Second Nature (37 page)

Even though he probably didn't believe it either, Brian gave a terse nod. "We'll let our people know."

The phone rang before he could tell Leigh to escort the Ashawe out and make sure he wouldn't get lost on his way out of their territory.

Leigh exchanged a glance with her fathers. Was this Griffin, calling for help?

"Don't you want to answer that?" the Ashawe asked.

No one moved.

Nervously licking his lips, the Ashawe stepped closer. "Pick up."

"Later," Brian said, lazily inspecting his fingernails.

"Now," the Ashawe said.

Growling, Brian lifted the phone to his ear. "Yes?"

"I'm sorry to bother you so early, Natak," a male voice came through the receiver.

Patrick.

He was one of the senior members of their border patrol but didn't live with the pride for most of the year. "But I thought I'd better let you know since I'm sure she didn't: Griffin is back in our territory," Patrick said.

"Old news." Brian snarled and moved his thumb to end the call.

"No!" The Ashawe tried to take the phone from him, but it was as if a half-grown cub was trying to steal a juicy piece of meat from the biggest male in the pride. Brian lifted the phone over his head, enjoying the little game of making the Ashawe jump to reach it, then pulled back at the very last moment.

"If you don't want me to prosecute you for aiding and abetting someone who broke the First Law, you better give me that phone," the coyote wheezed.

Brian's green eyes glowed with suppressed anger as he stared down at the Ashawe. He knew he had no choice, though. With a snarl, he threw the phone at the coyote, who lifted it to his ear.

"How do you know?" the Ashawe said into the receiver.

"Who are you?" Patrick asked.

"I'm a saru," the Ashawe said with all the authority that this position gave him. "So you better answer my question: how do you know Griffin Westmore is back?"

"Let me talk to my nataks before I —"

"They won't be your nataks for much longer if you don't answer me now!" the Ashawe interrupted. "Where did you see Griffin Westmore?"

"I didn't," Patrick answered. "She called me; that's all."

Leigh's relief lasted only for a second.

The Ashawe was like a dog with a bone, not giving up. "What did she want?" he asked.

"She asked where a poker player would go to make some money in Detroit," Patrick answered.

"Why did she want to know that?" The swirling scent of the coyote's confusion drifted over.

Yes, why? I'd think Griffin has more serious problems than playing some human game right now.
Then Leigh remembered the most visited Web sites on Jorie Price's computer.
Great Hunter, no! Griffin is really searching for the human on her own instead of keeping her muzzle out of trouble.
As a member of Detroit's vice squad, Patrick could probably tell her where to find the human — and now he would tell the saru. It was Griffin's death sentence.

"She didn't say, but I got the impression she's searching for someone," Patrick said.

"So, what did you tell her?" the Ashawe asked.

"I gave her a list of the most likely places," Patrick said, not elaborating.

"I need that list," the Ashawe said.

Patrick hesitated. "Natak?" he asked, knowing Brian and Gus would be able to hear him.

"Give him the list," Brian said. "The complete list."

Clenching her teeth, Leigh was forced to watch as the saru wrote down the name of one casino and bar after the other. Finally, she escorted him out.

Brian was on the phone when she returned to the living room. Leigh could make out Patrick's apologetic voice.

"Which are the three most likely places on the list?" Brian asked, cutting off the apologies.

"It's not that easy to say," Patrick said. "Like I told Griffin, it depends on how much money and experience she has and how good she is."

Helpless glances passed between Brian and Gus. They didn't know a thing about the human's finances or skill level.

"I think we can safely assume that she's very good," Ronnie piped up. "She won some tournaments before she stopped playing two years ago."

Brian threw her a startled glance. Ronnie was quiet and subtle. People underestimated her and tended to forget she was even present. Leigh never did, though. She always knew when Ronnie entered the room.

"An experienced player would stay out of the casinos," Patrick said. "If I wanted to make some money without being seen or registered, I'd look for an off-the-books game. One with moderately good players and not a very big or shady one if I were to go in without backup."

"Give me the addresses and call in sick with the police department," Brian ordered. "You're helping Leigh today."

