Authors: C.J. Barry
Body Thief (21 page)
“I know,” Griffin said. And if Cam found out, he was a dead man.
After dinner, Cam retreated to Griffin’s bedroom to call her father. He picked up. “Hello?”
Cam smiled and tried to convey that everything was great when it wasn’t. “How are you feeling?”
“Oh, you know, the same.”
She walked across Mercer’s bedroom and peered out the window. “I’m sorry it’s taking longer than expected to get you out of there.”
“Don’t worry about it, Camille. I’m getting plenty of rest, eating well. Probably taking better care of myself than if we were on the road.”
That would be true, Cam thought. “Have you seen Ernest lately?”
“Not yesterday or today. He was must be working hard.”
A familiar-looking shapeshifter stood on the street corner below—a normally nondescript human male in his thirties reading a newspaper. But his Shifter signature gave him away. “Perhaps.”
“Do you think he’s in some kind of trouble?” her father asked, sounding worried.
“No,” she said quickly. “You’re right, he’s been busy doing some work for us. I’ll have Mercer check on him.”
Her father was quiet for a moment. “So, it’s still Mercer?”
The Shifter on the corner glanced up at her, and Cam stepped away from the window. It was the same Shifter they’d seen earlier waiting at the bus stop, she was certain. She blinked a few times before answering her father. “What? Well, yes.”
“Not Griffin,” he elaborated.
She rolled her eyes. “I don’t even like him.”
“That’s too bad.”
Cam checked out the window again, and the Shifter was gone. She blew out a long breath. Mercer had her paranoid to no end. “No, it’s not bad. We have plans, you and me, and they don’t include anyone else.”
“Does he disrespect you?”
Cam rubbed her forehead. “No.”
“Hurt you?”
“No,” she said, more firmly. “And he doesn’t kick small dogs either, but that doesn’t mean—” She paused, trying to find the right words. “It doesn’t mean he’s right for me. Why are we talking about this?”
“Because you need someone in your life who cares about you besides me,” her father said. “I won’t be around forever.”
She dropped her hand. “XCEL is looking for Thaniel. And then we’ll all have each other.”
“You need more than us,” he persisted. “You need a true love. A gentleman who loves you for who you are.”
Damn, he was one stubborn old bird. Besides, where was she ever going to find a gentleman? “No, really I don’t. I’m quite happy with my life.”
“And when I’m gone, what will your life be then?” he asked.
She closed her eyes and fought the pain in her chest. “I’ll figure that out when the time comes.”
“You miss too much, Camille, watching over me.”
That made her a little nervous. “I love you. I don’t need anything else. And if you go, I’ll be very pissed off at you.”
He gave a little chuckle. “Be careful out there.”
“You be careful in there,” she said. “Love you.”
“Love you too.”
His informant was supposed to be here twenty minutes ago, and Griffin wasn’t liking the wait in the dark. Every sound boomeranged around the Park Place subway tunnels, making it impossible to tell where it was coming from.
He yawned and shook his head to wake up.
When he’d finally connected with an XCEL informant, it was at four A.M. He’d had to sneak out early without waking Cam, because the informant made it very clear that they were to meet alone—period. Apparently, word was out that his partner was a Shifter. No one trusted her. No one trusted him either, but obviously he ranked somewhere above a Shifter in the whole trust matrix.
In truth, that’s exactly how he felt about Shifters too. Except for Cam. She didn’t deserve to be there. In fact, she didn’t deserve any of this mess. Yes, she’d stolen from casinos, but it was only money. This was life or death. Changed everything.
His cell phone rang, and he checked the number. It was his brother, Tommy. He’d only allowed a few numbers through on Ernest’s phone. Family was one of them.
“Yeah,” he answered. “What’s up?”
“What’s up?” Tommy said. “Kids are good. Jen says hi. Oh, and Sani told me you have a woman at your place now.”
Crap, this was going to be one of
those
calls. “Sani’s old and senile.”
those
calls. “Sani’s old and senile.”
“You wish,” Tommy said, not buying any of it. “So who is she and what are her measurements?”
Griffin scanned the tunnel for his informant. At least then he’d have an excuse to hang up. “It’s only temporary.”
“What’d you pull, a
Pretty Woman
and hire a hooker for the week?” Tommy said.
Pretty Woman
and hire a hooker for the week?” Tommy said.
“Do I sound like a man who’s been laid recently?” he asked.
“No. In fact, you sound pretty pissy. So if you two aren’t—”
“Don’t,” Griffin said.
“Then why is she staying with you?”
He gave up. It was useless. Tommy was like a pit bull. “She’s a Shifter, and we’re working a case. I need to protect and manage her activities. We’ll be done soon.” Very soon, if he had anything to say about it.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back up to that first part? She’s a Shifter? Are you
crazy
?”
crazy
?”
“Yes, I am,” he muttered.
“Can you trust her? I mean, Jesus. I just don’t want to see you go through the same crap you did with Parker.”
His ex-partner’s name was almost enough to end the call, but then Griffin saw a man jump onto the tunnel sidewalk a hundred yards down. “I can trust her.”
