Loyal Wolf (9 page)

All fine. Glad Click helped you yesterday. See you later.

The only question he'd seemed to answer was whether he'd gotten back with Ralf and Click. Unless, of course, Ralf was responding on Jock's behalf.

She knew she was one suspicious lady. But she was an officer of the law. Suspicion was her job, even when she wasn't involved in a potentially threatening situation—like now.

But she wasn't going to resolve anything here. Would she at the upcoming meeting?

No, but it might turn out to be quite interesting—and the discussions there could be highly enlightening.

“Okay, partner,” she finally said, aiming one last look at the mirror on the wall, then facing Jimmy, who now seemed to be studiously ignoring her. “Let's go.”

* * *

As she had been ordered, Kathlene, in uniform and with her weapon in its holster at her side, stood just inside the door to the large public meeting room in the 1950s-style building that housed the Clifford County government offices. Straight and alert, she maintained a position that wasn't quite at attention, but nor was it at ease.

Far from it.

She was there to be visible as well as to watch all that was going on. Her gaze scanned the room, confirming that everything looked peaceful and friendly and not in need of official sheriff's department intervention. Not yet, at least.

She scented perfumes and shaving lotions as people walked by her to enter. She heard snatches of conversations, received a few friendly hellos, which she responded to, but otherwise stayed silent and alert.

She knew most of the people walking in. So far, they hadn't included Jock or Ralf. Where were they? Today's session could be important to their ability to determine who those who'd infiltrated that old ranch were and what they wanted.

Even if it wasn't, they should be here to find out.

At least none of the men who'd accosted her when she'd been saved by Click had arrived yet, either. But she felt fairly certain that Nate Tisal, who'd appeared to be in charge of the sportsmen's outpost, would be here.

Her partner, Jimmy, was stationed at the door directly across the room from her. He appeared bored and not especially alert, but the meeting hadn't yet gotten started.

Kathlene hoped he would do his job. Same went for the other couple of deputies who'd been deployed here, both of whom stood outside in the hallway at the moment. She wasn't sure when or if they'd come inside.

A lot of people had already entered the assembly room. Most were seated in the folding metal chairs that had been lined up in ten long rows. A few stood in the aisles at each end of the rows, chatting. The noise level was high in this room that had clearly not been built for the best acoustics, but Kathlene knew the sound would level off once the meeting began.

She glanced at her watch. Five more minutes. That's when the commissioners would enter the room and begin their session.

She had attended county commissioners' meetings before, mostly as a local resident interested in what was going on in the area.

Now, though, the commission had requested a visible presence by the sheriff's department for the third time—and each of those times Kathlene had attended in uniform.

Which she had been glad to do. She had discussed the situation with her friend Commission Chair Myra Enager each time, before the session and after. Both of the prior times, there'd been at least a few of the men hanging out at the old ranch who'd come in and even tried to speak. But they hadn't followed the commission protocol so they'd not been able to present their opinions.

Not vocally. But their glares had spoken volumes.

So had the anonymous and general threats delivered by email and otherwise afterward, although no one could definitely attribute any of them to the apparent anarchist group.

These sessions and what had occurred afterward had added to Kathlene's concerns about who the people were who were staying at the old ranch. But it didn't take a law-enforcement officer to note the cold stares leveled by the visitors who appeared at those earlier meetings and sat at the front of the room when something about hunting restrictions or gun licensing was being discussed.

Today the mayor of Cliffordsville, Larry Davonne, was also there, sitting in the front row with some of his aides. He wasn't in charge of anything here, since he was a city official and this was a county meeting. But Kathlene felt certain that the commissioners had requested his presence to ensure that he knew what was going on. Maybe to get his input.

Kathlene had been watching for the mayor, since Jimmy and she had been told to pay special attention to him and to a couple of commissioners who had expressly requested the law-enforcement presence and surveillance. The deputies were to make it clear that the crowd at the meeting was under guard, if necessary.

That included Myra, of course, and her closest ally on the commission, Wendy Ingerton. The other five members were men. All appeared to get along reasonably well, but the members besides Myra and Wendy had been fairly tight-lipped about their opinions on the matters that clearly riled the visitors: local laws to help enforce new state regulations that protected wildlife and required the arrest of poachers. A certain amount of gun control was involved in those matters, too—licensing, at least, and some background checks for the purchase of ammunition.

