by Terry Spear
“And Leyton, and you, if want to take a turn,” Dan told Stryker.
“Hell, yeah. Chase told me all the trouble you had. I just wish I’d been there to help out. Addie’s an expert sharpshooter, I hear.”
“Yeah, you definitely don’t want to get in her crosshairs.” Dan glanced down at his now blond wife. Her eyes were closed, but she was smiling a smidgeon, and he figured he was keeping her awake, but he had to know what the situation was like back home.
“No trouble leaving the hospital?” Stryker asked.
“Not so far. Hopefully, we’ll get home without further incident in about nine hours. We’ll keep you posted.”
“I’ll keep you informed if anything else happens here. I’m hoping the four guys, we suspect might be trouble, are the only ones who are coming here.”
“Me too.”
“Oh, and before I forget, Ricky and Kolby ran to the airport to pick up your Jeep. It’s already in your garage.”
“Hell, thanks.”
“Okay, I’ll talk later.”
“Good luck.”
“You too.”
“Stryker said we have four guys who might be trouble,” Dan told everyone in the SUV. “He’s having folks keep an eye on them.”
“Sounds good,” Leyton said.
On the way home, they didn’t see anyone following them who looked suspicious. They stopped for burgers and chicken sandwiches at a fast-food restaurant and everyone used the restrooms.
Dan was glad Kate and Bridget were there to be with Addie when she used the facility. He waited outside the women’s room until Travis could relieve him, while Chase and Leyton ordered the meals. Addie was still moving more slowly than she usually did, and he didn’t want her going anywhere without protection. She didn’t seem to be bothered by the notion that she couldn’t handle this on her own.
They all piled back into the vehicles, switching off drivers and ate their meals.
As professional as Chase was, Dan knew he was chomping at the bit to get home to Shannon and the kids, worried about their safety, if the men staying at one of the cabins was really trouble.
Then Dan got a call from Stryker and he put it on speaker this time.
“Don’t worry about Shannon. Hal is there and Jack Barrington arrived unexpectedly. The two specially-trained cougar agents will take care of the situation there. They’re posing as Chase’s brothers, who came out to the lake for a visit,” Stryker said.
“Good to hear it. Any other news?”
“No, everything’s quiet in and around town. The guys haven’t moved at all.”
“Everything’s been quiet for us. We were planning on getting in around nine, but with gas stops, bathroom breaks, and grabbing supper, it will be closer to ten.”
“Unless anything major happens, we’ll see you then.”
Dan wondered if any of the bad guys had been monitoring their progress and knew every step of the way where they were. He hoped not. If they did, they could relay to the men in place just where Dan and Addie ended up for the night.
Addie was lying down with her head on his lap again. And though he knew he had other much more important concerns to deal with, he couldn’t help thinking about making love to her. He wanted the connection between them, to run with her as a cougar again, to be her mate for real. Knowing more of her background now, he wondered if her parents’ divorce had made her wary of making a commitment to another cougar.
After a couple of hours’ drive, she yawned and tried to sit up. He helped her up. “Are you feeling better?”
“Yes. Thanks. Much.”
Kate was sleeping in the middle seat now and the dark had descended.
“No trouble?” Addie asked, resting her head against his shoulder, and he wrapped his arm around hers.
“None. I believe it would be too much to hope for that no one’s going to bother us when we reach Yuma Town.”
They were only about ten minutes from Yuma Town when Dan got a call from Stryker. He suspected it wasn’t good news. “Yeah, what’s up?”
“They’re on the move. The two men at the cabin just left. I suspect they’re going to your house. Hal is giving them a head-start and then heading over there. He isn’t going to follow them. I’m already at the house.”
“What if they don’t go to the house? What if they’re planning to ambush us before we reach town?”
“Hal stuck a tracker on their car.”
Dan smiled. “Okay, good show. What about the others?”
“They’re headed out also. Calvin sent me a text saying they’re headed into town. Hal tagged their car too. Jack Barrington’s over there now too.”
