“We need your help,” he said.
“Of course.”
In moments, she was the one to hold the gun aimed at the Frittses and Carlo. Piers dashed off for a very short while and returned with a backpack in his arms. He removed some rope from it, quickly bound the arms of their captives, then tied them together. Finally, he made them sit down, tied their legs together as well, then bound them tightly to a nearby large tree—not far from Trev’s body.
“I’ll leave Rocky with you. We’ll be back soon.”
He pulled a large lantern from his backpack and turned it on, and the light in the clearing was immediately enhanced. Then he put the backpack over his shoulders, hefted Ryan the wolf carefully into his arms, and hurried off into the forest, another, smaller light tied to his chest leading the way.
What was Piers doing? Would he leave injured Ryan hidden around here when the authorities arrived so as not to show anyone the truth of what Ryan was?
Could Ryan survive?
Maya wanted to cry, but of course she didn’t dare do anything to keep her attention from the people in front of her. Sure, they were tied up, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t escape.
No way would she let them. They’d killed a man. They had tried to kill her.
They’d shot Ryan, the hero who had saved her from them.
She was relieved when a short time later Pete returned. With him were his parents—in human form.
Instead of staring at his cell phone now, Pete lifted it to his ear although Maya hadn’t heard it ring. Maybe it had vibrated. He spoke into it, turned to tell his folks to remain there and help Maya if she needed it, and handed his father a gun—presumably the other one that had been aimed by either Morton or Carlo.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes with the cops,” he said.
Kathie and Burt stood beside Maya, and Burt kept his gun trained on the others despite their still being bound. Sweet and obedient Rocky stayed there, pacing a bit behind them, and Maya felt sure that he was as scared as she about what was going on with Ryan.
She had no idea about how much time passed, but soon Pete was back, leading some uniformed officers from the Fritts Corner PD. “Okay,” said the tall man in front who appeared to be in charge. “Tell us what’s going on here.”
“These people jumped us, Officers,” cried Vinnie from where she was tied on the ground. “They brought some wolves here, said they were werewolves. One of them mauled poor Carlo and then killed Trevor.”
She motioned toward the dead body lying on the ground as Carlo, that supposedly poor, mauled man, jutted his head forward, obviously hoping to emphasize the cuts on his face.
“The gadget they used to make all the cuts, including the fatal ones, is over there,” Maya said, nodding toward one side of the clearing. “They did it themselves to make it look like wolf attacks. Then they tied me up and said they were going to use it to slash my throat, to kill me in a way to look like a wolf did it.”
“No way, Officer,” Vinnie cried out. “She’s just saying that to protect herself. It’s them that—”
“I’ve got some photos on my phone to help show what happened here,” Pete said. “And before you ask, yes, this wonderful dog, Rocky, is in some of them. He was trying to help us stop those jerks from hurting Maya or any of us.”
Maya wondered if he’d done anything while taking his parents away to shift back to human form to edit the photos on his phone—or put them in another file or somehow conceal evidence that there had been four canines here instead of one. There hadn’t been much time. But in her very limited experience, she’d been impressed to see what shifters did to protect themselves and each other.
If only that could have helped Ryan…
“Officers, so glad you’re here,” said a familiar voice from the edge of the forest. She couldn’t help looking in that direction and smiling. Could her thoughts of him actually have conjured up Ryan?
He stood there in human form. Very human form, standing tall and straight, his face a bit pale but perhaps that was just the minimal illumination from the moon above and the fading artificial light.
He must have shifted back after Piers carried him off. Had the shift somehow cured his wounds, as well?
She doubted it, but at least for this moment he appeared okay.
Piers stood behind him on his right side, the side that had been shot. They must have intended to hide that he’d been a shifter in wolf form who’d been shot by this group of horrible people.
Sure, they might have a reason to hate certain shifters but to take it out on as many shifters, or even regular wolves, as they could put themselves in contact with?
To take it out on the perfectly innocent Ryan?
Horrible!
“Okay, look,” said the officer in charge, who called himself Sergeant Pass. “We aren’t going to be able to sort this all out here in the middle of nowhere. We’ve already called the medical examiner’s office to send someone for the body. One of us will stay here, and all the rest of us will head to the station.” His fellow cops started herding everyone together, weapons drawn, after slicing off the ropes binding the Frittses and Carlo.
The Frittses and Carlo. They were locals. Would they receive special treatment?
But at least some of the photos Pete had taken would show what those horrible people had been up to.
The ones that could be shown to the cops and become evidence, though, would only show Ryan in wolf form, possibly injured.
He had saved her.
With the help of the others, he’d brought this group of crazed anti-wolf people down.
He’d therefore potentially saved a lot of wolves, both the usual type and shifters.
No matter what else happened, Maya would do all she could to make sure the world, including WHaM members and everyone else, knew what a hero Ryan Blaiddinger really was.
As long as she could do it without revealing any secrets.
