Fox Play (11 page)

"I don't know. I've never seen you track by scent or anything like that."

"My fox nose is much better than my human nose, but my fox nose is not as good as your human nose."

"All right."

"How about your hearing, Alpha? Human as compared to wolf."

"The inner ears aren't any better as a wolf, but we gain a lot by having large directional ears."

"My fox ears are only marginally better than my human ears, maybe twice as good, but then only for the same reasons. They are easier to point."

"Right."

"Alpha," I said. "Can you hear my heart beat?" I knew she couldn't. She shook her head. "I can hear yours."

She stared at me without saying anything. "I've tested your hearing. You barely hear better than a human."

"I know you've tested it. And I let you believe what I wanted you to believe. At first, it was when you didn't trust me, and I didn't want to give away any advantages I didn't have to. After that, I didn't want to admit how many conversations I have overheard that I shouldn't have."

She looked at me with dawning horror. "Last night," she said quietly.

"No," I said. "You told me not to eavesdrop. I borrowed Angel's iPod and I played it loudly enough Gia walked right up to me and laid her cold nose against my neck. You can verify with both of them. I am sure Gia would have heard the music; I wasn't faking."

"How good is your hearing?"

"I can easily hear you walking in the woods up to four hundred yards. And you are not a particularly noisy wolf. If you are running, it's closer to a thousand yards. You should assume, unless the conditions are particularly poor, that I can pick out any conversation within a hundred yards and most conversations from much further. The distance is less if the people are being particularly quiet, whispering into each other's ears. And of course, it won't work at a rock concert."

And then I whimpered and rolled over onto my back on the sofa, my head next to her, offering my neck. "I am sorry, Alpha."

Rather than taking my neck, she kissed me and pulled me into her lap.

"I thought you would be angry."

"No. And I don't blame you. I'm glad you told me. I take it there is no such thing as a private conversation around you."

"There are enough walls in this house that I can't always catch the details of the conversations in the kitchen from up here, if people are speaking sufficiently lowly."

She swore. "The walls are soundproofed!"

I looked up. "I know."

"Why are you telling me now?"

"Because tomorrow I will relay to the council the Chicago wolves' plans to challenge our alpha. Oh, and Avery in particular wants a fox hunt."

"He won't get one!" she said firmly, yanking me against her. "Mine!"

"Yes, Lara. Yours. Please don't crush me."

She relaxed, but her heart was pounding. And if I was ever unsure whether she loved me, I was sure then.

"That's why you told me don't go to Chicago."

"Yes. I know you probably have to tell the council how I know all this. I wish I didn't have to tell."

She smiled. "We don't. We only have to tell Vivian and Elisabeth. No one else knows where you were in the room compared to the conversations taking place."

We cuddled quietly for a few minutes.

"Lara. Alpha."

"Yes, little fox?"

"I want four enforcers assigned to me full time until they are out of our territory. Can you spare them?"

"Oh honey, yes, of course."

"Please take care of it now. They may have felt stymied tonight. I think the cash will buy them off for a while, but I'm scared."

"Of course." She rose from the couch, dislodging me, and retrieved her phone, then settled back down, lifting me back into her arms. She dialed. "I need you, my room, immediately."

"Yes, Alpha," came Elisabeth's voice.

I buried my face in Lara's stomach, and she pet me slowly. "I won't let anything happen to you."

"I know you won't," I said.

Elisabeth arrived at a run, knocking and not waiting for permission to enter.

"Alpha?" she asked.

"The Chicago wolves want a fox hunt. Michaela has asked for four enforcers while they are in our territory."

"Michaela asked?" she was shocked.

I rolled over. "Yes."

"I will handle it," Elisabeth said.

"Unless I am with the alpha, I want no fewer than two with me even if I'm in the bathroom, two more near by. Alpha, may Elisabeth be one."

"Elisabeth damned well is going to be one," Elisabeth said.

"Lara, I presume we're on some sort of high alert."

"Yes."

"Due to what I told you earlier, they can't get within five hundred yards of this compound if I am outside and awake. I am the best warning system we could have. And to be honest, I don't think Avery would even consider being quiet. I'd hear him at a mile."

