Chapter 13

13

A t breakfast at the Steinackers' home that morning with Dan and his mate, Addie, and their five-year old twins, Maddie and Mitch, Kira, Fisher, and the others on their team were enjoying a nice hearty breakfast of eggs, ham, toast, fried potatoes, orange juice, and coffee when Dan got a call from Hal Haverton. "Yeah, Hal?"

"Ted said he saw three wolves racing toward the old silver mine. He didn't see any sign of a black Suburban, but when he saw the big gray wolves, all males, he was suspicious and suspected they might be the kidnappers."

"We're on our way," Dan said, everyone quickly thanking both Dan and Addie for a delightful breakfast. He explained that Ted Weekum was Deputy Sheriff Hal Haverton's foreman at his horse ranch.

Since Dan's mate was also a deputy sheriff, Addie and Dan left the kids with their nanny, and she and Dan led them to Hal's ranch.

The Greystoke pack members and Kira and Fisher followed Dan and Addie to Hal's ranch in their respective vehicles. They met up with Ted dressed in jeans, cowboy boots, and a Stetson. Ted told them where he had sighted the wolves.

Kira said, "I'm running as a wolf. What does everyone else want to do?"

Ted said, "I'll ride a horse and see if I can catch sight of their trail."

"I'm running as a wolf," Fisher said.

"You might feel some discomfort with running on your foreleg," Kira said.

"I'm sure I'll be fine," Fisher said.

But Kira wasn't sure of it.

"I'll run as a wolf too," Tanner said.

"How secure is it out here?" Everett asked.

Kira knew he asked because Everett and Demetria were jaguars, and they didn't want to run in their fur coats unless it was pretty safe to do so.

"It's safe here," Hal said, "if you want to run as jaguars."

Dan said, "I've called Chase and the other deputies and they're all meeting us here."

Everyone moved into one of the hay barns and began stripping off their clothes and shifting. Kira loved seeing the jaguars in their coats. They were so exotic, and they were bigger cats than the cougars. It was fascinating to see all the cougars too! And of course, they were interested in the way the wolves looked. Everyone had a distinctive appearance.

Then they all headed out of the barn and raced off in the direction the three male gray wolves had taken.

After a couple of miles, Kira smelled that the kidnappers had separated, and so she ran after one of the scent trails. Fisher, Shawn, Demetria, Dan, and Tanner followed Kira. Everett went with one group of wolves and cougars. Addie was with the other wolves and cougars following another trail, so a mix of shifters were with each team. If these guys had any clue they were being chased down by several kinds of shifters, Kira was sure they would be terrified.

They headed toward a river and then they saw a wet wolf several hundred yards on the other side of the river, running in the direction of an old, abandoned, brick building. Kira knew they wouldn't be able to reach the wolf before he went inside. If he managed to run inside it, he could shift, dress, and arm himself with a gun. That could change everything.

Still, they charged forward, swimming across the river, and then reached the opposite bank. The wolf was the one who had shot Fisher. She hoped he wasn't having flashbacks of being shot. She glanced at him. She hoped his wound wasn't hurting while he was running as a wolf.

When the wolf ran inside the building, everyone stopped.

Kira's heart was beating like crazy, and she could hear the rest of her companions' hearts beating just as fast. She wanted to warn the others of what she feared, but they were all wary and she figured they would assume the worst.

Dan shifted. "He could be shifting. In the event he comes out with a gun ready to shoot, I recommend we scatter and take positions around the building." Then he shifted back into his cougar, and they all spread out.

Shawn, Demetria, and Tanner headed to the left of the building. Kira, Fisher, and Dan ran to the right of the building. A cold wind was blowing, and the structure's shingled roof was shaking.

Even though some of the roof was down on one side, the windows were still framed in, dirty glass broken in places, perfect for the wolf to watch out through and shoot at them. But then she saw him coming out of the building as a human, dressed and wearing a black backpack, looking like he didn't have a care in the world. She realized he didn't know they were coming after him. He wasn't holding a gun. Unless he had one in his jacket pocket, he might not have quick access to one. Which would be good for them. She raced toward him. So did Dan and Fisher.