Chapter 25
His side hurt like the devil. But Ryan knew that Maya, the angel, was waiting for him in this medical office’s waiting room, so he simply gritted his teeth while the doctor finished cleansing his wound and bandaging it. He tried not to inhale deeply since the room smelled of antiseptics and other medical aromas—including the odor of his own wound—and he definitely did not want to throw up.
At least now, since he was in human form, his wound was probably easier to deal with than if he’d still been shifted.
Plus, he’d be able to control better when he took the necessary antibiotics to prevent the injury from festering and becoming infected.
The Sharans had brought him here, to a medical doctor they’d been using since their arrival in Fritts Corner, a good guy who only cared about his patients becoming, and staying, healthy. The Sharans hadn’t been the only ones to use his services, either. Apparently this nice, skilled Dr. Delmert had a perfect bedside manner with people, even though he’d asked questions of the Sharans—and now Ryan—indicating his suspicions that they weren’t just run-of-the-mill human beings. But he was kind and discreet, and clearly wanted to help cure his patients and keep them healthy while doing no harm—or revealing his suspicions to the world.
When he first looked at Ryan and his wound, he’d suggested a hospital visit but had been willing to treat Ryan here when the injured man had requested that instead.
“There.” Dr. Delmert had dark-toned skin and gentle hands, and he hadn’t asked questions about the wound. Fortunately, the bullet had passed through Ryan while he was shifted but had caused an ugly, painful and bloody wound. “This should start healing now. Just make sure to keep it clean and don’t do any heavy lifting for a while.”
Then he wouldn’t be able to lift Maya in bed—not that she was particularly heavy.
And not that he would really get another opportunity to be alone with her the way he had a few nights back.
“Sure thing,” Ryan responded. “Thanks, Doc.”
Then he left, heading fo
r the waiting room, where he’d pay his bill—and meet up with Maya.
*
Maya sat on a small, stiff chair in the compact and nearly empty waiting room. She’d picked up a magazine from an end table and had been thumbing through it, though she wasn’t interested in the private lives of celebrities.
She’d much rather they had reading material about wildlife.
The reception desk was along the far wall and opened into the area containing the medical facilities. A couple of women governed it, checking in the arrivals and taking payment from those who were through.
Piers was with her, too. He had driven Ryan and Maya here, then took Rocky back to the hotel. He’d just returned alone, and Maya had to keep biting her tongue to avoid asking all the questions she had about what had really happened back there on the hillside, and what was going to happen now.
Assuming Ryan did all right. He’d clearly been in pain since he returned as a human, and it had been a while before they’d been able to come here. First, they’d needed to head down to the parking lot, then drive to the police station and answer questions. Fortunately, that hadn’t taken too long and the cops had released them—for now. They’d said they would have more questions.
Through all of that, Ryan had been brave—not surprising, of course. And that pain…he had pretended it wasn’t there, but she could see it in his eyes and slow, precise movements. At least his bleeding hadn’t been heavy or the cops would have noticed. But he wore a jacket over his shirt so no one could easily see the bulge beneath it where he held things against his wound to absorb the blood.
Maya knew his wound had still been bleeding. When the interrogation was over she had quietly offered her hoodie to help staunch the flow of blood. Before that, he and Piers had used a T-shirt Piers had had in his backpack along with Ryan’s clothes—and the other stuff he carried. Her hoodie had been larger and had absorbed a lot more blood than the shirt—but could only be used when they weren’t around the cops any longer.
When they had finally come here.
But even if she couldn’t talk about what she wanted to while waiting, there were a few questions she could ask Piers now that they could discuss. “Piers, do you know where the Sharans are now? Did they just go home?”
“No, they said they were staying at the police station for now in case there were more questions. They said a few friends were on their way for backup, if needed.”
Most likely more shifters. Even so, they were probably recent arrivals at Fritts Corner, too. Would the cops continue to accept the word of newcomers instead of members of the Fritts family, as they seemed to be doing?
Pete’s photos helped with that, she knew. She also hadn’t had an opportunity to check to see whether they’d been pared down to not show how many canines had actually been present before the cops’ arrival, but she hoped so.
Questions about that would be hard to answer.
Piers didn’t seem inclined to talk. In fact, he picked up a magazine from a nearby table, too—one on sports.
Muffling her sigh, Maya started looking once more through the magazine still on her lap. Maybe she could stand reading about a TV news reporter’s elevation to anchor on the national network. At least it was better than who was sleeping with whom.
But she looked up when, from the corner of her eye, she noticed the door into the medical area open.
Ryan walked out. He was smiling.
She stood immediately and started walking toward him, as did Piers. She wanted to run, to hug him, to tell him how happy she was to see him.
Instead, she kept her pace moderate and then just stood there. “How are you?” she asked.
“Real good.” He grinned at her, then turned it toward Piers. “Let’s get out of here.”
*
Ryan stood in the hotel parking lot, putting the last of his belongings into the rental car’s trunk.
It was daytime now, a pleasant Friday in late September, several days since the bringing down of the Frittses and Silling. He had learned that they would be charged with the homicide of Tim Grant, as well as assault with a deadly weapon and more. Ryan had given his initial statement, and so had Piers, Maya and the Sharans. He’d have to return to this area eventually to testify at their trial—and he would be happy to do it.
