by Crissy Smith
She enjoyed being in cheetah form.
She padded to the door, swiping her paw against the metal to scratch as a signal she was done. Immediately sunlight poured inside, and Jamie peered at her.
“Oh! Aren’t you just the cutest pussy cat,” he said with mirth.
If she was a lion, she would have roared at him. Instead she snapped before baring her teeth at him.
He only laughed in response. “Better watch out or I’ll show you mine.”
She wouldn’t actually mind seeing him as a bear. She bet he was fabulous. But the person she really wanted to check out was Zak. He could be triple her weight, and there was no question he’d tower over her. That power he held would be amazing to see up close and personal. While she might be faster, Zak no doubt would be able to out-leap her. She’d like to suggest they run together but there was something in Zak’s eyes when anyone mentioned his tiger that made her cautious. She’d seen a small glimpse of the powerful cat at their first meeting. That hadn’t discouraged her at all.
She jumped out of the back of the vehicle, purposely knocking into Jamie. She was proud when the man nearly fell over.
“Okay,” he told her, dropping down to his knees. “I’m sorry for teasing you. You really are beautiful. Brandy would love to see you like this. She wants to meet you anyway, but I’d be set for several months if you let her pet you. She’s never seen a feline shifter.”
Abilene cocked her head. She wanted to ask about Zak.
“Zak doesn’t shift. He’s never told us why but even Cody and I haven’t seen his tiger.”
Yeah, there was something up with Zak and his shifted form. She laid her paw on Jamie’s knee before dragging her long, rough tongue over his cheek.
“Ugh!” He pushed her off. “Gross.”
Her laugh was actually a short burst of chirping.
“That’s great!” Jamie said while he stood. “Please tell me you’ll let me introduce you to Brandy like this.”
She nodded, happy to agree. More people needed to become comfortable with shifters. The fact that Brandy was already with a shifter spoke volumes of her acceptance.
“Awesome! Brandy is very involved in shifter rights and works with her cousin in a charity for shifters,” he told her.
Lifting her long neck, she made a sound much like a whine. It was the way she tried to communicate.
“Thanks!”
She didn’t know what he was responding to but she didn’t mind.
“Cody just got a call from one of his teammates and we have two people inside. Commander Green is trying to talk to the suspects but they are growing more agitated. He’s worried they’ll start executing hostages soon to show they’re serious.”
She bobbed her head up and down to show she was ready.
“Come on.” He patted the top of her head.
It was obvious which agents were used to being around shifters and the ones who weren’t. Several rushed away from her only to peer back in curiosity and fear. If she’d had more time, she would have messed with them just a little.
Didn’t they know that they should never run from a predator? You’d think in this day and age that would be a lesson every department taught.
In front of her, the SWAT team stood in one line with their shields in front of them. The SWAT captain waved Jamie over.
“Does your shifter need anything before she starts to advance?” he asked.
Jamie looked down at her.
Shaking her head hard enough to make her ears flap, she answered for herself.
“I think she’s good.”
“That is so cool!” one of the masked men said in awe.
She opened her mouth in a wide yawn. Nervous laughter greeted the action.
“Stop teasing the humans,” Jamie told her, thumping her nose.
She chirped again to tell him she didn’t like that at all. He just grinned back at her. She was going to get him back once she returned to two legs, maybe even tattle on him to Brandy about how much Coke the big guy was drinking away from her.
“That’s our mark!” the SWAT captain announced. “Stay close together.”
Jamie crouched in front of her. “Cody is already in. As soon as that door gets opened, he wants you to take out the first suspect. There won’t be much time before they see the entry team and you get your chance. Still, once they do spot the cops, he could shoot the woman he has.”
She whined back.
“Your orders are to take him out by any means necessary. We’d like him alive, though.”
As long as the man didn’t kill anyone, Abilene had no problem with that.
“Good luck,” Jamie said with a pat to her rump.
