Chapter Twelve

ARI

Ari was glad when they got off their direct Delta flight from Burbank into DEN, the airport in Denver. As soon as they walked out of the terminal, they spotted two Native American people together. A petite woman with long, dark hair, held a sign with the name Dave Goldfarb on it. Her much taller and younger companion glowered at both of them the moment Ari lifted a hand and waved, recognizing the false name Eoghan had been traveling under. He hoped she wouldn’t address him as Bob Dooley when they walked up.

Neither of them had been very happy with the names the chief had come up with but they needed to travel incognito. Both had trackers inserted underneath the skin but they had to be actively searched for if someone at the Agency was suspicious of them. Hopefully, they hadn’t raised any red flags with their traitor and the chief’s story about them going up north would stand up. Sure enough, as soon as they walked over to them, the woman called them by those ridiculous names.

“Mr. Goldfarb? Mr. Dooley?” she asked as Ari inwardly cringed. Outwardly, he smiled.

“Yes. Ms. Fields?” Eoghan asked.

“Oh, it’s just Rana,” she replied. “I’d actually prefer it.” She turned to the younger man. “This is Andy Red Crow from Denver.”

Ari’s eyes widened. Neither he nor Eoghan had been expecting to find him at the airport. They figured they’d have to be introduced to Rana’s tribe first and debriefed on how to handle Andy. He and Eoghan shook hands. He opened his mouth to say something but she spoke over him.

“Airport security won’t like the fact that we left our vehicle at the curb,” she said, pointing to the ceiling. “In fact, they’re probably watching us right now.”

“Sure,” Eoghan said, “please lead on.”

Ari listened to the conversation. Their chief had clearly taken precautions against them being identified on passenger manifests but Ari hadn’t even thought about airport security or what they’d have to deal with once they were on the ground. After all, the trip had been hastily planned. They’d barely had time to go home, pack a bag, and tell Bear they were going out of town again for a short trip before heading off to the airport. Airport security had cameras everywhere and, in his experience, they had audio.

If what they said couldn’t be picked up and isolated in a timely basis by whomever was analyzing a voice recording, Ari suspected that someone at the Agency could have a lip reader on hand to grab snippets if not whole parts of their conversations. The chief was smart but his training from the Army Rangers told him they’d have to be smarter than their nemesis at the Agency going forward. There were too many ways for this to go wrong.

“You don’t have any checked baggage?” she asked, smiling pleasantly at Ari as she fell into step beside him.

Ari hefted his duffel. “Only my carry on. We travel lightly. We were told we could obtain weapons once we were on the ground. We didn’t want to have to deal with packing our gun cases for the flight and any complications carrying would cause.”

She nodded in understanding. Traveling as a civilian meant that TSA wouldn’t be that understanding if they were carrying.

“Where do they have you staying?” she asked.

Eoghan reached into his pocket and pulled out some paperwork. “The Marriott on Tech Center Drive. I understand it’s close to your office.”

“Good. That’s less than a half hour from here. We’ll take you there,” Rana said, smiling again.

“Not much of a talker?” Ari said, turning to Red Crow, not expecting an answer.

“No,” he said as they exited the terminal.

Ari didn’t register the insult as he spotted the old Blazer parked at the curb. He smiled to himself; their friends from the Tahoe shifter reservation also drove an old olive-green Blazer. As they walked toward the vehicle, the doors opened, and two figures stepped out. Surprisingly, Alo Uwaite was the first one Ari recognized. For a second, his jaw dropped but a moment later, Alo grinned widely at him.

“Uwaite!” he shouted, running to the police deputy who opened his arms and scooped him up as if they’d been long lost bros. It had been a few months since they’d seen each other, and Ari had to admit, it was good to be in the company of allies in this bullshit called life on the road. Even with Eoghan at his side, it got lonely sometimes.

“Hey, Ari, how you doin’, buddy?” Alo slapped him on the back after setting him back on the ground.

“What are you doing here in Colorado, brother?” he asked. He held out a hand and shook the one Alo offered. Joe came around the front of the truck with a grin on his face. He held out a hand to Eoghan who grabbed him and gave him a half-hug, slapping him on the back as he shook his hand, then passing him off to Ari to do the same. When they all came up for air, Ari turned to find Rana watching them curiously.

“Sorry, we know them a little,” Eoghan said, laughing at the look of surprise on her face and the ever-frowning Andy Red Crow.

“That’s good to know,” she said, smiling. “Two Trees said you all knew each other but not how well you got along.”

“We heard you know them a lot, enough to endanger all shifters with your reckless bullshit,” Andy said.

