by C. D. Gorri
“What does this have to do with our girl?”
“This, ma’am”—Sergio flipped his phone to show them the image presently on his screen—“is a picture of Samantha Andrews—”
“It is not!” exclaimed Mr. Andrews.
“Excuse me, please, this is a Samantha Andrews. A gopher shifter originally from New Jersey, she’d applied to the Furry United Coalition Newbie Academy a year after your Sammi did. Because of the time Sammi took off before attending, it seems her application somehow got mixed up, intentionally or not, with the other Samantha’s. Both applications and information were put into a single file.”
“Oh my.” Mrs. Andrews covered her mouth. “Maybe that’s why she kept getting strange notices all that time. Remember, Sam? The odd bills for housing and such in the mail?”
“Precisely, ma’am,” Sergio continued. “But you see, this other Samantha Andrews has not been seen for a very long time. Neither has her grandmother, who was relocating to Canada with her.”
“Oh, my!” both husband and wife gasped and held each other’s hands.
“Now, I know your Sammi recently applied for a car loan and was denied. What she, and I am assuming you, did not know, was she’d been denied because of an outstanding status on payments to a rather large loan I do not believe is hers.”
“What loan? How much are we talking about here?”
“One hundred seventeen thousand six hundred thirty-two dollars,” Sergio replied.
He’d seen that odd number repeatedly in this case, and it was driving him nuts. Why that specific amount?
“This is crazy! She has no reason to get a loan like that. Sammi? Sammi!”
“Yeah, Dad?” Red called from what Sergio assumed was her upstairs bathroom.
“Come on down, sweetheart. Your PRIC has something to tell you.”
“In a minute, I just have to get dressed,” she answered.
He listened to the sounds of her walking from the bathroom to her bedroom, trying with all his might not to imagine the curvaceous little hedgie in her birthday suit as she got changed.
It was hard, though. Literally.
“Is there something else you want to tell me, son?” Sally Andrews caught his attention, and Sergio blushed once more under her all-knowing maternal stare.
“Well, the thing is, Mrs. Andrews, I haven’t discussed it with your daughter yet, but once I do, depending on her response, I will let you know first, ma’am.”
“I see.” She smiled, elbowing her hubby.
“What?”
“Sam, I think this bull has feelings for our little hoglet,” she said in mock-whisper.
“If you think I am gonna sit here and allow this hardheaded bull to waltz in and steal my daughter—”
Before Sergio could protest, the sound of something shattering and his mate’s cut-off scream had all eyes on the ceiling.
“Red!” Sergio roared.
His bull pressed hard against his skin. He could see the beast in his mind’s eye, smoke streaming from his snout, as he raced up the stairs to see what was wrong.
Chaos greeted him as he opened the door to her room. Clothes, shoes, and cosmetics were flung this way and that. But there was no sign of Red.
“Sammi? Sammi!” yelled her parents as they came in right behind him, taking in the overturned furniture and shredded clothing on the floor.
There was lipstick smashed against the mirror, and all her photographs were ripped into pieces, separated into piles. Whoever had ransacked Red’s room had been there for a while.
The complete demolition of her belongings had been done meticulously and with care even. Sergio raced to the open window. Trying hard to temper his beast’s instincts while using his detective’s training to help find his mate, he looked outside, but there was nothing there except for a damp towel.
Grrr.
“They got Red, dammit! Here,” he growled, tossing his cell to Mr. Andrews. “Call this number and ask for Tony Leeds. Tell him everything that’s happened.”
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going after the bastards who took her,” he snarled.
“If they hurt her…” her mother said, but he didn’t need her to finish the statement.
“They won’t survive what’s coming if they touch one spiky hair on her precious head,” he vowed.
“I’m going to enjoy having you for a son-in-law,” her mother said, patting his bicep.
Sergio nodded, a sense of pride welling up inside as he hastened toward the door. Aunt Suzi stood at the top of the staircase, blocking his path.
