Geek Squad 02 - Operation Foxtrot Page 6

  Weird.

  I shifted into my ocelot form before making my way out onto the fire escape. I felt a sense of déjà vu as I climbed onto the metal platform and started down the stairs. There was still enough darkness left in the night that I could easily hide in the shadows. I just hoped Cooper had opened a window for me.

  I could hear voices the closer I got to the floor my apartment was on, so I assumed he had. When I reached the landing, I inched toward to the open window. I didn’t like what I saw when I peeked inside. Cooper was there, but so were Cavetti and two of his goons.

  Not good.

  “I want to know where he is, Mr. Cooper,” Cavetti said. He was speaking so casually, as if the air wasn’t thick with tension.

  “I haven’t seen him. We had an argument a few days ago. I came over hoping to patch things up,” Cooper replied before pointing to the bouquet of flowers lying on the coffee table. “I brought those, hoping he’d forgive me.”

  Cavetti lifted one eyebrow. “What did you do to make him so angry?”

  Cooper sighed. “It’s the whole smoking thing. He kept getting on me about taking that stupid pill. I got tired of it and snapped at him.”

  “Not a very wise move, Mr. Cooper.”

  “Yeah, well…” Cooper shrugged.

  “I had you checked out, Mr. Cooper.”

  Oh damn.

  “Funny thing, no one remembers ever seeing you with Mr. Moore.”

  “Of course not. Andrew told you I’m supposed to blend into the background.”

  “Yes, see, I might buy that, except that I talked to Mr. Moore’s agent and he knew nothing about you at all. He’d never even heard of you.”

  “Max knows who I am,” Cooper insisted. “He probably just said that because Andrew and I got into a fight. He never did like me.”

  I stayed crouched down next to the windowsill and watched, waiting for the right moment to slip into the room unseen. It came when Cavetti snapped his fingers, and one of his goons grabbed Cooper and pushed him into the wall.

  “I don’t believe you, Mr. Cooper.”

  My claws slid out, and a low growl rumbled through my chest.

  Cooper’s eyes snapped in my direction. He gave the barest shake of his head before looking back at the goon who had him pinned to the wall.

  I couldn’t understand why he wasn’t fighting back. As he had so vehemently stated, he was Marine Force Recon. He should be kicking this guy’s ass.

  I slinked into the room, moving fast, but cautiously. I knew if I moved too quickly, I’d be spotted. I also knew if I didn’t move quickly enough, I’d be spotted.

  I was basically screwed.

  Color me shocked when I made it to the floor and then over behind the couch without being seen. I crept around the edge of the couch and climbed under the end table. From that vantage point, I could see the entire room.

  I wasn’t happy with what I was seeing. Cooper was still pinned against the wall. Only now, he had a gun pointed at him. Things were going to shit faster than I could keep up. I had to do something, anything.

  I couldn’t let Cooper be killed.

  The mere thought of something happening to the handsome Marine sent a rage through me that I didn’t understand. I had no control as I tore out from underneath the end table and launched myself at Cavetti, growling and hissing for all I was worth.

  A red haze fell over my brain as I attacked the man, clawing and biting at any inch of skin I could find. The yelling swirled around me as if I was isolated in the eye of a tornado. It was there. It was dangerous. It didn’t touch me.

  My only goal was to ensure Cooper’s safety.

  Nothing else mattered.

  I heard a gunshot and felt a searing pain in my hind leg. It didn’t stop me. I continued to tear into Cavetti until someone grabbed me and pulled me away. I hissed and raised my claws to dig into whoever had me until I realized it was Cooper.

  I growled a low warning, but lowered my paw.

  Cooper frowned at me before setting me on the floor. “Go in the bedroom.”

  I growled at him again, totally not on board with that plan.

  Cooper glared and pointed.

  Miffed, I flicked my tail in the air and marched into the bedroom. As soon as the door closed behind me, I shifted. I started pacing—limping really—my anger growing way beyond miffed.

  I was pissed.

