Timothy (3 page)

It surely wouldn’t have got him to the area his shape shifting grandmother was from. She’d only been a young child when the rest of her shifter clan was killed. Too young to really know anything about what she was. Grandma Marybeth could only recall bits and pieces of their heritage, and Tim wanted to know more. All of his family did, which had been the driving force behind Tim’s goals up until now.

Dr Marquat pushed his slender silver-framed glasses up his bulbous nose. His hair reminded Tim of the Albert Einstein posters he’d seen, wild and grey and white. If Dane hadn’t been babbling about Einstein posters the other day, maybe Tim wouldn’t have made the association. Now that he had, it was difficult to look at Dr Marquat sometimes and not snicker like an awkward kid. Or think of Jack Hanna, which was just wrong.

“Being here has allowed me to work with not only the people of Dalanzadgad, educating them about the dangers of poaching and decimating the snow leopard population.” Dr Marquat sighed and twisted his wedding ring around and around on his finger. “It’s also changed my life in ways you wouldn’t believe, but that’s dithering into personal territory. While I promise I wouldn’t have mentioned anything inappropriate, I wouldn’t want to risk terrifying Dr Calderon.”

Dane coughed and actually blushed, something Tim rarely saw him do.

“Hopefully, we will get past the point of this awkwardness and you will both feel comfortable calling me Steve rather than Dr Marquat.”

A light went off in Tim’s head then, just as it did in Dane’s if his friend’s sharp inhale was any clue. “We’re good with using first names,” Tim said, a side-glance to Dane confirming his friend’s agreement. “To be honest, it still seems weird to hear ‘Dr’ in front of my name.” And he’d really rather they be colleagues, although Tim knew they had much to learn from Dr Marq—Steve.

“Yeah, I’m having a hard time trying to stay in professional, doctorly form all the time,” Dane added. Tim knew he wasn’t completely joking. They’d both been trying their best to appear professional, mature, serious. It was not always easy to pull off, especially for a jokester like Dane. “I was afraid I would slip up and crack a joke and end up on a flight back to the US.”

Steve huffed out a chuckle and it shook his slight belly as he stood up. “No, no. I like to laugh as much as the next person does, but, there is a time and place.” Steve stopped fidgeting with a stack of papers on his desk and gave Dane a narrow look that had Dane shrinking down in his seat a little. “Will you have a problem being professional when you must be?”

Dane sat up straighter and scowled, first at Steve then at Tim. He hooked his thumb at Tim. “How come I’m the one getting asked and not Tim?”

“I’d say because Steve is a good judge of character,” Tim said.

Dane’s scowl deepened but his lips twitched. “I know when to behave. Most of the time.” He turned to Steve. “But I will do my best to curtail my propensity for joking in inappropriate situations. I do tend to be rather goofy when I’m extremely stressed or on the verge of a total meltdown.”

Dane hadn’t been joking. Tim was surprised at Dane’s self-awareness. As intelligent as Dane was on some matters, he could appear vapid and shallow at other times. Even Tim forgot too often that such behaviour was Dane’s way of protecting himself. If people thought Dane was a ditz, they didn’t expect much of him, and they didn’t get close. Why he’d let Tim in was a mystery to him.

“Good enough.” Steve stood and held out his hand. Tim did the same, shaking on, he supposed, their agreement not to stand on formality or ego. “Now, if you two would categorise the scat samples and package them for shipment to the Museum of Natural History, we can get that out of the way. Then tomorrow we can go out and check the cameras set up in the Vengi mountain pass. There are two cubs we’ve been hoping to catch and collar once they are mature enough. I’d like to make sure they haven’t left the area with their mother.”

Studying faeces wasn’t Tim’s favourite thing to do, but it wasn’t as awful as most people would think. Well, probably not people interested in animals, and in conservation. There really wasn’t a lot of information on snow leopards. They were an elusive cat, so even studying their poop could be almost fascinating.

Tim and Dane bantered back and forth over what they thought had been ingested according to each bag of scat. They took notes, copying information already gathered on the date and time as well as location of each find, and also added their own opinions to the notebooks they were keeping. Then they wrapped the samples up and found the labels.

By late afternoon, they had their task completed and the scat ready to be shipped to the International Felid Genetics Tracking Programme, an excellent programme ran through the museum. The sound of a throat being cleared startled Tim enough that he nearly yelped. He’d been so lost in his work, even his fine shifter senses hadn’t alerted him to someone approaching, much less to Steve standing in the doorway, grinning like he knew just how rattled Tim was right then.

