“Damn.”
“Yeah. Within twenty four hours, this whole thing has gone to Hell and Kanon is being set up, I can’t trace the murderer, and...”
Both men had sobered, picking at their food. Shit. Lennox groaned and took a step between them, not knowing who to go to first. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“Not your fault,” Kanon said softly. He swallowed another piece of sausage. “I’d be dead if it weren’t for you.”
Melody passed them each a piece of toast, butter dripping over the sides. She licked her fingers clean, but her eyes were warm with sympathy. “They were friends of yours?”
“Yeah,” Tegan said.
They finished their meal in silence, Lennox not knowing how to fix it. Not sure if she even
could
fix it. She helped Melody clean up the plates. Kanon moved first, sliding off his stool to set his cup in the sink. “Where do you want us to stretch out?”
“Uh...well, I have one guest bedroom.” Her gaze slid to Lennox. “Lennie can bunk with me, so you all can split the spare bed and the couch.”
“Shame,” Kanon murmured, reaching a hand out to brush his knuckles down her cheek. Lennox just stood there, breath caught in her throat, as his touch skimmed all the way down her neck. “Thought you were bunking with us?”
He flipped her off. “Or was that not an invitation?”
He tried for a smile, but it fell short of real. There was too much pain, too much hurt in his eyes. Not knowing what else to do she gave him a shove. “Go you. Divvy up your sleeping spots.”
“Actually,” Tegan passed her a cup and snagged Kanon by the back pocket of his jeans. “I think we’ll bunk. Wanna show us this room?”
“You are
not
sleeping together.”
Kanon wrapped a hand around the back of her neck and kissed her forehead. “Don’t worry, we won’t do anything fun without you.”
She slugged him as Melody rocked back on her heels and laughed. “First door on the left when you go down the hall.”
Lennox turned to protest when Mel caught her by the arm. “You and me outside. Where we can talk in private.”
Mel flashed them both a wink, then dragged her out the sliding glass door. Cool night air whispered over her skin. Crickets chirped from the lawn as Mel dragged her over to an old wooden swing. Lennox flopped back into it while Mel climbed up, tucking her feet under her. “You like them.”
“Don’t start.”
“They’re
hot
.” She didn’t have to look at Mel to know the dog was grinning. Lennox pushed off with her heels, sending the swing rocking, and stared up at the stars. Mel’s smile widened. “Really hot.”
“Half the men on the planet you think are hot.”
“You know that hunk I mentioned?”
“My case in point.” Lennox couldn’t help but laugh.
Mel, bless her heart, but she loved boys like they were candy. And with a dancer’s body and her personality flair, she was good at catching them. Lennox did stable men. Hot didn’t really enter her equation much until she’d established jobs, their criminal record, and what was under their skin. Lion was pretty much an instant disqualification in her last category.
She didn’t even know what Tegan and Kanon did for a living. Were they missing work? Did they even
have
jobs? Her stomach got queasy just thinking about it. Melody laughed. “Chillax, girl. You look ready to puke.”
“I don’t even know if they have jobs.”
Mel leaned against her. “My guy is a lion. He flirts with everyone but me, so I know he likes me. He just doesn’t want to admit it.”
“Ah, Mel.” Lennox didn’t want to see her get hurt.
“He’s a Reyes.”
Damn. “Tell me more.”
Melody gave her a look that told her she was crazy. “Come on, Boulder Pride. Gaston Reyes.”
That
Reyes family? They were one of the biggest lion prides in the country. Five or six pride males, all related. Their turf covered pretty much half the state. Lennox closed her eyes. Shit. Territory lines. They had to be close if not already trespassing, for a Hound it wouldn’t matter, two more male lions? Oh, yeah. Melody caught her before she could bolt to her feet.
“We’re about a half hour outside of Boulder Pride’s turf. There’s a splinter pride just starting a little above it, so I don’t recommend you cross Main Street. But you’re good right here.”
