“I know.”
She raised a brow.
“I caught you looking at the calendar a couple of times. Didn’t you notice that I’d stick closer to you, not leave you alone as much right after that?”
She smiled and curled her arms about his neck. “I thought you were just lonely.”
“I was. But I also alternated between thinking you were having a hard time leaving because you’d miss me too much, and worrying you’d stayed too long because Hennessey was sure to find you.”
“I was.”
“So, when are we getting married?”
“Three months from now?”
“How about next week?”
She laughed. “I thought you were asking me when I want to get married.”
He smiled. “If your choice of date was close to when I want to get married, I would have just said I’d go along with it.”
“You want to marry before Christmas? How can we get the paperwork done that early?”
“Dan will take care of it. So that’s a yes?” He looked so happy she was about to say yes, when she remembered her cake.
“Oh!” she said, and pulled away from him to check the oven. “It doesn’t pay to distract me while I’m baking.” She pulled it out of the oven.
“If it’s ruined, I’ll eat it,” he said, taking deep breaths and enjoying the chocolate aroma.
“Then I’d have to make another and it wouldn’t be done in time. No, it’s just perfect.”
Hal poked his head into the kitchen. “Tell me we’re having that for a late breakfast.”
She laughed. “It’s for Thanksgiving dinner. When are we headed over there?”
“Early,” Chase said. “Weather reports show another winter storm headed our way. We might as well get over there and just enjoy ourselves, visit and play games, until we eat.”
“Where’s everyone else?” Hal asked.
“Dan’s at the clinic questioning a couple of boys about a fight that left one of them with a broken nose. And Stryker’s working a traffic accident. We’ll have to take it slow to reach Rick’s place out in the country,” Chase said.
“What about Dottie and the kids?” Shannon asked.
“Dan will head over there and pick them up right after he finishes with the kids at the hospital. Is your cake done?”
“Sure. It’ll cool down on the way over there and I can add the frosting then. We might as well go now. Are we all going in one car or two?”
“My truck,” Hal said. “It’s got four-wheel drive, snow tires, heavier than Chase’s hatchback.”
“I’ll just grab my coat, hat, and gloves,” she said.
Hal said, “Me, too. Wait, what can I bring?”
“Dan said to bring a couple of bottles of wine. He’s got them in the cabinet there. Dottie’s bringing something she baked. A vegetable casserole, I think. Stryker said he picked up a pecan pie yesterday and he’ll drop by his place to get it,” Chase said.
Before long, they were out the door with the cake, bowl of fruit, and two bottles of wine.
The roads were messy, though Shannon felt safe in Hal’s truck. Several cars had slid off the road into piles of snow, but thankfully the occupants of the vehicles must have been rescued because the cars were empty.
When Hal had driven out into the country, they came upon another stuck car. A man and woman were trying to clear the snow out of their path. Hal stopped and two ten year-old girls got into the truck with Shannon to stay warm while the mother drove the car back and forth as Chase, Hal, and the husband tried to push the car back onto the road. They managed to get onto the road and the kids rejoined their parents and were on their way. Only a mile down the road in the blinding snow, the car was in the ditch again.
“Where were they going?” Hal asked.
“To their grandmother’s house,” Shannon said.
“Which is where?” Hal asked.
“I have no idea.”
Hal sighed and pulled next to their car again. Only this time they all crammed into the double cab of Hal’s truck along with a damp German shepherd, too. Shannon had never known cat shifters who owned a dog before.
Everyone but Hal—well, and maybe Chase, but he was only smiling and not saying a word—wanted the dog inside the cab with them.
Hal complained nearly the whole time about how dogs and cold weather were meant for each other. That the dog would love to see the sights and not be jam-packed into the back seat with the family. He’d feel squished. That he was way too big to be a lapdog. That he would feel way too confined.
The two girls giggled. “He’s sleeping on all of our laps,” the one girl said.
Shannon smiled.
