Free Mated by Desiree Holt Page A

already at the point where the trail’s cold and people’s memories are fading. If we don’t do something soon, we may never know what happened to her.”
    ”People don’t just disappear,” Luke stated. “There’s always a reason. Someone helps that along. If the police are getting ready to write it off, something needs to be done quickly.”
    Regan looked around the table. “Can you help? Will you help? I have a retainer check from Linnea in my purse if you say yes.”
    Before anyone could say anything Cale cleared his throat. “I think we should. Definitely.” He let his gaze travel over everyone. “Before I met you guys I had a nonshifter friend who had a brother who disappeared. Turned out he’d hung out with the wrong people, gotten hooked on drugs and overdosed in some crack house. The cops were ready to write him off as just another druggie who faded into oblivion, but the family was destroyed. They at least wanted to know if he was dead or alive, and if he was dead, to give him a decent burial. My friend and I jumped in where the cops had left off and were able to find the answers.” He ran his fingers through his thick hair. “They were sad at what had become of him, but they were happy to have the answers they needed and to be able to close that chapter.”
    “I don’t think drugs are the problem with Cathy Porter,” Regan said. “She’s pretty much a straight arrow.”
    “I’m just saying,” Cale told her, “that I know how survivors feel. We need to get your friend some answers. Whatever they turn out to be.”
    “Are you willing to take the lead in this, then?” Brian asked.
    “Yes.” Cale nodded. “Absolutely.”
    “Thank you very much, Cale .” Regan gave him a grateful smile. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you stepping forward.”
    He shrugged. “You know if I hadn’t, someone else would. We’re a team, Regan. A family.”
    Regan looked from Cale to Brian and back again. “So what now?”
    “I’ll go talk to Linnea ,” Cale said. “That would be first on my list.” He looked at Regan. “Can you give me her address?”
    “Yes. And her phone number.” She pulled her PDA from her briefcase along with a tiny notebook. Pulling up the information on her PDA, she wrote down the information but hesitated before handing the slip of paper to Cale .
    “Is there a problem?” Cale asked.
    “What is it, honey?” Brian asked at the same time.
    “She’s…a little fragile right now. Anxious and depressed because the police not only haven’t gotten anywhere but seem to think Cathy may have just walked off on her own. Even though there was nothing leading up to that day that might have signalled that. The worst part is they’ve even suggested maybe she and Cathy were into something that caused her disappearance.”
    Cale raised an eyebrow. “Why would they think that?”
    She shrugged. “Because they can’t find answers anywhere else. I can tell you, it hasn’t helped her state of mind. Linnea’s really upset about the way the whole thing has been handled and that more days keep passing without any hint of what happened. She swears Cathy would never just walk off like that and I believe her. So she’s kind of an emotional basket case. We need to be…kind to her.”
      “Regan.” Cale leaned towards her. “Of all of us, because of what happened with my friend, I’m probably the one who knows best the delicate nature of something like this. Trust me. I’ll take good care of her.”
    “One last thing. And you really need to know this.”
    “Lay it on me.”
    “She knows The Sentinels are shifters.”
    Conversation erupted again, and Brian let loose a piercing sound to get everyone’s attention.
    “Cool it, folks,” Brian told them. “She’s one of Regan’s closest friends and spends a fair amount of time with us. She dropped in on us unexpectedly one night. I had just come from a run and wasn’t paying attention so I didn’t know Regan had