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Adrian’s heart pounded wildly at seeing Jaz again, but damn if he hadn’t walked up as her wolf killed a jackal. He struggled between being so damn glad to see her and furious at what he’d observed. He’d heard a vehicle driving off, but it had been too far away to read the van’s tag.
What the hell was she into this time?
The first time he’d met her, she’d fought and killed shifters, but he knew for a fact those predators had deserved to die.
What about this jackal?
He’d waited until she shifted back to human form so they could talk.
It hurt to see the bruises on her body and watch her limp. She held one arm against her middle.
The acrid odor of discharged powder still clung to the air. Had she been shot? His fingers trembled with the need to soothe her the way she had calmed him in his nightmare. He still felt her hands on him.
Not the way to think about a woman he hunted with intentions of bringing her to justice.
“Adrian? What are you doing here?” Jaz asked with a mix of surprise and suspicion. She wore clothes that didn’t belong to her, based on the human odor. Her blonde hair fell loose around her face as if to hide her scar. A bandage, being used for no one and the right size to put on her face, remained at the spot where she’d retrieved her clothes.
None of the oversize garments fit her tall frame.
Jaz crossed her arms, still waiting for him to explain why he’d shown up where she hadn’t expected him.
He had to be careful answering. She’d scent a lie. “I’m looking for you.” Truth.
“Why?” All suspicion in her question this time.
He glanced at the carnage. “What are you doing here and what’s the deal with that jackal? Or what’s left of him.”
Jaz drew in a deep breath and replied, “Helping someone and none of your business.”
Still not put off, Adrian’s gaze swept over to a woman on the ground. “Is she alive?”
“Yes, because the jackal is not.”
The jackal had shifted back to human. A missing arm had been tossed aside. The human head hung at an unnatural angle to his neck, which gaped open with a ragged edge.
Ripped open. Same way Kaiser’s wolf died.
Adrian hoped this had been self-defense, but how often could anyone claim that? “Who was he?”
Jaz lifted her chin, answering in a cool tone. “I don’t know.”
Truth, but she held something back.
The woman on the ground moaned.
Jaz walked over and knelt beside her. She lifted the woman’s head from the mud and spoke softly to her.
Adrian picked up something about jackals being liars. He’d smelled at least two. He eased closer and heard the woman’s slurred words.
“They weren’t from Hollywood?”
“No,” Jaz answered softly. “They really were trying to kidnap you. Do you remember what happened?”
“Uh, maybe.” The woman licked her lips and spit out mud. “Yuck. I walked out here, then ... ” Her eyes rounded, and she clutched Jaz’s arm. “He picked me up like I was ... nothing. He’s a monster. Then he stuck me with a needle, I think. I ... that’s all I remember. I passed out.” She looked at herself and moaned, “I’m covered in mud.”
“It’ll wash off, Thea. Let’s get you up.” Jaz used one hand to lift the woman to her feet.
When Thea stood, she looked at Adrian and tried to back up. “Who’s he?”
But Jaz had Thea in a firm grip. “He’s a ... he’s not going to harm you. I know him.”
Adrian shouldn’t be disappointed at her not calling him a friend. He’d stomped all over any friendship by showing up hunting her.
Holding one of Thea’s arms, Jaz walked her past him. She flashed him a glare and kept moving.
He let her continue to the bar parking lot, which still had a couple cars at the back of the lot.
Workers probably finishing up.
He’d parked his SUV rental in that same area.
Based on where he’d tracked Jaz’s scent to, this incident happened too far from the bar for anyone to have seen or heard them.
Unless the bar had more shifters, but the majority of scents he’d picked up had been only humans.
Jaz walked with a limp. He’d smelled titanium. That must be why she hadn’t healed yet.
Following ten steps behind, he catalogued all he’d discovered tonight after he’d taken his human form back from Mad Red.
Wolves hunted golden wolf, Mad Red said in his defense of forcing the change earlier.