The trip was way out of their way and took them up a country road that made Shannon worry that even they wouldn’t make it. The family’s low-slung car would never have made it. When they reached the house, the lights were on inside and a cheery fire was blazing in the fireplace. A gray-haired grandma came out to greet them in a sweater and dress and snow boots. She looked a little surprised to see Hal and Chase and Shannon.
“Oh my goodness, you’re that wild she-cat the sheriff and his men were trying to catch,” she said, then smiled. “Come in. Come in. Have Thanksgiving dinner with us.”
Chase and Hal smiled at Shannon as she felt her cheeks heat.
Two more German shepherds rushed out to greet the family and the family’s dog, and then checked Shannon and the others over.
“We’ve got to be at Rick and Yvonne Mueller’s place, Ma’am,” Chase said. “We were glad to be of some assistance.”
“Will you need a ride home tonight?” Hal asked.
“No, they’re staying a few days to help me put up my decorations for Christmas.”
They all made their well-wishes and Shannon, Chase, and Hal drove back the way they came. Chase texted Rick to let him know they would be late because they’d gotten held up on the drive over.
Rick responded by saying Dan had texted him that he couldn’t make it to Dottie’s place to get her and the kids in time. Could Hal?
“Okay, another run. At least Dottie doesn’t have any dogs,” Hal said.
“I saw you pet that dog,” Shannon said.
He smiled. “I would have loved him, if he’d been riding in the back.”
“It’s not safe for them,” she said.
“My whole truck smells like wet dog now!”
“And chocolate,” Chase said, wrapping his arm around Shannon.
It took nearly an hour to reach Dottie’s place. A light was on in the living room, and they saw Dottie wave out the window at them, then leave to get the kids.
Hal parked and everyone got out. “It’s like moving day taking Dottie and the kids anywhere. Remember that when you have kids. You don’t just go. You have to get car seats and toys, and special food to keep them happy, and diapers and…”
Shannon started laughing. “No dogs and no kids, eh, Hal?”
He smiled back at her. “Now if…”
Chase punched him.
Hal and Shannon laughed.
Hal opened the front door and walked inside but a shot rang out and Hal hit the floor. Chase had been to the right of him, Shannon behind. She let out a startled shriek, and ran the other way.
Praying Hal and Chase would be all right, she dashed outside into the snow. It had to be Hennessey and he’d taken Dottie and her toddlers hostage. Shannon knew the only thing she could do was run and hope that Hennessey would come after her. She began stripping, which wasn’t easy as many clothes as she had on. She ran into the blinding snowstorm and into the woods. She hoped Chase was safe, but she knew he’d go after the shooter and have to rescue Dottie and her little ones. He’s already lost his wife and baby. He couldn’t see it happen again. She worried that Hal had been hit, though she’d also assumed he might have hit the floor as a soldier would do when under fire.
Naked, she shifted, willing the warmth of her cougar coat to cover her skin, and ran blindly
away from the house, the snow stinging her eyes.
And then she saw him. Hennessey, the bastard. He was outside wearing his cougar form and coming after her. She hesitated. She could either run away from the house, and she knew she couldn’t outrun him, or head back to the house and hope Chase or Hal had taken down the shooter. She darted back toward the house at a full run, leaping through the screen of cold, white flakes. She was certain Hennessey was chasing her, but she couldn’t hear his silent approach while the cold wind whipped the snow about.
Gunshots went off inside the house. Four.
And then a massive tan body slammed into her from behind and she rolled onto her back, unable to do anything else. Snarling and growling, she bit at the bastard as Hennessey tried to grab her throat. She kicked at his belly, claws extended, trying to keep him away from her throat.
The wind swept the white flakes around her as she was half buried in the soft snow, kicking and biting at the devil himself. He knew he had to kill her quickly if Chase or Hal were still alive. But then he wouldn’t learn where the money was, if he still believed she knew where it was.
She bit him in the leg and he snarled and hissed but before he could pay her back, another cat slammed into him and sent him into the bank of snow.
She jumped to her feet, panting from exertion, the snow clinging to her fur. Chase. He tore into the cat and she was torn between staying with him this time and going to see to the others. Hal had dropped like a rock when the first shot was fired, and she feared he might have been hit and was seriously injured or dead. And she worried about Dottie and the kids… But she couldn’t leave Chase.
