Chapter 10

10

T he next morning, Kira woke first, but she didn't want to get up. Fisher opened his eyes and smiled at her.

"I hope I didn't wake you." She stretched out in bed.

"No, I felt you stirring, but I was already awake, and I didn't want to end being with you just yet."

She leaned over and kissed him. "Yeah, this sure has been nice. I'll make breakfast, if you want to start looking at the police reports." She climbed out of bed.

He joined her and she helped him to dress first.

"I'll do that." He would love to make her breakfast and he had planned on dressing himself this morning, but she had tackled the job so quickly that he had just let her help him.

Once they were dressed, she headed for the kitchen, and he went into his office. He sat down at his desk and was just getting signed onto his computer when she brought him a cup of coffee and kissed his cheek.

He pulled her in for a deeper kiss. With her, he always wanted more.

"Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes."

"I'm just getting logged in and then we can eat." He was just hoping he would find the kidnappers and prove that he had what it took to be a real partner as a USF special agent.

When she left him to do the searches, he smelled hash browns, eggs, and ham cooking. His stomach grumbled. He never had anyone over fixing meals for him, so it was such a homey experience. He liked the idea of continuing the way they were getting to know each other like this.

He began searching through all the police reports since last night, looking for anything that might give him a clue when he saw one about a car being pulled over for having the wrong license plate. What caught his eye was that it was a black Chevrolet Suburban near Yuma Town, Colorado, like the vehicle Kira had described.

Not that it had to be the same one they were looking for—what would the chances of that be?—but these guys could be driving a car with the wrong plates on purpose in the event anyone saw them taking a child and reported it. The driver's name was Reggie Olson, and he was living in Denver. Two of the earlier kidnappings had been in Denver.

"Hey, Kira, this might be nothing, but—" he hollered.

"I'm coming with our food." She brought in their breakfast and looked at the police report. "Oh, that might be one of the men."

"The traffic report didn't mention anything about the other men."

Kira read the report. "Pull up his driver's license."

Fisher did, and they both eyed the black bearded guy.

"Yeah, he's one of the men. He's the one who ordered the other to cut the rope I was on and was shooting at us when we were on the ledge, the bastard. At least we know his name now, if it really is his name or he didn't change it after this traffic stop," Kira said. "At least we're getting a little further on the case. Let's eat and then I'll tell Demetria we have a possible lead. Good work."

Fisher was thrilled that he really had contributed to the searches. "I just hope it pans out."

"Me too." She finally finished her breakfast and got her phone to call her other USF team members. "Hey, Fisher might have found a lead for us." She explained what he had discovered while he finished his breakfast and carefully carried their plates into the kitchen. "Okay. Talk later."

He began cleaning up the kitchen to prove to her he was fine, and they could go and catch these guys and she wouldn't leave him behind.

"I'm calling the Yuma Town sheriff's department and asking about the vehicle to see if they can tell us if there was anyone else in it when they were pulled over and what they looked like." She frowned at Fisher when she realized he was scouring the frying pan that she had cooked the eggs in. "Are you okay doing that?"

"Yes. I'm being careful and we need to get everything cleaned up before we rush off to nab these guys."

"Okay, well, you'll need to pack a bag and I need to repack mine too."

He smiled. She was taking him with her.

She punched in a number and called the sheriff's department in Yuma Town. "Hi, I'm Kira Westwood. Can I speak with a Deputy Sheriff Stryker Hill?" She put it on speakerphone.

"Yes, let me just transfer this call to him."

"Hi, I'm Deputy Sheriff Stryker Hill. What can I do to help you?"

"I'm Kira Westwood, a special agent with a special unit that's trying to track down a trio of kidnappers. They were driving a black Chevrolet Suburban like the one that you had pulled over near Yuma Town, driving with a license plate that didn't belong to that vehicle. We pulled up his driver's license, a Reggie Olson, and that's one of the men who was involved in a kidnapping that I'm trying to catch up to. Were there two other men in the vehicle when you pulled it over? We don't know their names."

"Yeah, there sure were. I didn't ask for their IDs because, other than having the wrong license plate on the car, Reggie Olson explained that he had two vehicles and swapped them out accidentally. When I checked it out, the other plate was for another vehicle he owned, so it didn't raise any red flags. It happens," Deputy Hill said.

"Can you give me the other men's descriptions?"

The deputy sheriff said, "The guy in the passenger seat was about the same build as Reggie, stocky, lighter brown hair, blue eyes. When I flashed my light at them, they were sweating, so I figured something was up, but there was no smell of alcohol or drugs, so I couldn't really determine why they seemed so nervous. The guy in the backseat was younger, blond haired, blue eyed and he had the same angular face as the front seat passenger. If I had to make a calculated guess, I believe they were related to each other."

