the lead foot.” Cutter cracked a grin, but the teasing felt forced. More for Rift’s benefit than theirs. He appreciated it, though. For the first time, he felt like he had people at his back. Sawyer. His new partners.

“And ironically the one with the fewest speeding tickets.”

“I’ll grab the keys.” Mace started for the door. “Just give me a sec.”

Rift found himself staring at Sawyer again. She angled her head and looked up at him. The brief smile that flashed over her face held an emotion he didn’t recognize. Then the same stark fear that clutched at his heart.

But at least Kinsey was okay, he reminded himself. He almost smiled to himself at the thought of her giving them hell.

“Ready?” he mouthed and Sawyer nodded, looking every bit the warrior woman who had rescued his daughter in the first place. God, he owed her so much.

Rift found his way to her side, just as she turned back to the Hounds in front of her.

“Make yourself at home. Dad won’t mind. And tell Kanon and Tegan I said hi.”

“I will.” The woman looked at Rift. “Watch over her for me.” She winked at Sawyer and headed for the door. Brandt turned to fiddle with his car.

Rift nudged her gently. “Your family is chummy with the Hounds.”

For a moment Sawyer stiffened next to him, then her hand found his and she squeezed. “It’s got a story to go with it. One I’ll tell you on the way. Whose car we taking?”

“Mason’s.” Rift turned just as Mace appeared on the front porch and tossed his keys to Cutter. Cutter plucked them out of the air and spun.

“Let’s go, people. Got a kid to save.”

“Still can’t believe they got us a plane,” Rift said as he followed his new partners to the car, Sawyer at his side.

“There’s a lot you’re not going to believe.”

She slid into the back seat next to him and the look in her eyes told him it was going to be a long night. Not that he’d thought for one second he could sleep on the plane anyway. Not with Kinsey at stake.

White-knuckled, Rift dragged himself into the car next to Sawyer.

They’d be arriving as soon as possible. Rift just hoped it’d still be soon enough.

Please let her still be alive.

***

Sawyer fiddled with her seatbelt, her hands shaking. She didn’t even know where to begin. But Lennox had been right. She’d already fallen too much in love with Rift to walk away, and he’d found the loophole Sawyer had been craving. “You teamed with my brothers,” she said softly into the dark confines of the car.

“Your father tried to put me in witness protection, though I’m beginning to think it wasn’t just your dad.”

“It was me.” The confession came soft. “It was the only way I could come up with a way to keep you and Kinsey safe.”

Her concern had been more for Kinsey than Rift, though. Rift had done just fine on his own for years, but Kinsey had deserved more than a rogue life. She lifted her gaze to Rift’s. “I never pegged you for a pride male.”

The snort that came from him was fast and sharp. “I’ve never
been
a pride male. But I’d never been a father, either, or found a woman I wanted to keep.”

Sawyer felt the meaning in those last words, an intense connection that stretched between them. Two hearts bonded together, despite the fact that she’d tried to walk away.

Rubbing her face, Sawyer glanced out the window. There was no better place to begin than the beginning. “Did you ever hear of Caesar Torres? The Hound that went rogue, killed a bunch of people, and tried to pin it on lions?”

“I heard about it. It was on the news. Boulder Pride was his target.”

Sawyer shook her head. “Not originally. Just my half-brother. Kanon. Lennox, the woman with the baby you saw? She was the Hound sent to bring Kanon in for beating up a Hound. He and his partner talked her into listening to his side of the story. Turned out, he was innocent. Being set up.

“Then people started dying and Lennox went on the run with them. When they landed in Colorado, Torres widened his target area from one Reyes to all of us.”

Rift stayed quiet, and she could feel his gaze on her, even if she couldn’t bring herself to look at him. Most lions hated Hounds. Would he understand where she was coming from? What she’d done? Why she’d left?

“He took Rulon first and tortured him. Dad told all of us to stay inside, locked up tight, but when Gilly ran outside, I went after her.”

A harsh sound slipped between his teeth and Sawyer couldn’t help but peek. She could see the fear simmering in his eyes, the anger. She gave him a small half smile.

“I didn’t get hurt. He took us, but he already had captured Lennox and a friend of hers. Lennox had managed to get loose, and she protected us, helped us get away. In the end, even though Torres had been a friend and her alpha, he tried to kill her. My half-brother’s partner ended up killing him to save the woman they loved. But Lennox was the one who saved me, and Brandt was the one who had her back. That day, Shifter Town Enforcement saved
our
lives.”