Shit. He did not have time for this, but Red would want him to handle the female with care. Aunt Suzi held a hair in her hand and thrust it out at Sergio.
“A ccccatttt. It was a cccattt. With black eyes and a gray coat. No one believes me, bbbuttt, it was a ccatt.” She nodded her head.
“A cat?” Sergio repeated, and then realization dawned. “I believe you, Aunt Suzi. You give that hair to PRIC Detective Tony Leeds. He is on his way,” Sergio instructed.
There was no time to waste. He had a case to solve, and a mate to find.
Furious moo.
These assholes had done the one thing Grandpa Sal always warned strangers to the farm not to do. They messed with the bull.
Now, they are gonna get the horns.
26
Sammi could not believe this. Thank goodness she was able to shift before her captors thrust her into the small cage. If not, she’d have been stuck hunched over and in the nude!
Asshats!
She chirped and snarled before her hedgie curled into a defensive ball. Her needle-like spikes were sharp and at the ready. If anyone tried to grab her, they were in for a world of hedgie hurt!
Would serve the bastards right. It had all happened so quickly she didn’t even get to see her kidnappers.
No sooner had she walked into her room after taking a relaxing, warm shower, eager to don something other than pajamas or cargo pants, than she’d realized something was very wrong.
No longer feeling silky and refreshed from the organic honey-sunflower oil soap her mother specially ordered to keep her skin smooth and her hair tame, Sammi had been too shocked to do more than look for a few seconds.
Her bedroom had been ransacked. Clothes torn up, pictures shredded, and makeup utterly ruined. Her personal space had been violently violated, and she hardly got out a scream before someone came out of the shadows behind the door, clocking her right over the head.
Ouch. Bastards!
For the first time, she was grateful for her thick, spiky locks, which took the brunt of the blow. She would have to remember that when she saw her mother next.
Oh, the years she’d spent wailing over her thick strands of spiky hedgie hair and blaming her mother for not being able to tame them like some of her other friends.
Harriet Henderson, how I envied you.
Not anymore, though. She bet the horse shifter’s smooth and silky mane of hair would have done zilch to protect her scalp against whatever it was her assailant had used to knock her out.
Probably that old softball trophy I got even though I never ever hit the ball, she thought with a sigh. Maybe her father was right and participation awards were not exactly good for anyone.
Whatever.
She was not about to argue the pros and cons of such trifles now when her life was on the line. The vehicle slowed, and Sammi tensed.
This was so not good. She only hoped Sergio was able to pick up the trail of whatever car or van she’d been shoved into.
The kidnapper had tossed a tarp over the cage before her shift had completed, yelping at the time, which meant Sammi’s quills had done some damage.
Ha! You just got FUC’d!
This is it, she thought with a sniffle. Time for Sammi to embrace her destiny and recall every single thing she’d learned during her time at the Academy. It was her only chance to escape and to find her bull the evidence he needed to capture these i
mbeciles.
Finally, the van stopped, and someone lifted her cage hastily out of the cargo area, causing her little balled-up self to slam against the bars.
Ouchie.
“Stupid hedgehog,” grumbled her captor.
The voice sounded feminine. And what’s more, it was familiar. Sammi used her hedgie’s sensitive ears to try and pick up more of what the female was yapping about.
The way her cage was rocking, Sammi almost lost her breakfast. Then her kidnapper slammed it onto a table, and Sammi exhaled a breath of relief.
“What is that?” an unfamiliar voice joined in.
“I caught her in her bedroom,” kidnapper number one returned.
“No, no, not again. Master is going to be so miffed at you,” kidnapper number two whispered.
“Why? It is not my fault there was a cadet with the same name as the alter ego we chose! Now I already got the first one and her grandma out of the way, it’s time for this one to go too—”
A door opened somewhere inside the room, and Sammi tried to listen harder. But it was difficult with the teeth chattering and scurrying. She caught the scents of several animals, but it was stale. Shifters, she thought, but there was something off about the scents they’d left behind. She picked up fear, anxiety, and sniff, something akin to adoration or worship. Very bizarre, considering her situation.
