Ranger Trent (Shifter Nation: Werebears Of Acadia Book 2)

by Meg Ripley

  “Yes, babe? I’m coming home right now. I’m sorry I couldn’t pick up earlier; you won’t believe the day I’ve had….” Knox’s voice trailed off as he headed back to the detainment area.

  I watched him close the door behind him and then found a good place to hide: a crowd of trees close to the holding lodge. I didn’t want Alex or Gerard to come out for fresh air or something and see me watching them. Once I felt secure in my surroundings, I reached out to Ramon.

  Aye, Trent. My man. What’s up, amigo? I could tell Ramon was happy to hear from me. Once I thought about it, I hadn’t talked to him in almost a week. I was glad to hear his voice too, but there wasn’t much time to catch up.

  Hey man, we’ve got a problem. I need you to come to the holding lodge with a testing kit as soon as possible.

  What am I going to be testing? I could hear the interest in Ramon’s voice.

  Blood, I believe. You might need to get some hair samples, too.

  I’ll be right there. Ramon’s voice was serious, and I could tell he’d be ready when he arrived.

  All I had to do was wait and hope nothing freakish happened until he came.

  Chapter 7 – Trent

  I spotted Ramon approaching the door of the lodging area.

  “Pssstttttt…” I whispered with my hands cupped over my mouth. Ramon whipped his head around quickly, trying to find the source of the sound. I threw a stone in his direction. “Over here!”

  He finally saw me and walked over to the trees with a confused expression.

  “What the hell you are you doing over here, man?” Ramon looked through the trees at me, brushing some branches out of the way and crouched down beside me.

  “I figured I’d just explain things when you got here, because it’s kind of a long story.”

  I told him about finding Danielle’s body, the two camera guys and the shifter who we knew was responsible for it all. When I started describing the odd things I witnessed when observing the shifter in his cell, Ramon’s eyes went wide, and his gaze panned from me to the holding lodge repeatedly.

  “Diablo, man. That’s crazy!” I nodded, and Ramon shook his head. He knew this wasn’t good. “So how are you getting me in there?”

  “I have a plan,” I said, motioning for him to follow me as I stood up and walked through the doors of the holding lodge.

  Alex and Gerard were reading some papers and taking the first few sips of their coffees when we entered. They looked up when they saw me walk in and seemed confused by my presence.

  “What brings you back?” Alex asked, putting down his magazine and sizing up Ramon who was standing beside me.

  “Yeah, weren’t you relieved for the night? We can handle this.” Gerard appeared a little agitated.

  “I’m here to help Agent Gianni. I figured it would save her a lot of work in the morning if I brought someone in to test the dried blood on the suspect’s body—you know, to see if it matches the victims’.” I held my hands up, showing I meant no harm.

  Alex kept his eyes on me for a long time and finally decided I must be telling the truth, so he nodded at Gerard to step aside and let us through.

  “We were due for a smoke break anyway, right Alex?” Gerard pulled out a pack of Marlboro Reds and I scrunched my face, slightly disgusted. I never liked cigarettes, and was glad they were stepping outside to smoke. I would not have been happy to smell the cancerous stench in my office in the morning.

  Ramon and I watched them leave, and once we heard the door close behind them, we headed straight for the cell. The shifter took one look at us and jumped toward the bars with the same pitch-black eyes that I saw before.

  “Mierda!” Ramon exclaimed, taking a step back from the cell as the shifter tried to push his mouth between the bars, gnashing and gnawing at the air. Ramon looked mostly surprised, but I could sense a hint of fear as well.

  “I told you something was wrong with him. We don’t have much time to do this, so I’ll go in there and restrain him. You grab the blood and hair samples, and then we’ll run back out and test it. Make sure to grab some dried blood samples, too, so we have something to show the agent in the morning. Got it?”

  Ramon’s eyes moved from me to the shifter and back. His expression reflected his worry, but he finally nodded and started to fumble through his kit for his armamentarium.

