by Terry Spear
He rubbed her back. “Let’s talk about anything else then. Anything that will help you to relax.” It worked as he rubbed her back and kissed her, but he got himself all worked up until he was ready to have sex again.
She smiled up at him. “Let’s hurry.”
“No stress, right?”
She chuckled, and they hurried to make love. Half an hour after they’d made love and were settled in each other’s arms again, she sighed against his chest.
He knew she couldn’t hold off this time. “I love you, my beautiful wolf.”
“Just shove me out of bed if I bother you,” she said, sounding serious.
“Are you kidding? I didn’t think I’d ever be lucky enough to have a wolf companion whom I love as much as I do you. I’m thrilled to be able to share my bed with you in any form you take on.”
“You don’t know how much that means to me, Owen. But seriously, if I start kicking you, wake me and make me move. You won’t hurt my feelings at all.” She had barely spoken the words when she shifted, and he pulled her into his arms. She laid her head on his chest to get comfortable.
“I’m serious. You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me in my life. I’ll always cherish the day you said you’d be my mate,” he said.
She lifted her chin and licked his jaw. He laughed. “’Night, honey. We’ll get through tomorrow without a hitch.”
At least he sure as hell hoped so.
* * *
The next morning, Candice woke wrapped around her mate as a human, thankfully. They got up early, had breakfast, and said goodbye to Demetria before she headed to work.
“She wishes she could come with us,” Everett said.
“Hopefully, there won’t be any…well, too much drama.” Candice climbed into the backseat, ready to confront her impostor.
Neither Owen nor Candice shifted the whole way to Houston, and after getting a hotel for the night there, they ran over to the bank before they had any inclination to shift.
The bank clerk took them back to unlock the safe-deposit box, but when Candice tried to use her key, it didn’t work. “Why isn’t it working?” Candice asked the clerk.
“Did you find your old key? Is that it? The lock was changed yesterday. You came in a couple of days ago and said you’d lost your key, so we had to replace the lock. We took the money out of your checking for it, just like we automatically do with your safe-deposit monthly rental fee. You had us open the box after we changed it out.” The bank clerk showed her the signature paper where “Clara” had signed in yesterday.
Candice felt sick about it and angry at the same time. “Well, that wasn’t me.”
“She had to have an ID just like you did. I have to admit, she looked more like your photo ID than you do.” The gray-haired woman frowned a little at Candice, as if she wasn’t sure she was the right Clara.
Which irritated Candice even more. Though she could understand why the woman would think she was the impostor and not the other woman. But why would Candice make a stink about it? She wouldn’t, if she were the impostor.
She would have closed her account out right then and there, but it would be easier to transfer any money she might get from the inheritance to a local bank account and then transfer it again later.
Then she realized she would have another home to sell. She didn’t intend to live anywhere near Houston in the future, even though there were still a lot of wooded areas around the outskirts. She’d much prefer the solitude and quiet of northern Minnesota.
“Well, I haven’t had dyed hair in two years. She colored hers to match that photo. I want to cancel my box. She might have stolen all my papers, but I’m still the one paying for it!”
After more of a hassle, because she had to make a police statement stating that another woman had stolen her ID and the contents of her safe-deposit box, Candice canceled her box and they headed to the hotel for the night. After signing the paperwork tomorrow afternoon, they were driving back to Dallas with Everett.
Candice couldn’t get over being furious with the woman. It was bad enough that she was trying to steal Candice’s inheritance, but the pictures were priceless. And she’d put a pearl ring from her parents in there since she couldn’t wear it any longer. Which was why she had kept them secure in the safe-deposit box in the first place!
“I’m so sorry about what happened,” Owen said. “Unfortunately, there’s no recourse. Contents of safe-deposit boxes are not insured by the FDIC. But maybe the police can shed some light on the impostor. And maybe we can get everything back from her once she’s proven to be an impostor.”
“The documents are all replaceable. The photos are not. And the ring my parents gave to me isn’t either. I just hope that the woman doesn’t get away with this.” That’s what Candice was still worried about. That the woman would manage to lie her way through this and end up with the inheritance. It could be a long, drawn-out process to straighten out the situation, and it would put Candice and Owen more at risk, because she knew he wasn’t about to let her handle this all on her own.
As soon as they’d checked into adjoining rooms at the hotel and settled in them, Candice got a call from Rowdy, which she put on speaker.
“Hope the two of you made it to Houston all right,” Rowdy said. “Cameron said you had some trouble earlier. You should have ridden with me.”
“We have another friend helping out,” Owen said.
Candice was sure he didn’t want to tell the homicide detective that jaguar shifters existed, if he didn’t already know it.
“What did you learn?” Candice asked, eager to know if he had any more news.
“Felix Underwood has no record of any violations of any laws. He’s squeaky clean. The woman’s name is Dora Emerson. She’s Felix’s sister. She went to see Felix at his downtown office, which is how I managed to learn who she is from her license plate. I have to say, she looks similar to you. Considering you were unable to see your uncle right away, that must have triggered Felix’s scheme to pass his sister off as you. I have her address, but I don’t want anyone going there to confront her.”
