Chapter 6

6

W orking on her computer in Bella's home office to learn anything she could about the kidnappers, Kira couldn't stop thinking of Fisher, the whole while that she was trying to determine where the kidnappers had gone.

She thought of calling Fisher to check in on him again, but instead she would just run by the clinic in a little while. She really needed to concentrate on the mission right now. Never had a male wolf distracted her this much when she was on a job. She tended to be focused, determined, and serious about it since she usually had grave missions to complete.

Then Vaughn called her. She suspected he was calling her because she had saved Fisher's life and he wanted to learn the details from her. As far as she knew, he and Jillian were still in Oregon on their case.

"Hey, I wanted to touch base with you because Fisher wants to join the USF."

"What? Really?" Kira was both surprised and elated. She really hoped he wanted to. Anyone who was as courageous as he was to try and save the boy as a wolf was worthy in her eyes of being a special agent.

"Yeah. Jillian and I each gave Martin a glowing report on Fisher, since we know him so well. But Martin might think we're a bit biased. So if you could talk to the boss about how you feel about Fisher joining us, you would have more of a neutral recommendation. That's only if you feel he would be a good addition to the force. You might not see him in the same light as we do though."

"I'll recommend him. He was brave and heroic. I'm thrilled he wants to join us." She hoped it wasn't because of the pain medication he was on, and it was making him see this in a foggy and dreamlike way.

"Thanks. I'm talking to Devlyn about recommending him because he's our pack leader. Bella too. And I imagine our other cousins and his brothers will step in to make recommendations. Again, we'll be a little biased, but we all know each other the best."

"Exactly. Okay, well, I'll talk to Martin then, and after that, I'm going to run by the clinic to check on Fisher." Kira was so pleased he would be part of their team.

"Let us know how your case goes. If we get done with ours, we'll join you. We've been trying to catch a wolf who has been scamming people out near Leidolf and Cassie's Portland, Oregon pack."

"I hope you catch him. And I sure will let you know what happens." Though she figured his packmates would be keeping him informed also. Thanks, Vaughn." After they ended the call, she got ahold of Martin.

"Have you located the kidnappers?" Martin asked right away, recognizing her caller ID.

She was almost embarrassed that she wasn't thinking of them at the moment, but about Fisher joining them in the USF. "Nothing yet, sir. I've been monitoring police reports of kids being kidnapped in Colorado, but so far, there haven't been any new kidnappings. Which is good news, in a way."

"Don't tell me. If you're not calling about that, you're calling about Fisher joining our organization."

She laughed. "Yes, sir."

Martin chuckled. "I think he has more recommendations than anyone has ever had for any of our jaguar branches."

She was thrilled. Then she explained why she thought Fisher would be a good fit for their organization. "As a wolf, Fisher had gone to check on Billy, afraid the boy was in danger. It shows how he is an investigator at heart, worried about the boy, and trying to learn what he could before the kidnappers had seen him. If they hadn't been wolves themselves, they might not have been aware that he was observing them. He'd been more concerned for the boy's safety than for his own. He was brave and I would be willing to work with him any day."

"I'm glad to hear that from you since you were there when this had happened. I'm proud of you for rescuing both the boy and Fisher."

After they talked and she promised to give her boss updates on the case, they ended the call, and she took a deep breath and called Fisher.

As soon as he answered the phone and saw it was from her, he said, "Hey, I hope this isn't bad timing, but I wanted to thank you for saving me."

"No, it's not a bad time. And you're welcome. Vaughn told me you want to join the USF."

"Uh, yeah. I hadn't expected my cousin to tell you."

"He had a good reason." Kira thought Fisher sounded better, his voice less groggy, since the last time she'd spoken to him. She was glad. But she realized he must not have remembered that he had told her three times already how thankful he was for her coming to his aid. Not wanting to upset him while he was recovering, if the fact that he had such poor recall due to his injuries bothered him, she didn't mention it.

"So why exactly do you want to join the USF?" she asked.

"After knowing what you do, I like the idea of taking down our shifter kind who are causing grievous problems, who could even get our kind into trouble."

She suspected there was more to it than that. Why hadn't he tried to join them earlier? Why would he want to do so now? "You know Martin won't hire you if he believes you want to do this because one of the kidnappers shot you." Though after so many people had recommended him, she suspected Martin would hire him without any problem.

"Even if he believed that's why I wanted to do it, which isn't my reasoning, he would just put me on a different case, wouldn't he? Vaughn said he wouldn't put me on a mission with you because you're a new USF special agent and so it would have to be someone who has been doing this for a while." Though the organization was still in its infancy. And he really did want to work with her.

"Oh, I hadn't thought of that. We would be like the blind leading the blind."

He laughed. "That's hard to believe when you found the kidnappers and the boy on your own. And you took care of both of us. I think you can handle any situation you encounter without any trouble at all."

