“Then the boat was found adrift and these men took advantage of the situation?” the dark-haired officer asked.

  “It’s either that or they stole it from them. I can’t think of any other scenario that would make sense of the situation.”

  The officers gave the descriptions of the three men on the boat. After Sierra drew the sketches, she showed them to the officers.

  “Yeah, these look just like them,” the blond officer said.

  “Good. It matches the description the man who bought the boat gave us.” At least the second description Mr. Rivers gave them. “So we know the same people who sold the boat had taken it off the water,” Adam said.

  “If you need any more help with this, just let us know,” the blond officer said.

  “Thanks. This is a lot of help.” Adam was glad that the boat buyer had been honest with them once they assured him he wouldn’t be prosecuted for the crime.

  Adam and Sierra got into his SUV and then drove back to the bureau so she could get busy with other work and he could get the witness sketches out to the public. He hoped they would get something from that soon.

  At the bureau, he was surprised to see Ethan. What was the special agent from the DEA doing there?

  Tori smiled at Adam. “He needs to borrow Sierra—to do a witness sketch.”

  Sierra patted Adam’s chest and smiled at him, and he realized he was scowling. He managed a small smile. “But she works for us.”

  “I’ll be sure to have her back at a decent hour.” Ethan cast him a wolfish grin and escorted Sierra out of the building.

  Chapter 13

  “Adam, you know Sierra’s done witness sketches for the DEA before, and they always return her to us safe and sound,” the chief said, coming out of his office to check on things. “Has her status changed somehow? You know she has an out-of-state boyfriend.”

  “She ditched the boyfriend,” Tori said, smiling. “So all bets are off.”

  The chief laughed. “Good to know.”

  Adam thought Tori was enjoying this a little too much. He planned to ask Sierra to have dinner with him and then go with him to Forest Park to run as wolves tonight after the park closed at ten. He hoped Ethan wouldn’t ask her out on a date first. But he didn’t want to mention any of his plans to Sierra in front of Tori. Hell, he thought he’d have no problem making plans with her tonight since she was staying overnight with him. Then Ethan showed up on the scene.

  If Sierra did go running with Adam tonight, she was free to share that bit of news with Tori, but he didn’t want Sierra to turn him down in front of Tori, if she had a mind to.

  Even though Sierra said she wasn’t worried about being Dover’s target, he found himself watching for danger, seeing if they were being followed anywhere that he and she went together. He needed to let Ethan know to keep an eye out too, if he wasn’t already thinking along those lines.

  * * *

  Sierra knew it was imperative that she speak with witnesses and victims right away because their memories of people’s appearances degraded so quickly with the passing hours that they could remember the perps totally wrong by the time she did a sketch. She’d done one sketch of a perp based on two eyewitness descriptions that were so inaccurate, it didn’t matter how good Sierra’s drawing was. The witnesses had stated the assailant had blond hair instead of dark. Blue eyes instead of brown. Even those details, she figured a witness couldn’t have gotten wrong. But because of the time she got there and the trauma they had experienced, they had it all wrong. Luckily, detectives still caught the guy, but not based on her sketch.

  Even when Sierra journaled about her experiences, if she tried to recall the more minute details days, weeks, months later, it was amazing how blurry the recollections had become.

  On the way to Ethan’s SUV, he was reading a text from someone and texted the person back. She figured it was work-related. Then he and Sierra drove to a park to speak to a couple of witnesses about a drug deal that had gone bad. “So has Adam asked you out on a date yet? I mean a real date, not just lunch with him during working hours.”

  She laughed as they were driving to the city park. “He’s working up to asking. We haven’t scheduled a date per se.”

  “He’s only working up to it?”

  Smiling, she realized she should have known Ethan would be thinking about that and not about his case. Like Adam, he was always really focused on his work, except now that she was available to date. He had always joked with her about the lucky guy who was dating her, so she knew he wanted to date her too, if she ever ditched the other guy.

  “Just so you know and don’t hear it from someone else and wonder what’s up, I’m staying with Adam at his place tonight.” She ran her hand over her sketch pad on her lap.

  Ethan glanced at her, raised his brows, and smiled. At least he didn’t seem annoyed about it. “For your protection.”

  “No, because my house is the secondary crime scene in the kidnapping case. And I have to have my laundry room window replaced.”

  “Adam told me you have no security on the house.” Ethan glanced at his rearview mirror.

  “It’s an older home so it didn’t come with it, and I haven’t had any trouble in the time I’ve been here. Anyway, I’m staying at Adam’s place only overnight.”

  Ethan frowned at her. “This sounds serious. Though I can understand why, after Adam told me all that had happened. You could stay with Josh and his mate.”

  “Adam already mentioned that.”

  “Really? I’m surprised.” Ethan smiled at her. “You could stay with me.”

  Sierra smiled back. “Adam didn’t mention that.”

  Ethan laughed. “Of course he didn’t. He only offered Josh as protection because he’s got a mate.”

  “Staying at Adam’s house is not for protection, and it’s only for tonight.”

