by C. D. Gorri
If the darn thing was so smart, why didn’t it know he was done for the day?
“You got PRIC,” he barked into the receiver.
“Who is this?”
“You called me pal.”
“I was looking for a Mr. Leeds?” Questioned the unfamiliar voice.
“PRIC detective Tony Leeds at your service.” He tried patience and closed his eyes to help push the thing inside him down. He waited for the person on the other end of the call to speak.
Heavy sigh.
“Look, you got something to say? I’m having my coffee here.”
“I need your help to find my son,” the stranger began. “Todd has been missing for the past eighteen years. The human police have officially closed the case. I found the ad for your organization in my weekly Shifter Times Newsletter, and I called right away. Mr. Canary gave me your number and said you were the man for the job.”
“Of course, he did,” Tony mumbled.
“He said you could help me find what happened to my son.”
“He did, huh?” Fucking Joe didn’t think he needed a day off now and then? Certainly, he’d given out Tony’s private number. Asshat.
“What?”
“Never mind about the bird, tell me more about your son’s case.”
“Well, you see, we were camping out near the blue pool in the barrens.” He began telling Tony an all too familiar tale.
A shifter family goes camping in the Pine Barrens, they’re surprised by a blitz attack, their kid goes missing, and the authorities can’t find a trace of him.
“Was there anything else? Anything the kidnappers left behind?”
“There was one thing I thought odd, but the police didn’t think it was related to the incident.”
“What’s that?”
“There was a carving of a bug, a beetle, on one of the trees surrounding our campfire. I swear it wasn’t there when we’d set up camp.”
“It wasn’t a beetle.” Tony’s entire body froze, and his voice dropped to a gruff whisper. “It was a scarab.”
“I don’t know from a scarab, Mr. Leeds, but can you help me?”
“Yeah. I can help.” Tony’s inner beast perked up.
He had a new case. A new chance to find the fuckers who’d taken him and so many others over the past couple of decades. The devil inside him growled and stomped. He wanted to put a stop to the evil bastards once and for all.
His devil craved the hunt. True, the child kidnapping ring had proved rather elusive, but he was close. He could taste it. And yes, he could also use the exercise. Hanging around eating bowl after bowl of fettuccini alfredo sounded like heaven, but it was hell on his abs.
Another case was just what he needed.
Bring it.
8
“So, what you’re saying is I can’t see the records?”
“That is correct, Mr. Leeds. Our cadets’ files are closed to outsiders.”
Tony sat back in his chair and gazed at the sleek, tall woman sitting behind the desk. Her dark brown skin was smooth and clear, as was the no-nonsense expression on her stern face.
“Ms. Cooper, Alyce, may I call you Alyce?” He tried for suave, even flashed her the special grin he reserved for special occasions.
Like when his tough as hide nonna refused to let him lick the bowl after she’d whipped up a batch of her double devil’s food brownies. He hadn’t met a woman who could resist his charm when he laid it on. Until now.
“No, Mr. Leeds. I think you should continue to call me Ms. Cooper.”
“Alright Ms. Cooper, I think maybe you should take your time with that decision,” he began and hit her once more with his thousand-watt smile.
It had been known to increase pleasant relations between Tony and those who’d been otherwise disinclined to aid in his investigations.
“Save it, Mr. Leeds. I am a busy woman, and the policies of this office are not about to change for some slick PRIC detective.” She looked at him with an amused glint in her black eyes.
“Well, if that’s your last word on the matter, I suppose there’s nothing I can do.” He tapped his knuckles on the arms of his chair.
“Afraid not,” she stated.
“Would you mind if I stuck around campus for a day or so?”
“Not at all, but I don’t see why you would.”
“Are you kidding me, I always wanted to see Canada.” He stood up to leave.
“Mr. Leeds?”
“Yes, Ms. Cooper?”
“Don’t even think about stepping over the line. This is FUC territory. That means even little PRICs like you have to play by FUC rules.”
