Simon was glad he’d had even a brief opportunity before to work on his own pills. A secretive wolf just might be the most appropriate observer of the storage building if the samples were again taken there before incineration.
“Yes, sir,” Grace said to Major Drew Connell over their secure satellite phone. She had him on the speaker.
It was early morning, and she was back in her quarters with Tilly—along with the rest of the Alpha Force contingent at Zimmer Air Force Base. They’d had to pull Autumn in. She had been on duty under her cover assignment of being a communications officer.
“We know the risk of these materials getting stolen,” she continued. “Our thieves might feel drunk with power that they’ve gotten away with it so many times.”
“It’d be a good thing if you could catch them this time, before we get our alternate plan in order and send a bunch of military guys who’ll play sick. As much as I like the concept, it might be a problem keeping it secret there.”
The others had all congratulated Drew already on becoming a father. Then they’d discussed the importance of keeping all their operations completely under wraps. Grace had not been able to cross off any of the people in charge from her suspect list. That included the guy who’d grumpily called them for help in the first place, Colonel Nelson Otis, and the chief medical officer in charge of the Infectious Diseases Center, Captain Moe Scoles. And definitely the head security officer, Major Louis Dryson.
So far, Grace had not been able to account for Captain Scoles’s whereabouts last night. Not that his absence made him more of a suspect. But it didn’t make him any less of one, either.
“Acknowledged, sir,” Grace said. She looked first at Autumn, then at Kristine and Ruby. “If these guys dare to try to steal the biohazards this time, we’re going to get them.”
Chapter 11
Two days had passed. The Rocky Mountain spotted fever patients remained in the hospital, kept in a small isolation unit near the E.R. that had separately enclosed rooms for each one. The patients were recuperating and were expected to be released soon.
Which pleased Grace.
Plus, the senior patient whom Tilly had singled out—and who’d also emitted a scent of disease to Grace—had been diagnosed with a fortunately treatable form of cancer.
Now Grace sat at her computer in her small hospital office, going over the records of the Rocky Mountain spotted fever patients that had been entered into the system. She had continued to help treat them after the diagnosis was confirmed.
So had Simon. She had seen a lot of him over the past couple of days—all business. Mostly formal.
If she didn’t count the smoldering glances he sometimes aimed in her direction. Ones she attempted to return cordially yet coolly.
Even so, she knew she couldn’t always keep her desire for him out of her expression. After greeting him she always walked away.
Her cell phone beeped, signaling a text message.
It was from Kristine and said simply: Samples to be taken to storage tonight.
Grace stood with Kristine in the shadows at the far side of the parking lot near the storage and incineration building. Both wore dark clothing, and Kristine toted her ever-present backpack. Among its contents was Grace’s military firearm, but she would soon not be in a form to avail herself of it. She hoped that a weapon like that would not be needed.
“Flirting with the security staff has its advantages,” Kristine whispered, then grinned.
“I suspected that was how you got your information.” Grace kept her voice low, too. There were a lot of cars around, few people, but with the security cameras as sensitive as they were, she didn’t want what they said to come out in an intelligible recording. “Did they tell you the time, who would bring it and what security measures were being taken?”
“I didn’t get into details like that, for obvious reasons. But the guy was cute—and knew it. When I played the scared little sexpot who worried about whether the latest nasty stuff might get stolen again, he assured me that all would be taken care of. The stuff wouldn’t even be stored, just incinerated right away. He even laughingly admitted to having caused some confusion recently when some samples were stolen. He and his buddies had ordered pizza. They sent the delivery guy, a friend, out to stock a party they’d intended to go to later with some special beer they kept here for a special occasion. They later had to clear the friend from being a suspect. Also, the whole situation didn’t seem funny at the time, since he and his buddies were knocked out while on duty—but he wouldn’t let that happen again. He was alert, not fooling around. He’d keep me safe.”
“Interesting,” Grace said. “And pretty much as we’d suspected.” She paused. “So, sexpot, did you arrange to see him again?”
“I told him my big, hulking pilot boyfriend would be back tonight, darn it all.”
Grace laughed. “Ever thought of taking up acting?”
Kristine raised her black eyebrows. “A lot of what I do is acting, boss. Covering for you takes talent.”
“Amen.”
The samples currently being brought to the storage building did not contain the same level of contagion as those that had been stolen before, since RMSF was transmitted by vectors—parasites—in this case ticks. Even so, since the motive for the thefts was as unknown as the identities of the thieves, another incident was definitely possible.
Grace wished there was some way of hiding in the tunnel and following whoever took charge of moving the samples. Better yet, shadow the samples themselves. But her presence in either form would be obvious. Instead, she again chose to observe from the parking lot.
“There.” Kristine pointed toward the concrete storage shed. From the direction of the tunnel exit, two men in sterile clothing emerged carrying a large cylinder, followed by others in camo uniforms holding their weapons ready. The door to the office where the security guys were posted opened, then shut quickly again behind the men carrying, and guarding, the biohazards.