  I had saved Cooper—again—and he had dismissed me as if it was nothing.

  I was going to stop rescuing the guy.

  Swear.

  I stormed over to my closet and yanked it open. It took just a moment to grab a suitcase and put it on the bed. I started loading it down with sweaters and jeans. I was pretty damn sure I wasn’t going to be able to stay here tonight, or any night in the next week.

  I also wanted to change out of the dirty and torn clothes I was currently wearing. I didn’t bother dropping them in the hamper as I took them off. There was no point.

  They couldn’t be saved.

  I shuddered as I pulled on one of my favorite cream-colored sweaters. It was so warm and soft. I felt as if I had been cold for days, maybe even weeks.

  Maybe since I had been in bed with Cooper.

  God, I wanted to be in bed with Cooper again.

  I was a sad excuse for an ocelot shifter. Pining after a man who would never be mine. It didn’t matter how many times I saved Cooper, the man wasn’t going to change his mind about us.

  I needed to get that through my head.

  Maybe it was time for me to go home and visit Hank and Ian for a little while. It would get me out of the city and away from Cavetti, assuming he was still alive.

  Why did that not bother me? I should be crying my eyes out that I might have killed a man, but instead, I was ready to roar to the world that I had eliminated a threat to my…to my…to my what?

  Cooper wasn’t my lover, no matter how much I might wish differently. He wasn’t my friend. Hell, he was barely an acquaintance. If I was being truthful, there really wasn’t a connection between us.

  I sighed as I finished packing a bag.

  I hated the truth. It sucked big hairy donkey balls. I much preferred the delusional world where Cooper wanted me for all eternity. It was the same world where being furry wasn’t so damn frightening.

  And it was all a fantasy.

  There was a soft knock on the door before it pushed open. Cooper stepped inside. “Hey, I’ve made arrangements for some of my friends to come pick up Cavetti and his goons, so they won’t be a threat to you anymore.”

  “Oh.” I should have expected the shaft of pain that sent through my heart, but I didn’t. “I guess you’ll be leaving then.”

  Cooper nodded. “I’ll be taking off as soon as they’re cleared out. I need to get back to my case.”

  Of course he would.

  I walked to my closet and grabbed another suitcase.

  I was going to need more sweaters.

  “What are you doing?” Cooper asked.

  “Packing.”

  Duh.

  “Why? I told you Cavetti and his men were going to be locked up.”

  “Yeah, but for how long?”

  “As long as it takes,” Cooper replied.

  “As long as what takes?”

  It was important to know these things, and currently, I felt as if I had my head buried in the sand. I didn’t know crap beyond the fact that someone was after me.

  “I need to finish my mission, Andrew. Cavetti is up to his eyeballs in this thing, and I’m pretty sure I’m close to having enough evidence to put him away for life. I just have a couple leads I need to follow up first.”

  I thought about that for a moment, then nodded. “Okay.”

  I scooted around Cooper when he stopped in my path to the closet.

  “Andrew, you don’t have to leave.”

  I actually thought I did. I needed to put some space between us, and if Cooper was staying in the city to finish his mission, I needed to not
be in the city. There was too much draw to call him or track him down.

  I could do it. I was a cat shifter. I could sniff him out a block away.

  Yes, he smelled that good.

  “I’m going to go visit Hank and Ian for a few days.”

  Cooper frowned as if he didn’t like that idea, which was just weird. “Don’t you have some photo shoots or something?”

  “I’ll reschedule.”

  “I thought rescheduling was a bad idea.”

  It was, but sometimes it had to be done.

  “Paolo will understand.”

  Maybe.

  At this point, I really didn’t care. I needed to put distance between me and Cooper before my resolve crumbled and I begged the man to want me, to keep me.

  I was close.

  “Hey.” Cooper grabbed my arm when I went to pass him. “You don’t have to be afraid anymore. Cavetti is going to be locked up. He can’t get you.”

  My jaw dropped as I stared up at Cooper. He thought I was afraid?