"Okay, thanks. I'm going to share my contact information with you, and if you see them again in your area, be sure and get in touch with me right away," Kira asked.

"Can you use our help?" the deputy asked.

Normally law enforcement agencies did help on a case that was in their jurisdiction so they didn't want to tell them no, they couldn't aid them. Besides, if they were able to catch them, that would be the best thing at this point.

"If you catch them, hold onto them and we'll take them off your hands." But she hoped the local police force didn't locate them and the wolf shifters did instead. "Which direction did they go in?"

"Directly east of our town."

"We're on our way. Thanks a lot, Deputy Hill."

"You're welcome. We'll send out patrols and see if we can locate them and give you a call. Where are you coming from?"

"Greystoke. We'll check in with you when we get there." Then she and the deputy ended the call. She said to Fisher, "Go ahead and pack your bag for a few days' trip. I'm calling Demetria back." She followed Fisher into his bedroom and packed up her clothes, while she called Demetria. "Hey, it's a go to Yuma Town. The driver is the same one who shot at Fisher and I when we were down below the cliff. Deputy Sheriff Hill gave us the descriptions of the other two men, and they sound like the other two kidnappers we saw. We're packing and on our way in a few minutes."

Then they ended the call so Demetria could tell Everett they needed to get ready to go.

Fisher was so glad they had a clue. He just hoped they could catch the men before they lost their trail.

"Yuma Town is off the beaten path, which is probably why they would go there," Kira said.

"Right."

"You know, I should call Heath, and get his approval before I take you with me. It'll take us two hours to get there."

"Alright."

She called Heath and put it on speakerphone. "I'm taking Fisher with me on a trip to try and catch the kidnappers. Will you okay it?"

"Yes, but if he's feeling any pain, call me about it and Shawn can return him home. He'll take his own vehicle for that reason."

"Okay, that sounds good."

Fisher smiled and headed into the kitchen. "I'm going to make us a couple of thermoses of coffee."

She joined him and picked up his phone off the dining table. "I'm going to add a tracking app between our phones since you're going with me and I'm responsible for you."

He smiled, so glad he was going with her. He thought what better way to learn how they handled a mission than to be with them when they did it. He was determined to prove he had what it took to be a special agent too.

"If you have trouble and start feeling any pain because of your injuries, Shawn will take you home. He's driving his own vehicle just in case. Everett and Demetria have their own vehicle also," Kira said. "Demetria just texted me that Brock and Aaron are going with Tanner in his pickup truck. They're meeting us at the gas station. I'll be leading the way because I was in charge of the case even though I'm newer at the job than Everett and Demetria who had been two of the first special agents on the force. I just hope we can capture the kidnappers and not have to deal with the local law enforcement in the small Colorado town."

"Yeah, I agree." Then he grabbed their bags, and they headed out to her car. He loaded them in the trunk, while she brought the thermoses of coffee out with her and then he locked up the house.

"So what made you join the USF?" Fisher asked as they got into her car and drove to Yuma Town.

"Well, I was nearly kidnapped as a young girl."

"Vaughn mentioned it to me. He said the men paid the consequences for their actions."

"They did. I…bit the one. It was the only way for me to get away from them."

"So they were human."

"Yes." She explained in more detail how it had happened.

"So the men hanged themselves."

"Yes, and when the police learned of it, they were glad to finally discover that they were the ones who had perpetrated so many child abductions. I…I was the only one who ever managed to escape them."

"Then what you did was the right thing to do. And the men who went after the kidnappers did the right thing. Is that why you joined the USF?"

"I was a homicide detective for years, but when I ran into Demetria and Everett on a job they were doing that had to do with a murder case I was investigating, they told me about the USF. They convinced me to apply to Martin for a job and I was thrilled to be hired on to help our kind and at the same time take down rogues who could hurt anyone—humans or shifters alike."

"I understand. So if we catch the kidnappers, then what?" Fisher asked.

"We'll take them into custody, and they'll either be terminated or imprisoned. Which is a good thing for the safety of any child they might kidnap. You never know when one of these incidents could result in the death of the child. The JAG headquarters is in Houston, so they'll be transported there where the jaguars will determine their fate."

"Okay good. Thanks for taking me with you."

She smiled at him. "I knew you wanted to work with me to take these guys down. Not because you want revenge, but because you want to be with me. No way did I want to leave you behind, unless you begin to hurt too much. Besides, this way you can learn the ropes, like on-the-job training. And we can get to know each other better."

"That sure works for me. Do you have any siblings?"

"No. But my parents live in Loveland, Colorado, which is north of Denver."

"Are you going to see them for the holidays?"

