Chapter 3

3

T anner, Heath, and Shawn, Fisher's brothers, and nine other men had been trying to reach the location where the USF agent, Fisher, and the kidnapped boy were as fast as they could. But it was a long hike and they'd also been watching for any sign of the kidnappers, should they have come back this way toward the trailhead.

The men had been quiet, listening for sounds of any other people in the area. They ran across a group of four college-age hikers, and later, a man and a woman in their early forties or so, hiking along the trail they were on. Then Tanner got an update from Devlyn about Kira and what she had done for the boy and Fisher. "Thanks. I'll let everyone else know." He ended the call and shared what Devlyn had said with the other members on his team.

They had to remain quiet in case the kidnappers were about. Tanner knew that everyone wanted to kill the rogue wolves for trying to murder both Fisher and the USF agent and for kidnapping the boy and abandoning him in the woods. Then they began to smell wolves—three unknown gray male wolves, a human boy, a red she-wolf, and Fisher. They knew then, even though Kira Westwood had given Devlyn their GPS coordinates, that the kidnappers had recently been in the vicinity as fresh as their scents were, and Tanner and the rest of the pack members were on the right track.

Five miles off the trail, they heard a woman talking low, and a child's voice saying. "Yes. I want a BB gun for Christmas."

Then the woman said, "Shhh."

"It's me, Tanner Greystoke, Fisher's brother and Devlyn's cousin," Tanner called out, so as not to alarm them, sure it was Kira and the boy.

"I'm Heath, Fisher's brother and the doctor," Heath said.

"We're over here," Kira shouted out. "I hope you brought something with you to carry Fisher on up the cliff face."

"We did. We've got a litter and all the climbing gear we need," Tanner said from some distance in the woods, and then they finally reached the woman and the boy, all cuddled up together on the ground next to a tree. Tanner pulled a warm coat out of his backpack and gave it to the boy to wrap himself up in it and gave him a knit hat to cover his head.

Shawn said, "I'm also Fisher's brother. I'm Shawn." He immediately gave Kira his warm down parka to wear.

"Thanks. Fisher is straight down there"—she pointed in the direction where Fisher could be found—"on the ledge beneath the overhang."

"Hey, Fisher, we're coming," Tanner said, shouting over the cliff's edge as he and the others prepared to tie off ropes so they could make the climb safely and rescue him.

"Why are they saying they're the dog's brother?" Billy asked.

Light dawning, Tanner and the others realized the boy had seen Fisher running as a wolf. "He's like a family member to us," Tanner quickly said, still coming to grips with the fact that his brother had been shot and could be seriously injured from the fall. He couldn't believe that a wolf run at dusk would lead to something as insidious as kidnappers taking a boy hostage and then trying to eliminate Fisher too. Tanner suspected that Fisher had realized the boy was in trouble and had gone to help him. Though what his brother could have done for him as a wolf when the men were armed with guns had Tanner scratching his head. Still, Tanner would have felt the same need to go to the boy's aid even if it had cost him his life.

Tanner glanced at Kira, thanking God that she had come to Fisher and the boy's aid and had alerted Devlyn right away as to the trouble they were in. Devlyn had already told them that they might be helping her with her case, but they'd never expected that Fisher would have gotten into the middle of the mess all on his own just by taking a run as a wolf deep in the national park.

Wearing harnesses and helmets, some of the men were lowering a litter while Tanner and Heath were rappelling down to check on Fisher. Kira sure hoped he was going to be okay as she sat on the ground with Billy wrapped up in her arms, fast asleep, keeping him warm. She was too keyed up to drift off, but she was glad Shawn had shared his parka with her. She'd been wishing, if the boy hadn't been an issue, that she could have turned into her wolf. Though if the boy hadn't been here, she would have stayed with Fisher and kept him warm.

Then a dark-haired man showed up, his expression serious and determined, looking like he was in charge and Kira suspected he was the pack leader. He headed straight for Kira and then he crouched down to speak with her. He shook her hand. "I'm Devlyn, and we're all at your service."

"These men really need to be caught and I appreciate any help you can give me. No other USF special agents were available at the time to help me with the mission."

"Which is what your boss told me, and we immediately were ready to help out. How's the boy?" Devlyn asked.

"He's tired, as you can see." Billy looked so angelic in her arms, and it made her want to have children of her own to cherish and raise. "He needs a good meal and a good sleep. We need to locate his family."

"What's his last name?"

"Forsythe. Billy Forsythe. I had to wait until you all rescued Fisher before we contacted the police to locate his parents. I didn't want to reach out to them until we knew the kidnappers wouldn't come back, or at least if they did, you could deal with them. But also, Billy saw Fisher when he was a wolf, and now he's not. So we need to keep that from him. He believes Fisher is an injured dog now."