Having heard them, possibly smelling them, the guy turned, his jaw dropped, and his eyes widened. She was sure he was in shock to observe two wolves and a cougar headed his way as fast as they could run. Wait until he saw Demetria in her jaguar coat.

He immediately yanked off his backpack, and she knew he was going for his gun in the bag. She was mistaken. He was freeing himself of his baggage and pulled a gun out of his jacket pocket.

The wolves could jump sixteen feet at a run, but they were still about sixty feet from the kidnapper. As a cougar, Dan could jump forty feet horizontally and he did. Even a jaguar could only leap around twenty feet horizontally. But suddenly, Tanner, Shawn, and Demetria came around the building behind the guy, ready to take him down.

The man tried to aim at the wolves and cougar coming at him, his hand shaking. He fired at them, but they scattered, and the rounds hit the dirt all around them. It scared Kira to death that if he'd had better aim, he could have killed any or all of them. But then his gun jammed, and Dan leapt again and pinned the man to the ground—a hundred-and-forty pounds of cougar muscle and bones. They all converged on the kidnapper, but then Kira went into the building and found the other men's backpacks and she smiled. Fisher joined her and licked her jaw.

Even though she wanted to howl, to let the other teams know they had been successful with taking down one of the men, they didn't want to alert the other kidnappers. At least they had the other men's backpacks. She smelled the other men's scents on them. Now if they could just find their vehicle and the other men. If the other kidnappers managed to get away from the other teams but couldn't get to their vehicle, they could be stranded here making them easier to apprehend. But now they had a slight problem with taking this guy into custody.

Dan walked into the barn and shifted. "Demetria's holding our prisoner down." He dumped clothes out of one of the backpacks, then began pulling out some of Reggie's clothes and dressed in them. "I'll call Ted and he'll bring help to incarcerate these guys. At least I hope the others have caught their perps." Then Dan went outside with Fisher and Kira and said, "Okay, where's your cell phone?"

"As if I would give it to you," the man said, lying on his stomach, Demetria's paw pressing hard against the back of his neck. She opened her mouth and showed off her long, wicked canines and growled.

"You don't want to know how much her bite could hurt if she bit you. Since you're already a wolf, we don't have to worry about turning you. And burying you out here?" Dan shrugged. "If you didn't realize it, this whole territory is cougar run. So no one would ever look for you out here. Oh, and by the way, I'm the sheriff."

The man's eyes widened a bit.

"So where is your phone?" Dan asked.

Demetria bit into the guy's jacket. He cried out in fright. She pulled him over on his back. Wolves and cougars had strong bites, but the jaguars even more so.

Dan dumped out the kidnapper's backpack, found his gun, and his phone. He took the phone and said, "What's your pin number?"

The kidnapper wouldn't give it to him. Kira moved toward him, growling. He just looked mutinously at her, and she bit his hand. He yelled out, swore at her, his eyes filling with tears. She growled and made the move to bite him again and he said, "Alright, alright." He gave Dan the pin number and Dan used it to access the phone.

Dan said, "Ted, call Hal and the others. We've caught one of the suspects and we're at the old brick building across the river. We have the other men's clothes. We don't know if they've been caught yet. We need to find their vehicle. Tell Dr. Kate the kidnapper we caught has got a wolf bite to his hand. We'll be bringing him in for questioning, but we'll drop by the medical clinic first." Then Dan ended the call. "Okay, Ted is getting hold of some more of our people and we'll take this one in." Then he searched through the backpack. "No ID. Who are you?"

The youngest of the kidnappers wouldn't give up his name. Since he was the one who had shot Fisher, Kira didn't feel any remorse for biting him. She would have bitten him again if he hadn't given up his pin number for his phone so that Dan could get a hold of the others to take this guy into custody.

She noticed then that Fisher was lying down, his head on his paws, watching the kidnapper. Immediately, Kira was worried that Fisher's shoulder was hurting. She and Tanner were sitting up, wary of the kidnapper's next actions. She went over to Fisher and licked his face. He raised his head, smiled, and licked her back. But she could smell he was in pain. She sighed. He probably shouldn't have gone running with them so soon after he was wounded, despite knowing how much he had wanted to be with her and trying to track these men down.

She wanted him checked out by the doctor here also and if the doctor said he should have more bed rest, Shawn could take Fisher home. But she was also wondering what had happened with the other guys. To her surprise, she heard three All-Terrain-Vehicles headed toward the river.