She hissed back at him.
The team, dressed all in black, moved quickly across the street, but there was no movement from the suspects inside. Staying low to the ground, Abilene slipped under the cop car that was closest to the entrance. Jamie kneeled next to the tire where she could see him.
The moment would come fast. She’d have to use every second of her speed to get to the gunman. Keeping an eye on the door, she prepared herself to launch forward. From her position, she couldn’t see inside the building. SWAT was stopped just a few feet from the entrance. The front man held up five fingers.
Four, three, two— She took off. She streaked across the street at a speed that would have been hard to follow. The glass door opened only a second before she would have crashed through it.
Once she got her first step inside, her vision narrowed at the man holding the terrified young woman. She leaped at them, knocking into the two and throwing them to the floor.
The shifter had to let go of his hostage as he fell. Abilene clamped down on his right wrist, causing him to scream in pain. More commotion came from farther inside the bank, but Abilene couldn’t take her eyes off her target. The man clawed at her neck.
She growled, not releasing her hold. With the claws of her hind legs digging into his stomach and cutting him open, he was struggling, but was no match for her as a cheetah while he remained human. She wouldn’t give him a chance to change into his shifted form so she had to hold on tight.
Abilene finally let go of his arm so she could move her powerful jaws around his neck. He froze under her. She wasn’t surprised to recognize his sent as a fox. He hadn’t fought her like a strong shifter would have. Even had he transformed she’d have taken him easily.
“Coming up behind you.”
She didn’t respond to Jamie’s voice. Jamie dropped down at the guy’s head and took control of her prisoner. “I got him. Go ahead and release him.”
She complied, but wanted to give him a warning not to get brave. She growled deeply. Tears ran down his face to mix with snot from his nose. He was begging, chanting, “Please, please, please” over and over.
Jamie grabbed the guy’s shoulders and as soon as she’d stepped off, flipped him. She watched closely while Jamie secured his arms behind his back. Blood dripped from his wound to stain the white tile floor.
“Can you find Cody and check on him for me?” Jamie asked as he glanced up at her.
She chirped before taking off.
The entire building was crowded with law enforcement. Following her nose, she cut through the others until she reached the counter. Cody stood cuffing an older man while completely naked. Coming up behind him, she nosed the back of his knee.
He jumped.
She chirped in amusement.
“Damn it, Abilene,” he grumbled. “I would have expected that from Jamie, not you.”
She whined back at him.
He grinned. “Did you get your guy?”
She sat down and just stared at him. Was there any question?
“Good work. No one was hurt and we got all three suspects in custody.”
She was glad it had worked out. The burst of adrenaline hadn’t left her yet. She lifted a paw and swung it at Cody. Her cheetah wanted to play. He dodged her.
“Watch out for my sen
sitive bits,” he scolded.
Abilene gave him her best cheetah smile and stalked forward.
“No!” he ordered.
Huffing, she stopped. He wasn’t any fun.
“Agent Johnson!” A very young, uniformed police officer came rushing up. “Agent Ward asked me to deliver your clothes to you.”
He passed over a waded pile to Cody. Cody started to dress while Abilene eyed the officer, wondering if she could get him to run so she could chase him.
“Abilene,” Cody drawled out.
She gazed back at him.
“I’m all right. Go find Jamie and pounce on him.”
That worked. She butted her head against his hand before racing away. She kept her speed down so she didn’t scare anyone but ran through the opening. Lifting her face up, she scented the air.
Jamie had been there recently.
She started to track him toward the van. Just before she reached the end, someone grabbed her by the scruff of her neck.
“Cody warned me you were ornery,” Jamie said.
Hissing, she clawed at him.
“Shift so we can get back to the office. We have some more interrogations to get to.”
Abilene was going to have to teach these agents how to have some enjoyment. Luca would have taken the time to roll around and let her have pleasure in her other form.
She jumped into the van and waited until the door had slammed shut before transforming back to a human.
