by Terry Spear
Chase called Dan right away.
“If you’re calling, I figure you’ve got trouble,” Dan said.
“Yeah, it turns out that Mandy’s boyfriend—”
She lifted her head and growled from the back seat.
“Uh, ex-boyfriend and his two brothers are cougars. It looks like they’re following us, so I don’t think they were happy that Mandy was turned by one of our own and is coming to live with us.”
“That’s too damn bad for them.”
“Yeah, I agree. So I think the best thing to do is to let them follow us into town, our territory, and give them a welcoming committee. I don’t see any way of losing them and I don’t think we should go out to Hal’s ranch. Not until we can go there without them following us.”
“Okay, we’ll be ready. Do you think you need some of us to meet you halfway?”
“It wouldn’t hurt in case these guys think they’re going to stop us. Though I really believe they want to see where we end up. Mandy told them she was moving to Loveland,” Chase said.
“Nina and Stryker are on their way to meet up with you. I’ll stay here and coordinate things,” Dan said.
“Okay, good. Thanks, Dan.”
“No problem. Mandy’s one of us and we’re thrilled to have a new LPN working at the clinic when she can manage.”
“I’m going too,” Leyton said in the background.
“Leyton Hill is a Cougar Special Forces agent and married to Doc Kate and Stryker Hill’s twin brother,” Ricky told Mandy.
“Okay, Leyton’s on his way also. They should intercept you in about an hour and a half,” Dan said.
“All right. Thank them and we’ll see them soon.” Chase told Hal what was going on.
“Good. I like it when we outnumber the bad guys as much as possible.”
6
“I’d join you back there as a cougar if it would make you feel any better,” Ricky told Mandy.
“No, you wouldn’t,” Chase said. “Not with your leg in a walking cast. You’d lose the cast and your leg hasn’t had time to set properly yet.”
Mandy suddenly shifted and hurried to put on her clothes. “Chase is right. Besides, I don’t need you to babysit me as a cougar.”
“I just thought you might feel more like one of us.” Ricky didn’t mean to get on her bad side with the comment. Women.
“Well, I don’t. This is so annoying. And don’t tell me I’ll get used to it. I’m sure I will. Given time. But right now? It’s irritating!”
Ricky and his brother hadn’t really seen it that way. They’d had fun every time the shift came upon them. But they’d been younger, and they’d had each other. Plus, they were guys, so he was sure that had something to do with it.
He would do everything he could, and he knew everyone else would too, to make her feel more comfortable about the issues she was dealing with. He climbed over the console with the greatest difficulty to reach Mandy in the middle seat.
“What are you doing?” she asked, as he tried to move his casted leg and groaned and winced.
“Coming back there to bandage up your hand. The first aid kit is back there.”
Once he got settled and had his seatbelt on, he started to bandage her hand.
“You could be a nurse.”
He smiled. “I’ve always wanted to chase down bad guys ever since I was an informant, helping law enforcement agencies to catch them, but I’ve had a lot of emergency first-aid training in the event I’m the first one on the scene of an accident or a crime scene.” He was trying to be gentle, but she tensed, and he knew he was hurting her. He finally finished bandaging her up and hoped she wouldn’t turn again for a while. Running around on her injured paw would keep it from healing quickly.
“What does Edgar and his brothers work at?” Ricky asked. They were muscular and tanned and they looked like they did work outside, rather than working at a desk in some office.
“Construction work, all three of them.”
That’s what he’d figured.
Then they all saw flashing lights ahead on the road and knew more help was on the way.
“That’s Stryker and Leyton,” Chase said, sounding relieved. He pulled over to the shoulder of the road and the others joined him.
“Dan told us to set up a roadblock,” Stryker said to Chase as he got out of the Suburban.
“The car and the pickup that had been following us are back there.” Chase motioned behind them to the road. “But they backed off as soon as they saw your flashing lights and now, they’ve even turned off their headlights. I suspect they’re sitting on the side of the road in the dark. Since they’re cougars, they know we can see them in the dark, so I imagine they’re parked far enough back that we can’t see them.”
