Joy to the Wolves (Red Wolf #1) - Terry Spear Page 0,37

said.

“I don’t like it.”

“We have to do it. They have to be charged with attempted murder.”

They heard people moving through the shop on the first floor.

“I was a wolf,” she whispered.

“I know, but they have to be charged with shooting you,” Maverick insisted.

One of the officers dashed up the stairs to the second floor.

Maverick called out, “The shop owner, Miss Cerise, is up here. She’s safe. We need an EMT. Two bullets grazed her. Detective Josh Wilding ran after the two men.”

The police officer ran up the stairs to the attic and entered the room. He had his gun out and was wearing blue jeans and a shirt and parka. He was a fair-haired man, his green eyes narrowed. He hollered to the EMTs, and two more men ran up the stairs.

“Adam. Am I glad to see you,” Maverick said.

“Josh is trying to chase down two men who shot up my whole attic,” Brooke said. “Go after him and help him. He needs backup.”

“He called it in, Miss Cerise. I’m Detective Adam Holmes. I’m Josh’s partner, and I’m here to investigate the crime scene. Some of our men are in pursuit of the two men. The others are downstairs, making sure no one else is here that shouldn’t be. It was just you here and no one else?” He moved in closer to take her hand.

Breathing in her scent, he raised his eyebrows. “You were wounded as a wolf. I smell blood, just yours.” Then his frown deepened. “Unless you bit the men.”

“It’s my blood. The bullets just grazed me, but I can’t let anyone know because—”

“You were wearing your wolf coat. It doesn’t matter. We need to have your wounds documented.”

A policeman with a camera joined them and photographed her wounds and then began photographing the attic. The EMTs hurried into the attic and took care of her wounds.

Then Maverick pulled her sweater over her head while the EMTs left the attic.

“Do you have security cameras?” Adam asked.

“No. The man was installing them next week.”

“We’ll have it done pronto,” Adam said.

“Thanks.”

Maverick lifted her leggings off the floor, but she shook her head. “Just my skirt and boots, thanks.”

“Do you know what the intruders were after?” the detective asked her.

“I have no idea. I just inherited the store and house. All the contents came with it. One of the men mentioned they were searching for boxes. So not just breaking in to steal stuff in general.”

“What about a description of the men?” the detective asked.

Maverick helped her into her skirt and then had her sit on one of the trunks while he pulled her boots on for her. “She needs to catch her breath.”

“No, it’s okay if it helps us catch them. I don’t want them returning anytime soon. One was blond-haired, and the other had dark-brown hair. Both had blue eyes, and whiskers like they hadn’t shaved for a few days. They were wearing black ski hats, but no masks. They were tall, maybe six feet. They were of average weight, wearing jeans, boots, and bulky, dark-gray parkas. Oh, and black gloves. One of the men had been here earlier. He helped carry in a box the mail carrier had delivered. The man didn’t buy anything, but he wandered throughout the shop, even where he shouldn’t have been.”

The police photographer headed down the stairs to the first floor to take more photographs.

“Thanks. It sounds to me like he was casing the shop,” the detective said. “So exactly what do we say about how we found you dressed?”

“She had stripped down to her panties and bra and was going to try on one of those vintage dresses”—Maverick pointed at the rack of them in the corner of the attic—“when she heard the shooters in the shop. She grabbed her phone and hid behind a trunk while she called Josh. She didn’t have time to reach her clothes.”

Adam smiled at Maverick. “Thank you, Maverick. Is that how you want to describe your actions prior to being shot, Brooke?”

“Yes. The floor creaks. I didn’t want to walk across the floor to grab my clothes and give myself away. I think it works. Don’t you?”

Adam glanced around the room. “Yeah. Where were you hiding when they began shooting?”

She pointed behind the trunk.

“Then you showed your wolf self?” Adam asked quietly.

“Yes. They were going to shoot off the locks. I’d turned the sound off on my phone, but the darn thing lit up with a call, and one of the men noticed it. He