Despite the controversy surrounding those concepts even among members of the sheriff's department, Kathlene thought them quite reasonable to impose on strangers whose real purpose for being here remained hazy—and potentially threatening.

“Hello, Kathlene.” The low voice at her ear caused a soft shiver of pleasure to ripple through her body. She tried not to smile, to stay professional, as she turned to see its source.

“Well, hi, Jock,” she said. “Hi, Ralf.” It was okay to smile now, since she was playing the role of longtime friend of the tall, sexy, grinning man who stood closest to her after slipping in the door near her. “So you decided to see how my town works? Good. I'm glad. Go ahead and grab a seat. I'm on duty, like I told you.”

But she felt a lot more comfortable with these two men in the room—which was also perversely irritating. She knew they were military men, probably could handle a lot of stuff, but she was the official law-enforcement officer here, not them.

“I should have told you to save us some seats near you,” Jock said softly. It was true; most of the chairs on her side of the room had filled up.

But there were a couple near the back, although not on the aisle. “How about there?” At the moment, it really didn't matter if they were close by. Even so, the idea of their having her back, even unofficially, allowed her to relax just a little and ignore her internal grumpiness.

“Okay.”

Ralf waved at her as he followed Jock through what was left of the crowd in the aisle. Nearly everyone had found seats.

Kathlene glanced at her watch. Time for the fun to begin.

As if she had called them, the county commissioners began filing into the room from the door near the front that led to a separate hallway to their offices.

That was when Kathlene saw Tisal and some others she recognized from her confrontation the night before begin to enter the chamber from the door nearest Jimmy.

Showtime.

Chapter 9

J
ock didn't like this, but he wasn't surprised.

The possible anarchists slipping into the commissioners' meeting at the last minute could just have been because they were running late—as Ralf and he had been. They'd just spoken with Major Drew Connell again, this time about the day's proposed agenda, and had gotten a delayed start.

But with the newcomers, including that guy Tisal who'd been involved in the nastiness against Kathlene last night—well, they'd wait and see if those guys tried to disrupt anything, but Jock wasn't at all pleased to see them even if they kept quiet and just listened. Not that he was surprised by their presence.

“Let's come to order here.” That was the woman in the middle of the group of seven commissioners, all seated at a long table facing their audience on a slightly raised stage. Her name was Myra Enager, Jock found out a moment later as she introduced herself and the other commissioners. She was the chairperson, an efficient and serious-looking, middle-aged woman, who didn't look like she would brook any nonsense from this group.

Jock had heard of her and wasn't surprised. The information Kathlene had provided that resulted in Alpha Force being deployed here had mentioned Myra's name and status on the commission.

It had additionally said what proposed local laws the commission had been considering, and the nonspecific threats to its members had been part of why the military presence was determined to be critical. The situation had sounded potentially way beyond the ability of locals to resolve peacefully, if at all.

Myra also introduced Mayor Laurence Davonne, who sat at one side of the audience and appeared to be surrounded by assistants dressed much like he was in dark suits. He waved but didn't seem very enthused about being mentioned.

“Now, here are the items we will be considering today,” Myra continued. “We've had some changes in our agenda.”

Interesting. The woman leveled a glare toward the part of the room now occupied by the group who'd stomped in at the last minute—Tisal and his gang.

“We'll once again defer consideration of the matters I have proposed to the commission, those regarding enactment of county statutes to help enforce the latest state regulations to protect wildlife and to arrest and incarcerate anyone found poaching.”

“What? Why defer it again?” This was another of the commissioners, one toward the end of the table—Grabling was his name, per Myra's intro. He half stood and glared at the chairperson.

“From the start, I intended my proposal to be helpful, not controversial. However, for the past several months it has generated a lot of discussion at our open meetings—and more.” Myra glared into the audience toward the corner of the room where the newcomers still stood. They glared right back. Jock figured that what she wasn't saying was that the arrival of that group had made her decide to remove the controversial matters from the agenda.

Possibly due to prior bad experience.

Tisal raised his hand as if he wanted to be called on to speak.

“We are currently not open to any further discussion, at least not here and now,” Myra said.

Jock glanced toward Kathlene. She was obviously on alert, standing stiffly with her hand poised over her firearm. He doubted she would use it—unless she had no choice.

But just the gesture should make any sane person in this audience back down.

