“Deer, elk, coyote, maybe.” Adam should have mentioned to Tori that the woman who had come after them had been in on the kidnapping. Adam hadn’t known that until he’d been chasing the woman’s and man’s scents, and it would have been difficult to suddenly come up with an explanation that he and Sierra had seen the culprit and she looked just like the sketch Sierra had done. It would have been great to have tied the kidnapper in with the shooter, but he didn’t want to get tangled up in a fabrication with the police.

  They would have asked him why he hadn’t told the officers right away that he and Sierra had seen the men who were shooting off the weapons.

  When Roland pulled into Adam’s driveway, he thanked him.

  “You’re welcome. Good working with you.” Then Roland drove off and Adam headed into his house, using his spare key.

  Tori had her gun readied until she saw it was just Adam, then put it away. “Sierra wanted to wait up for you, but I told her there was no sense in both of us being up while waiting for you to return.”

  “Thanks, Tori. You’re right about that and I’m glad she’s getting some sleep. One of the shooters who fired at us was actually the woman involved in the kidnapping earlier today.”

  “But you didn’t tell the police that, did you?”

  “No. I told them Sierra and I were having a drink on Carver’s back patio when we heard the shots fired. If anyone asks, we went to Carver’s house to check on the place while he and his family are away on vacation.”

  “Okay, gotcha. I’m out of here, but if you have any trouble tonight, just call me. I’ll be over in a jiffy.”

  “Thanks.” Adam let Tori out and watched her get into her car and drive off. Then he locked up and walked past the guest bedroom. He wanted in the worst way to check on Sierra, to see that she was fine, but he didn’t want to disturb her if she was a really light sleeper like he was. He retired to his bedroom to take a shower in the master bath and was soon in bed, gun sitting on his bedside table. He was worried about Sierra being alone tomorrow when she returned to her own home without anyone to watch out for her. Maybe, once he told her one of the shooters had been Melissa’s kidnapper and in Sierra’s home, she would change her mind about returning home, if she still had it in mind to do that.

  He closed his eyes and was thinking about the day’s events when he sensed someone in the room. He opened his eyes, looked over at the doorway, and saw Sierra standing there in a pair of aqua shorty pajamas. “Sierra?”

  Chapter 15

  “Did you catch the shooters?” Sierra had heard Adam’s shower run, then quit. She’d drifted off, then woke when everything was quiet and was trying to go back to sleep, but she had to know if Adam and the other police officers had caught the shooters and then she could really sleep. When she peered into Adam’s bedroom, she worried he might be sound asleep and she didn’t want to wake him unnecessarily, especially if they had some problems tonight and they were both up again.

  He opened his eyes and stared at her standing in the dark, woke enough to realize she was watching him, and called out her name in question. He sat up in bed, his chest bare, nicely sculpted as he turned on the bedside table lamp. “No, unfortunately not. But we did find some shell casings and a bullet at the park. Are you okay?”

  “I woke and had to know, though I didn’t mean to wake you.”

  “It’s no problem.” He explained everything to her.

  She frowned. “So they must have known we were there.”

  “I don’t know. It seems unlikely that the woman involved in stealing your car and kidnapping Melissa and taking her to your house just ended up in Forest Park when we did. They must have followed us to Carver’s place, found a place to park, heard us leaving through the back gate, and then tried to follow us. But instead of discovering us as humans, they saw the two of us as red wolves and figured one of us was the dog that had guarded your hotel room. That’s all I can figure.”

  She frowned. “And they still aimed to kill ‘my’ dog.”

  “Right. I don’t know what they had in mind to do if they saw us in our human forms instead.” He motioned to his bed. “Did…you want to join me?”

  She smiled. “Thanks. But no.” At least not tonight. “Well, I’m disappointed you weren’t able to arrest them, and it’s too bad we couldn’t add a charge of them shooting at us too.”

  “Yeah, and if we caught them and ended up convicting them, at least the one for the kidnapping of the girl, can you imagine what would have happened?”