  I grabbed the keys to the cell, “Just let me know when you’re good.” I glanced back at him, key at the ready. Ramon held up a few vials, a knife, a needle and a tourniquet.

  “Ready.”

  With that, I took a deep breath and shoved the shifter’s face back through the bars and opened the cell door with my other hand. I pounced on him, grabbing both his arms, pinning them to his back with one hand and held his face down with the other. Ramon was just staring at us as I fought to keep the bastard still.

  “Hurry up, man! What are you standing there for?” I yelled through gritted teeth. I was using almost all my strength to keep this guy held down and I wasn’t sure how long I’d be able to do it.

  My voice seemed to have snapped Ramon out of whatever shock he was experiencing. It wasn’t hard for him to find a vein; as he stuck the needle into the shifter’s arm, our eyes widened a bit as we watched his blood flow into the vial.

  “Isn’t it—”

  “Blacker than it should be? Yes.” Ramon’s voice was serious now. His brow furrowed as he studied the ebony liquid filling the tube in his hands. “I’m going to need more than one. How much longer can you hold him?”

  “A minute. Tops.” The suspect was kicking his legs wildly and I didn’t have enough hands to hold those down, too.

  Ramon filled the next two vials in seconds. “That’s all I’ll need.” Grabbing his knife, he cut a piece of the shifter’s hair, placed it in a separate vial and hauled ass out of the cell. “Okay, but now how are you getting out of there?”

  “I’m going to count to three. On three, I want you to close the cell door and turn the key.”

  “What? ¿Estás loco? I’m not leaving you in there with Chupacabra!”

  “Just do it! Trust me! There’s no more time!” I yelled. Ramon nodded, and I started counting. “One…Two…”

  “Three!” I used the last of my energy to push my strength to its limit, allowing me to exit the cell in one second, slamming the door behind me. I heard the lock click as I knelt down and caught my breath. I was breathing heavily and looked up to see Alex and Gerard returning to their post.

  “Too much for you to handle, Mr. Bailey?” Alex joked, and Gerard chuckled before letting out a yawn.

  The meds must be starting to kick in. I rolled my eyes and stood up slowly, trying not to show my exhaustion.

  Ramon was staring at the cell, watching the suspect just sitting on the floor, glaring in our direction.

  “Well, did you get the blood samples?” a sleepy-eyed Gerard asked.

  We both looked at him and nodded. Little did he know, they weren’t the blood samples he thought we got.

  “I have to get them back to the lab to test, but the results should be ready in the morning, before Agent Gianni returns,” Ramon said as he started walking towards the door, “now, if you’ll excuse us…”

  “You boys have a great night and make yourselves at home,” I added, motioning around my office with a forced smile and walked out after Ramon.

  “Hey, man. Wait up!” I called, trying to catch up to him as he made a beeline for his lab.

  “Lo siento, but I have to get this back to the lab, Trent. I know that pendejo killed a bunch of people, but he’s obviously very sick.”

  “What do you think it is? There aren’t many things that can do us in.” It’s not like we were taught shifter biology in school; everything we knew was passed down by our parents and the rest of the clan, and I’d never learned anything about what I’d just witnessed in the cell.

  “You’re right. There aren’t very many things that can infect us—not viruses like the common cold or the flu, at lea
st, but we’re susceptible to HIV/AIDS. We can develop cancer, too, but I’ve never seen any illnesses like this. I have to figure out what’s going on with him and more importantly, figure out if it can spread to our clan in any way.” Ramon’s face was filled with worry and as he explained how the information could affect the clan, I felt his same concern.

  “Is it okay if I come with you? Knox asked me to report anything we find back to him.”

  “Of course, amigo! Your company is always welcome.” With that, Ramon’s worry seemed to have vanished for the moment and was replaced by a smile—one I had missed for a while.

  The tragedy at Acadia was causing a lot of trouble, but I couldn’t help but think that it was bringing the clan closer together as well.

  ****

  Ramon was munching on some microwave pizza in one hand and adjusting his microscope with the other. I was sitting across the room laughing hysterically at the sight.

