“We went out for breakfast at Grandma Rosa’s Pancake House, and Damon went to talk with Mr. Falko. We only looked away for a moment, but when we turned around, they were both gone!”
“Shit,” Haben snapped. “Who’s Mr. Falko?” he asked as he flipped the covers off them and climbed from the bed.
“His math teacher,” Lou whispered.
“Ask them if they’re still at this restaurant.” Haben instructed his seemingly paralyzed mate.
“Are you still at the restaurant?”
“Yes,” Fiona answered. “The police are here. I’m so sorry, Lou!” the woman wailed.
Knowing the hysterical woman’s cries weren’t helping calm his lover, he gently took the phone from Lou’s trembling fingers. Haben lifted it to his own ear. “Fiona? My name is Haben Bello. I’m bringing Lou to you. I need you to take several deep breaths and work on calming down,” he instructed. “We’ll want to know everything when we get there.”
Not giving the woman time to answer, he disconnected the call and tossed the phone on the bed. He knelt on the bed and wrapped his arms around Lou. “Keep it together, my lover. We’ll find him. We know who wants him, so there’s little question of who took him. They’re taking him to that clearing Vivian mentioned. We’ll find it, then we’ll have grounds to get a restraining order. Kidnapping is a federal offense,” he pointed out. Tipping Lou’s head back, Haben took in the human’s dazed expression. “We will find him,” he said again, more forcefully.
Finally, Lou let out a shuddering breath and nodded. “Kay. Let’s go.”
He pulled away and strode to the bathroom. Haben let him go, figuring he needed a few minutes. Spotting one of his saddlebags on a chair in the corner of Lou’s room, Haben was grateful his buddy had enough foresight to leave some of his stuff. He strode to the bag, opened it and found his cell phone right on top.
He grabbed it and dialed Terence’s number. While it rang, Haben pulled clothes from the bag, finding jeans, shirts, and underwear. Damn, he really owed the lion shifter.
“It’s about damn time you called. Do you know Kontra and Payson have been riding hell bent for leather all night to get down here?” Terence snapped, foregoing a greeting.
“Shit, I’m sorry,” he said. Tucking the phone between his chin and shoulder, he pulled on his underwear.
“You better be! You have your phone so I’m assuming you—”
“Shut up for a second,” Haben interrupted. “I am sorry about that, but I have a new problem.”
“No surprise,” Terence muttered. “It never ends with you.”
Ignoring the comment, Haben went on. “Damon was kidnapped this morning from a place called Grandma Rosa’s Pancake House.” He picked up his jeans and yanked them on. “Lou and I are headed down there right now. Can you get Wes and bring him down? As an attorney, he may be able to put a bug in their ear about how he served Vivian with papers yesterday that said she had no rights to custody. In the cop’s eyes, that could be motive for kidnapping.”
“Are you sure you want that kind of heat on a lion shifter compound?” Terence asked dubiously.
Haben gripped his t-shirt tightly and grinned coldly. “Oh, I do. We need this done legally in human eyes, too, Terence,” he pointed out.
“Right. We’ll be there as soon as I can get hold of Wes. I’ll call Kontra and tell him what’s up, too.”
“Okay. See if Wes has heard of a clearing the local shifters use. Maybe he’ll know where that is.” It was a long shot. Haben’s own shifter pod had moved on. They were living in Montana, last he heard. He hadn’t really stayed in touch after his parents passed.
“Will do.”
After disconnecting the call, Haben tucked his phone in his pocket and picked up his bathroom kit. He turned and found Lou standing in the bathroom doorway, staring uncertainly at him. Haben waited until his lover put his thoughts in order.
“You’re coming with me?”
Haben crossed the room slowly, smiling his encouragement. Reaching Lou, he set his shirt over his shoulder and cupped the nape of Lou’s neck with his free hand. “Your problems are my problems,” he murmured. “There is nowhere else I’ll ever be but at your side.”
Lou sighed. His eyelids drooped to half-mast and he pressed into Haben’s touch. “Thank you.”
The heartfelt words sent a warm flush flooding Haben’s system. He dropped a quick, chaste kiss on Lou’s lips. “Get dressed,” he ordered gently. “I’ll be just a minute.”
