The Protector

by Desconhecido(a)

  He kissed her gently as she looked up at him dreamily. He knew she was feeling completely relaxed and happy right now. They had discussions in the past about what she felt like at this time and what she needed from him. Cole knew she wanted to be held quietly so she could enjoy the after play buzz. He finished rubbing in the Arnica and kissed her forehead gently again. He shifted to a more comfortable position and kept her tightly against him with one hand and rubbed her back with the other. He watched her eyes growing heavier as she started to come down from the endorphins of their play. Now thank Ilithyia she was going to fall asleep. After what she had been through, that was what she needed.

  Cole heard his phone buzzing on the nightstand. He picked it up and read the text message from Brad. “David and Travis found a scent trail for Stacy. We are tracking the abducted girl again. Michael said to call you in, and he will be contacting you soon. The cholan will watch Blair.” Cole slowly got up, making Blair murmur sleepily.

  “Where are you going?”

  “I have to go to work. There is a missing little girl, and we have a trail. Michael needs me to come and help. There are two cholan watching the house,” he whispered to her.

  Blair turned to look up at him. “Go and find her.”

  Cole pulled the cover down and covered her up. “I will do my best. Go back to sleep. I will be home as soon as I can.”

  “Mm k,” she mumbled. “I will make us a nice breakfast in the morning.”

  Cole’s heart felt lighter just hearing those words he worried he would never hear again. “I will look forward to it.”

  Chapter Six

  Cole drove his car to where the FBI van and Travis’s sheriff patrol car were parked. Michael had called asking him to come and help, despite his earlier order to stay out of the investigation. Cole jumped at the chance without arguing. He felt a sense of urgency, knowing the little girl was in the woods. Her parents told him she had just turned ten. They didn’t know if the same man attacked both Mandy and Stacy or if they had one perp. If it was one man, where did he leave Stacy while he was attacking Mandy?

  Did he tie her up? Why? The kidnapper who abducted and killed in Colorado Springs had only taken one victim at a time. There was a missing piece of information, and Cole just needed to find it.

  Cole got out of his car and spoke into his radio. “I am going to track. Someone bring my uniform so I have something to wear when we find this girl.”

  The radio lit up, and Brad’s voice came over chuckling, “I will take care of it.”

  Cole stripped his clothes off, put the harness on for his radio that could be worn in his wolf form and shifted. As a wolf all of his senses were far more sensitive. He quickly picked up the trail of Travis and found the scent of the human girl, Stacy. The same scent that was at the family’s campsite was here, too. He had the girl with him. Tonight, he hoped they solved two cases at once, and he could go home to Blair.

  He could hear the cholan that had chosen to stay in human form talking over the radio. He picked up speed, so he could catch up to them.

  “Shots fired. I’m being shot at,” Harley Sawyers, one of his newer cholan, yelled over the radio.

  Cole picked up speed. He was close and could hear the gunfire. Son of a bitch, I should have crammed a gun in my harness. Usually he didn’t need one, and they were heavy, which altered how flexible the harness was. This was the one fucking night he needed it though. All his senses and strengths were no match for a bullet.

  Cole ran into a clearing to see a pickup truck, with a camper top, speeding out of the campsite, and Harley was on the hard packed ground gasping for air and holding his chest. No, fucking no. Cole shifted and ran to Harley while keying up his radio.

  “A dark blue, late nineties model Ford pickup truck just left. The suspect shot Harley, he still has the victim. He’s heading west down Campfire Road.” Cole heard the chatter from the others who had taken up the chase, but Cole concentrated on Harley.

  “Hang in there, Harley.” Cole looked around the campsite for anything he could use. All around was rock and hard packed dirt. The rock lined fire-pit had some cold, charred wood in the center, and the picnic table was empty.

  There were some flat, paper drink cups and red Solo cups lying around, but nothing he could use for first aid.

  Harley looked at him with frightened eyes as he struggled to breathe. He coughed, and blood filled his mouth. Cole knew from his medic training that Harley was hit in the lung. He keyed up his radio. “Let the clinic know Harley has a chest wound and collapsed lung.”