“We’ll take it from here. You and Hal head to his ranch and Leyton, Nina, and I will keep up a roadblock here,” Stryker said. “At first, Dan thought we’d just deal with them in our territory, but he’d rather you get Mandy safely to the ranch first.”
“Okay, well, be careful.” Chase climbed back into his SUV and he and Hal returned to the road, heading back toward the ranch.
Ricky watched out the sideview mirror, but the pickup truck and car didn’t approach. He suspected Edgar and his brothers felt out of their element when Chase called on more deputy sheriffs to join them. Ricky couldn’t be gladder to be part of the cougar network of Yuma Town and he couldn’t wait to serve as a deputy sheriff too so he could take down the bad guys.
“They won’t be able to find me, will they?” Mandy asked.
“While you’re at the ranch? Most likely not,” Chase said. “Courtesy of our close-knit community. They can ask away, but no one will tell them where you’re staying. And then our office will be alerted that the men are making inquiries. That scenario would only happen if they have some idea that you’re staying in Yuma Town. As far as what you’ve told them, they believe you’re going to Loveland. They won’t find you there if they check all the clinics and hospitals in the area. Did you cancel your interview?”
“Yeah, regrettably, before we ate breakfast. I mean, I don’t regret working here, I’m glad for it, particularly since that job wasn’t a sure deal. But I just hated canceling on them at such a late date.” She smiled. “I did have some satisfaction in telling them I already had a job though.”
Chase frowned. “Did you tell them where, if the men happen to go to that place and they say you got a job elsewhere?”
“I told them Denver. I figured that was big enough that it would be even harder for Edgar and his brothers to locate me. I only told them Loveland in the beginning because I had the interview there and I was afraid Edgar might have learned of it.”
“Okay, good. Now, if by chance you begin working at the clinic in Yuma Town, and they’re checking all the areas near Loveland for a cougar-run clinic, they might try to see you there, but we’ll all be on the lookout for them also. I’m certain after a while, they’ll give up on the notion.”
Ricky sure hoped so, but he didn’t think Edgar looked like the giving up or forgiving kind of guy. He was certain Edgar would love to tear into him cougar to cougar because he had to realize, as much as Mandy wasn’t trying to let on that Ricky and she had a former relationship, Edgar would have wondered why he would have come to help her when his leg was in a cast.
“Good. I sure hope they give up because I have no intention of renewing my relationship with Edgar or living in Durango any further. Not that I didn’t like living there, but I wanted to make a fresh start.”
Ricky was glad for that.
When they finally arrived at the ranch, Chase got a call from Stryker and he put it on speakerphone as they began to unload the SUV and van.
Tracey came out with the kids and they were all chattering about making spaghetti for lunch.
The girls grabbed Mandy’s hands and wanted to show her the ghosts they’d made to hang up in the trees. A purple, a lime green, an orange one, and one white one.
&n
bsp; Ricky smiled at her. Mandy glanced at him as if she thought he might rescue her. The boys ran along side of her, telling her they’d made the orange and white one.
He helped take her suitcases into the house, while Hal and Chase started bringing in the boxes of stuff. Tracey directed them to take her kitchen supplies into a storage room and anything else Mandy wanted stored there. Kolby and Ted were soon helping and then Tracey directed everyone to the dining room to have dinner.
Ricky made sure Mandy sat next to him at the table instead of Kolby, which amused the two of them.
“Man, does this bring back memories,” Kolby teased him. “As soon as he met Mandy, he was totally wrapped up in her and forgot all about me.”
“She might need help with her food,” Ricky said, frowning at his brother. He didn’t need his brother giving him grief over trying to get back together with Mandy.
She only smiled and sat next to him.
He helped her with cutting up her spaghetti, the way she wanted to eat it.
