The Shifter's Detective

by T. S. Ryder

  "Lucy," he cried. "Lucy, I love you!"

  Her heart jumped to her throat. She tried to fight her way free of the guard, screaming Levi's name again. Steven jumped up from where he was kneeling by Levi and rushed to her. He reached for her hands.

  "He'll be fine," he said soothingly, then added in a higher, panicked voice. "As long as he gets medical attention right away!"

  Wait, did he just wink at her? Lucy's gaze switched between the two men, her struggles flagging. Was this some sort of prank? A trick to get Levi out of jail? Her stomach clenched, but she shook it off, concentrating on the situation at hand. If this was a plan to get Levi out, she had to help. She was already fired, and working together might be the only chance they had at taking down Captain Anthony.

  "Somebody help!" she shrieked, thrashing once again in the guard's grip. "Where are the medics? Levi, hold on. I promise I will find out who did this! I will clear your name!"

  "Get her out of here." Smith had arrived and barked out orders from the side. "The last thing I need in my precinct is a hysterical woman. I said get her out."

  Levi’s eyes rolled into the back of his skull and he went limp. The guard hustled Lucy out of the room and back into the bullpen. Her heart hammered, resisting but not actively fighting anymore. What if she was wrong? What if this wasn't a trick, and Levi really was in trouble? What if he had been poisoned, or had a medical issue that she wasn't aware of? What if he…

  Another cramp hit her hard, making her cry out. The guard had to half-support her as he hauled her to her desk. Once she was there, he glanced at her worriedly.

  "Are you okay?"

  She needed to keep him here. A glance at the holding cells showed the medics finally entering, carrying a stretcher. The more attention that was diverted to her, the better the chances of Levi’s escape were.

  She clung to the guard's arm as another cramp hit her. These were not normal cramps. Something was wrong with the baby. She couldn't suppress a scream as she leaned heavily on the guard.

  "The baby," she gasped.

  The guard's eyes turned into saucers. "The what?"

  "I’m pregnant. And something is wrong."

  She didn’t have to act this time. Another pain hit her like a punch to the stomach. It wrapped around her back and shot straight up into her skull, blinding her for a second. Somebody shouted her name. When she looked up, she saw Levi bounding off a stretcher. Behind him was Steven, handcuffed, being dragged from the holding cell by Smith. Levi ran for her, but she shook her head and waved her hands.

  "No! Just get out!"

  "Go!" shouted Steven. "Levi, get out of here."

  Levi hesitated for just a moment while all around guns were drawn and pointed at him. With a pained howl, he leaped towards the exit. In a single bound, he shifted into his Coyote’s form, marbled gray and brown fur sprouting from his skin, his clothes shredding. Lucy screamed, doubling over. At the same time Smith shouted. Nobody heard a word he said. She saw detectives running after Levi. Lucy screamed again. The guard was fully supporting her by this time. Something hot and wet splashed down her leg. Her heart seized.

  "No," she whimpered.

  Smith charged over to her, face as red as a tomato. Gobs of spittle flew from his mouth as he screamed at her. "You’re finished! Do you hear me? Your career is over. You’re an accomplice and—"

  She screamed again, knees buckling.

  "She’s got a moon baby," Steven shouted from the hallway. "She has to go to a shifter hospital right now or both she and the baby will die!"

  "Do you expect me to believe that?" Smith snarled. "Guard, bring her home, I want her out!"

  ***

  She was standing in front of her apartment block, the guard was driving off behind her. She closed her eyes, trying not to cry. Then she felt the wetness between her legs increase. Head spinning, Lucy looked down. The cream colored trousers of her business suit were stained red on her thighs.

  She fumbled in her bag for the phone number of the shifter hospital that Levi had given her. She took her phone, dialed the number and managed to give them the address before she passed out. The air went from pleasantly cool to dry and warm, and the noise around her increased. Somewhere, she heard an ambulance. It all sounded distant, somehow, like it wasn't quite real. Some part of her mind said it was because of the blood loss.

