Midnight Wolf (Shifters Unbound #11)(37)

“Doesn’t mean we can’t eat,” Dimitri said. “This is a restaurant. It would be more conspicuous if we didn’t eat.”

“Stay relaxed,” Jaycee advised. “The more natural you act, the less attention you attract. We’re just old friends meeting up, as far as the other diners are concerned.”

“She’s smart,” Tamsin said to Angus, then turned back to Jaycee. “You’ve done this before.”

“All my life,” Jaycee said. “You get used to stealth, Angus. After a while, you’ll be great at it.”

“I’m a tracker,” Angus said, pitching his voice low. “I know what I’m doing.”

Jaycee reached over and patted his arm, giving Angus the excuse, when she released him, to slide the keys into his pocket. “He’s my hero, Tamsin. Stood up to some scary people with me, and helped Dimitri and me get home safe.”

“That’s my dad,” Ciaran said proudly.

The restaurant’s business was picking up, as it was the time humans usually had supper, and they had to wait a while for Dimitri’s and Jaycee’s orders. But there was something to what Jaycee said. As they talked about nonsense things, Tamsin taking easily to Jaycee and Dimitri, the other patrons ignored them. Angus and his group weren’t behaving any differently from the other humans crowding around the tables.

Jaycee and Dimitri enjoyed their food, praising it, sharing bits with Ciaran, who declared he could eat more now. Tamsin then ordered a piece of cheesecake, which she split with Ciaran and Dimitri.

Finally, finally, the food was eaten, the bill presented. Angus started to dig for cash, but Dimitri beat him to it, tossing money onto the little tray the bill came on and telling the waitress to keep the change. She thanked him graciously.

They strolled out of the restaurant and around to the parking lot as though they had nothing more to do tonight than go home and watch TV. Angus made sure, however, that Tamsin and Ciaran walked in the middle of the pack.

Jaycee’s motorcycle was parked near Reg’s SUV, but Dimitri didn’t head for it. He led them instead to a vehicle that sat on the street, deep in the shadow, and was too large to fit into the tiny lot.

“There you go.” Dimitri waved a hand at it. “Wheels.”

“Cool!” Ciaran said in an enthusiastic whisper. Tamsin looked pleased, but Angus halted in dismay.

“Seriously?” He swung on Dimitri. “You want me to get away in that?”





CHAPTER ELEVEN


Angus’s wolf growls rumbled next to Tamsin, filling the air.

The vehicle Dimitri had brought was a huge black box sitting high on double wheels, its windows tinted and dark. It was the cab of a semitruck, polished and glinting even in the shadows.

“I hitched a ride in one of these once,” Tamsin said. “I loved it. Trucker wanted too much to show me the bed in the back though, so I hopped out as soon as he slowed down.”

She spoke lightly but he’d scared her, that scumbag. She’d leapt to the ground in the tiny town he’d had to decelerate to drive through, and had run to the nearest gas station, hiding in the women’s bathroom until he was gone. But she’d liked the truck—wasn’t its fault it had been driven by an asshole.

“We’re trying to be under the radar,” Angus told Dimitri.

Dimitri shrugged, the streetlight glinting on his bright hair. “No one will be expecting a Shifter in that. You’ll blend in with all the other truckers. If anyone asks, you own the cab and are between hauling jobs, heading out with your family somewhere or other.”

“His idea of stealth,” Jaycee said, cocking her head.

“Hiding in plain sight,” Dimitri corrected her. “A person tiptoeing around, glancing furtively over his shoulder is way more suspicious than a man going about his business. Just like eating in the restaurant.”

Angus looked irritated as hell, but Tamsin saw him tamp down his anger. “Thanks, Dimitri. I appreciate the help.”

Jaycee laughed. “It hurt you to say that. I argued with him, Angus, but Dimitri said the truck has a legit license in the human way, registered to an independent trucker—he calls himself Rufus Trucking. Rufus for Canis Rufus, Red Wolf. Hilarious, right?”

“I like that,” Ciaran sang out. “Uncle Dimitri is smart.”

“Hey, the truck is nothing connected with Shifters,” Dimitri said. “I found the cab in a scrap yard and refurbished it myself.” He cast a worried glance at the gleaming black chassis. “Don’t bang it up, okay?”

Tamsin snatched the keys from Angus’s hand. “We’ll take great care of it. Come on, Ciaran. Let’s see what’s inside.”

She and Ciaran darted forward before Angus could stop them, and Tamsin unlocked and opened the passenger side door. She boosted Ciaran inside and then followed him.

The cab was tall, with several steps leading up into it. The front bench seat was wide, with padded headrests, a big radio, and a dashboard with plenty of dials and buttons. In the back was another bench seat and a large storage space, which indeed contained a bed. The bed was wide enough for two, and possibly three if that third person was as small as Ciaran.

“Bet I know why Dimitri put in such a big mattress,” Tamsin said to Jaycee, who had opened the back door. “Your blush says it all.”