Chapter 16

16

F isher took the phone from Kira and hoped that Martin truly had good news for him. "I'll speak with you outside, sir. We have a cougar reporter at the house."

"I wouldn't whisper a word about anything you wouldn't want the world to know about." Carl licked his fork clean.

Still, Fisher didn't want to speak in front of Carl in case it was for his ears only. Feeling like he was walking on air, Fisher went out on the back deck and looked at the beauty of Lake Buchanan. Trees wearing coats of yellow, red, green, and purple reflected in the water that rippled with the breeze while white clouds floated across the blue sky.

"Yes, sir?"

"Your phone is off." Martin sounded annoyed with him.

Here Fisher thought from the way Kira had been smiling at him that Martin had good news for him.

"Sorry, sir." He fished his phone out of his pocket and switched it on. "We were listening to the kidnapper being interrogated and I didn't want it to ring in the viewing room. I completely forgot to turn it back on." Talk about making a big mistake.

"Do you want to work for us?"

"Hell, yeah." Fisher did a little dance on the back deck, then looked back at the windows to make sure no one was watching him. Both the twin girls were. He smiled and waved at them. They giggled and ran off, their dog chasing after them.

"Okay, I'll send the paperwork to you, and you need to fill it out and send it back to me. You go on the payroll today. You still have to go through our rigorous training program and if you don't pass it, you're out."

"Yes, sir."

"You and Kira keep each other safe," Martin said.

"Absolutely, sir."

"Turn your phone's ringer on."

"Already done, sir."

"I'll see you when you come to Houston."

"Thank you, sir, for this opportunity to serve our kind."

"You'll earn it. Talk later."

Then they ended the call and Fisher glanced back at the windows, but the girls hadn't returned. He walked into the house and handed Kira's phone to her. And smiled. "So maybe we can team up together on more missions."

Kira quickly rose from her seat and gave him a warm embrace. "I sure hope so. We'll have to celebrate the good news. Oh, but what about your pack leaders?"

"They put in a good word for me too. They will be happy for me. But I do need to tell them and my brothers and the rest of my cousins that I got the job."

Carl sighed. "Nothing noteworthy to report on."

They all laughed.

"I'm going to call the family. Be right back." Then Fisher went back out on the deck and began to call his pack leaders first. "Hey, Bella, I got the job."

"With the USF? Oh, wow! Devlyn, Fisher got the job."

"With the USF?" Devlyn asked, coming to the phone. "Hey, Cuz, great news."

"Yeah, I still have to go through the training, but Martin said I'm hired."

"Well, that's certainly good news. Oh, I need to tell you that Aaron is returning home. He has to take care of the horse ranch. He thought capturing these guys wouldn't take too long, but things have come up at the ranch and he needs to return home."

"That's certainly understandable. I've got to call Heath and then get hold of the others to let them know I'm working for the USF. They're at a cougar's horse ranch for lunch."

"Are you any closer to finding the other kidnappers?"

"Not yet, but we're hoping maybe they'll come for the one guy's cousin and then we'll nab them," Fisher said.

"I hope that works out for you. And congratulations," Devlyn said.

"Yes, congratulations," Bella said.

Then Fisher thanked them and called Heath, who immediately worried that he was calling because of a health issue. "No, I'm fine. I ended up getting the job with the USF."

"I heard you were swimming and running as a wolf."

Always the doctor. "Yeah. It was a little too soon for that."

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah. I am."

"Well, hell, I can't believe you decided to join the USF, but I guess you have a pretty great incentive."

Fisher smiled. "Yeah." He sure did.

"Congratulations. I'm so happy for you, but we'll miss you."

"I'll be living in Greystoke still."

"Oh, well, that's damn good news. What about Thanksgiving?" Heath asked.

"I guess it depends if I'm still on this case. Then I might not have time to come home for it. Or I could possibly be seeing Kira's parents."

"Sure. Well, if you and Kira aren't busy with the case or seeing her family, we would all love to have you join us. If you forgot, it's next week."

"Okay, sure." He hadn't even realized it was getting that close to Thanksgiving.