Lennox blew out a breath, her hand pressed to her chest. “Good. I didn’t bring them here to get them killed.”
“I bet not. You can’t have fun with them if they’re dead.”
“Seriously?”
“Come on, Lennie. Anyone with eyes can see you have the hots for them both, they both have the hots for you, and they both look more than willing to try a ménage a trois.”
“They liked you.” Lennox had seen their burning stares, heard the male chatter about short skirts and the gruff appreciation in their voices. She didn’t have that. Melody was lean, slender. She had a dancer’s body and grace. She also oozed sexuality when it came to men.
Lennox, on the other hand, she was built more like a tree than a woman. Solid, sturdy, that about described her. She had some hips, had some tits, but she wasn’t exactly the kind of girl to garner attention. So far, she hadn’t had much competition and she amused them. Put Melody in that room though and Lennox shook her head. She didn’t stand a chance.
“Oh girl, please. I’m flouncing around in a four inch mini skirt.” Melody bounced off the swing and pointed to the leather skirt. It
was
small. “Look at this. You going to blame them for looking? With me in hooker heels no less?”
A smile stole over her face. This was why they’d been friends for so long. “I love you,” Lennox said with a laugh. “Fine. I can’t blame them.”
“They looked at me for all of five seconds. After that, honey, they were looking at you. Why I don’t know, they break some rule and you’re toting their asses off to jail.
I
could care less. Shit, I’d have already fucked them both. At the same time.”
“In twenty four hours, with three murders?”
Melody grinned. “True. I’ll give you that, but I wouldn’t be on this back swing gabbing my face off if I thought I had a chance.”
She gave the sliding glass door a pointed look.
That was
not
going to happen. Lennox shook her head. “So what happened to Tony? Thought you two were hot and heavy. He was good looking.”
“You say that ‘cause he was a ridgeback.” Melody snorted. “But fine, he was decent.”
“I probably should have dated him.”
“No.” The harsh bite to that word startled her. Mel had never been the type to get jealous. She dated and dropped them like the latest fads. She didn’t care if Lennox made jokes about stealing them out from under her nose. Half the time Mel
tried
to pass them off on her.
Lennox glanced up; Mel rubbed her shoulder, staring out over the garden. Her lips were drawn back in a tight grimace. “He hurt you?”
Melody shrugged. “I left him. Gary won’t let him in the club, so I don’t really worry much. He’s leaving me alone.”
“Shit. You should have told me.” Lennox stood and wrapped her friend in a hug. “I’d have come. I’d have kicked his sorry ass.”
That drew a small laugh from Mel. “Yeah, you would have.”
Lennox squeezed her tighter. She’d have done more than kicked his ass. She’d have seen Tony out of Shifter Town Enforcement altogether. Hell, she might have even fed him to a lion pride. If she hadn’t managed to completely ruin her career by the end of this, she’d make his life miserable.
She pulled away, hands on Melody’s shoulder as she looked her friend in the eye. Mel looked okay, a little hurt still, but okay. Lennox should have known. She’d set them up. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. He was nice in public and even in private for awhile. He just didn’t like playing second fiddle to my job and didn’t enjoy me flirting elsewhere, regardless of how I earn my tips.”
He also probably hadn’t liked her strip-teasing either. It took a special kind of man to let his girl strip, but it wasn’t just a job for Mel. She loved it. Lennox gave her shoulders a soft squeeze before letting her go. “Bed?”
“Yeah. You can bunk with me or take the couch. Though the guest bed is a Queen. Bet you could fit three.”
She couldn’t help but smile. “I’ll take the couch.”
“Chicken.” Melody tossed an arm over her shoulders. “Just wait, you’ll cave.”
***
He’d lost them. He couldn’t fucking believe it. Furious, he whirled on his car, his fist denting the hood. They’d beat him back to his last victim, that much was clear. They hadn’t even informed the Hounds that time, they’d just split and ran. Cowards.