Candice was shocked the PI would use his own sister to parade around as Clara Hart. Then again, they could keep all the money in the family. And if she fit the part, so much the better. “Sister. Felix Underwood knew exactly who she was and is a coconspirator in this.”
“Correct. Looked like easy money, no sign of a real Clara Hart, so he must have figured since you were a fake, it would be easy to pass off a different one. She’s been into some petty theft. Nothing big-time. She’s been married and divorced, but she still goes by her married name.”
Candice was furious with the PI and the woman. “She stole the documents and pictures from my safe-deposit box at the bank. I closed it out, but she has everything I’d kept in there, including a pearl ring from my parents. My birthstone ring for my birthday when I turned sixteen. I wore it constantly—until I couldn’t and was afraid I’d lose it one of these times.” If the impostor was wearing that ring…
“Okay, I’ll see what I can do.”
She ground her teeth. “But you’re going to try to get my documents and the other items she stole?”
“I’ll try. I’ve got a couple of friends in Houston who are cops. I’ve alerted them to the fraud, and I’ll give them a call with the latest update concerning the safe-deposit theft. They already know who she really is, so they’re not surprised she’d try something that could mean a huge amount of money if she and her brother could pull it off.”
Candice still worried that these people would get away with the scam if they weren’t stopped. “What if my uncle believes her?”
“I’ve already spoken with him. He said he was willing to hear what you have to say…in person. I know how much trouble that is for you, but he can’t believe anyone with that much money coming to them would not want to
sign for it right away.”
Candice sighed with relief. “Rowdy, thanks so much for helping us.” She still couldn’t believe a human knew what they were and was all right with it. After all the trouble he had gone through, she thought it would only be polite to buy him a meal. But she thought they should meet him at the hotel restaurant so she or Owen could make a fast getaway to their room if they needed to. “We’d love to buy you lunch at the steak restaurant in the hotel where we’re staying, if you haven’t eaten.”
“I’d love to. Meet you there in half an hour?”
“See you then.” Candice ended the call. “That’s all right with you guys, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, sure.” Owen rubbed her back and kissed her cheek. “I think it’s a real nice gesture.”
“Sounds good to me. Thanks for not telling Rowdy what I am. I’d prefer he didn’t know about us. He probably just figures I’m a wolf helping you out. I still can’t imagine he knows and no one has done anything about it though,” Everett said.
“Neither could we, but killing him could get dicey because he’s a homicide detective,” Candice said.
Owen agreed. “And turning him would mean he’d have to quit his job for no good reason and hide what he was until he had enough control over the shifting. Maybe the Montana wolves feel that no one would believe him anyway. Still, the more of us who know of him and that he knows of, the greater the likelihood of him getting turned, I’d say.”
“If I didn’t think it sounded totally crazy, I’d almost believe he wanted to be turned,” Candice said.
“Wouldn’t he be surprised if a jaguar turned him and not a wolf?” Everett said.
“When he doesn’t even know they exist?” Candice smiled. “Yep, he’d be shocked all right.”
They all headed down to the Longhorn Bar and Grille to get a seat before Rowdy arrived. Decorated in a Western theme—with paintings of longhorn cattle standing among bluebonnets, cowboy boots tacked to the wall, old photos of Texas ranch hands, and canvas prints of the Lone Star flag—it gave Candice a twinge of homesickness.
But as an Arctic wolf, she loved the winters up north, the fall colors. She really was going to enjoy living in Minnesota, especially the company she would be keeping. She could imagine sitting out on the deck in the mornings and taking in nature as she began warming up to write—blogging, sharing pictures—oh, pictures. The photos she could take!
As soon as they got a table, Rowdy joined them. He greeted everyone with a friendly handshake, but with enough reserve to let them know he understood he wasn’t one of them, an outsider, and had to be on his best behavior. Or someone might just…bite him.
Candice asked, “How did my uncle react to the news that the other woman was an impostor?”
“He didn’t say a whole lot. I think he was surprised, if the way his eyes widened a bit was any indication, but he’s good at schooling his emotions.” Rowdy glanced at his menu, while everyone looked over theirs. “He’s a businessman, and I imagine he’s not happy someone else tried to take him for a fool. I did tell him about my arrangements with the police, so when we all meet over there, they can take the two fraudsters into custody. Your uncle began grinding his teeth a bit, and I got the impression he would have liked to handle it himself. But this is the best way for everyone concerned.”
The waitress came and took their orders then. Rowdy wanted the deluxe Texas-sized steak. Everett and Owen got the same, and Candice ordered the petite filet mignon.
“I’m curious why, if you know so much about us, you let any of us know you know. Don’t you worry that some of us will feel you could be a threat?” Everett placed his napkin on his lap.
“Life is meant to be lived. If I go out with a bang, so be it.”
“Or a bite?” Everett asked.
Rowdy smiled. “I could have the same concern when working my job.”