  “I’m not afraid of Cavetti,” I insisted. I had just turned the man into a shredded, bloody mess. He now felt more like prey to me than anything else. I knew that had to be my ocelot at work. I just didn’t quite understand how.

  I did know I liked it.

  Oh, not that harming of someone. That was never a good thing. I liked knowing I could defend myself and someone I cared about, and despite the fact that I was running away with my tail tucked between my legs, I did care about Cooper.

  I just couldn’t be around him.

  I ignored Cooper as I continued to pack my suitcases. I could feel him watching my every move, but talking to him wasn’t a good idea. I was too afraid he would say something and I would toss away whatever resistance I had to the man.

  There wasn’t much.

  When the doorbell rang and Cooper walked out of the room, I waited until he disappeared before slumping against the wall. I rubbed at my arms. My skin itched like crazy. I didn’t know if it was something shifter related or not, but it was driving me insane.

  I blinked when the feline inside of me growled. That wasn’t something I had experienced before. There was a deep pain in the center of my chest, almost as if my ocelot was clawing to get out. I pressed my hand against my chest as I tried to figure out what was wrong.

  My skin rippled, hair sprouting up then sinking away.

  That couldn’t be good.

  I continued to rub my chest as I walked out of the bedroom. “Cooper, do you know—” I frowned as I glanced around at the empty room. There was no Cooper, no Cavetti, and no goons.

  I walked over to see if he had gone to the bathroom, but that was empty, as well. So was the rest of the apartment. It was almost as if Cooper had never been here, except that I could smell him.

  I could also smell a few other people. I recognized couple of the scents as belonging to Cavetti and his goons. It was the other scents I smelled that concerned me. I didn’t know who they belonged to.

  My cat definitely didn’t like the foreign scents. It was all I could do to keep from shifting. Only the knowledge that I needed opposable thumbs to open my apartment door kept me from turning furry.

  I swallowed tightly before pulling open the door to my apartment. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting it, but it was not the small trail of blood leading to the elevator. I squatted and dabbed at the blood with my finger. I took a deep sniff.

  I growled as hair sprouted through my skin again.

  It was Cooper’s blood.

  I jumped up and raced to the elevator, hitting the down button. As I waited for it to arrive, I ran over to the window at the end of the corridor that looked out over the front of the building. Nothing looked out of place, but the limo was gone.

  If Cooper’s blood on the floor hadn’t been enough, that right there would have told me things had just gone to shit.

  When the elevator arrived, I rode it down to the lobby. It was stupid, I know, but I just had to make sure Cooper wasn’t waiting around somewhere. I didn’t think the man would leave without saying good-bye, but I could be wrong.

  After searching the lobby and the entire street in front of my building in both directions, I concluded that Cooper was nowhere to be found. Neither were Cavetti or his goons.

  I was really hoping Cooper wasn’t in the hell my mind was telling me he was. I wasn’t sure I had a way to find out either. I obviously needed help, and I knew just the people to call.

  I pulled my cell phone out as I hurried back up to my apartment. As soon as it connected, I started talking. I had only one thing to say.

  “I need the geek squad.”

  Chapter Eight

  It took several hours, but one by one, my friends arrived. No one understood me like they did. No one accepted me like they did. They were my best friends, my only friends really. These were the guys I depended on when trouble came knocking.

  Trouble had basically kicked in the door.

  Ian Travers was the first to arrive. I was surprised my cousin Hank wasn’t with him, but apparently, the man had to go back to his duties in the Marines.

  Kaito Hayashi arrived next, laptop and homework in hand. He had been attending college for so long, I had often wondered if he was a professional student.

  Danny Jenkins stumbled in during the wee hours of the morning. That he had left the safety of his brownstone on the Harvard University campus was a miracle in itself. Danny didn’t like leaving familiar surroundings.

  For me, he had.

  Ewan Callaghan was the last to arrive, having to travel all the way from London, England. By the time he stepped into my apartment, I had appraised the others of my situation and we were well underway to trying to track Cooper down.