"If we can capture these guys, then yes, for Thanksgiving. Christmas too, if I don't have another emergency case to handle. If we're still chasing after them, I probably won't have a chance."

"What do your parents think of the job you're doing now?"

"Actually, they're glad. They thought the job I was doing as a homicide detective was more dangerous. I hadn't planned to tell them about the kidnapper shooting at us."

"Or cutting your rope. Any place or any job can be dangerous, no matter what you're doing."

"Exactly."

They had driven for a couple of hours when she said, "Okay, we're east of Yuma Town. We can check out that motel there—the Cougar Country Motel—to see if they might have a video of the black Chevrolet Suburban driving past there." She pulled into the parking lot.

"That sounds like a good idea." Then he got out of the car with her, and they went inside the spacious western-themed lobby.

"Hi, I'm with a special police unit"—Kira flashed her badge to the lady at the counter—"and needed to see if you might have any video of a black SUV with this license plate driving past here."

But everyone's jaw dropped about the same time. The woman smelled like a cougar and of course she must have smelled that they were wolves.

"Wow, this is a surprise. Three guys checked in here yesterday who are wolves too. I'm Myrtle Dixon and my husband Calvin are the owners."

"Unreal, but this is great news. I'm Kira Westwood and this is Fisher Greystoke. Your husband is a cougar also, I take it."

"Yes! How may I help you?"

"You said you had three wolves staying here. They wouldn't per chance be driving a black Chevrolet Suburban with this plate number would they have? Or maybe your security camera picked up a view of them driving past your motel."

"Oh, no! Yes, the one man was driving that vehicle. Have you contacted our sheriff's department? They're all cougar shifters also."

"We didn't realize that," Kira said.

Fisher figured that changed the rules of the game if they had more shifters they could count on.

"Yes, all of Yuma Town is cougar run."

"Oh, that's perfect. We've been in contact with Deputy Sheriff Stryker Hill. We had learned he had pulled the driver over and gave him a citation for having the wrong license plate on his vehicle. He and his companions are dangerous. The three wolves have kidnapped kids and one of them shot my friend here, Fisher Greystoke." Kira showed Myrtle Reggie Olson's driver's license photo.

"That's definitely the man who rented a room for the week. We need to get a hold of Dan Steinacker, the sheriff, and let him know about it."

"I'll call him," Kira said.

Myrtle gave Kira the phone number and Kira called Dan right away.

"Hello, Sheriff Steinacker? I'm Kira Westwood. I'm with the United Shifter Force and we take down rogue shifters, if you hadn't heard of our organization before. Jaguar shifters set up the organization, and they have a confinement facility for rogue shifters who engage in criminal acts. I talked to your deputy Stryker Hill about a man he'd pulled over and he's the one we're after." She told him about his companions and everything that they had done so far. "We're at the Cougar Country Motel where the men have reserved a room for a week. We have more shifters coming here to help us capture these men."

"Can you meet me at the sheriff's department?" Dan asked.

"Somewhere else that doesn't seem like I'm conducting police business could be better," she said.

"Meet me at Fitz's Bakery and Coffee Shop," Dan said. "I'll bring some of my men."

"Okay, we'll be there as soon as we book a room and have more of our people here to watch the motel. See you in a few minutes." Then Kira got on her phone and called Everett. "Okay, we have an interesting situation. Yuma Town is cougar run. I'm meeting with the sheriff. Can you and Demetria come to the Cougar Country Motel and get a room, and watch for the return of the wolves? They've booked a room for a week."

"That's great news. Yeah, we're on the next street over from around the corner of the motel. We'll be there in a few minutes."

"Okay, they're staying in room seven." They ended the call and she said to Myrtle, "We want a room and we'll be watching for Reggie and his buddies."

"Everyone will be there to help you catch these people. We'll do everything we can also. Would room ten work for you?" Myrtle asked.

"Yes." Kira paid for it.

"What do you want me to do?" Fisher asked Kira as they went outside and got into her car to move it.

"You're coming with me."

He looked relieved. She smiled. "You're my partner in training."

"Maybe they're scoping out a new kid to kidnap," Fisher said. He sure hoped not.

"I wouldn't be surprised." She pulled into the parking spot for their motel room.

The motel was two stories tall in the center, and then on either side, the building was one-story, brick and brown siding, very western appearance with wagon wheels between windows. "This is cute."

"It looks like a nice place to stay. Love the western design." He glanced at the five vehicles parked there.

"None of them are the kidnappers' vehicle. Maybe they are scoping out the area, or off eating lunch somewhere. They don't have a restaurant here," she said. "The others will come and grab places as soon as we're settled in so it doesn't make Reggie and his cohorts suspicious if they see us arrive en mass."