The Long-Eared Easter Enigma

by Kian Rhodes

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Keeson

  Pete’s SUV was long gone by the time I returned to the spot where I thought I’d seen it, of course. Not that I was surprised. It would have been pretty bizarre for a car thief to sit around and wait to be caught, especially in such an identifiable vehicle.

  I thought about calling Pete but he had been exhausted when I left after my dinner break and, unless I missed my guess, my brother wasn’t going to be as surprised to find out it was missing as he should have been.

  Instead, I called into the office and asked Louise to issue an unofficial BOLO.

  “You’re sure you don’t want an APB issued for it, Sheriff?” Louise asked, her voice hesitant.

  “Not yet,” I told her. “It’s possible Pete might have lent it to a friend. I’ll talk to him in the morning and let you know.”

  Pete was out cold when I finally got home shortly after midnight, one floppy ear hanging down over the edge of the couch as he snored, so the conversation about the RAV4 had to wait until morning.

  ~*~

  “How’re you feeling?” I asked, setting a cup of coffee on the table in front of him after I’d helped him to the bathroom and back.

  “Pretty good, all things considered,” Pete said, lifting his cup.

  “Good, good.” I took a drink of my own. “So, I might have some bad news.”

  Pete raised a bushy eyebrow and waited.

  “I thought I saw your car on the road last night when I was leaving.” No response. “So I swung by your place and checked the garage. It was empty.” Still nothing. “You don’t seem worried.”

  “Nah,” Pete agreed, sipping his coffee. “The neighbor has the code. He asked last week if he could borrow it for a job interview.” Pete set his coffee down and stretched, scratching his earlobe. “It’s probably back by now.”

  We watched the morning news after that, until Pete stretched again and yawned. “These pain pills are kicking my ass.”

  “Ah, well, I guess you should get some sleep then.” I stood and collected our coffee cups to take them to the sink. “I’m going into work early, so I’ll just swing by and make sure the Rav is back where it belongs, to be sure.”

  “Thanks,” Pete said through another yawn as he slipped down on the couch. “Let me know.”

  “Sure.”

  As I showered and got ready for work, something was niggling at me like a sore tooth, but I just couldn’t put my finger on it. One thing I was sure of was that my brother was bullshitting me. But, sure enough, when I peered into the window of garage 72F, the Robin’s Egg Blue Rav4 was sitting in its spot, a little muddy but, apparently, none the worse for wear.

  Still, that jittery feeling that I was missing something wouldn’t go away. In fact, it only intensified when my cell phone rang a short time later and it was Pete, sounding wide awake and asking about his car.

  “Yeah, you were right,” I told him with a frown. “It’s been returned.”

  “So, you’ll cancel the BOLO?”

  “Yeah, sure,” I agreed. “I’m glad it ended up being nothing.”

  “You and me both,” Pete agreed, suddenly sounding sleepy again. “I better go.”

  I hung up the phone and looked around the office. My daytime deputies were all out on patrol, leaving just me and Louise to hold down the fort. “Can you handle things while I run a quick errand?”

  “Of course,” Louise looked up in surprise from the evidence she was cataloging. “Something wrong?”

  “I don’t think so. I’ll only be gone a few minutes.”

  Pete’s condo was only a ten-minute drive from the sheriff’s office and, when I pulled in, the garage was empty.

  Again.

  I didn’t bother pretending to be surprised.

  I huffed under my breath and started back to the truck, but my eyes were caught by something in the snow.

  Paw prints.

  Big ones.

  Too big to be a pet dog, even if the condo complex had allowed pets. I admit to feeling a little nervous as I whipped my head around, looking for a potential predator.

  Nothing.

