Pack Investigator by Crissy Smith Page A

much. There was no telling what he’d done to Randy.
    “This way.” Johnny nudged Garrett’s shoulder.
    He nodded before he followed the shifter to the right of the kitchen where a padlocked door was. Johnny easily ripped the lock away from the latch. Damn, what I wouldn’t give for shifter strength .
    Garrett stuck his head through the door. A set of stairs led down to a basement. There was a small amount of light at the bottom which must have come from windows somewhere. He held up his hand. There! He could hear muffled sounds coming from the dark. “Someone’s down here,” he whispered to Johnny.
    “Follow me,” Johnny said. He held his gun in his hands as he stepped forward.
    Garrett pulled out his flashlight from the loop in his pants and shone it over the rickety steps as he followed.
    He swept the light to the left then right. A lone figure was seated, chained down to a chair.
    “Jeez,” Johnny muttered.
    Garrett ran past Johnny until he was on his knees in front of Randy. The man looked a lot different from his picture but Garrett had to attribute that to his broken nose, black eye and swollen cheek. The kidnappers had worked him over but he appeared to be breathing normally and was awake. “It’s okay,” he told Randy. “We’re going to get you out of here.”
    “Mmmph,” Randy managed.
    Garrett removed the tape from over his mouth. He was as careful as he could manage. He pulled slowly but firmly, hoping that Randy’s shifting genes would keep Garrett from hurting him bad.
    “Thank God,” Randy murmured. He started wiggling around. “Get me out of here.”
    He had to grin at the impatience in the man’s tone. “Just give me a second,” he said. He glanced over his shoulder at Johnny. “Can you get these chains undone while I cut the rest of the tape off?”
    Johnny nodded before he came closer to grip the metal binding Randy and yanked. Garrett used his knife on the duct tape around Randy’s feet and hands. The kidnappers had bound Randy thoroughly. Tape, rope around his waist and finally chains had all been used to keep him in place. That would normally be somewhat overkill but with Randy being a shifter they must not have wanted to take any chances.
    Once they’d freed Randy, Garrett reached down and helped him onto his feet. Randy’s legs shook so Garrett kept his arm around Randy’s waist to help him upstairs.
    “We’ve got the EMTs here. Any injuries I can’t see?” Garrett asked him.
    Randy shook his head. “Nah, they beat on me at the house and when they first got me here but after that they pretty much left me alone.”
    “Good.” Garrett was so damn relieved. The muscles in his neck and back relaxed, and for the first time in days he knew he’d truly be able to reunite Nick with his dad.
    They reached the stairs as Randy turned to him. “Sorry, I’m not sure we’ve met.”
    Garrett laughed. “Garrett.” He tightened his grip a second. “I was the one who rescued Nick from the fire. I’m working with the fire investigator.”
    Randy’s knees went out and Garrett struggled to hold him up. “Rescued?” Randy whispered.
    Since Garrett couldn’t carry Randy up the stairs by himself he turned Randy and sat him on one of the steps. Tears filled Randy’s eyes. “They told me he died in the fire,” Randy said. “I wanted to join my boy. I begged them just to finish me off. They just laughed and said not yet.”
    He crouched in front of Randy and gripped his knee. “Nick’s fine, I carried him out myself. He’s staying with my sister and a police detective to ensure he remains safe.”
    “You swear?” Randy grasped the front of his shirt. “Nick’s okay?”
    “How about we get upstairs and make sure everything is taken care of here? Get permission to reunite you with your boy,” Garrett said.
    “Please,” Randy replied before he hauled himself up. “I’m getting my legs back. They’re just a little sore from sitting for so long.”
    Pride, Garrett