  At some point, she felt that she was being put onto a stretcher. Her head was light, her body moving too fast for it to keep up. She groaned, twisting away from a bright light that shone into her eyes. There was a screeching sound, and then a voice.

  "Get her inside, quick." The voice was panicked. "She's got a moon baby. Hurry!"

  "Is the baby … going to be okay?" she asked no one in particular. "Is my baby … going to be okay?"

  The stretcher moved, leaving the bright light behind, and she realized she was in an ambulance. Or rather, leaving an ambulance. She looked around wildly, trying desperately to find the voice. Levi's face swam into view, and she reached for him. His hand grasped hers tightly, his lips pressing to her mouth. But how could he be here?

  "It's going to be okay, Lucy, just hold on. Do it for me, darling. Do it for the baby."

  Lucy clung to his hand as she was wheeled into a building. It didn't smell like a hospital. It smelled like a bakery. Like fresh, warm bread. The coiling in her stomach relaxed a little, letting her woozy mind form a coherent question.

  "Where are we? What are you doing here? They're looking for you!"

  "We're at the shifter hospital. I ran here straight away. I wanted to send an ambulance to the police station to get you. But then you arrived," Levi told her. "You'll be safe here. And the police don’t know I'm here. Don't worry. You're going to be fine. So is the baby. We're all going to be fine, my love. I promise. Just keep holding on."

  "We'll have to sedate her," another voice said. "These moon babies are too far gone to turn back. We have to operate."

  Lucy opened her mouth to protest, but before she could, something sharp bit her arm. Her mind went woozy again and she fell back into unconsciousness.

  ***

  The sound of whimpering woke her. Lucy swallowed with difficulty, her throat feeling like a desert full of boulders. The whimpering tore at her heart, and she forced her eyes open. She was in a dim room, full of smells of sandalwood and lavender. Beside her, something shifted, and when she turned her head, she saw Levi staring at her.

  She jumped, making pain flash through her body. "Levi! What are you doing?"

  "Watching you. I'm supposed to do that since you were so badly…" he trailed off and kissed her forehead. "I thought I was going to lose you."

  Lucy flinched as she remembered what happened. "The baby! I heard something about an operation. Is the baby okay?"

  "Yes. And babies. We have more than one… The doctors had to do an emergency C-section."

  Her heart thudded. Bile rose in her throat. Even though Levi had just told her the baby – no, babies – were okay, after hearing they were already delivered, she couldn't believe it. Not after only a month. It didn't matter if Coyote pregnancies were different.

  "How do you feel? You're getting a transfusion of shifter blood that will help you heal."

  "They're too little." Tears rolled down her cheeks. She had just gotten used to the idea that she was pregnant, and now she wasn't. If her babies were so suddenly taken from her… "They couldn't survive this early. It's only been a month! They won't be developed enough."

  "They're fine. Can't you hear them?" Levi smoothed her hair. "Yeah, they could have had more time before coming out, but the doctors say they're healthy. It'll be two or three months before we can take them home, but they're strong."

  Lucy let herself relax again. She let out a deep breath. "What happened? Steven said that I had a moon baby?"

  Levi nodded. "When the babies shift from one form to the other inside the womb, we call them moon babies. It's very rare, especially with human mothers, and very dangerous. Al
most ninety percent of mothers who have moon babies lose them. In cases when there are survivors, usually it's only one out of the litter. But all four of ours survived."

  "Four?" Lucy sat a little straighter, wincing as she did. "Are you telling me we have four babies?"

  "Not so much babies in the way you'd think. More like pups." Levi offered her a hesitant smile. "At the moment, they're in their Coyote form. They won't start shifting until they're more developed."

  "I want to see them."

  Levi nodded. "They're right over there. Here."

  An incubator sat at the other side of the room. Levi helped her sit up. Lucy strained to see as the Coyote wheeled the bed over to the incubator. Inside were four impossibly tiny puppies. Lucy's heart lurched. Despite what Levi had told her, she hadn't really expected to see puppies instead of babies.

  She pressed her hands against the warm glass. They were whimpering, their tiny bodies pressed together. Their eyes were sealed, their little necks hardly strong enough to hold up their heads.