Tisal didn't. His hand was still raised, and it was waving. “Madam Chairwoman,” he shouted. “I wish to be heard.”

“There is nothing for you to be heard about, sir,” Myra called back to him. “We have no motions on the table, and in fact, we are about to adjourn.”

“But we haven't done anything,” Grabling protested. “We owe it to our county residents who've come here this afternoon to at least describe what they came to learn more about—your damned...er, your proposals regarding hunting. We and they can talk about those proposals further and put them to a vote if not this afternoon, then next time for sure.”

“If anyone here is unhappy about this, I do apologize,” Myra said, “but in the interest of safety and security of all of us—”

“At least tell us what proposals are still on the table.” That was Tisal. He was no longer with his gang at the back of the room but strode forward toward the podium. “We're curious, that's all. Then you can adjourn or do whatever you'd like, Madam Chairperson.”

He spoke completely reasonable words in a completely reasonable way—and Jock didn't trust any of it. Not after his own supposedly innocent discussions with Tisal, the
sportsman
—or the way Tisal had allowed Kathlene to be badgered last night.

By now the entire crowd was stirring, mostly chattering in apparent support of Tisal. Kathlene was still alert, her expression suggesting incredulity. Were the apparent anarchists always so rational-sounding in public? Unlikely, but they were garnering a lot of support here.

Two other deputies were now inside, too. They stood near the other uniformed guy across the room, apparently listening.

Or not. They all seemed to glare at Myra as if she was being unreasonable, and maybe she was.

Or maybe she was just being smart. And protective.

“I think we can accommodate that gentleman,” Grabling said. “Here's what we are considering, sir. Earlier this year, our state named some additional wild animals as endangered and requested that individual counties where hunting permits are granted add those animals to their lists. We're also requested to step up our gun laws and the penalties that can be imposed for violating them.”

“We told everyone that before,” said Wendy Ingerton, the other woman on the commission. “And making it public generated all sorts of...well, let's just call it discussion.”

“And threats,” Myra added. “Even though we assured people that we're not against hunting when done appropriately and in accordance with law. Nor are we against using guns, again if they're used safely and in accordance with law. And never used against people.” She shot a glance in Kathlene's direction. “Except when enforcing the law, of course.” Then Myra moved her gaze toward Tisal. “You wouldn't know anything about that, would you, sir?”

The man's smile was so sorrowful that it all but shouted its falseness to Jock. But others in the room might buy it. The buzz of conversation grew louder.

“Are you accusing me of something, Madam Chairperson?” Tisal asked in a soft tone that mirrored his expression.

“Only if the shoe fits,” Myra said.

“But I'm sure you're just speculating,” Tisal responded. “Can you provide proof to these nice people?”

“I think we're adjourned,” Wendy Ingerton said. “All in favor?”

Myra's hand went up immediately. “Aye.”

Grabling seemed to want to protest, but Myra's accusatory stare was leveled next at him. “Aye,” he echoed.

So did enough of the others at the table to actually adjourn the meeting.

But as everyone poured out of the room, including the mayor and his minions, Tisal and some of his gang flowed forward while the council members filed out.

“We'll see you all next time,” Tisal said as he reached some of those council members, his smile still innocent but his eyes full of malice.

* * *

Before she left, Myra gestured an invitation toward Kathlene, who hurried to join her at the front of the room on an edge of the raised meeting platform. Myra's charcoal suit looked rumpled, her face looked stressed.

“I'd like for you to come with me,” Myra said. “I've called for a private session to start now. I don't think my colleagues are thrilled about it, and they may even let those...men know. If you could just stand there, looking official and guarding us, it might help.”

“Of course.” Kathlene would need to report in to let her superiors know what she was doing, but she doubted they'd mind an extension of the assignment they had given her earlier.

She glanced around. The rest of the room was nearly empty of people. She saw Jock and Ralf move in her direction. She wanted to talk to them, to get their take on what had happened at the meeting, but that would need to wait until they could go somewhere private.

The expression on Jock's face was icy and serious, but when she motioned for him to join them his look softened—after he gave her one sexy, assessing look.

“Come here, you guys,” Kathlene said cheerfully. “I want you to meet Commission Chair Myra Enager. Myra, Jock is an old friend from college, and Ralf is one of his friends.” She quickly told Myra their cover story about the men being from Washington State and stopping to see her before heading to Yellowstone.

