They moved away from the girls, and Alice's phone vibrated again. But the men were still too close for Alice to risk opening it.
Once the men's footfalls completely faded away, Alice opened her phone and looked at her missed calls. "One from Dad, and the other from Evan," she whispered to Sarah.
Since Evan was in the woods and in more danger, she called him first. "Evan," she whispered, "Irving's trying to kill Leidolf."
"Lock all the doors. Deadbolt them. You're home, right?"
Tears in her eyes, she shook her head. "No, we didn't make it. Irving started shooting, and we dropped to the ground."
A significant pause followed. "All right. Stay where you are. I'm tracking them."
"No, Evan. Stay away from them."
"My dad called to check up on me when they headed back to town and he could get reception again. He told me Irving and Tynan are to be taken into custody and held at the ranch. They tried to kill Cassie's cousin."
"Cassie's cousin?"
"Yeah, Aimee is her name. Just stay there. I'll call you later."
"Did you tell him about Leidolf and Cassie being at the zoo?"
"No. I figured since they're headed into town, he probably already knew. I didn't mention I was here. Figured I'd get an earful. Especially when he learns I drove the Jag here. I've got to go. Just stay quiet."
"Irving is armed, Evan. You can't risk going after him."
"He might be armed, but not the way he thinks. Keep yourself safe, Alice. I'll call you." Then he clicked the phone off, and the deafening silence stirred her into action.
She called her father. He immediately answered.
"Dad--," she said.
"Where--"
Alice broke in before she got a big lecture. "Irving and Tynan are trying to kill Leidolf. We're in the woods about a mile from home. Sarah and I are keeping still, but you need to save Leidolf and Cassie! Evan's trying to track Irving and Tynan down, but he's going to get himself killed." Unwelcome tears spilled down her cheeks.
"Are you safe?"
"Yes, we're fine. But the others aren't."
Her dad's voice an order, he said, "We're on our way. Stay put."
But staying put wasn't at all what Alice had in mind.
As soon as the gunshots sounded in Forest Park, Leidolf's heart leaped, and he prompted Cassie in their wolf forms as he bumped her shoulder to run in a more westerly direction. How did the zoo men locate them so quickly? He didn't think it could be hunters. But no matter what, whoever was shooting at them couldn't keep up at a wolf's pace. Police sirens soon wailed as they headed in the direction of the zoo.
His heart thundering, all Leidolf cared about was getting Cassie safely to Carver's place. The idea that she would get shot again made his blood run cold.
The sirens wailed louder as they drew closer. Thompson and Joe must have discovered that Cassie and he had escaped from the red wolf exhibit. Or maybe the police were after whoever was shooting unlawfully in the closed park.
Leidolf and Cassie were less than a quarter of a mile from Carver's house when the forest came alive with his men--Elgin, Fergus, Carver, armed with a rifle, and at least fifteen others--and a redheaded woman who resembled Cassie, her eyes wide when she spied Cassie. Her sister? Astounded that she had family still, he couldn't be more thrilled for Cassie.
"Omigod, Cassie! It really is you!" the woman said, hurrying toward Cassie with her arms wide open.
Cassie hesitated and then dashed to greet her, jumping at her like she was at play and nearly knocking the woman down.
But while the woman was hugging Cassie, Carver quickly spoke to Leidolf, "My girls are out there. Irving and Tynan were planning to kill you, but my girls are still out there."
"And Evan," Fergus said, his expression both worried and angry.
Leidolf quickly shape-shifted to speak with his men. "Police are on their way. I'll grab a change of clothes. Cassie can stay at the house, and you, too," he said to her relative.
"Aimee Roux," she said. "Cassie's cousin."
"Welcome to the pack, Aimee. Carver, lose the gun. If the police catch you with it, they'll suspect you've been doing the illegal shooting." Leidolf shifted back to his wolf form, nuzzled Cassie's face, and then encouraged her to race with him the rest of the way to the house. He hoped she'd be sensible and not want to come with them.
At the house, Carver hurried to get a change of clothes for both Cassie and Leidolf, and once they had shape-shifted and dressed, they met the men in the living room.
"The women will stay here and call us if the girls reach the house before we locate them," Leidolf said. He preferred chasing Irving and Tynan down as a wolf, but he didn't want to get caught that way if the police descended on the area in droves.