  A rush of love overwhelmed Lucy. These were her children. They were shifters like their father, but looking at them in their Coyote forms was no different than if they had been tiny human babies. She wasn't going to let anything happen to them. Or to their father.

  "Listen, Levi," she said. "You shouldn't stay here. Once the police know that the babies are here, the hospital is the first place they'll look for you."

  "Yeah, I know," Levi sighed. "I wanted to wait till you woke up, but you're right. I can't stay much longer."

  Lucy looked at her babies again. "They're beautiful," she whispered.

  "Yeah, they are." Levi kissed her cheek. "Just like you. But don't think that you're off the hook for lying to me for a month."

  Lucy closed her eyes briefly. All the reasons she had done what she had done weren't enough to fill the ache in her chest. She took a deep breath and nodded. "I know. I could say I was following orders, but the truth is… when we slept together, I knew that I would be investigating the pack. I knew who you were and I slept with you anyway."

  Levi crouched beside her and pressed a hand to the incubator. There was such love on his face as he gazed at their children that it broke her heart.

  "I'm sorry I hurt you."

  "I know you are. But why did you sleep with me? You say you knew what it would bring, so why did you do it?"

  Lucy sighed and shook her head. "I didn't know that we'd get closer. I didn't expect that Captain Smith would order me to get closer to you to get information. I didn't even expect us to sleep together. Those condoms in my nightstand? At least two years old. I've kept a box ever since high school when my mom lectured me about how unexpected pregnancies ruined girls' lives."

  "Two years. No wonder it broke." Levi grinned at her. "But you didn't answer me."

  "I don't know why, honestly. Maybe it was just me being selfish. We were there, and you are such a good kisser. I wanted to be with you and I didn't care about anything else." Lucy hung her head, ashamed of herself.

  That was the truth of the matter. She had been selfish and thoughtless, and look where it had gotten her. Innocent people were facing jail time.

  Levi ran his fingers through her hair, making her shiver. "It hurts and it'll continue to hurt, but you were doing your job. You were trying to protect people by taking down a drug ring. But there are just two things I need to know."

  "Anything."

  "You're sure you knew I was a Coyote when you slept with me?"

  Lucy nodded.

  "And you didn't sleep with me because of your job?"

  "No. I slept with you because I wanted to."

  Levi nodded, as though that satisfied him. "Good. That's all that matters, then. I'll get over it."

  Lucy stared at him in shock. "How? How can you forgive me for that? I lied to you. I used you."

  "You were doing your job. It hurts, but I understand."

  Tears blurred her vision.

  "I love you," he said.

  Lucy turned her face away. How could she respond to that? She had spent the past month lying to him. What if when he learned more about who she was outside of her job, he didn't like what he saw? Could she take the heartbreak if that happened?

  Well, the chances of them spending time together were slim anyway, unless they cleared his name. She was feeling better already, thanks to the blood transfusion. Her eyes became steely.

  "Captain Anthony wants to jail you for something you didn't do," she said. "We have to stop him."

  After a moment, Levi nodded. "Yes, we do. And I think I know how."

  Chapter Seven – Levi

  They should be here any minute.

  Levi did his best to look casual as he leaned against the wall. This plan was risky, there was no doubt about that, but considering the alternative… Well, they needed to take risks in order to gain the rewards they wanted. Or more rightly, needed.

  Levi closed his eyes for a moment, letting his breathing hitch for a moment as he thought of his four tiny, helpless children. No matter what he told Lucy, the whole ordeal with their little moon babies had terrified him. It was dangerous enough for shifter women, who could shift themselves so their biology was compatible with their babies. But a human mother?

  It was a miracle that their three sons and daughter survived. Hell, it was a miracle that Lucy survived! Only time would tell if there would be further complications.

  Heather is in the hospital with the babies, he told himself, trying to keep his mind on the present. If this goes wrong… they'll be provided for. And whatever else happens, I will get Lucy out of this.

  He had to concentrate on the current happenings. They had to prove that Captain Anthony was involved in the drugs running through Coyote territory and in blowing up the undercover cop. It might not make all of their problems disappear, but once Steven and Levi weren't on trial, things would have to improve. Wouldn’t they?

