Chapter Six

Ari was completely unprepared to witness the change of the two shifters. If he'd thought his life was strange before, standing in the dining room of a modest home in the middle of suburbia watching two men become drooling predators in a matter of seconds, really took the cake. And seeing two huge grizzly bears where the police officers had been only moments before, totally freaked him out. His hand went reflexively to his sidearm, pulling the Glock before he knew what he was doing.

Only Eoghan's near-painful grip on his wrist, stopped him from killing their fellow law enforcement officers as the men lunged at what appeared to be a large opossum where Colt Wilkins had been standing seconds before. The opossum made a squealing sound as it propelled itself backward, slamming against the wall and wedging itself into the corner, doing its best to make itself invisible.

"Stand down, Ari!" Eoghan shouted as he moved in between him and the grizzlies. He tugged on his wrist until his senses came back to him, and he lowered the weapon. Even as the weight of his gun dropped, Eoghan was turning and shouting at Two Trees and his deputy, telling them something similar to the order he'd given Ari. The buzzing in his ears was making him feel disoriented as they stared at the scene in front of them. Both bears had lowered their heads and were roaring at the opossum which stared at them with wide, glowing, violet eyes. Ari had fleeting thoughts about how it would look if he shit himself right there in Riversong's living room every time one of the bears roared.

"Two Trees! Uwaite! Stand down," Eoghan implored, holding out both hands.

Ari didn't know what good it would do. Neither the chief nor his deputy were paying him any attention but more importantly, neither beast were paying any attention to each other either. He had to admit, besides being frightened as hell of the shifters, Ari was disappointed in both of them, especially Two Trees who'd seemed so levelheaded and in command of his deputy only minutes before.

Maybe the animal instinct was stronger when compared with human instincts. Or finding out that a man you worked with every day was at the very least, a sexual predator, didn't allow for niceties. Maybe this was how shifter justice was supposed to be carried out, with an epic battle of tooth and claw until the threat was neutralized. At the moment, he wished he knew more about shifter culture and was beating himself up for not asking more questions before walking into the situation today.

"Two Trees, listen to what I'm saying," Eoghan said in a tone Ari hadn't heard often. He suspected he only used it when trying to pacify a subject. It was calm and extremely soothing. The bears stood about a yard from the squealing opossum, growling like crazy, but to their credit, not advancing. There was no doubt in Ari's mind that they could have torn the thing to pieces in a matter of seconds. Perhaps they didn't need Eoghan to tell them not to attack. And were practicing as much restraint as they could.

In the case of Deputy Uwaite, Ari suspected he'd only shifted when he'd realized the chief was about to. Two Trees had seemed much angrier than Alo had been, and it was the deputy who'd spoken to him in their native tongue to calm him down before the horrible timing of Colt Wilkins' arrival. Maybe Ari was completely off base, and they had little to no control over their shift when they were very upset as they'd both appeared to be when reading Riversong's diary. In any case, if they were going to get Wilkins out of this mess alive and in one piece, they would have to get the chief and his deputy to shift back.

"Two Trees…Uwaite…listen to my voice," Eoghan repeated. "This isn't helping. You need to shift back so we can arrest this bastard."

Two Trees, the larger of the grizzlies stopped growling and looked back at them with glowing, violet eyes. In bear form, the man was gorgeous if not terrifying. The grizzly stood almost seven feet tall with signature grizzly anatomy…a large hump in his upper back and paws the size of dinner plates tipped with three-inch-long claws. Ari suspected one swipe of those claws could rip a man's stomach open, exposing his intestines in a garish display. His muzzle had fur in a lighter color than the rest of him. But that wasn't what caught Ari's attention when he looked at the bear's face. Instead, he couldn't drag his gaze away from the way his black lip curled up, revealing vicious fangs.

"That's right, Two Trees…Joe…calm yourself and shift back," Eoghan said. "Trust me, Wilkins got your message. Look at how he's cowering in the corner right where he belongs."

Two Trees was listening because he turned back and snarled at the opossum before turning back to him. Speaking softly, Eoghan said, "Come on…shift back so you can arrest him. He needs to face the consequences for what he did but not like this. If what Riversong wrote is true, you need to honor her and arrest this bastard, not kill him. Death is too good for him, and you know it."

Ari watched as his snarl gradually disappeared from the bear's muzzle. He gave a sharp bear nod and to Ari's shock, shifted back to the police chief in the blink of an eye. Ari stared at the naked man, knowing that his mouth must be hanging open, but didn't care. Two Trees was looking around for his uniform and gun. He found it in a pile on the floor several paces away and picked it up. It fluttered back to the ground.