“Appears like it’s time for me to get busy.” Grace looked up first toward the palm tree nearest the building. A lone hawk perched on top of one of the lower branches. The tall tree swayed gently in the light, hot breeze, and so did its dangling limbs, but the hawk appeared steady and unfazed. “Between Autumn and me, maybe we’ll catch the bad guys tonight.”
“Let’s hope so. Come on. We need to go.”
They hurried to the location they had chosen for its seclusion, the same one they had used before along the border of the hospital property and the air-force base. There, hidden by the hedges, Grace stripped while Kristine pulled out the Alpha Force elixir and got the light ready. Grace downed the potion and waited.
In moments, with the light shining on her, she felt the beginning of her shift. Her limbs tightened, her insides moved, and the familiar stretching and discomfort took over.
“Be careful,” she heard Kristine call softly—the last impression she had before her human form was gone.
The feel of sand, then concrete beneath her feet meant freedom.
Leaving the strong, choking fuel smell behind, she loped joyously, cautiously, back to where she had last been. She inhaled deeply once more. There was a different fuel smell here. Gasoline, among the cars.
How close did she dare go? The security cameras might be operating fully this night. Plus, many guards and others would be on high alert.
She paced behind the autos, continuing to move her ears, listening. Staying far from people parking and exiting their cars, or entering them and driving off.
She identified the talk of those within the building. Heard no voices outside it. No footsteps.
No smells of other people walking around it—or was there one? On the other side?
It resembled Simon’s scent. Was that wishful thinking on her part…or fear? That he was in fact the thief? Or was the fear for him?
Cautiously, she prowled closer. Scented the hawk still in the tree. Observed, with all her senses, the building tha
t remained her focus.
Watched the guards who stood on the paved area outside the structure. They appeared alert, but not distressed.
The outside door to the office opened. The men in protective clothing walked out, then into the incineration unit. After they emerged, the smell of heat and ignition fuel followed them.
No incident tonight?
That was good.
It was also bad. Had the thieves seen the extra security and backed off for now?
She no longer believed it was Simon, but his probable presence tonight taunted her. Maybe she had been right in suspecting him.
Or maybe he was protecting himself by trying, also, to catch the thieves.
She had wanted—intended—to catch the thieves, whoever they were. That would not happen this night.
But she had no doubt that they would act again.
Simon stayed far from the storage building. A lot of security was present tonight. He wasn’t sure exactly what had gone down, but when the guys in moon suits left, heading back with the armed guys in uniform toward the tunnel entrance, he figured it was over, and nothing had gone wrong.
This time.
No one could accuse him of anything—not even Grace. He hadn’t even shifted, planning to only if he saw anything suspicious.
But with all the other scents around here, he’d thought he had gotten a hint of another wolf’s.
There had been activity in the parking lot, too. Visitors arriving and leaving. A few people walking around, although none had approached the storage and incineration building except for the guys in charge of the biohazards—or so he believed.
The warm breeze picked up a little as he decided it was time to leave. He had been standing behind a large SUV that concealed him from view of anyone in the building and its cameras, and this area was far enough from the hospital entrances that no one around there would have noticed him either.
A movement startled him—a shadow. A large bird had just flown beneath one of the parking-lot lights. A hawk? It circled majestically overhead. He watched it for a long minute until it flew in the direction of the air-force base.
Which was when he saw something moving between some of the farthest cars beneath where the bird had just flown.
An animal? It disappeared again behind a car. Could it be the wolf he thought he had scented? Most likely it was just a dog that belonged to a visitor, one that had been released outside to do its duty.
But maybe not. It wouldn’t hurt to find out.
Wolves might exist around here. Real ones. And others like him?
What if—?
It could be Grace—or not. When she had hinted about being a shapeshifter years ago, he had assumed she was baiting a trap for him like those cursed nonshifters who had harmed his family.
Now that they were reunited—sort of—she had acted as if she knew he was a shifter but had no longer hinted that she could be one, too.
He needed to find out.
He wasn’t able to get closer yet, though. He needed to keep his speed similar to that of the creature he followed so he didn’t spook it. If it was a dog, no harm, no foul. If it was a wolf, even a shifter, it would be able to smell him even better than he could smell it.
Unless—he looked up toward the palm trees above. Determined the way the breeze blew.
Made sure he stayed upwind of the creature as he continued in the direction he believed it was heading. She was heading.
He would find out for sure, but he felt almost certain it was Grace.
Glimpses of fur between vehicles, then along the hedges between the two properties, kept him going. If she could not smell him, he was in a similar position of not being able to scent her, especially in human form with his senses so limited.
And then… Damn it. He’d lost her. He no longer saw or otherwise sensed her.
Even so, he kept going in the direction she seemed to have been heading, along the thick hedges that separated the hospital from the adjoining base. He had to be even more careful now. He didn’t want to be surprised by catching up with her. Or going farther than she had so she ran into him.