  “Yep. Dover’s cohort was caught shooting at the same phantom dog in my hotel room.” She smiled. “I would have loved for that to happen.” Then she frowned. “But only for the first time he shot at us. Not for it to happen again. Thanks for the protection and trying to locate these guys. It’s way past time to go to bed. Good night.”

  “What about tomorrow? Where will you stay?”

  Sierra knew he wanted her to stay with him longer because the woman who had been to her house had been shooting at them tonight, and she had said she would stay with Adam if they learned the shooters were Dover’s people.

  She gave a reluctant sigh. “Okay, I’ll stay here. I’ll have to pack a couple of bags at my house after work.” She really had wanted to stay at her own home and not be a burden to anyone. She did consider how other bachelor males would view this, if things didn’t work out between her and Adam, but she didn’t want to drive in from the ranch if she stayed out there to have more protection. And she didn’t want to impose on Josh and Brooke who were newly mated, though Josh could offer her protection too.

  “Okay, that will work. ’Night, Sierra.”

  She smiled and headed back down the hall to her cozy guest bedroom. But when she settled down to sleep, all she could think about when she closed her eyes and tucked the blue comforter up to her chin was the sound of gunfire, the smell of the pristine woods, and the knowledge that men were chasing them with the intent to kill. She didn’t think it would end there either, unless Adam got lucky, arrested the shooters, and sent them to jail.

  She felt like she’d barely fallen asleep when she heard Adam on the phone, heading down the hall. He peeked into her room only wearing his boxer briefs and saw her eyeing him. “Hey, I’ve got to go in to work.”

  She groaned. She wouldn’t have to go in for another two hours normally.

  “I can call Josh to come by and watch over you, and then he can drop you off at work. I’m having your car taken out of impound and can have it delivered either here or at work, but it might be a while before someone can get to it.”

  “You can have my car delivered to the bureau.” She really didn’t want to have to go in before she had to. “I’ll call Josh and see if he and Brooke don’t mind me being over there until I need to go to work.”

  “Okay.”

  “What’s the situation you have to deal with?” She grabbed her phone to call Josh.

  “A police officer pulled a man over for speeding, and he looked like the description of one of the men who sold the stolen boat to Rivers. Rivers just picked the guy out of a lineup.”

  “It’s amazing how these criminals can get away with so much, but then their downfall is disobeying traffic regulations.”

  Adam smiled. “That works well for us. Oh, and other good news—they found wig hair, about the color of your hair, in your car and house and on our kidnapped victim. No fingerprints on the steering wheel or doors.”

  “That’s great news about the wig though. Now we just need to find the wig at Phyllis’s residence—”

  “Or fibers in her own car. Do you want some coffee?”

  “Yeah, sure. One teaspoon of sugar and lots of milk or cream.”

  “You’ve got it.” He went to the kitchen.

  She hurried to get dressed, then called Josh on her cell phone. “Hey, I hate to bother you and Brooke like this, but—”

  “Adam said you might need looking after if he couldn’t do it. We’ll be glad to have you over for as long as you need to be here.”

  She was glad Josh knew the story, but she wished she didn’t have to impose on everyone. “He was called in early to work. I don’t have to go in for another couple of hours”—at least that she knew for now—“and I don’t have my car back yet. Adam could drop me off at your place and I could help you get ready to open the antique shop, and then, if you don’t mind, you could drop me off at the bureau when I have to go in to work.”

  “Yeah, come on over. You can have breakfast with us. Adam too, if he has time.”

  “I don’t think so, but I’ll let him know. And thanks bunches.”

  “No problem. We’ll both be glad to see you. And congratulations on getting the full-time position.”

  “Thanks.” She still preferred the part-time job. Then they ended the call and she joined Adam in the kitchen. “Okay, Josh said for you to drop me off at their place, and he’ll take me to work.”

  “Good show.”

  She sipped some of the coffee he had made for her and smiled. “Perfect.”

  “Good. I’ve got to get dressed.”