Dan got a call on the kidnapper's phone, and he answered it. "Okay, we're moving that way." He ended the call and said, "We're going to the river. We need to cross it to reach the ATVs. They'll take anyone back who needs to return."

Kira wanted to question the guy in the worst way, but she also wanted to help get the other kidnappers.

Dan pulled the kidnapper to his feet. He grabbed the backpacks and started hauling the kidnapper toward the river. "I don't know what this is all about. Who do you think I am?" the kidnapper asked, as if he was totally innocent.

"Someone caught trespassing on private property," Dan said.

And an attempted murderer, Kira wanted to say. And a kidnapper. But she suspected Dan was keeping that information secret until he was ready to reveal more charges. They surrounded the kidnapper as they moved to the river. Wouldn't the other kidnappers be surprised if they managed to get away from the shifters tracking them, walked to the dilapidated building, and found their backpacks were missing? They would also smell wolves, a jaguar, and a cougar had been there.

When they finally reached the river, a guy Kira hadn't met yet showed up with a Sherp ATV. Yes! It could float on water. And then as soon as the driver saw them, he navigated across the river and parked.

"Thanks, Travis. We all knew that your new vehicle would come in handy. Travis MacKay is with the CSF and likes his vehicles," Dan explained.

Travis got out of his vehicle, and he brought handcuffs with him. "Yeah, I knew this vehicle would be useful. So he's one of the kidnappers, eh?" He cuffed the kidnapper and put him in the back of the vehicle.

Demetria got into the back seat with him, all growly like, amusing Kira. The kidnapper wouldn't even think of trying to flee when a jaguar was acting as his guard.

"Oh, Bridget is at the jailhouse to assist us when we interrogate the prisoner," Travis said, tossing the backpacks into the vehicle. "She has a special talent for learning the truth about people. Though occasionally she has trouble with that."

"Bridget is Travis's mate and also CSF," Dan explained.

Kira was glad they had so many cougars to help them. She nudged at Fisher to go with Travis, but he wasn't going along with it until she got into the ATV. Then he did too. She would have words with him about it later, once she was in her human form. She had to get him to see the doctor.

The other ATVs went in the direction the other teams had gone so they could help out the others. Tanner and Shawn went with them.

Once Travis took them to Hal's ranch, Kira, Fisher, and Demetria went into the barn to shift and dress. Dan joined them in the barn to change out of the kidnapper's clothes and into his own.

"Did you have a chance to search the backpacks for IDs?" Kira asked, putting her boots on.

"I checked them. And I searched this guy's clothes for ID. There was no ID in any of the backpacks. Maybe they left them in their vehicle, or maybe the other two men just don't have any on them," Dan said. "We know Reggie had his driver's license when Stryker pulled him over for a traffic stop. At least we have this guy for trespassing. All this land out here is private property. The cougars own it. We might not be a wolf pack, but from what I understand, they do the same thing as we've done when they can. Expand their properties so that our shifters can run free without the issue of hunters and the like coming across us and shooting us," Dan said. "Though it doesn't always mean we're completely safe."

When they left the barn, Fisher, Kira, and Demetria went in Kira's car so that Everett, when he returned from trying to track down the other kidnappers, would have his and Demetria's vehicle. Dan rode with Travis and his prisoner into Yuma Town while Kira followed them in her vehicle.

"You are seeing the doctor also," Kira said to Fisher.

"I'm fine."

"No. You're not. I can smell that you are in pain."

"So could I. The guys are all the same, trying to prove to everyone else they're so tough," Demetria said.

"Not me," Fisher said, smiling. "I mean, if I'm hurting?—"

"Which you are," Kira said, not about to be bamboozled by the wolf.

"Okay, so I have to admit swimming across the river was rough on my shoulder."

"And running as a wolf?" Kira asked.

"Maybe. A little bit. I was fine to begin with, but the river was a little much."

"So was the guy we caught the one who shot you?" Demetria asked.

"Yeah," Fisher said.

"Reggie Olson, the black bearded man, was the one who fired at us while we were both on the ledge below the edge of the cliff," Kira said. "The one we caught was the youngest of the three."

