“The fact you returned as much as you did had to have influenced John. He could be hardheaded, but he could be fair too, once he got over being annoyed about something. This explains everything. Why you made up that story about the world tour. Why you couldn’t see me for another week. I just never imagined the timing coincided with the new moon and that was your reason for staying away. What would you have believed in my place?”
“That something wasn’t right.”
“Correct.”
“Is that why you stayed away from Mom and Dad?”
“I never had anything in common with them. We had our own lifestyles. Our own business pursuits. I did take care of them when they became ill. They always asked for you, were worried about you. I can’t tell you how angry I was that you didn’t come home for them.”
“I couldn’t. I swear, every time they became ill, the waxing or waning gibbous or full moon was out.”
“I completely understand. I want you to live with me. You have your own estates, but I’m here alone and would enjoy your company and getting to know you. You’d have full use of my facilities and cars, and the jet can take you wherever you want to go without the fear of shifting.”
“I’m mated. To Owen. I’ll be moving to Minnesota. Though I’ll need to sell off the houses here and in South Dakota.”
Strom narrowed his eyes at Owen. “Was this mutually agreed upon?”
“Of course it was. We love each other. We’re happy together. We’d love to take you up on coming to visit. During the new moon, of course,” Candice said, growling.
“Anytime. I’ll just have my jet pick you up.” Strom took a deep breath. “Any of your pack. The whole pack. I have plenty of room, as you can see.”
“You believe me now? That I am who I said I was? I don’t look much like my picture anymore.” Candice was surprised her uncle didn’t expect her to prove who she was. “The PI’s sister got into my safe-deposit and stole my papers and family photos. I couldn’t believe it. She called ahead and said she’d lost the keys, and they had to drill out the old lock and make new keys for it.”
“She had an ID with your name on it, I take it?” Strom asked.
“Yep. I guess her brother made all the arrangements for her. Anyway, my baby pictures with my parents holding me, my high school diploma, paperwork on the house I bought and sold, the pearl ring my parents gave me when I turned sixteen, and all kinds of documents were in there. I hadn’t moved everything to where I am now because there are no local banks with safe-deposit boxes close by. I planned to eventually move it all to the nearest big city.”
“Robbing a bank’s safe-deposit box should be a federal offense,” Strom said.
“Yeah. I couldn’t believe it. It was still in my old name. I just didn’t think to change it over. I still have the old driver’s license I kept for an ID in case I ever needed it. Did you want to see it?”
“No, that’s okay. I have duplicates of all the pictures. Your hair was red back then, just like it is now. The other woman dyed her hair to match the picture I gave the PI and Owen, and you were wearing the violet contact lenses. But your workplace said that when you returned from the camping trip and packed up your things at the office when you quit, your hair was red, not dyed.”
“Being a wolf knocked the color right out of my hair. You should have heard me telling everyone it was just temporary theater hair color, and I washed it all out in the river that night while everyone was sleeping.”
Her uncle laughed. “I can imagine how that would have sounded.”
“Yeah. Unbelievable. So how do you know it’s really me?” She liked hearing him laugh. Her uncle sounded a lot like her father when he laughed.
“I’ve been to your parents’ home several times. I’d know your scent anywhere. You didn’t have to do anything to prove that you are who you are. Once I met the other woman, I would have known she was a fraud right away.”
Candice took a relieved breath. “I was so worried about having to shift while I was here, but when we learned you were shifters too, I was thrilled.”
“What about Felix Underwood, the other PI?” Owen asked.
“He’s done some business for my firm. He was out of town when I needed a PI at first to locate Clara…Candice. But, Owen, I had thought you might get at the root of why Candice had changed so much after that camping trip. It seems you were the perfect one for the job.” Strom said to Candice, “When Felix learned you were reluctant to come to claim your inheritance, he proved beyond a doubt you were not on a world book tour. He believed you were an impostor.”
“He figured he could create his own impostor to pass off as me to gain the inheritance, especially since there was no way he was going to find someone else who was the real one,” Candice said. “He couldn’t have known I was a newly turned wolf and couldn’t come to see you. He and the woman, his sister, would split the proceeds, and no one would be the wiser.”
“They’ll be here after lunch, which, from what I can smell, is about to be served, and then you can have fun with them. After that, the police will arrest them, and we’ll go to see the judge.”
“What if I have to turn while we’re in the judge’s chamber? Is he one of us?”
“No, he isn’t. If you shift before we see him, I’ll give him a call and we’ll meet a little later and get this done. He owes me for all the money I’ve spent helping his political campaigns. But we still have time left.”
“Good.” She didn’t know what she was going to say to the impostor, but she figured the woman had already cooked her goose. “You’ve talked with Felix and his sister?”
“On the phone, but not in person. And ‘Clara’ has been excited about seeing me, unlike you.”
Candice rolled her eyes. “You never came by. You didn’t speak with my parents, and they never talked about you. What do you expect?”
“That’s what I really expected from a niece who was at odds with me. Not one who would be excited to see me. But she’s nervous too. While you seem comfortable around me.”
“Now that I know you’re a shifter, yes. I was worried sick about this. Didn’t sleep hardly at all last night. You can’t know how concerned I was that I might shift. And still could while I’m here or on the way home.”
Strom frowned. “At least stay for a while. Until the new moon. I’d really like you to stay for Christmas. You know you’re my only living relative.”
She couldn’t believe it. “Could you come to see us?”
He laughed. “In the snow?” He shook his head.
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 U
nderwood 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.
Chapter 19
As soon as the vehicle hit the limousine, the impact threw Owen against the glass dividing the driver and front passenger seat from the rest of the limousine, making him lose his hold on Candice before he fell to the floor. Thankfully, he was okay. He quickly picked himself up and checked on Candice, sprawled in her wolf form on the floor.
“Are you all right?” he asked, coming to her aid and giving her a hug.
She woofed, then growled, looking
behind them through the window at the silver Suburban and the thirtyish man leaving his vehicle.
He had hit them on one corner of the limousine, crumpling it. Owen looked out the side windows, but everyone was in the ditch, scrambling to climb up the incline to check on the driver of the SUV and Candice and Owen. He was damn glad no one by the side of the road had been hurt.
Strom yanked open the door to the limousine and poked his head in. “Everyone okay?”
“Yeah, we’re good. The others?”
“All of us are fine. Jim and Everett are checking on the driver, no passengers. Damn people who can’t watch their driving when a vehicle is off to the side of the road,” Strom said.
Traffic was beginning to back up, so Strom called the police officers who were supposed to arrest the impostor at the courthouse to let them know that he and his niece might be delayed a bit.
“Is anyone calling the police to make a report?” Owen asked, hoping the car was in good working order, and that the police didn’t get involved and ask about the wolf in the car.
Jim was taking down the insurance details from the other driver and gave his for the limousine.
“No need to. Jim caught it all on video. He was a great agent with the JAG. That’s why I enticed him over to the dark side to work for me.”
Jim smiled back at Strom and told the driver, “All right. Well, thankfully, I captured the whole thing on video in case we have any trouble over the car insurance. Can you drive okay?”
“Yeah,” said the other driver, who had been really nice, but didn’t look too happy about the accident being caught on video.
“What about us, Mr. Hart?” Jim asked.
Strom glanced at the driver. “Denny?”
“The limousine is fine,” Denny said. “I’ll need to take her in for repairs, but in the meantime, she’ll take us to the courthouse and back home again. That rear taillight’s not going to be working for signals and brakes though.”