“Man, I hope so.”
“I have to go,” he told Tommy. “Don’t tell Sani about the Shifter part.”
Tommy gave a big sigh. “Be careful.”
“Always,” he said, pocketed the phone, and slid his hand under his jacket for his Glock. A twentysomething kid wearing a gray T-shirt, long cargo shorts, and high-top sneakers walked up to him. His hair was dark, his eyes blue, and he could have been a college student.
Except that he wasn’t.
He was a shapeshifter.
And Griffin’s informant wasn’t supposed to be a shapeshifter.
It wasn’t common knowledge that Griffin could see Shifters. Only the higher-ups in XCEL knew. They protected that information, because otherwise he’d be a prime target for Shifters and humans alike and they’d lose a valuable asset.
This Shifter, however, didn’t know that.
“Mercer?” he asked as he scanned the quiet alcove beside the subway rail line.
Griffin also realized the informant didn’t want Cam coming because she could see him, and that meant he knew a lot more about them than they knew about him. “Yeah. Didn’t catch your name.”
“Don’t give one,” the kid said and smiled. Straight, white teeth didn’t quite match the predatory look in his eyes. “I understand that you’re looking for someone.”
“The Shifters blowing up the buildings,” Griffin said carefully. He was going to play this out and see where it got him. He was also keeping his gun close.
The informant shrugged. “You and everyone else. They’re public enemy number one on the XCEL hit list. Damn good too, if you ask me. No one’s getting near them.”
He was pro-Shifter, of course, but Griffin sensed something else. Respect? “Can you get in touch with them?”
The kid laughed. “Right. Hey, if I knew that, I’d be a rich man drinking margaritas in Acapulco right now.”
Somehow, Griffin didn’t believe him. “Let’s say that you could get a message to them. Tell them we want to talk to them. Both me
and
my partner. They know her. Tell them we understand what they’re doing. We want to know why.”
and
my partner. They know her. Tell them we understand what they’re doing. We want to know why.”
The kid squinted at him. “What do you care about why?”
The noise level in the tunnel increased as a subway train closed in.
“Because there’s a cover-up here, and I want to get to the bottom of it,” Griffin yelled over the oncoming subway train. It passed nearby, drowning out every other sound and moving still air between them.
The sounds faded into the distance as both men waited, sizing each other up. Griffin hoped his instincts were right. He hoped the kid was more than just an informant. He wouldn’t know for sure unless it worked, and he prayed it would. His options were fading fast. There was no way in hell he and Cam had time to check every tunnel underground for their Shifters, even with Ernest’s help.
The noise level dropped to normal, and the kid finally said, “Look, I’ll see what I can do. Can’t promise you anything.”
Griffin nodded. “You know how to contact me?”
“Yeah. I’ll find you. Later.” And then the kid walked away. Griffin watched until he turned a corner, out of sight, knowing without a doubt that the kid was
not
an XCEL informant.
not
an XCEL informant.
He never asked for his money.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
M
ercer’s home phone was on the third ring, and Cam stood next to it and stared at the incoming number. It was his grandfather, and she debated whether or not to pick it up. But then what would she talk to him about? Mercer? That was tempting. She had a few dozen questions about him and his past, but that wouldn’t be right. She was direct, not rude.
ercer’s home phone was on the third ring, and Cam stood next to it and stared at the incoming number. It was his grandfather, and she debated whether or not to pick it up. But then what would she talk to him about? Mercer? That was tempting. She had a few dozen questions about him and his past, but that wouldn’t be right. She was direct, not rude.
Another ring and Cam took a step forward. She should pick it up, just to spite Mercer. She wasn’t happy about waking up and finding him gone. No note, no nothing. It was enough to make a girl want to do something really stupid.
The final ring before the answering machine turned on. She was still feeling guilty for erasing the last message, and she’d had no right to interfere then, or now. Cam gripped her coffee mug hard as the answering machine played a generic answer message, and then Sani’s voice came on.
“Hello, Griffin. This is your grandfather, Sani.”
There was a long pause.
“I wish to speak to the Skinwalker.”
Cam’s mouth dropped open. Impossible. He couldn’t know she was here, because Mercer certainly hadn’t told him.
He said, “Skinwalker, you walk the desert alone. The sun is hot. The sand burns your feet. You may be lonely. But you are not alone. Others will follow your footsteps. Their feet will not burn as bad as yours. You have made the way safe.”
She shook her head and sat on the couch watching the phone like it was alive.
Was he really talking to her?
Was he really talking to her?
“Do not be afraid that you have no trail. Do not fear the dark times. Do not change your path. This is what you are meant for.”
Her path? Cam laughed to herself. She had no path.
“These things I know.
Hágoónee
.”
Hágoónee
.”
She hugged the coffee mug in both her hands. What if he did know? What if he could see things that she couldn’t? Griffin could see Shifters. That had to have come from somewhere. Maybe it
was
hereditary. Maybe he and his people were special, just like the Shifters.
was
hereditary. Maybe he and his people were special, just like the Shifters.
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