  “Those guys mean business regarding you. They wouldn’t have gone to those lengths if they didn’t mean to cause you more grief. I’m sure of it. None of us want to see you hurt. And you don’t want to change into your wolf when you’re home alone, with the thought you can scare them off this time.” He looked at his rearview mirror again.

  “I know. Adam already told me that too. You guys sure think alike.”

  “We’re just worried about you is all.”

  “Well, I appreciate. Really I do.”

  When he looked at his rearview mirror again, she asked, “What are you watching for? Is someone following us?”

  “It comes with the business I’m in.”

  “DEA, sure.” She frowned at him. “And watching out for me?”

  “Yeah, you know it.”

  “Adam put you up to it. The text message you got and replied to.”

  Ethan chuckled. “You’re good. Truth is, yes, he texted me to watch out for you, but I would have anyway, and I do keep an eye out on suspicious movement because of my work.”

  “Okay, good. I wouldn’t want to think you weren’t watching out for me.”

  Ethan laughed.

  They finally arrived at the park where the crime scene was taped off. Two women were sitting together at a picnic bench, and Sierra joined them to start drawing their descriptions of the four men, one of whom had been a shooter. She wasn’t sure they would be able to do a good job of it because they had ducked down behind a car to protect themselves when the shooting started, and she sure didn’t blame them for that.

  The two women began arguing with each other about what the men had looked like.

  “That’s okay. You’re doing great.” Sierra coaxed them through the process, helping them to recall further details that she hoped were more accurate than not. “Thanks, ladies. You did really good.”

  Then she and Ethan were back in his SUV and returning to the bureau.

  “Thanks for helping us out as usual,” Ethan said.

  “You’re welcome. I love doing witness sketches, though I’m not sure the women’s recollections were good enough this time to assist you in catching the culprits.”

  “You can only do what you’re able to do with what you’re given. But in this case, your continued questioning of the ladies worked. When I saw your sketch, I knew who the shooter was.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “Nope. He’s a known drug dealer who uses a gun when he gets pissed off. He’s been in and out of prison for years. We’ll get him. I think I know the others who were with him too.”

  “Wow, that’s great.” Sierra really did love to do the sketches in the hope that it would help the good guys.

  “If you need me to protect you from Adam tonight, you’ve got my number.”

  She laughed. “I’ll have to let him know that.”

  “He’ll be glad to know that, I’m sure. See you later,” Ethan said, dropping her off at the bureau. “The offer still stands if you need a different place to stay.”

  “Okay. I’ll certainly keep that in mind. Thanks.” She smiled at him, glad he was sweet enough to offer, and hurried into the bureau. She saw Adam on his phone at his desk, but as soon as she caught his eye, he smiled, then turned serious and waved her over.

  Man, working full-time was rough. She was ready to sit down and kick up her feet for a bit.

  “Hey, we got five calls about the woman who kidnapped Melissa and left her at your house. It turns out the female kidnapper is Dover’s girlfriend.”

  “Oh, great! Do you have a warrant out for her arrest?”

  “We sure do. Her name is Phyllis Kenton.” Adam glanced at the clock on the wall. “It’s time to quit work. Are you ready to go to my place and have some dinner?”

  “Uh, yeah.” Boy was she ever. She would sleep well tonight, that was if she didn’t have nightmares about the girl being kidnapped. Or about bodies in the morgue. She’d had nightmares about Dover in her hotel room after that had happened.

  “’Night, Tori. We’ll see you tomorrow.” Sierra hoped it would be a lighter workload than today, but if it was always like this, she could understand why Willy retired and why she had been hired to help out part-time prior to that. Not that she didn’t like to keep busy, but there was busy and there was exhausting. She realized she needed some downtime during the day.

  “Night, Sierra, Adam. See you in the morning. If not sooner,” Tori said.

  That was the problem with this business. Crime didn’t take a break.

  “You bought lunch. Do you want me to buy us some takeout dinner we can take home?” Sierra asked Adam as they climbed into his Hummer.

  “Yeah, sure. Pizza parlor? Or home delivery?”

  “Home delivery. I’m ready to just relax.” She got out her phone. “What toppings do you want?”

  “Anything but anchovies is good for me.”

  “Okay.” She ordered a large meat-lover’s deep pan pizza with extra cheese. “Your address?”

  He told her his address and she gave it to the cashier. “Thanks.” She leaned back against the seat and closed her eyes.

  “It must be tiring for you working full-time again.”

  “Yeah. But also the business with the young lady being kidnapped, my car being stolen and used in the kidnapping, and my house being the drop-off place for the kidnap victim took a toll on me.”

  “I’m sorry for all that. You know, this didn’t happen until Dover ended up in jail. I’m surprised he’s incarcerated and still pulling the strings.”

  “He’s arrogant.”

  “Yeah, well, he deserves to be right where he is,” Adam said.

  They soon arrived at Adam’s home, a pretty one-story brick house with big, framed windows and a blue bench sitting on a porch out front. He had nice flower beds filled with evergreen plants, but she could envision filling them with flowers too.

  They hadn’t been home for more than ten minutes when someone knocked on the door and Adam answered it. “Here’s our pizza.”

  “Good. I’m starving.”

  After she paid for the pizza, Adam set it on the island counter, similar to hers, but his counter and his cabinets were black, while hers were all white.

