Joy to the Wolves (Red Wolf #1) - Terry Spear Page 0,33

the shop?”

“Yeah. Hiding in the attic with no way to get out safely.” Josh’s blood was pumping hard, the adrenaline running high, his heart racing as much as his brother’s was. He secured the light to the top of the car and tore off from the ranch, siren blaring, praying they’d get there in time.

“Should you call a unit to respond that could be closer by?” Maverick asked, rifle in hand, ready to shoot the intruder as soon as they reached the shop.

“I’m calling Ethan.” But he couldn’t get ahold of him. “We’re getting close. There has to be a reason she called me and no one else. What if it has to do with her turning into a wolf? We can’t get the human police involved.” Josh called Adam and told him to get to Cerise’s Antique and Gift Shop as fast as he could. “There’s a break-in in progress, and the shop owner is hiding in the attic. I’m ten minutes from there.” Adam was the only other red wolf in law enforcement who might be close enough to help.

“I’m on my way, but I’m a lot farther out than you are now,” Adam said.

“Just get there as quickly as you can.” Josh ended the call.

“What if whoever it is kills her before we can get there?” Maverick sounded as angry as Josh was.

“We’ll get there, damn it.” At least Josh sure as hell hoped so. He wanted desperately to call her back. To ensure she was all right. But he knew that could be a fatal mistake if she was hiding in the attic and he alerted the intruder that she was there.

“Drive faster, Josh,” Maverick said.

“I’m going as fast as the car will go, damn it.” Now Josh wished he hadn’t had to deal with the murder case and could have taken Brooke for a wolf run like they’d planned and kept her out of harm’s way.

“She’s got to be turning into her wolf,” Maverick said.

“That’s what I was thinking too.”

They were finally in town and getting closer to her shop. Josh slowed his car down, but he didn’t stop the sirens from blaring. He’d rather scare off the intruder than give him the false sense of security that he was safe and had time to harm Brooke.

* * *

Brooke sure didn’t expect somebody to break into her shop tonight. When she heard two men’s muffled voices as they looked for something and heavy footsteps moving around the shop and into her office and the storage room on the first floor, she was thinking she should have left all the lights on and the Christmas music too. Since she moved here, she hadn’t had any problems, and the Realtor had assured her the area was safe—no bars on the windows or doors, no breaks-ins or thefts. Her great-aunt had never mentioned having any trouble here. Not until Ivy had ordered merchandise from the wrong people.

The shops were fairly safe from crime since most of the quaint little shops had homes behind or above their businesses. That meant somebody was usually at home at night when the shops were closed.

Had Brooke left her front door unlocked? She hadn’t thought so. She was trying to do too many things at once. Maybe she had. Damn it. How could she claim someone broke into her shop if she’d left the door unlocked? Had she even left the Closed sign in the window? Now she couldn’t remember.

Worse, the guy who was installing her security cameras wasn’t coming until after Christmas because all the security services were too booked up! Or she could have caught the intruders on video.

It didn’t matter now. Whoever was rummaging around in her shop must be looking for something they could sell. Back in Phoenix, Brooke was careful to have antiques appraised that might be valuable and then keep them secure, but she hadn’t found any records that indicated her great-aunt had done so for her merchandise. Worse, what if the intruders were some of the drug dealers looking for more cocaine? Of course they could be hunting for something that was only of value to the person looking for it—not drugs but something else.

Brooke was afraid to move around on the creaking wooden floor to search for something she could use as a weapon, concerned she’d alert the intruders that she was right above them in the attic, so she started to strip off her clothes. She wanted desperately to turn off the attic light,