He swam into the shallower part and dove through the waterfall to reach her, then shook off the excess water on his fur all over her. He quickly looked at her as if he knew he’d made a mistake after he had already done it. She wanted to laugh. She nipped his ear instead. He licked her face and nuzzled her cheek with his.

  Yeah, she was staying with him for now and the foreseeable future. If he was agreeable.

  Her brother howled, interrupting the intimate wolf moment, but she knew he must have been alarmed when he didn’t see them at the waterfall and thought he’d lost them.

  She howled to let him know where they were.

  He howled back to tell them he understood and he was glad they were safe.

  She nuzzled Adam and thought it would be fun to sit on the shore of the pond and watch the sunset reflect in the pool. Then she dashed back through the waterfall and swam through the deeper section of the pool. She climbed out onto the bank, shook off the water from her outer coat, and turned to watch Adam paddling back to shore to join her.

  But then he moved in a different direction and she wondered what he was up to. He got out of the water, shook off, smiled at her, then trotted over to join her. She smiled. Good. He had learned. Yeah, they shook off the water from their coats, a natural reaction, and they might not think about who was within reach of the shower of water, but—as wolves dating—it was a nice thing to think of. Now, if the wolves were mated and had been together for a while? Old instincts were hard to break.

  She lay down to watch the sun setting and he lay next to her, their bodies pressed together in a way that said they were more than just on a jaunt to see the waterfall.

  This was so nice after a long, hard day. And being with Adam made it so much more special. Shoot. What about all the guys out guarding them? They would surely want the time to be home with their families or doing something fun or productive instead of having to serve on guard duty. She lifted her head to look at the sun. It was going down, but she didn’t think she had ever seen it sink below the treetops so slowly. A watched kettle came to mind.

  She sat up.

  Adam shifted. “What’s wrong? I didn’t hear anything that could pose trouble, did you?”

  She shook her head, sighed, shifted. “I wanted to see the sunset on the pool of water, but it means everyone guarding us can’t be home with their friends and family.”

  “They’re watching the sun set too.”

  Okay, so she would buy that. Relaxing again, she shifted and lay back down and he did the same, snuggling up close to her, keeping her warm in the chilly night air. Now this was nice.

  The sun was really beginning to set now, the oranges and pinks and yellows reflecting off the pond and the waterfall—and she wished she could have taken a picture.

  And then it was gone, the blue hour upon them when there was still light, the sky not totally black. She and Adam licked each other’s mouths, then Adam howled to say they were headed back to the ranch, and of course she had to howl too.

  A chorus of howls sounded off—their guards in wolf coats. And then she heard the howls from farther away, at the ranch house and other homes. She smiled at Adam, loving the camaraderie of the pack.

  Sierra raced off toward the ranch homes and Adam dove after her. She had planned to run straight back to the ranch and not take any deviations to make the fastest time possible so everyone could enjoy their families, but Adam had other plans. He was chasing her!

  And that made her happily nervous—just an instinctual behavior of trying to keep out of the aggressor’s path, even though she knew they were just playing. She darted off to her left and then to the right, but he was quick and matched her move for move.

  He was so close to nipping at her tail that she thought of turning on him. But she was certain if she did, she wouldn’t manage to do it fast enough to get out of his path and he would run right into her broadside. This wasn’t working for her, so she turned right, then quickly turned left and rounded on him. He broadsided her. Knocked her down. She knew he would. She wanted to laugh.

  He paused for a second, waiting to see her response—be mad at him, ready for retaliation, or amused. She had a brother, and she was used to going on the offensive in a second. She got to her feet and attacked Adam in good fun.

  They were biting each other’s mouths, front paws hooked over each other’s shoulders, standing on their hind legs, having a ball. They nipped and bit and mouthed each other, growling and barking. And then they sat down in the grass and woofed at each other.

  She sighed, got up, licked his face, and dashed off. And he was in hot pursuit again.

  Chapter 18

  Adam was having a blast with Sierra. He loved going to the waterfall with her, seeing the sunset, and now playing with her on the way back to the ranch house.

  He was still chasing her, not wanting to give up the fun and excitement. He nipped at her tail once, and she turned her head and woofed at him, but she didn’t turn to play-fight him again. They needed to get in and let everyone else return home to their own business. He wished they didn’t need to have guard support, so they could play longer.

  Then they were at the ranch house, and she ran in through Brad and Janice’s wolf door. Adam followed right behind her.

  She shifted and dressed in the bedroom, and when she came out, Brad came through the wolf door and Adam went into the guest room to shift. Brad woofed at his sister.

  “Thanks for being there for us. That was a lot of fun,” she told her brother while Adam hurried to dress.

  Her brother woofed again, and Adam left the bedroom.

  Janice was fixing them all glasses of water. “I think it’s just awful what’s going on with you and these men.”

  “We’ll get them,” Adam reassured her, wanting in the worst way to end Dover’s obsession with getting even with Sierra for identifying him.