Chapter Twelve
Instead of one of the small interrogation rooms that Zak had expected to be led into, he found himself in the spacious conference room with a fresh cup of coffee. Since he hadn’t had any caffeine before leaving the house, he appreciated the gesture.
He wouldn’t let the frowning FBI agent know that, though.
Agent O’Bannon was one cocky Fed. He was also a shifter, although Zak couldn’t place what kind for the life of him. There was a swampy but fresh hint to his scent. Zak had never come across that smell ever. That just added to the mystery of what Zak was doing in the room. Already Zak was enjoying annoying the guy. With every move the agent made, Zak copied it. He was bored enough to enjoy the game.
O’Bannon still had not explained what he exactly wanted with Zak but was trying to come across as making small talk. Frustrated that he was missing the action at the bank and worried about his friends and Abilene, Zak was losing his patience.
“What do you want?” he finally demanded.
O’Bannon smiled. “I’m just waiting on my partner before I get started.”
“I don’t answer to the FBI,” Zak told him.
“Do you answer to anyone?” O’Bannon shot back.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he questioned.
“Shooting an ATF agent? That isn’t exactly standard operating procedure,” O’Bannon pointed out.
“What does the FBI care?” Zak challenged. If he had to answer for his actions from his boss or even the ATF he would. He was not about to let the Feds push him around.
“Well there is one FBI agent that cares a whole lot,” O’Bannon assured him.
“Ah.” Zak nodded. So Luca’s brother was trying to throw his weight around. Now this he understood. It wasn’t the first time that he had to deal with Feds during one of his cases. At least this time the federal agents were there for personal reasons. Zak hated when Feds tried to horn into one of his cases.
He leaned back in his chair and picked up his mug. “Must be nice to flash your badge and step into a case you have no jurisdiction in,” Zak taunted.
O’Bannon chuckled.
“I could make a complaint,” Zak said.
“Go ahead.”
Damn, Zak sort of liked this guy. Zak was a master at getting on federal agents’ nerves and this guy was just as calm as when they’d first sat down. Zak wasn’t getting to him.
“We could talk about something else while we wait,” O’Bannon offered.
“Sure, why not.” He was curious enough to see what the guy had to say.
“How well do you know Agent Fox?”
Pausing with his cup to his lips, Zak tried to hide his surprise. If the Fed could pick up on Abilene’s scent, that meant he knew her pretty well. A sudden burst of jealousy swamped him.
It was all he could do to remain sitting across from this guy. Abilene was his. He’d proved that the night before when he’d been buried inside her.
“Interesting,” O’Bannon commented.
“What’s that?” Zak asked, keeping his tone cool.
“The switch from amusement to anger so quickly. From what I understand, you just came off of a very lengthy operation. That doesn’t give you much time to already have formed such a strong bond,” O’Bannon answered.
Zak would have no problem showing this asshole a thing or two. It was unusual for anyone to be able to get under his skin so quickly. The spark in O’Bannon’s eyes was just another added insult.
Sending O’Bannon his best cocky grin, Zak winked. “I’m just that good, I guess.”
O’Bannon nodded as if giving Zak the point on that verbal spar. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m only curious. If anything happens, I’m the last person you have to worry about.”
“I’m certain that Abilene can take care of herself,” Zak shot back.
“That she can. But you haven’t met the entire Perez pack yet. Luca is the most laid-back out of all of them.”
“And your partner?”
O’Bannon snorted. “Sal? Oh, I think I’ll enjoy watching you two Alpha types go at it.”
Zak shook his head. “This could have waited. You didn’t need to yank me off a scene for this bull,” he bitched.
“Actually it was your boss’s idea. Something about not being able to get you to follow instructions. He thought a visit from the FBI might keep you out of trouble.”
That sounded like Commander Green. Zak probably gave his boss more trouble than any other agent. He got away with a lot. But the commander was good at paying him back when Zak least expected it.
