by Terry Spear
“Hey, Monty, I need to chase down another fugitive, which is why I had to come here today.” She glanced at the people he’d been talking to who were still standing there. “No one knows a Herman Schofield, do they? He’s not a wolf but lives here.”
Everyone shook their heads, and a few muttered no.
“Thanks for having me come to your gathering,” Jenna said and offered her hand to Monty.
He gave her a hug. “Thanks for making me wake up about my pack.”
Several agreed they were glad he was taking over again and showing some leadership. No one said what she needed to hear—where Burt was hiding out.
“I’m glad for you and your pack,” Jenna said and gave him her card again, in case he wanted to give it to anyone, if someone was inclined to contact her. She suspected anyone with information would contact their pack leader, since that’s the way it should go.
She left for the auto repair garage where two of Herman’s brothers worked. They both were holding wrenches as they stared at her wearing her fugitive recovery agent uniform, and she didn’t like their growly expressions. “You probably already know that I’m looking for Herman and need to take him in to stand trial.”
“It was a setup,” one of the men said, his hands and his shirt greasy. “And even if we knew where he was, we wouldn’t be telling the likes of you.”
“All right. Thanks.” They were hard-looking, muscular, unyielding men. They looked like they could have had some run-ins with people themselves and been the winners of the confrontations. She definitely didn’t want to take these guys on.
She left and drove to a service station to get some gas before she checked with Herman’s other brother and a girlfriend. She suspected if anyone knew about Burt’s whereabouts, Monty or the person would call later, after their pack meeting and lunch ended. They might have even had more of a discussion once she, an outsider, was gone.
She got a call from Sarandon and smiled. “Hey, are you almost home?”
“Yeah. I wish I was there with you. What’s going on with you and your case?”
“No luck on finding Herman yet, but Monty called a pack meeting and discussed the business about Burt.”
“Hell, that’s good news.”
“Yeah, no one came forward with information, but I’m looking into where Herman has escaped, and maybe someone will call me or let Monty know privately where Burt is.”
“After what Burt did to CJ, I don’t want you trying to apprehend him on your own.”
“I agree. I’ll call the local police if I think I’m going to find him.”
“Are you going to stay there for the night if you haven’t found Herman?”
“No. It’s not that far from home. I’ll just return home and come here again tomorrow, if I have leads for either man. Have you had any luck with getting anyone to take your group tours?” She knew he couldn’t have or he would have said so already.
“I’ve got someone to take the white-water rafting. All the guys love doing that. And I contacted everyone on the tour, and they were agreeable.”
“Good. That was this summer, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, well, that’s progress. That gives us a two-week break.”
“And I’m coming home.”
She smiled. “Good. Oh, got a call coming in. Got to go. I’ll call you later.”
“Okay, let me know if you have anything.”
“I will. Bye, Sarandon. Talk soon.” She answered the call from an unknown caller. “Hello?”
“You’re the agent who wants to take Burt into custody, right?”
“Yes, and you are?”
“That you don’t need to know. Monty’s had a rough time of it. We’re just glad to see him taking the reins again. Thanks for helping Alex out too. You promise Burt will get a fair deal? That you won’t involve the police?”
Now that put her on the spot. She had promised Sarandon she’d call the police if she had to take down Burt. She couldn’t lie to this man just to get his information. Her reputation and that of her family’s would be hurt in the wolf community.
“You have my word that if Burt comes with me willingly, I’ll turn him over to the sheriff’s office in Silver Town. Depending on if he’s guilty of the other crimes, they’ll decide the term of incarceration. He’ll be able to shift as a wolf while he’s in custody without any issues.”
“I have your word you won’t try to kill him.”
“If he doesn’t try to kill me when I go to arrest him, yes.”
“He wouldn’t do that to you. He’s been staying out at his grandfather’s old farmhouse. The place hasn’t been lived in for seventy years, no running water or electricity, shut off a long time ago. I was running as a wolf in the woods around there last night and smelled his scent mark around the area. Smoke was coming out of the chimney, and his SUV was parked in the woods nearby. Unless Monty’s meeting or someone else tipped him off, I’d check there. No police. Our kind need to take him into custody.”
“Can I get some help with it? Some of your wolves to come out and help bring him in?”
“You didn’t hear this from me. And if you tell anyone, they could very well tip him off. Not everyone wants to turn him over to another pack. Don’t call Monty about it either. He’s getting enough flak about it from those same people. We need more of a neutral person, you, to take him in.”
“Thanks.”
He gave her the directions, telling her GPS wouldn’t work. That reminded her of how she’d had the same thing happen while going after Sarandon. At least that had had a happy outcome. She worried about Burt and how he would react.
“No police. We don’t need humans butting into our business.”
“No police.” When she ended the call, she called her mom. “I’ve got a lead on Burt. A pack member said he was staying at his grandfather’s abandoned home. I’m headed there now.”
“Did you get ahold of the police?”
She explained to her mother what the man had said to her.