After his mate nodded, Haben left him and headed into the bathroom to take care of business. When he got downstairs, he found Lou ready and waiting with two travel mugs full of hot black coffee. Haben took it gratefully, gulping a swallow and nearly burning his tongue off on the rich, bitter brew. Magnificent. He grunted appreciatively.
Not wanting his mate to drive in his traumatized state, Haben took the keys to Lou’s sedan, then helped him into the passenger seat. He followed Lou’s directions to the restaurant twenty minutes away. They spotted the police officers right away. A man and woman in uniform were speaking with a man, woman, and a boy who looked about Damon’s age, though a bit smaller.
Haben parked the car, gave Lou’s hand a reassuring squeeze, then followed when Lou hurried across the lot. He stayed by his mate’s side as he was introduced as the missing boy’s father. The detectives confirmed Lou’s where-a-bouts when the kidnapping took place, then they asked what Lou knew about Mr. Falko. The detectives assured him that he’d be questioned, but since no one had actually seen the man take Damon, they couldn’t just arrest him.
They even asked Lou if the boy could possibly have run away and not been kidnapped at all. That enraged Lou, and Haben held him close and crooned nonsense to him to calm him, getting narrow-eyed looks from the officers as well as Fiona and her husband. That started a round of questions about Haben and what he was doing in town. Haben answered calmly, explaining that he was looking into job opportunities in the area and had met Lou through a mutual friend. All true.
Once he was certain Lou was okay, Haben pressed a kiss to his temple and assured him he wouldn’t be far. Lou nodded. Haben knew his lover watched him walk toward the restaurant, and Haben hated leaving his mate during his time of need, but they needed information the cops weren’t going to give. He took in the scents of the area, finding plenty of fear, anger, confusion, and frustration.
The acrid stench of malice spiked Haben’s interest and he strolled around the building after the scent. He caught a whiff of Damon’s smell, having become familiar with it over the last couple of days. Inhaling deeply, he made out a second scent. Faint, but there. He’d smelled it at the lion compound. A lion shifter had definitely taken Damon.
The roar of several motorcycles caught Haben’s attention. He looked down the road and watched Kontra, Payson, Terence, and Wes drive up and turn into the parking lot. Striding across the parking lot, Haben crossed to where they were settling their bikes. As soon as the massive grizzly shifter set his helmet down, he pulled Haben into a big bear hug.
He tried not to tense, but his back really was still tender.
Kontra felt it and pulled away. Without a word, the man spun him around and lifted his shirt. Kontra grunted. “It’s healing.”
Payson snickered behind him. “I don’t know, boss. It kinda looks like he’s been putting a little undue stress on that wound.”
Haben glared at the jibing hyena shifter, but it didn’t do any good. Not that he’d thought it would. Payson continued to snicker.
“Just wait until you find your mate, Payson.”
Kontra’s deep soothing baritone settled something inside Haben. Yeah, pack was important.
To Haben’s surprise, Payson shrugged. “I already did. My hyena didn’t want her.”
“Her? How the hell did that happen?” Kontra replied, asking what Haben wanted to know.
The other man looked into the distance and frowned for a second. Then he turned and glanced between them. “Don’t know. She was cute, too. N
ice big tits and ass. Blonde—I like blondes. Scent must have been off though. My hyena lost interest after only one fuck,” Payson ended with a frown.
They all knew how powerful the hyena’s sense of smell was, but no one had ever heard of the human recognizing a mate and the animal saying no. Haben set his hand on the other man’s shoulder and squeezed, hard. “Maybe she wasn’t the right one. We all just kinda figured you were gay like us.”
That had Payson grinning. “Oh, I definitely like men, but a curvy woman will do in a pinch,” he stated with a wink.
“Well, I still gotta find Tim, so we’ll keep looking for yours, too, Payson,” Kontra reassured, slapping him on the back.
That piqued Haben’s interest. “Tim?”
Kontra nodded, his eyes taking on a sad gleam. “My mate. He’s here…somewhere,” he muttered. Kontra’s gaze wandered to the clouds, as if he was scenting the wind or searching the horizon.
