Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

KIARA

This human had insane luck. I figured Jasper wouldn't just let the insult of the guy hitting him go, and I was on my way to the mall to watch over him when he called. He was stupid enough to try and run, despite me warning him not to, and still managed to get away. I'd suggest he start buying some lottery tickets if he wasn't so busy arguing with me right now.

"I can't go to a safe house. I've got an interview. Rent. I'm–"

"You're dead if they catch you," I snapped, interrupting him. That shut him up, and he whimpered, sinking lower in his seat. I sighed, searching for patience. I wasn't good at this stuff, comforting other people. It was why I brought Talia to Montana. There were people better suited for things like this. "Look, I know this is a shock, but I don't want you to get hurt. This guy is extremely dangerous, and you decided to hit him in the face."

"Hey! What else was I supposed to do? He was going to kill me!"

I ignored the interruption, pushing my point. "If he can get his hands on you, he's going to hurt you for the insult. That is, if he decides you're worth keeping alive as a lesson for others. I know guys like him, and they don't take kindly to being challenged."

"I didn't challenge anyone!" Cal protested.

"He doesn't see it that way. So, until I can catch him, I'm moving you to a safe place. Think of it like a vacation. You can watch tv and relax for a few days until I find this guy."

He grumbled and crossed his arms over his chest, but he stopped arguing with me. It was better this way, at least until I knew what we were up against. I still didn't know what kind of shifter Jasper was. Walker had every shifter who worked for him searching for that information, but so far, we'd come up dry. Shifters didn't register what they were anywhere, that'd be dangerous, but there were certain ways to figure out who was who. Following family lines, family names, that kind of thing could give a clue. Prides were pretty easy to track, since they kept records to avoid inbreeding. Jasper wasn't a lion, though. I would've been able to tell.

I couldn't go straight to the safe house. Not when one of Jasper's men knew what my car looked like. We'd need to switch vehicles and outfits, at the very least. I went to work instead. They knew the drill and had what we needed. When I pulled up in front, Cal tipped his head with a frown.

"Somehow, I doubt a bail bondsman's place is a safe house. They knew who you were, so they probably know where you work, you know."

"Shut up," I grumbled. "We need a new vehicle."

"Oh." He seemed to follow the logic well enough, and shrugged, following me out of the car. I knocked the hat farther down to hide his face better. He kept his head down, hands in his pockets. At least he was decent at following directions. Prone to panic, but he was only human.

This place looked like any other bail bonds company. Big room with few desks, that kind of thing. Couch off to one side for people who were waiting. It wasn't busy, it never was, but that worked to our advantage.

It was incredibly rare that we ended up in situations where we needed to hide people. Usually, we left that kind of thing to the cops. There was only one instance where we did the witness protection thing ourselves, and that was when shifters were involved. We couldn't let that information get out. We also couldn't let Jasper be brought into just any jail or prison. There was only one meant for people with animals. Most groups of shifters dealt with problem animals themselves. Only those who didn't stick to one crew or area that could take care of them were handled through the prison system. We had to contact the right people to get him processed there instead of in a regular jail full of humans who might piss him off enough to shift and give up the secret.

Walker was waiting for me in the back, two emergency duffles on a long table and a set of keys in his hand.

"They get his scent?"

I shot him a dirty look, tipping my head at Cal, who followed in behind me. Walker's voice lowered, and he leaned closer to me.

"Thought you said he was talkin' about it in front of him."

"Not enough for him to catch on," I growled. It'd be convenient if I could explain in more detail why he needed to stay put and not worry about things like job interviews, but I wasn't giving that information to some random human.

"Ah." Walker straightened, giving his attention to Cal. "Alright, kid. Here's the deal. I'm gonna need any and all electronics. Phone, headphones, that kind of thing. Anything that is registered to you can be used to track you. Got a smart watch?"

"No… But can't I just put my phone into airplane mode or something?"

Walker snorted. "Nope. Too risky." He picked up a plastic tub off the table, holding it out to Cal. "Empty your pockets. You got family? We'll have to make up a story for now. They won't be able to get ahold of you."