  Making a mental note to have my deputies double up on dusk and dawn patrols to be sure we didn’t have a dangerous animal in the area,

  Deciding not to tell Pete that I was on to him, I kept the information about the SUV having disappeared to myself and instead settled in to watch a movie with my brother. As I lay in bed later that night, I considered the mystery of the car. It seemed pretty evident to me that the real reason Pete had called me to check on the car was to be certain I’d verified its return and, hopefully, would proceed to butt out of his business. He really should have known better. When I left for work Thursday morning, I was dressed in sweat pants and a hoodie with my uniform in a garment bag.

  “You’re not wearing your uniform?” Pete asked, surprised.

  “Not yet,” I confirmed, slicing a bagel and dropping it in the toaster. “I’m working an undercover case this morning and I don’t want to stand out.” It was close enough to the truth for me to be comfortable. “Need anything before I go?”

  “No, I’m fine,” Pete assured me. “Have a good day. Catch the bad guys.”

  I snickered. “That’s the plan,” I agreed, heading for the door.

  Twenty minutes later, my truck was stashed out of sight and I’d slipped into a back corner of the garden to change my form. Then, a large white arctic hare hunkered down in a snowbank, all but invisible against the drifts, and waited to see what would happen.

  Chapter

  Twenty-Three

  Antoine

  As part of the deal that I’d struck with Pete to complete his deliveries before the Easter holiday, he’d offered to let me stay in his condominium in addition to using his car. Since I’d initially assumed I would need to find a cheap motel or possibly a room for rent, I was incredibly relieved. Still, I’d protested, afraid that I was taking advantage of him.

  “Don’t be a doof,” Pete had said, rolling his eyes. “It’s just sitting empty while I’m camped out on Sonny’s couch. Besides, the closest low-cost motel is still almost an hour away and that means you have two more hours you can use for deliveries instead of commuting; seems like a win-win, if you ask me.”

  He was right, of course.

  Despite the close call with Keeson when I picked up the orders on Tuesday, I was able to complete two days’ worth of deliveries by the time the sun rose on Wednesday. That was when I got a heads up from Pete that the Sheriff had noticed his brother’s car on the road.

  Crap.

  We quickly formed a plan. Since delivering at night was actually my preference – no traffic, less of a chance of running into law enforcement, and so on – we decided that I would prepare each day’s deliveries after Keeson had left from dropping off Pete’s dinner and then park the loaded SUV back in the garage. Then, after Pete texted me that his brother was home for the night, I’d start my deliveries. That gave me a chance to sleep for a few hours during the time that Keeson was likely to be checking on the car.

  All in all, it seemed like a pretty perfect solution.

  Thursday morning, I parked the empty SUV in the garage and retreated upstairs to Pete’s second-floor condo with a bag of tacos from a local twenty-four-hour drive-thru. From the living room, I had a clear view of the long, low building that housed the garages. I was crumpling up the food wrappers to add to the trash bag waiting to be taken out when I saw movement across the parking lot.

  Crossing to the window for a better look, I felt my eyes widen at the sight of what looked like a dog sniffing around the closed overhead door. Except, something wasn’t right. Its back was hunched up and arched and even in the shadow cast by the building, I could see an unusual spotted pattern in the fur. When it turned at looked in my direction, my jaw dropped.

  What was a hyena doing in the hills of Pennsylvania?

  It had to be a shifter, I k
new that. I mean, I assumed I knew that because a biological hyena definitely didn’t belong in the United States. Well, not unless it had escaped a zoo or something, right?

  What was it doing sniffing around Peter Cottontail’s garage space?

  I considered going down and confronting it – after all, it may have been big, but it was no match for my wolf, if push came to shove – but I decided against it. If it was still around when I left to sneak into the Bunny Hutch for my next load of deliveries, I’d confront it then. In the meantime, I really needed my sleep.

  When the alarm sounded later that day, there was no sign of the intruder that I’d spotted from the window. Oddly enough, there were several sets of human prints added to the snow, mixing with the hyena’s paw prints.

  Boot prints.

  Left by the kind that a cop might wear. In fact, I’m no detective, but they looked an awful lot like the ones that a certain hotter-than-hell sheriff might wear.