"I understand your new doctor, Kate, told you no running as a wolf or swimming for a week or so. I want to reiterate that medical advice. I didn't realize I needed to tell you that beforehand."

Fisher smiled. He loved his brother. Then they said goodbye and he called his other brothers and his cousin Brock. "Hey, Tanner, you can put this call on speakerphone. I know we take turns running the leather goods factory, but the USF just hired me."

Tanner laughed. "Here I thought you were just trying to get to know Kira better. Now I know the truth. You just wanted to do something else with your life other than helping out with the factory."

"That means it's just you and me," Shawn said to Tanner.

"Yep. I can't believe our brother is actually abandoning us," Tanner said.

"Sure you did. That's why all of us put in recommendations with USF to hire him," Brock said.

"You guys are the greatest," Fisher said.

"I hope you get to come and visit us for Thanksgiving, or Christmas," Tanner said.

"Or both," Shawn said.

"We'll see how this case goes." Then they all congratulated Fisher, and he called Aaron to tell him the news. Aaron was thrilled to hear the news, but he was disappointed that he couldn't have stayed longer to help catch the other kidnappers.

Fisher called Vaughn and Jillian after that, hoping he wasn't interrupting their mission. "Here I was trying to talk Brock into joining us when I should have been talking to you," Vaughn said.

"We can't wait to work on a case with you," Jillian said. "Vaughn is always telling me how organized you are and very analytical. Welcome to the team."

"That means a lot to me," Fisher said, pleased to no end to be working with Kira and them.

Then they finally ended the call and Fisher called Demetria and Everett to give them the news. He realized they would be just as eager to hear about it. They were thrilled.

"Okay, now you just need to go through your training so we can put you through your paces," Demetria said, laughing.

He laughed.

Everett agreed and welcomed him as a new member of the team.

After ending the call, Fisher returned to the dining room. Carl had left and Chase was about to head out. "I've got some deputy sheriff duties to do. Congratulations," Chase said.

"Thanks, I'm thrilled and everyone else is too."

Chase left the house. Kira was helping Shannon clean up the kitchen after lunch. Fisher stepped in to assist.

"So what are we going to do now?" Fisher asked.

"We ought to talk to Royce further. I still want to know how he was turned. Was it recently? I hope it doesn't mean we have a rogue wolf turning people too."

"Yeah, let's do that."

They thanked Shannon for a lovely meal, then said goodbye and headed for the jailhouse. "We need to call Bridget too so she can listen in and let us know if he's telling the truth or not," Kira said.

"Good call."

Kira got a hold of Dan since she didn't have Bridget's number, "Hey, Dan, Fisher and I are going to see Royce and speak with him about being turned, if he was or not. Can Bridget drop by and see if he is telling us the truth?"

"Yes, I'll call her right away. Deputy Sheriff Ricky Jones is on duty there right now."

"Okay, we're on our way."

When they arrived, Ricky greeted them. "We're going to get the truth out of him this time. Bridget is on her way here."

Before they could proceed, Kira got a call from Leyton. "Did you find anything out from the relatives in Denver that could help the case?" She put the call on speakerphone.

"The Farmington's relatives are all human."

Which meant someone had turned both Royce and Oscar more recently. "Are they worried about where the two cousins have gotten off to?" Kira asked.

"They told their family that they were going up to Alaska to hunt and fish. They didn't know when they would return home. Royce still lived at home. Oscar had an apartment, but he gave notice and vacated it. The family is upset with them because both quit their decent jobs to just run off and have fun," Leyton said.

"Because they're wolves and they can't hold their shape during the full moon, betcha," Fisher said.

"Yeah, that's what we suspect," Leyton said.

"And couldn't hold down their jobs either," Fisher added. "Which is maybe why they took up kidnapping as a way to make an income."

"I agree. What about Reggie? Were you able to speak to any of his relatives, if he has any, up there?" Kira asked Leyton.

"His family is human also. His house is up for sale by a realtor. No one is living there right now," Leyton said. "We suspect he knew he would have to sell out—if he's newly turned also. Which makes us wonder if someone else did this to the three men."

