“I had a case to work on there, so yeah, I took her. Okay, do you know which airline she took where she flew to initially? Do you know where this guy lives?”
Brad gave him the details of her flight times and the airline and destination. “He’s an army officer stationed at Fort Hood, so that means Killeen, but she wouldn’t have hung around the area. There’s nothing much to see there. She was stationed there before she retired, and I visited her a few times. I called Mom and Dad and she didn’t go see them in San Antonio, probably figuring they would give her grief over it. They’ve been telling her since she retired, like I have, that she needs to settle down in Portland and find a mate—one who is there for her.”
“Um, yeah, I agree. So that means Richard didn’t tell her that he was going on field duty and had no plans to see her?” Adam couldn’t believe the wolf.
“Nope. And she pays her way out there every time. If it wasn’t that it’s her business to handle this the way she sees fit, I’d punch the guy out.”
Adam felt the same way and knew her brother would actually do it too, for upsetting his sister. “Okay. Let me look into it. One other thing…” Adam hadn’t told anyone about the postcard yet, except for his boss. Normally he wouldn’t tell family members or others about a case he was looking into unless the person it pertained to wanted him to, but they were wolves and handled things a little differently. “When I was dropping off Sierra at the airport, she handed me a postcard from a person that used the initials of DM.” He explained to Brad what the card had said.
“DM? Dover Manning, had to be, damn his hide.”
“Yeah, so I turned it in to check for fingerprints. It came from Portland, not the jail, so someone mailed it for him or sent the message on his behalf. I just wanted to let you know in case she needs to move back to the pack’s ranch temporarily until we catch this guy.”
“Or guys. You thought there were more than the one you caught, in addition to the hotel staff.”
“Right. I’ll get back with you as soon as I learn anything about where she’s gone to and what’s going on with this veiled threat.”
“Thanks, Adam. Are you going to tell Leidolf?”
“Yeah, that’s next on the agenda.” Not about Sierra going somewhere else for the rest of the vacation but about the threat to her life, if that was what this was. The pack was always there for each other.
“Okay, then I won’t have to.”
Adam was swamped with cases because of losing his partner to retirement, but when it came to one of their red wolves, that situation shot straight to the top of his list of important missions.
“And thanks for trying to locate Sierra. I owe you,” Brad said.
“Think nothing of it.” Adam arrived back at the bureau, but before he went inside, he called Leidolf to explain to him what was going on in case Sierra needed a security detail.
“Hell,” Leidolf said. “I think she should move back to the ranch. No one who plans any mischief would get to her here.”
“I agree, but I still think it should be her call as long as nothing is going on. It may be just a veiled threat, and nothing will come of it.”
“Okay, just keep me informed.”
“I will.” They ended the call and Adam gathered the paperwork on the jewelry store robbery and headed inside the bureau.
He’d just set his paperwork on his desk when a woman wearing a light-gray suit with a skirt walked into the suite of offices. She had long legs, high heels, her dark hair in a bob, and a smile that was at once disarming and put him on alert at the same time.
Some of the guys smiled at her, a couple were gaping at her, but luckily none of them gave a wolf-whistle. No sexual harassment was allowed here.
Adam’s boss called out from his office, “Looks like your new partner, Tori Rose, is here.”
Adam looked back at her. If she’d been a wolf, he might have been interested in getting to know her better—as in courtship. But Sierra dominated his thoughts and now maybe he would even have a chance with her if she and Richard were on the outs with each other.
“Adam Holmes,” he said, stretching his hand out to Tori.
She joined him, her dark brows instantly rising, and her ruby lips parted. “You certainly are one of us.” Her words were soft, for his ears only, as she shook his hand.
He instantly cataloged her scent and smelled she was a red wolf too. How could he have gotten so lucky? “Hell. All right! Have you talked to Leidolf and Cassie?” He wanted to introduce her to their pack leaders as soon as he could.
“Leidolf. He’s the one who convinced me to come here and apply for your former partner’s position. He said it would be best for both of us to work together as partners. Cassie is still on a trip. I wanted to meet you right away, but you’ve been busy all day.”
“Yeah, Josh Wilding retiring has put me in a bind. I don’t blame him though. He wanted more time with his new, uh, mate.”
Tori smiled. “I don’t blame him either and now I’m here. I’m eager to get started. I spent all morning doing the paperwork to start the new job. What do you want me to do first?”
“That was Josh’s desk over there. It’s yours now. If you don’t mind, go through these cases stacked up on my desk that I’ve been working on. See if you can come up with anything to nail these guys with. Armed robberies have priority, but if we can’t solve those right away, just take your pick.”
“What are you going to do in the meantime?”
“I’m trying to track down our part-time sketch artist.”
“Sierra Redding? Leidolf said she was one of us.”
“Right. She is.”
“So she has gone missing?” Frowning, Tori sounded concerned.
“Her brother called me and said he’s worried about her. I’ll fill you in on the details later.” Not about Sierra’s private life though. That was for Sierra to share if she was so inclined.
“Sure. If you need my help with it, let me know.”
Glad that Tori was fitting in right away, he nodded, pulled his phone out, and pointed to the stack of folders on his desk. He would tell Tori about the postcard Sierra had received once he located Sierra and made sure she was safe.
“Right on it!”
Man, was he glad to have a partner again. He hoped she was as good at the job as Josh had been. There would be some getting used to a new partner. He swore Josh and he were like twins, able to anticipate the other’s moves in a crisis without any trouble. If Adam wasn’t so concerned about Sierra’s whereabouts, he would have taken a picture of Tori and sent it to Josh to show him his replacement.