Freakn' Cougar (2 page)

Perhaps that came out a little more fervently than it should have, or worshipful, still though, it didn’t merit her forbearing sigh and slight shake of her head. And did he hear a muttered, “Pup,” spoken in a derisive tone?

Pup? Why, he was in his late twenties, practically middle-aged. So what if he still lived at home and had both an Xbox and a PlayStation in his room? Plenty of grown men did nowadays. Nothing wrong with being young at heart.

His dad offered Patricia the empty seat while his mom served her up a plate of pie.

She tried to wave it away. “I really can’t stay. I’m here on official business.”

“You can explain it over a cup of coffee and dessert,” his mother said, pushing Patricia into the chair. Patricia wisely didn’t fight, else it might have gotten interesting. His mother expected people to obey her edicts and wasn’t above force-feeding a guest if she thought they needed some more meat on their bones.

“I guess I can spare a minute. It’s the least I can do given I’m about to arrest your son.”

“What did he do this time?” His dad didn’t even give him the benefit of the doubt.

“Hey, I resent that,” Stu protested. “It’s not my fault I’ve gotten in trouble a couple of times with the law.” Misunderstandings in his mind for the most part. How was he supposed to know that the fact he could easily hack his high school’s website and post an image of the principal making out with the kindergarten teacher was wrong? They were doing it on school property. Didn’t that make it school news? And as for the time he’d gotten arrested for indecent exposure for peeing in the alley? He wasn’t alone in using that spot as a public urinal. He’d just been the slowest to zip and too drunk to run without bouncing off a brick wall right into the arresting officer’s arms.

“What are the charges?” his dad asked.

In the midst of taking a bite of Mom’s famous apple pie, Patricia took her time answering. “I can’t really say.”

“What? Why not?” Naomi posed the query everyone was surely thinking.

“I’m with her, and not just because we’re married. Since when do you arrest someone and not give a reason?” Ethan asked in a rumble that cut through the noise.

“Would you accept the fact this is classified shifter business and leave it at that?”

The emphatic “No” followed by laughter answered that.

Patricia squirmed in her seat, glanced around the table, and sighed. “I told my bosses you’d have questions. Listen, what I say can’t leave this room. Can I count on you all to keep quiet?”

Curious glances abounded, but one by one, his family nodded, and Stu found himself more interested than ever in what the hot cougar had to say, and not just because he enjoyed her gravelly voice. He smelled a mystery.

“As far as the outside world is concerned, I’m arresting Stu. I’m not one hundred percent sure on what grounds, other than the fact it’s going to involve him pleading guilty and getting sent to a federal penitentiary.”

No one could stop the tsunami of questions that statement caused. Stu didn’t add to the cacophony, but he did catch the blonde’s eye and raise a single brow in query. This time she held his gaze, her brow wrinkling slightly as if puzzled.

It was his mother with a quietly, but firmly, spoken, “Explain,” that killed the hubbub and broke their staring match.

“It’s complicated and supposed to be hush hush.”

Jiao placed her hand atop Patricia’s. “You can trust them to keep a secret.”

“I hope so because the last thing we need is for this to get out and send the person we’re really hunting underground.”

“Sounds serious.”

“It is. We have a series of crimes that have been happening all across Canada in federal jails.”

“And this concerns us how?” His dad leaned forward in his seat, pie forgotten, as he waited for an answer.

“Shifters are being killed.”

“Prisoners?”

“Yes.”

“In jail?”

“Yes.”

“So why do we care that sentenced criminals are getting offed, and what does this have to do with Stu?” Mitchell asked what most of them were thinking. In their world, they tended to view things rather black and white, and not just because of their wolf genes. If you did the crime, you did the time.

Back in the old days, before the laws and civilization became mainstream, shifter packs used to live by the motto of an eye for an eye. Literally. Killers were executed. Thieves lost everything, including their thieving hands. Rapists … well, let’s just say they never committed the same crime twice.

