CH43

Kate was finally home and parked behind Rick's truck blocking him in. She was walking up the stairs headed for the front door. It never even occurred to her that his place had become their place and that it was home in her mind now. He had given her a key and she used it to let herself in. Midas and Maggie were just inside the front door crowding her for attention. "How have you two been? Behaving yourselves? Where's Alexis?" she asked them and watched as they ran down the stairs.

Kate had a new belt to hold all her equipment but didn't yet have a good place to leave it after entering so she had to leave it on and went downstairs behind the dogs. She was sure wherever Alexis was Rick would be with her. However when she got downstairs she didn't see either of them and the dogs were at the back door leading outside. "Not back yet I take it." She petted them and opened the door so they could go outside and be good dogs.

It looked to her like those two had Alexis and Rick's scents and were headed out after them. "MIDAS, MAGGIE! Come back here! Come on, you two stay here with me," she yelled at them convinced that they wouldn't listen to her. After all Alexis was out there and they weren't. However Midas actually stopped and came running back which was enough to get Maggie to do the same. She petted both of them. "Relax, she'll be home soon." She was hoping they would anyway. The sun was going to be down shortly.

She jogged upstairs so she could change into stretch pants and an oversized t-shirt that fell off of one shoulder exposing her black bra strap. "There probably isn't any dinner yet either." Maybe they weren't planning on staying home. Kate got on the phone. "Hi Mom. Are you cooking for one or four?" she asked her. "Four and I'm almost done so you need to hurry. You can tell me all about work when you get here," Johanna told her. "I'll pick up Rick and Alexis and be there as soon as we can," she said and hung up.

'Where are you? I'm hungry,' she called to Rick. 'We're headed in, give us about 20 minutes,' he replied. Kate walked to the large wall of windows and watched, looking to see if she could see them. Sure enough about twenty minutes later she could make out a very large bear loping along with a little bear running for all she was worth right behind him. It was so cute and it tugged at her heart strings. It also got her downstairs with the dogs right behind her as she stepped outside and waited.

They were pretty close when they came into view. Kate slapped a hand over her mouth and shrieked with laughter. They were both a muddy mess! "Oh, no you two don't. You're both a mess, we'll be hours cleaning up the mud." She looked around and saw the garden hose rolled up not far away. "You two guard the door and don't let anyone in," she told the dogs and went for the hose. She uncoiled it behind her.

"You're first Alexis." And she began spraying her with the hose. "Hold still or I'll never get all this mud off you. Just be my little brave bear and suck it up. The sooner I'm done the sooner you can shift back into a little girl and go inside to shower," she told Alexis. Kate was guessing that the dogs could smell them as a reason why they didn't growl at the two bears.

'How did you two get this filthy?" Kate asked him. 'Bear games,' he told her throwing her words back at her. 'And you just had to get filthy playing bear games?' She shook her head.

Kate stopped spraying Alexis when the water ran mostly clear. "Okay sweetie, you can shift back into my little girl and go inside to shower." She stood to one side and watched Alexis shift back into a little girl. "Hi Kate." Alexis was all smiles. "Did you have fun with your dad?" she asked her and watched Alexis nodding her head enthusiastically. "Good, well go inside and shower," she told her and watched her run inside dripping wet. "Please use the shower downstairs. I don't want you tracking water throughout the house," Kate yelled after her.

"Okay Rick, you're next." She started spraying him. 'Want a hug?' he asked her and took a step in her direction. He got water sprayed right in his face. 'No, I don't want a hug. And if you want to eat one of my mother's dinners you'll hold still,' she threatened him.

Actually he was really hungry. It was one of the drawbacks to being a shifter let alone a bear. In this case he'd been a bear for three hours straight. He needed lots of food to recover the energy he had used up; Alexis would too, so he stood still and let Kate spray him down. They were both quiet while she rinsed him until the water was essentially clear. "Okay babe, you're free to go," she informed him and watched him shift back into a human. A naked male human who immediately wrapped his wet arms around her and held his very wet body up against hers. "OH YUK RICK!" she complained, however any other complaints never materialized since he began kissing her while hugging her. It took all of her worries away then she started returning his kisses. He broke from the kiss and stepped back letting go of her. She leaned in his direction missing his arms and lips. She opened her eyes. "Now I have to go change clothes again," she complained. "Oh, no you don't! No more wet hugs. Get your wet butt in there and shower. I'm hungry and Mom's already done cooking." She took a step back away from him.

He was starving so he went towards the door only to be sprayed in the butt one last time. He listened to her laugh as he walked inside. Kate curled up the hose and went upstairs to change clothes. Now she was dressed in blue jeans and one of Rick's button down shirts since she didn't bring enough clothes with her to allow for wet bear-soaked clothes.

Kate met Alexis at her door as she came out dressed. "Did you have fun?" Kate asked her. "It was cool!" She was all smiles. Kate got down on her knees in front of her. "Alexis, sweetie. You know you can't tell anyone that you are a bear right?" Alexis looked a little sadder but nodded in agreement. "That's my good girl. And you know you can't shift into a bear in front of your friends or anyone else right?" Kate questioned her again and watched her nod.