“You? What are you doing here? And where did you get that hideous blazer?”
“Da— I mean, Dr. Ranklinger, sir, I come bearing a gift to help further our cause.”
“A gift? Let’s see it then, shall we?”
The cloth was ripped off the cage, and Sammi blinked under the glare of the bright white lights. Temporarily blinded, she relied on her other senses to help gauge her surroundings.
Sniff. Ew.
The stench of fear was strongest, but along with the sting of chemicals, mildew, something burning, and gulp, blood, Sammi’s hedgie was overwhelmed. She shrank back into her defensive mode, only taking a second to peek once her eyes grew accustomed to the brightness. She took a look around.
What the holy horror is this place?
Her kidnappers were quarreling amongst themselves, and their inattention gave her the break she needed to really get a good look. Forcing herself to unroll, she took a gander.
It was a lab! Well, of sorts. She’d only been driving about fifteen minutes, so it was a lot closer than she would have thought.
There were animal cages, but they were currently empty. A stack of what looked like exterminator equipment sat against one wall, and she thought she saw a familiar CC logo on one, but it was too far away to be sure.
There was a hospital bed dead center surrounded by plastic curtains, which were partially opened, enough for her to see the sheets were stained with blood. Oh my! The horrors that must have occurred there made her squeak. Even more so when she looked back at the animal pens. Evidence of deep gouges made from teeth and claws on the steel bars and concrete walls told her more than words could.
People—shifters—were tortured here. And if Sammi wasn’t mistaken, she was next!
Sniff.
“You captured a hedgehog shifter? I don’t have time for your games.”
The human male was clearly annoyed, but the other one, the shifter female, was not done pleading her case.
“No! This is not just any hedgehog. This is Samantha Andrews,” the familiar voice said, and Sammi squinted to see who said voice belonged to.
OMG. Her hedgie unrolled completely, hissing like mad and standing every spine she had on end. She could not believe it.
It was Randee. The raccoon shifter cadet she’d been trying to help resolve things with her roommate the other day over at the conflict resolution center at FUCN’A.
Well, shit. Guess she wasn’t cut out to be a counselor after all. She clearly sucked if her first case resorted to kidnapping and working for a criminal enterprise responsible for torturing shifters!
Sniff.
Even more bizarre, the female was wearing Sammi’s blazer. In fact, her entire outfit was a replica of the one Sammi wore to work the other day. She’d even chopped and spiked her hair. Though, in Sammi’s opinion she could hardly replicate the awesomeness of her own spines.
Okay. Reality break. What is happening here?
The young female was part of a kidnapping ring. But was this the gang Sergio was hunting? The one that stole identities!
She couldn’t believe it. A FUC cadet had not only totally single-white-female’d her, but she was at the center of a major criminal enterprise.
That bitch!
Her hedgie hissed again. The older male scowled down at Randee, his face hindered by lab goggles and a surgeon’s mask. Then he turned his glare on Sammi.
“Randee, you fool! First, you lose track of all my patients, then you go on one of your bender obsessions. You are going to get us all caught,” he yelled.
“What-What do you mean? I thought you would be pleased, Daddy.”
“Don’t call me that. I am Dr. Ranklinger here!”
“Fine, Dad— er, Dr. Ranklinger,” she grumbled, sounding more like a teenager with an attitude than a full-grown adult.
“Don’t you know anything, Randee? She has been seen all over campus with a PRIC. Ugh. This place is compromised. You ruined this entire operation. Now, get rid of her. Where is Harrison? You, come here! We have to pack our things and fast.”
“How do I get rid of her?”
“How do you think?” he sneered, tsking at the female in a way that had Sammi actually feeling sorry for her.