"I suspect the younger guy shot me because he thought I was a real wolf and would hurt the boy if he was alone," Fisher said.

"He's still a kidnapper," Demetria said. "He knows what they're doing is wrong. He gets some of the payout of the ransoms. He's in the wrong as much as any of them are. Not to mention shooting wolves, shifter or otherwise, is illegal."

"I agree," Kira said.

Then they finally reached the clinic and both Dr. Kate Parker-Hill and Dr. William Rugal greeted them.

"Welcome to Yuma Town." Kate was a pretty redhead with her hair pulled up into a bun, eager to take care of Fisher.

"Yeah, welcome. Though I'm sure you would rather have a happier encounter with our fair town," William said.

"Capturing one of the three kidnappers is a good thing though," Fisher said.

"Absolutely," Kira said.

"I'm Mandy Jones and I'll take you back to an exam room. My mate is Ricky, one of the deputy sheriffs helping with your case," the nurse said, smiling at the wolves and jaguar.

"Oh, thanks," Fisher said.

The RN led Fisher into a room and took his vital stats. Kira didn't even ask if Fisher minded if she was in the room with him. If he was going to continue working for them, she wanted to know if he was physically able to continue working on the case.

"Your pulse and heart rate are normal. No sign of a fever," Mandy said, as another nurse, Elsie Miller, took the kidnapper to an exam room. Demetria and Dan went in with them. Then Kate came into the exam room to see to Fisher's shoulder.

He winced while he was taking off his shirt and Kira went over to help him out of it.

"Are you sure you're going to be alright?" Kira was genuinely concerned about him.

"Yes. I want to continue to work this case with you."

She knew he did, but she didn't want him to end up having real trouble if he didn't heal well enough. Even though wolves healed in half the time that humans did, they didn't heal instantaneously.

Kate checked his shoulder over. She touched the area around the wound.

Kira saw he was holding his breath.

"Breathe," Kate said. "If you want to keep working with the USF, I don't want you to pass out on me and how would that look to Kira?"

Kira smiled at Kate. She really liked the cougar doctor.

Fisher took a deep breath and let it out.

"You have bruised ribs from the fall. You were shot here, and"–Kate looked at his back—"the bullet exited here. And it's only been four days? You look remarkably good for going through all that. But I would suggest no more running as a wolf for about a week and see how you're feeling by then."

"He said he started hurting when he was swimming in the river as a wolf," Kira offered, to see if maybe the swimming had made it worse.

"Ahh, yes, that could make it worse. But I would say running as a wolf will irritate your wounds and injuries also," Kate said. "I'm sure your doctor back home would agree with me that you shouldn't be running or swimming as a wolf."

"The doctor is his brother Heath," Kira said. "I'm sure he didn't think you would be doing either, or he might have given you some restrictions."

Then Kira got a call from Everett, and she hoped it meant his team had caught another one of the men and they were headed back in with him. That would be the reason he had shifted back into his human form, she assumed. She put it on speakerphone so that Fisher could hear what Everett had to say. "What happened with all of you?"

"The one we were following ended up at a location where we found tire tracks the size that a Suburban would make. We believe he got into the vehicle and took off. We haven't heard from the other team that was chasing down the third guy, but Demetria called to say you all caught the youngest of the three men."

"Yes. Once the doctor patches him up, we can interrogate him and learn who the others are."

"Demetria said Dan had everyone's backpacks. Did you find anything in them that would tell us who they really are?" Everett asked.

"No. None of them had any ID. The prisoner also had a gun and he tried to shoot us until Dan took him down. Boy, I knew you jaguars could jump further than us wolves, but I didn't realize cougars could leap so far," Kira said.

"I heard you bit him," Everett said.

"Yeah, he deserved it, and I knew I didn't have to worry about turning him because he's already a wolf."

"Royal or more newly turned?" Everett asked.

"I don't know. We really didn't get anything out of him, and he rode with Dan back to Yuma Town. Dr. Rugal is patching him up now," Kira said.

"Demetria told us that Dr. Kate Hill is checking out Fisher." Everett sounded a little concerned.

"I'm fine," Fisher said. "I just overdid it a little on running and swimming as a wolf. Other than that, I'm good. So we haven't heard back from the other team?"