"Helping me?" Leigh repeated. "You want me to head out and find the human?" The eagerness for a good hunt stirred deep inside of her.

Brian handed the phone to Gus and turned to face Leigh. "I want you to head out and find Griffin."

Leigh swallowed. He was her father, her mentor, and her idol in many things, and she had always followed his orders without hesitation, but this? If Griffin had really done something wrong, had broken the First Law, and she found her and brought her back, they would punish Griffin severely, maybe even kill her. While Griffin had brought this upon herself, Leigh didn't want to be the one to hunt her down. "Dad..." She licked her lips and felt Ronnie's hand squeeze her arm in silent support. "I'm not sure I'm the best person for this."

"You are," Brian said, and Gus gave a nod of agreement.

"I'm not a saru," Leigh said, trying to get out of this task. While she wasn't eager to go out and help Griffin, getting herself in trouble too, she didn't want to contribute to harming Griffin either.

"I don't want you to find Saru Westmore. I want you to find your sister and make sure she's okay," Brian said gruffly.

Relief at not having to hunt down her sister warred with anger about his willingness to risk his career for Griffin. "You want me to help her?" She glanced at Gus, but he didn't say anything, still on the phone with Patrick. "Do you know what you're saying?" She lowered her voice, not wanting the others to hear that she was openly disagreeing with her natak. "If she has really broken the First Law, you're risking your career, the pride... everything."

"We don't know that yet." Brian's voice was calm, but his green eyes were stormy. "For now, I just want you to find out what's going on and make sure that she doesn't get herself into even more trouble."

More trouble? Is that even possible?
Instead of giving voice to the sarcastic thought, Leigh just nodded and turned to go.

"I'll go with her," Ronnie announced.

"No," Leigh and Brian said at the same time.

Gus looked up from his phone conversation.

"Kasari don't work alone. We've always made a good team," Ronnie reminded them. "And I know you don't want to involve any other member of the pride. I'm practically family, and you taught me how to defend myself if need be."

Brian just looked at her.

"No," Leigh said more firmly. She didn't want to drag Ronnie into this mess that Griffin had created.

Ronnie took a step closer to Brian, talking only to him. With her head tilted, she grinned up at him in that charming way that had worked on Brian when fourteen-year-old Leigh had broken the window of her bedroom and Ronnie had taken the blame, knowing he wouldn't punish her the way he would Leigh. "Leigh knows nothing about humans. I work with them every day at the library. I know how they think. I know how Jorie Price thinks. I read all of her books, and I even met her once."

"I'm not searching for the human; I'm searching for Griffin," Leigh said before Ronnie could wrap her fathers around her little finger. "And I would think I know my own sister better than you do."

"Oh, you think you do?" Ronnie turned toward her. A challenge sparked in her hazel eyes. "Then tell me who was the first person your sister had a crush on?"

One of his quiet, knowing grins flashed over Gus's face, annoying Leigh even more because it made her feel as if she was the only one who didn't know about Griffin's first crush. "I don't know, and I don't care. I'll go alone, and that's that!" Leigh growled.

"Rhonda will go with you," Brian said in a voice that brooked no argument. "Griffin is searching for the human, so to find her, you have to find the human."

In a silent confirmation of his brother's decision, Gus handed Ronnie the list with the most likely gambling places.

Protesting was useless. "Fine," Leigh said. "Let's go."

"Stop pouting," Ronnie said on the way out the door.

Leigh shook her head, caught between wanting to laugh and wanting to yell. No one else in the whole pride would have dared to talk to her that way. "I'm not pouting. I don't pout. I just didn't want to drag you into all of this," she said.

"You're not dragging me into anything. I volunteered because I know we'll have a better chance at finding her together," Ronnie said. She reached over, slipped her hand into the pocket of Leigh's jacket, and took her car keys. "I'll drive."

Leigh gave up — as Ronnie had known she would.
She knows me too well... and apparently, she knows Griffin really well too.
"So, who was the first person my sister had a crush on?" she asked when she settled into the passenger seat.

