by Terry Spear
“Yes, sir?”
“You’ll be in protective services for Ms. Richards. I want you to stick with her until we’re assured she’s going to be safe from Edgar and his brothers.”
“Okay, that sounds good to me. She’s asking Tracey right now if she can move to the bunkhouse and use the spare bedroom.”
Mandy nodded at him.
“Tracey said it’s a go,” Ricky told Dan.
“Hal’s getting Ted and Kolby to help get me moved over here. Hal said you’re to stay here and wait for me, not to stumble around on your walking cast again. I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Mandy said.
“Dan put me on protective service duty to watch out for you.”
Dan said, “You can wait at the house until she gets moved over. The other guys will watch out for her in the meantime.”
“I want to take her to Fitz’s Bakery and Coffee Shop for a treat.” Ricky didn’t want to wait to begin taking Mandy to special places on dates to prove to her how much she really meant to him and how much he enjoyed being with her.
“Wait until she’s got her shifting more under control. You don’t want to stress her out. You’ll both enjoy it more then. Hal said she took off last night as a cougar and joined you,” Dan said.
“She did.” Ricky let his breath out on a sigh, resigned to do this Dan’s way. “All right. Maybe I’ll take her riding.”
“With your leg in a cast? Why don’t you just watch TV together. I’ve got to go. Thanks for the heads-up on these guys. Keep me posted if anything else comes up.”
“Will do.”
When they ended the call, Mandy said, “I don’t know the first thing about riding horses. And you shouldn’t be trying to ride a horse while wearing a bulky cast. Poor horse.”
“All right. Well, you tell me what you want to do, and I’ll make it happen.”
Mandy was so glad that she was moving to the bunkhouse, mostly because she knew she’d continue to return there if she shifted at night. And she knew she wanted to date Ricky again. She hoped they’d have some time alone to watch TV and just visit with each other without Kolby and Ted being around, but she didn’t want them to feel like they had to leave the bunkhouse to give them privacy either. It was their home and they worked hard during the day and deserved a place to relax at night.
But it all worked out in the end, everyone doing everything they could to give Ricky and Mandy the chance to be together as a couple for three whole weeks. She’d changed her cell phone number and she hadn’t had any more issues with Edgar. She’d even managed to start working as a nurse at the clinic. Rick’s cast had been removed, and his leg was all healed up. For the first time, he went out on patrol as a deputy sheriff today.
That evening, many of the cougars in town would celebrate her and Ricky’s birthdays. She’d never expected anything like that would happen. She’d gotten Ricky a new Stetson and cowboy boots so he could wear them on the job and off. She hoped he liked them.
They both returned to the Haverton’s ranch to a barbecue, a big chocolate cake with a cowboy and a nurse and two cougars sitting on top, ice cream, and hayrides to commemorate the day Mandy and Ricky were both born in Cody, Wyoming only fifteen minutes apart on October tenth at the same hospital, by the same doctor, twenty-one years ago. To meet each other when they were in high school, to learn they were born in the same small town, in the same hospital, and on the same day had cemented their relationship way back then. She didn’t think they’d ever be celebrating their birthdays together again after they’d broken up and that made this birthday even more special for the both of them.
She couldn’t believe it when he gave her a cowgirl hat and cowgirl boots so she could ride horses with him in style. She hugged and kissed him, and he was just as happy to get her presents for his birthday. After the festivities, they had to shift and run as cougars, the first time since Ricky’s cast had come off. He’d been dying to run with her as a cougar and she was thrilled that he finally could.
Everyone who had attended the party went running as cougars, and she loved it, loved being with Ricky in this special way. She ran beside him as if they were together for real, still not really used to being with other cougars in a social way, but she was quickly learning how wonderful it was to share her experiences as a big cat with others.
