Chapter Seventeen – Avery

Sex had never been that good, Avery mused as they drove into town the next morning.

She’d woken with a deep-seated ache in every muscle of her body, which she chose to ignore, she had a job to do. Brad had called while she and Jacob were eating dinner last night to say he had got a confession out of Joe, who had been easy to break. Partly because he said his mom was going to kill him, and also because he wanted to cut a deal.

In short, Brad had in his hands a signed statement that said Chief Banner had set up the whole thing. The only part of the puzzle Joe could not fit into place was the identity of the eagle. Joe Hislop firmly believed the eagle was a real bird and appeared to have no idea what Brad was talking about when he mentioned shifters.

From this, they had formulated a plan. Joe had placed a call to his mom asking her to get Chief Banner to meet him and pick up the drugs. He’d lied and said he was stuck in Bear Creek with Manny, who was in the hospital after a bear attack.

At the same time, Jacob had spoken to his brother Kit, who had arranged for the hospital to add a fake patient to their system. According to Bear Bluff Hospital, Manny Maxwell had been admitted with wounds likely sustained from a bear attack.

Chief Banner had duly called to check the details, and arrange a transfer of the patient to Holloway Country Hospital. The chief had lied and told the hospital in Bear Bluff that there was a warrant out for Manny’s arrest and that he would come over and see to the transfer personally.

When this was relayed to Joe, the implication that if Chief Banner took custody of Manny he likely would never be seen again was not lost on him. It was enough leverage to entice Joe to play along in the hope that Chief Banner would incriminate himself enough to make a solid case for the prosecution. There was no way Chief Banner was going to be allowed to wriggle out of this one.

Avery had placed another call to Lonnie, inviting him to Bear Creek, but not giving any details. Although she trusted Lonnie implicitly, she was not going to risk anything going wrong. There could be no leaks in this plan.

“How are you feeling?” Jacob asked.

“Good. We have everything in place. Joe will wear a wire when he meets Chief Banner. Brad has arranged for someone to pretend to be Manny, since he is not cooperating.”

“Won’t he know it’s not Manny?” Jacob asked.

“Apparently, they’ve only met a couple of times, in dark places, so it’s doubtful, but just in case, Joe will tell the chief that Manny has facial injuries.” It all sounded plausible. She’d gone over the details several times with Brad this morning, while Jacob had taken a run over the mountain. As they worked out the finer details, she had to admit she liked Sheriff Brad. He was smart and professional. A man she could work with.

Was she really thinking of abandoning her career path, and coming to live in a backwater town?

When she looked across at Jacob, she knew the answer was yes.

“So, the fake Manny is going to look like a mummy?” Jacob asked.

“A little. Just enough to disguise his features.” Avery grinned at the image of Chief Banner trying to question a mummy. “I’m hoping Lonnie gets here in time.”

She looked at her phone. There had been no new messages or calls from Lonnie since she’d spoken to him last night. Avery hoped everything was OK with him. The whole thing had left him looking frail. Avery hoped if they could clear his name, he would bounce back.

“He will, and if he doesn’t, maybe he’ll be here to celebrate with you when Chief Banner gets what he deserves.” Jacob tried to soothe her nerves.

“Brad has a nice cell set aside for the chief. He’s kind of livid another member of the police force, a high-ranking one too, has brought drugs into his town.”

“He’s not the only one,” Jacob assured her as he parked the truck outside Brad’s office. They both got out and headed inside, where they found Brad making the final preparations.

“Anything I can do?” Avery asked.

“Nope, we’re good to go.” He grinned as he looked at her and Jacob. “You two look happy.”

“We are,” Avery said hastily. “We cracked a big drug-smuggling ring.”

“You did.” Brad turned to face them. “You know that eagle is still sitting in the corner, sulking.”

“Any idea who he is?” Jacob asked.

“Well, I could hazard a guess, since a certain store in town has not opened for business this morning.” Brad’s brow creased as he nodded his head, his eyes opening wide as he waited for them to guess.

“Mike’s store?” Jacob asked, looking happy when Brad nodded again.

“One and the same.”

“Well, how about that!” Jacob looked equally pleased. “That will save me ripping his head off if he looks at my mate wrong.”

“Does he know that you know?” Avery asked.

