Xandi, make sure you lock the doors. You got me so hot and bothered I can’t remember if I did or not.
Hell, she’d barely been able to remember where her townhouse was, as turned on as she’d been while they drove along the crowded streets with Xandi’s fingers beneath her skirt, slowly stroking her very receptive clit.
Xandi? Did you hear me?
Xandi?
Dread curled, dark and potent in her gut. Keisha raced back to the front door and yanked it open.
Groceries lay scattered on the sidewalk in front of the steps. The rental car was gone.
So was Xandi.
“Ms. Rialto, you don’t know for certain it was Carl Burns who took your friend.”
“Who else would it be? The man’s been following me for weeks. You’ve got to find her!”
“We’ve got people working on it. If you hear anything, call me.” The burly detective handed his card to Keisha. “My cell phone’s the best way to get hold of me.”
The detective had been gone less than a minute when the phone rang. Keisha burst into tears when she heard Anton’s voice. She needed him with an almost paralyzing desperation. Needed both of them—Anton’s steady strength, Stefan’s quick humor and compassion.
After a short conversation, Keisha slowly set the phone back on the table. Anton and Stefan were already at the airport. Somehow, they’d heard her, somehow, in spite of the distance, they’d known something terrible had happened.
Her packmates were due to arrive in San Francisco shortly after midnight. They’d cancelled their morning meetings, left their luggage to be shipped later by the hotel.
They’d dropped everything to protect their women.
There wasn’t a thing she could do now but wait. Once more Keisha sent out a quick mental search for Xandi. Nothing.
Wrapping a faded afghan around her shoulders, she curled up on the end of the long couch. A heavy layer of summer fog settled over the city, muting the sounds outside, sending the afternoon into an early dusk. Keisha opened her mind, searching blindly for Xandi.
It was frightening, after so many months of sharing thoughts, to have no one answer when she called, but she kept her mind open, the plea to Xandi running in a steady litany, time meaningless, the silence oppressive.
She glanced at the clock over the fireplace. Almost seven. She’d been huddled here for almost three hours. The men would be in the air by now, completely out of touch. Sighing, she settled deeper into the soft couch, closed her eyes. Once more she silently called out.
Xandi? Why can’t you talk to me? What has he done to you?
Keisha? What…?
Stunned, blinking in surprise, Keisha leapt to her feet. Finally! Contact!
Where are you? You can’t be too far or we couldn’t connect! What happened?
I’m not sure. Someone hit me on the head. I’ve got a hell of a headache. I think I’m just now waking up. How long have I been gone?
About three hours. But where…?
Three hours! Shit…okay. Think. Smells like fish…near the ocean? I’m almost sure. I’m naked, handcuffed, tied and blindfolded. Other than a headache from where someone conked me, I’m okay. I don’t sense anyone else around. If I shift, the bindings might come off and…
Don’t shift! If it’s Burns, he’s watching you. I know he is. Anton and Stefan are on their way. They should be here a little after midnight…it’s just after seven. Keep your mind open to me. I’m coming to find you.
There was no time to consider, no time to worry if this was the right course of action or not. The fog was growing thicker, the night darker. She called the detective’s cell phone. Left a message that she’d heard from Xandi, though she obviously couldn’t tell him how. Tucked her own cell phone into a small nylon fanny pack.
Keisha took a deep breath. Damn, if only Anton were here! He’d know if she were doing the right thing. It was risky, but her senses were sharper as a wolf, her legs faster, endurance and strength multiplied. The fog would help hide her, but the risk of discovery was great.
Xandi’s life depended on Keisha. She had no other choice. Keisha could do things as a wolf she could never accomplish in human form.
She stripped her clothes from her body. Naked, pack slung about her neck, Keisha slipped out the back door, checked to make sure no one was watching, and shifted.
Within seconds, a wolf leapt the back fence, raised her head to sniff the smells of the city and, with the small black pack hanging loosely around her neck, raced in the direction of the mental touch she’d felt just moments ago.
Xandi blinked against the darkness, praying her blindfold would slip, wishing she could see something, anything that would lead Keisha to her. She’d lost track of the time but still she worried about her packmate. Every moment Keisha searched as Chanku put the entire pack at risk of discovery.
Xandi rubbed her face against her shoulder but couldn’t reach the blindfold, tugged at what felt like handcuffs holding her wrists but only succeeded in making her wrists bleed. If she could be certain she was alone, Xandi knew she’d risk shifting. It would be so easy to free herself.
No luck. I can’t move the blindfold. Keisha? What if you link, the way we used to do during sex? Then you’ll see what I see…if I ever see anything! We’d know if anyone was watching me and you might get some idea of how to get me out.
You’re too far away for a complete link. I’m nearing the Presidio, paralleling Lincoln, heading toward the Golden Gate…I just cut through the park. Your mental signal is growing stronger. Keep feeding me anything you sense.
Xandi opened her mind, absorbed the sounds and scents around her. She drew on her Chanku heritage without shifting, delving deeper into her basic wolven instincts.
Fear hovered just beyond. She refused to acknowledge its presence.
The scents grew stronger, the sound of water lapping nearby, the roar of cars overhead.
Overhead?
Keisha? Is there any place under a bridge or overpass where he might have me? I smell fish and hear water, but I also hear lots of cars going overhead.
Fort Point!
What?
Fort Point. It’s just at the foot of the bridge, an old military base. I’m not that far away and your signal is stronger in that direction. Hang on.
Xandi sensed his presence even before she heard the door squeal on its hinges. Her body tensed. He’s here. In the room.
So am I. Not physically, not yet. But I’m getting closer.
Xandi felt Keisha’s thoughts enter her mind, the strength of the link now almost a physical presence. She almost sagged with relief, but instead, she forced herself to sit straighter in the hard-backed chair and take a deep, calming breath.
“Who are you? Why are you keeping me here? I want my clothes, dammit!”
She sensed movement, felt the brush of fingertips along her cheek and immediately recoiled. Her heart pounded beneath her ribs.
“Who are you?” It was all she could do not to scream. Heart racing faster, breath rasping in her throat, Xandi reached deep to find a calm she didn’t feel.
It’s Burns. I can feel him. But what the hell is he trying to prove? Keisha’s soft mental voice tinged with her usual steel helped quiet Xandi’s pounding heart.
She felt the man’s presence, stronger, closer. Her Chanku senses heightened with the rush of adrenaline and she smelled him, the acrid odor of unwashed