He snarled, the dog inside him scrambling to get out, to get away from him and he beat it down. They wouldn’t escape that easily. He’d worked too hard for this, and she was too good at her job. If he didn’t spook her bad enough soon, she’d find a way to scrape up clues. She’d find him.
Jerking open the car door, he snatched his cell off the dark gray passenger seat and dialed. He snarled as it rang. Restless, he paced in short, choppy strides back and forth in front of his car.
“Hey handsome,” a woman’s voice said over the phone. “You almost done out there?”
“I need you to run a number for me.”
She tsked. “Good thing you called a genius. Give me the digits.”
Just hearing her settled him, eased the anger roaring in his gut. He sighed and leaned back against the door. She wasn’t going to like this, but he relayed the number. There was a pause on the other end. “This is...”
“I know who it is.”
She wouldn’t like him tracking
her
. She’d think he was being disloyal, not trusting, but she didn’t have a clue. Keys clicked over the phone as she typed. “Safety, Colorado.”
Colorado? Why the fuck had they gone to Colorado?
Safety
. He held back a snort.
“Details,” he snapped and snatched paper and pen out of the glove box, jotting the address down as a snarl rippled in his throat. He beat it back. No anger. Not on the phone. She’d get too curious, start asking questions, then soon the whole pack would know and everything would be fucked.
“Think she’s in trouble? You want me to tell—”
“No.” He hung up before she could say anything else, his attention glued on the address scrawled over the legal pad. So Lennox thought she was safe with the monsters. He snorted. Digging a map out of the glove box he shook it out and checked the location. Right outside Boulder Pride territory. Ballsy.
The pen tapped against the notebook on the hood of his car. This might actually work better. Kanon had been the easy Reyes to target, and now to have him just outside Boulder Pride turf... if he were careful, he could make this look a hell of a lot worse than a single lion gone wrong.
If the whole of Boulder Pride looked like they’d lost it...
Delight swirled through him, and his lips curled into a wicked, satisfied grin. Oh, this was too rich right here. The Utah Hounds barely knew what hit them; they were still trying to pick up the pieces. As for the Colorado Hounds, they barely had any standing at all in the state. Shifter Town Enforcement there was small, worthless under the sheer presence of the Reyes lions... They’d never have a chance to keep up with him. They’d be too busy chasing their goddamn tails to get a clue.
He didn’t know why he hadn’t thought of it before. Kanon had been easy prey, a fallen lion he could have milked for all it was worth and if everything had gone perfectly...completed his plan. This though, this was perfect. A delighted shiver darted down his spine as excitement curled through his gut. How many would have to die before she accepted the truth? Before the world accepted the truth?
As many as it took.
He’d have to watch the media, see how they played it. He’d need more than just the few scraps of lion mane to help build the evidence, but then again, there weren’t many other shifters around the pride’s turf, he wouldn’t have to steal it off one in the holding cells…this time he could nab himself a lion to really leave some evidence.
It was almost too perfect.
Oh, it wouldn’t be easy. But if he did it right...
Anticipation curled his lips into a predatory grin. Yes, if he did it right, the whole country would be up in arms at the beasts they’d let live loose for so long. He reached up and touched the pendant hanging around his neck.
“Soon Arianna,” he murmured. “Soon baby girl, they won’t be able to hurt anyone else. Just like I promised.”
Spread out over the couch she looked fantastic. Kanon swallowed as Lennox cuddled deeper into the sofa, the blue scrap of fabric she wore rode high over her legs, revealing a long strip of pale thigh. Damn. He had to fight the urge to walk back down the hall and kiss Tegan awake just so he could con his partner into getting rid of the morning wood.
Because this right here...fuck. Just looking at her made him ache.
Kanon shook his head. He wasn’t at his best first thing in the morning. Too many wayward thoughts that would lead to him losing a very vital organ if he didn’t rein them in real fast. Lennox wasn’t the type of woman who messed around, and as much as they tried to sway her, she always held back.