  I sighed. We’d definitely pegged that one, but, since the Rav4 had been in its home, I was optimistic that maybe Keeson would stop watching so closely.

  I mean, we only had 3 more nights of deliveries to go!

  Before I opened the garage, my curiosity got the better of me and I began to follow the hyena tracks. They led directly from Pete’s garage, crossed through some large rabbit tracks, and continued to a small group of trees. In the center of the trees, I found signs of a struggle.

  Or signs of a shift.

  And, considering the athletic shoe prints leading away from the trees, I pretty sure the second one was it. That still didn’t answer why a hyena would be nosing around Pete’s place.

  Knowing that he had a follow-up visit scheduled with the doctor, I made a mental note to mention it the next time I saw him and then returned to the garage, eager to get the car loaded for another productive night.

  It was a quick and easy trip. There was no sign of Keeson’s truck as I pulled up behind the cottage and loaded the car. An old hand by now, I made use of every inch of space and had the Rav4 back into the garage to wait for my late night take off.

  Too keyed up to sleep, I alternated between pacing the house and trying to watch the television until the time finally came to begin my nightly trek.

  The night itself passed quickly. I finished all of my drops and actually made it back to Pete’s place just after dawn. I closed the garage door behind me and started for the condo, and that was when I spotted something in the snow.

  A rabbit.

  And not just any rabbit.

  It was a huge pure white bunny with long, jackrabbit ears and large, intelligent brown eyes.

  And it was watching me.

  It only took me a minute to guess that this must be one of Pete’s downline ambassadors. He stayed stock still as I approached, hoping my wolf scent wouldn’t scare it off.

  “Hi,” I said softly, coming to a stop a few feet away as it watched me warily. “I’m guessing you’re a friend of Pete’s, right?”

  Nothing but that was normal. Most animals wouldn’t respond to a human they didn’t know.

  “He was hurt last week,” I continued. “But I’m helping him with his orders, so if you already have one placed, you will get it.”

  A faint breeze drifted by, the scent of another predator riding it and the rabbit and I both froze.

  “You probably better go,” I murmured to the rabbit, dropping my hand to unsnap my jeans. If I had to shift on the fly, I needed as few constrictions as possible.

  I turned to face the hyena that standing a few yards away, watching me with calculating eyes and its lips pulled back in a snarl. “Fine,” I huffed as a threatening growl slipped through its parted lips. “Let’s do this.”

  I released my hold on my form and was startled at the speed with which my wolf fought his way out. From the step back that the hyena took, I don’t think I was the only one. Jumping out of my clothes, I braced myself and waited for my foe to attack.

  Instead, he feinted once and fell back. Then again. On the third false charge, he darted around me and snatched up the rabbit who still sat in the snow, shaking it in its powerful jaws.

  I sprang forward, sinking my fangs into the flank nearest me, making the hyena scream and drop his prey. When he spun around to face me, I launched myself forward, dodging his snapping jaws and biting down on his shoulder. I let go when I heard the bones crunch. Backing away, I waited until I was certain that the hyena’s slumped shoulders meant it was surrendering and then I closed my jaws gently around the rabbit's lifeless body and carefully trotted up the stairs to Pete’s condo, laid it gently on the wooden landing, and let my human form take control.

  Then, I took the bunny in to the bed and tried desperately to think of a way I could help. Before I could, the rabbit’s eyes blinked open and his long ears twitched. Then, without warning, his body began to lengthen and his pure white fur faded into deliciously familiar caramel skin. Before my brain had processed what my eyes were seeing, Sheriff Caraway lay naked on the bed, amusement shining in his eyes as he stared up at me with a smirk.

  “Well, this is awkward.”

  Chapter

  Twenty-Four

  Keeson

  “You’re..are you..what...” Antoine was staring at me with a looked of combined fear and horror. “But..”

  I stretched my limbs, one at a time, checking for injuries but didn’t find any. I was going to be a little sore, but no real damage had been done.

