Timber Valley Pack: Lynx On The Loose( A Paranormal Romance With Shifters) (2 page)

Dash sat at his desk, his fingers drumming a steady tattoo on the wood. One of the other deputies shot him an annoyed look, got up, and walked away.

              He stopped and flattened his hands out on the desk top, scowling at the blank screen on his computer.

              This whole thing made no sense to him. He’d really hoped Isadora would have some explanation, but she’d refused to say a word. She’d maintained her silence as they drove to the sheriff’s office, with her handcuffed and sitting in between two Wardens. That had been on Dash’s recommendation; he knew from experience that Isadora could pick a handcuff lock with her claws and break out from the back of a patrol car faster than he could blink. He’d picked her up on trespassing charges in the past, although the charges had never stuck.

              Why wouldn’t Isadora defend herself? The only reason that he could think of was that she was guilty, which he found hard to believe.  Isadora was a pain in the ass, but she wasn’t evil.

              They’d know soon enough, of course. Isadora was sitting in a jail cell under guard, waiting for their local Shaman to show up. Cody would be able to use his powers to compel her to talk.  Unfortunately, he was on a hunting trip, but they’d sent the fastest runners in the Battle pack out to fetch him.  He’d be back in town in a couple more hours.

              Dash’s desk phone rang, and he picked it up.

              “Hello?” he said.

              Immediately he wished he hadn’t.  It was Karen Battle, his cousin Ty’s wife and Isadora’s best friend, and she spat out a string of curses.  “You mangy mongrel son of a bitch dickhead! I should have you neutered!”

              “Ah…hello, Karen,” he said, taken aback. “I’m glad to hear from you too. How’s married life? Are you enjoying North Dakota?”

              “Isadora was going to take care of the vandalism! I can’t believe you freaking ambushed her, over a stupid cartoon on a wall! And you called in the Pride Patrol? Really, Dash? Life must be very boring in Timber Valley right now.”

              Word travelled fast in the Shifter world. He wondered who had told her. Isadora hadn’t been allowed any phone calls; in a matter as serious as this, she didn’t have the right to a lawyer.

              “We don’t care about the vandalism. That’s the least of her problems right now.”

              “Oh, please.” Contempt dripped from Karen’s voice. “What are you charging her with? Getting into a catfight? Oh, I know - did she kill somebody?”

              “Worse.”

              There was a puzzled silence on the other end of the phone.

              “How could it be worse?” Karen finally asked, the fire gone from her voice.

              Dash forced himself to say the words, which were like lead on his tongue. “She’s accused of collaborating with humans to commit treason against the shifter nation. We think she’s working with the surviving mercenaries from the lab, giving them information about shifters.”

              He heard Karen’s sharp intake of breath.  Now her tone turned frantic and pleading. “Dash. Seriously. This is Isadora we’re talking about here. She has risked her life to save kidnapped shifters.  She is not guilty of treason.”

              Only a month earlier, Isadora had been one of many shifters who’d rushed to a secret underground laboratory to help free more than a dozen kidnapped shifters.  Dash had been there too, and he’d seen her fight – she’d been vicious, slashing and snarling at the humans, taking down the mercenaries fearlessly. She’d rushed into the labs where the shifters were strapped down, frantically ripping their bonds off, helping them stagger out of the underground lab where they’d been held for so long…

              She’d seemed as furious as everyone else at the torture that the shifters had experienced.  Had that all been an act?  Had she really been there to help – or had she been there to spy? Dash was questioning everything that he knew about Isadora.

“I can’t tell you too much…” he glanced around to make sure that nobody was watching him, and lowered his voice. “But I do need to tell you this, Karen.  Whatever she’s up to, you’re part of it. You and your family could be in danger.”

              “How?” Her tone sharpened. Karen was as fierce as a lion when it came to her family.

              “This information was discovered during an undercover operation.  What I’m telling you could get me fired, or worse.”

              “Fine. It’s just between us. Dash, if my family might be in danger, I need to know.”

              “A couple of weeks ago, I was on patrol and I saw Isadora breaking into the medical clinic. I followed her when she left. She headed out of town, and she was checking behind her in her rearview mirror, so I had to hang back. I called up patrol officers from other shifter jurisdictions, and they helped track her.  She drove hundreds of miles west, and ended up meeting a couple of humans and handing over some boxes to them.  They watched her from a distance through telescopes.  When we contacted the clinic, they found out that a dozen vials of blood were missing. They were just normal vials of blood that were being sent to a lab for routine tests. Annual checkup, cholesterol tests, all kinds of different things. One thing that they had in common, though, was that they were all from shifters who had some kind of mutation.”

              Some shifters had special mutations which gifted them with unusual powers. The most common mutations were healers and Shamans. However, there were shifters who could levitate objects, or, like Karen’s sister, communicate psychically and read minds. Then there were anomalies like Karen’s brother. He was a male healer, the only one known in the world.  All other healers were female.

              This was an especially touchy subject for Karen, because the human mercenaries had tried to kidnap her and her family because of their mutations.   Apparently, the human army Colonel who’d run the secret laboratory had been obsessed with mutations.

              Somehow, Colonel Clinton Bradwell had also found that Timber Valley had an unusually high level of mutations.  A few months earlier, a gang of human mercenaries had attempted to kidnap shifter children from a summer camp, and had almost gotten away with it. Karen’s brother and sister had been among them.

The thought made Dash ill. The human mercenaries looked on their kind as animals. Who knows what they would have done to them? They might have dissected the children the same way that they did the adults. Tortured them…his claws shot out, and he forced them back in again.

“Who were the humans?” Karen’s voice sounded faint now.