"Son-of-a-bitch," he muttered.

Ari bit his lip to hold back a chuckle as he looked at the clothes which had been torn to ribbons.

"I'll get you and your deputy some of Jack's clothes," Ari said. "Get Uwaite to shift back and we'll deal with this—" He waved his hand toward the animal near the front door. "Opossum," he finished. He didn't wait for a reply. Glancing at Eoghan, he asked, "Are you okay here without me?"

Eoghan nodded. "Yeah, go get them some clothes. I'll deal with this." He canted his head toward the chief who'd walked over to Uwaite—still in grizzly form—and placed a hand on his back, leaning down and speaking quietly to him in their native tongue.

Ari gave Eoghan one last glance before turning and walking out of the room. After collecting sweatpants, two shirts, and some socks, he walked back out into the living room, curious as to what he was about to see.

Uwaite had changed back to human and as soon as Ari walked into the living room, he rushed across the floor and grasped his hand, shaking it. "Thank you for not shooting me," he said with a voice much rougher than Ari had ever heard him speaking before. He took the pile of clothes from him and lifted them in a salute before walking back to the chief who climbed into the gear, not even checking sizes or anything. Ari and the two grizzly shifters were almost the same size in human form.

"I'm sorry," Ari said, indicating the white tube socks Uwaite was pulling on. "I looked around, but I couldn't find any shoes. Maybe she got rid of them? I don't know."

Both men nodded. "We appreciate this," Two Trees said. "These'll do. We have a spare set of clothes in the tribal police station." He sat down to pull on the thick socks.

Ari glanced around the room, noticing their suspect, once again in human form, lying face down on the ground naked, with his hands cuffed behind his back. He was still alive, probably grateful to be so, but it didn't stop him from spewing profanity at Two Trees who'd walked over to him.

"Shut up, you filthy piece of crap," Two Trees said, reaching out and prodding the man's midsection with a stocking foot until he rolled over and awkwardly got into a sitting position, crossing his legs, and glaring up at him with hatred. Ari noticed the man had beady rodent-like eyes, with pupils blown so large they made him look half-dead.

"Let me out of these cuffs right now, Two Trees!" Wilkins growled. "You can't detain me like this. I'll see to it that you lose your job. You brought outsiders into reservation business!" He shook his head. "You're done."

"First of all, thanks to the men you're calling outsiders, they have exposed you for what you are, you piece of sexual abusing shit!" Two Trees held up the diary which he'd picked up from the table.

Ari watched Colt Wilkins turn several shades of pink as he stared at the unicorn cover of his sister's diary.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He raised his chin, looking defiant.

"I'm talking about the way you've been sexually assaulting your sister for years and how I suspect you systematically set up her husband to take a fall for grand larceny and had him sent away for three years in Folsom. Trust what I'm saying to you, Wilkins. I will work tirelessly to have you trade places with him."

"You can't prove any of that," he spat out, looking marginally less defiant and slightly panicked as he stared at the diary. "Someone kidnapped my sister and you and these I.S.R. marshals have nothing better to do than to poke into my family business. I swear, I'll have you fired." He turned and glared at Eoghan who was standing in between Two Trees and Uwaite. "And, you…I'll make sure that the I.S.R. is never allowed on this reservation again."

"Oh, really? Is that right? You're pretty arrogant for a sexual predator," Eoghan said.

Ari could see that Eoghan, who'd been silently clenching both hands into fists at his sides for the last three minutes, was exercising extreme self-control so that he didn't launch himself at this idiot. Ari was sure Eoghan could crush Wilkins' windpipe in both hands if he wanted to.

"But don't worry." He looked at his watch and then back up at Wilkins. "If I had to guess, Riversong and the kids are just crossing the Oregon border as we speak."

"What? Why would she be going there?" Wilkins asked, looking like a combination of scared and shocked all at once. Not a trace of relief crossed his features. Ari speculated he knew exactly where she was heading and had been freaking out about it. He'd probably come back to her house to clean up any hint or trace of where she was headed the first time he'd been through it…before reporting her disappearance.

"I'm sure Jack's brother and his wife are waiting for her with open arms and an open heart, ready to hear the tale of how her older, much more powerful and influential brother, has been assaulting her whenever he could. And because Jack knew about it and put an end to it, I'm sure she'll tell his brother all about how he was framed," Eoghan said. The utter disdain for this creature on the floor was on full display with every word he spoke. "If I were you and there's any shred of decency left in your heartless soul, you'd confess to the whole thing and save Chief of Police Two Trees a fuck ton of paperwork."