“Andy!” Rana warned.

Ari lost a little of his good humor as he turned to the frowning police chief. “No need to worry, Rana. Your friend Andy here heard a fairy story,” Ari said, frowning at the big Native American who stood nearly as tall as he did. He had no idea what this guy would shift into. But whatever it was, Ari knew he was probably a top of the food chain predator, if not a very young one who’d just inherited responsibility for a large and wealthy reservation with the gambling on their rez.

Regardless, it didn’t give him any cause to be a jerk and it was incumbent upon his elders—of which they seemed absent—to teach him rules and manners in shifter and human society…especially since they ran a gambling concern. With humans coming onto the reservation to drop dollars into the tribe’s account, he couldn’t imagine anything worse than an Alpha shifter who didn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground. Or who made stupid decisions because they weren’t thought through like an adult. Both of these were scary ideas when it came to making alliances and judging by the look on his lover’s face, Ari was sure Eoghan had the same notions about the young shifter as he did. Andy Red Crow would learn how to be all these things, but it was going to take him some time and a firm hand guiding him…time which none of them had, not with what was coming at them.

“Would you like to discuss this in your office before we go to the hotel or is it safer to talk about this at the hotel?” Eoghan asked Rana.

“I suggest we go to the hotel. There shouldn’t be any prying eyes there and we can discuss things at length,” she said, turning back from Eoghan with an open and placid expression, very different than the way she’d been looking at Andy. He had a feeling she recognized his shortcomings and was a mentor of sorts.

“That sounds good,” Eoghan said.

“Folks, you have to move these vehicles away from the curb,” a uniformed man said. He pointed to the Chevy Blazer but also to a black F-150 which was covered with road grime and dried mud. Ari hadn’t even noticed the truck parked behind Two Trees’ Chevy with all the excitement of seeing their friends.

“Why don’t you two come with us,” Joe suggested before turning to Rana. “Would that be okay with you, Chief?”

“Sure, why don’t you two follow Andy and me?”

“Sounds good,” Alo said. He met Ari’s eyes, pointing to his duffel. “You have any other bags?”

Ari smiled. “Nope. This is it.”

“Okay then,” Joe said, unlocking the hatch at the back. “You can store them here for the drive to the hotel.”

“Thanks,” Eoghan said, as they hefted their bags into the space.

They climbed in, and Joe started the truck, pulling out behind Andy Red Crow who’d gunned the powerful engine of his truck and sped past them.

“I’m pretty sure I don’t like that guy,” Alo said.

Ari exchanged a glance with Eoghan beside him in the back seat. He grinned before clicking the seatbelt into place and looking at Joe who watched him in the rearview mirror.

“Do you know those two well?” Eoghan asked.

Joe exchanged a glance with his deputy before looking back at him in the mirror. “It’s more like I know of him, not him personally. We just met him in person this morning. Rana, I’ve known for a long time. If you’ve noticed, Red Crow’s young and not the most personable guy.”

“The understatement of the year,” Eoghan said.

“That personality isn’t just a put on for us?” Ari asked.

“Definitely not,” Alo said. “From what I can tell, the dude’s a standing prick.”

Ari chuckled to himself, and Eoghan joined in.

“I think it’s like Joe said,” Eoghan replied. “He’s young, he’s just taken over a very rich, very large tribe. And I can assume he’s surrounded by a lot of people who were his father’s cronies for a long time. They’re probably all giving him advice right and left. If I were him, my head would be spinning. I imagine what that young man’s feeling is probably overwhelming. Maybe he’s just finding his footing.”

“By not reaching out to experienced people who can help him lead?” Ari asked. “His father may have had cronies, but he also ran his rez for a long time. I’m sure he has a tribal council like you guys do. Someone to help the new boss lead things.”

“His tribe is different,” Joe said. “It’s actually worse for him. He’s a shifter, of course, and as such, he’s expected to be the new Alpha of his tribe, not just a typical chief. There are probably just as many challengers to his leadership lined up as people who want to help him succeed. His genus are considered on par with or even more vicious than werewolves, if you can imagine such a thing. If I were him, I’d be afraid to show any weakness at all and in his case that might mean cooperation with other shifter clans his father considered friends.”

“But he understands the terrific danger Tillis Bradshaw’s vampire clan poses, right?” Ari asked.

“He hasn’t talked to us about it,” Joe said, “but I know Rana understands. She’s a friend. I’ve known her for a long time and she’s well respected by the entire shifter community here in the west. If she has any influence on the young man at all, then I would hope that she’s using it.”

