The thing is, just before Austin’s last disappearance, he was calling Camden damn near every day for a good two weeks. Then, after one particularly long call, Austin disappears, and no one sees him for a month. The boffins think these two things are related to his disappearance now.”
“Nope.” Dian shook his head. “I refuse to believe it. Cam’s got nothing to do with any of this. He wouldn’t jeopardize his life by having anything to do with Austin good or bad. Shit, the man’s probably mated to some pretty little woman with a half a dozen mini honey badgers running around nipping his ankles by now.”
“Well, you’re right about him being mated, at least.” Eagle chuckled. “But our friendly ex-assassin got himself a half Scottish Highland Bull shifter, half dragon male as a mate, and they’ve recently had their first son, Ivan. The boffins only know all this because Camden caused a huge stink with that raid that went badly on that alpha who was planning world domination while Austin had disappeared last time.”
“Male?” Dian arched an eyebrow and shrugged. The Fates weren’t known for discriminating and neither was he. “Still, that proves Cam didn’t have anything to do with Austin’s disappearance, this time or the last time. There’s no way he’d have someone like Austin around a fated mate and child. When he left, he was determined to live a quiet life and have nothing to do with anyone at the agency.”
“For what it’s worth, I totally agree with you.” Eagle got up, smoothed his pants over his long legs, and then arched his back. “But ‘the powers that be’ have no other leads, and while they don’t think Camden had anything to do with any of this either, they do want to know why Austin had that uptick of phone calls with him all those months ago. Grab your to-go back, we’re going on a road trip.”
“Where are we going?” Dian didn’t expect Cam would live anywhere near a major city, but he wasn’t keen on a camping trip.
“It’s a shifter town.” Eagle fished in his back pocket for a piece of paper. “Arrowtown. Camden Stone owns the local pub there, while his mate runs the local bakery.”
“At least there’s a chance we might get fed.” Dumping the paper from his desk into his overflowing in-tray, Dian picked the whole lot up and dumped it in the trash. With any luck the cleaners would dispose of it all before the admin staff worked out what he’d done. “Provided he doesn’t claw out our innards first. Let’s hope Cam remembers we’re not the bad guys here.”
“Only one way to find out.” Yeah, Eagle was also an optimist.
Chapter Two
“Hello, Mrs. Hooper, you’re looking lovely today as always.” Keenak, known to his friends as Kee, slapped the required fifty cents on the counter of the busy store, snagging the local paper from the rack. He sauntered out of the door without waiting for a reply – depending on her mood, Mrs. Hooper was known to glare, or even lecture if she wasn’t busy, and she also had an uncanny knack of knowing a person’s deepest thoughts. Kee stayed pleasantly respectful to her, but he wasn’t in the mood to be grilled.
Hurrying across the road, he sniffed appreciatively as he strolled into the Arrowtown Bakery. There were always people waiting to be served in the delicious smelling store – today there were three women making appreciative noises in front of the glass cases full of delectable goodies. Kee ignored them, leaning over the counter, calling through the door into the kitchen, “Brutus, my sweetheart, you’re definitely my favorite bear. Have you been making those delicious claws again? I know you have. I can smell them from here.”
“They’ve barely come out of the oven.” Brutus stepped into the doorway, his exasperated glare making Kee laugh. Brutus was a ruggedly handsome man with beautiful deep brown eyes, and a beard Kee thought about stroking once or twice. But after meeting each other and having a drink or three, they both agreed they weren’t mates and would be better off as friends. Although, there were times when Kee ate Brutus’s cakes, he seriously wished they could be a whole lot more than friends.
“Aww.” Kee clasped his hands and paper to his chest and fluttered his eyelashes at the grumpy bear. “You knew I was coming and made them specially. You’re such a sweetheart. Isn’t he a sweetheart, ladies?”
The three other customers, all rabbits and