  Harley was gasping for air now, but turning blue. Cole felt completely helpless. Brad ran up to him with his clothes.

  “Son of a bitch,” Brad hissed when he saw Harley on the ground gasping for air and bleeding.

  “Give me a knife and pen. His lung has collapsed,” Cole demanded urgently.

  Brad dug into Cole’s uniform pants for his pocket knife and got a pen out of his shirt pocket. “Here you go.”

  “Find out what the fuck is taking the damn medics so long,” Cole told Brad. He opened his knife and ripped open Harley’s shirt. He was wearing his body armor, but the bullet had gotten around it under his arm. How the fuck Harley managed to get a bullet there was unknown, but right now all that mattered was relieving the pressure in Harley’s chest before he suffocated. Cole got his bulletproof vest off of him and cut off his now blood red saturated white t-shirt.

  Cole looked up when Brad knelt beside Harley. “Hold him still for me. This is going to fucking hurt.”

  Brad placed his hands on Harley, ready to keep him from moving. “I’ve got him.”

  Harley’s struggle to breathe was already weakening, and Cole knew he was running out of time. If he didn’t do it now, then Harley would die right here. He felt Harley’s ribs to make sure he got the blade in between the ribs and shoved it in.

  Harley let out a short scream, and struggled to move away. Brad was struggling to keep a hold of Harley and cursed. One of the shifter FBI agents helped to hold him still, his muscles bulging with the effort. Harley’s eyes watered, and his attempts to breathe sawed in and out of him.

  “Easy, buddy,” the agent said in a soothing voice. “Cole is a trained medic. He is fixing you up. I know it hurts, but it has to be done. Your lungs are being crushed. As soon as Cole is done, you will be able to breathe again.”

  Cole looked up surprised and saw the agent was Thomas Grady, an old friend from high school. Later when this was over he would be sure to thank him.

  Harley was squirming and arching his back while his short breaths panted in and out of him. His lips were starting to turn blue from lack of oxygen and his eyes were glassy.

  Cole got the hole made and shoved his finger in so he could place the pen properly. Harley was moaning in pain and writhing on the ground. Thomas did his best to hold him still, but a grown man was hard to fight when he was in this kind of pain. Harley was the youngest cholan at only nineteen years old, still a fucking pup, but he was a gifted tracker and a good deputy.

  “Pen,” Cole said, holding his hand up without looking. Sweat was beading on his forehead. He had not done this on a patient since he rode with paramedics last year as a part of his training.

  Thomas handed the pen to him, and Cole bit down on the nib to pull the ink tubing from the external plastic casing and discarded it. He then bit down on the cap end, spitting that out.

  He pushed it through the hole he’d made, using his finger as a guide to make sure it went where he meant it to. Harley shuddered, and made strained noises of agony, making Cole wince. He knew this procedure was very painful, and to have a gunshot wound on top of getting his chest cut into must be excruciating.

  Harley made gasping noises while desperately trying to fight for a breath while Cole maneuvered the pen. Cole knew he was out of time, and if he missed, then Harley would die. The air building up in his chest was crushing his lungs.

  Once he got it into place, Cole felt air coming out of the
hollow tube of the pen casing. Harley took a deep breath, and then another. His body relaxed, and his fists unclenched.

  “Great fucking work,” Thomas cheered. “You’re going to be ok now, pup. I told you wolf man here would take care of you.”

  Harley nodded, and his eyes fluttered as if he could hardly hold them open, and weakly said, “Thank you.”

  Cole glared at Thomas. He had called him that ever since that stupid fucking movie they watched.

  Thomas just laughed at him and clapped him on the back hard. “You are the fucking bomb, wolf man.”

  Sirens finally sounded, and the ambulance from the clinic in town was coming closer. Cole rubbed the back of his neck that was tight and aching. The ambulance and two other sheriff vehicles pulled into the campground, and the paramedics got out.

  “About fucking time. I nearly lost Harley,” he snapped at the ambulance driver.