“Unfortunately, we weren’t able to identify them. I reported it to the Wardens, and they set up a tap on her phone.  She had several conversations with unknown parties, and you were referenced in one of them. She said that she was talking to you every day and you and your family were safe – so far.”

              “Did she say anything else about us?”

              “No.”

              “I see.” Karen’s voice had turned grim.

“We were going to keep monitoring the situation, try to get her to lead us to whoever she was talking to, but this morning we overheard her talking about kidnapping another shifter, some time very soon. We had to move in today; we couldn’t take that risk.”

“You’re sure?”

“She specifically said that they needed to have plenty of men on hand in case he wolfs out.”

              “I’m having a very hard time believing that. I’ve known Isadora for years. What did she say when you took her into custody?”

              “Nothing. She refuses to say a word, which is suspicious. If she’s innocent, why wouldn’t she defend herself and explain what the hell she’s doing giving all these samples to humans?”

              “I don’t know yet. I’m going to fly there first thing in the morning.”

              “Don’t, Karen, there’s nothing that you can do for her. This is a matter for the Wardens; she has no rights to an attorney in a matter like this. Our Shaman will be back in town in a few hours and then he’ll question her.”

              “There must be some explanation for this other than money. Isadora’s the least mercenary person I know. Remember when she volunteered to work for me for free while I was trying to get my business going?”

              “Maybe it’s a revenge thing. She’s striking back at those who rejected her.” Even as he said it, he didn’t believe it. Did he?

              “Isadora’s not bitter,” Karen argued. “She dislikes her family, sure, but overall, she has plenty of friends, she goes out and parties and has a good time, she’s got her own little crowd of rebels who like her, and all that poking at authority is fun for her. She doesn’t do it out of anger.”

              “Believe me, I’m as baffled as you, but there’s no denying what she said on those phone calls.   Listen, the sheriff just walked in, I’ll have to let you go.” He hung up the phone.

              Then he pushed back his chair and stood up.

Karen was right.  There must be something more behind this.  Isadora wouldn’t sell out her kind for money.  What could it be then? Was somebody threatening her? He couldn’t imagine that either. If someone tried to intimidate Isadora, she’d go lynx on them and rip their face off or die trying.

              He walked over to the sheriff’s office and knocked on the door. The sheriff, who was typing on his computer, nodded at him to come in. 

“I’m going to go back and talk to Isadora again. Maybe she’ll say something to me. Can I speak to her without the guards present?”

              Sheriff Connors frowned at him.  “She’s in a jail cell. Why would I need to guard her?”

              Dash looked at him with alarm.

              “Sir, you are talking about Isadora Mosswood.  She picks locks faster than you can blink. She likes to break into buildings, steal things, and then leave the stuff out on the town square, just for fun. She can get out of handcuffs in under five seconds. You left her unguarded?”

              “Come on, Dash, I know what I’m doing.” Connors tone was annoyed. “That cell is very secure.  If you’re so worried, I’ll show you right now.” He pushed back his chair and stood up.

              This ought to be good, Dash thought to himself. It would be funny if the situation wasn’t so serious.

              They walked down the hallway and into the jail section, to find exactly what Dash knew they’d find – an empty cell.

* * *

             
I told you so, I told you so, I told you so…
Dash bit back on the overwhelming urge to shout out the words at Sheriff Connors as they headed down the hallway to the office of Chief Warden Loren Redthorne.  Redthorne travelled around the country a lot, but when he was in Timber Valley he had a suite of rooms in a building attached to the Sheriff’s building. That way, they could more easily share information.

              Not for the first time, Dash found himself missing Steele and wishing that they hadn’t had to exile him.  Connors was proving to be an overly rigid bureaucrat, completely lacking in imagination or the ability to think on his feet. He’d been fine as a lieutenant; he sucked as sheriff.

              Now, thanks to Sheriff Connors, Isadora was on the loose. God knows how long she’d been gone, or where she’d headed.  Dash had really wanted her to be questioned by Cody.  It was better for all concerned, including her.  Now that she was in the wind, every shifter cop in the territory would be hunting for her – and who knew what would happen if they cornered her? She should have stayed in her jail cell where she was safe.

              Of course, he wasn’t worried about her welfare, he reminded himself. He only wanted to ensure that the investigation was carried out properly.

Sheriff Connors yanked open the door and bustled into the office, with Dash following behind. Warden Redthorne sat at the head of a conference table. With him was the Chief Elder, Jordan Fleetfoot, as well as Dash’s uncle, Vince Battle, the Alpha of the Battle pack, and Redthorne’s secretary, Fawn.  They met regularly to keep updated on the investigation into Colonel Bradwell and his group of mercenaries.

Fawn, a round-faced, curly haired wolf shifter, bustled about on the sidelines, pouring coffee into mugs.

              “I hear you lost the lynx. That’s disappointing,” Warden Redthorne said to Sheriff Connors, as he accepted a coffee mug from Fawn. “You should have kept guards on her.”

              Connors face flushed with humiliation. He straightened up and glowered at Warden Redthorne. “My sergeant failed to inform me that Isadora is known for her skills in lock picking.”

              “You mean you failed to ask about the history of a prisoner who poses a threat to the existence of all shifters, and that is somehow the fault of your subordinate?” Redthorne pinned Connors in place with a cold, angry look, and let out a rumbling growl.

              He was an Alpha. Connors wasn’t.

              Connors’ face turned even redder, and he ducked his head submissively. “My apologies.”

              Dash permitted himself a quick smile as he took a seat. He suspected Connors wouldn’t be serving another term as sheriff after this term ended, which couldn’t come soon enough for him.   Fawn set cups of coffee in front of everyone, as Warden Redthorne took a seat at the head of the table.