If shifters were in jail, especially federal jail, then it was because they’d done something serious. If they were getting killed, it was probably tragic to their families, but a blessing to the victims they’d left behind. It still didn’t explain why Patricia had business with him. Stu certainly hadn’t done anything that merited federal jail time and he certainly had nothing to do with shifters getting killed. The only killing he did was virtually, usually with a kick ass spell.

“We all should care, despite the fact they’re outlaws, because whoever is doing it is making it look like accidents, or suicide. And they’re only targeting shifters, no matter what they’re doing time for. The last one killed was only in there for tax evasion. The one before for owning a marijuana grow op. Actually, none of the shifters killed were in for anything violent. The shifter council prefers to take care of those cases themselves, as you well know.”

Because a psycho killer or raping sentient animal was not just a menace to the public at large but a threat to them all. A shifter who lost respect for their laws and others often didn’t care about exposure.

“Could it be a vigilante at work? Someone who is worried that the close quarters of prison will reveal our secret?”

“A theory we pondered, except, in some cases, the prisoners had been there more than ten years without anyone catching wind of their secret. No matter their reasoning, they don’t have the right to kill.”

“How come we haven’t heard of this?” Stu’s father broached.

“It only recently came to light. The deaths were spread out among various institutions and took place over the past two years. As well, most were classed as accidents or suicide. It wasn’t until recently that we caught on to the pattern.”

“How many have died?”

Patricia’s lips flattened into a straight line. “More than thirty-seven by our count.”

Chaos once again erupted as shouts of “How could no one notice?” and “Who’s responsible?” fired at the cougar from all directions.

Stu ignored his mother’s awesome pie to mull over the little they’d learned so far. The one thing Patricia had yet to explain was how he tied into the whole affair. Stu certainly wasn’t the killer they were seeking. Nor was he a victim or related to one. As the yelling continued all around him, he mulled Patricia’s presence until he had his “Aha!” moment.

“Am I getting paid for you to use me as bait?” His query arrowed through the din and resulted in utter silence, a few dropped jaws, and shocked, wide-open eyes.

Of course, the quiet didn’t last more than two seconds before the noise got even worse than before with Naomi practically crawling over the table determined to rearrange Patricia’s face and thinking. In Naomi’s world, only she was allowed to abuse her brothers. It was nice to be loved.

But Naomi wasn’t the only one weighing in on the situation. Chris shouted advice about not dropping the soap while his mother declared they’d use him over her dead body. As for his dad? From under bushy brows, he just glared all around.

Given the varying opinions and shouting, was it any wonder Stu found himself desperate to escape so he could think? On second thought, why couldn’t he?

He slunk from the room and exited to his backyard. Hands in his pockets, he peered at the stars, which shone brightly in the clear night sky.

Despite Patricia not getting a true chance to answer him, dangling him as bait or using him to ferret out information from the inside were the only things that made sense. They needed Stu to catch a killer. Why or how they expected him to help, he couldn’t have said. He possessed no training that would aid in an investigation, nothing legal at any rate. But, if they were looking for someone who knew how to hack a firewall or dig up information on a computer hard drive, intel thought deleted or buried, well, he wasn’t known as the sneaky wolf in hacking circles for nothing.

But why the arresting ruse? Why not just come out and ask him?

His absence from the dinner table didn’t go unnoticed; however, it wasn’t his family who came looking for him. Her scent enveloped him, and awareness spiked through his frame, tingling along his nerve endings and making his heart race faster.

She’s here.
His wolf practically pranced in delight. Out here in the fresh air, he could inhale her sweet aroma and know without a doubt that, yes, she was meant for him. But how did one broach that topic with an almost virtual stranger? Somehow, saying, “Hey, honey, my wolf wants to take a bite,” seemed a tad forward. He’d gotten enough slaps over the years to know most women did not appreciate the honest and direct approach. Unlike his brothers, he sucked at flirting. Was it any wonder he preferred to spend his time in front of a computer screen?

“I wondered if you’d run,” she said, breaking the silence.

“I thought about it.”

“Why didn’t you?”

He shrugged. “I don’t understand what you want me for, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to take the cowardly route and bolt before I find out.”