"I don't know what you mean!" he protested shrilly, sounding slightly desperate.

"I'm done with you, you piece of crap," Two Trees said, walking over with Uwaite at his side. Together they bent down and grabbed the man's arms. He cried out in pain as the shifter-strength handcuffs bit into his wrists. When he continued protesting, swearing vengeance up and down every which way, the chief left him with the deputy before striding out into the kitchen. Opening and closing a few cabinets and drawers, he came back with a dirty dishrag and silver roll of duct tape. He shoved the rag in the man's mouth and covered it with tape as Eoghan and Ari looked on with amusement.

When he turned back to them, he smiled genuinely. "I don't know how to thank, you two. I feel like a fool for not seeing the whole thing." He glanced at Ari. "If you hadn't thought to look behind that painting, I don't know what would have happened. I'm so grateful you both came."

"It's no problem, Chief," Ari said. "Just promise me he won't get away with it."

Two Trees nodded; a stern look on his face. "Our tribal council will deal with it and if I find out that anyone on the council was complicit with this piece of crap in setting up Jack Vandross, I'll deal with them myself," he said. "It's damned embarrassing to admit that this happened under my watch."

Eoghan nodded and looked over at Ari. "Well, we still have a job to do. We have to locate Riversong and bring her back home."

"Before you do that, let me call her brother-in-law," Two Trees said. "If she's there and if she'll talk to me, I'll explain that we found the diary and have Colt Wilkins in custody. Maybe we can get her to come back on her own. I'll suggest she have her brother-in-law escort her and the kids if it makes her feel any better."

"I have a feeling she won't trust you," Eoghan said. He glanced at Wilkins sitting on the ground with his back against the wall and looking furious. He walked over, pulled out his phone and took a photo of the gagged, red-faced man before coming back and showing it to the chief. "If I send this to my counterparts in Oregon and send them out to her brother-in-law's house, maybe she'll let them bring her back." He glanced around at the empty living room which had been the scene of so much potential violence today. Toys littered several surfaces. He looked back. "This is her home. I'd just bet she and the kids would be much happier here than on the run."

"Especially if she has hope that Jack will be freed and numbnuts here is in jail."

"You're right," Joe said, smiling. "That's good thinking." He glanced at the prisoner. "Let me get this piece of crap locked up while you talk to the I.S.R. in Oregon and then Deputy Uwaite and I can take the two of you out for the best barbeque in Tahoe." He slapped his belly. "I don't know about you, but I worked up a hell of an appetite today."

"That sounds great," Eoghan said. "Thank you, Two Trees."

"Please, call me Joe."

Eoghan smiled. "Will do, Joe."

Joe nodded. "Meet us at the tribal police station?"

"You bet," Eoghan said, darting a glance at Ari.

All Ari could do was smile back.

"Good." He turned and said something to Uwaite in his own language. Uwaite grabbed Wilkins by one elbow and hauled him to his feet. The prisoner struggled only a minute before giving up and dropping his head as he was dragged out of the house with all of them following. Ari and Eoghan watched them shove the opossum into the back of their Chevy Blazer and then get in, waving before backing out of the drive.

"Let's see if we can save ourselves a trip to Oregon," Eoghan said, holding up his phone.

"That would be fantastic," Ari agreed as they walked toward their Charger. They sat inside the car as Eoghan called the chief to get the go ahead to call in their counterparts in Oregon.

"Sapphire? How's it going up there?" she asked as soon as she answered the phone.

Eoghan relayed everything that had gone on from them meeting the chief and his deputy, to Ari finding the diary and what it had contained, to the way the two lawmen had shifted into massive grizzlies when they'd read it.

"Wow, what a piece of crap," she said. "It sounds like Colt Wilkins fathered at least one of Riversong's children and that Jack Vandross was innocent of the crime all along. No wonder he tried to get away with her and the children."

"If he took the money at all," Ari said into the speakerphone. "Colt Wilkins or someone he knows could have broken into that safe and planted fingerprints for the police to find."

"That's true," she said. "Well, whatever the case, I think the chief will be contacting Vandross at Folsom. He'll probably spill the whole story if he's assured Riversong and the kids are safe and away from her scumbag brother."

"I just don't understand why they didn't tell Gladys and I what happened to them when we arrested them in Redding," Eoghan said, looking at Ari.

He just shrugged.

"Who knows? Shame and secrets make people do strange things," Priest said. "Maybe Jack didn't know anything about it. Or Riversong orchestrated the flight from their reservation after figuring out that her brother set Jack up."

