Wild Cat

“Christine, stop shouting like that,” Jackie said. “You’ll have everyone in the neighborhood out wondering what you’re yelling about. Diego, get in here. Now I know why you’ve been hiding yourself away.”

Jackie opened her arms, rings glittering in the dying light, a smile of genuine welcome on her face. Diego embraced her, trying not to remember the day he’d come to console her after Jobe died, and how Jackie and her kids had ended up consoling him.

Jackie let him go and looked Cassidy up and down, taking in Cassidy’s height and her Collar. “All right, Diego, introduce me. Come on.”

“This is Cassidy Warden. Cassidy, this is the nicest woman in Las Vegas, Jackie Sanderson.”

“Warden?” Jackie said before Cassidy could speak. “Isn’t a man named Warden leader of the Shifters?” She leaned to Cassidy. “Honey, I know he’s your brother, but if he looks anything like he does in his pictures, he is damn hot.”

Cassidy grinned. “I’ll let him know you think so.”

She moved, Shifter-fashion, to embrace Jackie. When Jackie’s strong arms closed around Cassidy, Cassidy’s expression changed.

“I’m so very sorry,” Cassidy said, tightening the embrace. “Your loss, it hurts you.”

Jackie looked over Cassidy’s shoulder at Diego, her eyes soft. “Yeah, it’s bad, having Jobe gone.”

“I lost my mate too,” Cassidy said, gently pulling away. “And the world changed.”

Jackie nodded, clasping Cassidy’s hands. “The world changed.” She put her arm around Cassidy’s waist. “Come on inside, honey. Let’s have some wine.”

“Can you really turn into a cat?” Christine asked Cassidy after dinner.

Jackie had made her famous lasagna, and Christine and Jackie’s oldest son had eaten it with them. The two middle kids, seventeen and eighteen, had been out with friends, and the oldest son left to go out once they were finished eating.

They’re growing up and moving on, Diego thought. Remembering Jobe, but still having a life. Jobe would like that.

Pictures of Jobe were prominent—on the fireplace mantel, on the piano, on the shelf that held his badge, his official photo, and a flag. But the room wasn’t a shrine to the dead. Jobe’s big smile filled every picture, as though he listened, benevolent, as they laughed and talked.

They’d retreated here after dinner for coffee. Christine folded herself up on the floor, watching Cassidy with interest.

“I do turn into a cat,” Cassidy answered Christine. She’d seated herself very close to Diego on the sofa, unself-consciously resting her arm on Diego’s thigh.

“I want to see.”

“Christine…” Jackie began.

Cassidy smiled. “That’s all right. I don’t mind.” She got up, her hand lingering on Diego’s knee until the last minute. “I’ll need somewhere to change.”

“You can use my room.” Christine jumped up, grabbed Cassidy’s hand, and started down the hall. Cassidy good-naturedly let Christine take her away.

Diego felt Jackie’s keen eyes on him as soon as Christine’s bedroom door closed. “So, what’s up with you two? Is it hot and heavy?”

Diego picked up his coffee and took a sip. “You could say that.”

Jackie laughed. “Look at you blushing. Diego Escobar and a Shifter. What does your mother say?”

“She says I need to settle down and start having kids.”

“I agree with her. It wouldn’t hurt you. Kids might keep you from tearing off to Mexico, going after gangs, and almost getting yourself killed.” Jackie’s laugh turned into a glare. “Captain Max told me all about what you did. I suppose you thought you’d come over here tonight and tell me you were some kind of hero.”

Diego carefully set down his coffee cup. “I thought you’d be glad. We got the last of the men who did Jobe. Two were dead already, and the final two are in the lockup. That’s what I went to Mexico for.”

“Glad?” Jackie’s voice rose as Jobe kept smiling behind her. “Did you think I’d be glad if you died running down there playing vigilante? You dying trying to get revenge would have been even worse for me than before. Did you think of that?” Jackie’s anger filled the room.

“I wasn’t about to die,” Diego said. “I went in with backup, which included two other cops—my brother and Lieutenant Reid—and we arrested them.”

“Don’t shit me, Diego Escobar. There was much more to it than that, and you know it. You don’t just stroll into Mexico and come out with everything neatly tied up. I saw on the news that some little town blew up down there. That was you, wasn’t it?”

“We didn’t blow up the whole town. Just a factory that was already in ruins.”

Jackie stared at him, her rage cut by surprise. “What am I going to do with you, Diego?”

“Be happy that I got them?”

“I am happy. I’m damn happy. But I wouldn’t have been happy if you’d gotten yourself killed. How would I explain that to my kids? I tell you, Diego, if you ever pull a stunt like that again, I’ll… I’ll tell your mama.”

Diego raised his hands in surrender. “I won’t. I don’t need to. It’s over.”

A door slammed in the back, and Christine came running down the hall. “Mom! You’ve got to see this.”