"Mom, am I your little girl?" Alexis had her own question. "Of course you're my little girl." Kate hugged her even if her hugs weren't as good as Rick's. "My sweet girl, you do know that I'm not your mother?" she asked her, since this wasn't the first time Alexis had called her Mom. "You don't want to be my mommy?" The look on her face broke Kate's heart. She pulled her into another hug. "That's not what I meant Alexis. I'm not your birth mother. Your birth mother is your true mother. I can't change that no matter how badly I want to." Kate pushed her back just far enough to look her in the eye. "I would dearly love to have been your birth mother sweetheart. I love you like you are my daughter, but you're not. How about we stick with Kate for now? Maybe 'Mom' can come later? Please sweetheart? It doesn't mean I don't love you because I do." Kate kissed her head as they watched Rick wrapped a towel walk past headed for their bedroom.

"Now take the dogs outside to the truck. Your father and I will be right there. We're going over to my place since my mom has cooked us dinner again." Kate kissed her cheek and let her go downstairs with the dogs.

"Something I should know about?" Rick queried when he caught up to Kate. "Just a little girl talk, nothing to worry about. Hurry up and change babe. We're already running late." She gave him a quick kiss and walked out to move her Jeep since she had blocked his truck in, leaving Rick to lock up and meet them at his truck.

Midas and Maggie immediately found Patch and those three were off and running inside.

"How was work?" Johanna asked as she took dinner to the table. "Amazingly good actually. I brought a pair of ledgers with me that I need you to look at please. I think it's for the office's money. I need to find out how much the office still has and where it all went," Kate said, asking for her help after pulling the ledgers out of her Jeep while waiting for Rick. "I'd be happy to." Johanna offered her time. "We lost 3 deputies today. They're too loyal to Dahl who was arrested so the mayor fired them," Kate told them. "You met the mayor?" Johanna was a little surprised. "I had a meeting with him. He made me the acting sheriff until he can call for a new election," she said as she started eating. "That's great," Johanna and Rick said at the same time.

"I also talked to Lanie. She, Epso, Ryan, and Jenny, Ryan's wife. They plan on flying out here in two weeks for a visit. Espo and the Ryans will only be here for 3 days but Lanie will be staying for a week," Kate said.

"That's great Katie, I know you miss them. We have two spare bedrooms so they can stay with us," Johanna offered. "Actually I was thinking the guys could stay with Rick while Lanie and Jenny could stay here. Rick has more guy toys than we do and they might like it better over there." Kate offered Rick's hospitality without talking about it to him first.

"Pool tournaments, air hockey tournaments, X-Box tournaments, quad races!" Rick was very excited about having guests. She started breathing again since she hadn't had time to talk with him about it. "Except I only have one quad," he grumbled. "You can have timed races to see who is faster," she suggested before he started thinking about buying another one just for her friends to use for three days. She loved Rick a little more because he didn't object to her offering up his house without his knowledge to people he didn't even know.

"So are you planning on running for sheriff?" he asked her as they cleaned up after dinner. "I only told the mayor that I would think about it," she said taking leftovers into the kitchen and helping her mother put it in Tupperware for later. "And?" he asked as Alexis reached into the cookie jar that Johanna was holding open for her. "I've already started making decisions like I'm the sheriff so I guess I am." She really admitted to herself for the first time that she wanted the position. "We need to start kicking up your election campaign then," he told her. "Get the county's residents on your side and draw in campaign money. It's not that big of a county so you shouldn't' need much," he said, fully intending to give her a cash donation himself. He was even thinking of giving Alexis some money to give to Kate.

It was a couple of hours later when Johanna told them what she had found and where Dahl had hidden some of the money for himself. It was enough to allow Kate to do what she wanted to do. Actually there was an amazing amount of money still left to be used. Though the amount they had was what they had gotten January 1, 2001.

"What's interesting is the fact that the money on December 31, 2000 was exactly zero. It looks like Dahl took out the very last of it and put it into his account. This is a separate account that we're assuming is his since there has only been one withdrawal from it so far this year," Johanna pointed out. "It just doesn't say what the withdrawal was for," she added. "This is no way to keep books Katie. He's hiding money that only he knows about. He's a crook," she informed them both.

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Serena was just closing the engine cowling when Joanne came running up. "Hayley says her group has spotted a UPS delivery truck going down the road towards Dahl's house." Serena stopped what she was doing and just stood there on the ladder. It was possible, after all it was getting late in the day. His place might be far enough out that he would be the last or next to last delivery.

"Alert the others. Let me close up and I'll be right there," Serena told her, since it was equally possible that Paladin had stopped the truck, killed the driver, and loaded up a hit squad with Dahl thinking it was just a UPS truck. They might have even stripped the driver of his clothes and a member of Paladin would take a package to the door with a weapon hidden right under it.