The cadet turned evil identity thief and kidnapper was obviously looking for a little attention and recognition from her human father figure, or actual father; Sammi was not sure.
“Yes, master?” The younger male she’d heard speaking earlier walked carefully toward the man calling himself Dr. Ranklinger.
His own protective goggles and lab coat, ill-fitting but clearly worn in honor of his boss, had Sammi cringing. The man smelled like a shifter, but something was off. He seemed subservient and not.
But what stood out the most, the thing Sammi would never forget, was the intentional mutilation done to the male’s nose.
It had been chopped off and sewn shut in a strange symbol. In fact, the scar left behind resembled a bug.
How odd, she thought.
But that was all the time she had for observation. Randee turned around and was glaring angrily at Sammi. One glance told her the doctor had already dismissed her. He’d wandered to the other side of the room and was grabbing files and tossing them at the scared male he’d called Harrison.
Before she knew it, they were both gone—letting in a sliver of sunshine when they opened a door to the outside and left the building entirely—and she was alone with Randee Ranklinger.
OMG. What a terrible name! Sammi hissed and spat as the female drew near. What else could she do from inside this stupid contraption? Her situation was hopeless. She was going to perish here, but she wasn’t ready, dammit! Not before she could tell her big handsome bull that she was his mate.
“I could kill you right now. Little miss perfect. Great job. Great hair. But no, that would be too easy. I want to feel your life drain from your limp body,” Randee snarled, opening the cage in order to make a grab for Sammi.
She liked her hair? Sammi shook her head. No time for that. This was her last chance! Sammi took a moment to gather every ounce of hedgie courage she had. True, she was small, but she wasn’t called the wedgie hedgie for nothing! Who’d have thought she would ever pray for a disaster?
Sniff.
There was a first time for everything, she reasoned, and pulled herself into a tight ball. Using the sway of the cage as Randee lifted it to unlock the door, Sammi rolled from side to side, dodging Randee’s attempts to catch her.
“Ouch!” she yelled, and Sammi hissed triumphantly.
Take that! Her spines, while not deadly, were exceptionally sharp.
&nbs
p; “You stupid little rat! Stop squirming! Wait, I’ll fix you.” Randee slammed the cage shut, grabbing a pair of thick work gloves over by a mess of electrical wires.
The female cackled madly as she pulled on the protective hand gear and came back to the cage. Sammi allowed herself one hysterical giggle when her kidnapper realized she had to remove one glove to open the door.
Idiot.
“I’ve got you now.” Randee smiled, her eyes lit with a mad sort of glee.
Heart pounding, Sammi backed up against the bars, trying her best not to freak the fuck out. Those gloves would make it all too easy for Randee to grab her. Just when she thought it was too late and Sammi said her silent goodbyes to Sergio forever, the door to the lab crashed open.
“Holy cow!” said Randee, mouth hanging open.
And holy cow indeed! Standing there, snorting out white puffs of fury, was the biggest, most beautiful damn bull Sammi had ever seen.
Sergio was magnificent. Two thousand pounds of pure bovine muscle. His animal’s eyes glowed an angry gold, and he growled menacingly, stomping the floor and shaking his horned head from side to side.
“Stay right there, or she’s a dead hog!”
It took less than a second for Sergio to shift into his human skin. His very naked, very ogle-worthy human skin. Immediately, her hedgie hissed and sniffed. HE was naked! And that crazy raccoon was getting an eye full!
Mine! She wanted to scream, but it seemed like Randee was more concerned with the idea of finishing her job. Good for her.
“Unhand my mate!” roared Sergio, and Sammi had to admit he was the only person in the world she wanted to hear from at that moment.
Randee squeaked, dropping the cage, and Sammi raced out. Free at last!
Sammi scurried across the floor over wires and tools, toward the sound of her mate’s angry roar. She allowed herself a second to feel the joy racing through her at the thought that she’d been saved. Just a few more feet and she was home free. Then maybe later she could claim her bodacious bull.
