It's a very short chapter, but if I added more to it, then I would just ruin it. I like it as it is. Hope you agree with me! Thanks to Ande for the review.

Chapter 15

Doug sat on his front porch, his head propped up on the front of his closed door. He shut his eyes with a sigh. The glowing sunset made an imprint on the back of his eyelids. It was quickly replaced by the image of a dark-haired girl with gentle curves and a dark leather jacket.

Was he doing the right thing? What had he really gleaned from her mind, anyway? Nothing—except the picture of a little girl looking cute in her sundress. And that told him a total of nil. Bella had looked cute and innocent too. And maybe, at that age they were innocent.

Leigh had kept her mind so tightly barred up. He could feel the suspicion falling upon him like a thick blanket. His stomach turned over. Who would bar their mind so well, except someone who had a reason to hide?

She could have been playing sweet and vulnerable for her own reasons. She could be using him to get at her other enemies. Then she would turn on him.

He couldn't get at the reason why he had been so trusting. Sure, he was attracted to her. It was hard to ignore his male instincts—as much as he'd tried with her. She was a teenager. His kid sister's age. What kind of cradle robber did he take himself for? But there had been many times when he had wanted to…

Doug pushed the thought from his mind. What mattered was that he had resisted the impulse. And if he thought about her much longer, he'd probably drive himself insane.

The point was could he trust her? Time was running short and he had to make a decision. He opened his eyes again. They flitted quickly to a black car sitting at a condo three. The house was silent, dark. If Doug remembered correctly, it had been dark when he'd arrived yesterday. The inhabitants must be on some sort of vacation. Yet the black car had persisted to sit there all day—and Doug thought he had seen movement in the back seat.

His lip quirked. Everything was working on schedule…if he decided to follow through with it. Just as he suspected, the detective couldn't keep away. He just had to know what involvement Doug had with this situation. And Doug hadn't been very complying. He had been very mundane and boring all day.

There was a squeal down the road a bit. It sounded like a door opening and shutting. Doug glanced over and found Grady standing on his own front porch and stuffing shoes onto his feet.

Doug cursed silently. He didn't need to deal with Grady right then—especially with the detective watching his back. This could turn into a real sticky situation. Doug stood up slowly, faking and yawn and stretching. Then he turned and walked back into his house, shutting the door firmly behind him.

He pulled the cell phone from his pocket and jabbed Grady's number into his pocket. He heard the beginning of a hello on the other end and overrided it with his own speaking. "Grady," he said. "Don't come near the house. Hear me?"

Grady swore into the phone. "What are you talking about, man?"

"See that black car sitting at the house two doors from you?"

"Yeah, I see it," Grady replied in his tough guy voice. Doug could imagine his squaring his shoulders as if readying for battle. "What about it?"

Doug couldn't help but roll his eyes at the image in his mind. It was a good thing Grady couldn't see him. "There's a detective in that car."

"I'll take care of him." Grady sounded positively psyched. No doubt he had been waiting for the chance to work out his aggressions.

"No!" Doug felt his shoulder's stiffening. He wanted to curse Rollson for giving him a guy who was more preoccupied with his balls than his brains. "Listen to me, Grady. That detective is a human. We do not kill humans."

"We can if they get in the way of our mission," Grady said stubbornly. "If we don't get rid of him now, then we'll never be able to get anything done. This job is important to Rollson. Very important."

"If you kill him, then we'll have even more cops on our tail," Doug argued. It was all he could do not to snap into the phone. He took a deep breath, formulating a plan as the air was then expelled from his lungs. He'd appeal to Grady's ego—his need for control and power. "Listen, the guy's after me. Not you. I'm trapped, Grady. I can't do anything with this guy on my back. You'll have to be the one to kill the 'wolves. It's all up to you now. And if you put suspicion on yourself, the mission is over. And you know Rollson wouldn't like that."

There was a pause for a moment, and then Grady answered. "Yeah. Yeah!" He spoke like he was savoring the sound of his own voice. "Good thinking, man. You can sit at home and think up some plans. I'll do all the killing. Don't worry little head about it."

My little head has decided that I'd like to give you a knock on your thick skull, Doug thought. Instead, he said. "Great. Now I'm going to take a little jog. The detective will follow me and you'll be free to do what you like."

And if you touch my sister, I'll personally make sure you have a long and painful death. Too bad he couldn't repeat that last part out loud.

"Oh, and Grady?" He said as an afterthought. "Don't go waving that gun around. We've got to be careful from now on."

What kind of idiot do you take me for?" Grady responded belligerently.

A very big idiot. Instead of informing his partner of that fact, he decided to say goodbye and hang up. He pulled a clean pair of sweat pants from his suitcase and traded them for the jeans he was wearing. He couldn't break out into a real run in those things and he had some aggressions of his own to work out.

So he was leading the detective away from his house, he thought as he pulled the pants on. But where would he lead him? Did he really want to go through with the plans? What side was he on, anyway? He wasn't sure if he even knew the answer to that question.

Doug stepped out the door, jamming some shoes onto his feet. He took off at a light jog, giving the detective a chance to realize just what was going on. It wasn't until he was at the mouth of the subdivision that he heard the car starting up behind him. He smiled, knowing the detective couldn't see his face.

He yearned to stretch out his legs and really run. The detective wasn't far behind now. The motor was purring up behind him. Besides, Tross would catch up. He lengthened his stride, taking off at an all out run.

He ran for several miles with the car on his tail. The little black corvette turned down a couple side roads and slid around the parking lots of the downtown stores. It even disappeared for a ten minute interval, but eventually showed up in front of him turning in the oncoming direction. He found himself drifting nearer to the Carlyle house.

This was for Jamie too, he told himself. Leigh wasn't the only one who would suffer from the detective's inquiries. He had a duty to protect his sister. No matter what she had become. No matter if she was truly in that body anymore.

Plan it is, he told himself. He hoped with all his might that He wasn't making the wrong decision. He couldn't help the sinking feeling in his stomach. He could almost feel the Colonel's presence at the back of his mind, reminding him of his duty.

He realized that he was probably making one of the biggest mistakes of his life. And when this came out into the open, he wouldn't have just the 'wolves against him, but the 'wolf hunters as well. He would be a very wanted man.

Yet he was doing it anyway. And as much as he tried to deny it, Leigh was one of the biggest reasons he was going through with this.