  Before Adam could drink any of his water, Sierra wrapped her arms around him and kissed him. “Adam will get them. All of them.” Then she changed the subject. “I really enjoyed tonight.”

  Adam kissed her back, pressuring for more when her brother walked out of his bedroom and smiled at them.

  “Uh, I guess we ought to be getting back,” Adam said before her brother threw him out, but Janice was smiling like she approved. “And thanks for the security detail.”

  Sierra gave her brother a hug. “Thanks for coming with us.”

  He hugged her back. “What are big brothers for? But I still think you ought to stay with us.”

  “I’m staying with Adam, closer to work than out here, and I’m—”

  “Dating him?”

  “Yes,” Adam said.

  Sierra finished her water. “I am. Where are Mom and Dad?” Sierra asked her brother.

  “They’re staying with Leidolf and Cassie. When they learned you had dumped Richard and there was no chance you were returning to Texas to live, they decided to check out the pack.”

  “Ohmigod, they’re thinking of moving here?”

  “Yep. There’s nothing to hold them there now.”

  Sierra smiled. “Good. How long will they be here?”

  “For about a week. We’ll all have to have lunch together. Sunday all right?”

  “How about dinner? We are going out on the boat earlier, remember?” Sierra said.

  “That will work,” Brad said.

  “Okay, we’ll do that. We’ve got to go.” Sierra headed for the door. “Come on, you, before you get the third degree when you’re used to being the one who gives them, Adam.”

  “’Night, Sierra, Adam,” Brad and Janice said.

  “’Night, Janice, Brad,” they both said to them.

  They thanked the other men who were coming in from guard duty as they left Brad and Janice’s house.

  Leidolf joined them and said, “There was no trouble along our borders while you were running as wolves. One of our men followed the two cars that were behind you when you drove onto the ranch. If one of the cars had been tracking you for some dark purpose, they kept going. They could have seen our man leaving the ranch and following them and decided it wasn’t a good idea to do anything further tonight.”

  “Okay, thanks,” Adam said.

  “Did you want anyone to follow you home and give you protection?”

  “No, we’ll be fine,” Adam said.

  “Okay, well, it looks like your parents are planning to join us, Sierra.”

  “That is such great news. I didn’t think they would ever leave San Antonio.”

  “We’re glad to have them. Good night,” Leidolf said.

  Adam and Sierra got into the Hummer, waved goodbye, and drove back to Adam’s house.

  “That was a great workout. I haven’t enjoyed watching the sun set in forever, and the waterfall was really beautiful,” Sierra said.

  “It’s the perfect place for a picnic too, if you want to have one there.”

  “I would love that. I just can’t believe my parents are moving here. I’m so thrilled.”

  “I’m really glad too.” Adam was thinking more about having kids with her, as far as extended family went, and he knew he was getting way ahead of himself there. But having her brother and sister-in-law there and her parents too would be really important for them.

  He focused again on making sure they were not going to have any trouble, looking at his rearview mirror, watching to see if anyone was following them.

  She glanced at her side-view mirror. “There’s a car back there.”

  “A couple. But I doubt they are following us with any evil intent.”

  “Just think, if you didn’t feel the need to protect me, you wouldn’t have any worries.” Sierra sighed.

  Adam shook his head. “With the work I do, I’ve had threats before. At a restaurant that had billiards, one woman nearly hit me with a cue stick when I went to question her husband about a home invasion, and I ended up having to arrest both of them. It turned out that they were both involved in the home invasions.”

  “It’s good that you caught both of them then.”

  “Yes. And they were both given jail time. After she was released, she followed me in her car several times. I threatened her with more jail time, and that was the last of it. Another time, a mother of two juvenile delinquent sons chased me down in her pickup truck, trying to run me off the road. She was charged with reckless endangerment, and that was the last she bothered me.”

  Smiling, Sierra said, “Okay, then I guess if I run around with you too much, I may be with you when you get yourself into more trouble.”

  He laughed. “You might be right. I’m sorry I might be dragging you into any trouble I could have at some future date.”

  “Well, maybe I can help protect you then.”

  “I’m all for having your help.” He smiled at her.

  They finally arrived home and he parked in the garage. “Did you want anything before we call it a night?” Adam asked.

  They entered the house and he turned on the lights.

  But then Adam got a call. He let his breath out, hoping it wasn’t something he had to go in about, though he wasn’t on call tonight. “Yeah, what’s up?” he asked the officer, Roland Paulson. “Work,” Adam mouthed to Sierra.

  She nodded and headed for the bedroom.

  Adam hoped she wouldn’t be annoyed that he might have to go in at any time for work-related issues. Then again, she also might have to. And hell, there was the issue of him having to leave her alone if he went in.

  “We were chasing down a suspect who attempted to burglarize a hotel room. We think he’s one of the men involved in the theft ring you broke up when Sierra Redding identified the other man. I know you’re not on call tonight, but since it was your case before, I thought you might want to come and investigate. You know. Because your sense of smell is so good, maybe you could tell if he was one of the men involved in the other robberies.”