“I look forward to it then,” Zak said.
Tilting his chair back, he made certain that he looked as calm and carefree as possible.
The conference room door banged open. The man that Zak had earlier pegged as Luca’s kin stomped inside with Luca trailing behind him.
In all the time that Zak had known Luca he’d never seen him with such a pissed-off expression. And that said a lot since they’d seen some shit together.
“Comfortable?” Sal Perez glared at Zak.
“About time,” Zak grumbled. “I was worried I’d missed my manicure.”
Sal growled deep in his throat before stalking toward him. “You think this is a joke?”
Zak dropped the chair down on all fours before slowly rising. Luca stood behind Sal with wide eyes.
“You pull me from a scene, make me wait and come in here all puffed up. Let me get one thing out of the way. I. Don’t. Work. For. You.”
“If you don’t watch it, you won’t be working for anyone!” Sal yelled.
Keeping his tone calm—and grinning on the inside—Zak said, “By whose authority? Yours? I don’t think so.”
“This entire organization is full of agents who disregard orders, have no respect for authority and who are downright crazy!” Sal exclaimed.
“Sal!” Luca sounded horrified.
“Hey, buddy.” O’Bannon held up his hands, coming forward.
Zak started to chuckle. Once he began, he couldn’t seem to control himself. Sal came up to Zak’s chin and he outweighed the Fed by a good fifty pounds.
Sal’s face was turning a bright shade of red.
“You need to calm down,” Zak managed through his fit. “Damn, you’re going to stroke out or something.”
“This is not funny!” Sal yelled.
“I can see that,” Zak conceded. “Just sit down and let me assure you that your brother is just fine. Our investigation will be concluded and all the bad guys wi
ll spend the rest of their lives in jail.”
“You shot Luca!” Sal accused.
Zak met his friend’s gaze over Sal’s shoulder. “Everyone keeps getting stuck on that fact.”
“I told him it was my idea but”—Luca shrugged—“he’s not listening to me.”
“Sit!” Zak pointed at Sal before strolling over to the mini fridge to get a cold bottle of water. He grabbed the plastic container to take back to the table.
Luca was trying to usher Sal into one of the free seats. O’Bannon was already sitting down while watching Sal. Zak set the drink in front of Luca’s brother.
“I understand how you feel. If I had a brother, I would be pretty pissed at him being shot, too. But you need to listen to Luca. He’s a good agent,” Zak told Sal sincerely.
Sal glanced between Zak and Luca but finally pulled out a chair. “I’m listening.”
The guy just wanted to protect his family. When Jamie had gotten kidnapped the year before, Zak had just about lost it. If it hadn’t been for Cody, he knew there would probably be several disciplinary marks in his record for the Phoenix PD. Instead, Cody had been able to rein in Zak’s anger.
As much fun as it would be to get under Sal’s skin, that wasn’t what Luca needed at the moment. Zak would try to get the older Perez to understand what was really going on.
Zak nodded to Luca to take a seat also. “Let Luca explain things before you go off. If you want to try to take me on after, I will be more than glad to meet you in the gym. It’s been a good long while since I’ve boxed.”
Sal visibly took a deep breath. “Me too.”
“Sometimes it’s what we need,” Zak said.
Luca smiled brightly. “Let me start from the beginning.”
* * * *
Stepping out of the small room, Abilene went to lean against the wall as she waited on Jamie. The shifter that she’d taken down earlier was probably the worst excuse of a criminal ever.
He did what he was ordered and only that.
Abilene couldn’t even get the name of the ringleader since he only spoke to his friends—same story as the last guy they had talked to. The main suspect was next door with Cody and Ryder.
“Hey.”
She glanced up and saw Zak standing a couple of yards away. And just that quickly her exhaustion eased. “Hi.” She straightened and pushed off the wall. “I heard you had some fun with Luca’s brother today.”