Could she tell her friend about bringing in a covert military unit to help confront the
sportsmen?
Maybe, but she'd been sworn to secrecy. And if she told Myra, Tommy X would undoubtedly hear about it, too.

“I found your meeting very interesting,” Jock said to Myra. “But I was really concerned when you mentioned threats. What kind of threats?”

He actually knew more about them, of course, Kathlene thought. The threats to the council had all been part of the reports she had submitted when she sought help. But she figured he wanted Myra's description, too.

As well as how concerned she really felt about those threats. But Kathlene knew that Myra was an intelligent, sensitive and politically savvy woman. And in their discussions about the threats, she might have laughed them off a bit in what she said, but the seriousness of her tone and expression told a different tale.

“I don't have time to talk about them now,” Myra said. “My private meeting's about to begin. But Kathlene knows about them. She'll be with me at that session but I'm sure she can fill you in later. Nice meeting you.” Without another glance, Myra headed out of the room.

“I do need to be with her,” Kathlene said. “But I'll want to get together later. Dinner?”

“Sure,” Jock said after sharing a glance with Ralf. “An early one.”

“What's going on later?” she demanded. They weren't going to keep her out of it this time, no matter what it was.

“We'll talk about it at dinner,” Jock said cryptically. Kathlene wanted to strangle it out of him.

Better yet, kiss it out of him...

No. She wouldn't think like that, no matter how much his amused, hot gaze turned her on. He was just trying to discombobulate her. And succeeding.

“I'll call you as soon as this meeting is over,” she told him.

And as she followed Myra down the hall she made another call—one to Tommy X. He was high enough in the food chain that he could report to those who needed to know about what she was doing, and a close enough friend that he wouldn't argue about it.

* * *

Pizza. That was what they were going to have for dinner that night, Kathlene learned after the relocated and abbreviated commission meeting was finally over.

Her first phone call had been to Jock, and his deep voice, filled with amusement and charm, asked first where she was, how she was, whether she needed backup, all of which made her feel both annoyed at his lack of confidence in her and gooey that he seemed to give a damn. And then they talked about where to eat—in about half an hour.

She was walking along the relatively empty sidewalks of Cliffordsville now, back to the sheriff's department to officially sign out for the day and get on her way to meet Jock and Ralf. There wasn't much traffic on the streets, either. She simply strolled between official administration buildings, almost alone. The sun was going down, and the structures cast shadows along the pavement, keeping her comfortably cool.

Nothing much had been accomplished at the reconvened meeting. Not unexpectedly, the seven members were divided into two factions: Myra and Wendy Ingerton on one side, along with one of the men. Three men, including Grabling, were decisively on the anti-legislation side when it had to do with more restrictions on hunting or weapons. And one guy was undecided, so they might as well not have met again. That commissioner, Mertas, was likely to be accosted by lots of attempts to sway him to one side or the other, Kathlene felt sure.

She called Jimmy after her conversation with Jock ended, a courtesy since he was her partner. He seemed a bit grateful that he hadn't been enlisted to stay, too.

She finally reached the department headquarters and went inside. Asking around, she learned that the sheriff and his head deputies were in a meeting of their own. They might not even have known—yet—that Kathlene had remained at the county commissioners building after the main meeting broke up.

Tommy X, ducking out of that meeting for a restroom break, took her aside briefly in the department's main admin room as she signed out for the day. “What actually happened?” he asked. “I've heard all sorts of versions. Is Myra okay? Was there any trouble?”

“She's fine and, no, there wasn't any trouble—not at the private, post-meeting meeting,” Kathlene told her tall, middle-aged ally, who leaned on the nearby wall for extra support. Of course he would be most concerned about the woman he was dating.

Now that she wasn't in the middle of things, Kathlene could relax—and she felt exhausted. Good thing they were alone in this vast room, at least for the moment. She just wished she was out of her uniform and into something a lot more comfortable. “I suspect there was a lot that churned in the background and remained unsaid at the adjourned public meeting. The an...er, the sportsmen now living at the old ranch had a presence, and they seemed very well behaved, but that doesn't mean they weren't the source of the threats.”

It wasn't appropriate to call those men
anarchists
in Tommy X's presence. She'd run that by him before, and, despite his awareness that there was some animosity toward Myra, he wasn't buying Kathlene's accusation, not without more proof. Continuing to call them sportsmen was a good compromise.