“Of course, but for the record, I’m a pretty big PRIC.” Tony nodded, ignoring the overdramatic eye roll of the grouchy llama shifter.
He’d never encountered a llama shifter before, and for a second, he’d doubted his olfactory senses. Of course, he’d been right off the bat. The stern-faced woman who ran FUCN’A was a llama shifter.
Interesting. As was her propensity for puns. Shifters sure did love mincing words. Tony had the same affection for wordplay and had yet to be out-acronym’d or out-punned. In fact, he was often on the leader board for the official unofficial acronym war that various international shifter organizations had been going on since the beginning of groups such as PRIC, FUC, and ASS.
Look at the Academy’s official name for Pete’s sake! When he’d searched for the property online during the long flight north, he’d almost pissed himself laughing. The clever folks over at the Furry United Coalition dubbed the Academy ARSHOL, or the Animal Rescue Special House of Learning, to the outside world.
It was the perfect undercover name for a place that would most likely get dozens of wild animal sightings each month either on or near the campus. As a wildlife rescue facility, they had managed to secure an excellent cover should non-shifters stumble upon the place.
ARSHOL was almost as good as FUCN’A, the official name of the training center. The Furry United Coalition Newbie Academy was responsible for training cadets who were either selected or applied to get into the elite group of crime-fighting shifters dedicated to keeping their kind secret and safe. Every single one of them had one dream. To become a FUC agent.
Ever since he hung up the phone on Gianni Grano, the shifter dad who’d called about his missing son’s case, Tony hadn’t rested until he’d read every single piece of information on the family. The police records were easy enough to hack.
He’d gone to the original campsite site from the GPS coordinates he’d found on file. The tree where the beetle had been carved was still there, and yes, it still bore traces of the signature that Tony had seen time and again.
The beetle or scarab was an ancient Egyptian hieroglyph symbolizing change or rebirth. As far as he could tell, the bastards that had kidnapped Grano’s son were the same bastards that had taken him as a child.
So far, Tony had been involved in twenty-eight cold cases that all led to the same mystery group. Out of the twenty-eight, he’d managed to find nine of the missing children. Todd Grano would be number ten.
He could feel it in his bones, the kid’s trail led here. He just couldn’t figure out how or why. The Grano’s were your average family of predatory shifters. They camped and hunted in the wilds of New Jersey as did several hundred others in the tri-state area. Fox shifters usually belonged to a local skulk, and the Grano’s were no exception.
Their trip had been approved and sanctioned by their Alpha, who encouraged family outings to introduce their pups to the wild before they actually experienced their first shifts. Of course, no one had told the family about the other disappearances.
And that was what really stuck in Tony’s maw. There was no centralization and no sharing of information among the shifter groups in his part of the country. They were too spread out and secretive. The twenty-eight missing kids Tony had linked to the scarab group had been spread out over five decades. They were too spread out in time and distance for anyone to
link them together. But Tony had, and now he’d traced Todd all the way up to Canada from Jersey.
Sigh. He’d really like to see the records, but permission to stay on the grounds was good enough. For now. He just needed an in.
9
Stomach growling, Tony hit the down button on the elevator and made for the cafeteria he’d passed on his way up to see the Academy director over an hour ago.
“Crap,” he muttered as he took in the line to get in.
A curvy figure in a flower printed wrap-around dress and a pair of strappy sandals came hurrying out the door and commanded everyone’s attention almost as if they feared the pretty little creature.
His inner devil pushed against his skin, wanting to move closer to the pretty female. Tony concurred. She was definitely something to look at, but he was there for a job. Not to play nookie with the–sniff, hmm, was that a bunny or a squirrel?
He couldn’t identify the exotic scent coming off the brown-haired vixen, but he smelled fur, and he smelled something from the rodent family, he just wasn’t sure what exactly.
Oofa! A mystery! Tony loved mysteries. He watched the gorgeous creature with a keen eye. Her darker-skinned companion was your garden variety squirrel shifter, not exactly uncommon in these parts and a scent he readily recognized.
