Marie Harte - Foxy Lady

Two hours later, Julia, Gabby and Ty drove into Whitefish together. They parked at Chastell Tours, where Grady Chastell stood waiting for them off the deck of his office building. Dean and Grady ran the actual tours while their brother, Burke, handled the business from his office in Cougar Falls, a short half hour away.

Grady nodded to them, his whole mien predatory. “Dean’s running some errands, but Monty’s here. We’ll need him for this. Ty, I checked Meghan’s hotel room but found nothing. Not a scent at all. I don’t like this.”

Ty frowned and herded them all inside the building. “Did anyone see you?”

“Not that I could tell. I waited for the maid to clean up then pretended I was the next tenant. I could barely smell a thing. Only the barest trace of Meghan and a male with her. And that’s damn odd.”

The four of them glanced at one another. Julia’s heart broke at the sudden worry on Ty’s face. “Ty?”

He sighed. “I’m sorry, baby. But that’s a common Hunter ploy. They mask scent. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’d followed Grady back here. I’m sure someone out there is locked onto us by now.”

Monty entered through the back door to Chastell Tours and closed it behind him. “You mean the pair of assholes wearing flannel in that pickup a block away? You can’t see them, but one of the guys is standing by a flagpole using binoculars.”

“How the hell did you get here so fast?” Ty asked.

Julia didn’t care. She wanted as many people as she could to help find her sister. Hunters? How could Meghan have been captured by Hunters?

Grady slapped Monty on the back. “He’s helping me out today. And a good thing. He’s spent the last few years dealing with Hunters. We need to handle this the right way and Monty’s our man.”

“See, Ty? I’m good for something besides trouble.” Monty grinned, but his smile softened into concern as he looked at Julia and Gabby. “It’s okay, ladies. Between Ty, Grady and myself, we’ll fetch your pretty little sister back.”

Grady nodded.

Tears filled Julia’s eyes. If anything happened to her sister, she didn’t know what she’d do. Despite her troubles with Meghan, family meant everything to Julia. Meghan had to be all right.

“We’ll find her,” Ty said with quiet assurance. “Grady, do me a favor and call Cullen Whitefeather. Explain the situation but keep it brief. I don’t want anyone else to know about this. Cullen can help us. We need eyes in the sky.”

“Not necessary. I called for help an hour ago when Grady mentioned you were after Hunters, and Cullen volunteered his brother Sean. He knows what to do, and he’ll keep it quiet.”

“Good thinking.” Ty nodded.

“Sean Whitefeather?” Julia tried to process everything.

Ty answered her. “While you were in Washington, your buddy Sarah fought a clan duel, got a corrupt raptor leader and his family kicked out of town, and mated Cullen, Sean’s brother.”

“Cullen’s not comfortable leaving Sarah alone right now, with all the clan unrest, so Sean’s helping instead,” Monty said.

“I had no idea.” Lost in worries about Meghan, Julia had missed her best friend’s major life changes. “Oh my God. I hope Sarah’s all right.”

Monty chuckled. “Honey, Sarah is more than all right. She mated with a fierce raptor. The idiot’s so in love with her it’s not funny.” Monty glanced from Ty to Julia. “A lot like someone else I know.”

Ty glared but said nothing.

Grady shook his head at Ty. “And another one bites the dust. Wait until I tell Burke.” He opened his mouth to speak again and closed it. He sniffed the air and eyed Gabby with a confused expression she studiously ignored.

“Now what?” Julia ran her hands through her hair and sought calm. But try as she might, she couldn’t think past her anxiety for her baby sister.

“Now we let Sean tail our new friends and see where they’ve stashed your sister,” Monty answered. “We’ll see how many Hunters there are and what we’re up against. I suggest we settle down and wait.”

“I don’t want to wait. I want to find my sister.” Her eyes changed, and she could feel her fangs and claws pushing for freedom. “Let’s drag the information out of the ones spying on us. Hell, it’s two of them against the five of us.”

“Six counting Sean. Good idea, Julia. I’ll help,” Gabby offered.

A chorus of male noes resounded.

Ty took the sting out of his rejection by explaining. “Julia, Monty saw two men, but we don’t know how many there are. I know you want action, but the smart thing is to study them and see where this leads. Trust me, this could get ugly quick.”

“I do trust you. But that’s Meghan out there. My little sister with the biggest mouth.” Julia threw herself down into a comfortable leather couch and stared into a warm fire. “Find her soon, Ty, or I’m going to get her with or without your help.”

Gabby nodded, supporting her sister. Ty clenched his jaw, breathed deep, and joined the men gathered across the room. They spoke in low voices, occasionally glancing at her and Gabby.

She ignored their chatter for the most part, worried sick about what Hunters might have done to Meghan.

“We’ll get her back, Julia. We will.” Gabby looked so earnest, so young.

Julia trusted Ty, she loved him, but she was responsible for her sister. Meghan had been Julia’s responsibility for twenty years. Her problems were Julia’s, not Ty’s.

“Yeah, we will.” Julia leaned closer to her sister. “While they’re making their plans, I think you and I need to make ours.”

Eight hours later, at a quarter to midnight, Ty, Sean, Monty and Grady waited outside an abandoned motel on the edge of town. The seedy outdoor building had one truck parked in its lot. The lights in the parking lot didn’t work, and the dank smell of disuse made it plain that the neglected place hadn’t seen visitors in a while. Sean’s reconnaissance had shown them two Hunters in an upstairs room adjoined to the one in which Meghan and Jason sat, tied to chairs, bloodied and beaten, but alive.

He couldn’t help being glad Julia and Gabby had stayed behind. If Julia saw her sister tied up in a place like this, in Meghan’s current condition, she’d shit a brick.

But at least they only had the two men to worry about. The pair hadn’t moved for several hours. They hadn’t made any calls, and they hadn’t received any visitors. The Hunters occupied a corner room on the second floor. On the side of the building, an overhang protected the hotel’s dumpster.

Ty and his friends waited by the large bin, and Ty tried to keep a calm head. He had to be cool and in control for Julia. God, he loved her so damned much. Nothing would hurt her if he could help it.

He had a hard time believing Ned Williams Senior and another male he hadn’t met were behind this kidnapping, but he’d spotted them earlier with his own eyes. Hell, he’d watched a fucking basketball game with the senior Williams. How could he not have sensed a Hunter so close?

“Don’t worry about it, Ty. They’re hard to detect,” Monty said softly, using the mental pathways of the Ac-taw. He wagged his silver tail as he sat atop the wide trash bin and kept his head cocked, listening for any sign of trouble.

Grady curled his tail around his legs. He sat on the cold hard ground, his eyes flashing with anger. Like Monty, he’d shifted into his animal spirit, a cinnamon-colored mountain lion. Sean perched high on a telephone pole next to them, a golden eagle watching the hotel with piercing eyes. Only Ty remained in a man’s form, gun in hand, ready to go into action as soon as the moon disappeared behind the clouds again.