As she walked through, heading to the kitchen, she noticed that everyone watched her. She also took that as a bad sign. Of course, Smiths were all about “bad signs.”

“It’s a wonder you and your daddy ever leave the house, the way y’all keep seein’ such bad signs,” her momma was known to complain once or twice over the years.

Yet Dee was rarely wrong when it came to these things, so she trusted her instincts and enjoyed the feel of the holstered .45 she had attached to the back of her jeans.

She pushed the kitchen door open and strode inside. Only one person was in there, and that, too, was rare. Usually Ric had a whole staff of chefs and assistant chefs and sous chefs and whatevers a place like this particular restaurant needed. Yet he was all by his lonesome, hacking up some zebra into pieces.

Her lip curled a little. She never could stand the taste of zebra. To her it was an acquired taste . . . like squirrel.

Deciding it was wise to keep the big island where Van Holtz and his staff did most of their prep work between them, Dee rested her arms on the marble and leaned in.

“How did it go?”

“Oh, it went fine,” Van Holtz replied back. “Just fine.”

When he didn’t say anything further, she shrugged and turned toward the door. “Okay,” she said, heading out.

True, he could have thrown the meat cleaver he’d been using at her, but he opted for part of that zebra, the hoof slamming into the door with a force and skill she’d had no idea the rich wolf possessed.

She faced him and could see how angry he was by the lack of expression on his face.

“Problem, hoss?”

“You microchipped her?”

Dang. She’d hoped that wouldn’t be found out.

“It was an easier way to track her. I did it through my phone. How d’ya think I found her so quick after they took her?”

He glowered at her, long and hard, and she knew what he wanted. Dee sighed and said, “Tell me where she is and I’ll apologize to your teacup poodle.”

“You can’t. Because she’s not here.”

“She back at her place?” She couldn’t help but smirk. “Or should I be checkin’ out Novikov’s place?”

“She’s still in Ursus County. She’s refused to return home until her father, someone she trusts, comes to get her.”

Good Lord. Is that what all this fuss was about? Because the teacup poodle got her feelings hurt? Did Van Holtz really expect Dee to care? When there were hybrids out there with real problems?

“I’m sure he won’t mind,” she said, unable to hide the boredom she was feeling.

“You microchipped her,” he said again.

And, fed up, she replied, “I really don’t care.”

“Good. Then neither will I. You’re fired.” He turned his back on her and reached for another sharp cutting tool. But Dee was too startled to merely walk away.

“Pardon?”

“I said you’re fired.”

“Because of the poodle?”

“Because shoving something into someone’s body against his or her will is often called assault. And for that you get fired.”

“Fine,” she snipped. She could get work anywhere. She didn’t need him or the Group or anybody for that matter!

She again turned to the door, but it swung open and Niles Van Holtz walked through. “Oh, good. You’re both here.”

“I’m leavin’,” she said. “Been fired.”

“That’s been canceled.”

The younger Van Holtz spun around. “Like hell it has! We agreed!”

“No. You ranted and I said ‘uh-huh’ a lot to keep you calm. But we have a bigger issue right now that we need to deal with.”

“What now?”

“Spoke to Blayne’s father. Ezra. Have either of you met him?”

Dee had seen the man, but she hadn’t spoken to him. He seemed like every other Magnus Pack wolf she’d ever seen. Big, unfriendly, with a thing for two-wheelers.

“He’s a unique man,” Niles Van Holtz went on. “And unless we want him to start doing some real damage, we need to take care of something before he helps us get Blayne out of Ursus County, and we need to take care of it fast.”

“Which is?”

“We need to find the ones who grabbed Blayne. Find them and take care of them.” The older Van Holtz looked over at Dee. “That seems right up your alley, wouldn’t you say?”

“I guess.”

“We don’t know where they are,” Ric said. “And all our tracking team found was Novikov’s truck, and that was gone when we sent a full team out. The area was swept clean by the time our people got there.”

“Bears,” Dee said, and when both men stared at her, she said again, “Bears. It was bears who took Novikov and the poodle—”

“Stop calling her that!”

“—all the way to Ursus County. The bears cleaned up the place, and those bears aren’t getting rid of anything from something like that.”

“That makes sense,” the older Van Holtz pointed out to his cousin. “Think Lock—”

“He is not going to help us anymore.” Ric glanced at her. “And he’s not talking to you at all.”

“Did you turn him against me?”

“Me?”

“Would you two cut it. We need a contact.”