“I think you want to be like us, but you’re also afraid to be like us.” Candice knew the feeling. If she’d been given a choice? Before she’d met Owen, no way. After meeting him? She would have had a hard time letting him go and not taking the jump into the world of the unknown.
“Not afraid, really. But it would be a challenge to do my job until I could control the shifting.”
Candice gave a ladylike snort. That was an understatement, if she’d ever heard one.
After a nice meal with Rowdy and Everett, they said they’d meet tomorrow.
When Candice went to bed that night with Owen, they made love, which helped to take her mind off seeing her uncle. But as soon as she snuggled against her mate, all she could think of was meeting Uncle Strom, turning, and the possible disaster that could be.
Chapter 16
Owen knew Candice was feeling the strain of meeting her uncle the next day and keeping from shifting, which could prove disastrous. Actually, he was too. At least when he made love to her, she’d seemed focused on their lovemaking, and not on the events of the next day.
They had the morning to chill, so instead of joining Everett for breakfast, they had room service while Everett had breakfast in the hotel restaurant with Rowdy. Candice didn’t need to leave the hotel for another five hours to meet with Strom and the judge, so for now, Owen wanted her to be relaxed and not worry about anything. They had made love in the shower, dressed, and had just finished having bowls of oatmeal and blueberries when he asked, “Do you want to watch something on TV?”
Maybe that would help get her mind off the meeting.
“Sure, an on-the-edge-of-our-seats thriller.”
“You got it.”
They settled onto the bed together, pillows and spare pillows propped behind them as he wrapped his arm around her and found a good thriller—Red Eye.
They’d watched the movie and started another. They had barely gotten started when Candice’s cell phone rang. She tensed as she pulled her phone out of her pocket and looked at the caller ID.
“Uncle Strom,” she whispered, as if he could hear her words. “Now what?”
“Probably nothing.” But Owen didn’t think her uncle would bother her if it was nothing.
* * *
Candice loved Owen for trying his hardest to help her not to think about the signing. When Owen had been making love to her, she hadn’t given the pending meeting a thought. She’d hoped the thriller would take her mind off it, and she figured they’d just watch movies until they had to leave. She felt bad that they weren’t doing something with Everett since he’d brought them here, but the jaguar shifter had assured them he wanted Candice to be completely unstressed before they left for the meeting.
And then, right as she was snuggling with Owen, blanking out the business with her uncle and the judge, her phone rang. Sure enough, her uncle was calling, bringing the worry of what would happen next to the forefront again.
Owen muted the TV.
She answered the phone and put it on speaker. “Hello?”
“I want you to come over now,” Uncle Strom said.
“But the—”
“The signing of the paperwork isn’t until four this afternoon. I want to see you for a bit before then. I want to apologize for what I said to you and Owen in person.”
This was so not good. She had really planned only to meet him, sign the paperwork, and that was it. She hadn’t thought he would want to see any more of her than that. She was really surprised he wanted to spend some time with her. Unless he still didn’t believe who she was and was pretending he meant to apologize to her. Then again, he was worth billions. So why would he play games with her? Wouldn’t he be more professional than that?
“I insist.”
She wasn’t sure if he meant because he really didn’t trust who she was or he really wanted to see her.
“Okay. We’ll be there in an hour, as long as the traffic permits us.”
“All right. Plan to have lu
nch with me at noon and dinner with me after the signing.”
Could she last? Candice was so afraid she wouldn’t be able to. What then? She would have to bite him. Make him one of their pack. He could build a billionaire mansion on the lake in Minnesota. He might raise their property taxes though. Was she crazy, thinking he would be all right with her biting him? She would though. Then he’d know why she made up the book-signing story and couldn’t come home. He could be real family, now that she’d lost her parents. He could have family too, since he’d never married or had children of his own.
“I can have a car sent for you.”
To make sure she really came? No way. She didn’t want to have to bite his driver too, if she should have the urge to shift and couldn’t control it. “No, that’s okay. Our friend Everett, who lives in Dallas, brought us to Houston. He’ll drive us there, if that’s okay with you.”
“Yeah, that’s fine.”
“Okay, we’re headed out. See you in about an hour.”
They ended the call, and Candice felt her skin crawling with unease.
“I’ll let Rowdy and Everett know.” Owen got right on the phone and called Everett first, putting it on speaker. “Strom Hart wants us to have lunch and dinner with him at his house. He wants us there now so he can apologize to Candice and me. He said it’s fine for you to come with us.”
“I’ll meet you in the lobby.”
“Okay, Everett, thanks.” Owen called Rowdy next.
“I’ll meet you at his house with the police officers to arrest the impostor and her accomplice, the PI. I’ve already made arrangements with Mr. Hart concerning the matter.”
“Okay, good show.” When Owen ended the call, he squeezed Candice’s hand. “We can do this.”
“And if it doesn’t work out, I’m biting him.”
Owen smiled and kissed her cheek.
She was a little surprised. She thought maybe he would say no to that, or try to talk her out of it or something. But nope. Owen either didn’t believe she’d do it, or he also thought it was the only option.