Chapter 18

They were eating chicken and broccoli crepes with Everett and her uncle when Jim came in and announced the police had arrived.

“Put them in my study, will you? We’re almost done here,” Strom said, his face darkly amused.

“Is Rowdy, the homicide detective, with them?” Candice asked.

“He is,” Jim said.

“About that. How in the world did a homicide detective get involved in this when he’s from Montana?” Strom asked.

Owen hadn’t expected that question, though he should have considered it, as sharp as Strom was. When they both hesitated to say, Owen not wanting to tell one story and Candice another, Strom folded his arms and eyed them both. “Okay, the real story.”

“He knows about us,” Candice said.

Though Owen hadn’t intended to tell Strom anything, he figured their only other choice would have been to lie to cover for Rowdy and probably be found out anyway. Besides, though Rowdy had helped Candice tremendously and had Owen’s undying gratitude, he had been the one to reveal what he knew, so this was really on him.

“He was visiting family in South Dakota,” Candice started, and then she explained the rest, beating Owen to it.

Jim shook his head. Strom was frowning.

“If it wasn’t for him, Felix Underwood and the fake Clara could have gotten Candice’s inheritance,” Owen said.

“No. I would have smelled the deception once I met her.” Strom ground his teeth. “What is anyone going to do about it?”

“We hadn’t planned to do anything. It’s up to the Montana pack to handle it.” Owen suspected Rowdy would want to stay there and not live somewhere else.

“He doesn’t know about us,” Everett said. “Just about wolves. He most likely assumes I’m a wolf, though maybe he thinks I’m just like him. He hasn’t asked, and I haven’t offered any information about myself. He knows how worried Candice was about shifting and wanted to help her in any way he could, including identifying the impostor and involving the local police in apprehending the fraudsters.”

“He seems like a decent man and not interested in exposing us. Just wanting to be friends and help out when he can,” Owen said, but he didn’t seem to be convincing Strom…or Jim.

Candice let out her breath in exasperation. “You can’t kill him.”

Her uncle shook his head. “I wouldn’t think of it.”

“It’s like Owen said. The local wolf pack should handle it,” she said.

“But they haven’t. And from the sound of it, they aren’t interested in turning him and making him one of their pack.”

“You can’t make him a jaguar shifter. He doesn’t even know about you. What if he would rather be a wolf?”

Strom smiled, but his expression made Owen believe that’s just what he planned to do. What would he do with Rowdy afterward? Strom would be stuck with a person who would have difficulty shifting for years. Owen didn’t think Strom would be irresponsible enough to let Rowdy fend for himself.

Owen turned to Everett. “What would your organization say about that?”

“I’m not sure. I would think it would be handled on an individual basis. It’s like with another man who knows of us.”

Strom scowled. “Another? I can’t believe you would let this go.”

“In his case, he’s known about wolves for years. He saved a jaguar shifter’s life. He knew about both of us—wolves and jaguars—even before we knew about each other. All that time, he said nothing about it. Not even to his wife. I think if some non-shifters can tolerate us, even help us out when we’re in a bind, they should be allowed to continue as before. He has a wife and stepkids he’s raising.

“With Rowdy? No family to speak of, so there is that. If it were up to me, I’d give him a choice. Would he want to be turned? Maybe he does, but he can’t get up the nerve to ask. If he does want to be turned, ask him which he’d rather be. If he doesn’t say, then decide one way or another. I sincerely believe we’d be better off if humans who learn of us and are okay with it—and can keep their mouths shut—would be allowed to continue on as before,” Everett said.

“If they can keep their mouths shut, I suppose so.” Strom didn’t sound like he really believed it. Then his phone played a jingle, and he pulled it out of his pocket and answered it. “Yeah, Brenner?”

“His lawyer,” Jim told them. “He’s meeting us at the judge’s chambers.”

“What?” Strom’s face reddened. “Let me talk to Judge Watkins now.” Strom rose abruptly from the table. “All right. We’re coming over right this minute. I’ll send the police over there right away. Whatever you do, don’t allow that woman to sign the paperwork.”

“I’ll take care of it,” Jim said. “And get your driver to bring the car around.” He hurried out of the dining room as everyone got up to leave.

Candice felt sick to her stomach about this. What if the impostor had managed to see the judge somehow and pulled it off? The woman had Candice’s documentation proving she was really Clara.

They left the house to find a black limousine parked out front, waiting for them. The driver, Denny, greeted them, dressed in a black suit, his long, black hair tied back in a tail. Everyone but Jim sat in the back as they headed into town to meet with the judge. The police and Rowdy had already left to intercept the woman and her accomplice brother at the courthouse.

Halfway to town, Candice’s muscles tingled and warmed, warning her she was going to shift. She couldn’t ignore the need to run wild and shed her human skin. To be the wolf. She hadn’t even realized she had squeezed Owen’s hand so hard until he glanced over at her and whispered, “Do you need to shift?”

She nodded, curbing the urge to swear. She was so stressed out and having a devil of a time getting her anxieties under control. Of all the times to have to do this! But she reminded herself it could be worse. She could be in the courthouse and needing to shift. She could just envision being in one of the ladies’ restroom stalls, bringing back memories of her earlier catastrophe at the travel plaza.

“Hey,” Owen said, “can we have the driver pull the car over and let everyone get out for a minute?”

Strom looked up from his cell phone and considered Candice. “Hell, you need to shift?”

Owen knew Candice felt bad enough without her uncle sounding like he was thoroughly annoyed with her.

“Yes,” she said, glowering at her uncle.

“Okay.” Strom pushed the intercom to speak with the driver. “Denny, I need you to pull the car as far onto the shoulder as you can as soon as it’s safe to do so.”

“That means I won’t be able to sign the documents,” Candice said. “I’m so sorry, Uncle Strom.”

Hating that she felt so bad about this, Owen squeezed her hand with reassurance.

“Don’t be. It’s not your fault.” Strom got on his phone again and called his lawyer. “Brenner, as soon as you’re able to see the judge, tell him we’ve had some difficulties and it looks like Candice can’t make it to sign the paperwork now. We’ll have to meet with him another time… Yeah, shifter trouble. We’re still on our way to the courthouse to make sure the judge knows not to sign over the estate to the other woman, but then we’ll return home. As soon as Candice can shift back, we’ll return to the courthouse.”

Denny finally found a good spot to pull over and parked as far off the road as he could without ending up in the ditch. Owen was glad the windows were darkly tinted. He figured it would look odd for everyone to pile out of the limousine on the highway, but most would probably believe they were having car trouble. He had every intention of staying with Candice to lend moral support and help her out.

Everett and Strom, the driver and Jim all climbed out and moved to stand down in the culvert away from the highway.

“I can’t believe this. I just can’t believe this.” Candice rushed to strip out of her clothes while Owen helped her undress.

“Your uncle has it all in hand. He’ll get this done. Thank God he’s a shifter too. And with the kind of money he has, he should have no problem convincing the judge to come out to the house, no matter what other plans he might have had.”

She was naked now. Owen took her in his arms and hugged her tight. “We’ll get through this, and before you know it, we’ll be home for Christmas.”

She nodded, and they kissed, but she didn’t shift right away.

Was she just having a false alarm? He’d had a few of those over the years. Then she started to shift, and just as she did, they heard the screech of tires.

Owen looked back, saw a silver SUV heading straight for them, and grabbed hold of his wolf mate, just as the Suburban crashed into the limousine with a thunderous bang.