  The officer was beginning to worry Adam a bit. What did he really know or suspect? “Okay, thanks. I’ll be right in.”

  Sierra came out of the bedroom. Her hair was wet, and she was wearing a pink pajama tank top and pink shorts. She looked huggable and Adam regretted having to go in, yet if the man who had committed the hotel robbery was one of Dover’s men, he had to know.

  “I’ve got to go in.”

  “Okay.” She let out her breath and sounded like she was a little frustrated with him. “I thought you weren’t on call tonight.”

  Right, or he wouldn’t have gone running as a wolf down at Leidolf’s ranch. “I’m not on call. The only thing is I don’t want to leave you alone.”

  “Do you have a spare gun?”

  “Yeah, in the safe.”

  “I’ll use that if I need to. Go get it for me and I’ll be fine.” While he was getting it out of his safe, she asked, “So why are you going in about this instead of the detective on call?”

  “It may be related to Dover and one of his men. It was a hotel room break-in, just like when Dover was doing them. Same exact MO.”

  “I’m going with you.” Sierra turned around and headed back down the hall.

  Adam smiled, shook his head, and put the gun back in the safe and locked it.

  “Are there any witnesses I need to do a sketch for?” she asked.

  “There could be. The man escaped, but we can smell his scent and see if we recognize it as the one who had been in your house.”

  “All right then. Of course I’m going.” She came out of the bedroom wearing a pantsuit, and her damp hair was clipped back in a bun.

  “I hate to do this to you,” he said, getting into his Hummer while she climbed into the passenger side.

  She fastened her seat belt. “It’s only eleven.”

  “True.” As long as she didn’t get called in to do a witness sketch.

  Before they arrived at the hotel, Adam explained to Sierra about the officer. For whatever reason, Roland seemed to really like Adam. Maybe because Adam didn’t seem to discount his aunt’s “paranormal” abilities.

  “Well, it’s always nice to have a good work relationship with officers on the force,” Sierra said to Adam.

  “Yeah, I agree, as long as he doesn’t do a lot more probing into why I have such a great sense of smell. I just didn’t want you to let on—in front of him—that you do too, in case he’s listening in on our conversation and you happened to mention it.”

  “Thanks for letting me know. And by the way, you are going to be in trouble if you took the case tonight just because you couldn’t say no.” She raised her brows at him and folded her arms across her waist.

  “No worries there. He only called me because I’d worked that case and he thought it might have something to do with the people who stole your car. When I’m on call, that’s one thing. When I’m off duty and I have the chance to slip into bed with you? That’s a whole other story. I’m not at the bureau twenty-four seven to get a promotion or catch bad guys. I like taking breaks, and on my time off, I aim to play.”

  She smiled. “Good. I did worry about that.”

  “That’s what I figured.” He really didn’t want Sierra to be concerned about him being a workaholic.

  When they arrived at the hotel, the officer met them, eager to take them to the room that had been broken into. Though Adam was always thorough with an investigation, he really wanted to get it over with and retire to bed with Sierra.

  “So what do we have exactly?” Adam asked Roland.

  “Same MO as the earlier cases. I read up all about how Ms. Redding helped to break the case wide open. She was in her hotel room showering, and Dover Manning had a key card to get in, courtesy of a clerk he’d made out with the night before. She gave him a master key. And he swore he was aiming his gun at a dog in the room. A big guard dog.”

  “Okay, but what about this case?” Adam didn’t want to be reminded about the old case, and he didn’t want Sierra feeling like she was on the spot about what she’d claimed had happened either.

  “The guy we’re after tonight specifically asked the clerk if they allowed dogs in the rooms. And she told him no, that they didn’t allow pets. Well, he tells the clerk that his friend went into a room that the clerk had accidentally given him a key for that was already occupied, and there was a big, damn, growly dog in the room. She reassured him no pets were allowed.”

  “That sure sounds like he was talking about Dover,” Sierra said.

  Adam agreed.

  They reached the room and went inside.

  Normally, Sierra would have done a sketch of the would-be burglar, but Adam knew she wanted to go to the room to smell for the man’s scent. As soon as they walked into it, she caught Adam’s gaze and nodded. It was the same scent as Melissa’s kidnapper. “I’ll go get the clerk’s sketch of the man.”

  “How did he get into the room?” Adam asked Roland as Sierra left the room.

  “Key to the room, just like Dover’s method of entry.”

  Roland was still watching the door where Sierra had left and then turned his attention to Adam.

  “Where’s the person who was staying in this room?”

  “She was moved to another room.”

  “Single female?” Adam asked.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Did she see anything?”

  “No. She had been taking a shower. Then she heard a noise in the room, and she hurried to lock the bathroom door. She had her clothes and her cell phone in the bathroom, so she called the police and I responded with backup.”

  “Did he steal anything from her?”

  “She said she had one hundred and fifty in cash. She was going to give it to her mother so she could buy some groceries. Ms. Corning got in so late from Medford, she didn’t have time to see her mother. Her mother goes to bed at eight.”

  “Did the guy steal anything else?”