  “Wine with pizza?” he asked.

  “Sure, that would be great.”

  “If you think you could last that long, given that you’re so tired, we could go for a run in Forest Park tonight after it closes.”

  “I would love that. I haven’t run in a while as a wolf,” she said.

  “Good. Then we’ll head over there a quarter before the hour.”

  “To Carver’s place, right?” She’d been to the wolf’s house before. He and his family had set it up so that anyone who wanted to run in Forest Park could use his place to park their vehicles and shift out of sight since his property was backed up on the park.

  “Yeah, it’s summer vacation for them. He and his wife and two daughters are away.”

  After eating their pizza and watching a fantasy movie, it was time to run and they headed over to Carver’s place.

  It didn’t take Sierra and Adam long to remove their clothes and shift in the outer building in the backyard, and then they ran out through the wolf door in the back gate.

  This was the perfect way to stretch their legs after a busy day at work and all the rest of the stuff that had gone on. She needed this and Adam seemed to be just as eager to run as a wolf tonight.

  They moved off the trails and continued trotting along. The wind ruffled Sierra’s fur and she felt exhilarated. She was so glad Adam had recommended going for a run tonight. She knew if she ran, she would feel great, and then hopefully she could sleep really well.

  They were having a blast keeping up with each other. With five thousand acres to explore, they had a lot of territory to cover if they wanted to spend hours out here.

  About ten minutes later, someone fired a shot at them, and the round hit a tree within a foot of them. They immediately scattered, knowing to put distance between each other so that both of them wouldn’t be targets. Her heart was pounding out of bounds. No one was supposed to have weapons in the park, and no one was supposed to be hunting. Well, hell, no one was supposed to be in the park at this time of night!

  Another shot was fired, then two more. Another three. The humans who were shooting at them could never catch up to them. But what if whoever was shooting at them had seen them come out through Carver’s back gate?

  Though Sierra and Adam were still keeping their distance from each other, they were within earshot to ensure they didn’t lose each other. They kept running away from Carver’s place, and she assumed Adam worried about the same thing. They didn’t slow down for several minutes, and finally when they knew they were far enough away that the humans wouldn’t be able to catch up to them, they slowed down and then made their way to each other.

  Their hearts were racing, and they were panting. She didn’t think the humans would ever be able to locate them in the dark now, not without the ability she and Adam had to run as fast as they could. And the shooters wouldn’t have the wolves’ enhanced sense of smell so they could track them.

  But returning to the house was another story, if what she was afraid of turned out to be true—that the shooters had seen them leave Carver’s backyard through the gate.

  Adam shifted and crouched down in the ferns. “If this has to do with Dover and they tracked us from the house, we can’t go there. They could be waiting for us to return there.”

  She shifted. “Then what do we do? What if we make our way to the front of the house instead, sneak in through the front gate and get dressed out back. I mean, if they saw us naked, they couldn’t very well shoot us. Right now, they could say they were shooting at dogs, well, coyotes, not people. I’m sure they figure that at least one of us has to be the ‘dog’ in my hotel room that day that Dover got caught. And they’re determined to kill it. If it has to do with Dover and his people.”

  “As long as they don’t want to kill us even if we’re in our human forms too. Carver has a keypad lock to the front door, and he has a security alarm set whenever he’s away. We can make our way to the house as wolves and shift in the shrubs before we reach it. You’ll remain hidden and I’ll race to the house and unlock the door, turn off the security alarm, and wave to you to come inside. Then we can take it from there.”

  “They have a spare bedroom with clothes for guests who run into trouble. He told me that when I first moved into the area and planned to run in the park.”

  “Exactly. So I’ll grab something to wear in there and let you in. Let’s shift and go. There’s a break between homes at the cul-de-sac and we can hide there,” Adam said.

  She sure hoped this worked out and no neighbor saw them running naked through the front yard.

  Adam said, “I’ll make sure the coast is clear in the backyard, and you come through the front gate. Shrubs hide that area more than they do the entryway and front door.”

  “Good idea. I worry when I park a vehicle at their house and they’re gone, believing neighbors will think I’m breaking in.”

  “He let his neighbors know he lets his friends use his property whether he’s here or not.”

  “And you know the keypad and security number?”

  “I’m a police detective. If they ever have trouble while they’re away, they want me to check on it. Or Josh, even though he’s retired, or Ethan.” Then Adam shifted and so did she.

  She prayed they wouldn’t run into the shooters on the way back to Carver’s house.

  Chapter 14

  Adam and Sierra began moving back in the direction of Carver’s house but way around from where they had run initially, just in case the shooters were trying to track them down. She really didn’t think they would be successful. Initially, the shooters had a couple of chances to hit Sierra and Adam, but after that, they’d lost that chance. Man, did she want to terminate them. If they had killed either Adam or her while running as a wolf, they would have turned back into their human form. She could just imagine the shooters trying to explain that away and the mess all the wolves would be in, not to mention how awful it would be to lose a pack mate. She suspected whoever survived would have to kill the shooters—not out of revenge, but they couldn’t risk the shooters telling what they’d seen.