"Not yet. But three ATVs went out in their direction to try and locate them," Everett said.

"Either the one guy left his companions behind, or he eventually picked him up," Kira said.

"Some of the other guys are staying at the building, just in case they show up there to pick up their backpacks."

"Good. Maybe we'll still catch all of them," Kira said.

Then Kate said, "Okay, Fisher. No swimming, no running as a wolf for a week. Do you need anything for the pain?"

"No. I'm good."

Kate glanced at Kira as if she was his keeper. Kira nodded. Kira helped Fisher pull on his shirt as they heard a grumbling kidnapper walking past the exam room, his wrists cuffed, his arm bandaged.

"I told you I was just running as a wolf. I didn't know it was anyone's private property. You're cougars. You should know how it feels to need to run in our wild animal form," the kidnapper groused.

"You were carrying a weapon, shooting at us when we apprehended you," Dan said. "There's only one reason you would pull out a gun."

Kira, Fisher, and Everett quickly joined him.

"Hell, yeah, to protect myself."

"We're going to the jailhouse," Dan said.

When they finally arrived at the jailhouse in three separate cars, a pretty, dark-haired woman named Bridget introduced herself and was waiting for them inside. She smiled at them, her blue-gray eyes warm and welcoming.

Dan took the kidnapper into the interrogation room and then Kira, Bridget, and Demetria went into the room to question him, while the others watched through the viewing window.

"What's your name?" Kira asked, sitting across the table from the kidnapper. Demetria joined her, but Bridget stood on the prisoner's side of the table behind him.

"Royce Barmonger."

Bridget shook her head.

Kira raised her brows. How did Bridget know for sure?

"How come you bit me?" the kidnapper asked.

"To get you to follow the sheriff's instructions. What's your name?"

He sat back in his chair, frowning. "I told you."

"You didn't give us your real name. Who are the other guys you were with?"

He said, "I get a right to an attorney, and I don't have to say anything that might be used in a court of law against me."

Kira looked at Bridget, wondering how they handled situations like this.

"He can have a right to an attorney. Larry Pierce is the only one we have here, and you can call him now." Bridget handed him the landline phone and the phone number.

Kira didn't like this change of plan. She figured the guy wouldn't talk and then they wouldn't get anywhere with this.

The kidnapper said, "This is Royce Bergermon and I need a lawyer to represent me. Yes, I'm in the Yuma Town jail. I need him now. Alright." Then he handed the phone back to Bridget. "His law clerk, Stella Weekum, said Mr. Pierce would be here in half an hour."

Kira raised her brows. First, he said he was Barmonger and now Bergermon?

"Good." Bridget said to Kira and Demetria, "We'll move him to the cell and then I'll talk with you for a moment."

Dan walked into the interrogation room and took the kidnapper back to a jail cell and closed the door.

Then they all met in the lounge.

"Our lawyer is a cougar. So is the judge," Bridget said. "Larry's law clerk, Stella, is a rare white cougar and married to Ted Weekum, Hal's foreman at the horse ranch."

"Oh, wow, that is the coolest," Kira said. "As to Royce, how do you know that he was lying about his name? Though he gave two different last names."

Dan made a fresh pot of coffee.

"I can read people's minds. I know when they're telling the truth. Though occasionally, I run into someone that I can't read, like my mate Travis. But in this case, I could."

"Ava, working at the bakery, said she had psychic abilities also. Her twin sister too. It's incredible."

"It is," Bridget said. "So Royce Farmington is the kidnapper's real name. Oscar is one of the men's names that he was running with, though he didn't think of his last name. Reggie Olson is the other."

"Wow, your ability really comes in handy. We need you to join us in the USF," Kira said.

"That's why I'm with the CSF," Bridget said.

Travis walked into the room and gave her a hug. "For a lot more than that. So what did you all learn?"

"We learned his full name, one of the men's first names and a confirmation on the name you already knew," Bridget said.

"He asked for a lawyer," Kira said, sounding disappointed.

"When's Larry Pierce getting here?" Travis asked.

"Two hours," Bridget said.

"Royce said he was coming in half an hour," Kira said.

Bridget smiled. "When we have a criminal in custody, Larry takes his time. It rattles the prisoner and sometimes they end up coming clean. It's his code. Half an hour means two hours."