Ronnie leaned down to adjust the driver's seat for her shorter legs. "I'm not telling you."

"What? Why?"

"You had your chance to find out — and you said you didn't care." Ronnie grinned and started the car.

*  *  *

The house didn't look like much of a gambling house. Actually, Griffin decided, it didn't look like much of anything. It was just a nondescript building in a row of nondescript buildings. A simple sign above the door said "Neely's Bar," but nothing announced that poker games were held here — not surprising, since they were illegal poker games.

Griffin had lain in wait for hours, hidden behind a stack of pallets in an alley next to the bar. Cars whizzed by on the street next to her. The stench of dog urine, garbage, and exhaust fumes made her dizzy. A neon light flickered, and the low buzzing of electricity tried Griffin's patience.

She hated cities. How could humans live on hills and in valleys that were littered with high-rise buildings, not trees, the earth buried beneath layers of asphalt and concrete and the darkness drowned out by flashing city lights?

It was a good hiding place for Jorie, though. Without Patrick's list, she never would have found her in the anonymous masses of Detroit. Even with the list, she had wasted hours checking out three other places. Some of them had been cozy hotel rooms, some run-down dives. This one was somewhere in between.

She'd had a good feeling about it, so she had circled the place. Just when she had passed the front entrance, the door had opened and a middle-aged man had stepped outside. Griffin's nose had wrinkled when she caught the scent of cold smoke and spilled booze. Then she froze as a hint of a different, more pleasant scent brushed against the roof of her mouth.

Despite the city noise around her, the image of a stroll through the forest formed in her mind's eye.

Jorie was inside.

Three hours had passed since that discovery. Still no sign of Jorie. Griffin wondered whether she was in there, beating the pants off the other players. It wasn't hard to imagine. Her intelligence and cool head had enabled her to escape the Saru and would serve her well at the poker table too.

More time ticked by.

Should I go in?

Her instincts told her it was a bad idea. She didn't know what she might find inside. There could be guys who didn't shy away from a good fistfight or even criminals with weapons in the bar. Getting Jorie out without provoking a fight would be difficult. She didn't want the stir it would create, and she also didn't want to be forced to kill a human. The best strategy was to wait until Jorie came out, then quickly snatch her and leave the city before the Saru made it impossible to get out of Michigan.

A car stopped at the other end of the street. Two men got out.

Warning tingles shot up and down Griffin's scalp. These weren't ordinary men. The way they moved — carefully placing their heels first as if they had to remind themselves to do so — screamed Wrasa.

Saru!

How had they found out where Jorie was so quickly? Or were they searching for her?

Her lips formed a grim line when the only possible answer came to her: Patrick had told her fathers about Griffin's call. They had betrayed her by calling the Saru.

No time to deal with the pain of betrayal now.

The saru were walking toward her. The stench of the alley covered Griffin's scent, but if they came any closer, they would discover her.

She waited two thudding heartbeats. When they glanced at each other, she slipped out from behind the pallets and darted toward the sports bar. A cloud of smoke, sweat, and alcohol engulfed her as she swung the door open.

Wrinkling her nose, she forced herself to move forward and let the door close behind her.

A TV was blaring, and people were drinking and shouting to each other at the bar, but there was no poker game going on. Griffin's sharp gaze slid around the room.

A waitress walked toward a half-hidden door with a tray full of bottles and glasses.

Ah!
Griffin quickly crossed the room and flashed the waitress her most charming grin. "May I?" She reached out to open the door for the waitress, who had her hands full.

The waitress grinned back and slipped through the door.

Griffin followed.

This room was filled with an even denser haze of smoke, but at least it was not as noisy. Half a dozen men sat around a large, pockmarked table, dealing cards and making bets at a dizzying pace.

A man with a ten-gallon hat shifted in his seat as he reached for his wallet to buy more chips. His movement gave Griffin a glimpse of the player next to him.

Jorie!

A fresh wave of adrenaline shot through Griffin. No time for her usual catlike subtlety. The two saru would be here any minute, so she had to get Jorie out now.