Seven

Lainie watched as Rance pulled his shirt over his head, his muscles rippling, his abs pulled taut. She forced herself to look away before her panther urged her to take the man where he stood. She did not need these feelings right now, not with a killer still on the loose. To be honest, she didn’t need her panther’s stirrings, period, having made her peace with a celibate life. However, as Rance started to unbutton his pants and she heard the zipper sliding downward, she couldn’t stop herself from turning back around to watch as he slid his pants down his powerful legs, the material slipping over his ass as he faced away from her, his ass firm, full. Bite-able. Her breath caught in her throat as she jerked her gaze back around, away from where the detective stripped, ready to shift and track the assailant.

Oh god, it’s my turn. While shifters were quite comfortable being naked in front of others—it was part of their natural world after all—Lainie struggled to be naked in front of Rance right then. Who am I kidding? I’d be nervous being naked in front of anyone these days. It had been a long time since Lainie was naked in front of anyone and her last experience had not been a good one.

Facing away from Rance, she began to strip out of her uniform, the afternoon air caressing her bare flesh as her skin was exposed, her mind drifting back to Draven Falls and the cruelty she left behind when her parents tried to force her into a mating against her will. While the whole thing may have been great for her father’s business, the coupling was far from great for Lainie. Mark Strickland made it quite clear how things would go once the mating occurred, and to Lainie, it was a journey into servitude instead of a partnership. Mark was arrogant and insufferable, thinking Lainie owed him for bringing her family into the fold of the Strickland empire. It didn’t take long for Lainie to tell him where to stick his empire and followed Dimitri to Bull Creek, following the advice of Agatha Rochester.

Once Lainie was nude, she took a deep breath, ready to face whatever crack Rance would make about her body. Mark had made plenty, berating her for her curves. He was crude in his descriptions of her, and she had remained clothed ever since, even choosing not to shift since she left Draven Falls unless she was alone. Her concerns were unnecessary, however. Rance had already shifted and was busy sniffing the ground for traces of a trail. He’s either the only gentleman in the world or everything Mark said is true. Lainie sighed as she began the transformation from human to panther, her bones popping as her body stretched and melted from one form to another, the tawny coat of fur slipping from her flesh as claws slid out of her fingers and toes. The pain made her shudder and whimper, her tolerance diminished since it had been a while since she last shifted. The transformation was a mixture of pain and freedom. She sneezed once it was over, her feline catching a whiff of the pollen in the air she didn’t like. Once the sneeze was over, Lainie padded over to where Rance’s wolf sniffed around.

Well? She sent to him using the mindspeech of the shifters. Anything popping up?

He gave his head a hard shake, then lowered it back down to the ground. Might be better if you give it a go. My nose is used to city life. All these scents are too new to me to pick out what doesn’t belong, especially without anything really to go on.

Lainie couldn’t argue with his logic and set about sorting out the scents on the ground. She found Chet’s and Johnson’s, the Crime Scene Unit people, and even hers and Rance’s. Then she discovered Roger, tracking it to the edge of the clearing, but stopping before tracking it any further. They didn’t need to know where he came from, at least not yet. With her nose to the ground, she sniffed around the perimeter of the crime scene until she came across a scent she didn’t recognize, and it wasn’t the kid back in holding. Wait. No. There were two scents. She sniffed around some more, trying to pinpoint which direction they appeared and where they went. When she finally had a trail she felt confident about, she sent, This way. If they’re city kids like the last one, they won’t even suspect two animals on their trail.

Makes sense to me, Rance sent.

Lainie led the way, Rance right behind her, their paws snapping small branches and crunching on the dry fallen leaves. Lainie’s panther moved with lithe grace, weaving among the trees and bushes as she followed the trail she had picked up, while Rance’s wolf was more rambunctious, like a dog, excited to be out of a building and in the woods. With the noise he made, Lainie wished she had put him on a leash. She would have thought he knew better than to make so much noise in pursuit of an adversary. City cops.

The trail wound through the woods, the giant oaks and pines providing covering for the trail they followed, casting it in shadows. The leaves stopped crunching and turned more to a squish under their paws as they continued to follow the scent. Birds flew overhead as crickets sounded from their hiding spots in the bushes. Squirrels chittered their warning of intruders to any who would listen, displeased at the disturbance to their peaceful surroundings. In the distance, Lainie detected a slight hint of smoke in the air and slowed her pace, suddenly aware that even if they found the murderers, they couldn’t exactly do anything about it in their animals’ forms. They couldn’t even shift back. She was sure confronting the gang members in the buff wasn’t good for the report she would need to file. So much for being proactive.