"But why not say anything after we caught her?" Eoghan asked.

"Well, once she was caught, she knew she'd be going back to the reservation to serve out her own prison sentence. And since her crimes were adjudicated by the tribal council which her brother sits on…who knows? Maybe fear kept her quiet," Priest said.

"If that's the case, she must have been devastated when Jack was arrested and convicted. She probably didn't expect her brother would go that far just to have her," Eoghan said. "It makes me sick."

"Well, in any case, I'm going to contact the chief deputy at the I.S.R. in Portland. Send me that photo you took of Wilkins. Meanwhile, I might have another job for you in central Cali, so stay in Tahoe until I know," she said, pausing. "Good work today. I'm glad you two weren't torn apart by grizzlies." The humor in her voice was infectious, and Ari grinned at Eoghan. "I'll get back to you shortly." Without waiting for a reply, she hung up.

Eoghan pulled out the phone insert which acted as a Faraday cage and showed it to Ari and he nodded in understanding, taking his out as well.

"Let me guess," Ari said, after Eoghan sent her the trussed-up Wilkins photo and they'd shut off their phones with the cages in place. "You have an idea why she wants us to stay in Tahoe."

"I have a feeling it has something to do with our vampire, King John," Eoghan said. "I assume she'll call me on the burner as soon as she's ready to discuss it." He pointed to the glove compartment and Ari extracted Eoghan's burner phone.

Though, they each carried one, and Ari's was tucked away in his pocket, they'd not had a reason to use them yet. Priest had emphasized they must be kept charged but only used in case of an emergency. He handed it to Eoghan who slipped the flip phone into his pocket. They charged them every month just to be extra careful. Ari hated the idea of being watched by someone within their own Agency, but if the chief had been right two months ago when King John of the Flagstaff vampire clan appeared in their life, it was smart to be careful.

"Yeah, okay."

Eoghan nodded and started the car before pulling away from the curb and heading toward the tribal police station they'd passed driving through town. Ari turned toward the window, watching the passing scenery of pine trees and blue sky. He was surprised when he felt Eoghan's hand slip into the one he'd rested in his lap, and when he turned to smile at him, his lover was grinning.

"What?"

"Nothing. I was just thinking about how nice it is here and how I'd like to take you on vacation someday. Would you like that?"

Ari returned his smile, squeezing his hand. "I'd love that. Where do you like to vacation?"

"I'm most definitely an outdoorsy guy. I love to camp. When I was a kid, my parents took me camping all the time."

Ari nodded. "That's really nice."

"What about you? Do you like to camp?"

"Me? Hell no." He pointed at his chest. "Army Special Forces, remember? I had enough of fucking camping in the goddamned Army."

Eoghan laughed. "That's funny. You guys camped a lot?"

Ari rolled his eyes at him. "I was in the Army for eight years, Eoghan. All we did was camp. Trust me, if I never see another tent or a canteen or wipe my ass with another leaf, I'll be a happy man."

Eoghan chuckled. "I get it. So, what do you like to do on vacation?"

"Actually, I don't take vacations," Ari said.

Eoghan glanced over at him. "What? Even when you were with the U.S. Marshals? The I.S.R. has great vacation benefits, so I'm pretty sure as a government job the civilian branch has something similar."

"We had the benefits. Don't get me wrong. I appreciated them every year when I got the vacation pay in lieu of taking the time off."

"Are you telling me you've never been on vacation?" Eoghan asked, sounding shocked as they drove out of the forest and back onto the main road.

"Okay, I won't tell you," Ari said, smiling when he saw his mouth open in shock as he stared out the windshield. "I thought about it every now and then."

"It's not too late. You know we get two weeks off every year," Eoghan said.

"I know. That boring woman down in personnel walked me through the whole benefit's package when I was first hired at the I.S.R., remember?"

Eoghan tapped his chin. "Are you talking about Alexandra Stanislovskova?" He glanced over as Ari nodded. "She's not boring. She's Russian."

Ari laughed. "She's not boring because she's Russian. She's just…I don't know, boring. She speaks in that really monotone voice. I nearly fell asleep when she was going over the dental package. Do you know we can have our teeth cleaned every six months for free?"

"In fact, I did. You sound overly happy about that."

"You should never take your dental health for granted, Eoghan."

"For fuck's sake," Eoghan said, chuckling. "So, if you had a choice, where would you go on vacation?"

"Anywhere?"

"Yeah."

"You know I've lived all over the place, right?" Ari asked.