“I thought I’d see if you two would like to come to my place for dinner tonight.” He pushed up from the doorframe he was leaning on. “I know the invitation is short notice, but I only just heard back from Lona. I learned early on in our marriage not to show up at home with guests without warning my dear wife.” He nodded at them. “I’m sure you two will learn the same interesting lessons when you find the person you want to spend your life with.”

Did Steve know they were gay? Hopefully he didn’t think they were together if he did. Either way, Steve didn’t seem to mind, so Tim wasn’t going to worry about it.

“So, are you two up to spending a few more hours with me? I think it’ll just be Lona and I. Otto and Vendelia probably have plans for the evening. They’re our children,” Steve clarified before Tim could ask. “Adult children, but our children none-the-less. But anyway, I can promise you a good, hearty American dinner.”

“Sure,” Dane answered. “We’d love a home cooked meal. So far our dining experiences have been adventurous.”

Tim snorted before he could stop himself. “Yeah, I’m good with expanding my palate, but I’m already missing my mom’s cooking.”
And McDonald’s, and Burger King, and I’d kill for some decent Mexican food.
Tim rubbed his stomach, only now aware it was rumbling.

“Almost reminds me of one of the leopards,” Steve teased, or at least, Tim thought he was teasing. He really didn’t know the man well enough yet to be sure. “Do you want to ride with me? I don’t mind driving you both back to the hotel afterwards.”

“If you’re sure you don’t mind?” Tim wasn’t in a big hurry to get in another cab after their experience this morning.

“Not at all.” Steve gave them a two fingered wave. “Just meet me out front when you’re ready.”

“Whew!” Dane muttered, swiping at his brow dramatically. “I was so afraid we were going to have to ride with Baraat again! The guy was cute and all, but he didn’t keep his head turned the right direction most of the time!”

“No shit,” Tim agreed. Their cab driver had seemed more intent on grilling them and practicing his English than he was with getting them to their destination in one piece.

One thing he would say, despite their freaky experience with TDH the other day, the Mongolian people were very friendly. It wasn’t unusual for him to be approached by an enthusiastic native wanting to try out their English language skills or just say hello.

“I’m sure looking forward to dinner now,” Tim said as he began clearing up their papers and preparing to leave. “I can’t believe how much I miss fast food. Junk food. Gods, a chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and gravy, a buttery dinner roll, fried okra and mac and cheese—”

“Augh!” Dane groaned and slapped Tim’s arm. “Stop! I’m so hungry my stomach is gnawing on my back bone!”

Tim laughed at the familiar saying and ran a finger down Dane’s spine. “Looks like it’s still intact to me. Come on and help me finish up so we can go.”

“You just wanted to grope me,” Dane teased, batting his lashes at Tim. “I keep Googling for info on gay clubs or gay anything here and am coming up with nothing, buddy. We might just get desperate enough to lend each other a hand after all.” He waggled his eyebrows.

“I don’t think so.” Being horny wasn’t worth possibly ruining their friendship, and obviously they weren’t fit to have any other kind of relationship with each other. “I’ll see if we can’t get you a Fleshlight or something. Maybe we can have it smuggled over.” Or maybe Dane could just accept that he’d have to settle for his hand for the next few months. Who knew what the shipping laws were on sex toys?

Dane grumbled but didn’t argue, and in minutes they were following Steve to his battered vehicle.

“It looks like hell, I know,” Steve said as he unlocked the passenger door, “but under the hood, this baby is pristine. She can take us wherever we need to go.”

“What is it with vehicles having to be female?” Dane whispered as he moved to Tim’s side. “I’m going to name my truck Butch or Dick or Cock.”

“Shh!” Tim hissed. “You don’t even have a truck!”

“But I will have one when we get back,” Dane assured him. “The biggest, jacked-up, butchest truck I can afford.”

Tim waited until Dane slid to the middle of the bench seat, then he smirked at his buddy. “So, tell me more about this Tonka truck you’ll be getting.”

“Dick.”

“You two remind me of my kids,” Steve told them when he shut his door. “Bickering and teasing, but Heaven help anyone else who messes with either of you.”