  “It takes ten minutes to drive here, Cole,” the driver responded defensively.

  Cole took a deep breath. His muscles still had not unclenched from the fear raging through him that he was about to watch his youngest cholan die right in front of him. His heart was racing from the adrenaline. “I know. Sorry, it was just fucking intense.”

  Two of the paramedics and a nurse from the clinic were working on Harley, and more cholan were arriving.

  “What happened to the fucking perp?” Cole asked when he saw Travis coming back.

  “Motherfucker left me. I can only run so fast. He has the girl with him, though. I heard her screaming,” Travis said while he tried to catch his breath. Another cholan handed Travis some clothes. “Thanks, man,” Travis said while wiping his brow.

  Cole looked over to see them lifting Harley to a stretcher. “He will be fine, thanks to you,” Carry, the nurse on the ambulance, told Cole.

  “Thanks,” he said, trying not to encourage her. Carry had always had a crush on him, and had thought once he broke up with Blair, that she could have a chance with him. No matter how many times he made it clear he wasn’t interested, she kept on trying.

  “Things are under control here. I need to go and speak to Stacy’s family,” Cole said glancing once more at Harley. He was hooked up with IVs and monitors. His medical knowledge told him Harley was in great hands now and he was free to get on with his job. Then he could get home to Blair, he hoped, before she woke up.

  ****

  “Where is my daughter?” Stacy’s mother glared at David and two of his agents with anger showing in her eyes and features. “You had the man that took her in your sights and let him get away.” Tears filled her eyes, and she started to cry.

  “Ma’am, I know you are worried, but I was on foot, and one of the officers was shot in the chest. I chased him, but I lost him. This is my fault, not the local police department’s fault.”

  She looked back up at him. Even though tears fell, she still had the spark of anger in her eyes. “This is a shitty small fucking town department. I am calling in a private eye from Denver to take over the case,” she said with tears falling down her cheeks.

  Cole watched David closely. He was used to handling distraught family members since his expertise was child crimes. “I assure you every measure from the FBI is being used to find your daughter. There are agents out there combing the area looking for your daughter. The sheriff’s department is offering support to us as this point. Your private investigator is not needed.”

  The mother gasped and stared at him with wide eyes. “Which only proves you have no interest in finding my daughter. If you did, you would welcome the help.”

  Cole felt badly for David as he continued to talk to the mother. He understood the woman was in fear for her child, which made people say and do things they normally wouldn’t. He reminded himself once again, she was just worried about her child.

  David kept his expression professional. “We are working around the clock to find your daughter, ma’am, but if the media finds out about it and broadcasts anything, it could scare our kidnapper away, and ruin any chance we may have to find them and he could take her out of the county. Then it will only be harder to get your daughter back.”

  Tears filled the woman’s eyes. “My Stacy must be so scared. Who knows what that evil man has done to her? I won’t call the media, but I want more done.”

  Cole’s walked over to the woman to put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “We are trying our hardest to find this man. Every one of my finest trackers is out looking for your daughter. I promise you, we will not stop until we find her.” Cole knew from stories David told that parents always felt the police were not doing enough.

  The mother started to cry. “What if he has hurt her? What if he's… ” She trailed off, too emotional to even say the words.

  Cole knew exactly what she was trying to say. They were all concerned about Stacy’s welfare, but he looked straight into her mother’s eyes, willing her to believe him. “I am going to do everything in my power to return your daughter to you, safe and whole.”

  “Right, I think I can send you some help, just to be sure. I will have my brother send the PI he uses for his insurance fraud cases.”

  Cole managed not to roll his eyes. They didn’t need a human PI here anymore than the press. He looked out the window and saw the sun had come up. Blair would be up by now. He wondered if she would still be there when he got home, or if she would run again. Only now he saw how immature it had been of him to run out on Blair. He now felt so ashamed of himself for ever leaving her like that. He couldn’t change the past though. He could only push forward and prove to Blair that he could be her mate and protector.

