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Jake pulled a gun fro "I said I didn’t have a gun with e But it seeo out with you now" He pulled out a lock pick set and helped her out of the truck

She frowned at hiot my keys" She patted her purse "Why do you have lock picks?"

He was so accustoet into places that weren’t faht about her keys "Most of us carry these in case we have an urgent need to get inside a building and hide ourselves If there’s a wolf on the premises, I’ll have to shift quickly and deal with it"

"Oh," she said, sounding surprised

Her response reminded him holy turned she was and how difficult it had to be for her to think in terht also be olves and had to be dealt with differently

Peter and Tom joined them at Alicia’s apartment door and hovered close as Jake said quietly, "Tom, I want you to stay with Alicia until Peter and Iher key, Jake unlocked the door, and with guns drawn, he and Peter stepped inside the house The place was quiet, and Toress

Jake lifted his nose and took a good strong whiff, just like the others did He smelled the telltale scents of several nes, primarily The odor of male testosterone and sweat And the faint odor of wolf Male wolf

He and Peter quickly scanned the s room, which was filled with a blue floral couch and two solid-blue love seats, a light-oak coffee table and a couple of end tables, leaving nowhere for anyone to hide A cheerful yellow kitchen was just beyond the living area, and in an open dining roo else The bar divided the kitchen fro behind it

Jake motioned for Peter to follow him and they quietly strode to the kitchen, but he shook his head at Alicia and To noise in the bedrooht everyone’s attention No one said a word as Jake and Peter quietly stalked up the carpeted stairs, Jake leading the way He wasn’t sure what he would face--a wolf or a man But he smelled the scent of a wolf and a man on the way up the stairs If the erous If he was a wolf, Jake would take care of the proble, a short wall half-protected a suited un aimed for a kill, but Jake saw the man before he could fire the shots Jake ducked into a crouch behind the wall Three pops rang in the air Three bullets slammed into the wall behind Jake with a thunk, thunk, thunk

Peter whipped around the loall at a crouch and fired, hitting thehim drop his weapon The man collapsed on the floor and passed out Jake cursed under his breath and then rushed forward to feel the injured man’s pulse His pulse was thready, but the h for Alicia and Toht

The injured h, as a un for any ID None Not that he’d expected to find any

Peter stalked into the bathroom "No one in the laundry room or bathroom," he said

"Call the local police, Peter We’ll have him hauled off and then take care of our business here"

Surprisingly, nothing seemed to be out of place Jake assuive the appearance that no one had been there Then if Alicia had arrived, she would have felt safe as she entered her apartment The man would have waited like a venomous snake until she reached the bedroom and then would have pounced on her

The bedcovers were tousled where the gun for Alicia to show up HeAlicia had co the ht before because theher before they lost her at the Crestview Motel

Mario ht she’d finally return here with no place else to go

Jake headed back down the stairs as Peter watched thein to the police "This is Sheriff Peter Jorgenson of Silver Town, calling about a shooting incident at 452 Sunnybrook Apartht Alicia’s pale features as he hurried to join her at the front door "Theanother gun for a good long while" He took her in his arave her a heartfelt embrace "If you’re up to it, do you want to look at hinize?"

"Yes, of… course" Even though her speech was hesitant, she see this over and done with

He rubbed her back "The police will be here soon They’ll have more questions to ask you, I’m afraid But at least Peter shot the h I aun All of us are, just in case we need to be He’s human, Alicia But a wolf has been on the premises"

"I smelled the wolf, but I wouldn’t knoho he is" She looked toward the stairs "My s are upstairs in a linen closet"