Page 17 of Wolf Bound

“Devlyn said you would be at the clinic for a while longer,” Vaughn finally said.

“Yeah, just maybe through tomorrow morning. No big deal. So can you give me Martin’s number?” At least Fisher hoped that he would be released from the clinic tomorrow morning.

“Martin Sutherland? My boss? Why do you…” Vaughn paused, and then he chuckled. “Yeah, sure.”

Because the organization was kept under wraps as much as possible, Martin’s phone number wasn’t available publicly.

“Okay, here it is.” Vaughn paused. “Are you thinking of joining us? I mean, the USF?”

“I’m all for good causes and taking down rogue shifters is a good cause,” Fisher said.

“I agree. I have to warn you that one of the interview questions for new recruits is—why do you want to join the organization? You can’t say that it’s because you want to work with Kira.”

“Who said that would be the reason for me applying for the job?”

Vaughn laughed. “I know you, Cuz. The part about going after rogues is acceptable. Going after a she-wolf you want to date is not. Martin will also ask you why you would suddenly decide that you want to do this.”

“As a USF special agent, I would not only be protecting the kidnapped victim and trying to capture the kidnappers, but also I would be taking care of innocent bystanders if it came to it. It just makes me want to do something more heroic than working at the tannery.”

“Sometimes we just do a lot of paperwork, interviewing witnesses, reinterviewing them, going through any evidence against the rogue shifters, and not a whole lot of running from bullets or jumping off cliffs.”

Fisher smiled. “I could do without a lot less of that in my life, truly.”

“Kira is new to the USF so she has had a more experienced partner to work with in the organization for her last few missions. Though Jillian worked with her on one and both of us worked with her on her first mission.”

“Where was the guy who was supposed to be partnered up with her when all this went down?” That really irritated Fisher when he realized she had been there trying to save his and the boy’s life on her own. He hadn’t even gathered that she had been new to the job right away. She was a natural at problem solving and taking care of multiple, critical tasks at a time.

“He was injured in a car accident and so he’s on bedrest. I’m just saying that you can’t pick and choose your partners. Now the boss will like that you’re a former Army Ranger so you’ve had a lot of military training, combat, weapon’s experience, and you’re fit. But Martin makes up the assignments.”

“If you’re mated, he doesn’t make them then, does he?” Fisher thought that Vaughn and Jillian went on all their missions together.

“Whoa, what’s this talk about mating?” Vaughn asked, his voice teasing.

“I’m not talking about Kira. I’m talking about you and Jillian.” Fisher couldn’t hide his exasperation with his cousin. He figured it all had to do with being stuck in a bed at the clinic, and that he was feeling some discomfort from the bullet wound in his shoulder, more than he liked to admit.

“Sometimes we’re on different missions. She was looking into a crime involving a beauty salon recently. Even though men can go in there to get a haircut, it’s mostly women. So she suited the situation better. It wasn’t dangerous, so she could handle it on her own. One of the beauticians had stolen another shifter’s child and had moved out of state. Jillian found her and took her into custody and returned the child to her parents.” Then Vaughn took a breath. “You’re really thinking of applying to work with the USF? If you make it through the approval process, and the rigorous mental and physical training, you’ll be required to serve a year in the organization. After that, it’s up to you. But you have to make a firm commitment. Unless you’re dropped for not being a team player or some other unforeseen circumstance. Even a wounded agent will work office duty if he can to keep up on cases. Most of us would rather do anything but. However, we still prefer that to sitting at home, licking our wounds until we can go back to work.”

Which gave Fisher an idea. Maybe he would go to work for them while he was still in recovery. He didn’t mind doing paperwork. Of the four brothers, he was the most organized.

“Okay, thanks.”

“What is family for? I’ll let you get some rest and check in on you later.”

“Thanks, Vaughn.”

“Yeah, just get well soon.”

Then they ended the call and Fisher fell asleep for a while. He had planned to call Martin right away, but he had suddenly felt so tired, he just closed his eyes and was out. When he woke a couple of hours later, he called Martin. He wasn’t sure how this was going to be received, but he was trying to be as positive as he could be.

As soon as he got a hold of Martin, the director said, “Fisher Greystoke? Cousin to Vaughn Greystoke? I just got off the phone with Vaughn. So you want to work with us?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I understand you’re a victim of the same kidnappers who stole Billy.”

“Uh, yes, sir.” Fisher figured Vaughn had told his boss he was lying in a clinic bed while his brother, Heath, was keeping him confined until he was well enough to leave. He wanted to groan. But he was also afraid that Martin would think that he wanted vengeance for the kidnappers shooting him and shooting at him and Kira later.

“You want to go after the kidnappers.”

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