  Thanks to my Omega.

  “Are you okay?” I asked, concerned when he suddenly swayed on his feet. I jumped up and caught him as he suddenly pitched forward and pulled his naked body against mine with a sigh. I’d definitely missed that. “Antoine? Baby, can you talk to me?”

  He shook his head, his soft hair tickling my chin as he did.

  “Because you don’t want to? Or because you’re upset? Scared? Mad at me?” Another thought occurred to me. As much as I hated to give voice to it, I forced myself to. “Or because you’re disappointed that I’m a rabbit?”

  Antoine’s head jerked up and he met my eyes. “You’re a beautiful rabbit!”

  Well, that was a positive start.

  “Thank you,” I murmured, tightening my arms around him. “And you’re a very handsome wolf.” I brushed my lips over his cheeks. “I’m not sure why your scent never tipped me off.”

  “You didn’t know?” Antoine looked startled.

  “Nope.” I squeezed him again. “I never even really thought about it.” He was still tense in my arms. “Would you rather I not hug you?”

  “Huh? No,” he sighed. “I’m just sorry I can’t finish the deliveries.”

  “Why not?” The shame on Antoine’s face as his eyes dropped nearly broke my heart. “Baby, why did you take off on me?”

  He skirted the question by answering the first one. “I know you have to arrest me,” he said sadly. “It’s okay.” He gently pulled away from me and walked over to a small duffle bag in the corner, rifling through it until he came up with a pair of jeans. “Can I get dressed first?”

  “Whoa, there,” I suggested, sitting down on the edge of the bed. “Why do you think I need to arrest you?”

  He swallowed hard. “The car I wrecked,” he mumbled, his cheeks turning pink. “You know it was stolen.”

  “Oh, that. Is that why you took off? Because you saw the text on my phone?”

  He nodded.

  “I haven’t seen an arrest warrant in your name,” I told him with a shrug and a wink. “So, there’s probably no reason to put pants on now, is there? Unless you were going to make more deliveries?”

  “No, not until tonight.” Antoine said before his eyes doubled in size. “Wait! You’ll let me finish my deliveries?”

  I shrugged again. “As far as I know, you’re not breaking any laws,” I told him. “And it wouldn’t really be fair to all of the kids expecting a basket full of Easter happiness if I candy blocked you, now
would it?”

  “Really?” Antoine yelped, rushing across the small room and throwing his arms around my neck and crashing our mouths together.

  That was definitely progress.

  I parted my lips and let Antoine take the lead in the kiss, more than happy to submit to his exploration. When he finally released my lips, his cheek dropped to my chest. “Thank you, Alpha.”

  “Baby, you should have talked to me instead of running,” I chastised him gently, rubbing my cheek against his hair. “Even if I had gotten the text, I wouldn’t have just handed you over.”

  “I didn’t know,” Antoine said sadly. “And it isn’t like it would have been your fault,” he sighed. “It is your job.”

  “Well, that’s true,” I agreed, nuzzling his ear. “But things aren’t always black and white. You’ll see that once you’re in the academy.”

  Another long sigh. “I withdrew my application,” Antoine whispered.

  “What? Why?”

  “I stole a car, remember?” he said dejectedly.

  “Well, let’s talk about that later,” I suggested. “You sound tired.”

  “I am,” Antoine admitted with a yawn.

  “I changed my mind about the pants. Why don’t you put them on and come home with me?” I asked, rubbing his back. “That would be a lot easier than all this sneaking around.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Positive,” I said softly, weaving our fingers together. “I was kind of crushed when you left without a word,” I admitted.

  “You were?” Antoine definitely sounded surprised.

  “I was,” I confirmed. “I kind of thought we had a good thing going.”

  A burst of happy Omega scent filled the room. “I did, too, but I didn’t think you were that into me.”

  I laughed and swatted his still-bare ass. “Why don’t you get those pants on so I can take you to bed?”

  “There’s a bed right here,” he suggested with a grin.