Drawing closer to the smoke, she started to hear voices, at least two people, one seemed to be grumbling while the other told him to shut the hell up. Ease up, she sent to Rance. I think we’re almost on them. I can hear two, but not sure how many more there may be, so we need to be cautious.

Rance stepped up beside her, his tongue lolling out the right side of his mouth as he stared ahead of him. This is your area. I’ll follow your lead.

She gave a mental nod and eased further down the trail, the evening breeze brushing against her fur. The day was starting to be swallowed by night, the temperature dipping a little but not enough to be noticeable to a tourist. As she led the way toward the voices, they became more distinguishable. Definitely two voices, both male, young, and one was definitely not happy.

“I don’t get it, man,” the unhappy fellow whined. “What are we supposed to do. Knucklehead got his ass caught by a woman. The evidence is already with the cops, dude. How you think we going to get it now?”

She heard the sound of a lighter being flicked, followed quickly by the odor of propane and then cigarette smoke. Asshole. It’s too dry for that shit. Lainie eased to the edge of the path she followed. Parked between two giant pines, hidden from the main road was a clunker Lincoln, faded puke brown paint with a hard-shell top. The color was enough to ensure they wouldn’t be quickly noticed by a speeding car, which worked in the gang members’ favor. For now, anyway.

“Then we just got to get someone to get in there and get it for us,” the other man said. He seemed older than the first one, more or less the leader of the two. “Snake said get it, so we get it.”

“Did Snake have a thought as to how?”

She watched through her golden eyes as the second man shrugged, sticking the cigarette in his mouth, and taking a long drag, holding the smoke for a three-count, before blowing the smoke out. “These small-town cops don’t know shit, man. They’ll scare pretty easy enough. We just find the weakest one and use them to get us what we need. Hell, we’ll use their family if we have to, just to have fun making them do what we want.”

“And what about Jace? The cops got him in this stupid-ass town. We can’t leave him here.”

“Jace should have been smarter than to get caught then. Our concern is that video. Not some idiot who can’t kick a female cop’s ass.”

She watched as the younger of the two moved around the car, slapping at his neck at some insect he felt on his skin. “God, I hate this place. Too many damn bugs, man. Can’t we get a hotel or something? This is ridiculous to be sleeping in the car.”

The leader of the two sat on the trunk of the long car, his ankles crossed, one arm over his waist as he held his cigarette in his other hand. He seemed confident about not being discovered or at least unworried if he was. They always think they’re bigger and tougher than they really are, and if his impression of small-town cops was as low as it sounded, then he really underestimated her. She hated arrogance, people thinking less of her because she was either a female or worked in a small sheriff’s department, but it always worked in her favor. Their faulty impression of her made them overstep and slip up, making it easier for her to catch them.

“Then I suggest we hurry up and get what we came here for and then we can get back to Pensacola. Snake said we’re not to leave here without it, and I don’t know about you, but I’m not one to go against the boss. I’ve seen what happens to people who do.”

“Yeah, like that snitch we had to come out here and kill.”

“Shut the fuck up!” The leader shot up straight, swinging his legs off the side of the car as he glared at his partner. “Don’t be confessing to anything, even if it’s just us, you frickin’ idiot.”

“What? You think the trees have ears?”

“Yeah, well Snake thought he was safe as well, remember? But that dude we came here for recorded that video on him. So, yeah, even the trees can be narcs.”

“Fine. So how the hell are we going to get that video since Jace fucked it up?”

Lainie hunched down, her concentration on the exchange she witnessed. If these idiots spilled their plans, she could head them off and get them red-handed, putting an end to her case. She heard enough to know who to send Rance after once they had these morons in custody. At least, that was the plan in her head, but she should have known better. So far, her plans had gone completely awry with the appearance of Rance Culpepper in her life and the pull their animals felt for each other.

“Oh, that’ll be easy enough,” the older of the two gang members said, his lips twisted up into a sneer. “We’re going to catch that bitch sheriff and force her to get us inside to the man’s phone and anything else he had on him. Who knows,” he added with a shrug. “If she obeys nicely, we might even let her experience Serpent love at its best.”

That’s all it took for all hell to break loose. Rance’s wolf roared into the night, springing from his spot on the ground and leaping after the man who spoke, his mouth open, teeth ready to do some major damage.