At first, Dan hadn’t been sure about the CSF setting up shop in their town, figuring they would have issues over law enforcement matters. Leyton and his team were damn good agents, and he was glad to have them on board. Jack Barrington was on Leyton’s team, the newest hire, and he had married his dispatcher and friend, Dottie. He was also combat trained, and he was another great addition to their town. Dottie had new babies, so Dan hadn’t asked Jack to get involved. Though once the cabin was rented out to a couple of men who seemed suspicious, Jack had gone over to help protect Shannon and the kids. Knowing Dottie, she would have insisted Jack help out. Not that Jack would have wanted to be left out either. He was as hard-charging as the rest of their law enforcement officials.
“All right. And no one else who seems suspicious is hanging around town?” Dan asked Stryker.
“None that we’ve noticed. So far. Unless they change course, they’re headed to your place from different directions.”
“We’ll be there in five minutes.”
“You’re not going to take Addie to the safe house first?”
“No,” Addie said. “We go together.”
“You heard the federal agent. We’re doing this as a team. And no killing, if we can help it. We need to learn who sent them, and make sure they’re the bad guys. If the Bureau sent them to protect Addie, us taking them out would be a disaster.” Dan didn’t want Addie with them in the heat of battle, if it came to that. He also didn’t want to leave her off at the safe house if he wasn’t going to be there. If they had already been there, then he would have stayed with her to protect her. “Kate and Addie, both of you need to hide until we arrive.”
“Agreed,” the ladies both said, and laid down on the seats.
“They’re parking some distance from the house. I suspect they’re moving into the woods around there on foot. Hal and Jack have already parked at the house and are inside with the Muellers,” Stryker said. “I have a visual on one of the cars, no sign of the men. I’m moving into the house so we can gather there.”
Chase was relaying the information to Travis in the rear car.
Leyton got a call and put it on speaker. “Mrs. Fitz is at the house, carrying boxes of pizza to make it look like they’re having a party,” Hal said.
“Mrs. Fitz? How did she know about all of this?” Dan asked, surprised as hell.
“You know her. She always seems to know things before we do even. She looks perfectly innocent, all smiles, greeting us,” Hal said.
Dan shook his head. “She’s full of surprises. Okay, wait for us before anyone takes any action. We see the one car. We’ll pull into the driveway. Kate and Addie can remain hidden in the car. I don’t want them leaving it, if the men are in the woods watching the house,” Dan said. If his Jeep hadn’t been parked in the garage, he would have driven this car inside. “We’re pulling in now. Everyone ready?”
“Hell, yeah,” Chase said. “I doubt they’ll begin shooting at the lot of us. More likely, they’ll wait until the ‘party’ is over, and then when the ‘guests’ all leave, they’ll make their move.”
“Or plan to,” Dan said. “Come on. Let’s go before the party is over.” Dan leaned over and kissed Addie first and gave her one of his guns. “Be safe and stay here. Kate needs your protection.”
“All right. Be safe yourself.”
“I’ve got my gun too,” Kate reminded him.
“Good, but stay hidden for now.” Dan got another call from Stryker. “They’re the bad guys. Calvin sent me a photo he managed to get of the two men at his hotel just as they left. He sent them to me, and I ran them through the database. Both are known felons. Hal finally was able to take photos of one of the other men staying at the cabins, and he is also. Not sure on the fourth man, but if they’re running together, I’d say it is a pretty sure bet.”
“Okay, get the word out. Now. No clemency. No get out of jail card. We’re taking them down. But, keep someone alive for questioning, if we can do it. Safety first though.”
Then the men left the vehicle, and Bridget and Travis left theirs to enter the house.
Addie said to Kate. “Can you really shoot a gun?”
“Yeah, I’ve been taking a lot of lessons. I have a black belt in martial arts too, but I don’t think my current condition allows for me taking anyone down that way. I usually do best with a frying pan in a pinch, but I’ve got my own gun, and I’ve had lots of target practice.”
