SEAL Wolf Surrender

by Terry Spear

  “Call 911. We’ll incapacitate them without killing them before they can harm any of us,” Brock said.

  Natalie glanced at Shawn. “You too?”

  “Yeah, me too. I didn’t retire from the military like Brock, and I wasn’t one of those guys with flippers.”

  Brock smiled and checked his ammo.

  “But I was an Army Ranger for twelve years. So yeah, I can fight.”

  Natalie patted her 9mm. “Okay, good. I’ll be ready here.”

  “All right, you stay here. If anyone comes before we can secure them, you shoot. Try not to make it fatal, but if they’re shooting, do what you have to do. The law’s behind you on this,” Brock said to Natalie and gave her a hug and kiss.

  She gave him the same back. “Be safe, both of you.”

  Then she called 911, and Brock and Shawn headed out into the dark. She prayed the guys would remain safe as she talked to the 911 operator.

  * * *

  Brock moved left, and Shawn went to the right of her parents’ house. He hoped to hell none of these guys breached the carriage house while Natalie was there by herself. And that the police would be there quickly to pick up the vermin once they restrained them.

  He saw the first of the men coming around the side of the house, peering in the main house’s kitchen window. The guy looked like he was special ops, not that it meant he really was. Some of these guys tried to look the part. Either that or Dexter could afford to hire some real guns.

  At a crouch, Brock ran toward the man. He ran like a wolf, quiet, even when moving as a man, and reached the armed gunman before he heard him. Brock slammed his fist into the guy’s head before he could cry out and took him down. He tied the gunman up with plastic ties and gagged him, then headed around the other side of the house to try to neutralize the other guy.

  But then shooting started at the north side of the main house, sending a chill up Brock’s spine.

  He ran full out to reach the area where he feared Shawn was in a firefight. A man was shooting at Shawn. Hell and damnation. Where were the police when they needed them? Still, they were all being caught on candid camera, so the wolves had to do this right. They had to protect themselves and turn these men over to face the human justice system.

  He saw the man hiding behind a storage barn, shooting in the direction where Shawn had to be. He was pinned down. Brock took aim and fired, catching the man in the hand, and he dropped his rifle.

  The man yelled out and dashed around the building. It didn’t mean he wasn’t armed to the teeth with other weapons. From warfare training, Brock and Shawn knew they had to make the shot that would keep their opponent from being ambulatory and able to continue to fight. But they didn’t want to kill the humans.

  They heard sirens and raced after the man, but then a shot was fired near the carriage house. Hell.

  Shawn called out to Brock. “Go. I’ve got these two.”

  “Gotcha.” Brock took off running to reach the carriage house, worried to death Natalie could be injured or worse. That was when he found a man groaning in pain on her front porch, mouth gagged, arms tied behind his back. The front door was wide open, and there was no sign of Natalie.

  “Natalie?” Brock called out, letting her know it was just him, his voice harsh and anxious.

  “I’m fine. Watching the security monitors. Go. I’ve got this one under control.”

  Not trusting she was okay, Brock poked his head in the door and saw she was armed and still on the phone, watching the security monitors for any more movement.

  She mouthed 911 and motioned with her phone, which meant she was keeping the line open until the police arrived. Good.

  More shots were fired, and Brock said, “Okay, running to help Shawn.” He wanted to eliminate all these men, to ensure Dexter knew Brock, Natalie, and Shawn wouldn’t be that easy to neutralize. Brock would be coming for him next. Not to mention he wanted to remove these men from the streets so they wouldn’t come back to finish the job.

  Another shot was fired as Brock reached Shawn, who was hunkered down behind a stack of planters, and then cars screeched to a halt farther out on the property, and police were shouting to the gunman they could see, “Drop your gun, now!”

  Shawn and Brock slipped back to the carriage house to help protect Natalie in case there were any more of the gunmen out there. At the carriage house, they laid down their weapons and waited for the police to come for them and to haul off the tied-up guys.