“You know enough by now that if you want me to walk away, I will. No one, not even the shifter council, can force you to lend a helping hand.”

“Walk away?” He snorted. “Have you met my family? I’d never live it down. Beside, I’m curious.”

“And yet you’re not a cat.” A dryly spoken jest that eased the tension somewhat.

Shyness wouldn’t let him look directly at her. “I’m surprised my family let you slip away,” he said. “I would have thought they’d duct tape you to a chair and interrogate you until Ma beat them off with a wooden spoon.”

“Yeah, your sister did threaten to sit on me and tap my forehead with a finger until I confessed everything, but her mate, Ethan, carted her out of the room before she could tackle me. After that little tussle, I told them I needed to use the girl’s room. Given how busy the rest of them were arguing with each other, I figure I have a few minutes before they notice I’m gone.”

He angled his head slightly so he could see her face in profile. So pretty. So confident. So not the type who usually let him get near them. Fate sure had a sense of humor trying to set him up with someone so obviously out of his league.

“Was I right? Is that what you’re here for? To dangle me as bait?”

“Yes, and no. Obviously, we don’t want any civilians to get hurt, but it’s possible, especially given we intend to place you in with the prisoners. So, yes, in one sense, you could be perceived as bait.”

“Not exactly selling it,” he jested.

“Just being honest. You should know what the mission entails.”

“Why do I get the impression you’re telling me more than I’m supposed to know?”

“Because I am. My orders were to march in here, arrest you, book you, and more or less railroad you into the system then fill you in on the plan.”

“Why change it?”

“Because I’ve met most of your family. I like them. Respect them. They deserve better than the secrecy the shifter council seems to think is necessary.”

“Not to mention, their plan would have seen my family raising a holy stink. At least now, if they think my arrest serves a higher purpose, they’ll raise hell, as folks would expect, but not bust me out.”

“They’d do that?”

Stu chuckled. “In a heartbeat. My mother might rule us with an iron paw and sturdy spoon, but no one hurts her babies.”

“I’m glad I followed my gut then.”

“So, I’m going to jail. Why me? Why not someone in the RCMP? Or someone working for the shifter council?”

“We’ve already maxed out those personnel trying to cover all bases. We fell short. We still need someone with not just a tarnished record to make it believable but certain skills. Computer skills.”

“You want me to hack the prison system? Why not just get me in under the guise of repairman then? Or as a data entry clerk? Why go through the motions of arresting me?”

“Because we’re not sure whoever is doing this is part of the system. We need someone on the inside, undercover and part of the population. A technician or prison employee isn’t going to hear or have access to the same information.”

Disparaging or not, he had to say it. “You do realize I don’t really look the part of bad-ass criminal.” While a big guy with his fair share of muscles, Stu was more like the Shaggys of the world. Long-haired, easygoing, hippy dude, not tattooed, scary-looking biker.

“Trust me. I noticed.” She had? Now why did she make such a moue when she said it? “Which is why you won’t be alone in there.”

“I’m getting a jailhouse partner?”

“Yes. He is everything you’re not. Or so my contact on the shifter council claims.”

“You haven’t met him?”

A shake of her head sent her blonde bob swinging. “No. He’s already in place, gathering information.”

“And what’s your part in this, honey?”

“I thought we’d discussed you not calling me that.”

His lips quirked. “You demanded. But, given I’m about to become a criminal, I think it’s time I learned how to diss the law.”

“Diss?” She snorted. “Yeah, more and more, I’m beginning to think you’re the wrong guy for the job.”

What?

Before he could ask her why, she spun on her heel and walked away. It took him only a few strides to catch her. He gripped her arm to halt her.

Awareness slammed into him. Shocked blue eyes met his, and they engaged in a staring match. He leaned in. She didn’t move away. He shuffled closer. Her lips parted.

“Stu! Get your hairy ass back in here and bring the kitty too!” Naomi shouted.

The moment shattered.

Stu sighed as Patricia moved away. “You really should have stuck to just arresting me and saying nothing. In case you hadn’t noticed, my family tends to get involved in each other’s business.”