LITMIR.BIZ

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going on there, let alone how best to deal with it.

      “What do you smell, boy?” Kathlene was talking to Click, whose nose was all but buried in a stack of dead leaves.

      Jock scented it, too, of course. His sense of smell was much more acute than any person’s besides other shifters, even when in human form. But he was hardly going to tell Kathlene that the dog was fascinated by the odor of a pile of pheasant droppings.

      “Must be something interesting,” Jock said mildly. “But we’d better keep on the move.”

      He nevertheless waited until Click lifted his leg to imbue the area with his own canine smell. And then they continued on.

      “So what are those ideas you came up with?” Kathlene asked, walking directly behind him as they made their way through the towering trees that had a sweet, piney aroma.

      Unfortunately, she hadn’t been fully distracted by Click and his reaction to the odors of the woods.

      “We need more information about what’s going on inside the compound,” Jock said. “For one thing, we’ll want to know where the sportsmen hang out when they’re in town. If possible, we’ll act like we’re of the same hunting mind-set and also want to engage in target practice and have the fun of killing whatever game is in season.”

      Even though that was contrary to his way of thinking. There were plenty of farm animals raised to be meat. He might feel sorry for them, but he was definitely carnivorous. He was a wolf in human form.

      But in his opinion creatures that were wild, like wolves, should be permitted to stay that way. Survival of the fittest would allow them to feed on their own kinds of prey.

      Humans did not need to kill or eat them.

      “I can give you some information about that,” Kathlene said. “There are a couple of bars in town where the sheriff’s department has been called in because of some altercations between our townsfolk and some nonresidents. One’s a sports bar near our headquarters—Arnie’s. At least some of those who’ve gotten out of control came to town from that ranch.”

      “Good. We’ll work that out soon, then.”

      “But not tonight?” She sounded curious. Too curious.

      He knew what was coming next.

      “No, not tonight.”

      “Then what are we doing tonight?” she asked.

      We. Of course she would assume it would be we.

      Which it was. But that we included only Ralf and him. Not her. Not for what he had planned tonight.

      Click stopped to circle slightly before defecating. Good. That gave Jock an opportunity to stop, too, and turn and face Kathlene.

      He drew himself up as much as possible and looked down on her slim, yet official-looking form in her deputy sheriff’s uniform.

      But for this purpose, he was in charge, her job notwithstanding.

      “Ralf and Click and I are going to do pretty much as we did last night,” he told her. “Observation and reconnaissance at the perimeter of the target facility. Just us.” He raised his hand to stop her as she opened her mouth to protest. “I know you’re part of our team. You won that right. But we can’t spend our time worrying about where you are and if you’re okay, especially when we’re just doing our preliminary examinations. You can work with us, participate in other aspects of what we’re doing—but only if you listen to what I’m telling you now.” And obey me, but he knew better than to say that.

      She glared up at him. Damn, but that firm chin, that angry scowl on such a beautiful face...it turned him on. Even more than her presence already generated reactions inside—and outside—him that he’d never have imagined would occur with a woman in uniform, especially when that uniform was not one associated with Alpha Force.

      “Then you promise that this will be the only time you’ll not include me in your plans from now on.” It wasn’t a question but a statement. Her voice was chilly, but not even that forced his body to lose interest.

      “Yes,” he lied as he stooped to clean up after Click. “I promise—as long as you promise not to interfere with what we’re doing tonight.”

       Chapter 6

      Sure, Kathlene had given her promise.

      She needed to make sure Jock considered her a member of their team, so what else could she do? She didn’t want to fight him again, at least not yet. Besides, he claimed it would only be this one time they would exclude her.

      Ha!

      On her drive back to department headquarters that afternoon, along the winding road outside town, and even when she reached the main streets, she stewed.

      Damn the man and his overprotective, exclusionary attitude!

      Was it going to be like this all the time? Would Jock tell her each day that she’d be included in their plans...tomorrow. But not today?

      Well, she might not be officially included in their recon plans that night.

      But unofficially?

      She’d been there last night observing.

      She would do the same tonight.

      * * *

      They’d followed Kathlene back into town. No, not followed her. Not exactly. But Jock had made sure that Click was settled back in his cabin. Then he drove their car, with Ralf in the passenger’s seat, in the direction that Kathlene had headed.

      When they reached Cliffordsville, their first plan of attack was to drive by the sheriff’s department.

      Kathlene’s car had been parked in the large outside lot. Was she inside the building?

      She could be out on patrol already. And each sheriff’s department vehicle, parked in rows nearest the building, looked like the rest, with their white color, gold logo and lights on top. Jock could definitely distinguish them from the unofficial ones also parked in that lot where Kathlene had left her car among a bunch of others—ones probably also belonging to the deputies and other department employees.

      It didn’t matter where she was, not now. Or it shouldn’t matter.

      But now that Jock had met her, he worried about her safety—her training and the way she had demonstrated her prowess in hand-to-hand notwithstanding.

      Would she listen to him and stay away that night?

      He doubted it.

      But he had to trust her...didn’t he?

      “So where are we going?” Ralf asked from beside him.

      “Any games on TV now? I saw a sports bar not far from the restaurant where we had lunch, and it might be the one Kathlene mentioned. I think this would be a good time for beer and conversation if the place is likely to have any kind of crowd.”

      Ralf pulled his smartphone out of his pocket and slid his fingers over it. “Baseball, of course. But I’m not sure what teams they follow in Montana. There aren’t any major league teams here. Maybe college teams. There’s a baseball game between the Minnesota Twins and New York Yankees being played in the East tonight, starting about now. Maybe they watch stuff like that in the bars, even though it’s not local.”

      “We’ll go see,” Jock said.

      Sure enough, Arnie’s Bar, along Main Street, had a big-screen TV on the wall, and it was tuned to that baseball game. The crowd seemed rather sparse, but of course Jock was used to seeing lots of people gather in bars in the Baltimore area when he and other Alpha Force members decided to join regular humans in their celebration of the teams nearest to their headquarters at Ft. Lukman on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

      Jock motioned for Ralf to join him

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