“I’m sure she’s giving him quite the tongue lashing after the way he behaved toward you,” Alo said. “At least with us, he was civil.”

“Is he a bear shifter too?” asked Ari.

“No. He’s from the Panthera genus within the big cat family Felidae , Ari. Panther,” Joe said .

“The huge, black cats with long fangs who sit in trees and kill at night,” Ari said. “That’s what I picture.”

Joe chuckled. “There are five big cat predators within the Panthera genus. Lions, tigers, jaguars, leopards, and snow leopards are all Panthera . All of them have long fangs, and they’re all big and built…but they don’t all sit in trees and kill at night. Trust me when I tell you that plenty of them kill during the day too.”

“Wow, that’s…scary as hell,” Ari said, grimacing as he looked at Eoghan.

Eoghan simply nodded and looked back at Alo who’d twisted to watch them from the passenger seat. “So, all the shifters in the Denver rez are Panthera ?”

“Yes, all of them,” Alo replied. “Big cats don’t play well with other shifters and part of that is that they know they’re top of the food chain.”

“Makes sense,” Eoghan said, nodding.

“And what about Rana Fields?” Ari asked. “Is she also a big cat shifter?”

Alo chuckled, shaking his head. “We told you that Rana Fields is one of the most respected shifters in the west, right?”

“Yeah,” Ari replied. He felt his heart begin racing. “Oh, hell, what is she? I mean, seriously, what can be scarier than a tiger?”

Two Trees laughed. “Have you ever heard of Varanus komodoensis ?”

Ari looked over at Eoghan noting how his jaw had dropped. He glanced back at the rearview mirror where Joe was watching with an amused expression on his face. “Okay, smart guy. If the look on my partner’s face is anything to go by, whatever that is—” he pointed between Eoghan and Joe, “it’s pretty scary. I’m not up on my Latin just yet.”

“Komodo dragon,” Eoghan quietly whispered.

“What?” Ari asked, leaning closer, not quite sure he heard or understood.

Eoghan looked him in the eyes and nodded, his own eyes wide with terror. “Just for the record…I fucking hate reptiles.”

“Repti—wait a minute!” Ari said, leaning forward and grabbing the front car seats. “Are you telling me she’s some kind of dinosaur or something equally as impossible? I read about a big ass python which lived in some damned rainforest eating cows and human babies! They only caught it when it choked to death eating a whole farmer and his wheelbarrow. That was some scary shit!”

“Did you read about that in the Weekly World News?” Eoghan asked, rolling his eyes. “Because their stories are always true. They confirmed that Dick Cheney is a robot and that doctors have successfully transplanted a chimp’s head onto a human baby’s body.”

Ari scratched his head. “It was the hat that I couldn’t understand.”

“What?” Eoghan asked.

“The hat!” Ari said, pointing to his head. “When the python swallowed the farmer, he was wearing one of those big, round, pointy straw hats with the wide brim…you know…like they wear in China.”

“What about it?” Alo asked, looking highly amused.

“When they found the python, they knew he’d swallowed a farmer even before they cut it open because of the outline of the hat. I don’t understand why it didn’t come off in the struggle. And did he swallow the hat before or after the wheelbarrow?”

“And what was a Chinese farmer doing in a rainforest with a wheelbarrow to begin with?” Eoghan asked.

Ari turned and pointed at him. “Exactly! See? You’re right, Eoghan. There’s a lot of unanswered questions about reptiles.”

“I think there’s a lot of unanswered questions about your sanity, partner,” Eoghan said.

“Maybe,” Ari conceded.

“I guess we’ll never know,” Eoghan said, eyes dancing.

“Yeah. I guess not,” Ari said, sitting back.

They all started laughing as Joe shook his head. He pounded the steering wheel. “Jesus, you kill me, Brown. You just kill me.”

A thought occurred to him. “Hang on…reptile, you say? Komo…shit! Are you talking about one of those like thirty-foot-long lizards who live on an island made of hot lava somewhere?”

It was Eoghan’s turn to roar with laughter. “Oh. My. God. You’ve been watching One Million Years B.C. again.”

“Raquel Welch was a babe in that movie.” Ari said, waiting until his partner finished smirking and asked again. “You said she’s one of those Komodo dragon thingies, right?”

“Thingies?” Alo asked as his chief drove onto the freeway. His laughter was tightly controlled but Ari could hear the implication under his words.

