Free Bear Claw by Crissy Smith Page B

down often. In fact, he was still riding high by following the urge to kiss Brandy—and the results.
    After a few more heated kisses, they’d finally parted and he’d walked her back to her car parked at the library. They also made plans to meet up again this evening.
    Finding himself almost bouncing on his walk, Jamie felt better than he had in months. If he could discover a lead in the case he’d opened on the missing bear shifters, he would really be able to enjoy his night with Brandy.
    First, he needed to work. So he had to put Brandy in the back of his mind or he would be walking around all day with a stiff dick.
    Ahead, he spied a group of college girls coming around a corner. Seeing the cups in their hands, he started in their direction.
    Sure enough, he picked up the sounds of laughter and shouting. Strolling along the side of one of the buildings, Jamie opened all of his shifter senses. The scent of pizza and burgers filled the air, reminding him it was lunchtime. Small clusters of students hung around listening to music and talking.
    Jamie received several wary looks and a few interested stares. His badge swung from his neck and he was in his usual uniform of jeans, T-shirt and boots.
    It amused him that while the guys seemed to try to make themselves smaller and avoided eye contact, the women openly ogled him.
    A lone young male stepped off the stairs and headed toward him. Jamie stopped and waited for him to approach.
    “Agent Ward?”
    “That’s right. You must be Johnny Lancaster.”
    “Yes, sir. Thanks for meeting me here. I only have a thirty-minute break until my next class.”
    “No problem. However, I have a few questions for you. Can we sit somewhere?”
    “Yeah, follow me.”
    The younger man led him away from the others toward several benches in the courtyard.
    He sat, waving for Jamie to join him. “The guy I talked to on the phone said you wanted to talk about Victor.”
    “You reported him missing. I need a little more information.”
    “I made that call a while ago. I talked to some other agents. They seemed to think, because there was no sign of him leaving under distress and since he was an adult, it wasn’t worth looking into,” Johnny told him.
    “In usual circumstances that’s normal. But I’m inclined to think his leaving might be connected to a few others.”
    “I knew he wouldn’t pick up and take off. I tried to tell them that.”
    “What makes you say so?”
    “Victor loved school. Loved it here. It was his first time away from his family and he wanted to learn. He didn’t come from money so he had to keep his GPA up for his scholarships. He wouldn’t have thrown all that away.”
    “The days leading up to his disappearance, did he start acting secretive? Or strange in any way?”
    “No, he was completely normal. We’d come to the student union for pizza the night before. Talked to a couple of girls then I headed for our room and he went to the library.”
    “Do you know what he needed from the library?”
    “He was writing a paper on the integration of shifters into the government.”
    Oh, wow. A bad feeling began eating at Jamie. “What was he studying?”
    “Political science, specifically revolving around the shifter communities.”
    “Do you know who his professor is?” Jamie could get Victor’s schedule but he wanted to talk to the teacher soon.
    “Professor James. She’s the only professor who’s a shifter.”
    He doubted that. There were more people with the shifter gene than most humans realized. But not every shifter came out with the large groups. If it hadn’t been for his job, Jamie probably would have remained in hiding. “Okay, I’ll talk to her.”
    “She was really great while I was trying to find Victor. Concerned too. She knew he wouldn’t take off either.”
    “You called the police. Why not his parents?”
    “I did call his mom. He talked about her sometimes. I don’t know anything about his dad. Victor said his old man had