Watching the crowd of young shifters’ reaction to the woman who commanded even his beast’s attention had him anticipating every word she had to say. Who was she? Did she have an important job at FUCN’A? He needed more information.
“Attention everyone,” she said in a voice that oozed class. “I just talked to Chef Maude, and I am afraid there will be no meatless meatballs today.” She stopped when a few growls and groans erupted from the crowd.
Before he could rein himself in, Tony stepped forward, lips curled in a snarl against anyone who would interrupt the sweet little, whatever she was.
Mine, the beast inside him supplied the word, and he found himself nodding in agreement.
Wait. What? He shook his head, shutting out the impatient huff of his Jersey devil. Listening to her explanation of how the young troops were to behave in line before entering the cafeteria was awe-inspiring.
She reminded him of his seventh grade Math teacher. Her stern expression and prim voice had him picturing all sorts of naughty little fantasies he hadn’t entertained since middle school.
Hell yes, I can stay after class! Oofa!
The soles of his Italian leather boots clicked on the linoleum as he followed the sexy young woman’s swaying backside to the kitchen. If there was one thing Tony loved in a woman, it was miles of curves.
This little pasticcino had just the right amount of cushin’ for the pushin’ that made him want to roar his claim. Heck yeah, his little doll face had more than enough to tempt him.
He watched as she handed a folded napkin to the second woman in the kitchen. This one sported a chef’s coat. She was sitting on the clean, rubber-matted floor, and she was crying her eyes out into her apron.
Sniff. The hare shifter was obviously the chef, and little miss sex kitten was helping her out. Based on the announcement she’d made in the hallway, he deduced the object of his sincere though sudden interest was on staff at FUCN’A.
Nice. With any luck, maybe she could help good ol’ Tony out with his investigation. An idea began to take shape in his mind.
“Maude?” the sound of her voice interrupted his thought process.
Not that he minded. Her tone was soothing and calm. Almost instantly, his inner devil seemed to quiet down. Tony felt as if she’d stroked a hand along his skin with those silky, seductive notes.
“Why don’t you head on home? I got this.” She nodded towards the disheveled hare, and Tony’s heart began to beat double time.
Doll face was cute and kind! That was like a double-edged sword in his book. Huge amber eyes blinked up at him framed in short, thick lashes. He cleared his throat to make himself known. Scarcely able to look away from her elfin face and pouty lips.
“That would be a huge mistake if you want to solve this case, doll,” Tony interrupted.
His lips quirked as her pretty eyes went even wider at the sound of his voice. She quickly got over her initial start and zeroed in on him. Her gaze swept him in one long, slow appraisal from the top of his incredible head of hair, yes, he knew it, to the bottoms of his leather-clad feet. Non-sentient leather only, of course.
Doll face placed her hands firmly on her rounded hips and glared for all she was worth. Did he say she was cute? Sexy as hell in all her fury was a more apt description. Tony had rarely met a woman with a temper he couldn’t calm.
“Excuse me, but you need to leave now. You are not allowed back here,” she began, but he was already moving forward with a clean handkerchief outstretched.
“Here you go, dear, try this. That napkin is all used up,” he said to the woman in the chef coat. He ignored his little doll and took the slobbering hare’s hand. Tony helped her stand on her own rubber-soled feet before giving her an encouraging wink.
“What do you think you are doing?” Hissed the little cutie.
Madonna mia! She was dynamite with her wild curls and amazing figure. If only Tony was there to make goo-goo eyes over the sweet little éclair instead of the actual work he was hired to do, but alas, it was not in the stars.
“You’ll get your turn, doll face, maybe when I finish here.” He winked at the gorgeous bite of pastry and turned to speak to the tallish chef. “Why don’t you tell good ol’ Tony all about it.”
“Maude, you don’t have to!”