Her heart pounded furiously, the adrenaline still rushing through her blood.
Had Dan really texted Rick and told him to ask Hal to pick up Dottie, or was he in the house hurt or dead?
She feared the latter. Hennessey had to have used Dan’s phone to text Rick so that they would come here.
Chase was just as viciously trying to kill Hennessey, and she couldn’t wait for Chase to be victorious any longer on his own. She had to see to those in the house. She whipped around in the deep snow, crouched, and sprang at least fifteen feet to where the two cats were fighting, raked her claws down Hennessey’s back, and took his rabid attention off of Chase for an instant.
He snarled and snapped at her, but Chase closed his jaws around Hennessey’s neck and clamped down hard. They waited until they no longer heard his heart beat and his breath no longer blew out puffs of frosty air. Then she dashed back toward the house and inside. Hennessey’s uncle was dead on the floor, shot twice. Hal was unconscious, his head bleeding profusely.
Chase joined her inside and shifted, then began getting dressed. “I’ll get your clothes,” he said, then he ran back outside, gathered up her things, and trudged back through the snow at a run.
When he reached the house, he dropped her clothes on the floor for her, and shut the door. “Dottie and the kids are tied up in the bedroom at the back of the house. You can free them. I’ve got to take care of Hal.”
She had already shifted and was throwing on her clothes. “Hal,” she said, tears in her eyes. She had caused this. By coming here, she could have caused so many deaths.
“Head wound, bleeds a lot. Bullet grazed him and he’ll have a hell of a headache when he comes to.” Chase stalked toward the bathroom.
Shannon got on the phone to Rick, telling him Hennessey and his uncle were dead as she raced down the hall to the bedroom where the door was closed. She threw it open.
Dottie was tied to a chair, her eyes red with crying. Dan was tied up on the floor, struggling to get free, a raised welt on his forehead, red and already bruising. Both Dottie and Dan had been gagged. The babies were on the bed, a quilt covering them, but her heart nearly stopped when she worried they were dead. She quickly checked them out and found they were just asleep.
“Everyone’s all right,” Shannon said, reassuring them. Then she put the phone on speaker as she untied Dottie’s wrists and said, “Hennessey and his uncle were here lying in wait to ambush us at Dottie’s house. Hal’s been wounded, but Chase said it’s not serious.” She sure hoped he was right. “Dan looks like he has been struck in the head, but he seems like he’s going to be all right.”
“I was worried when I couldn’t get hold of Dottie or Chase to learn why none of you had showed up here. I tried Dan’s number and I couldn’t reach him, either. I’m actually on my way there now. Stryker had gotten hung up on another car pileup. I’ll let him know what’s happened there. And we’ll get a clean-up crew out right away.”
“Thanks,” Shannon said, as Dottie untied Dan. The toddlers were still sound asleep on the bed. “See you soon.”
“Ten minutes tops.”
In about twenty minutes, owing to the weather, Stryker and Rick arrived along with another couple of men that she didn’t know in three different vehicles. Hal was lying on the sofa with his head bandaged. Dottie was packing up the kids and Dan, though he was normally in charge of an operation, wanted to get her and the kids out of there because of the dead men, and Hal being injured. Everyone assured him they’d take care of everything. Dottie, Dan, and Chase had wanted Shannon to go with them. But she wasn’t leaving Hal or Chase behind.
Shannon worried about Dan having been knocked out also. But he assured everyone he was fine.
Once the clean-up crew arrived to take the two men to the morgue, Chase drove Hal’s truck while he stretched out in the back. And Shannon sat up front.
“Doc’s going to be angry you didn’t go in to have your head looked after,” Chase said.
“It’s Thanksgiving. She doesn’t need to have to come in for stuff like this. She already had to set that kid’s broken nose.”
“Stryker looked upset that you didn’t ride with him,” Chase said.
“Hell, I have to watch the way you’re driving my truck in this weather.”