“What if it’s a setup?”
“It’s the best lead we’ve got. I have to do this before he runs off.” Jenna noted that her mother didn’t tell her to call the police again either. She knew how important it was to garner good relations with packs in the area, if they were going to have their cooperation in cases like this.
“I don’t like it. Can you ask someone in the pack to go with you?”
“I asked, and he said no. That, if I ask, one of them could tip off Burt.”
“When you get there, you call me and keep the line open. I want to know that you’re all right.”
“Okay, Mom. I’ll do that. It’s about forty minutes out there, and it’s located in the woods.” She just hoped she’d have cell reception. She was getting a sat phone, next thing on her agenda.
When she was a couple of miles from the vicinity, she pulled her car off into the woods. Armed and ready, she headed in the direction of the grandfather’s farmhouse, but when she finally reached the weathered, two-story building, moss growing on the roof, she saw no sign of Burt’s vehicle. Damn it. She didn’t want to get close to the house in case Burt returned and smelled her scent. She was afraid he’d run. Then again, he might not return.
She called her mom. “I’m here; he’s not. I’m staying in case he returns.”
“If he sees your car…”
“It’s hidden in the woods. I walked here. As long as he doesn’t run through the woods, I should be good. I didn’t check out the house, not wanting to leave my scent there. The man said Burt had been using the fireplace, but there’s no smoke now. And his vehicle isn’t here.”
“Call me if he returns.”
“I will. If I have to, I’ll stay the night in the woods. He might have been tipped off because of Monty’s pack meeting and left the area. If no
t, I need to stay here.”
“All right. Just let me know if he shows up.”
Jenna should have brought something to drink, but she didn’t want to chance walking back to her car and missing Burt if he showed up. She was about to call Sarandon but figured he’d be upset with her for doing this on her own. She sat down and leaned against a tree and listened to the birds singing in the trees until night descended and the air grew colder. Trying not to think about it, she kept fighting with herself about leaving her spot of ground to return to the car, for both her jacket and a bottle of water.
Her thirst finally won out. Except for the crickets chirping, she didn’t hear any other sound, so she moved quickly back to her car. As soon as she reached it, she wished she had turned off her overhead light so it wouldn’t come on when she opened her car door. She waited, listening, not hearing any sound of anyone, and unlocked her car door. She opened it and quickly grabbed her jacket to put on, as well as a backpack. She shut and locked the door, then headed back to the house.
There was still no one about, and she’d finally reached the place where she’d been watching the house before. No car there. She sat down and pulled out a bottle of water, then observed the house, dozing on and off when no one came. Stakeouts were a pain.
She was just about to drift off again when her phone vibrated in her pocket. Sarandon. “Hey,” she said, her voice quiet.
“Where are you?”
“On a stakeout. No one here, so I figure I’ll leave in the morning or by midafternoon if the guy doesn’t show up.” She didn’t say which guy she meant, but she figured Sarandon would assume it would be Herman or she would have said Burt. And she wasn’t telling him she was staying in the woods near an abandoned farmhouse either. At least she had cell reception.
They talked for a while, but she finally said, “I need to go. I’ll let you know if anything happens.”
“Night, Jenna.”
“Night, honey.” She ended the call and, about an hour later, nodded off. When she woke, there was still no sign of a car, smoke from the chimney, nothing. She was so disappointed.
Sarandon called her first thing in the morning. “Still on the stakeout?”
“Yeah, I think it’s a bust. I’ll stay here until noon, then I’m looking into other leads.”
“I’m about to take my tour group out, so if you learn anything, let me know.”
“Will do. Have fun with your group.” She ended the call with him and yawned. “Ugh.” She pulled out a granola bar, wishing more than anything that she and Sarandon were at her house, having a nice leisurely breakfast and then a wolf run after that. And making love to him every time in between.
She left her observation spot and was heading deeper in the woods so she could relieve herself when she saw Burt’s SUV hidden in the brush. Her heart began to beat harder, and she whipped around in time to see Burt aiming a gun at her and shooting.
And she went down.
* * *
The whole time Sarandon was on the butterfly hunt, he was having a hell of a time keeping focused while talking to his guests and showing them all the perfect wildflower spots where butterflies flitted about the flowers in profusion. Usually, he was too busy thinking about what he needed to say on his guided tour, but this time, all he could think of was Jenna, and he worried about whether she was okay. He didn’t like that she’d been watching for the guy all night without rest. Catnaps wouldn’t do it if she was faced with an aggressive suspect and had to react quickly.
No one had any word about what had happened to Burt either. Sarandon wondered if wolves were giving the guy refuge.
When he got a call from Jenna’s mom, he worried right away that something bad had happened. All he heard was, “She’s okay.” His thoughts went fuzzy, and he felt dizzy.
The people on his guided tour were so busy snapping shots of tiger swallowtails that no one saw his distress.
“Is it a tiger swallowtail?” one of the women asked Sarandon.