Haben’s lower jaw sagged open, but before he could say anything, yelling from the direction of his mate had him spinning to look. Lou was glaring at the officers as he held back a clearly angry Wesley. Haben sprinted across the short twenty foot stretch and helped Lou get his aging friend under control. “Hey, hey,” he murmured, rubbing Wes’s back. “Easy there. This is hard on everyone.”
Once Wes stopped struggling, Haben released him and pulled his mate into his arms. Lou tucked his face against Haben’s neck, shuddered once, then straightened and turned toward the detectives. “Are you sure you couldn’t at least go question her?” he asked them.
The man glared at Wes and opened his mouth, clearly intending to refuse again. The female officer beat him to it. Giving Lou an understanding smile, she nodded. “Okay. We’ll send someone out to question her. It’s an understandable possibility.”
Haben wanted to roll his eyes at the officers, but controlled the impulse. He desperately wanted to tell them everything he’d overheard, but explaining how he’d been there, without the woman or her sort-of lover knowing, would be damn near impossible.
He gave Lou’s shoulder a squeeze. “Come on, sweetheart. Let them do their jobs.” They needed to get out of there so they could start their own investigation.
Lou glanced at Haben, his brows lifted. Haben gave him a smile and nod. Turning back to the officers, Lou held out his hand. “Will you please let me know the minute you find out anything?”
After getting assurances from Detectives McCoy and Robertson that the second they discovered anything they’d get in touch, they watched the officers walk away. Lou patted Fiona’s shoulder when she started another round of apologies. Lou stopped her with a hug.
As the couple and their son walked away, the boy muttered, “Why would our math teacher take him anyway? Damon is Mr. Falko’s favorite student.”
Haben paused and turned to the boy. “Hey, do you know Mr. Falko’s first name?”
The boy faced Haben and frowned, then answered. “I think it’s Edwardo or Enrique or something like that.”
“Ricardo?” Lou muttered.
The boy shrugged, then jogged after his parents.
“Who’s Ricardo?” Kontra asked, announcing his presence.
“Ricardo is Vivian’s lap dog,” Haben replied. He watched Lou turn toward the newcomers. His brows lifted when he took in Kontra’s massive six foot six frame, black, dusty biker leathers, goatee, tattoos, and silver-tipped, dark brown hair. Most people thought the hair was dyed, but the gang new better. It was natural due to sharing his spirit with a grizzly bear.
“Nice to meet you, Lou,” Kontra greeted, holding out his hand. “I’m Kontra Belikov, a friend of Haben’s. This is Payson Garcia.” He jabbed a finger over his shoulder at the smirking red-haired man. “We’ll help in any way we can.”
After swallowing hard, Lou took Kontra’s offered hand. “Thank you,” he said as his hand was engulfed in Kontra’s massive paw.
Kontra nodded, then let go. After introducing himself to Wes, Kontra glanced back at Lou then focused on Haben. “Where do we start?”
“Well, Terence said you were looking for a clearing the shifters use. Is that right?” Wes asked.
Haben nodded.
“What about Shallows Point?” Wes must have recognized the narrowing of Haben’s eyes as confusion, for he explained, “It’s a massive clearing tucked in the oxbow of a river. Great fishing and swimming.”
Haben searched his memory for the place and slowly nodded. “Okay. Is it in lion territory?”
Wes shook his head. “No. Just on the northern border.”
He looked at his mate. Lou’s expression was so hopeful as he stared back, nibbling his lip, that Haben prayed Wes was right. “It’s worth a look.” He turned back to Wes. “You’ll have to show us the way. I don’t remember.”
Chapter Eight
Lou twisted his fingers together in his lap. He stared through the windshield, his focus fixed on the motorcycles they followed. Haben reached over and wrapped a large, warm hand around Lou’s. Lou switched the grip to one hand and twined their fingers together, taking comfort from the contact. It was such a simple thing, but his pulse immediately slowed and a sense of calm permeated him.
They traveled north out of the city, trees and fields taking over the landscape. After twenty minutes, the motorcycle in the lead, a zippy little bullet bike ridden by Payson, turned onto a dirt road. The guy glanced over his shoulder and Wes gave him a thumbs up from where he rode behind Terence.