“It’s alright, he’s trying to help. You see, every night before I close, I do my prep work for the next day,” she hiccupped.
“Maude, you can wait for campus security before trying to relive this nightmare again.”
Tony loved the way her brown eyes flashed as she did her best to dissuade the hare from talkin’ to him. He adjusted his stance and tried to keep their attention above waist level. Truth was, he was having a hard time keeping his cannoli down.
Every time she showed him her feisty nature, he just wanted to stand up and salute.
Fuhgeddaboudit.
Dynamite didn’t begin to describe the female shifter whose amber eyes were spitting fire at him.
“Hush, please, doll. Let’s allow sweet Maude here to talk.” He tsked and winked while walking Maude over to a stool.
Women usually fawned over him, trying to do his bidding, but not this little vixen. Wait.
Sniff.
Nope, she wasn’t a fox, but she sure was something alright.
10
Ever the gentleman, he helped the hare shifter sit. Ignoring the runny nose and red eyes that made Chef Maude the least likely person he’d like cooking his next meal, Tony simply nodded his head and patted her hand. He silently encouraged her to continue on with her tale while he poured her a glass of water and set it in front of her.
“I made six trays of my meatless meatballs, two deep I tell you! Almost double what I made last week. These cadets can’t get enough of them. Staff too. Isn’t that right, Ms. Pelosi?”
“Yes, it’s true. Your meatballs are wonderful, Maude.” His little doll face nodded her head, all softness and sweetness for Chef Maude, but not for Tony.
“You like meatballs? I got a recipe you’d die for,” he whispered and dared a peek at her warm brown eyes. Damn things were like molten chocolate at the moment.
Oofa! Tony’s devil scratched at the surface. The beast wanted to howl at the way she froze him out with a malocchio that would’ve made even Nonna proud.
His human side was even more tempted. Take it from him, no one gave an evil eye like Grandma DiCarlo. He licked his lips and gave her a smoldering look.
“See?” interrupted the chef. “Even Sofia knows my meatless meatballs are in high demand. Shifters are notorious for their large appetites, you know, and we’ve got twenty head chefs on site, but I am the only one in charge of the meatballs.”
>
“Congratulations, dear.” He smiled, and she preened for a second before she collapsed into another crying fit.
“The problems started last week when I promised the new recruits two days of meatballs. I came in for lunch on Friday, and there were none. I just thought maybe the morning crew had put out too many for breakfast. That’s why I prepared a double batch last night.” Maude sobbed into his soon-to-be-burned handkerchief.
Thinking she was finished, he turned around to focus on the spitfire, but the tall woman jumped up. Her nose was twitching like mad. The chef’s hare side was clearly as agitated as her human self. Lucky for him, his devil didn’t crave rabbit.
“I thought I outsmarted them, but when I came in today, and I joked with Ritchie asking if he left me any meatless meatballs for lunch, he called me a flake! He said I forgot to make them. Imagine me forgetting a thing like that?” Her hiccups were almost uncontrollable now, and Tony took her hand.
“Look at me, Maude–”
“Are you serious? Maude, you don’t have to let him touch you, you know,” growled his dazzling woman softly. The sound more like a rabid chipmunk than anything too frightening, and yet Tony found it endearing.
“Doll face, if you want me to touch you, you only have to ask, but right now, I am talking to Maude. Continue, please,” he said, aware of the fact he’d riled the fur of his little unidentified shifter female.
“Ritchie told me he never put out any meatballs last week. He said he thought I forgot them! Me? Can you believe that?”
“No, of course not. You wouldn’t do a thing like that!”
“That’s what I told him! You see, Sofia, he knows I wouldn’t do that!”
“Maude, he doesn’t even know you,” Sofia explained.
“I don’t have to know her to know she’s a dedicated chef, do I, Maude?”
“I am! So dedicated to my job! And to these kids! And they love my meatballs, Tony, they really do!”
“Of course, they do, dear. So, tell me what happened when you came in to work the lunch shift.”
