Chapter 18
Even though they had tried that ruse before with Billy at Glacier National Park, and it hadn’t succeeded, at least Kendra had saved another potential victim from Billy and Younger. And they had caught Billy.
"Using you as bait is a great idea, Ivy, but we still have the problem with you not showing up the last time, not that you were going to, and they probably wouldn't believe you would go this time. I'm sure they believe you're spooked from everything that has happened," Grayson told Ivy.
"What if I sweetened the pot? What if I told him I was going to be somewhere with my girlfriends, and then Younger and Billy might think they could grab all of us.
I could say two of my girlfriends, so they wouldn't think there were too many of us to handle.
You probably wouldn't want me to show up for real, and I know my friends' parents would say absolutely not, but if we actually did go together, they might be so desperate to grab us and get the money that they would do it.
Especially if we do it before Younger discovered the police had rescued the other girls. "
Kendra shook her head. "We can make up the story about the girls and you being someplace to meet Billy, but even that might sound suspicious. But actually going and putting yourself in danger, no."
"Yeah, I agree with Kendra," Grayson said.
"But what if they go after other girls then? I mean, you know they will. And you'll have done nothing to stop them. I'm a known quantity, as Dad and you always say, Grayson. You have no other leads right now, right?"
Grayson had to agree that his sister was right. He ran his hands through his hair. No way did he want to use his sister as real bait. When they went to the park to try to apprehend Billy and Younger, Ivy had been safe at home with their Dad and Marcus.
"You know, we can shift, right?" Ivy said, her chin tilted up.
"Yeah, but if they drug you, zip tie you, then what? You could be disabled and then easy prey. Plus, you still have a cast on your arm."
"Well, let me know if you want me to do it.
We could meet up at the mall in Kalispell.
If I actually go, I could drive my new car and tell him I just got it for my birthday.
And then you could hide in the back seat.
I could say my girlfriends were going to meet us at the mall's ice cream parlor. That way they would never be in harm’s way.
But maybe Marcus and Kendra could be there waiting for us. "
Grayson considered what his sister was saying and didn't just dismiss her idea. The older she got, the more they allowed her to take part in their operations, such as locating fugitives. Nothing this dangerous, though, and nothing where she would be part of an apprehension team.
"So?" Ivy prompted.
"So your girlfriends wouldn't really show up." Grayson couldn't imagine safeguarding three teenage girls while trying to apprehend Younger and Billy.
Marcus folded his arms across his chest. "Sure, Ivy got herself free from her kidnapper one time, but too much could go wrong."
Ivy released her breath in exasperation.
Their dad walked into the den and asked what was taking so long. "Ivy's girlfriends are waiting on the birthday girl to join them."
Grayson quickly summarized what they had been discussing.
Dad looked at Ivy. She smiled. "I can do it. Catch these guys red-handed. Someone has got to stop them."
"I don't know, Dad. It could go sideways in a heartbeat." Grayson really didn't want his sister to be Billy and Younger's target again.
"You can't take your car," her dad said. "I don't want them to be able to identify it at some other time."
So his dad was going along with it?
"You set up a meeting time that will allow Marcus and Kendra to go to the ice cream parlor early, in a different vehicle.
None of your friends will go. We'll schedule it for tomorrow, well after your girlfriends have gone home after the party.
We don't want Younger and Billy to know your real birth date. "
"But what if they go to the house where they'd kept the girls hostage?" Ivy asked.
"That's what I'm hoping for. That they will drop by there and get captured, and you won't be involved in any of this except to testify against them in court when it comes to a trial," their dad said.
"Oh, okay," Ivy said.
"Grayson will be in the car with you. I'll come in Grayson's car and exit it when you leave 'your' car to walk into the mall.
I'll be your shadow. Grayson can join us when he feels it's safe, but I don't want them grabbing you in the parking lot and spoiling the whole plan.
I wouldn't be surprised if both came, but only Billy approached.
His stepdad would be waiting nearby. So if Grayson or I make a move to grab Billy, his stepdad would take off," Marcus said.
"We'll work with local law enforcement to make sure they have some undercover officers there also," Grayson said.
"We might not get any action then," Kendra said to Marcus.
“We can talk about it more tomorrow. Join your friends and enjoy your birthday party,” Dad said.
“We’re off to my house,” Grayson said. “I hope your birthday party was as special as it should be, Ivy.”
“It was. Thanks for everything.” Ivy touched her earrings.
“I love my earrings, Kendra. Thanks. And my skates, Grayson. My watercolor paints are great. Can’t wait to start using them, Marcus.
And of course the car, Dad. It’s beautiful.
” Then she gave them all warm hugs and headed out of the den to rejoin her friends.
Her girlfriends all cheered her return to their ongoing party.
“We’ll discuss this more tomorrow,” their dad said, and he and Marcus left the den.
Then Grayson and Kendra returned to his place.
“I can’t wait until we can swim as bears,” she said.
“Yeah, me too. I’m just glad I can still run as a bear.” He parked in the garage and closed the garage door. They went inside. “Do you want something to drink?”
“Whatcha got?”
“How about a frozen strawberry daiquiri?”
“Oh, that sounds delicious. Nutritious too.”
He chuckled. “You get all the fruit you need in one sitting.” He made the daiquiri with frozen strawberries, a splash of lime, simple syrup, and rum. “Would you like to have some tacos or grilled scallops with that?”
“Hmm, either sounds good. What would you like?”
“Scallops, if you would like. And garlic, olive oil, and spices over vermicelli noodles?”