He walked slowly, cautiously, trying to make no noise on the sandy path, raising his head to scent the air the best he could in his nonwolf form.
Then he heard a voice. Low, urgent, soothing. Grace’s? No, it didn’t sound like her. Whose, then? Someone talking to the creature—the wolf? Grace?
He edged in the direction of the whisper. Moved upwind of it again, and stayed in the cover of the tall hedges as best he could.
There. Looking through a slight opening in the branches with their green but browning leaves, he saw someone. A person, not a canine. It was that nurse who was new to the hospital, who had arrived at the same time Grace did and appeared to be her aide. What was her name? Sgt. Norwood. Kristine.
She was looking down, and Simon maneuvered to see what she was staring at.
A wolf. He wasn’t surprised. But it wasn’t only a wolf. It was a shifter, starting the metamorphosis he mostly experienced himself and hadn’t observed for a long time, since moving away from his family.
Mesmerized, he continued to watch through the branches that were his cover but that also kept him from having as good a view as he craved.
Nevertheless, he saw the wolfen body twisting. Gyrating. Absorbing the fur that was its silvery pelt, even as it was replaced by smooth, human skin.
And when the transformation was complete, it proffered the view he had anticipated all along. Only for a moment, though, since Kristine Norwood had come prepared with clothing, which she held out toward the woman who stood there.
The gorgeous woman with the body that made Simon’s own react immediately, despite the unusual circumstances.
Grace.
Simon watched from where he stood for as long as Grace and Kristine remained where they were.
He knew what it was like to need to catch one’s breath after a shift. To wait until the feelings of stretching and aching finally dissipated. To shake off the feeling of light-headedness.
He couldn’t always remain where he had been during a shift to let those sensations ebb and disappear. Probably Grace couldn’t, either. Not all the time.
But everything around them was quiet for now. They didn’t need to move quickly.
When they finally did, he followed them. Quietly, staying as far back as he could without losing them.
He knew now that Grace was able to sense him, scent him, as easily as he could use his special perceptive abilities to detect her location. If he remained distant, she wouldn’t necessarily pay attention to any sign that another shifter was about. Maybe.
She hadn’t acted aware of him so far, a good thing.
In fact, the two women did not act particularly wary or even vigilant as they began walking from the area obscured by the hedges. Maybe they felt a sense of security after observing that the apparent object of their scrutiny tonight, the biohazard samples, had been dealt with appropriately and were not stolen this time.
Both, despite the heat, wore black longsleeved shirts and jeans, most likely to aid in their avoiding detection earlier. Now they strode along the air-force base pathways between sand-strewn areas of sparse vegetation. Fortunately, or perhaps not fortunately, there were hangars and sheds along the way. The structures obscured him but also made it more difficult to follow by watching.
His senses of smell and hearing led him in the right direction, though. There was always Grace’s floral scent, muted now since he didn’t dare get close. Plus, the two women were talking in soft-enough tones that he could not make out what was said.
Of course ordinary people would not be able to hear even that.
Why was he following? He wasn’t exactly sure. Maybe to confirm where Grace lived.
Maybe, if Kristine ever left her company, he could hurry ahead and confront Grace and… Then what?
No, he needed to think this through first.
It was a good idea for him to learn w
here to find her.
It was a bad idea for him to rush into any action. He would probably regret anything he did. Especially if he did it rashly.
But Grace Andreas was a shapeshifter like him, as he had somewhat suspected from shortly after they had met so long ago.
They eventually entered a building on the outskirts of the airfield. Grace must have an apartment there. Presumably, her dog—Tilly—waited for her there.
Should he wait a few minutes to give her time to get in, then call?
Or… If Tilly had been inside all this time, Grace would need to take her for a walk. That might be a good time for Simon to confront her. As long as he’d decided on the best approach by then.
He was right, he discovered about ten minutes later. Only he had been only partially correct. Grace had Tilly out for a walk, but Kristine, with another dog, was with her.
Just as well. The prudent thing for him to do would be to sleep on this situation.
He’d know his approach by tomorrow.
Chapter 12
Grace was irritated. In her standard medical garb, she strode along the third floor hallway of Charles Carder, from the office where its commanding officer, Colonel Nelson Otis, and Major Louis Dryson, commanding officer of the Air Force Security Forces stationed at Zimmer, had confronted her.
It was the morning after the biohazard incineration with the happy ending. Nothing stolen. No one gassed or otherwise hurt.
But also no indication of who the thieves were. She had no doubt they would strike again if the occasion presented itself—like another round of more dangerous substances being collected.
The colonel and major had called her to meet with them first thing on her arrival that day. Then, together, they had taken credit for how well things had gone the night before.
That wasn’t so bad. Grace was sure that no one in Alpha Force gave a damn about who took credit for a success, even if some of the special-ops members had been involved—and last night, they’d only been observers. Plus, the unit wouldn’t publicly pat itself on the back for a triumph anyway.
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