Stryker called Chase, and he put the call on speakerphone. “Yeah, what’s going on with these guys?” Chase asked.
“We went after them, but they took off and went back to Durango, we figure.”
“Okay, then they have no idea where Mandy went.”
“No. But we’re on alert.”
“Thanks, Stryker.”
Then they ended the call, and Chase patted Mandy’s good hand. “We’ll keep you safe and here.”
“Thank you. All of you,” Mandy said, wiping away tears.
Ricky was undone. He reached over and put his hand on her arm and lightly squeezed.
“I’m sorry. I just never thought I’d be in such a weird predicament, that I’d be a furry creature sometimes against my will, that you all are cougars, and so are Edgar and his brothers. I worry about working and not working. Of being a burden.”
“Don’t,” Tracey said, passing the garlic bread around the table. “If any newly turned shifters were a problem, it was the wild Jones boys, but they were endearing and Ted gained himself a couple of sons, like Hal and I did.”
Ted laughed. “Yeah, they would shift while they were supposed to be cleaning out the stables and race across the meadows and into the woods playing. They had a blast. It was just a way of dealing with the change. That’s one really nice thing about the ranch. We have acres of land for you to run freely on, though I’d take someone with you so you don’t get lost. You can probably use your sense of smell to make it back okay, but we don’t want to risk it. And I’m way too young to be a dad to these two. Older brother, yeah.”
“I’m sure someone will go with me,” she said, glancing at Ricky.
And that made him smile.
Mandy didn’t know why she had been so upset at the meal. She guessed she was finally coming to the realization her life was truly forever altered and it would never be the same. She was trying to come to grips with it, pretending she could deal with this, but it all just sort of hit her at once.
“You’ll get through this.” Tracey was such an optimistic bright spot, her words cheered Mandy and she knew she would too.
But she figured she’d have ups and downs about this no matter how much everyone encouraged her that she would be just fine in time.
“Have you told Mandy about the fun Halloween party we’re having?” Tracey asked.
“Yeah, Ricky told me. I’ve got a Steampunk costume.”
“Me, too,” Ricky said.
Kolby shrugged. “I haven’t dressed in a steampunk outfit for eons. I will too.”
“I’m going as a cowboy,” Ted said, winking. “Well, Wyatt Earp.”
They all laughed.
“My daughters, Zoey and Sadie are going as steampunk fairies,” Chase said.
“Aww, how cute.” Mandy thought this could be the best fun, if she didn’t turn during the party and ruin it for herself.
“I wish I could run with you now or as soon as you have to shift,” Ricky said.
“You need to heal up first. And really, my hand needs to heal also. It’s better, but running for a long time in the woods as a cougar would hurt.”
Tracey had taken the kids to the family room to watch an animated movie while Kolby and Hal cleaned up the dishes.
“I usually help with the dishes, but I think they want to give me a break,” Ricky said. “I need to put my foot up. Do you want to go outside and sit out by the firepit?”
“Yeah, sure, I’d love to. And then I’m going to bed early. It’s been a long day with being up so long last night too.”
“Me too.”
Chase headed home to his family, telling Mandy he was glad she was part of their cougar family. Hal started a fire in the firepit for Mandy and Ricky as they pulled on their jackets to go outside. “I’m off to help read bedtime stories and put the kiddoes to bed.”
“Thanks, Hal,” they both said to him.
It was really nice being out here like this and she had to admit she enjoyed being with Ricky again. Hal had moved a footstool over so Ricky could prop up his leg, and she sat next to him cuddling. He sighed, their breaths frosty in the chilly air.
Tracey came out and gave them blankets and hot cocoa. “Hal and I are watching something on TV. The kids are in bed. Kolby and Ted are going to the bunkhouse to watch something. If you need anything, just holler. Hal will put out the fire when you want to go to bed.”
“Thanks,” both Mandy and Ricky said.
When she left, Ricky said, “Are you really all right about everything? About having to live here with us and the business with the shifting?”