  “Won’t that cause cross contamination or something?” I shook my head at him.

  “The only contamination happening here is your breath polluting the air!” Ramon joked, using a dropper to apply a solution to the blood on the slide. I couldn’t see what it was, but even if I could, I wouldn’t be able to tell what he was using. I was never really into science; there were too many exact measurements and calculations for me. The law was simple, and I liked it. Everything was there in black and white, plain as day, and all I had to do was enforce it. Plus, spending my day in a stuffy lab was not my idea of fun.

  Ramon squinted over the eyepiece and all went quiet for a bit. I had already watched him test the dried blood samples and there was no surprise there. We found the blood of all three victims on him and Ramon was able to give me a report stating that, so I could pass it on to agent Gianni in the morning.

  I looked around his lab and realized there wasn’t much there: a desktop computer in one corner of the room, some lab coats along the wall, a sink, some supply cabinets, and a big table in the middle of the room that currently had a bunch of science crap on it. I had no idea what most of it was or what he used them for.

  “Trent, you’ve gotta see this, man!” Ramon’s voice sounded both panicked and excited as he looked into his microscope. I jumped out of my seat, walking over to him quickly.

  “What’s up?”

  “Take a look.” Ramon stepped aside.

  At first, I didn’t know what I was looking at. It looked like a bunch of black and dark red dots just floating around on a lighter red background. Then something started to happen. The black dots were drifting closer to the red ones and once they reached their targets, it was like they were swallowing the red dots whole.

  “What the hell…” I guessed the red dots were the shifter’s blood cells, but what were the black ones?

  “Exactamente.” Ramon was shaking his head and I could tell he was thinking the same thing. “That is no cancer I have ever seen.”

  “So, what do you think it could be?”

  “I have no idea, but I’m definitely going to have to do more testing on this blood. Whatever that guy is infected with is swallowing his cells whole, which is why the sample is almost completely black. It has obviously affected the neurons controlling his shifting abilities, because he can’t even function as a human or a bear. Something is taking over his body, and I have to find out what it is.” Ramon looked worried—yet determined—and his eyes returned to the microscope. “I’ll tell Knox about what I found. You look tired, man; you should go home and get some rest.” Ramon slapped his hand onto my shoulder.

  “And something to eat. Not all of us can survive on microwave pizza,” I chuckled, and Ramon rolled his eyes.

  He seemed pretty concerned about whatever had infected this guy and it was starting to make me a little nervous, too. The situation was getting serious. All I knew was that when Agent Gianni came to interrogate the suspect in the morning, I was going to be there.

  ****

  I jerked awake as I heard my cell phone going off. I looked at my clock and it was 3:00am.

  Who the hell is calling me?

  I groaned and checked the caller ID; it was Knox, so I answered immediately.

  “What’s up, Boss?” I yawned and rubbed my eyes. I probably wouldn’t have answered if it was anyone else.

  “Ramon just filled me in on what you two discovered, and I’m very concerned. We’ve found an unknown infection with unknown ramifications from an unknown source—and all those things need to get known, right fucking now. I think whatever we find at this point should be gathered and presented to the conclave.” Knox’s voice was serious.

  “I agree completely, but what are we going to do about the FBI?”

  “That’s why I’m calling you. Agent Gianni reported what happened here today and everything she found to the FBI, and they want the suspect to be transported back to their headquarters. They think it’s useless to hold the investigation here when the evidence is so overwhelming. They want to proceed first thing in the morning—”

  “What?”

  “—And I need you to convince Agent Gianni to keep the suspect here for further questioning.” Knox finished with a stern tone. He did not like being cut off.

  “How the hell am I supposed to do that?” Right then, I didn’t care about his attitude. He was asking the impossible of me. It wasn’t like Blanca and I were best buddies or anything; in fact, we were the opposite: two stubborn egos housed in incompatible personalities.

  Even if those curves of hers did call out to my ursine mind.

