Chapter 20

20

K ira couldn't believe that the others had missed catching Oscar. She had so hoped they had gotten all the bad guys. After transporting them to Houston, their mission would be done. She always felt such a sense of satisfaction when that happened.

All of them headed back to where they'd parked their vehicles.

Demetria said, "Everett told me that the others lost Oscar's scent. He had to have gotten into another vehicle and torn off. Now the question is will he still try and free Royce, or will he decide this is just too hot for him and he needs to leave before he gets caught?"

"I don't know, but from the conversation he and Reggie were having," Fisher said, "I got the impression Oscar still wanted to free his cousin. Without Reggie's help though, he might be rethinking his plans."

"Are you and Everett going to continue to take Royce and now Reggie to Houston?" Kira asked.

"Yes. We'll have Reggie in another car. Dr. Kate is coming here to bandage Reggie's hand, but she's not taking him into surgery. Then we'll have two cars take the men separately, but we'll drive as a convoy," Demetria said as they joined the others in the parking area.

Everett gave Demetria a hug and kiss. "Okay, we've got Chase, Chet, Jack, Leyton, Hal, and Ricky going with us to take the men to Houston. Or at least in that direction. The jaguars will be meeting up with us and take over guard duty while Stryker, Bridget, Travis, and your kin, Fisher, stay on this business with trying to hunt down Oscar," Everett said.

Leyton said, "Oh, I've got your phone, Kira." He handed her phone to her.

"Thanks so much." Kira immediately got on her phone and then started the tracking app again so she would know where Fisher was at all times.

Fisher smiled at her, and she figured it was because he had used it to find out where she had been.

"Do you think Oscar will follow the convoy like they must have been doing initially when we were escorting Royce to Houston before they grabbed Kira?" Leyton asked.

"Unless he just decides to leave and go to Alaska or someplace else. I don't know how he would be able to manage freeing his cousin on his own now. He might not bother trying to help Reggie, even though they're best friends. After the argument the two of them had about leaving Royce to his fate, Oscar not wanting to do that, I suspect Oscar will just try and free his cousin if he even makes the effort," Everett said.

"If he does," Kira said, "he's not going to be able to grab anyone this time to take as a hostage. Sorry about putting everything through that with me."

"Are you kidding? We were able to catch Reggie because of it," Everett said, smiling. "It was a great, covert plan on your part."

Kira laughed.

"Okay, since everyone knows which group we're going with, let's get on the road," Demetria said.

Kira knew she wanted to get this done pronto. Not only because once they had the two men incarcerated, they wouldn't have to worry about them, but it wouldn't give Oscar that option to try and free them either, which could result in another shootout and someone on one of the teams could be severely injured or die this time.

She was sure everyone was interested in getting together with their families for Thanksgiving too. Then Kira wondered if Oscar would give up kidnapping victims once he wasn't being influenced by Reggie, and since he wouldn't have co-conspirators to work with.

Still, he could end up doing other kinds of crime so he would have money. He had proven he was too dangerous, so they couldn't allow him to live on his own without someone taking responsibility for him to make sure he didn't cause problems, and that would have only been if he hadn't been involved in dangerous criminal activities. It was way too late for him to just get a slap on the wrist for all that he had already done.

Kira glanced at Fisher as they got into her car. She saw him flinch when he fastened his seat belt, and she knew he had been hurting again after running as a wolf. She hadn't wanted him to turn wolf no matter what. Though she understood why he had wanted to—his need to take down Reggie, but also his promise to keep her safe. She had been glad he'd been there when Reggie had taken aim at her, and Fisher had distracted him. And when Reggie had tried to shoot Fisher, she had stopped him from doing so. They really worked well together as if they could read each other's minds and had known just what to do. In this business, it could be a matter of life and death.

"Thanks for stopping Reggie from shooting me," she said.

"Yeah, I owe you thanks for the same thing."

"You're hurting. Do you want to take something for the pain?"

He reached back to get the first aid kit and pulled out a pain pill, then took it with some water. "Just don't tell my brother."

"Heath?" She smiled. "You were lucky Dr. Kate was too busy patching Reggie up to check on you. And I saw the way you were avoiding her."

Fisher chuckled. "So what's the plan?"

"Well, everyone else had time to grab some snacks but me," Kira said.

"Me either. As soon as I noticed you weren't in the store or at the car, I knew you were in trouble."

"I'm so glad you were paying attention. With so many of us involved in this, it would be hard to keep track of everybody," Kira said.

"Are you kidding? You're my priority. Martin gave me a direct order to watch out for you. So we go back to that mini mart and get some food and drinks and then what?"

She headed in that direction. "We need to coordinate with the others on our team about what everyone wants to do." She got on Bluetooth and started a conference call. "We're headed back to the mini mart where I was grabbed so we can get some food and drinks."

Tanner said, "Brock, Shawn, and I are way behind the caravan, watching to see if anyone seems to be watching them from businesses on the side of the road. The good thing is Oscar and Reggie have no idea where we were taking Royce, so except for following them—if Oscar's doing so—he's not going to be able to be way ahead of them to ambush them along the way. If they stop for bathroom breaks, that may be the first time he can try something."