  “Everybody, down on the ground now,” the officers told Brock, Shawn, and Natalie as they approached, guns drawn.

  “I’m the one who made the 911 call,” Natalie explained as Brock and Shawn showed their IDs. “These two men are currently working for my parents and me at the garden center. My parents took a trip, so Brock and Shawn are here to protect the place because we’ve had problems before, and I’m dating Brock.” She showed her ID to the officer.

  “We notice you have security cameras,” the officer named Coffman said, writing everything down.

  “Yeah, I can send the video to you.” She explained about the cousins’ military training, which was why they were able to handle the intruders.

  They all had to give their statements to the police, and then the armed trespassers were rounded up, treated for wounds, if they had any, and hauled off to jail.

  “Did you get all three of the shooters?” Brock asked Coffman, the officer in charge, wondering what had happened to Marek. He’d probably fled the scene when he heard all the shooting. If Dexter was true to his word, he’d kill Marek for them.

  “All three. Some mighty fine shooting,” Coffman said.

  “Thanks. We were trying to keep them from killing us without killing them,” Brock said.

  Coffman nodded. “You don’t have any idea why these men would come in shooting? They were armed to kill.” He gave her his email address.

  “Not at all, Officer,” Natalie said. “I can’t imagine that a competing nursery would do this. No one I know of or that my dad or mom—or me, for that matter—has had a run-in with.” She emailed the officer the security video.

  “Hell, I know your dad. A decorated homicide detective. He was on the news about that homeless strangler serial killer in New Mexico. Now he could have enemies. What about the two of you? It appears the trouble didn’t happen until you arrived,” Coffman said to Brock and Shawn while writing notes. “Except for the other incident two years ago. But those were strictly armed robbers. These guys looked like they were hired for a hit, not a robbery.”

  “Not unless Natalie has a jealous ex-boyfriend,” Brock said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

  “No, no boyfriend here. Or…anywhere.” Natalie placed her arm around Brock’s waist.

  Shawn shook his head. “No one has a beef with me around these parts. Brock and I just got here.”

  “Okay, well, we’ll have to have your testimony against these guys if they end up going to trial.”

  “I sure hope they do,” Natalie said, frowning. “If Brock and Shawn hadn’t been here, and my parents and I were alone, we could have been murdered.”

  “Understand. The men will be questioned, and hopefully we’ll learn something useful.”

  Hopefully not about the wolves’ involvement.

  “Thanks, Officer,” Natalie said.

  Coffman and the other officers said their goodbyes and left.

  Once Brock, Shawn, and Natalie went inside, they checked the security monitors to watch the police officers as they collected more shell casings and then left.

  “What about Marek?” Natalie asked.

  “I didn’t see any sign of him, nor did I smell him,” Brock said.

  “Me neither, though he probably was wearing hunter’s spray.” Shawn took a seat in the living room with them while they continued to watch the security monitors in the event
Marek tried coming for them once the police were gone.

  “Want something to drink?” Natalie asked.

  “A beer, if you have any,” Shawn said. “Unless, of course, you don’t have any alcohol in the house because you have a drinking problem.”

  Natalie smiled at him and got up from the couch. “I was so going to mention Marek to Kittie when she said that.”

  “You did good, Natalie, with the guy who reached the house. I’m sorry you had to deal with that,” Brock said, joining her to help out.

  “I saw him coming to the house via the security cameras. I didn’t want him breaking down my door or smashing a window. Luckily, I caught him when he lifted a plant pot in one hand, ready to strike a window. I threw open the door and shot him before he could drop the pot and aim at me. I just hoped I wouldn’t kill him outright, and that I was able to stop him so he couldn’t terminate me. The round struck him in the shoulder, and he dropped his rifle.”

  Brock pulled her into his arms and kissed her. “I didn’t think Dexter would hire human hit men.”

  “He’s making too much money. And he doesn’t want to leave his mansion of a ranch house behind,” Shawn said.