Cassie was fighting tears as she hugged her cousin again, but then she released her and gave Leidolf a tight embrace. "Don't get injured. Promise."
He smiled and kissed her lips. "Can't afford to. If the men come this way, don't let them in. Just call us." Then he kissed her again, squeezed her one more time, and hurried outside with his men. Irving and Tynan were dead men.
As soon as Leidolf and the others left, Aimee took Cassie's hand and led her to the couch. Although she was more filled out, more womanly, she was just as pretty and the way Cassie remembered her. Same light smattering of freckles bridging her nose that made her impish-looking in a sweet way. With her hair curled down about her shoulders, her eyes bright and moist, she was Aimee. Her cousin, as close as her sister had been.
"What... what happened to our family was all my fault," Aimee said. Tears filled her eyes as she sat down with Cassie and held her hand as if she never wanted to let go.
Cassie hugged her again, not accepting that their family's deaths were Aimee's fault, but still she couldn't believe that Aimee was really here, not dead as Cassie had thought all those years. "I... I can't believe you're all right. Better than all right, Aimee. But you're wrong about our families."
"No, you don't know what happened. I saw two of the rancher's sons, the Wheelers, stealing from your home while your father was fishing. Your mother was washing clothes at the river with your sister, and I thought you were with them. I heard noises coming from your house, believed it was that pesky raccoon that kept breaking into our places, and went to investigate. I caught the men red-handed, carrying a feed sack bulging with stuff--your mother's treasured silver candleholders and a silver tray that I could see.
"I should have gotten out of there before they saw me. But I was so shocked it wasn't the raccoon that I hesitated. They shot me a couple of times, and I cried out." She looked down at the floor and brushed away more tears.
Tears streaked Cassie's face, too. She hadn't known what had preceded the fire, only what she'd seen at the end.
"I shouldn't have made a sound. I should have played dead. Instead, because of my stupid screaming, your family came running from the river. Your father killed both boys at once, no hesitation, as he found them in the house and me bleeding on the floor. Old man Wheeler must have been in the woods nearby with his other two sons. Probably sent the first two to do his bidding.
"He and his remaining sons ambushed our families. I managed to crawl out of the house and into the woods. My only thought was to escape. I believed we'd all be all right. That we'd heal from our wounds. But later when I came to, I found the houses all burned to the ground, still smoldering."
"It wasn't your fault, Aimee. It was theirs! They were always robbing from all the neighboring houses. They caused our families' deaths. They should have been dealt with long before that. You couldn't have known how it would play out."
Aimee shook her head and hastily wiped away more tears dribbling down her cheeks. "I could barely get around because of my own injuries, but I tore off my clothes and shape-shifted. That was the only way I figured I had a chance to survive. I thought you must have died in the fire, too."
"I was with the wolves," Cassie said, swallowing hard. "I was with them when I should have been with my family."
"You would have been dead, too." Aimee patted Cassie's shoulder. "We're all that's left of the family. Will you forgive me?"
"There's nothing to forgive, Aimee. God, I'm glad you're here with me now." Cassie hugged her again. "You did nothing wrong."
"When I healed up, I planned to kill our families' murderers. But Wheeler cheated over cards, got into a confrontation with the sheriff, and was shot and killed in the street. His remaining sons got into a brawl with a couple of drunken cowboys later that night. I planned to kill them after they were bodily thrown out of the saloon and began to stumble home in a drunken stupor." Aimee hesitated and took a deep breath. "But I... I lost my nerve."
Recalling how she'd moved silently as a wolf, carefully staying in the shadows of the buildings night after night, following them, Cassie said, "I stalked them for several days right after they killed our family. Then like you, I couldn't do it. I gave up, left the town, and joined the wolf pack. The wolves I lived with were killed later that year. I vowed to help people realize that the wolves deserved to live in the wilderness like we did."
"I should have guessed that if you had survived, you'd go to live with them. But I was sure no one in our family had lived. Then again..."
"What if...?" Both Cassie and Aimee said at the same time.
"What if our families didn't all die?" Cassie finished for them both. "You and I didn't. What if some of the rest of our family survived?"
Aimee took her hands and squeezed. "They might not have. We might get our hopes up for nothing."
Excited to think of the possibility, Cassie stood up from the couch and paced. "But what if any of them are alive?"