Cal looked a little panicked and my lioness protested, forcing my feet forward. I put a supportive hand on his shoulder, leveling him with a look.

"It won't be long. I'm going to find him. Just a few days to track him down."

His eyes searched mine for any hint of dishonesty, and when he didn't find any, he gave me a shaky nod. "Okay. My family is easy enough. You can tell them I went to a convention. They don't keep track of that stuff and they don't really care. But my friends won't believe it for a minute. I don't think I can just lie to them. They know what happened yesterday. They're going to assume something is wrong and call the cops."

Walker and I exchanged a look. The fewer people knew where Cal was, the better, but if they were going to cause trouble, that'd only make it harder to keep him hidden.

"Alright. One phone call. They can disseminate it amongst themselves. Give as little detail as possible. You're safe, you're not going to be gone long, and you'll be out of contact. Understand?"

With a resigned sigh, he nodded and stepped away, dialing up whatever friend he trusted to share the information with. While he talked, I followed Walker over to the table to grab my stuff.

"Was it him?"

I shook my head. "No. One of his guys. They were pretty clear about what they wanted to do with him, though."

Walker growled low. As a gorilla shifter, his protective instincts were pretty intense. He didn't like when innocents were threatened. Neither did I, but I was the offensive player. I went looking for the problem. He was better at the protection bit.

"Where are we headed?"

"Hotel. I've got a friend who can bring you in through the service elevator. If we need something better than that, we're gonna have to bring the cops into it, and I don't want to do that yet. Not until I get ahold of the right people. You stayin' with him?"

I hummed, pulling out a jacket and cap from the duffle. "I don't know if I trust him to stay put. And Jasper had his hands on him. If he was paying attention, he'd know Cal's scent. It's better that he doesn't stay by himself. I'll come and go, though. If I keep working, they won't think he's with me."

"Or they'll follow you straight to him," Walker argued.

I gave him a dry look. "I'm not sitting around letting someone else handle this job. I'll make it work, stay out of sight. I'm good at that."

That was putting it lightly. I was an expert at keeping under surveillance to track my marks. If I wanted to hide, it'd be easy for me.

"Fine. I trust your judgment. Call me if something goes wrong. I'm going to be on the phone all day getting ahold of the guys in charge of shifters like Jasper. I swear, we should've been police officers handling shit like this."

I made a face. "Yeah, I'm good. It was Jasper's dumbass fault for getting caught by humans in the first place. Can't wait to rub that in his face once he's in custody."

Cal finished his phone call before we could continue the conversation. We let it go for now. No need to bring the human into the adult conversations. I pointed at the bag next to mine.

"Clothes are in here. Bathroom is right next door. Get changed so we can get out of here."

He handed his phone and headphones to Walker before looking through the bag. When he wrinkled his nose, I rolled my eyes.

"What?"

"Can't I stop at home first? Grab my own stuff?"

"When did you notice the guy following you?" I countered.

Calvin paused, thinking about it. "On the way to the bus stop, I guess. I didn't see him until I was on the bus, but I got an uneasy feeling on the way. Why?"

"He probably followed you from your place. Which means they know where you live and are likely watching and waiting for you to come back," Walker replied. "You really wanna risk them tracking you to the safe house just for some clothes?"

Cal's shoulders slumped. "No… Can we just go back like forty-eight hours? I can call in sick and miss all this crap entirely."

Walker patted him on the shoulder. "It's a nice idea, kid, but not feasible. Get moving. The longer you're out and about, the more time they have to track you down."

Cal shrugged him off with a scowl. "I'm not a kid. I'm twenty eight."

That surprised me when I first looked him up. Surprised Walker too. He did a doubt take, frowning at Cal.

"Bullshit."

Pulling off the button up and tossing it on the table without an ounce of shame, Cal spoke while pawing through the bag for a shirt. "Nope. I've got good genes. People still ask if my mom is my sister, and she's in her fifties."

My mouth went dry and my lioness purred her approval. I had to cover the sound with a cough, jerking to face away from him, only to come face to face with a smirking Walker.

"Problem, Santiago?"

"Shut up."