Page 9 of Sear
“You could register on ShiftMatch,” she responded, predictably.
She had been pushing the online shifter dating and arranged mating service since the day his divorce had been finalized.
“I’ll think about it,” he said.
She snorted, clearly not fooled. “You need to do more than justthinkabout it if you ever want to find a mate. Arealmate, not just a wife.”
“Mom,” he said, injecting warning into his tone.
“Right, right,” she said, quickly backing off. “I know how important your job is to you. But work isn’t the only thing that makes life worth living.”
“I’ll see you after dinner,” Lucas said. “Bye, Mom.”
“We’re going to Nana and Grandpa’s place?” Savannah sounded excited.Thank goodness. “Will there be cookies?”
“Nana promised that she’ll bake chocolate chip cookies,” Lucas answered.
“But you said we could go to the park!” Taylor protested.
“Nana will take you there.” God, he felt like the world’s shittiest dad right now.
“What about our camping trip, Daddy?” Savannah asked anxiously.
“Yeah!” Taylor piped up.
Lucas groaned silently. He’d promised the girls a real wilderness outing, with a tent and campfire and marshmallows, where they could explore the forest and mountains in their cat shapes.
“The camping trip will definitely happen,” he assured them. “But Daddy has to go catch some very bad people first.”
Savannah nodded vigorously, her golden pigtails bobbing. “Like a superhero!”
That only made him feel worse. Maybe Emily was right. Maybe he should transfer to a desk job, so that he could work a predictable schedule and not have to travel. He could come home every single evening.
But the thought of being shut indoors somewhere, chained to a desk and sitting under fluorescent lights all day, felt like a living death.
“I’ll do my very best to catch those bad guys before our camping trip,” he promised.
* * *
Later, after he’d brought the girls over to his mom’s house and tucked them into bed, Lucas returned home. He quickly packed the clothes and gear he’d need for his assignment. Then he read through the information that Tringstad had emailed him, and decided which of his cover identities to use.
Despite his feelings of guilt over his shortcomings as a dad, both he and his cat were excited. Lucas loved nothing more than hunting down dirtbags who indiscriminately slaughtered wildlife and gave law-abiding hunters a bad name.
Tomorrow, he’d be in Bearpaw Ridge. He was looking forward to the hunt.
* * *
Bearpaw Ridge, Idaho
Sunday, August 8
“Here’s to Malia passing her probation,” Maggie Swanson said, raising her glass of strawberry lemonade. “Have you arrested anyone yet?”
Malia had just completed her first solo patrol shift. Now, she sat at a table in The Hair of the Dog, celebrating the end of her probationary period with her two best friends, who were both her second cousins on the Swanson side.
She laughed and raised her mug of beer. “Thanks, Maggie. And yeah, I’ve made plenty of arrests, mostly for DUI or drunk-and-disorderly. No shoot-outs or wild car chases like on TV, thank goodness.”
Because both the academy and Uncle Kenny had drilled into her that the very last thing any police officer ever wanted to do was to draw their weapon.
