Page 50 of Sly Like a Fox
“This isn’t over,” he shouts with a hint of a roar, though his voice is muffled by his awkward position.
“Actually, it is,” I call back with a hint of taunting in my tone, knowing he can hear me through the ventilation system.“The police are already on their way, and you’re not going anywhere.”
Maria and Ryan arrive within minutes, along with uniformed cops and paramedics, having been alerted by the building’s emergency systems and Fenton’s direct call for backup.They find Porter still wedged in the doorway, dripping wet and completely stuck, his bare bear butt hanging out in an invitation to give it a few whacks that I somehow resist accepting while building maintenance workers debate the best way to extract him without damaging the door frame.
“Wait until the officers have their tranqs ready in case he tries to escape and then tell him to shift back to his human form,” says Fenton to the maintenance crew and cops as he joins us, walking to our location.He’s holding his tablet under his injured arm while he uses his free hand to press a blood-soaked towel against his shoulder wounds.
Porter roars at the words, but his butt drops slightly.It’s clearly a butt slump of submission as he accepts he’s not getting out of this with his dignity or his freedom.
“Jesus, Fenton, you’re bleeding everywhere,” Ryan says, immediately calling for the paramedics.“What happened?”
“Porter got past our door faster than expected.I bought Jenna time to get away, but he managed to tag me with his claws.”Fenton winces as a paramedic begins examining the wounds.“Nothing vital, but it is messy.”
“Huh, this is a new one,” says Ryan, taking photos of Porter’s predicament for the arrest report while the paramedics work on Fenton.
The paramedic examining Fenton’s shoulder looks serious as she cleans the wounds.“These are deep and jagged.Bear claws carry a lot of bacteria, and you’re going to need stitches and antibiotics.We need to transport you to the hospital.”
“I’m fine,” Fenton protests, though his pale complexion suggests otherwise.“Just bandage it up.”
“Sir, you’ve lost more blood than you realize, and infection is a serious concern with animal attacks, even in other shifters.”The paramedic’s tone carries professional authority that brooks no argument.“This isn’t optional.”
“He was chasing Jenna through the building’s service areas,” Fenton tells Maria and Ryan as they prepare him for transport.“She led him into a situation where his size became a liability instead of an advantage.”He gives me a look of concern mixed with pride.“She should have discussed it with me first.”
I walk alongside the stretcher as they wheel him toward the elevator.“I should have, but there was no time.You were bleeding, and he was planning to finish you off.”I take his uninjured hand.“I acted on instinct.”
He squeezes my fingers.“I get that, but we decide things like this together in the future.Right?”
I nod before grinning.“I hope we won’t be chased by bear shifters in the future, though.”
Maria looks at me with something that might be admiration mixed with exasperation as we wait for the elevator.“You deliberately lured a bear shifter through maintenance corridors?”
Giving a careless shrug, I just smile.“I lured a dangerous criminal into a position where he couldn’t hurt anyone and law enforcement could arrest him safely.”I straighten my torn clothing and try to look more dignified than someone who just crawled through air vents.“Sometimes, the best defense is making your opponent chase you until they trap themselves.”
“And the building’s systems malfunctioning in ways that happened to benefit you?”she asks skeptically after hearing my full account of what went down.
Fenton maintains an innocent expression despite the paramedic checking his blood pressure.“Emergency systems can be unpredictable during high-stress situations.I’m sure the building manager will want to review all the security footage to understand what happened.”
Maria clearly doesn’t believe our innocent act, but she also can’t prove Fenton hacked the building’s systems to help with Porter’s capture.More importantly, she seems satisfied with the result.Him hacking into the building is low on the list of things he’s done, and that’s just the things she knows about.
Fenton has obscured his Robin Hood activities so the feds won’t know about them.That means retiring from them, for now, but it’s a worthy tradeoff to ensure his freedom while bringing down Anklor.
“Porter Kane has warrants out for assault, intimidation, and conspiracy charges related to Anklor’s organization.His arrest removes any remaining threat from that network,” she says with satisfaction.
The elevator arrives, and moments later, I climb into the ambulance with Fenton, holding his hand as the paramedics start an IV line.Through the rear windows, I watch building maintenance workers finally extract Porter from the doorway using industrial lubricant and a complex pulley system, clearly having disregarded Fenton’s idea about how to extract him.Our ordeal is truly over.Anklor is in federal custody, his network is dismantled, and his most dangerous associate is being arrested in the most humiliating way possible.
“That was the most ridiculous chase scene I’ve ever been part of,” I tell Fenton as the ambulance pulls away from our building.
“Ridiculous but effective.You neutralized a dangerous threat without anyone getting seriously hurt.”He still sounds faintly censorious, though his tone softens when he sees my expression.“Without anyone getting seriously hurt beyond some claw marks that’ll heal.I wish the EMT would listen to me.My shifter metabolism will handle this.I don’t need all the interv—”
I touch his lips.“You’re going to the hospital.”He grumbles, so I lean down to kiss his forehead softly.“You’re wrong, though.We neutralized it.Your building hacks made the difference between a successful escape and potentially getting mauled by an angry bear.I formulated the plan, but I couldn’t have done it without you.”
The paramedic checks Fenton’s bandages and vitals.“Your blood pressure is stable, but you’re definitely going to need those stitches.Probably around twenty of them.”
I squeeze his hand as the ambulance navigates through traffic toward St.Catherine’s Hospital.“I’ll be right there with you.”
“Good,” he says, closing his eyes as exhaustion from blood loss starts catching up with him.“We have plans to make once I’m patched up.”
“What kind of plans?”