  Chapter Seven

  Blair checked the oven to see the cinnamon rolls were not getting overly brown, then turned the sausage. Good Goddess, she must have been exhausted, since she slept until nine. She was normally three hours into her shift by now.

  When she awoke she saw Cole’s side of the bed was still undisturbed, which meant he had worked all night. It must be really bad to keep him away from his bed.

  The sausage was nearly done and she really hoped Cole had got things wrapped up quickly, or she would have to eat alone. One thing she hated was eating alone. Nothing brought out how lonely she was than eating alone day after day.

  She had just put the cheese over the eggs, putting a lid on the pan so it could melt, when the kitchen door opened.

  She turned with the excitement of seeing him again, but her smile died rapidly when she saw the state Cole was in.

  “Cole, holy shit, what the fuck happened? Whose blood is that all over you?” Blair ran to him terrified it was his, or someone she knew and loved.

  “Harley’s,” he said, wrapping his arms around her tightly. “Goddess, Blair. I am so relieved you are here.”

  “I told you I would make you breakfast.” She held him and felt his body shaking and looked up fearfully into his eyes. “Is he alive?”

  Cole nodded. “Yeah, he has a collapsed lung, and will be in the hospital for a while, but he will be ok. I had to put a pen in his chest, which is how I got his blood all over me.”

  Blair kept her arm around him, but pulled the pan with the sausage in it off the burner.

  “Tell me what happened? How did Harley get shot in the chest? Wasn’t he wearing body armor?”

  Cole pulled the kitchen chair out and sat heavily into it. He groaned as he kicked off his shoes. “Yeah, he had body armor on, but the bullet got in through his side.”

  Blair quickly took the opportunity and pulled open the oven to get the cinnamon rolls out before they burned.

  “Blair, I don’t want you going around alone with this guy on the loose. I want you to stay close to me.”

  Blair was making the icing for the cinnamon rolls and turned around with her mouth open. “What do you mean? I can’t follow you around everywhere.”

  “No, of course not. When you need to work, I want you under protection. I also want you to carry a gun.”

  Blair laughed. “Rea
lly, and when I shift where am I supposed to put it?” She put some eggs and sausage on a plate for him and set the plate down in front of him. The way Cole just shook his head made it clear he was exhausted. Blair decided to just drop it. She would make sure she did not wander around alone in her human form.

  “Just stay close, baby.” Cole got a taste of the eggs, and he stopped. His eyes closed, and he moaned. After he swallowed, he looked back up at Blair. “I have missed you so much.”

  Blair’s heart warmed that he missed her cooking so much. She put a warm cinnamon roll on his plate and watched his face light up for the first time since he had walked through the door. He made noises of delight as he ate the roll in record time. He looked at her. “Go upstairs to our playroom and wait for me. I need to clean up. Then I will reward you properly.”

  Blair threw the towel down that she had been drying her hands with and went straight to the room with the play equipment in it. She pushed the door open and saw the Saint Andrews cross in the corner, the sex swing he kept hanging from some boards he anchored into the ceiling, the punishing bench, and the sex bench.

  She had been on every single piece of dungeon furniture in the room, and she had fond memories of each piece.

  She wondered what he would do to her this morning. Surely it would not be too much. He must be exhausted. He would probably smack her ass a few times to get her good and wet, then fuck her. Blair liked to deny it, but she knew full well that she enjoyed pain. Sometimes light, other times a bit harder, but a bit of pain, then some great sex, gave her the best feelings for hours afterwards. She would smile while Cole held her, and used that special cream to ease any soreness out of her.

  Blair stripped off her clothes and folded them, then piled them neatly in the closet. She refused to be like Cole and just toss things. The man could be such a slob. She was fingering the leather of the fucking bench when she heard his footsteps approaching. She cast her gaze low to the floor, just as he pushed open the door.

  “My, oh my, look at my beautiful submissive fox. You know what I like, don’t you, special girl.” The smooth tone of Cole’s voice had goosebumps rising on Blair’s skin. When he slipped into total Dom mode, the man turned her into a puddle, melting for him.