Chase chuckled.
Hal was lying down in the backseat and couldn’t see anything. “Besides, where you and Shannon go, that’s where all the action is. Already Stryker’s complaining that he missed out again.”
“At least no one’s going to say you got shot changing a light bulb,” Chase said.
Shannon smiled.
“No, they’re going to say I didn’t duck fast enough though.”
“Good thing or the guy would have shot Shannon.” Chase looked over at her.
She took a deep breath. “All of this was my fault.”
“No, it was Hennessey’s fault,” Hal said harshly. “The bastard was a cop, too.” Then he said, “Hell, as soon as I arrive at the feast, I’m going to be smelling like a dog.”
Shannon and Chase chuckled.
Once they arrived at Rick and Yvonne’s house for the Thanksgiving feast, the whole place smelling of turkey and pumpkin and pecan pies, and chocolate cake, Shannon felt relief and ready to share this truly special holiday with Chase and friends.
She kissed Chase, wanting more, but not here in front of everyone else, and though he appeared to want to hold onto her longer, she smiled and said, “I’ve got to frost the cake.”
His arms still wrapped around her, he said, “I can’t wait for dessert.”
The glint of the devil in his eyes and the way his mouth curved so wickedly, she was sure he wasn’t talking about the cake. He released her then, and while she mixed up the frosting, Chase opened a bottle of wine, and Yvonne set the dishes of food on the dining room table.
But just as Shannon finished frosting the cake, Chase was standing beside her, catching her at doing what she’d always done as a little girl helping her mother to frost a cake—sliding her finger around the inside of the bowl to catch the remaining ribbons of chocolate, then licking it off.
The next thing she knew, he was licking her fingers, her mouth, kissing her as if no one else in the house existed.
Yvonne finally finished pouring the wine and asked, “What exactly happened? We need the full details of what
went down.”
Shannon gave Chase one more chocolaty sweet kiss, then they washed up to join the others, though she was thinking about just how much fun sharing chocolate with Chase could be—when they were alone.
Dan was sitting on the couch with Hal, neither of them looking really great. Dottie was taking care of feeding her toddlers. Stryker acted like he didn’t know quite what to do, his hands shoved in his pockets as he watched everyone else work. Rick began to carve the turkey.
Then they all sat together at the dining room table.
“I finished talking to the two kids who had gotten into a fight, then spoke with their parents. After that, I called Dottie and told her I was on my way to her place and that we should be able to make it in time to Rick and Yvonne’s place. I’d told her that Shannon was with Chase and Hal and they had been delayed getting there, too,” Dan said and passed the bowl of potatoes. “And I said that Stryker was still dealing with the traffic accident, but that he’d join us as soon as he could.”
“So they were monitoring your conversation using a scanner,” Shannon said.
“Yeah, they had to have. I was on the phone to Stryker about the car accidents when I entered Dottie’s house. When I stepped into the place, I didn’t even have time to call out that I was there or get a chance to smell Hennessey or his uncle’s scent. Though I realize now they were wearing that damned hunter’s spray again. The ape hit me in the head with something and I went down. I don’t remember anything after that until I woke up in Dottie’s bedroom and we were both tied up and gagged. I was trying to get myself free when I heard Shannon on the phone coming for us. I guess the bastard used my phone to text Rick,” Dan said.
“Which was my fault,” Dottie said, passing the gravy to Dan. “They forced me to verify that Shannon and Chase were going to Rick and Yvonne’s for Thanksgiving. I said that I didn’t know where they were going, but the older man said I didn’t have to confirm it was so, but that he’d kill either one of my kids or the sheriff and see if that might help me to remember. He said they weren’t going to hurt any of us—“
Dan snorted.
“I agree. He said they just wanted the money Shannon had stolen from them,” Dottie said. “I didn’t believe them about the money or that they didn’t want to hurt anyone. I told them that they nearly killed Shannon the last time, and Hennessey said she wasn’t supposed to be hurt, but she fought Roger and didn’t just go along with them. That they just had to convince her they meant business.”