  “Josh invited you to breakfast.”

  “No time.” Adam hurried off toward his bedroom.

  “I told him you might not have any.”

  “Thank him for me for the offer though.”

  “I will. Oh, and what did he say when you told him he was replaced by a pretty she-wolf?”

  “He laughed and didn’t believe me at first. He thought I was pulling his leg.” Drawers opened and shut in the bedroom.

  “I was surprised too. I wondered how Josh would view it.”

  “Well, if it had just been a female detective, no big deal. But when she was also a wolf?” Adam chuckled. “Tori’s been great to work with, and though she’s a lot different in her methods than Josh, she’s eager to be a real help in the investigations. She’s great at her job.”

  “I’m so glad for you. I know you were getting really inundated with work.”

  Adam came out of the bedroom and joined Sierra. “I sure was. Are you ready to go?”

  “Yeah, sure.” She went back to the guest bedroom and grabbed her purse. On the way to Josh and Brooke’s house, she said, “So now one of the men who stole the boat has been arrested?”

  “Yeah. He’s claiming salvage rights.”

  “He can’t do that.” At least she didn’t think so.

  “No.” Adam laughed. “Criminals will come up with anything to get out of a jail sentence. If they had turned the boat over to the police when they found it, that would have been one thing. We would have learned sooner that the man who owned it and his companions had gone missing. Taking possession of the boat and trying to sell it was a criminal act.”

  “Is there any tie between them and the drowned men?”

  “We’re asking anyone who saw the boat on the river that day to give us a call. We’ve had a lot of calls from boaters who saw the men one of the days before they drowned—they’d been fishing and were friendly to other boaters—but not anyone who saw the other men piloting the boat. Except for the officers of the River Patrol Unit. At least not for now. We’re still trying to learn if there was any foul play. We didn’t find any human blood on the boat at least. Just some traces of fish blood.”

  “Were there any fish onboard the boat?”

  “No. And all the gear the men had onboard was still onboard. That’s another way to realize a boat you’re buying may be stolen—if personal stuff belonging to the owner is still onboard. Most people who sell a boat would clean it up and only leave items onboard that belong with the boat.”

  “Okay. If I bought a boat, I’d stick with a showroom boat dealer. Growing up, I loved to go out with Mom and Dad and Brad on boating trips. Dad had motorboats for a long time, and then he got sailboats. They’re all fun, though for wolves, sailboats are really nice. Quiet. He always had a motor on one though, just in case we were becalmed. No wind meant we weren’t going anywhere.”

  “That’s for sure. I really enjoy my boat, but I get so busy with work, I don’t have time for it. I even thought of selling it.”

  “Oh, no, you can’t do that!”

  Adam glanced at her and smiled. “Don’t tell me that if I didn’t have a boat, you wouldn’t go out with me.”

  “Oh, for sure. I love boating. That’s just what I need. A wolf boyfriend with a boat.”

  He smiled. “Does the size matter?”

  “Oh, yeah, the bigger the better.”

  Adam chuckled. “We’re still talking about boats, right?”

  She laughed. She was glad they would be going out on it in a few days.

  They reached Josh and Brooke’s house, and both of them came out to greet her. Sierra was planning to do portrait sketches in a few weeks at Brooke’s antique store for Brooke’s customers for fun. She hadn’t realized she would be working full-time now, so she might not be able to do it if she got called in to do a witness or dead-body sketch.

  She loved picking up trinkets in Brooke’s shop.

  “Are you sure you can’t grab a bite to eat with us?” Josh asked Adam before he left for work.

  “You know how it is. I have to run in. Just keep her safe, will you?” Adam asked.

  Josh smiled. “Yeah, you know it.”

  Sierra shook her head and then went inside with Brooke to help make breakfast. She sure hoped that the bad guys didn’t target her friends next because she’d stayed there with them, if they were watching her every move.