Addie smiled. “A frying pan? I’ll have to hear that story. Okay, good. I have to tell you hiding like this isn’t my favorite aspect of the job, but sometimes it’s the most fruitful. I’d like to see what is going on though.”
“Do you think the men have night-vision gear?” Kate asked.
“Yeah, they’d have to. It’s a good thing we have our own built-in cat’s night vision, but they’ll be able to see as well as us. The only thing is they won’t be looking for cougars.”
“Do you think Dan will send some of the men out as cougars?” Kate asked.
“He’s smart. I’m sure of it. I’d certainly do it.”
They heard a cougar’s cry in the woods—one that was meant to scare the crap out of the men, and the women chuckled.
6
After stripping and shifting, Dan and Chase headed west into the woods in the direction of the men hunkered down. At least that’s where they thought they might be. Hal and Stryker had taken off in the opposite direction, searching for the other two men. Leyton was in the house, keeping an eye on the SUV, rifle ready at the partially open window.
Inside the house, loud music was playing, the lights were on inside and out, except for the room where Leyton was serving as a sniper. It sounded like a pizza party was in full swing. He heard Mrs. Fitz laughing inside. Dan hoped Rick and Yvonne were safely inside too. Then he heard Travis and Jack talking loudly on the front porch as if they’d had too much to drink, or were trying to talk over the loud music.
“Dan wants to go fishing at Lake Buchanan tomorrow morning, if Addie’s feeling all right,” Jack said.
“As long as she has plenty of bed rest,” Travis said, “she’ll be as good as new. At least in another couple of weeks though, the doctor said.”
Jack agreed. “I was surprised Dan wanted to have the party for her homecoming, but he said it would cheer her up.”
Travis laughed. “Hell, if I were her, I’d send us all packing. No way can she get any rest at this rate.”
“She’s on heavy-duty painkillers and out for the count. I’m sure if she hears any of this, it’ll be in her dreams,” Jack said.
Running through the woods as a cougar, Dan saw one of the men then, the other not visible to him. Chase had moved away from him and vanished so they wouldn’t both be seen together. The man was wearing camo gear and night vision goggles. Then Chase let out a blood-curdling cougar cry, and Dan smiled. Good way to rattle whoever he was after.
Dan still wanted to learn who they were working for, but he didn’t want anyone taking the risk. If it was a matter of killing or be killed, he opted for taking them out.
Someone fired shots on the other side of the house. Dan thought it had to be one of the felons firing. He didn’t think any of their own people were outside running as humans. At least that wasn’t the plan. They always had to be ready for any eventuality, so the plan was always fluid. He hoped Travis and Jack were safely inside the house when the shooting began as he prowled toward the man sitting still in the brush where he had a clear view of the house.
Before he could reach him, the man removed his night vision goggles and looked through a device mounted on his automatic rifle. Thermal imaging?
He was looking at the car and getting set up to shoot at it. He had to have seen Addie and Kate!
Dan leapt and pounced on the man, throwing off his aim. A burst of rounds hit the frame of the SUV, and Dan saw the man’s blade as he tried to cut him. Dan went for the guy’s throat, tore at it, and killed him. He had to warn the others, Kate and Addie were in danger in the car, if the rest of these men had thermal imaging gear and thought to look at the vehicle they were hiding in.
Several rounds struck the bottom edge of the SUV and Addie and Kate gasped. Addie feared she and Kate were in mortal danger out here. “They have to have thermal imaging equipment, Kate. We need to make a run for it. We’re sitting ducks out here.”
“I’ll go first, and draw their fire.”
“I think whoever hit the car is dead or he would keep firing. If any of them realize why he shot at the car, the others could focus on the car and see we’re here and try too. Can you reach the button to turn off the overhead car lights?”
“Yeah, on it.” Kate pushed the button. “Got it.”
“Okay, we leave the car at the same time. I’ve got to be outside to do this, and you probably aren’t able to run as fast as you usually could.”
“You as well. Okay, on three?”