Eoghan nodded. "Army brat. Yeah, I gathered that."

"Well, I don't really travel, Eoghan, but…" He paused and glanced over.

"What?" Eoghan asked, flicking a glance over at him.

"Well, I always wondered what it would be like to go on one of those gay vacation destinations. I never could when I was in Kentucky just in case anyone found out where I was going. You know we get like half off if we book travel through the government website, but I didn't want to risk making any type of reservations that kinda way."

"Gay vacation destinations…you mean like Fire Island or Key West or something?"

Ari chuckled. "Well, I don't know about that. I think I'm a little old to be prancing around in my skivvies, getting drunk, and waking up in a puddle of my own vomit, Eoghan."

Eoghan laughed. "Okay, so what would you like to do then? A gay cruise or something?"

"I'm not that excited about a cruise," Ari said. "The truth is, I get a little seasick."

"Yeah, but those massive cruise ships are so heavy, they don't really roll around like any other boat, so seasickness is rare. Besides, you could always take a pill to stop it."

"I suppose," Ari said, knowing he sounded skeptical.

"Well, what did you have in mind?"

"I don't know." He pointed out the window as they drove into town. "I like small towns like this one. I heard that the biker rally in Sturgis has a huge gay contingent."

"Bikers?" Eoghan asked. "Are you serious? Do you even ride a motorcycle?"

"No," Ari said with a grin.

Eoghan laughed "Isn't that kind of the point of the Sturgis biker rally?"

"Is it?" Ari said on a laugh. He shook his head. "It was only a thought. You know, when I lived in Kentucky, I went down to Silver Dollar City in Missouri for a festival down there with a bunch of other marshals. That was fun. California has lots of small towns, right?"

"A ton of them. I should take you to Julian, Ojai, or Solvang some time," Eoghan said. "You'd love Solvang. It's a gay friendly Danish village. The houses are made with thatched roofs and their Danish pastry is legendary. They also have a winery in the nearby Santa Ynez Valley with daily wine tastings."

Ari smiled at him. "Wow, you sound like an ad for Solvang."

Eoghan squeezed his hand. "It's fun." He nodded. "That's settled. The next time we get vacation time, we're going to Solvang."

"That sounds fun, partner."

Eoghan nodded as he pulled into the tribal police parking lot and shut off the Charger. "It was. Besides, I always say you can't beat a good wine tasting."

Ari reached for his hand again, lifting it and kissing his knuckles which made Eoghan shiver. "You big romantic," Ari said, just as Eoghan's phone rang.

He picked it up from the center console but set it down after realizing it was still turned off. Frowning, he fished the burner out of his jeans. He flipped it open as he looked at Ari.

"Sapphire?" The chief's voice came through as Eoghan put her on speaker.

"Here, Chief."

"Good. Is your partner there?"

"Right here, boss," Ari said.

"Good. Listen, we have a message from John Townsend. He's getting restless and wants to see someone from the I.S.R. in person. He says he's in Gilroy which is a little out of your way but still on the way back. I'll text you the coordinates to the garlic farm where he's been staying. If you leave now, you should make it before dark. You're finished there, right?"

"We're parked at the tribal police station, ma'am," Eoghan replied.

"Okay, I know you're probably very tired, but I'd appreciate it if you could leave right away. Townsend is insistent to hear what's been happening on our end, and I'm afraid if I don't have you stop and speak to him in person, he's going to do something stupid."

"Of course, Chief," Eoghan replied.

"And Riversong, ma'am?" Ari asked.

"Oh, shit," she cursed making them look at each other and grin. "Sorry, I completely forgot to tell you. The Portland I.S.R. is handling her but I have to call you back on the regular phone and repeat all that information. I'm not used to this. I really wish I knew who's spying on me. It would sure make it faster to find evidence. Anyway, answer when I call back on the company phone and give my thanks to the chief and his deputy for all their help out there."

"They're very thankful for our help, ma'am," Ari said.

"Yes, but without their restraint when shifted, you might be dead. That makes me more grateful than I can express. Give my regards to King John and tell him we're working to address the issue. As soon as we know anything, he'll be the first to know. And, for what it's worth, you're both doing a great job. I'm glad this partnership is meshing."

Ari looked over at Eoghan and smiled. "Yes, ma'am."

"I'll call you back and repeat all this on the other line just in case someone is listening," she said. "Drive safely on the way back."

She hung up, and Eoghan said, "I guess we'd better go tell Two Trees and Uwaite that we're going to have to take a raincheck on Tahoe's best barbeque."

"Bummer, I was really looking forward to that."