Serena was just sitting down when Joanne got an update. "Hayley says a member of her family has mentioned that the truck has stopped at the fork in the road. Plus the driver is wearing a UPS uniform." Joanne conveyed what she was being told. It left Serena in a quandary. Should she power up and head that way or was it really a UPS truck with a real driver? Lance and his bobcats needed to catch them outside of the truck. They just weren't big enough to take on a truck that might have several heavily armed men inside. "We wait." Still it had Serena handing Joanne her start-up procedure card just in case as she sat in the pilots seat.

It was several minutes later and Joanne was holding her headset close as if someone was reporting in. "Hayley says the truck has stopped on the road to Dahl's house several hundred feet short," Joanna told her and then started listening intently again."Damien is reporting that one of his family has spotted a helicopter flying low and fast. He describes it as being thin and long with tiny wings on each side," Joanne said and Serena started powering up as Joanne read off the startup card.

"It's an attack helicopter, likely a Cobra attack chopper armed with Hellfires," Serena said grimly. "It looks like they're going to kill them by blowing their house into splinters. Tell everyone to stay clear of the house," Serena instructed her. Joanne had no sooner done that when she heard someone again. "Hayley says three men plus the driver have exited the truck and are spreading out. All heavily armed," she informed her. "Have our friends take the men but only after we take out the helicopter. They're no match for it," Serena replied.

Serena had power at maximum and was trying to get there right now. However not far in the distance they saw the telltale signs of a series of explosions, which told both of them that the house and its occupants were history. "Get ready," Serena warned her as she gained altitude to make it easier for Joanne.

"One mile minus, target is gaining altitude and is leaving," Joanne advised Serena who was still flying at maximum speed and closing fast. She had brought up the target on her screen for her twin .50 cals just as Joanne fired the first of two heat seekers after getting tone. The Cobra had started turning quickly having picked up Serena's Osprey on their radar just as Joanne's first heat seeker slammed into their starboard engine blowing it to pieces. The Cobra instantly spun out of control as the second heat seeker blew its tail clear off.

Serena pushed her button after having set them to fire 2,000 rounds per minute and put 15 seconds of .50 cal rounds into what was left before turning hard and tilting the nacelles quickly so she could turn around to fire again if necessary. It wasn't necessary because what was left of the Cobra fell a couple of hundred feet into the trees. Serena hovered and went round and round the crash site while Joanne used her camera with a telephoto lens to survey the site. Joanne shook her head. "I've got no movement," she told her. "Hellfire," Serena countered wanting to make sure. They would hope that Lance and his family of bobcats could get some prisoners they could interrogate for information.

It also told them that Paladin had members in the closest military base which was over near Rapid City. Or at least they did have perhaps.

Serena circled back towards the house in case Lance and the others needed help. "Lance says they have 3 prisoners and one dead. He has two family members that are injured but will recover," Joanne relayed. "Thank him and tell him we will meet him at the pick-up site and take them off his hands. Remember to send him our thank you gift when we get home, please," Serena asked her. Getting back home meant stopping at Rapid City airport again to refuel then taking off for home. She didn't want to stay long and risk being caught on the ground.

Serena landed as several naked men and women escorted 3 bound and equally naked men to their ramp. "How's your family?" Serena asked as Joanne held her weapon on the three men. "Just some minor wounds. We hit them silently and quickly. Do you need their gear?" Lance asked. "No thanks. You can have it and do with it as you please. My thank you will show up before the end of next week," Serena told him, happy that none of his family were seriously hurt. "We should be thanking you. Without you we would all be suffering by now." He was sure of it too. "I created it to help my friends. I'm just glad so many families and clans have agreed to join us," Serena said, not taking that much credit.

"Is it true about Paladin?" Lance was hopeful. "It looks that way. Paladin is cleaning house as you witnessed with them getting rid of Dahl and his family. These three might be our only lead onto what's left of Paladin." Serena tells him.

"Actually according to Hayley, Dahl and his family were inside along with 3 other men. All in uniform and armed. Those three were wearing the same clothes as Dahl was." Lance tells her. "Dahl and 3 of his deputies?" Serena speculates. It did mean that Paladin had no one else in the area that she knew of now.

"I hate to ask but see if you or the others can figure out where they got this truck while I try and figure out how they got here and from where," Serena asked him. "We'll find him. I'm sure a family of Vultures should be able to find him or what's left of him. Hopefully he wasn't married. Paladin doesn't care who they kill in their quest to kill us all." Lance hated them just as much as the next shifter did.

Serena and Joanne were just leaving Rapid City bound for home when Lance got back to them. They had found the driver's dead body. It looked to have been a mercifully quick death for him. Serena and Joanne had a name so Sarah could look him up and find out if he had a family, be it a wife and kids or his parents. Lance had given the local authorities an anonymous call about a dead body so they could collect him and take him home.

"What if these three don't know anything except what they were told to do?" Joanne asked worriedly. "In that case we might be screwed unless we can figure out where they came from and get any information from that. They were contacted somehow." Serena wasn't down just yet, but the prospect of finding the rest of Paladin was looking bleak.