Page 99 of Wolf Bound

“An escaped convict we took into custody a short while ago.”

“Oh. Wow. No way.”

“Yeah. I was afraid to shift and tell the two of you in the event he tried to kill me, but you were biting him so gently, I was afraid he would kill all of us. He did try to kill Kira and me before.”

“Wow. You fought well for a wolf.”

Fisher smiled. “You did too as a jaguar, once you stopped play biting.”

Then Kira came up the steps and into the house, nipping Fisher’s pant leg. She disappeared into a room and returned in her human form fully dressed. “I can’t believe you tried to recapture Reggie.”

“I didn’t have any choice. He was trying to steal Meyers’s truck and I couldn’t let that happen. Then you and I would have been back to chasing down the bastard.” Fisher turned to Parker. “He’s a newly turned wolf and was kidnapping kids.”

“Oh.” Then Parker smiled. “We won.”

Kira gave Fisher a warm hug and a deeply appreciative kiss, which was totally welcome. “You cheated.”

“How’s that?”

“You rode in a truck?” she asked.

“We had to,” Parker said, “because his wife gave us apple pie and then he wanted to give us a lift and we couldn’t say no.”

“You stopped to have apple pie?” Kira asked, her brow raised, her voice surprised.

“Nothing in the rule books said that we couldn’t,” Fisher said.

She laughed. “You were supposed to be in a hurry to beat my time. Instead, you’re eating apple pie, riding in a pickup truck, with a hostage that turned into his jaguar coat?—”

“We swam in the river too,” Fisher said.

“And I was the lookout high in a tree, telling Fisher about all the terrain features and even where Demetria was pacing.”

Kira shook her head. “And then Fisher told us your location so we would all be diverted to take care of the threat so you had a free and clear passage to the safehouse.”

Fisher kissed her. “Yeah, we were improvising all along the way.”

Everett suddenly loomed in the doorway, his jaguar coat a little bloodied. He grunted, headed into the house, dressed, and joined them. “You had to have planned that whole thing.”

“What? Reggie’s escaping?” Fisher asked.

“Yeah. Here I sat in an old live oak tree forever waiting for you to appear, determined to catch you this time, and the next thing I know, you’re howling for help. I was like this was a totally new strategy for a wolf to devise a plan to move us off the property so you could sneak onto it without us catching you,” Everett said. “When Kira howled back, telling you she was coming to your aid, I thought you might have bamboozled her, or that even she was somehow helping you out. I couldn’t believe you would truly be in trouble. Imagine my surprise to see Reggie in the truck. By the time he was contained, you and Parker were long gone. And Kira was headed back to the house.”

Demetria arrived in a car with David, and they entered the house. “Well,” David said, “Martin has been apprized of your unique way of handling matters, the ditching of the tracker, running with your charge as a jaguar, meeting up with Mabel and Meyers, and even getting a lift closer to the safehouse.”

Fisher was afraid they might take off points for that or add a penalty to his time.

“Well done. You diverted every jaguar and Kira in the area and made it home free,” David said.

Demetria hugged Everett. “Aren’t you glad we recommended that Martin hire Fisher?”

Everett smiled. “Yeah.”

“Oh, and, Fisher, Martin especially liked the way you talked Parker into working with you on the mission and not against you. We had a camera and audio on you before Parker shifted and the two of you took off. Then of course, we lost you. You didn’t cross either bridge, we were told,” David said.

“We swam across the river northeast of where the house was,” Fisher said.

“And I was the lookout high in a tree, telling Fisher all about the terrain features and even where Demetria was pacing.”

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