She so appreciated Fisher for saying so. Her other partner wouldn't have acknowledged that she had done a great job. It was just something that would be expected of her. But she suspected her other partner didn't believe a woman could do the job as well as a man. Maybe it just seemed that way to her or maybe he just treated her like that, but some other woman? No problem.

"Vaughn said you were a former Army Ranger, so Martin will like that. And of course Vaughn, Jillian, and I put a good word in for you," Kira said. "Others have too. I imagine your brothers and cousins, maybe other pack members also."

"Wow, thanks so much." He sounded truly astounded.

"When are you applying for the job?"

"Right now."

She laughed. Man, when Fisher was ready to do something, he was going full force. She liked that in a person, even when he was injured and still healing up. "Oh, by the way, your pack members grabbed all the casings that were left behind so that the FBI agents wouldn't get them to identify the weapons that were used on you."

"And on you."

"Right. And if they didn't tell you, they found your backpack after much searching."

"Oh, great, I'd forgotten about it, but I had my phone in it." Then he laughed a little. "That I'm actually using right now, and I think you put your phone number into it when I was a little groggy. I guess they didn't mention finding my backpack to me."

"That's good. Everett and Demetria are getting here tomorrow night and we're all going to have dinner. Maybe you'll be able to join us by then." She really hoped he would. Wolves healed faster than humans, but she figured enjoying a meal with his family would lift his spirits and that would help him heal quicker too.

"I should be better by then."

She sure hoped so. Then they ended the call so he could get more rest. Afterward, she called Billy's parents to see if he got home alright.

"Oh, yes," his mother said.

Billy wanted to talk to Kira right away. "Is the dog okay?"

She smiled. "Yes, he's at the vet, but the doctor said he would be good as new soon. How are you feeling?"

"Glad to be home. I was going to put out the trash, but Mom wanted to help me. Between you and me, I don't think she wants me out of her sight for now. I don't mind. I fear every car that passes by the house means danger. Thanks again. Mom wants to talk to you."

"You're welcome, Billy."

Then his mother got on the phone and said, "Thanks so much for saving my Billy. He's the only child we've got. I…I can't thank you enough. Did you catch the kidnappers yet?"

"No, I'm sorry. We're still working on taking them down and we won't stop until we do."

"Can you let us know when you do? It would make us feel better if we knew for sure."

"Absolutely." For their peace of mind, they would, though they didn't want this information in the press because they would want to learn more about the kidnappers.

After they finished the call, Kira was checking again for any other new cases of kidnappings, just in case the kidnappers grabbed another kid. They sure didn't want that to happen, but it might be the only way they could catch these guys, if they had a clue as to where they were now.

She still didn't find any recent kidnappings, which was good for kids and their families, but it didn't help her find the kidnappers. She glanced at the clock and realized it was lunchtime. Bella came into the office and asked Kira if she wanted to have lunch with her.

"Oh, I would love to, but I was going to check on Fisher and see if I could bring him something he would like to eat."

"He will love it. His favorite is Chicken Delights chicken pot pies if you wanted to drop by there and grab one for him. Heath said he can eat anything he wants."

"Great and thanks. I'll check with him first to make sure that's what he would like, unless he has eaten already." She called Fisher and said, "I hear your favorite lunch is a chicken pot pie from Chicken Delights. Would you like me to bring one to you?"

Fisher whooped. "Yes! And lemonade. If you're going to eat with me. I don't want you just to make a special trip for no reason."

"I'm definitely eating with you. I'm going to get one of their grilled chicken sandwiches. I'll be over in just a few minutes."

"I'm looking forward to it." He sounded so cheerful, she was glad that she had offered.

She thought his family would be over there all the time, sharing meals with him so he wouldn't have needed any more company, but apparently not.

She picked up the chicken pot pie, two lemonades, and a grilled chicken sandwich at the restaurant, then headed over to the clinic. When she arrived, Shawn was guarding his room and he smiled at her.

"Man, he sure is getting special treatment," Shawn said, eyeing the bag from Chicken Delights.

"I'm hoping that helps him to heal faster."

"I'm sure it will. So that he can work with you?"

She smiled.

"You didn't bring me anything from Chicken Delights?" Shawn asked.

"Quit hassling her," Fisher called out from his room. "You're supposed to be guarding me, not eating."

Shawn laughed.

She loved the dynamics between the brothers. Not having any siblings, she wasn't used to that. She walked into the room and set up the table over the bed so that Fisher could eat. But he reached his arms out to give her a hug.

"Thanks so much for making my day."

She gave him a gentle hug back. "I'll bring dinner over for you tonight too if that's how much it brightens your day."

"Absolutely. I'll be out of here in no time then."

She prayed he wasn't getting his hopes up for nothing, but she was glad he was so upbeat and positive.