Ricky was being affectionate with her like she saw some of the mated cougars being with one another, brushing up beside her, licking her cheek, nuzzling her face, then racing off again with her in hot pursuit. Then he’d turn on a dime and go after her and she’d whip around and race off. But he was determined to catch her, and she was just as determined to keep out of his reach. It didn’t work and he soon tackled her, claws retracted, and took her down. She snarled and gently bit at him, keeping her claws retracted, something she had to learn to do. It was such a natural instinct to extend her claws in a “fight,” even if the fight was just for fun. She hadn’t realized how much fun she could have with Ricky as a cougar.
Then everyone returned to the ranch house, shifted and dressed, and said goodnight.
“Thanks again for the lovely boots and the hat,” she said to Ricky.
“Thanks for mine. Now I can take you horseback riding.”
“I’m looking forward to it when we have some time off from work. How was your first day on the job?” She was so glad Edgar hadn’t found her in Yuma Town for the last three weeks. She hoped that he had given up on her. But she was thrilled that Ricky was a deputy sheriff too, and he could really protect her if she needed him to.
“I just gave some people passing through the area citations for speeding, helped a cat out of a tree, nothing really wild. What about you with your nursing duties?”
“It was pretty quiet. I helped Doc William with casting a broken leg. That was my first time. I’m so glad I got to help remove your cast.”
“I felt I was in the best of hands.”
She smiled. “I feel that way with you watching over me.”
Everyone had returned home, and Ricky and Mandy sat on the back patio of the bunkhouse and started up the firepit, then roasted marshmallows, cuddling with each other on a couple’s swing, and enjoying the stars on the black night. Their marshmallows melty and devoured, they licked each other’s mouths and kissed and tongued each other, enjoying the sweet taste.
“You know we’re going to have to mate,” Ricky said, groaning as they kissed with heated abandon. He really wanted to take her to bed with him as his mate, but she was still reluctant.
She smiled. “You think you’re ready for me?”
“Yeah. I definitely am. I’ve loved you from the beginning.”
She scoffed. “That’s why you left me.”
“Yeah, the ultimate act of love and sacrifice to protect you. I’m just waiting for you to say you’re ready to love me too,” Ricky said.
She let out her breath in the frosty night air. “You just want me to come to your bed.”
He smiled. “Yeah. I do. For every day and night. Not just because you’ve shifted and want my company. But for always. To be my mate.”
“We’ve only been back together for three weeks.”
“Yeah, and it’s my birthday wish.”
She laughed and kissed his nose. “I…I want to have more control over my shifting first. Don’t give up on me yet. We both have to get up early in the morning for work.” She didn’t want to tell him that she didn’t want to feel like he had to take care of her always because he’d bitten her, and he felt it was his responsibility. She wanted him to marry her as his equal. But there was time enough for that later. When she could control her cougar better.
He sighed. “Okay, I’ll ask you again soon though. I’m not giving up that easily.”
She smiled and he put out the fire, and then they headed back into the bunkhouse. She knew she wouldn’t have to wait long for him to ask again. And he knew she’d be back in his bed as a cougar again tonight. She didn’t know why, but she kept shifting mostly at ni
ght. During the day she was having more control over it, like she got it out of her system at night. Which was a good thing since she was working now.
She loved working too. Luckily, she’d only had to hide in Doc Kate’s office once when she had to unexpectedly shift her first day of work.
After she said goodnight to Ricky, she took her shower and went to bed. She no longer bothered to put on pajamas because invariably in the middle of the night, she’d shift and go to Ricky’s room.
That night, she shifted, headed down the hall and into his room, then leapt into his bed. He had been waiting for the moment, pulled his covers aside as usual, but this time? He pulled off his T-shirt and boxers and shifted into his cougar as if this was the most natural way for a couple to sleep. It was the first time he could join her as a cougar after having had his walking cast removed.
This was beginning to be a habit she really didn’t want to give up. He hadn’t asked her if she wanted to mate again, but if he didn’t ask her soon, she was going to suggest it! Maybe at the Halloween party.
She smiled as a cougar. Yeah, three weeks from today, that’s just what she’d do.