  “He’s an idiot if he thinks the pack wouldn’t retaliate,” Brock said.

  Natalie shook her head. “He must not have been with one. Maybe he doesn’t realize how close-knit they can be. He might even believe that if the crime was out of the pack’s jurisdiction, they wouldn’t come after him. Besides, he has a grudge concerning you.”

  “True.” Brock helped her carry the beers into the living room, while she brought a bag of chips.

  They were still monitoring the listening bug Brock had left in Kittie’s purse.

  “I was glad when Brock learned you were all right and helped me out. Those guys were definitely military-trained,” Shawn said, drinking his beer.

  Brock grabbed some chips. “Yeah. I think the only reason we got the better of them was that they didn’t realize we could see them in the dark or smell their scents. And we could hear them moving around too. It really helped to give us the advantage.”

  “You know, the good thing is the police will be able to learn who these guys are from their military records if they served in the armed forces.” Shawn took a handful of chips.

  “Yeah, and if they haven’t registered their weapons in Texas, they can be charged with that. Just using the guns to commit a crime should get them some time. The only problem is that they didn’t steal anything or injure any of us, so they might not get much time for it.” Natalie bit into a potato chip with a snap.

  “Glad they didn’t injure any of us,” Brock said. “At least they’ll have arrest records. If they do get out, they probably won’t try to come here again.”

  Motion-detector lights went on near her parents’ home, and they watched the security cameras to see what had made them come on. Brock pointed to the culprit. “One of the tabbies prowling around.”

  Natalie frowned and got up from the couch. “The cats should have scattered, but I want to make sure they’re okay.”

  “I’ll handle it,” Shawn said.

  “Will they come to you?” she asked. “They can be shy around new people.”

  “Yeah, I’ve made friends with all of them. Do you have something I can use to entice them to come to me?”

  “Yeah, sure.” She headed into the kitchen and brought him out treats and a little bell. “Just jingle this, and they should come running.”

  “Okay, thanks.” Shawn headed outside with the bell and the treats.

  She and Brock continued to watch the monitors and saw Shawn jingling the bell and heard him calling for the kitties. She smiled. He was good with cats. They started to appear, and not only were there the four they were caring for, but a new one appeared out of the blue.

  “Yours too?” Brock asked. He didn’t remember seeing more than the four cats.

  She chuckled. “Nope. Looks like we have another new cat. We’ll have to get it fixed and get its vaccinations.”

  Shawn was close to the carriage house, petting the cats as they wrapped their bodies around his legs. Once he had finished feeding them, he rejoined Brock and Natalie in the house. “That’s all of them, right?”

  “Plus one,” Natalie said, smiling.

  Then they heard a door slam—the sound coming from the listening bug on Kittie’s purse.

  They all sat up and listened.

  * * *

  “What happened?” Dexter asked Marek, so angry about all the damn foul-ups. Hell, couldn’t anyone get anything right? Though he knew with Brock fighting him every step of the way, it wouldn’t be easy to get rid of Brock, the she-wolf, and the other man, which was why he’d hired the best. He wondered who the other man was. Another damn SEAL? Without a last name, Dexter couldn’t learn who he was.

  “Hell, I thought you said these men were supposed to be damn good at their jobs. Brock and the others took them all down. I stayed around in my wolf form so I could listen in, and one of the cops said the woman even shot one of the men!” Marek sounded furious. “I thought she was just a damn master gardener.”

  Dexter swore. He’d paid top money for those men. At least enough to get the mercenaries to agree to do the job. Thankfully, the rest of their fee wasn’t to be paid until they’d finished the job. And it was good damn money. “The police arrested all of them?”

  “Yeah.”

  “At least they can’t tie this to any of us.” Dexter started to pace.

  “Where’s Kittie?” Marek asked, sounding surprised not to see her there.

  Dexter stopped in place. “She went to bed. Said she had a headache.” He began walking again. “You and I need to have a talk. Let’s go in the kitchen and grab a beer.”

