Josie, an apple in her hand, stared first at Meghan, then at Cella.

When her daughter didn’t say anything, Cella got in her car, pulled out of the driveway, and headed in to work.

MacDermot was standing outside the office waiting for him. She had two big cups of coffee and a pastry bag. When he got close she demanded to know, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Malone told you about ...”

MacDermot laughed. “She didn’t have to. Everybody told me how cuddly you two were at that freezing party.”

“Ice Party.”

“Whatever. Although really, you should have told me.”

“Why the hell would I tell you?”

“We’re partners.”

“We’re partners, MacDermot, not girlfriends. We’re not going to sit around talking about dates or our periods or your husband’s problems with roaring at his neighbors.”

MacDermot sighed. “We got another noise citation last week. I keep trying to convince them it’s the dogs, but no one seems to believe me.”

Crush snatched one of the coffees away from her. “Can we just get this over with?”

She held up the pastry bag. “I brought treats.”

“What kind?”

“Honey buns and—”

Really mad now, Crush barked, “Do I look like a grizzly to you? Do you see a hump? Or an ‘I’m stupider than you might think’ look on my face? Huh? I thought we already discussed this.”

MacDermot’s top lip curled the tiniest bit. “Am I going to have to shoot you? Because I will shoot you.”

Crush snarled and turned away from her.

“What about cinnamon?”

“What about it?”

“I also got cinnamon twists because I like the honey buns. I’ve made it my business that the only predator whose diet I worry about is the one who fucks me regularly. And last I looked this morning—that wasn’t you. Now do you want the goddamn cinnamon twist or not?”

Crush turned back around, eyed MacDermot. “You always this cranky?”

“Only when I have to deal with more than one predator a day.” She held out the bag. “And you better eat this now. The ones inside do not share.”

He took the bag. “I’m top of the food chain, MacDermot. . . no one takes my cinnamon twists.”

“Great. First I have to deal with Captain Ego at home and now Commander Boar Rage at work.”

She turned and headed into the office. “Come on.”

Crush followed her, stepping into the first-floor elevator. But instead of pushing the button for their office floor, she pushed the one for the basement. Crush hadn’t had a chance to fully explore the place yet, so he had no real idea what was on thisfloor.

They stepped out and walked down a long hallway, finally stopping at a room. MacDermot kicked the steel door with her foot and after a few seconds a She-leopard opened it.

“You’re late, MacDermot.”

“You gonna start with me now? Because I have no problem shooting every one of youse.”

She pushed past the female and walked inside. The She-leopard winked at him, her smile telling him she enjoyed fucking with MacDermot. Damn cats and their damn emotional torture.

Crush walked into the room and immediately stopped, his gaze looking over everything.

“Your gear’s here,” MacDermot said, pointing at a locker.

“What is this?” Crush asked, slowly walking up to her, his eyes still locked on what he was seeing.

“What’s what?”

“This, MacDermot. All of this.”

“What? You mean the rocket launcher? That’s a just in case, really.”

Crush stared at her. “A just in case?”

“You never know. Hurry up. We’ll take one of the vans and go check in with the others.”

“You mean the Group?”

“And KZS.” MacDermot pointed at the other shifters in the room. There were about twelve. He knew some of them, had never seen the others, and they represented many breeds. Knowing MacDermot, Crush would bet that most of them were military trained. “This is our team. The best of the best, as far as I’m concerned. You and me, we take lead.”

“You and I.”

“That’s what I said.”

“No ...” Crush shook his head. “Forget it.”

“Right. You and me take lead, NYPD is there as backup for the Group and KZS.”

“Who are their team leads?” a black bear asked while he pulled his vest over his incredibly wide chest.

“Malone and Smith.”

When the rest of the team members nodded their heads, seeming to approve, Crush could tell that Malone had already earned a good reputation with the others.

“You guys get the vans and meet us at the Group offices.”

“You’re going now, MacDermot?”

“You know they’re always late. As it is, I’m guessing it’s going to be a long night.”

Crush felt the need to ask, “So while we’re backing up Group and KZS, what are they doing?”

“No idea.”

“Don’t you care?”

“Not particularly.” MacDermot shrugged. “They do most of the wet work.”

When the rest of the team nodded in agreement as if that made things all better, Crush replied, “I can’t express to you how much that one sentence freaks me the fuck out.”