Page 10 of The Enforcers: KANE

But what was he doing here? She had never been so shocked as when she’d seen him appear out of the dark. Trying to protect her, like the old days.

She shook her head. She prayed he wasn’t part of Selina’s gang. She’d hoped, when she heard he’d left that psychotic bitch, that he’d be strong enough to stay gone. That somehow, he’d manage to rip her claws out of his brain.

Because if he hadn’t, all this would be for nothing. All these years she’d protected him from the Agency, from the Council, from everyone. She was the only one who knew that Kane Colton had once been part of Selina’s gang.

But if he’d thrown back in with her, he’d go down with her too. Rachelle couldn’t be the one to make that happen.

She felt a prickle down her spine—a warning that there was someone nearby who didn’t belong. She looked out the window, then walked to the front door and slipped out onto the darkened stoop, keeping close to the house.

She didn’t have the senses of a wolf, so her sense of smell could tell her nothing. But she could feel that someone had been here, disturbing her space.

A little way down the street, she heard an engine start, and a vehicle drove off.

Thoughtfully, she went back into the house. She dug her second cell out of the hidden pocket in her purse and pressed a button.

“Carmichael here,” came the voice on the other end.

“Raven,” she said, as if he wouldn’t know. She hesitated, but she had to say it. “I think I might have been made tonight,” she said.

“By who?” Carmichael asked. She could hear the concern in his voice. If Selina found out Rachelle was there in Idaho—and who she was working with—it could blow the whole operation.

“Someone from Selina’s old crew,” she said. “I’m not positive it’s him; it’s been a hell of a long time. And I only caught sight of him in wolf form, in the dark. But I thought I needed to warn you.”

“Hmm,” Carmichael said. The silence grew deeper. Finally he spoke again. “Everyone from Selina’s old crew is dead,” he said. “Except one.”

“Are you sure?” she said.

“Yes.” His answer was clipped and definite.

Shit. That meant the only one who’d made it out was Hunter. She’d never really wanted to believe that, but the Agency’s intel was rarely wrong.

“Are you telling me he showed up at the casino?” Carmichael asked. She heard his frustrated sigh. “Damn. He must be working with her after all.”

Rachelle hesitated. She wanted so desperately to believe he wasn’t. “I don’t think so,” she said finally. “I didn’t get that vibe.”

Carmichael made a noncommittal noise. He didn’t entirely trust her “vibes,” although they were the strongest sense she possessed. As a genetically modified shifter, her powers were unique and unquantifiable—which made scientists like Carmichael nervous.

She added, “He seemed like he was trying to protect me. A drunk came after me in the parking lot after my show. He had a knife. And the next thing I knew, this shifter wolf came out of nowhere and ran him off.”

Carmichael said, “Could be a setup. To make you trust him.”

He had such a devious mind.

“Maybe,” she said. “Except he didn’t wait and talk to me afterwards. As soon as he realized I knew who he was, he ran. Why would he do that if he was trying to impress me into trusting him?”

Carmichael snorted. “Are you trying to tell me this is just a random coincidence? Because that’s even less believable.”

“I know.” Her and Kane being accidentally thrown together after all these years did stretch the bounds of credibility.

“Well, find out what he’s up to,” Carmichael said. “If he’s working with Selina, I want to know it—and I want to find out what he knows. If not—well, he’s the only male shifter who’s ever rejected her influence, that we know of. Even if she’s managed to suck him back in, it would be worth studying him so see if there’s anything in his brain patterns or genetic makeup that can resist the type of mind tampering she’s capable of. She’s a huge danger, if she gets her hands on the wrong people.”

No kidding. If she could manipulate her way through casino security guards, what would happen if she got near the Shifter Council? Rachelle shuddered.

“Oh, and another thing,” Carmichael said. “We’ve learned the Council now has the same suspicions we do about where Selina may show up next. They’ve hired some extra Enforcers to work undercover at the resort. Be careful to keep out of their way. The last thing we want is to get on the Council’s radar.”

Right. Rachelle signed off and hung up the phone. So she was supposed to walk a tightrope between Selina’s gang, Carmichael, the Council and their Enforcers, and a man from her past who stirred up emotions she hadn’t felt in ten years.

Awesome.