  “Yeah, sure.” Marek sounded a little wary.

  He ought to be. Damn fool.

  “Did you try to kill any of them after the police left?” Dexter asked, pulling a beer out of the fridge for each of them. He opened his and took a swig.

  “Are you kidding? The three of them were armed and staying together as a team. If the hired guns couldn’t remove them as a threat, you think I could have? I’m sure they must have seen the hired gunmen on the security cameras, because Brock and the other guy didn’t come out as wolves, like you thought they would.” Marek guzzled down his beer.

  “The gunmen I hired were supposed to disable the damn security cameras!”

  “They did. I saw them cut the wires to several of them.”

  “Decoys then?” Dexter’s property had security all over the place, but he hadn’t expected the garden center to have that much.

  “Hell. Maybe.”

  Dexter and Marek were quiet for a few minutes, drinking their beers.

  “And you stayed out of sight? None of them saw you?” Dexter asked Marek.

  “Yeah. If the gunmen had any inkling I was out there, they would have only seen a wolf, figuring I was a dog. But they didn’t see me. I’m sure they would have shot me if they’d thought I was the owners’ dog and would warn the owner and the rest of them.”

  “Hmm.”

  “What do we do now? Should we go as wolves?” Marek asked.

  “I want to know what this business was with you and Kittie planning to go solo, leaving with the rest of the team. Not my brother, of course. He’d see you dead first.”

  Silence.

  “I…I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Marek finally said.

  “See, here’s the thing. First, you screw up big time. I mean, none of this would be happening if you hadn’t missed your flight and lost your bag and our money. My brother had to deal with the fallout in Denver, and he’s still waiting for the new money to hand over to the guys who are waiting impatiently. These guys you don’t want to cross. Not that you want to cross me either.”

 
Dexter couldn’t believe that she-wolves could stir up so much trouble. It appeared Kittie had been the force that had changed his crew’s loyalties. Not to mention the trouble Dexter was having with Lettie in Boulder—and his damn brother better make this right, or Dexter would have his head too—and that she-wolf Natalie grabbing the bag of money and getting Brock involved in the first place.

  “No. Hell no,” Marek said, his eyes wide.

  “All right. Then your girlfriend has one little job: learn about the security systems in the houses. What does she do? She drives your car. Whose lame-ass idea was that?”

  Marek didn’t say a thing, and Dexter knew the guy had to figure he was in deep shit.

  “You didn’t know?” Dexter asked, sounding as if he didn’t believe it for a moment.

  “No.”

  “Her car was in the shop, she said. She didn’t have another car to use, so you told her to use yours,” Dexter said.

  “I didn’t.”

  Dexter knew Marek was lying to save his own skin.

  “Where were you? You left your keys and car behind? While she had a mission?”

  “All right. Antonio picked me up so I could help him clean bills because of the time constraints on this batch of money. She took my car and put a towel on the seat so she didn’t have my scent on her. They didn’t know what my car looked like.”

  “But these wolves did know what your car looked like. They ran the plates, found out the car belonged to you, and the connection was made. She’s a wolf, your girlfriend, and now they know you’re both implicated in the counterfeiting scheme and where you live, and after someone trying to take them out, they’ll want blood. Your blood.” Moron.

  “Uh, uh, okay, we’ll leave. Go to Mexico. Disappear.” Marek set his empty beer can on the counter.

  “Here’s the thing, Marek. Your girlfriend was seeing your brother. They planned to leave you to hang for this.”

  Marek sputtered, “Jimmy? I’ll…I’ll kill him.”

  “I don’t blame you. I’d feel the same way. Especially since she’s got something going with Antonio too.” Dexter was well rid of the bitch. “I still need your brother and his friend. You, not so much. But if you really want to leave, I think it’s a good idea. Being the good-natured sport that I am, I’ll help you.” Dexter pulled out the gun.