9
It was finally the day of the Halloween party and Mandy was excited about it! She was working at the clinic and Ricky was doing his deputy sheriffing duty for the day and then they’d return to the bunkhouse and change into their costumes. They’d both helped to decorate the community center last night and she couldn’t wait to enjoy the camaraderie of the cougar-organized event.
She’d learned that they didn’t wear jewelry because of shifting and the worry of losing it, so she knew Ricky wouldn’t be giving her an engagement ring to declare his intentions to marry her. She didn’t care. Tonight, with the full moon hanging in the sky, she was proposing to Ricky at the Halloween party, steampunk style. She couldn’t wait.
But twice, she’d had to help deliver human babies for women who were just supposed to be passing through Yuma Town and suddenly went into labor.
Dr. Kate said to Mandy, “It’s a full moon. I swear it always happens this way.”
Elsie was helping Dr. William with a third delivery. It reminded Mandy about how her mother and Ricky’s had babies nearly at the same time, only they’d had just the one doctor to deliver them both.
Elsie had come in to help out even on her day off. Marcus was in there helping Elsie too. And then Mandy was responsible for getting the mother settled in her room with the baby while Dr. Kate had to take care of another emergency, an older man with chest pains, a human also passing through the area on his way to Loveland.
When Mandy left the room to see what else she could help with, she saw Edgar in the waiting area and she nearly had a heart attack. He grabbed her, poking a gun in her ribs, his blue eyes cold with hate. “You make a sound and I kill everyone in here. You aren’t going to be anybody else’s mate.”
She knew not to go with him. She knew it. But if he killed the doctors, the nurses, the mothers and their babies, the other patient who came in with the chest pains, she would never be able to live with herself. All she could hope for was that someone would see her being forced into Edgar’s car. Outside the clinic, he’d quickly taped her wrists and mouth and shoved her into the trunk of his car.
“You didn’t think I’d find you, did you? It took me six weeks, and this was the only clinic in the last town I hadn’t searched that was only an hour from Loveland. Here I thought I’d have to make all kinds of inquiries, but I saw your car and smelled your scent, walked inside the clinic, and there you were. Just waiting for me. It’s providence, don’t you think?” He slammed the trunk closed.
She was alive, and angry, and she wasn’t going to let him have his way. What did he think he was going to do with her? Force her to mate him? She suspected he intended to kill her for leaving him.
He’d made the mistake of taping her hands in front of her and she was able to pull the tape off her mouth. And then she pulled the tape off around her wrists and her ankles. She spied the trunk release, but she didn’t want to pop the trunk and have him pull the car over and shoot her or knock her out so she couldn’t do it again. And she didn’t want him having a wreck if he suddenly saw the trunk pop open, and she was injured or killed outright.
She found a crowbar in his car and thought she’d use it on him. But he had a gun and she might not be able to get the advantage. As a cougar, she could leap at him and bite him, and he wouldn’t be able to react fast enough. Not as fast as she could move as a cat.
Now, if only she could shift. So far, she couldn’t, though she was taking her clothes off in preparation. It would take him some hours to get her to Durango though, if that was where he was taking her, unless he planned to dump her body somewhere closer by.
She didn’t want to shift too soon and not be able to hold her cougar form, though she was getting better at this. Then she heard a car’s siren, and since she’d learned the difference between each of the sheriff department’s vehicles, she knew it was Ricky’s. She was so afraid Edgar would shoot Ricky and she tried to shift again. This time she was successful.
Suddenly, the car veered sharply to the left and the road was rough, a dirt road, she suspected, and she was bounced all over the trunk. As a cat, she was more agile, more able to protect herself when the car broke through several saplings and made a big splash. Suddenly, she heard other sirens way off in the distance: Dan’s car, Chase’s, and Stryker’s.
But Ricky’s was the closest of all. The trunk began filling with water, and she felt the car sinking, her back pressed against the back of the seat, the car tilting engine down first, the sound of bubbles surrounding the car as it plunged into the blackness.