Adrian had agreed once he’d shifted and understood Mad Red’s rush to confront the wolf shifters that had been there with Jaz. Adrian’s wolf tracked in stealth mode until they heard the two shifters in human form talking about how to find that golden wolf bitch and make her pay for helping the humans. Mad Red had growled viciously, and the two men shifted.
Still walking behind Jaz, Adrian replied to his wolf, I agree, but I had just figured out that our next step in finding Jaz had to be finding the closest hospital. She’d been with the human who had been hurt. What if we had arrived at the bar too late and that jackal had been killing her?
Golden wolf powerful, Mad Red declared. Jackal would not kill.
His wolf had an answer for everything.
He’d found the bar when he tracked down the local sheriff, who said he knew of a woman fitting the description Adrian gave. The sheriff explained how she’d helped save his brother-in-law’s best friend and heard she ended up working at the only bar in Clarenceville.
Adrian kept an eye on the blood dripping down her arm. If he guessed right and the titanium scent came from that wound, she needed the slug dug out to get her healing.
She wouldn’t want to do it around here.
With the exception of Thea, Jaz, and the two jackals, Adrian hadn’t picked up any other fresh shifter scent.
Were the women hiding among humans?
Had the jackals tried to kidnap Thea, as Jaz said?
Good questions he hoped Jaz had reasonable answers for.
Why wouldn’t the jackals have grabbed Jaz, too. Not that he wanted her harmed, but she would be the bigger prize to him.
Thea had a smoking shape and pretty features, but she was no Jaz. That golden wolf shifter had confidence and strength of character he found damned sexy. She had a killer body, too, and a face that jump started his heart every time he saw her.
That half-tied blouse swung open again as she guided Thea to their right. He had a flash back to the first time he’d seen her naked.
He needed to slap some sense in his head. What kind of low life thought about a woman naked with her hurt?
She had to be in bad pain. His arm and chest still burned from injuries not yet healed either. He’d been clawed from fighting the two wolves Mad Red took on. Had his wolf not forced the shift, he might have had a chance to capture one or both of the wolf shifters to question.
Mad Red fought with lethal skills they’d groomed overseas. They’d killed larger adversaries, because of the extra edge gained from fighting like a machine and their Gallize power.
That’s how it used to be, but this time, he’d been shunted off and Mad Red had made all the decisions.
He hated that feeling of no control. He and his wolf had enjoyed a balance at one time. Having Mad Red override his control while awake left a sick ball of worry in his chest. Were they closer to being put down than he’d thought?
Jaz and Thea reached a late model VW Bug.
Once she had the driver’s door open, she helped Thea into the seat.
Sounding drained, Jaz asked the woman, “Are you awake enough to drive?”
“Yeah.” Thea did seem more alert than a few minutes back. “I still feel the drug, but I’m okay to drive home this time of night. It’s not far.”
As Thea drove off, Jaz wavered where she stood with her arms crossed over her stomach. She listed to the side she’d favored limping.
Adrian took a step toward her and stopped. He glanced away, trying to yank his head together. Wouldn’t it be nice to just grab her and run away for a while? If things were different.
But she had to explain Kaiser’s death and his days were numbered.
He steeled himself to get back on track. She needed medical help first, then he’d get answers. He asked, “Where’s your car?”
She looked around at him. Her nose and face were bruised. She limped. No telling what other injuries she suffered.
He’d never been indecisive in battle.
Leonard often kidded him on being set in his ways.
Leonard. That’s why Adrian stood here. He should keep that at the front of his mind and focus on his investigation.
He hated this internal conflict.
Blowing out a stream of air and sounding exasperated, Jaz’s tone made it clear this would be a short conversation. “I don’t have time for this, Adrian. Why are you here?”
His feet moved toward her even as his mind yelled to keep his distance.
When he stood close enough to hold her, he clenched his hands but kept them to himself, and forced out the words he’d been avoiding. “I want to talk to you about Kaiser’s death.”