It was cool today but not too cold. A good day to drive, and to fly.
He looked around the parking lot. Only a few cars were parked there right now but he figured more hotel guests would arrive later in the day to spend the weekend in Fritts Corner. Probably not a lot, though. The town hadn’t exactly turned into a tourist spot, which remained a good thing.
At the moment, he was the only person in the lot. Piers had already finished packing his stuff and stowed it in the trunk, including his prized backpack and its vital contents. Now, he was giving Rocky a final walk before they left.
The Sharans had managed to put together a very brief meeting in their office yesterday, where the other people in town they knew to be shifters—Buck Lesterman and John and Georgia Maheus—were invited and told the truth about the Frittses and how they’d “claimed” to be trying to harm shapeshifters, of all things. No one gave them any credence, of course.
Of course. But that was enough information for those in that room, and they all promised to stay in close touch without talking about any secrets that had resulted in their invitation there that day.
And they weren’t informed about the biggest secret of all: Alpha Force.
Now, Ryan kept looking around. Maya had said she was leaving later that day. He’d told her what time he’d be packing up his car, hoping she would come to say goodbye.
She hadn’t.
Maybe it was better that way but he nevertheless felt a bit…well, hurt. This was likely to be the last time they would see one another, unless they made plans otherwise. Piers and he were about to drive to Sea-Tac Airport to return the rental car—and to head back east to Fort Lukman, the military headquarters of Alpha Force.
They’d see the Sharans again, though. All three members of that family would meet them at the airport and join them on the flight and beyond. Once they were at the military base on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, Ryan would introduce all of them to his commanding officers who would then also interview Pete.
He remained clearly eager to join the covert unit. Ryan believed he would be a great asset. The young man was smart, had even developed his own version of a shifting formula. Sure, it was far from perfect, but it worked enough for Pete and his parents the other night. They’d changed to help Ryan save Maya and bring down those bad guys who’d been collaborating to remove federal and state protection of wolves and get them all killed, shifters or not. The Sharans might not have had human cognition while shifted but their canine cognition was enough to get them to follow their son’s commands.
Plus, Pete had been wise enough not only to take pictures of what had been going on during the tumult up on the hillside, but also to quickly download them onto a tablet computer his parents had carried into the woods. He’d left only those that would be helpful against the Frittses and Carlo on his phone, which he’d turned over to the cops as evidence after their promise to return it soon.
He’d told Ryan and the others later that he’d also fixed things so that there’d be no evidence he’d taken those additional photos. Good guy—a whole lot more tech savvy than Ryan.
Well, some good had come out of this trip. Quite a lot, actually. Wolves—and most likely some shifters—had been saved. There would still be some observation of the area by Fish and Wildlife and other organizations thanks to all the newly arrived wolves that most people wouldn’t know included shifters.
A new member of Alpha Force may have been recruited, one who was not only a shifter but also had some pretty valuable skills.
Ryan supposed that was enough. Yet—
There. He’d glanced toward the rear door of the hotel just as Maya came out. She peered around as if looking for someone, and wh
en her gaze caught his she smiled and began hurrying in his direction.
Okay. They’d at least be able to say goodbye.
That would be enough. It had to be.
“Hi,” she said breathlessly as she reached him. She looked up with her hazel eyes aglow, and he wanted in the worst way to bend down and give her a kiss that wouldn’t quit.
But that would only make their parting harder. He’d give her a quick kiss goodbye as Piers and he got ready to go.
That had to be enough.
She looked dressed for traveling, too—a pale green shirt tucked into beige pants, dressy but flat brown shoes, nicer than hiking garb. But she looked good in everything. Too good.
And in nothing…
He nearly shook his head with disgust at himself.
“Hi,” he said. “Glad to see you. I’m just waiting for Piers and Rocky, then we’re going to leave.”
A look of sadness seemed to cross her lovely face, making him want to reach out to comfort her. But then it disappeared.
“I’m leaving soon, too. But I wanted to invite you and any members of—you know—to come visit our facility in Colorado. We don’t rescue wolves per se, though we help support organizations that do, and we’ve a lot of educational materials and classes available. Plus, there’s all the information we collect and share with appropriate parties.”
“Sounds good,” he said. “Maybe someday…soon.” He hoped.
But the reality of it was most likely different.
“Okay. Great.” Her tone suggested she recognized that he was just being kind without committing. Then she perked up but kept her voice low. “So how are you feeling?” She glanced toward his side, which remained bandaged beneath his clothes. Most of the world didn’t know he’d been hurt, and he needed to keep it that way. His wound had been cleaned well by that doctor, Ryan was on antibiotics to avoid infection and he seemed to be healing fine.
“Quite well, thanks.” And he really did owe her thanks for helping him that night.
“So—any word about what’s going to happen next with those horrible anti-wolf people?” She didn’t mention what kind of wolves, which was a good thing, but he already knew she was tactful as well as caring.
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