“Yes, it is.” Then he asked Jenna’s mother, “What’s happened?”
“Burt shot her.”
Sarandon saw red. He was ready to leave right then and there, but he had enough presence of mind to realize he couldn’t run out on his tour group. They probably wouldn’t find their way back to where they’d left their cars on their own. “You said she’s all right?”
“Yes. She was doing surveillance on Burt’s grandfather’s ranch. She called Monty for help, and he and several of their men went to her aid.”
She would have only called them if she’d been hurt so badly, she couldn’t do it on her own. And what the hell? She never should have gone after Burt without police backup, at the very least. She hadn’t once said she was after him either. Sarandon had assumed she was going after the other guy. “You said she was okay.” Sarandon would kill the son of a bitch.
“She was wearing her bulletproof vest, thank God, or she would have been dead. She’s bruised and sore. No broken ribs. I’d hoped you’d come take her to your home where she’ll be safe until she’s able to work again. She’s at our home, recuperating.”
“As soon as I can get someone up here to take my place on the tour, I’ll be coming for her.”
“She’ll be glad to hear it. Mate her, Sarandon. Keep her safe.”
He knew he’d be giving up his job to help her with hers. He loved what he did, but he loved Jenna more. And he couldn’t deny he enjoyed working with her on her cases.
“For now, she’s sleeping, or I would have had her talk to you. She’ll be thrilled to see you, though she’s worried you’ll be mad at her.”
He was. Hell, no way did he want her out there on her own, facing that bastard. “Tell her I’m coming.”
“I will. See you in several hours.”
He got on the phone to his brother Brett. “Hey, I’ve got an emergency. Jenna was shot. Burt shot her. Can you come out and be the guide for the rest of the tour? And find someone to take the next group out? I need to bring Jenna home for safekeeping.”
“Yeah, Sarandon. I’m already leaving a note with my boss, and I’m on my way.”
“Thanks.”
“What are brothers for? I know you’ve been trying to get someone to take your business over, but no one’s stepping forward.”
“I’ve got one guy to take my whitewater rafting group out. Just need to make arrangements for the other tour groups. I have to make sure the people who paid for the tours are agreeable to someone else guiding them.”
“We’ll get it worked out, Sarandon. If we have to refund money to anyone who wants to cancel because we get a different tour guide for them, then we’ll do it. I know you don’t want to do that, but Jenna’s too important.”
Sarandon kept thinking he only had to do this for six months, and then he didn’t have any more tours scheduled. He had breaks in between, and he planned to see Jenna every time he had a few days’ break.
“We’ll take care of it, Brother. The pack will. One way or another, even if we have different wolves taking over different tours. Jake can do the birding tour. He’s taken tons of photos of the Colorado birds, butterflies too. I’ll put a call out to him to help me with this. I don’t know that much about butterflies.”
“All right.”
“I’m on the road. Be there as soon as I can.”
Within the hour, Brett was there, relieving Sarandon of his job. Sarandon had already told his group what had happened. They’d all wished him well and were fine with his news reporter brother taking over, and they were eager to meet Jake.
Brett walked Sarandon to his car. “If you need any help, let us know.”
“I’m bringing her here where she’ll be safe from Burt or anyone else who might try to hurt her.”
“What about Burt?”
Sarandon rubbed his whiskery chin. “I’m going to kill him.
”
“Call us. Don’t do this on your own. We’ll be there for you.”
“Yeah, I will.” If Sarandon ran into Burt on his own, he was taking him out.
He hit the road and couldn’t get Jenna out of his mind. He kept calling her number, but she wasn’t answering. He knew she had to be sleeping with her cell phone off, but he still wasn’t going to stop trying.
Four hours into the trip, he finally got ahold of her. “Hey, honey, how are you feeling?”
“Oh, Sarandon, Mom shouldn’t have called you to come and get me. I’m not leaving here to hide away in Silver Town with your big wolf pack.”
“Okay. Are you ready to mate?”
There was such a long pause that he knew he should have waited until he got there to ask her and maybe when she was feeling completely herself too. “Jenna?”
She laughed.
He smiled.
“It hurts to laugh.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I thought we were going to wait until all your tour groups are finished.”
“I wanted to make sure you didn’t consider some other wolf before I came for you.”
“Ha! As if that would happen.”
“So, it’s a yes? Right?”
“Yeah. It’s a yes. Who else would break their neck to find a replacement on their job and then drive all those hours to join me?”
“The wolf who loves you, though asking Brett to take my place wasn’t a hardship. We all do things for each other to help out. And I think the people on the tour were eager to ask Brett about the wildest stories he’d reported on. Jake’s joining them too, and he knows all about butterflies at least. How are you?”
“Sore, missing you, ready to kill Burt.”
“I am too. Tell me what happened. Your mother knew I was busy on this tour so she didn’t give me very many details.”
“I got an anonymous call yesterday from one of Burt’s pack members that led me to Burt’s grandfather’s abandoned farmhouse.”