Ricky had been busy checking out a case of a stolen car abandoned twenty miles out of Yuma Town. He called in the license plate number and told the dispatcher that the car needed to be towed in when he saw a red car that he thought he recognized, but not from here. It was tearing off down the road, headed in the direction of Durango.
His heart thundering, the first thought he had was it was Edgar’s car. Had Edgar discovered where Mandy was working at the clinic? He immediately called her cell phone. If she was with a patient, the call would go to voice mail, which it did. Trying not to panic, he got into his car and headed after the red car. If nothing else, he could get the driver for speeding and confirm who he was to ensure he was or wasn’t Edgar.
He called April Hightower, the clinic’s receptionist. “Hey, I think I’m following Edgar Sanderson’s car heading toward Durango. I just wanted to make sure that Mandy is at work, seeing patients. She’s not picking up her phone.”
“Hold on, let me check.” April got right back on the phone. “She’s not here. She’s not anywhere.”
Ricky’s heart nearly seized. “Calling Dan now.” He called Dan and said, “I’m in pursuit of what I think is Edgar’s car. He’s speeding on the highway heading for Durango. I may be wrong, but Mandy’s disappeared from the clinic and I’m afraid Edgar’s abducted her.”
“Hell, I’ll get everyone on it. Just keep him in sight.”
“You got it.” Ricky prayed this was all a big mistake. That Mandy was safe somewhere in town and they’d just misplaced her. That the speeder wasn’t Edgar, just someone else breaking the law. But when Ricky called her number again, he only got voicemail and he feared the worse.
Now he was in hot pursuit of the car and close enough to call the tag number in and learned it was Edgar Sanderson’s car. The bastard made a sharp turn and tore off on a dirt road near a lake and Ricky quickly made the turn, alerting Dan every step of the way. He could hear the other units’ sirens now, but they were still too far away to be of any help.
He prayed that Mandy was still alive. He was finally gaining on the car when Edgar tore off the dirt road into a stand of saplings and plunged the car into the lake. Ricky’s heart skipping beats, he told Dan what had happened, stopped the car at the edge of the lake, and raced out to see the car’s tail end tipped
up, then sinking into the dark water.
“Mandy!” Ricky yanked off his weapons belt and shoes and shirt, then raced into the water until he could dive in and search for the car. Was she still in the car? Was Edgar?
He felt a broken windshield and despite the darkness could see Edgar’s lifeless body in the car, but no sign of Mandy. He heard some movement in the trunk. He swam inside the vehicle and maneuvered around Edgar’s body to reach the trunk release, but the trunk suddenly popped open before he could do anything.
The next thing he saw was Mandy in her cougar form, peering in through the broken window at him and relieved beyond words, he quickly swam out of the car and touched her face, having to reassure himself she truly was all right. Then the two of them made their way to the surface of the water. He was so grateful she was alive, and he was just as glad Edgar was dead. Since Edgar had been alone, it appeared his brothers hadn’t had any involvement in this, which was a good thing for them.
Ricky and Mandy soon reached the shore and he hugged her to his chest. Tears ran down his cheeks, mixing with drops of lake water.
Dan pulled up first, Chase, Stryker and Nina after that. All of them were out of their cars within seconds.
“Edgar was driving the car and he’s dead at the wheel. He drowned,” Ricky said. And good riddance.
Mandy licked Ricky’s cheek and nuzzled her face against his.
“I’m taking her home.” And he was asking her to marry him. He intended to tonight at the party, since it was their own special theme and he suspected when they married, they’d make it a steampunk wedding.
Nina brought her a blanket and handed another to Ricky.
“Is she okay? Maybe she needs to be checked out at the clinic,” Dan said.
Mandy shook her head and got up and trotted off to Ricky’s car, the blanket still covering her back.
“She knows what she wants,” Nina said smiling and winked at Dan.