“I called him Mike when I took his breakfast this morning, but he’s still sitting in the cell wearing his feathers. He’ll crack sooner or later. I have all the time in the world, since there are no rules about keeping suspect birds here indefinitely.” Brad looked at his watch. “Ninety minutes until show time. I need to get moving.”

“We’ll follow shortly,” Avery said. “I need to give Lonnie a couple more minutes.” She looked at her phone again and then decided to call him. Avery scrolled through her contacts and tapped the screen to dial his number, but he didn’t answer and she ended the call. “Must be still on the road.”

“Well, I’m going to get going.” Brad looked up as two of his men walked in. “Harrison, you’re with me. Tad, stay here and watch the other prisoners. Keep a check on Squawky back there, I have the camera on him in case he decides to shift back to being human.”

“Sure, I’ll watch him.” Tad went around to sit behind his desk, while Harrison waited for his orders.

“I’m going to get Joe. We’ll drive across to Bear Bluff and get the wire on him. Chief Banner is due in town in ninety minutes, I want us in position in an hour.” He nodded to Avery and Jacob. “Don’t be late and miss the show.”

“We won’t.” Jacob put his arm around Avery’s shoulder and she leaned into him.

“What if Lonnie doesn’t get here?”

“Then we go to the hospital without him. Just tell Tad to make Lonnie stay put here.” Jacob kissed the top of her head. “Once we have Chief Banner in custody, Lonnie will get his name cleared no matter what.”

“I know.” She liked how Jacob tried to comfort her.

“Is this him?” A big SUV pulled up across the road. As soon as it stopped, the doors were flung open and two men got out.

“That’s Lonnie. And my dad.” Avery peered through the window, and then went to the door and yanked it open. “What are you doing here, Dad?”

“I thought Lonnie might need some support. And since he was there for me when I needed him, I wanted to return the favor in some small way,” her dad told her, leaning heavily on his walking stick.

“It’s so good to see you both.” Avery put her arms around both men. “The team is back together again.”

“Which is something me and your dad have been talking about,” Lonnie told her as they walked back to the sheriff’s office.

“Are you going to tell me?” she asked as they went inside.

“We're going to go into the private investigation business. Your dad is great with the internet, and I’m still good on my feet.” Lonnie looked a lot happier; his features had lost their pinched look.

“You are going to leave the police force, after everything that’s happened?” Avery asked, a little disappointed.

“Semi-retired sounds good,” Lonnie admitted. “This has given me an opportunity to reassess my life. I want some time off to enjoy with my wife.” He saw the look on Avery’s face. “This thing hasn’t beaten me. And if we don’t get Chief Banner today, I will stay on until we do. I haven’t worked all these years in the police force to let a man like that taint my career.”

“Honey, Lonnie and I used to talk about this when we worked together. Before…Well, before I became useless.” Her dad gave a sad smile.

“You’ve never been useless.”

“Tell that to your mom when she asks me to do chores around the house,” her dad joked. “Really, this is what we always talked about doing. But Lonnie stayed on to watch over my baby girl.”

“Dad, I’m a grown woman,” Avery insisted, aware of Jacob watching the whole conversation.

“You will always be my baby,” her dad answered, giving her a hug and a kiss.

Avery hugged him right back before pulling away. She had news of her own, and she could not wait to share it. “There’s someone I’d like you to meet.” She also needed to change the subject before her dad and Lonnie embarrassed her anymore in front of the man she loved. “This is Jacob.”

“Hello,” Jacob greeted the two men.

“Jacob.” Her dad stepped forward, hand held out in welcome. “It’s been a long time since my daughter has introduced a man to me.”

“Good to meet you.” Jacob grinned as he shook hands with both of them.

“You too, son. You look like the kind of man who might actually have a chance at taming my daughter.”

“Oh, I don’t think she needs taming,” Jacob said, humor flashing across his eyes.

“Good answer.” Lonnie laughed and gave Avery a wink.

Before the conversation could go any further, Brad came out of the holding cells with Joe, who had his hands cuffed behind his back. “We’re all here. Are we ready to go?”

“We are,” Avery said. “It’s time we wrapped this up, so we can all get on with our lives.” Jacob caught her eye, and she blushed uncontrollably, which made him smile, his dimples showing. Avery’s breath caught in her throat. She was so incredibly lucky to have met a man like Jacob, and she planned to hold onto him with both hands.

Or maybe she should cuff him to the bed, so he never got away?