  * * *

  Adam knew the look Josh had given him when he told him to keep Sierra safe meant he believed Adam was falling for the lady. Hell, he was. Here he had a she-wolf who could be his partner at work and his mate after hours, but Sierra was the one who kept his attention. He realized he’d wanted to jump in with both feet to date her the moment she had told Richard she was no longer dating him. And yet Adam had been reserved about it because he didn’t want to go too fast with her in the event she needed some time before she wanted to seriously date someone again. He sure hadn’t wanted to date her and learn later she was just on the rebound and there was nothing more to her interest in him than that.

  Then he arrived at the bureau and met up with Tori.

  “You look happy about something,” Tori said. “Good night last night?”

  “Uh, we didn’t have any trouble, if that’s what you mean.”

  “No, that’s not what I meant, but I’m glad you didn’t have any trouble with Dover’s crew. Are we ready to talk to the men then?” she asked.

  “Yeah. I’m ready. Let’s get this done.” He sure hoped they could wrap up this case, since they were working on so many others. But he mostly wanted to concentrate on the one involving Sierra.

  “So where’s Sierra?” Tori asked as if she realized no one was watching Sierra and she hadn’t come to the bureau with Adam.

  “She’s at Josh and Brooke’s house having breakfast. You’ll have to meet them both. They’re really good friends of ours.”

  “I’d love to meet them.”

  They walked into the interrogation room to speak with the first of the men—Lonnie Hicks.

  “So what’s your story?” Adam asked the man.

  “Hey, man, I told that cop I was going the speed limit. He’s wrong about that.”

  “Yeah, but I’m here to ask you about the boat you sold off Craigslist to a buyer.” Adam knew Rivers hadn’t bought it off Craigslist, but if that was the story he and Lonnie had concocted, Adam didn’t want him to think he hadn’t believed Rivers’s story.

  The guy’s eyes widened.

  “The one that didn’t belong to you.”

  “Hey, I told that other cop what the deal was on that. It was just sitting idly in the water and I rescued it. It’s the law of the sea. Salvage rights. I claimed it. No one else did.”

  “And you didn’t call the police to let them know about it. Did you even think that someone who owned the boat might have been in trouble?”

  Lonnie leaned back in his chair like he wasn’t worried about them charging him with anything.

  “Did you have anything to do with the owner of the boat drowning in the Willamette?” Adam asked.

  The guy’s brows shot up. “Hell, no. Is that what this is all about? The boat was just sitting on the water when my friends and I were out fishing. We didn’t see nobody on the boat, so we moved in closer. We hollered out, thinking maybe the owner was in the cabin getting some—” The man glanced at Tori. “You know, the good stuff with some pretty blond. But no one answered, so I climbed aboard and there wasn’t a soul on the boat.”

  “And like I said, you didn’t bother to call the police or River Patrol to tell them you found a boat with no one on it. It’s not like the boat was badly damaged and you had to haul it out of the river.”

  “How many times I got to tell you people, it’s salvage rights, pure and simple. Finders, keepers. If the owner fell off his own damn boat and drowned”—Lonnie shrugged—“he shouldn’t be on the water.”

  “He’s dead.”

  “Well, see there? He’s dead.”

  “And you had nothing to do with it?” Adam asked.

  “Hell, no.”

  “Or the other two dead men who were on the boat with him?” Tori asked, taking notes.

  Lonnie’s eyes grew bigger again. “Hell, no. You mean you think my friends and I had something to do with the men who died because they couldn’t handle a boat that size on the river? No way. We were just fishing.”

  “And selling a drowned man’s boat. Who were your friends on the other boat?”

  At that last question, Lonnie wouldn’t say.

  * * *

  Sierra wondered what she would have to do today once Josh drove her to work. She hoped she had more witness sketches to do today rather than dead-body sketches. Maybe she would get used to it. She wanted to love going into work like she did before. If her sketches helped identify bodies, she supposed she would feel as useful as when she did witness sketches. She guessed it was because with witnesses, she had immediate feedback from them. They were glad she might be able to help them. She had to remind herself that the drowned men’s sketches helped identify them to the boat owner’s wife at least.