Blake let out a growl. That wasn’t good. There were certain herbs that could be used to disguise a shifter’s scent, like noscentium, and if the kid’s trail had abruptly disappeared, it was a sure bet that someone had made that happen. Scent trails didn’t just vanish, and the lion cub hadn’t grown wings and flown away. Someone had taken him.
None of the other people who’d disappeared had come back alive. If the same people were behind the kid going missing…
“What intel has been gathered from the previous disappearances? That might give us a starting point,” Mal said. “Who can we talk to? Local cops? Other security companies?”
Stef shook her head, glossy hair swinging. “They’ve tried. Nobody can get close. Anyone who tries is met with a wall of silence. It’s pretty lawless out there, and the locals are known to be hostile towards outsiders.”
“What about a ransom demand?” Dexter asked. “Michael Coffman—I’ve heard of him. CEO of Goldeneyes Property Development, right? Seriously wealthy. The most likely explanation is that someone’s trying to shake him down.”
Stef shook her head again. “Nothing yet. Given that his father is so wealthy, it could just be a matter of time, and they want the dad to sweat a little first.” She looked at Blake. “I’m debating right now if I want you to take lead or if I should pull you off the assignment altogether. This fated mate connection could screw things up completely or it could be our way in.”
Blake held up his hands in a “hold up now” motion. He needed to put a stop to this right now. “Stef, I don’t believe in that old wives’ tale, but even if there were such a thing, Krista Ellis is not… what Dexter and Mal are saying she is. Think logically. What are the odds that you’d assign me to gather intel on some random woman and she’d turn out to be… that?” He didn’t want to keep saying the words. It made them too real.
“Astronomically high, actually. That’s the whole point of a fated mate.” She smiled and fluttered her eyes at him sarcastically. He tried not to visibly flinch when she said the phrase. “Fate throws them into each other’s paths because they’re meant to be together. So here’s the thing. It is impossible for us to enter a place like the Zoo by stealth, and certainly not a tiny isolated little town like Flowering Dogwood. And we’re in a hurry. We could muscle our way in with a show of force, but then nobody would talk to us. The fastest way for you to get in and find that cub is to have Krista take you there—tonight—and introduce you as her fated mate. Because you are.”
Blake stared at his boss in astonishment. She looked so normal for a crazy person. But clearly, she was bonkers if she was suggesting this tactic.
“Why in the hell would she agree to that? And so quickly? We’ve never even exchanged more than a few words since…” He trailed off.
He’d never told anyone that when he first started following Krista, he’d saved her from a mugger. She wasn’t supposed to know that he existed.
“Since when?” Stef’s glare pinned him like a bug in a specimen jar.
“Yeah, since when?” Dexter demanded. “Did you do something to compromise op-sec?”
Blake could swear that Mal was humming “Blake and Krista, sitting in a tree” again, very, very quietly. When he looked at Mal, though, Mal instantly shut up and stared at him with big innocent eyes.
“Today,” he mumbled.
“Bullshit, but we don’t have time for me to do a full-on interrogation.” Stef leaned back in her chair. Use the connection between the two of you to get her to cooperate. Sweet-talk her, seduce her… whatever it takes.”
“When she finds out, won’t that totally ruin his chances of actually, you know, living happily ever after?” Mal interjected.
Everyone looked at him with surprise.
“What?” he said defensively. “A fated mate sounds kind of nice. No more chasing random pieces of tail. She’d just be… there. Waiting for me to get home. And she’d be all happy to see me.” He actually looked kind of wistful. Mal the joker. Mal the king of the cheesy pickup line. Mal the secret romantic?
“Doesn’t matter,” Stef snapped. “Blake, are you in or out? You say whatever it takes to get you into Flowering Dogwood. This isn’t just a job, this is a child’s life on the line.”
“I’m in.” He bit the words out, grabbed his file folder, and surged to his feet in frustration.
He knew from spying on Krista that she was a feisty, self-confident shifter and she was not going to just fall at his feet as soon as he crooked his finger. What if she said no? What if shelaughed? What if she was still part of whatever the hell was going on back there?