Travis said, "Stryker, Bridget, and I are going to drive along parallel roads to the one the convoy is on so we can look for anyone suspicious."

"Do you want any of us to go with Fisher and you?" Tanner asked.

"I doubt he would return to the mini mart where they took me hostage," Kira said.

"Okay, we'll continue on our path then," Tanner said.

They finished the call, everyone going in the direction that they planned to.

"We work together well," Kira said to Fisher, believing they really were in step.

"I feel the same way. What about the other agent you had been working with? How did that work out?" Fisher asked.

"He's good. Justin Barrymore has been with the USF for a year. He's great at investigating, anticipating a situation, and problem solving, just like you are. But he tends to take charge and it's his way, period. Part of it is an ego thing. He's an alpha male wolf who is used to being in charge and he's that way with women especially. Now Martin likes his work and I needed someone to work with who had been with the organization for a little while, but truthfully, he drives me crazy. He's a nice person, until I have to work with him."

"Is he mated?" Fisher asked.

She laughed. "He isn't. Believe me, I'm not interested in him in the least bit. Anyway, he stymies me when I'm trying to figure out what to do on the mission. I was relieved when I didn't have to work with him on this case, though I soon realized I needed more support. Even if I had been on the mission with him, we couldn't have done it alone."

"Well, you've done a great job of being in charge on this mission."

"Oh, I loved it when you said no to Reggie when he dictated to you what would happen as far as a hostage/prisoner exchange in the national park went. I was ready to shout no, if you hadn't said it. You're brand new, no training at all, and you naturally have taken on the role of a special agent in the best way possible."

"I knew if they got their way, you could be expendable. Me too. So no, I wasn't going with that option. I was just glad Dan had been able to triangulate your position using my phone and Reggie's once Reggie realized you and I were tracking each other on our phones and used another phone."

"Man, I thought you were going to run him over." She was so proud of the way he had handled the situation.

"I was if he had pulled his gun on me or headed for the car where you were being held hostage. I wasn't going to let him get to you no matter what."

"That would have worked if he hadn't run off."

"Then he wouldn't have had a chance to shoot at us again."

"For sure." She pulled into the parking lot of the mini mart. "Hey, it's actually lunchtime. Why don't we get some snacks to go but grab a slice of pizza each also."

"I was just going to say the same thing."

They headed inside the convenience store, and she felt like she was reliving the nightmare that she'd been in for the last two hours once she'd come out of the restroom. If she hadn't gone to look at the merchandise near the other side door, someone on her team might have seen Reggie and Oscar grab her.

Fisher ran his hand down her arm and took hold of her hand and squeezed. "Are you okay?"

"You know, that's what I love about you. My other partner wouldn't have asked. He figured as a USF agent, you have to tough it out. But you are so sweet and are always concerned about me."

"Just like you are with me."

She tilted her chin down when she glanced at him. "Yeah, but you're supposed to listen to me." Though she was so glad he'd been there for her as a wolf. The other team members hadn't been able to catch up to them until Demetria and Jack had also shifted.

They went into the pizza place, and both got slices of cheese pizza and bottled water. After what they had been through, they were both feeling the adrenaline pumping through their blood. Taking a breather was worth it before they got back into the chase.

Of course, if they had known where Oscar was, they would have pursued him until they caught him.

"I need to call my parents and tell them that if we catch Oscar, or we have no leads by the time Thanksgiving is here that I'm bringing a special guest home for the holiday."

"Me?"

"Absolutely." She called her mom and said, "Hey, I'm in Colorado and I have some news." She put the call on speaker.

"Hey, Kira, I hope you're calling to say you're coming home for Thanksgiving."

"We are, if we aren't in the middle of trying to catch one last perp. But I want to give you early warning that I'm bringing my partner if we can get there."

"Oh, him . We didn't think you cared for him all that much. Isn't he the one who is bossy and controlling? Always telling you how things are going to go?" her mom said.

"Not him. I have a new partner this time and he's a dream."

Her mother was silent.

"You'll love him."

Her mother didn't say anything.

"Anyway, we'll be there if we aren't in the middle of finalizing this case."

"Wow, okay, well, we'll be glad to see you if you can get home for Thanksgiving for sure. And we'll be looking forward to meeting your new partner."

"Thanks, Mom! We're about to go on another search for the perp, so I just wanted to take a moment to check in. We caught two of the men already with a team of helpers or we wouldn't have been able to manage. Talk to you later! Love you."

"Love you too, dear. Oh, what's your new partner's name?"

"Oh, sorry. Fisher Greystoke."

"I thought he was mated to a girl named Jillian."

"That's Vaughn Greystoke. He's Fisher's cousin."

"Ohhh," her mother said in an elongated fashion like she was finally intrigued. "I like Vaughn and Jillian."

"They're really nice. And Fisher is made of the same wolf material."

"Then we're really looking forward to seeing your new partner."

Kira was sure her parents would like Fisher, especially since she did. She smiled at Fisher. "So are you ready to meet my parents?