Most of the leap was out searching for the cub. Only the human females were left behind with the other cubs. Plus, Hester, who was stranded back at the guesthouse along with the other kidnapped women and Tomas watching over them.
Tomas had started watching her closely – no doubt a command from Antonio – but was soon distracted by Mary who was trying to scratch her itchy scalp. Leaving Hester to slip away, into the garden and inelegantly over the fence. Luckily there was no one around to see her fall flat on her face. In her defense, cheetahs were not made for climbing.
She scented Marta and the boy. She was sure it was Mikey. She hadn’t thought anything of it earlier, or even when they found out the boy was missing, but the more she turned it over in her mind, the more she thought it was Mikey who was arguing with Marta earlier.
Other leap mates wouldn’t have thought anything of Marta being there at the daycare, or even talking to one of the kids. She was a leap female, her daughter worked there – there was nothing to be suspicious about. Leaps, prides, and packs were families, and you trusted your family. Hester wasn’t part of the leap. Not yet corrected her cheetah. All she saw when she looked at Marta was a scheming bitch, and she could easily believe her of anything.
Hester still needed to tell Antonio about her suspicions over Daniel and Vertigo. She had been a little distracted when he kissed her – not that she was complaining about that – but all thoughts of telling him anything sailed out the window when they found out about the missing cub.
But it was possibly worse than just Daniel. Now that Hester had a little time to think, and she wasn’t entirely consumed by mooning over Antonio, she remembered what she had seen the day she collected mail with Maria.
The letter that she saw Valentina collect had the Vertigo logo on it as well. Why on earth would Vertigo be writing to Valentina or Marta? Something was definitely going on. Was Valentina or Marta scheming behind Roberto’s back? Would they really be dumb enough to get mail from Vertigo delivered directly to the leap?
Hester froze as Valentina came out the small building, ushering out another female and a cub. She gave the woman’s shoulder a squeeze and waved at the small boy as they left.
Valentina straightened and squinted into the dark corner of the playground where Hester was trying to hide.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded.
Hester sighed and stepped forward, wondering if hiding would have been possible if she were a little thinner.
Her cheetah yowled, getting her back on track. That’s right – one of the females she was thinking about had happily found her, and there was no time like the present for a confrontation.
“What was your mom doing here earlier?” asked Hester, using the special hectoring tone she usually reserved for work.
Valentina stared at her, baffled. “What? What does that matter?”
“I heard her here snapping at a kid, and I’m pretty sure it was the boy who’s now missing.”
The jaguar looked a little surprised for a moment, before shaking her head. “So what? A lot of females come and go during the day – they help out during play time.”
“So maybe she took him.”
Hester and her cheetah steeled themselves, waiting for the apoplectic reaction from the jaguar. Female cat shifters tended to be explosive when family honor was at stake. One of her mom’s ex-husbands could attest to that. He still sported a couple of Hester’s shaped claw marks after he dared to accuse her mother of cheating on him. As if her mother would!
But Valentina just stared at her with the same confusion as if she had just declared she was a time traveling astronaut.
“Why on earth would she?”
“Why on earth would your mother try to force you to mate Antonio?”
Valentina turned bright red. “How…”
Hester nodded at the fence. “Yeah, I was listening.”
Valentina scrunched her mouth up. Her anger was starting to get underway, but then she just seemed to deflate. “That’s none of your business,” she murmured.
“I think your mother is a complete bitch, and she is up to something.” Blunt maybe, but that was tame compared to what she was really thinking.
“Kidnapping a kid, though…” Valentina shifted uneasily.
Hester snorted. “Yeah, because your leap never kidnaps anyone.”
“Well, that’s not the same at all!” Valentina stomped a shapely foot, but the docile female didn’t try to do anything else. She’s actually quite a sweet young thing, thought her cheetah in irritation. Ugh.
“Well, prove me wrong. Where is she?”
“She must be out looking for poor Mikey with everyone else.”
“So you have no problem proving to me that she doesn’t have a kid stashed in your home?”
Valentina frowned and then sighed. “I’m going there anyway, to drop my clothes off so I can shift and join the search – if you want to come with me, be my guest.”
The silence was awkward as they walked side by side, but at least the jaguar wasn’t growling or going for her throat. No, she seemed preoccupied and upset.
“You’re worried about Mikey,” guessed Hester.
“Of course I am!” snapped Valentina, finally showing some fury. It quickly turned into anxiety. “He went missing while I was in charge of the daycare. If anything happens, I…” The words choked in her throat.
Her cheetah let out a small whimper, and Hester groaned inwardly. She was not good at being sympathetic, but she patted Valentina’s arm and even said, “There, there.”
Valentina halted and gave her a searching look. “Do you honestly believe my mother is capable of this?”
Honestly, Hester wasn’t sure. She didn’t know Marta that well, but what she knew didn’t suggest that she had a warm and cuddly side buried anywhere within.
“She made her only daughter – a virgin nonetheless – throw herself at a guy who had no interest in her. Most parents don’t do that. I think your mother’s capable of a lot.”
Valentina looked at her feet. “Mom’s always been a little pushy about rank – that’s all. She wanted me mated to the next leap prime. Aren’t most female shifters interested in rank?”
Some more than others, and if she was willing to throw Valentina at Antonio, it must have been a blow when Marta realized she wasn’t ever going to mate the prime.
“She must have been pretty pissed when Roberto dumped her and made it clear she wasn’t going to be top cat around here.”
The jaguar let out a delicate snort of laughter. “Okay, so she wasn’t exactly easy to live with when that happened.”
“So she thought she’d get you to be Antonio’s mate and use you as a puppet.”
They approached the house, and Valentina reached the door. “She’s ambitious, but that doesn’t mean she’s done anything wrong…”
They both stared as she pushed the door open, taking in the scene before them. Hester’s inner beast snarled in alarm.
“No, you’re right, this doesn’t look suspicious in the least,” she whispered.