“Yeah, that would be great. I haven’t had scallops in years. What can I do to help?”
“It only takes about ten minutes for the noodles and six minutes for the scallops, so we’ll start the noodles first. The vermicelli comes in a box, so easy to make.”
“I love these.” Kendra quickly took over, and he smiled. She brought the water to a boil, added the olive oil, and once it was boiling, he poured in the noodles. She added the seasonings and began stirring them.
After a few minutes, he pulled out the scallops and a frying pan, then seared both sides in olive oil.
“Wow, this is a delightful dinner after a fun-filled birthday party. I sure enjoyed skating with you,” Kendra said.
“Yeah, I was so worried that I would trip you up while we were skating together.”
“Ha! I was worried about the same thing.”
He looked at her and smiled. “You looked so confident.”
“Sure, that’s to keep everyone guessing. But, I was really wobbly to begin with.”
“Oh, me too.” He turned the scallops over in the frying pan to brown them on the other side.
She turned off the saucepan and set it aside to let the noodles rest, then he pulled out plates and put the scallops on them. She quickly added the noodles.
“Do you want to sit on the deck or at the dining room table?”
“Let’s eat our dinner out on the deck.” She grabbed their drinks.
He carried their plates and silverware outside.
They sat down at the table on the deck and listened to the water lapping at the shore and the breeze rustling the branches. Off in the distance, they heard an owl hooting, and a few minutes later, another called back. A mated pair.
Kendra took a bite of one of her scallops. “I love the hooting of the owls. I wish we could see them.”
Even though they could see well at night, the owls were too far off. Their exceptional hearing made the owls sound much closer.
“Yeah, me too. But it’s wonderful listening to them.”
“The meal is delicious and so are the daiquiris.”
“I’ll have to fix fresh watermelon margaritas some other time.”
“I’m all for it. I love cocktails, but I rarely drink unless it’s with someone.”
“Same here.”
“We’ve got to have scallops again soon. They are so good.”
“I’m all for it!”
“The noodles are great too.”
“Yeah, they’re an easy fix to go with lots of different meats for a quick meal.”
Then they cleaned up after dinner and retired to his bedroom. He never expected to have a girlfriend staying with him at his place. He’d dated a number of bears over the years, but none of them had ever stayed at his home. He just hadn’t felt the connection with them, like he did with Kendra.
“Do you ever shift in the middle of the night accidentally?” Kendra asked as they entered the bedroom.
Smiling, he glanced at her. “On occasion. If I hear a noise in the house that I’m unfamiliar with, I’ll shift and check it out. But accidentally, every once in a while. Usually, I’m dreaming that I’m a bear running through the woods. You?”
They started to strip off their clothes in the bedroom. “If I hear an unusual sound in the house, I bring out my taser.”
He laughed and climbed into bed. “I should have known.”
“Well, if we have an intruder, you can be a grizzly, and I’ll be armed with my taser.”
“Just don’t shoot me.”
She joined him in bed and moved over while he did the same to snuggle with her. “Okay, so I’ve accidentally shifted when I’ve been dreaming also. I’ll be so surprised that when I go to turn on my lamp to grab a drink of water, I’ll knock everything off my bedside stand with a big furry foreleg.”
He laughed. “I’ve rolled off the bed and woken myself up, surprised to see that I’d shifted in the middle of the night. Usually, it happens when I’m overly tired.”
“What about sleepwalking?”
“Not that I know of. What about you?”
“Absolutely. Not very frequently, but when I’m super tired. Sometimes I won’t know where I am at first, if I wake up in a different bed.”
“Like here?” Grayson asked.
“Yeah, at a hotel, or visiting another friend’s house. Like Amy’s house before she married Cedric. We would have a girls’ night out and a ‘slumber’ party. I would get disoriented if I woke in the middle of the night, looking for the bathroom.”
“I bet.”
“If I shift and wake you, feel free to shift to join me.”
“The same with me. I would welcome the company.”
They made love and then settled down to sleep, cuddling with each other the whole night until Grayson’s phone rang.
He groaned, grabbed it, and put it on speakerphone. “Yeah, Rowland. I hope you’re calling to tell me you caught Younger and Billy.”
“No, sorry. But you’re in Whitefish, correct?”
“Yeah. We are going to Kalispell later this morning.” Grayson was going to tell Rowland about their plan to try to get hold of Billy, using Ivy to reach out to him.
“Hold off on that. We tracked the kid’s gaming account for recent logins and IP addresses. He’s at a location in Whitefish.”
“We’re on our way.” Grayson hurried to dress.
Kendra was already dressing.
“We have officers headed that way and have alerted the cops in Whitefish, but you might get there sooner.”
“We’re on our way out the door.” Grayson got the address for the location. “Who owns the house?”
“It’s an old barn converted into an apartment for the teens to use to play games, have parties, and sleepovers.
A fellow high school student’s uncle owns the place.
Darryl Hoffstetter is Billy’s friend. He loves video games as much as Billy does, and they play whenever they can.
Billy told Darryl that his mother had banned him from playing games and wanted him outside doing more physical activity.
So Darryl told him to go to the apartment.
He swears he didn’t know Billy was on an ankle monitor. ”
“Is Darryl at the house with him then?”
“No. We have him detained so he can’t warn Billy we’re coming for him. Billy is playing with some other gamers remotely so hopefully he remains clueless that we’re on our way there.”
“Good.”
“Just keep the line open so I know where you are and what’s going on,” Rowland said.
“I will.”
They just hoped they didn’t lose Billy before they could get him into custody again.