"Hear?" Elisabeth said.

I looked at her. "Hear."

She put it together. "Oh, you little fox."

"That's hush hush," Lara said immediately. "She has her foxy ways and we don't understand them."

"Of course."

"Elisabeth, I will follow your orders absolutely, but I am safer if we use my ears as much as we can. But I get bored easily, too."

"Can you listen and be entertained at the same time?"

"Yes, as long as the entertainment isn't loud or too distracting."

"Alpha, if they were going to attack or attempt to steal our little fox, I anticipate the most dangerous time to be after midnight, but the little one is too wiped to stand watch tonight."

"I agree," she said.

"I will set a schedule," Elisabeth said.

"The alpha needs more than standard protection as well, Elisabeth."

"She'll get it. No arguments, Lara."

"No arguments," Lara agreed.

"I want the two of you to stay together," Elisabeth said. "As much as possible."

"I like that plan," I said. "So much for my job."

"They're leaving Friday," Elisabeth said.

"Bayfield won't be safe until this is over," Lara said. She looked down at me. "Under orders until this is over."

"My job."

"I'll handle it. Your boss will get another phone call."

"They will get tired of this eventually."

"We'll have another solution by then," Lara said. "I'd rather you just quit, but I understand why you don't want to."

"Angel would be devastated," I said.

Lara laughed. "Angel would get over it. She would be far more devastated if something were to happen-" She broke off. "Did she go back to Bayfield today?"

"Yes," said Elisabeth. "I'll handle it." She picked up her phone, then waited. I heard a sleepy Angel respond. "Angel, it is Elisabeth. Are you in Bayfield?"

"Yes," she said groggily. "What time is it?"

"Middle of the night. Wake up. Go downstairs, splash some water on your face. I'll wait."

"Michaela, is there a house phone?" Elisabeth asked me.

I nodded. "Kitchen wall. I don't use it much."

I couldn't hear much from Angel's end on the phone, but then I heard her come back online. "I am awake," she told Elisabeth.

"Angel, there is a phone on the wall in the kitchen. Pick it up, dial 9-1-1, and tell them you thought you heard several intruders trying to break into the house. Do it now!"

"Elisabeth?"

Lara raised her voice. "Follow orders, Angel. Do what you are told, we'll explain later!"

"I'm calling," she said.

We heard her end of the conversation. And then it was obvious Angel had a phone in each ear as she talked to the dispatchers. "No, I don't think they're in the house, but I'm scared. Please, can you send someone? Several someone's?" Her voice quavered.

We listened as the police arrived, as the police first searched the grounds, then asked to search the house.

"Do you have any contraband, Michaela?" Elisabeth asked me.

"Absolutely not," I said. "My gun is in my glove compartment here. Everything is legal. I'm a government employee!"

"Angel, listen carefully," said Elisabeth. "Let them search the house. And let me talk to the lead officer."

We listened as the police searched the house, then Angel handed the phone to one of the police officers, a woman.

"With whom am I speaking?"

"This is Elisabeth Burns of Burns Personal Security in Madison," she said. "We have had a credible threat against Michaela Redfur, the owner of that house. Angel Greene is a valuable member of our extended family, and we need her in Madison where we can safely watch her while we investigate the threat against Ms. Redfur."

"Was this a false alarm, Ms. Burns?"

"The threat is to kidnap Ms. Redfur, and it is a highly credible threat.

There was a pause. "My report will show Ms. Greene reported possible intruders who were likely scared off by the sirens. What else can the Bayfield police department do?"

"I need Ms. Greene safely in her vehicle, gassed up and with sufficient supplies that she won't need to stop on her drive here. Can you search her vehicle and then provide a strong escort until she is safely on her way? The potential kidnappers know that Ms. Redfur is in Madison tonight, so we do not feel that Ms. Greene would be a direct target, but we do feel that Ms. Redfur's house could be a good place to wait for her. We need to get Ms. Greene here where we can protect her."

"I will be very happy to assist Ms. Greene," said the officer.

"Officer-"

"Hill, ma'am."

"Officer Hill, the people who made this threat would not send only one or two kidnappers. Protect yourself as well."