"Alright. We'll help you with locating the boy's family. We don't have cell phone reception out here, so we can't search the internet to see what FBI office is in charge of Billy's kidnapping case. Do you know what vehicle the kidnappers were using?" Devlyn asked.

"A black Chevrolet Suburban, but I looked its license plate up and the license plate was for another car. I'd lost them for a while, then saw it at the trailhead, parked, and went after them."

"Okay, I didn't see it when I drove up."

"I was afraid they had probably already left the area. Though I'm glad they aren't coming after us any longer." She let out her breath on a heavy sigh. She hated that they had gotten away. What if she was never able to track them down again? Or the feds did this time?

Devlyn stood up tall. "We'll get them."

She sure hoped so. Then she heard Heath talking to his brother down below on the ledge. "Yes, yes, Kira is topside and just fine. And the boy is also. He's sleeping in her arms, completely at peace for the moment."

She smiled. She knew Fisher had to be in pain, but here he was worried about her and the boy? That was so sweet of him.

"Okay, we're going to take you out of here on the litter. The other men have got everything set up. We'll get you out of here in no time. At the clinic, we'll take care of the bullet and x-ray you to see if you've broken anything or have any internal injuries," Heath said.

Then the boy cried out and Kira hugged him and kissed the top of his head. "You're okay, you're safe. We're getting you home soon." She spoke softly and reassuringly.

Billy really didn't wake up all the way and nestled back in her arms. She felt bad that she couldn't get ahold of his parents right away to tell them that their son was okay. That the kidnappers no longer had him. They had to be terrified through this whole ordeal. But then she had an idea.

She said to Devlyn, "We need to learn where Billy's parents are supposed to drop off the money. Then we can have some people meet up with the kidnappers."

"Can you tell me your parents' phone number?" Devlyn asked Billy, waking him.

He rubbed his eyes and gave him their phone number.

"Alright. I'll make the call." Devlyn pulled out his satellite phone. He called the number and when someone answered, he said, "I'm Devlyn Greystoke and my cousin and a friend found a boy by the name of Billy Forsythe in the Rocky Mountain National Park. We're in the process of rescuing my cousin who was shot by Billy's kidnappers. Billy is safe and sound." Pause. "Yeah, sure. Your dad wants to speak with you." He handed the phone to Billy.

"Dad," the boy said and then he just sobbed his heart out.

Kira rubbed Billy's back to console him.

Billy finally managed to say, "Yeah, there were three of them. But they left and a nice lady saved me and then a wolf…I mean a dog got shot and…a man? No, a dog. And then they shot at Kira when she was trying to save the dog's life and then she climbed back up the cliff to take care of me until help arrived."

Kira knew this was going to be a mess. She said to Billy, "Fisher, the man was with his dog, and they shot Fisher."

Billy looked puzzled and rubbed his temple. "I…I got it wrong. Anyway, the kidnappers left, and these men are going to bring me to you. Okay…" He handed the phone back to Devlyn.

"Yeah, my cousin was badly injured after he took a bullet and fell from the cliff. We're getting him up the face of the cliff now. One of our cousins is a doctor, and Fisher's brother, so he is taking him to his clinic. We're about five miles out from the trailhead, so we'll be leaving that way, carrying Fisher out on a litter until we can reach our vehicles. If you want to have your men standing by, we'll be bringing Billy there."

Kira figured when Billy handed the phone back to Devlyn, he wasn't talking to the father, but the FBI handling the case. She hoped that the agents wouldn't think Devlyn or the rest of them had anything to do with the kidnapping.

Kira said, "Tell the FBI that they need to meet them at the drop-off for the ransom because the boy is safe." Though she realized that wouldn't work either because they really didn't want them to apprehend the men. The USF, or other wolf shifters, would have to take them into custody. She suspected the three men might figure they wouldn't get away with the ransom this time and not even try to get it. Not when she and Fisher had interfered with their plans, and they were both wolves. Yet, they might not believe they were anything but wolf shifters who lived in the area and wouldn't have anything to do with trying to apprehend them. That they had just been innocent bystanders, hiking through the woods.

Not all wolves were part of wolf packs and if this situation hadn't been Devlyn's pack territory and if Fisher hadn't been his own cousin/pack member that had been shot, he might not have done anything about it other than take care of Fisher's injuries.

Devlyn nodded and then told the FBI what she had said. "No, we never saw a vehicle," Devlyn said.

Kira suspected the kidnappers had left the trailhead by then.

"No, we didn't see the men either. Maybe my cousin has a description of them. We'll ask him once we're carrying him on the trail as long as his brother doesn't give him a pain killer and knock him out for the long hike to the trailhead. Okay, hold on." He handed the phone back to Billy. "The FBI agent wants to ask you what the three men looked like."

