Beneath the Skin: de La Vega Cats, Book 3 Read Online Free PDF Page B

but not totally unusual. A long time had passed since her grandmother’s days, and many of the jaguars they knew shopped there. But these two she’d never seen before.
    Something wasn’t right. It was more than them not being familiar. It was the way they held themselves. She flashed back to the faces of two men who’d been wearing a similar expression as they’d walked into a crowded marketplace and set off a suicide bomb. She’d been behind a low wall. It was what had saved her life. Two of her escort had not been so lucky.
    Shit. Shit .
    It was as if time slowed. The man shoved his coat back and pulled out a weapon, and her training simply took over.
    “Weapon!” she shouted as she sprang into action.
    His bones gave way when she grabbed his wrist and twisted to make him drop the gun. Mia landed on his chest, knees at his throat, a snarl on her lips. The woman had run out the door.
    “Who the hell are you?” she shouted over the ringing in her ears. Her thigh oozed blood, but the flow was already slowing. No silver then. At least there was that.
    The male hardened his mouth into a grim line, his face pale.
    “Do you think I’d hesitate to hurt you again to get an answer? I’m not a human, I’ll cut you just to watch you bleed.” To underline her point, she popped him one and let the crunch of a broken nose assuage her rage a little.
    But he remained close-mouthed until Drew got to them and hit him so hard it knocked him out. “Stop wasting time.” He frowned at her.
    She socked him in the gut. “I was questioning him!”
    “You’re bleeding. Again. Let’s deal with that first and then we can question him.”
    Her father arrived, first aid kit in his hands.
    “What the hell is going on? Your mother wants to call 911.”
    “No! Let’s see what the damage is first.”
    Her father’s face was pale as he dealt with the wound in her thigh, and she tried very hard not to wince. “Clean through. At least we’ve got that much.” He packed it, enough to hold until the wound began to close on its own.
    “No silver, which seems dumb. Why Gibson and not me?”
    Drew narrowed his gaze. “You think this is connected?”
    “What are you two talking about?” Her father’s tone was taut. He was on the verge of losing his temper in a big way.
    “How could it not be? Doesn’t it seem like far too great a coincidence? Two shootings in the span of a week?” She quickly explained the situation to her father. Being as brief and non-scary as she could.
    “Why does it not surprise me that de La Vegas are involved? It would be very nice indeed not to have to deal with people trying to hurt you. Also, your knowledge of silver versus non-silver ammunition does not fill me with confidence over your well-being.”
    “No kidding, Dad.” Did he think she wanted this? Her life before this was not filled with danger and silver bullets. “These were new pants. Jerk.”
    She managed to stand and her father moved her straight to a nearby chair and his look dared her to argue.
    “Stay still for God’s sake! Let your body take care of it.”
    “Should we call the cops?” Drew stood after binding the still-unconscious man’s hands.
    “We can’t.” She knew what she needed to do, which didn’t really make it any easier. “Take care of your customer, Dad. I’ll deal with this. Drew, put him in the broom closet after you hogtie him.”
    Thank heavens the customer was a long-time one and a cat as well. Made her call a little easier when she didn’t have to worry about hiding what had happened or why she wasn’t bringing in the police.
    She got voicemail that was as gruff as the man himself.
    “This is Mia Porter. Two cats entered my family’s shop and one of them shot me. We have him here, bound and locked in a closet. The other, a female, got away.” She hung up and turned back to the shop where her father returned from letting their customer out the side way.
    She busied herself by cleaning up the mess until