  The earpiece he was wearing made a buzzing noise, then Lucy spoke. "I just saw them round the corner. They'll be there soon."

  Levi straightened. This next part of the plan depended on timing – and the hope that Moose and Forsythe wouldn't just shoot him. He plucked a donut from the box he carried under his arm and waited. As soon as his two favorite cops were in sight, he chucked the donut at them. It hit Moose right in the face.

  "Hey, losers!" he shouted. "Thought you looked hungry!"

  He didn't wait for them to register what was happening. Shouts rose up after him as he ran away, and he grinned.

  "They're following," he said. "Get ready."

  "Copy that," Lucy replied.

  Levi glanced back once to judge the distance between him and the cops. Fury was written all over their judgmental little faces. He stuck his tongue out at them before he dodged into an alley. Once he was through it, he slowed down just enough for them to follow before he ducked through the door of an abandoned theater. He dove into the first room and rolled under the seats.

  "Where are you, you little punk?" Moose shouted as he barged into the theater after him. "I'm gonna skin you and use your pelt as a carpet!"

  Levi grabbed the earmuffs that had been taped under a seat earlier and slid them on, patting around in the dark for the sunglasses next. The faint glow from his watch told him he only had five seconds left. Levi threw both arms over his eyes and screwed them shut tightly, pressing his face into the floor.

  He felt the shock more than he heard it, but his efforts didn't keep all of the flickering lights from his vision. The bright white flashes made his head spin. He burrowed his eyes into the crook of his elbow. When the light show was over, he jumped to his feet and charged the two cops. They were stumbling in circles, eyes wide with dazed expressions. Lucy came at them from the corridor.

  They reached the cops at the same time. In their confused state, Lucy easily disarmed them. Both she and Levi backed away, Lucy passing him one of the guns.

  "What do you think you're doing?" Forsythe shouted. He clawed
the air at Levi's face.

  "We're taking down a dirty captain," Lucy told him calmly. "Now take off your uniforms. And hand us your phones as well."

  That got their attention. Both cops stopped, staring dumbly at her.

  "Excuse me?" Moose said. "Why do you want our uniforms?"

  "Easy," Levi replied. "We're going to pretend to be you to get access to a crime scene to find evidence that Captain Anthony is a drug dealer and a murderer."

  Moose's eyes widened fractionally before they narrowed.

  Lucy cocked her gun and pointed it at him. "Just take them off."

  The two cops glowered at her for a moment before they both went to remove their uniforms. Then, Levi handcuffed them together. While they shouted and grappled with him, Lucy cuffed them to a protrusion sticking out from the wall. Levi couldn't help but chortle as they fought for control of their cuffed-together hands. He glanced at Lucy, but she was stone-faced, giving nothing away. He grinned at her. She was amazing. And whatever else happened from here on out, at least he had gotten to know her.

  ***

  Levi covered his nose as the acrid stench of burnt things curled into his nostrils. It was the worst thing he had ever smelled, and that included the sewers that he sometimes found himself wriggling through. Forsythe's uniform was a little tight across his shoulders as he stood to watch at the window while Lucy did her thing, and he kept nervously scanning the street below.

  Even though this was his plan, he was starting to see why Lucy argued with him about the finer details. When it was just him doing it, the risks were acceptable. And when Lucy joined him, he thought that the risks were still worth it, since she knew better than him how to pull it off.

  Now, though… What if they had calculated wrong? As the seconds ticked by, it seemed more and more foolhardy. Maybe they should have gotten some of the other Coyotes involved, to even the odds…

  Although if he had done that, he would be feeling anxious for their safety as well.

  This morning, after they had obtained the uniforms, they had come straight to Knox’s office, or what remained of it, and found some documents hidden under a loose floorboard under the rubble. They had pointed into Captain Anthony’s direction, but they were far from conclusive. Nevertheless, they were going to confront Captain Anthony with their findings in the hope that Lucy’s interrogation skills would lead to some type of confession.