Cassidy waited for him to finish. “How were you planning to get there?”

“Xav’s truck. We’ll probably need four-wheel drive for where we need to go.”

“Conspicuous. Why not fly in as close as you can and find transportation from there?”

Diego shook his head. “Because I’m not a rich boy with a private plane.”

“If you let me come with you, I can provide the plane,” Cassidy said. “And the pilot.”

Diego blinked. “How?”

“First, promise you’ll take me with you.”

“Cass…”

Cassidy folded her arms and waited. At the beginning of the week, she’d have never admitted to Diego, a human, that Eric knew people who could help with clandestine trips, but things had changed. Diego had saved her life—more than once—and he hadn’t had to. He’d kept her from being locked up by Shifter Division, helped her with Reid, and understood what she was going through.

Diego watched her a moment, then he let out an exasperated sigh. “All right, but only because I’m desperate. And you’ll stay far out of the way if we find these guys.”

Cassidy smiled and gave him a nod. Not that she’d agree to that restriction. But she’d argue that point once they found them.

Cassidy’s pilot awoke every one of Diego’s cop suspicions.

Diego had assumed that the contact to secretly fly Shifters where they wanted to go would come through Eric, but Cassidy blithely made a phone call, then directed Diego to drive them out east of town.

Once the city dropped behind them, Cassidy directed Diego to a little-used highway, which sped them out to the middle of nowhere. Dramatic scenery surrounded them, stark, knifelike hills, wide sky, white desert.

They made another turnoff to a dirt road, which was wide and well graded. Beyond a few deep washes, the road ended in a flat stretch between hills. A trailer house stood incongruously in the middle of this dusty field, with two small planes parked behind it.

The slim man who walked out to meet them—armed with a handgun on a belt holster—broke into a smile of delight when Cassidy got out of Diego’s car.

“Cassidy,” he bellowed in a voice too large for his wiry build. “How are you, girl?”

“Just fine, Marlo.”

Cassidy walked right up to him and embraced him, which Diego didn’t like. He knew by now that this was the normal Shifter way of greeting, but Marlo seemed to enjoy it a little too much.

“This is Diego,” Cassidy said. “He’s the friend I mentioned who needs the ride.”

Marlo looked Diego up and down. “He looks like a cop.”

“He is a cop. How can you tell?”

“Experience. He’s not a drug runner.”

“You’d better not be either,” Diego said.

Marlo’s eyes narrowed. “You want my help or not?”

“Not if you’re a drug runner, no.” Drug runners might think about only the money they were making, but their product ended up in kids who died. Diego would never look the other way for that.

“I gave up that shit a long time ago. Too dangerous, too stupid. Now I’m just a pilot for hire, for people who need to get places in a hurry.”

“Like Shifters?” Diego asked.

Marlo spread his hands. “I believe in freedom and equality for all. Why should Shifters not be allowed to travel like anyone else? So, if they need a ride, they call Marlo. Cassidy vouched for you, so I know you won’t be reporting this to your cop friends.”

Cassidy had been vouching for him a lot, lately. “I need to go down to a place in Mexico, in Durango,” Diego said. “Can you get me there?”

“Sure. How many passengers?”

“Three—me, my brother, Cassidy.”

“And Shane,” Cassidy said.

Diego shot her a look. “What?”

“Eric would kill me if I left without Shifter protection.” Cassidy’s answer was serene. “Besides, we might need him.”

Shane could turn into a fifteen-hundred-pound grizzly bear, true, but if Diego’s prey was armed to the teeth, which they would be, being a grizzly might not help him.

“It might be too dangerous even for Shane,” he said.

Cassidy cocked her head. “Then it’s too dangerous for you.”

They shared a look, Cassidy’s determined. “If we get Shane killed,” Diego said, “his mom will never forgive us.”

“Nell understands danger like this. Besides, if you or Xav get killed, I can imagine what your mom would say.”

“She’d go on a rampage. I know. Fine. Four passengers.”

“Four thousand dollars,” Marlo said.

Diego swung around. “What?”

“Hey, I said I was for hire, not a charity. I have to buy fuel, maintain my plane, take you down to the middle of nowhere in dangerous country. A grand a piece, that’s my price.”

Diego started to argue, but Cassidy broke in. “Call Eric. He’ll get it to you.”

“Don’t,” Diego said. “I’ll spring for it, but, Cass, I really want you and Shane to stay the hell home.”

“No.” Cassidy came close to Diego again. She touched his face, firing his blood. “Take this as my gift to you, Diego. I understand why you need to go. Let me do this for you.”

“Where is Eric going to get four grand?”

Cassidy’s eyes flickered, but she didn’t look away. “Let Eric worry about that.”