The car rocked and bounced over pot-holes on the gravel road. Lou grabbed the handle and struggled not to slide all over his seat. Finally, the motorcycles pulled off to the side and stopped. Haben followed suit. Lou looked around, but didn’t see a river or a clearing. When he stepped out of the car, he could definitely smell water though.
“It’s a ten minute hike that way,” Wes told them, pointing.
Terence and Kontra pulled off their leathers and switched their footwear. Payson started stripping, revealing a muscular frame. “What’s he doing?” Lou squeaked.
Haben cocked his head. “Shifting.”
No sooner were the words out of his lover’s mouth than Payson’s form began to contort and stretch. Bones cracked and muscles popped. A moment later, a large hyena with greyish-brown fur and reddish spots stood where Payson had been. It stood nearly four feet at the shoulder and was around six feet in length. The funny looking beast shook out its fur, then bounced around the others until Kontra chuckled and waved the creature away. It took off into the underbrush.
It wasn’t until Haben gently closed his mouth with two fingers that Lou realized it had been hanging open. “I’m hoping that us shifting is something you’ll get used to,” he murmured.
“Wow. How many kinds of shifters are there?” Lou whispered.
Haben shook his head. “Don’t really know. There are a dozen of us in our gang and we’re all different, then I’ve heard of a few other kinds in our travels. I suppose it’s entirely possible that there are as many kinds of shifters as animals, although,” he added with a grin, “I’ve never heard of a mosquito shifter.”
Lou chuckled, trying to imagine that. Just like that, his tension eased, which he knew was exactly what his mate had been trying to do. As they hiked, Lou took in the trees and plants around him. “Won’t Payson get lost?”
“Payson has a nose better than any dog,” Kontra assured. “He’s around here somewhere.”
Huh, was that normal? Now that he was gradually accepting shifters and their abilities, Lou had so many questions. He focused at Haben, who immediately noticed and smiled at him. Tentatively, Lou smiled back. At least he had his own amazing shifter who’d be able to answer all his questions. Damon’s, too, he thought, once they located him. And not locating his son wasn’t an option.
Suddenly, Payson bounded out of the trees and stopped directly in Kontra’s path and sniffed. The big man cocked his head, then crouched down. “We aren’t alone, are we?” The hyena shook his head. “How many?” Kontra asked.
To his surprise, the hyena scratched the ground five times, paused, then scratched once more.
“Does that mean six? Or five and he has a nervous tick?” Wes asked, smirking as only an old man could.
It took a second to answer, and the hyena repeated the move. Five scratches, pause, one more. Kontra nodded. “He scents six people. My guess would be he thinks five of them are together, and one is alone.”
“Damon. Is Damon the one alone?” Lou asked, fearing they’d left his son alone in the woods.
Payson immediately shook his head.
Haben wrapped an arm around Lou’s waist and squeezed. “They still have him. There just happens to be someone else in the woods. Whoever it is may not even be involved with this,” he pointed out.
“You might be right,” Kontra said. “We’ll proceed with caution.”
They headed onward for another hundred feet. This time Payson stayed close. The sound of rushing water filtered through the trees. Kontra led the way into a clearing, revealing a dark green river that ranged from six feet to nine feet in width. The rushing water churned over rocks, creating pools and eddies. On the far side of the clearing, some seventy feet away, stood four adults and Damon. Haben must have sensed his urge to run to his son and rested a hand on his shoulder to hold him back. Lou was barely able to make out the stranger’s words and craned to hear them.
“No, you don’t understand, Clayton,” Vivian was saying to one of the men. “We’re not here to fight.”
“Don’t lie to me, woman,” a brawny Caucasian snarled. “I’m not stupid. I’ve heard for weeks your plans to take over my pride. Who is this stranger you’ve been plotting with?”
It was then Damon looked around the clearing, maybe looking for a place to hide, maybe just because he was bored listening to the adults. Either way, the second he spotted them, Damon yelled, “Dad!”
“Damon!” Lou immediately called back.
At their shouts, the four shifters across the way turned around. “Is this him?” Clayton roared, stalking toward them. He grabbed Damon’s arm and marched across the clearing. “Which one is your father, boy? Who is Vivian plotting with?”
Spider Sense Page 6