  After Ian checked with Hank and discovered Cooper hadn’t reported in for his last check-in, and adding in the fresh blood I had smelled in the corridor outside my apartment, the general consensus was that he had been kidnapped.

  After hugging Ewan and thanking him for coming, I quickly filled him in on my emergency call. By the time I was done, Ewan’s eyes were wide.

  “Geez, Andrew,” he said. “I thought you were going to be the easygoing one of us.”

  Yeah, no.

  I shrugged. I really had no idea what to tell Ewan. I hadn’t planned on things going nuclear. It just kind of happened that way.

  Story of my life.

  “Tell me about this Cavetti guy.”

  “I’ve only met him a couple of times, but he’s become fixated on me for some reason.”

  “How so?” Ian asked as he stepped over to us.

  “I can’t really explain, but we met the night I rescued Cooper from him. I didn’t see him for a couple of weeks. I was attending a party set up by my manager. I didn’t know Cavetti was hosting the party at the time, or I never would have attended.”

  “Did you insult him or something?” Ewan asked.

  “I don’t think so, but what do I know? I’m not a mobster.”

  “Cavetti is a mobster?” Ian snapped.

  Uh…

  “I’m not exactly sure what he is. I know Cooper was sent to find out what happened to a couple of servicemen who went missing after attending a party Cavetti was hosting. There’s been no sign of them since that night. Other than letting me know that, Cooper wouldn’t discuss his investigation with me. Every time I asked, Cooper told me we’d talk about it later, but we never did. I have no idea if Cavetti is a mobster or not, but it sure seems that way.”

  He sure had the thugs for it.

  “And you think he’s the one who took Cooper?” Ewan asked.

  “Again, I can’t be sure, but I’d lay money on it. Cavetti and two of his goons were restrained and awaiting pickup by some of Cooper’s friends. Cooper and I were in the bedroom talking when the doorbell rang. I thought it was Cooper’s friends.” I rubbed my chest, remembering the ache I had felt, and still felt. “My ocelot got agitated.”

  Ewan frowned at me. “Agitated how?”


  “Growly.” I couldn’t think of any other way to describe it.

  “What about the people Cooper had called?” Ian asked. “Did they ever show up?”

  I frowned as I thought about it. “No, they didn’t. Maybe Cooper hadn’t called them yet or something.”

  “So, what happened?” Ian asked.

  “I came back into the living room, and everyone was gone. I didn’t think Cooper would leave just like that, so I started looking for him. I found the blood in the hallway, and there was no sign of Cooper or Cavetti anywhere. That’s when I called you.”

  “Hank said Cooper never reported in for his last check-in,” Ian said.

  I nodded, having already heard this.

  “He wasn’t able to tell me much,” Ian said, “except that Cooper had been sent out on a mission concerning some missing servicemen. If Cavetti is involved…”

  “He believes Cooper and I are an item,” I told them. “I’m not sure this has anything to do with missing servicemen.”

  Ian’s head cocked to one side. “How do you mean?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t know exactly, but I just don’t know if the two have anything to do with each other. There’s no reason for Cavetti to be coming after me if this was about some missing military men.”

  “Except that you said he thinks you and Cooper are an item,” Ian pointed out, “and if he believes that, and knows Cooper is after him, he might be trying to get Cooper to talk using you.”

  Okay, that made sense.

  I wish it didn’t.

  “It doesn’t really matter what he believes. We just need to find Cooper.” Before I went insane. I rubbed at my chest again. “I’m not sure how much longer I can keep myself contained.”

  “So, don’t,” Ian said. “You’re probably our best shot at finding Cooper. I say let your fur fly.”

  The words were barely out of Ian’s mouth before my ocelot pushed forward, taking control. Fur sprouted up along my skin, my bones contracted and reshaped, and my body contorted until a small feline stood where I had been mere seconds ago.

  That shifting thing got easier each time I did it.