"Possibly, or maybe Reggie bit the cousins. But if someone actually turned the men and left them to fend for themselves, then he's a rogue every bit as much as they are for kidnapping kids. Then we'll have to go after him or her also," Kira said.

"It sounds like they've been on the run all this time then," Fisher said, "if they've told their family they're off to Alaska and not returning to Denver. I wonder though if they really are planning on moving to Alaska. They would be able to run as wolves more freely up there."

"That could be," Leyton said.

"Did they mention anything that had happened that they believe might have made them uproot their lives like that?" Kira asked.

"Jack asked that of the Farmington families. The only thing they said was that Reggie, who is Oscar's good friend, and Oscar's younger cousin Royce, who seemed to always tag along with his cousin, had all gone to a bar the night before everything changed. The families were afraid something might have happened at the bar because a few days after that, they started making plans to move to Alaska. Maybe it was coincidence. Maybe they had discussed it at the bar and decided to do something new with their lives," Leyton said.

"Or maybe somebody had bitten them around the full moon phase and the men turned into wolves and knew they needed to get out of Denver," Fisher said.

"Right. Travis asked Reggie's parents what they thought about the sudden change of plans. They are friends of the Farmingtons and believed something similarly. That something happened that night at the bar. They wanted to just say it was because they were drinking and came up with this wild plan. But it was something more than that. They were avoiding seeing any of their families as if they were ashamed of something they had done when they normally weren't like that. After we go to that bar tonight and talk about any issue that might have occurred for that timeframe, we will have done all we can here. I don't believe the families are hiding anything about the whereabouts of their kin," Leyton said. "They're in the dark about all the rest of this stuff."

"Did they wonder what all this is about? Your questioning them?" Fisher asked.

"We told them that they were persons of interest in a case," Leyton said. "The families didn't seem happy about that prospect. They might have assumed something more was going on with the three men than they had let on. But they also cast glances in each other's direction, and we figure they had suspected something was wrong. In a case like this where their families are human, we really can't tell them what had happened to them. And they have too many family members to turn them. After the visit to the bar tonight to see if we can learn anything else, we're heading back to Yuma Town for the holidays and to help you with your case if you need anything further. Our boss said your case has priority for now."

"Okay, thanks, Leyton." Kira was glad they had learned something about the men at least through family members.

"I'll call you if we learn anything more," Leyton said.

Then they ended the call.

"Well, at least we know they were turned—not that they have just a few generations of wolf roots. So now let's ask Royce who turned them," Fisher said.

"That was just what I was thinking," Kira said. "We need to call Larry in case Royce feels he needs to have his lawyer present."

"I'll call him." Ricky got on his phone. "Hey, we're going to interrogate Royce about his wolf roots. All three men have families that are human, so they were turned about six months ago, when all the kidnappings began taking place. Alright, see you in a few."

"Will he really be here in a few minutes?" Kira asked.

"Yes, if we ask him to be here," Ricky said.

Then Bridget arrived and Ricky went back to get Royce so he could be interrogated again.

"Haven't you people already questioned me enough?" Royce asked. "And you said you got my cousin. Where is he?"

Ricky glanced at Kira.

"We can't reveal that information. We want to question you about when you were bitten and by whom," Kira said. "We shouldn't need a lawyer for that, though Mr. Pierce said he would be right over."

"Like the last time?" Royce sounded annoyed that his lawyer had taken so long to show up the first time here.

Ricky took Royce into the interrogation room. "Do you want me to stay with you?"

"No. I don't think he does anything bad but kidnap little boys. I'm really not his type." Kira patted Fisher's hand. "And I have an Army Ranger wolf to keep me safe."

Bridget went into the interrogation room with them, and she stood behind Royce against the wall. Like before, she would indicate to Kira whether or not he was telling the truth.

Shortly after that, Larry joined them in the interrogation room. "Okay, so you really don't need me here if all we're going to talk about is how and when you were turned and by whom. Unless you feel the need to have me here for you."