  “I don’t know? Tell her the blood samples you got have not been confirmed to belong the victims yet, so we still aren’t 100% sure if he killed those people. She lives by the facts, and if that guy committing a trio of murders isn’t a fact, she’ll want to make sure of it before she leaves.”

  “Okay, I’ll head over to her hotel in the morning and offer her a ride here to see if she can call them off.” I sighed. It wasn’t going to be easy; Agent Gianni and I had definitely gotten off on the wrong foot, so I was going to have to smooth things over if I had any hope of having her on my side.

  “Hey, being a little nicer could help, too. Make sure you work your charm; flirt a little,” Knox teased as he hung up. I shook my head and sighed as I ended the call. I threw my phone on my nightstand and fell back onto the bed. Wouldn’t she have been suspicious if I suddenly tried to be nice?

  Maybe my inner bear will be getting his way after all, I thought. Hell, it’s been awhile. And she is pretty cute…

  Either way, if I didn’t already have a tough day waiting for me, it had certainly just gotten tougher.

  Chapter 8 - Blanca

  Do I have to leave today? I thought, still lying in bed. My alarm had just gone off and the clock read 7:00am.

  After getting back to the hotel, I made my report to the FBI. They decided to have the suspect transferred to headquarters immediately because of the overwhelming evidence against him. I didn’t exactly agree with that; I wanted to make sure we had the right guy before we brought him in, and I hadn’t even gotten a chance to meet him yet.

  Alex had called me earlier that night as well to tell me that Trent had been by to pick up some blood samples for testing. I was surprised; he seemed to be going above and beyond for this case, but maybe that’s how he treated all his assignments and I’d misjudged him. Either way, I’d hoped he would have those blood sample results for me in the morning, so I could confirm we had the right man and feel better about taking him to HQ.

  I spent the remainder of the night alternating between the hotel pool and jacuzzi. I cursed the fifteen-minute timer that alerted you to get out of the hot tub to regulate your temperature; if there wasn’t a lifeguard present, I probably would have spent the whole hour in there. It felt good to finally get a chance to relax after such a tense day.

  It was then that it dawned on me: I was actually dreading leaving.

  I hadn’t been on a vacation in a long time, and the perks of my acco
mmodations made me feel so relaxed. I was staying in a room at Bar Harbor Inn’s Oceanfront Lodge with a plush king-sized bed, and the scene from my windows was spectacular. It was decorated in gorgeous beige and pale blue colors, with rustic furniture that was surprisingly comfy. I wasn’t ready to let go of that. The hotel room was paid up until the end of the week and I really wished I had an excuse to stay. But, the orders were given, and I had to follow them.

  I didn’t want to jump back into investigating three murders, but it wasn’t like I could leave it to Trent.

  Come on, you said you would be nice to him today.

  I did say that.

  With that, I took a deep breath and rolled out of bed. I had my outfit ironed and laid out already: another black suit with a white shirt. The ensemble was a little different, since I decided to go with a skirt instead of pants that day, and I wondered if I should wear heels to look more professional when picking up the suspect. I would probably be in an office until the helicopter arrived, so I didn’t see any harm in wearing them, but decided to bring flats in my handbag, just in case. I’d be in a national park, after all.

  I grabbed my handbag and briefcase, slipped into my heels, and headed out of the hotel room. I was glad the elevator was just around the corner and made my way to it, deciding that I would ask the receptionist for the number of a local taxi service.

  Once the elevator opened to the lobby, I spied Trent.

  Is he waiting for me? I stopped in my tracks and looked around. He was wearing his ranger officer uniform, checking his phone; I had to admit, I never noticed just how good he looked in it. It fit in all the right places, with just the right amount of wear to make him look more rugged. His shortly cropped black hair looked damp, as if he’d just showered and the thought of him scrubbing himself down made my thighs clench together. I felt a blush sweep across my cheeks.

  Oh god, I must be so red right now! I looked away quickly, taking deep breaths to calm myself. What the hell is wrong with me? No pleasure with business, Blanca!