"One had black hair and a beard. The one guy was younger, and he was nicer than the other two. He worried about cougars eating me. The other men didn't care. He didn't want to leave me in the woods. The other guy was about the same age as the dark-haired guy, but his hair was a lighter brown. He had blue eyes. The black-haired guy had brown eyes. The younger guy had blond hair and blue eyes. He was skinnier than the others. They were heavier, more muscular." Billy listened for a minute, then said, "Uh, no, they never said names except just Bud or Bro."

"Tell the agent we're on our way to the trailhead," Devlyn told Billy.

"We're leaving now for the trailhead," Billy said.

"We'll be seeing you soon," the agent said.

"Can…can I talk to my mom?" Billy asked. "Thanks. Mom, I'm so sorry I didn't take out the garbage like you told me to." Then he was crying again. "I love you, Mom." Then he handed the phone back to Devlyn and they began hiking out of there.

Shawn was carrying Kira's backpack while she took care of Billy, but she suspected there was more to Shawn's helpfulness than that. When it came to bachelor male wolves, and she suspected he was one, and they were in the least bit interested in a female, they would do everything they could to get on a she-wolf's good side.

"Can you walk out on your own okay, Billy?" Devlyn asked.

Kira was holding onto Billy's hand and making sure he didn't fall because he was stumbling over roots so much since he was exhausted. Not to mention it was really dark out now. The men had lanterns, though they really didn't need them, but the boy couldn't see as well in the dark like the wolves could with the meager light from the lanterns shining in the woods.

"Yeah, I can." Billy might be tired, but he appeared eager to rejoin his family and his spirits were lifted. Maybe he wanted to be like the wolves too, strong, determined, and independent.

Still, if he was having too much difficulty, she was sure one of the men would carry him to the trailhead. He wasn't a full-grown man, just a slightly built boy.

She was keeping him well ahead of the other men who were holding onto the litter carrying Fisher. She didn't want to have to explain to Billy why they hadn't rescued the dog. Then she heard Fisher saying something to the men carrying him about his backpack.

Tanner said, "You can let us know closer to where you dropped it, and we'll grab it."

That was one good thing about being wolves. Their sense of smell was so good they could easily find it. She just hoped the kidnappers hadn't found it and taken it with them though.

At least Fisher was all wrapped up in a blanket on the litter so Billy wouldn't realize he was actually naked. Devlyn was leading the way to the trail. Three other men were with him, keeping a lookout in case they ran into further trouble. She doubted the kidnappers would want to tangle with so many of them. She had noticed right way that Devlyn and the other men were all armed with handguns and rifles.

She kept wanting to go back to see how Fisher was doing, but she didn't want to take Billy to see him. He would start asking more questions about the dog, and for now, all he was concentrating on was moving one foot in front of the other. When they reached the trail, it was a little easier going. It still had some roots and rocks, but it was clearer than the tangled brush they had been trudging through.

The longer they walked, the more Billy stumbled though.

"Do you need a lift?" Tanner asked Billy.

"No, no, I'm fine."

She suspected that the boy didn't want to look like he couldn't manage since everyone else was hiking through the wilderness without any trouble. "I would take him up on it, but I weigh too much," she said to Billy, smiling.

"I'll carry you," Shawn said to Kira.

She chuckled.

Billy smiled up at her.

After another half mile, Billy stumbled and nearly pulled Kira down. He finally conceded that he needed some help, at least for about a half mile. Four miles later, Tanner was still carrying Billy. A seven-year-old normally could walk about five miles at his own pace. He had already walked at least that far with the kidnappers, and she suspected they hadn't let him go at his slower pace.

Tanner was walking beside her, and she saw that the boy had gone back to sleep. Poor kid. This had been so traumatic for him. She turned around and joined the men carrying the litter and put her hand on Fisher's forehead. He was dead to the world, but his temperature felt fine, thankfully.

Heath said, "I gave him something to knock him out. He would have been in too much pain jostling him through the woods on the litter otherwise."

"Good. I'm glad you were prepared. I had never predicted that the kidnappers would take the boy into the national park, and I certainly hadn't expected them to shoot one of our kind," she said.

"Yeah," Heath said. "We were all on alert in case you called us to help you, but we never thought Fisher would be involved in it too."

They finally reached the trailhead and found several vehicles parked there. Next to her car, she smelled Fisher's car that was a red Yukon also. She smiled to see he had parked right next to hers. Just as they walked into the parking area, two black SUVs and a couple of police cars arrived.

Because of all the police vehicles' lights flashing, Billy woke up, looking startled, his eyes wide. He was going home.