“About living here with all of you, I think this is a great friendly place to be. About the shifting business? That’s going to take time to get used to.”
“I’m serious about helping you through this. I can’t wait to run with you on the ranch as soon as I can shift.”
She drank her hot cocoa and snuggled against Ricky again, staring up at the stars. “Do you think this was meant to be?”
“Us finding each other again?”
“Me running you over?”
He chuckled. “I hope you’re not too glad about that.”
She smiled. “When you first left, yeah, I would have felt justified. We were going to a Halloween party, you know. And you just up and disappeared.”
“I was helping to take down real boogeymen. I didn’t have a choice. Tracey was in trouble. I had to save her.” Then he leaned down and kissed Mandy, the sweet cocoa and whipped cream he’d had flavoring his lips and tongue.
This was the Ricky she knew. Fun-loving, adventuresome, at times reckless, and loyal, until he left without word. She’d thought he’d died! But then she’d seen his brother in the grocery store and he had only told her Ricky was doing some work and had to be out of town.
Taking down bad guys? Getting bitten by a cougar shifter? Moving to Yuma Town? She’d thought he was still in Durango, but he was avoiding her and the usual places he took her, like the movies or the mall, or their favorite taco and burger places. In her wildest imagination, she would never have suspected any of this.
But this felt right, kissing him again, snuggling by a fire like when they went camping together. “You said you wanted to be an FBI agent when you were old enough. I thought you were all talk.”
He sighed. “I knew I was going to be an informant, that I had information that could put some bad guys behind bars. I hadn’t done anything wrong, nothing illegal, so I was a good witness. But I suspected it wouldn’t land me a job in the FBI or a sheriff’s department. Though I’d always wanted to be a lawman.”
“Dan put you through all the training, didn’t he?” she asked.
“Yeah. All the law enforcement types did from the sheriff’s department to the FBI, CIA, and other special agents with different agencies. They’ve been like real family. Like the family we haven’t had for years. We’ve gotten in trouble for causing mischief sometimes, but they love us still.”
She smiled,
then sighed. “I’ve got to go to bed. I need to unpack my clothes tomorrow, but for tonight, I’m exhausted. No more getting up in the middle of the night to growl at you.”
He laughed. “My door is always open to you if you want to drop by and visit.”
She took the blankets and helped him up, then he grabbed their empty cocoa mugs and they went inside, him hobbling after her.
“I’ll put out the fire,” Hal said, “and I’ll call Kolby to tell him he needs to escort you back to the bunkhouse to make sure you don’t fall on the way over there, Ricky.”
“I’ll be all right,” Ricky said, sounding like he wanted to be a tough deputy sheriff, not coddled by everyone.
“Good night, Ricky.” Mandy wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a deeper kiss, his hands around her waist, pulling her close while Hal went outside to put out the fire in the pit.
“Night, Mandy. I know this isn’t what you wanted, but I, for one, am glad you’re back in my life.”
She gave him a “be careful” look and he smiled.
“Even if it doesn’t mean we’ll be more than friends,” he said.
But she was certain he wanted more than that. “Right. Friends.” She wasn’t sure what she wanted. She usually was a lot surer of herself, but this whole cougar business had her rattled.
She wondered what she’d do when she finally started working at the clinic. Get a place of her own in town? Then worry about shifting at the wrong time and want to run? She guessed there was time enough to consider what she would do later.
Her cell phone suddenly jingled. Pulling it out of her pocket, she saw the caller was Edgar.
Great. She was ready to go to sleep, hoping she wouldn’t shift during the night and take a walk on the wild side again, and think of only the nice night she’d had with the Haverton family and with Chase and Ricky, his brother, and Ted.
“Yeah, Edgar?”
“You know the gimpy guy you were with earlier today? I remember him now. You were dating him, and he dumped you. It was right before Halloween. You mentioned him because you wanted to go to a Halloween party this year after not having gone to one since you broke up with him.”