"Yeah, you can stay. I don't know why you have so much interest in my being turned though," Royce said to Kira.

Larry sat down next to Royce.

Ricky was probably in the viewing room.

"If a wolf turned you and your other kidnapper friends and left you to cope on your own, he would be in trouble himself," Kira said. "That's why we need to know which wolf turned you."

"I don't know."

"You were at a bar in Denver—" Fisher said.

"How did you know about that?" Royce ran his hands through his hair. "How were you turned?"

"Generations ago. We were all born as wolf shifters," Fisher said.

Royce's eyes grew big.

"We don't have the issue of shifting during the full moon phase like newly turned wolves do. The one who turned you should have had a good reason for doing so. Like he was protecting himself from you and bit you in self-defense." Kira straightened on her chair. "Or you caught him shifting and he had to make you one of us or kill you."

Royce's jaw dropped. "You're kidding."

"No," Kira said.

"We didn't see her shifting," Royce said.

"Her?" Kira asked.

"Yeah, she was at the bar."

"Alone?" Fisher asked.

"Uh, I don't know. Maybe she was with others." Royce shrugged.

"Okay, so if she was at the bar when you were, she wouldn't have been shifting into her wolf to bite you. The three of you were there? You, your cousin, and Reggie?" Fisher asked.

"Yes."

"So how did it happen?" Kira asked.

"She was a beautiful blond, and she had the most entrancing blue eyes. Reggie wanted to talk to her and of course we went with him. She wasn't interested in him, or us. Probably because we'd had too much to drink."

"You badgered her," Kira guessed. "She would have been dressed. To shift and bite you, she would have had to have removed her clothes."

Royce ground his teeth.

"Tell the truth. You know we can smell deception on you," Kira said. Though Bridget was the key to learning the truth beyond a reasonable doubt.

Royce began tapping his foot on the floor under the table. And he sat back away from the table as if wanting to distance himself from the discussion.

"You pushed yourselves on the she-wolf and she had no other choice but to protect herself." Just like Kira had to do when she was young when the kidnapper grabbed her. At least that's what she suspected had happened to the she-wolf.

"Reggie tore her dress," Bridget said. "The she-wolf was both angered and afraid."

Royce swung around to look at her. "You don't know that."

"I can guess that's why she was out of her clothes so quickly. The next step was for her to shift," Bridget said. "If she was mostly undressed, she would have been able to shift more easily."

"When you saw her shift—" Kira said.

"I didn't! I mean, after we started shifting, we realized that all we had time for was to blink our eyes and the person was a dog. Besides, I was a little inebriated. All of us were. All I remember is that a vicious dog was suddenly standing there, growling. Reggie brandished a knife and I thought he was going to protect us."

"You were going to kill a dog?" Fisher asked.

"No. I mean, Reggie was just protecting us. He ran at the dog, but she was backed in a corner. She couldn't get out of the situation without reacting. She bit him on the arm, and he cried out and dropped the knife. My cousin grabbed the knife to keep the wild dog away from Reggie before she bit him again. The dog attacked him next, and bit him on the wrist, but he cut her, and she yelped."

Kira shook her head. These guys needed to be incarcerated.

"What? She was vicious."

"How did you get bitten?" Kira asked.

Royce rubbed the back of his neck, looking down at the table. "Oscar turned me. The dog leapt at Oscar and knocked him down on the pavement, knocking him out. Reggie ran for the car, leaving us behind. I shook Oscar, trying to get him to wake up and then he came to, and the dog took off. I got Oscar into the car and Reggie drove to the clinic. At the clinic, we had to wait for a couple of hours, and then Oscar and Reggie had stitches and we left. Once we were in Reggie's SUV, he suddenly said, ‘I'm burning up.' I asked if he thought he had an infection, but I figured that was too soon for it to appear. But he was frantic and yanked the vehicle off the road and parked. Then, I thought maybe it was because he was drunk. He began to yank off his clothes. Which was too bizarre to consider."

Kira didn't believe so, knowing just the reason for Reggie's frantic actions that night.