"Yes, ma'am, your family member will have a significant escort on her way, and we'll make sure no one is directly following her. We can't escort her all the way down there though."

"Full tank of gas and no excuse to stop, and she'll be fine. Thank you very much, officer. Can you put Ms. Greene back on the line."

There was a pause. "Angel," Elisabeth said. "You will get in your car. The police will escort you to the nearest service station. You will gas up to the brim and buy whatever supplies you need, and you will drive straight to the compound without stopping. I don't care if you wet your pants, you will not stop. Do you understand me?"

Then she handed the phone to Lara.

"You heard her, Angel."

"You're scaring me, Alpha. No stopping. I understand."

"Good girl. You're not in trouble." She handed the phone back to Elisabeth.

"Once you are on the road, I want you on hands free calls the entire way. I'll find someone for you to talk to. If you think you are being followed, you will tell me."

"Yes, Elisabeth. What's going on?"

"See you in six hours. Call me back when you're leaving the gas station."

Elisabeth hung up and dialed another number. "Rory, I need Scarlett in the alpha's house within the next ten minutes. She should bring her phone and charger." She hung up without waiting for an answer.

"We're probably over-reacting," I said.

"No, we're not," said Lara. "We are probably reacting in a fashion that nothing will happen. Better safe than sorry."

I nodded. We moved downstairs. I headed towards the kitchen to find refreshments but Elisabeth told me, "Freeze."

"What?" I said, turning around.

"You're the one who asked for the escort. It hasn't arrived yet. Until it does, you do not walk out of a room unless Lara or I are with you."

"There is no one else in the house," I said. "I would have heard them."

"Maybe," she said. "But we're going to develop the proper habits right now."

"Yes, Elisabeth," I said meekly.

Rory appeared several minutes later with a sleepy Scarlett, who had thrown on some clothes over her pajamas. She took in the tableau and said, "Alpha, am I in trouble?"

"No," Lara said. "We need your help."

"Angel needs your help, Scarlett," I said.

That woke her up. "Is she all right?"

Elisabeth walked to Scarlett, took her by the hands, and led her to the sofa. "Yes," she said. "She's fine." Elisabeth explained briefly, offering no more details than Angel had, then said, "We need you to talk to her. Keep her awake. And be on the phone with her the entire time. We need her watching to make sure she isn't being followed."

"Oh god," Scarlett said. "What's going on?"

"Someone wants to kidnap Michaela," Elisabeth said. "And Angel was at Michaela's house. We're getting Angel back here as fast as we can where she'll be safe."

Scarlett looked straight at me. "You are pack, and on one threatens our pack members!"

"Good girl," Lara said. "Exactly. Can you do this, Scarlett?"

"Yes, Alpha. Can someone tell my parents what is going on?"

Elisabeth turned to Rory. "Scarlett is helping the alpha," she said. "Everything is fine."

"On it," he said.

"Then find Eric and send him in."

Angel called several minutes later.

"I'm ready," she told Elisabeth.

"Okay, you're going to hang up and Scarlett is going to call you. Sit right there until she reaches you." Then Elisabeth gestured to Scarlett, who picked up her phone. Elisabeth hung up, and soon Scarlett was talking to Angel quietly. Elisabeth helped hook her up with her charger so she could talk and not lose charge, and Angel was safely on her way.

"The police just dropped off behind her," Scarlett said. "She says she doesn't think she's being followed."

"Keep us posted, Scarlett," Elisabeth said. "For now, keep her awake and alert. Your job is to keep her watching the road, not talking about boys."

"Um. That won't be a problem," Scarlett said.

"Or talking about girls!" Elisabeth said. Scarlett began blushing.

The girls talked quietly, and then Elisabeth escorted me into the kitchen to take care of refreshments. I puttered in the kitchen, and Elisabeth watched over me, not allowing herself to become distracted trying to help. "Thank you, Elisabeth," I said.

"If you're ready to ask for protection, I know it's serious."

I made a tray and carried it into the room. I waited on Scarlett, which surprised her, but she smiled at me and continued talking to Angel.

"Someone should tell Francesca what is going on," I said.