“Yeah, and leave the doors open. That could give us some cover if the men are at the right locations.”
“Okay. One…two…three.” Kate pushed her door open at the same time Addie did, and then Kate took a deep breath. “Ready?”
“Yeah, run.”
Kate bolted for the house and suddenly the house went dark. Addie assumed that meant those inside were trying to protect her, but the men with night vision goggles, or thermal imaging, could see her too.
Three men burst out of the house—Travis, Jack, and Leyton.
Rounds were fired from the woods and Leyton grabbed Kate and hurried her into the house, his gun readied, just like hers was.
Addie fired a shot into the woods and someone cried out. She couldn’t fire again because Jack was suddenly at her side, grabbing her up in his arms, and racing for the house as Travis fired shots in the direction the shooter had cried out. The next thing she knew, Dan was racing across the driveway as a cougar in the direction of the shooter.
She wanted to be with him, protecting his back, but Jack ran her inside, and gun readied, Travis followed Dan into the woods.
A cat snarled nearer the road and she wished the ones in the house would go outside and help the others out.
Then someone crashed through the back door and Bridget turned on the light, blinding the night-vision goggle wearer. He began firing indiscriminately and everyone dove for cover and then fired back from every direction all aimed at the assassin.
The man dropped his assault rifle and fell to the floor. An older woman rushed forward to move his weapon, and ensure he was dead. “He’s dead.”
Kate confirmed it.
“I’m Yvonne Mueller, and that’s my husband, Rick,” Yvonne said, pointing to the older gentleman. Both were armed to the teeth.
“Retired FBI,” Addie said, making the connection, appreciating their help.
“Yes.”
“Are you all right, Addie, Kate?” Leyton asked, wrapping his arm around Kate’s shoulders and moving her to one of the couches.
“Yeah,” both Addie and Kate said.
Dan ran into the house through the backdoor, shifted, dressed, armed himself, and looked around frantically at all the people there. When he saw Addie sitting on the couch, gun in hand, he rushed across the floor, and lifted her off the couch. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, thanks, Dan.”
“We got four men
. If there are any more than that, we need to be ready. My house has been compromised. Leyton, I know you don’t work for me, but I want you to take Kate home. She’s had enough excitement for the last couple of days. We don’t want that baby coming prematurely. Hal, you need to be with Tracey and the babies. Jack, same with you. Go home to Dottie. Rick, Yvonne?”
Chase headed inside, and Dan was glad to see he was fine. He shifted and got dressed too.
“We’ll return home and keep trying to learn what we can from our friends at the FBI from there,” Yvonne said.
“Any word yet from them?” Dan asked.
“Not yet.”
Stryker said, “Mrs. Fitz headed home through the woods, saying she’d call once she arrived home.”
“She should have waited for us to take her home,” Dan said. Then he got a call. “Okay, good. You’re home safely.” When he ended the call, he said to Addie, “She lives in a Victorian house through the woods near me, which is why I didn’t see her car. She must have carried the pizzas from her house.”
“Travis and I will secure the house, if Bridget and—” Stryker paused when they heard a car park out front.
An older man came inside. “Hell, I missed all the shooting. I’m Calvin Dixon,” he said to Addie. “My wife, Myrtle, and I are owners of the hotel on the outskirts of Yuma Town called Cougar Country Motel. Glad to meet you. We finally get to meet Dan’s mystery wife.”
She raised her brows at Dan.
“I swear I didn’t say anything. Mrs. Fitz, the widowed woman, who owns the bakery in town, and our party pizza delivery lady, started the rumors. She saw you entering my house when I wasn’t home. Imagine my shock upon returning to find you in my bed, needing medical attention. Then more rumors were flying when Kate had to come by the house.”
“Sounds like my mate,” Bridget said, winking at Travis. She’d never let him live it down that she’d had to rescue him while she’d been on an assignment.
“We’ll take care of the bodies too,” Stryker said.
“Where do you want me? With Stryker or to ride shotgun with you, Sheriff?” Calvin asked.