“First of all, wow, do you need to watch more Animal Planet or what?” Eoghan said. “And second, Komodo dragons reach a maximum of three meters which is just over ten feet. The answer as to where they live is yes, there is an actual island in Indonesia which is called Komodo Island, but they’re found all over Indonesia. They lay eggs which take eight months to mature, and those eggs are often eaten by adult cannibalistic Komodo dragons along with the little ones who manage to hatch. If they survive and escape, they crawl into trees and eat insects until they’re big enough to live on the ground. They’re mean as fuck and they’re known to eat everything including fish, birds, mammals, and even humans if they get in their way.”

Ari shook his head and frowned. “Just like pythons, they eat babies.”

Joe’s laughter from the driver’s seat filled the car as Eoghan went on. Ari simply nodded as he listened to his partner spew information. When he was finished, Ari smiled. “All you had to say was that Rana is an apex predator who, when shifted, makes an easy meal of a guy like Andy Red Crow and any of his kitty buddies here in Denver.”

“Yes.”

“And Chinese farmers?”

“I’m going to have you seen by a doctor,” Eoghan said.

The two grizzlies in the front started laughing again and in the end even Eoghan joined in. They pulled up to the hotel ten minutes later and parked, handing off their keys to the valet. They hadn’t seen Red Crow’s big, black truck pull in but sure enough, as soon as they got out of the Blazer, he and Rana walked over to them.

Ari wasn’t really sure what they were supposed to be doing here other than making sure that the two leaders really were on the same page when it came to helping out John Townsend, who’d lost his people to Tillis Bradshaw’s bloodthirsty killers. Either way they sliced it, they’d have to be on the same page if this was going to work out and thus far, Ari wasn’t sure they were, even though Priest said they were.

Rana smiled at Ari, and he returned the smile. Now, knowing what she was, he tried to pick out lizard characteristics in the way the woman looked. She was small with long, black hair falling almost to her waist in a single braid down her back. But other than her brown eyes and beguiling features, she didn’t look any more lizard like than anyone else. She certainly didn’t have a forked tongue that he could see. Ari shook himself out of his musings as she grinned at him.

“You’re trying to figure out what kind of shifter I am, aren’t you?” she asked. “Because you know I am, don’t you?”

Ari nodded. “Let me guess.”

“Okay,” she said, smiling back at him.

“You don’t appear to be an opossum, a centipede, or a honeybee,” he said.

She laughed. “Wow, you do have a vivid imagination.”

“Not really,” Ari said, smiling as they stepped into the large hotel lobby.

Eoghan caught his eye and gestured at his bag then looked at Rana. “Excuse me for interrupting.”

“No problem, Marshal,” she said.

“I’ll get us checked in. Give me your bag and I’ll leave it at the bell station until you’re ready for it.”

“Sure.” Ari slid the bag off his shoulder, noticing how Two Trees, Uwaite, and Red Crow were standing a few feet away, deep in conversation. He handed the bag to Eoghan and then turned back to her. “I’m sorry. Where were we?”

“You were telling me you didn’t think I was a honeybee, an opossum or something else silly,” she said.

“Oh, yeah, a centipede,” Ari said as she laughed. “Don’t laugh. In the first two months I worked here, I met all of those.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she said, looking as shocked as she sounded. “There are honeybee shifters?”

“Oh, yes, and apparently the one I met invented the personal computer,” Ari said, grinning at her.

She bent over, clutching her sides. “Now you’re just making fun of me.” She was delightful.

“No, I’m really not. The honeybee has a whole other name now, but he invented the personal computer along with Steve Jobs and that Wozniak fella.”

“Oh, you are so funny, Marshal.” She giggled like a schoolgirl with a crush. “So, are you going to ask me what I am, or have you figured it out yet?”

Ari leaned down, enjoying the harmless flirtation as much as the next guy. “I can tell whatever you are, it’s a hell of a lot tougher than Andy Red Crow.” He glanced over at Red Crow who looked up and glowered at him from where he was standing. Clearly, he’d heard what was said but Ari was having so much fun, he really didn’t care. The guy had been giving him and Eoghan dirty looks since the airport. He spotted Eoghan coming over and waved before looking back at Rana. “Looks like we’re ready to find a place to sit down and talk.”

Eoghan walked up. “All checked in. I left our bags at the front desk. In case anyone wants to know, there’s a business center on the parking level with conference room space where we can be alone to talk. It’s probably why Priest booked us in here.”

“That’s great,” Ari said as Two Trees, Uwaite, and Red Crow walked over. “They’ve got conference rooms downstairs,” he said.

“Yeah, we heard,” Red Crow growled. “Along with everything else you said.” He turned and stomped off toward the elevators.

Eoghan exchanged a glance with Ari, and Ari shrugged. “What’d you say?” he asked.

“Nothing important, Eoghan. Nothing of consequence.”