Dane hummed and tapped his chin, glaring at Tim a second or two before nodding. “Sounds about right. I guess that explains why dating each other didn’t work out so well. It was just wrong on too many levels.” Dane winked and Tim cast a subtle look at Steve, who didn’t seem fazed by the knowledge of Dane and Tim’s prior relationship. “But it’s sure fun to poke at Tim about it and watch him get his back all up when I suggest a little mutual fun.”

“Dane!” Tim barked out, tempted to slap his hand over Dane’s mouth. He’d done it one time before, when Dane had started telling a friend about their sex life. Dane had damn near bit a chunk out of Tim’s hand. But it’d be worth it, in this case.

Steve chuckled and backed the vehicle up. “Yeah, well not exactly like my kids then, but the teasing, certainly. Vendelia and Dane could be twins, at least personality-wise. Otto is more serious. My boy needs to learn to laugh and smile, but he does have a lot of responsibility.”

It was on the tip of Tim’s tongue to ask what Otto did that sounded so important, but something held him back. Maybe it was the weird sense of foreboding clamouring in his head, or the sudden whiff of something that sent a shiver down his spine. He sniffed again, as quietly as he could, and every nerve in his body went on alert.

Tim smelt man, and leopard. Snow leopard to be exact. He opened his mouth to ask about the intriguing scent but caught himself before he could utter something so stupid. For all he knew, if there had been a snow leopard shifter in the truck, Steve didn’t know about it. It was dangerously stupid to assume otherwise.

Tim closed his eyes while Dane and Steve chatted, and he let the aroma of another shifter fill his lungs. It wasn’t Steve—Tim would have picked up on him being a shifter right off the bat, and it obviously wasn’t Dane, and Tim sure wasn’t smelling himself.

No, this was a combination of masculine odours and feline so potent it made Tim’s dick twitch. He squirmed slightly until he managed to cross his legs.

“Looks like someone has to pee,” Dane said, poking him in the ribs.

Tim’s eyes shot open and his cheeks burned. “Did you leave every bit of your manners at the hotel?”

“Didn’t pack ‘em,” Dane teased, but Tim thought he saw a hint of hurt in his friend’s brown eyes.

“I’m sorry.” Tim sighed internally, his conscience giving a great big, gusty one laden with guilt. “I’m still tired and off-kilter, I guess. And yeah, my bladder is tapping my kidneys and it’s not comfortable.”

Steve laughed but Dane gave a short nod, his signal of acceptance for Tim’s apology. “Well, you’ve never been a barrel of laughs anyways, Tim, but maybe we can get you to lighten up yet.”

Maybe he could learn a few witty comebacks, too, but he doubted it. Tim closed his eyes again and kept quiet for the rest of the drive, a monumental task when he wanted to pepper Steve with questions and find out who the snow leopard shifter was.

Did Steve know? Tim didn’t have a clue. He wondered if the shifters were spying on people in the programme, or if there was something more, possibly even something darker going on in the programme itself. He wouldn’t be leaving until he had answers.

Chapter Three

Gansukh lunged, a determined glint in his eyes as he grunted. Otto wasn’t going to be taken out so easily. He shoved Gansukh’s hands aside and gripped the bigger man by the shoulders. The realisation of his mistake showed in Gansukh’s eyes in the split-second before Otto took him down and pinned him, winning their final round. Wrestling was a popular sport in Dalanzadgad, and one Otto usually enjoyed. He had to temper his strength, which only made it all the more challenging. He’d been pinned more than one time, and accepted losing when it happened as gracefully as he accepted winning.

Otto held his hand out and helped Gansukh up. “Good match,” he told his opponent.

Gansukh nodded and wiped at his knees. “Stronger than you look.”

If you only knew.
Otto tipped his chin at Gansukh. “Your English is getting better than your wrestling.”

“Yah right.” Gansukh slapped him on the back. “I let you win so you keep teaching me.”

Otto was busy trying not to hack out a lung. Gansukh was bigger than him and had muscles piled on muscles, and a playful pat on the back from him could send someone’s ribs shooting out through their chest. It sure felt like Otto’s ribs had been dislodged.

Gansukh smirked at him as Otto tried to cover his gasp, failing in his attempt to turn it into a yawn. “You’re a sore loser either way,” he pointed out, and Gansukh only laughed his usual low rumble. Otto felt marginally better knowing he had his own hidden strength.