Page 40 of Doctor Wolf's Human Nurse

Hesitating for a second to process what he said, she nodded, and relief flowed through her.

“Dinner sounds good,” Abby said.

16

Sawyer

Sawyer answered his phone immediately when he saw Jason’s name and number pop up on his screen.

“Please tell me you have something so we can get this whole situation over and done with.”

“Hello to you, too. We aren’t ready to make an arrest yet. We’ve been tailing Brent and monitoring who he talks to, where he goes, and who he visits. We’re positive that he’s part of a bigger drug ring that we’ve been after for a while. We need just a little bit more time.”

“How much more?” Sawyer asked, exasperated.

“Not much, but I can’t give you a definitive timeline. We’re closing in. We know who is above Brent in the food chain. It’s a man named Mark Johnson. His boss is Fred Cregar. We want the next man up.”

“Just get this done and over with.”

“We’ll talk soon.”

Growling in the back of his throat, he sat back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling.

It had been a long week at the office, and Sawyer needed to blow off some steam.

“Hey, Sean. I don’t suppose you have some time to shift and go for a run. I need to relieve some of this stress before I explode.”

“Coincidentally, I was just about to call you and ask you the same thing, only I’m not under that much stress. Shall I pick you up?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Sawyer told Sean about the drug issue as they drove to the mountain.

“It seems to me that if they know who the two middlemen are, they should arrest them. They at least know the next guy up. Then, they could arrest that person.”

Sawyer sighed heavily. “You would think. If you pull the foundation out from under a house, the whole thing will collapse. Apparently, though, they want to track the top guy themselves.”

“That has to be frustrating not to go to Brent, corner him, and rip a few chunks out of his hide until he tells you everything.”

Laughing, Sawyer shook his head. “That goes against the whole doctor oath of ‘first do no harm.’ Besides, if I did that, then I would just have to fix him.”

“I think that fixing him after you tear him up qualifies as doing no harm. He would be as good as new in no time.”

“You’ve never been a violent man.” Sawyer laughed. “But if the feds don’t hurry up and get their investigation done, I just might have to consider your approach.”

“Let me know if you need an alibi.”

They reached the base of the mountain and then hiked to the spot where a lot of the shifters liked to change forms. Both men carefully surveyed the area before stripping, folding their clothes, stashing them in plastic bags, and hiding the bags in the huge knot in the tree.

Sawyer sucked in a huge breath of the fresh air as they loped up the mountain. The air was cold and stung his lungs at first, but his wolf form quickly adjusted to it. The spicy scent of pine wafted in the gentle cool breeze that blew around them. Winter birds sang and talked to each other.

The snow on the ground didn’t bother their padded feet, because wolves have a special adaptation that allows increased blood flow to their feet, and Sawyer enjoyed feeling the sun that shone between the branches of trees.

He could feel the tension drip off of his shoulders, and he gradually relaxed as he soaked in the peace and serenity of nature.

They had traveled for about half an hour when Sean spoke to him telepathically.

Stop. Look at what’s in front of us.

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