Read Online Catamount Ridge by Aubree Lane - Free Book Online

the truth.
    Jessie couldn’t be sure, but the slight contradictions in Marigold’s story suggested that the old cougar could no longer shift. The staff was frightened of the old lady. Jessie gave them every opportunity to tell her why. She even dropped a few feline references hoping to get them talking, but the staff remained stoic. Time would tell. If a mangy old mountain lion suddenly appeared walking down the stark white halls of the convalescent center, the Forest Service would undoubtedly be called in, and Jessie would have her answer.
    The lonely old woman had droned on for hours and complained vehemently about how her nephews had abandoned her at this horrid facility. The nursing home had an excellent reputation. The boys could have left her in a far worse place, but Marigold had no one to talk to. As the clock ticked away, it became increasingly difficult for Jessie to extract herself from the elderly shifter’s clutches. Luckily, Marigold liked to eat. When the dinner bell rang, Jessie made her escape.
    Now the real work began. First on Jessie’s agenda was to find the cubs and deposit them in the local zoo. There they would receive a specialized diet which contained absolutely no mother’s milk. If Jessie encountered resistance from either Ice or Derek, she was mentally prepared to use lethal force to fulfill her goal.
    She had destroyed animals in the past. If either of the Fosters got in her way, she prayed they would be in animal form. That she could justify. Killing a human being was murder. The thought plagued her conscience, but if it came down to kill or be killed, Jessie had no doubt about whether she would be able to pull the trigger.
    She would.
    Keys rattled in the lock on the outer door. Jessie looked up and waited to see who was coming to work this time of night.
    A mop of disorderly blonde hair rushed in.
    Jessie sat unnoticed as the young woman struggled with her keys. “Hi, Cindy,” she said, startling her employee.
    Ranger Cynthia Daniels jumped at the sound of Jessie’s voice and dropped her purse.
    “Jessie! What are you doing here?” Before she could reply, Cindy answered her own question. “Sam must have contacted you. Strange, I thought he asked me to notify you first thing.” The ditzy ranger shook her yellow mane. “Never mind, it’s not important. I need to inform everyone about Derek. Since you’re here, I assume you have already started. Who’s left on the list?”
    Jessie didn’t have a clue what the blonde was talking about, and she was rather miffed that Sam had notified her assistant instead of his superior officer. “I don’t know a thing. What’s up with Derek?”
    Cindy looked more confused than ever. “He’s in the hospital after being mauled by a mountain lion. Sam thinks there’s a rogue animal out there. He’s already up on the ridge tracking him.”
    No one seemed the least bit concerned after her attack. Derek and his injuries obviously rated much higher than those of the boss. Jessie would do her due diligence, but she suspected the cousins had a disagreement, and instead of it coming to fists to cuffs, it dissolved to teeth and claws.
    “Sam needs to get his ass off that damn mountain,” Jessie commanded. “Get the word out to the public to stay off the ridge and to keep an eye out for our cat. If it’s the same animal that attacked me, he’s a blue-gray beast.” She went to the gun rack, picked out a few choice weapons and headed for the door. “And the next time I’m not the first one informed of a situation,” she barked angrily, “heads will roll.”
    •   •   •
    “HE GOT ME from behind.”
    Derek gazed up from his one good eye. His once chiseled torso was bound in bandages after being torn to shreds. The right side of his face was swollen and bruised. One arm was cast in plaster. In a failing voice, he added, “I’m glad you made it out.”
    Derek made it sound like his injuries happened before Ice took her into the mine, but