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“Even you?”
She frowned a little. “Even me what?”
“Sometimes you suck?”
Her cheeks all but exploded with color, and he laughed again when she turned away, fighting back a smile of her own.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart,” he teased, throwing an arm around her shoulders and dragging her against him. Her skin was warm when he pressed a kiss to it. “Your secret’s safe with me.”
They leisurely wandered to the upper floor of the arcade, making note of all the games they wanted to try after they had something to eat, then they headed for the escalator down to the food court area. A group of teens was running around and shrieking with laughter, and Espie shot one of them a somewhat pointed look. He calmed down, but the others didn’t seem to notice.
Luther scented the kid as they passed. She was a shifter, probably a part of her clan. The others were all human, as far as he could tell. In fact, most of the people in the arcade were human.
They found Espie’s friends at the fifties-style diner at the far back of the building. Its booths managed to somewhat block out the noise, and Luther soon realized just how pervasive it actually was. He almost didn’t want to go back. Still, he could do this. He could put up with the madness for Espie.
As they approached the group, who had congregated into one circular booth together and were chatting amiably, Luther paused, taking note of an unfamiliar face among them.
A man: another shifter.
He yanked Espie back, and she looked up at him with a confused frown. “What?”
“Don’t you smell that?”
Espie angled her face upward so she could better scent the area, and seconds later, her eyes widened before darting over to the booth. “My God, why didn’t I notice that before? Jen’s new man smells just like –”
“A cougar,” Luther finished her answer for her.
“That fucking – I saw that guy trying to incite the crowd in front of Sammy’s the other day,” Espie said in an angry whisper. “He was passing out flyers for Willard. And I’m pretty sure he was also with Willard the first time I encountered him at A Cup of Beans.”
“I didn’t really want to say anything, but since I learned that your clan believes a shifter in Angel Fire must have killed those men, I’ve been wracking my brain on this,” Luther admitted. “I was going to tell you later that I was beginning to suspect that huge cougar might be a perfect candidate, since I know I’m not the culprit myself. I mean, he had even come all the way out to your family’s resort when a real cougar would never have done so.”
“You’re right,” Espie said with a nod. “You don’t think he’s the same one, do you?”
“I don’t know, Espie,” Luther commented dryly. “But I do find it interesting that a cougar just happens to work for Vesper – and that the two men who were targeted just happened to come from the two businesses that he and his environmentalist goons have been trying to drive out of town.”
“How convenient,” Espie agreed. “Maybe when he leaves, we should try to follow him. We might have just found a lead.”
“Be calm,” he urged, his hand tightening on her shoulder as he scanned the area. “Where is Maria?”
Surely Maria had scented the cougar, too. Unfortunately, the dining area was pretty full—not a surprise, given it was a Saturday evening—and the chaos didn’t help Luther find the she-bear shifter any faster.
“Luther, he has his hand on Jen,” Espie growled. “I want to break it in half.”
“Too many people here,” he muttered. His eyes flicked back to the cougar briefly; he was dipping a fry in a mountain of ketchup and laughing at something. “He won’t try anything…if he’s smart. I haven’t scented any other cougars, so it’s likely he’s here alone.”
“But there’s always the possibility that some of his feline friends might have also just got here,” Espie pointed out. “I want to talk to Maria, see if she’s noticed anyone else.”
Spotting her friend, Espie broke away from him and hurried over to her. Luther watched as the matchmaker paused, looking first at Espie’s alarmed facial expression, and then over to the booth. Maria must have been responsible for bringing the group some food because she was carrying a tray stacked high with burgers as she’d been crossing the room.
A tray that she gripped so hard her knuckles turned white. Her dark eyes darted to Luther, and he gave a fraction of a nod, wordlessly telling her that her senses were correct. He wasn’t sure what Espie had told her about their previous cougar encounter, but Luther was sure that Maria was capable of connecting the dots, and her expression seemed to mirror his own. She knew there was a predator among them tonight.
After she delivered the tray, Maria casually made her way directly over to talk to Luther, glancing over her shoulder to make sure the others wouldn’t hear what she had to say. “That is so weird. I’ve seen that guy a few times before, and just knowing he’s one of the activists puts me off him already. But how is it that until tonight I’ve never scented him? How is it even possible? Either he is or isn’t a shifter, right? I don’t get this at all.”
“Right!” Espie agreed with her. “But listen, we can’t let on that we know. Luther and I want to see if we can figure out what’s going on when he leaves tonight.”
“What are you going to do?” she asked with a worried frown.
“Just see where he goes, if he even leaves Jen’s side,” Luther said, shrugging. “For all we know, he might be going home with her tonight.”
