Pack Investigator by Crissy Smith Page B

mused. Randy wanted to walk out on his own. To show the kidnappers that they hadn’t beaten him. He could understand, admire even, the need. Still, Garrett hovered behind Randy as they made their way up into the main house.
    The kitchen was full of activity. As the suspects were being led out, Garrett caught sight of one of them just as the kidnapper spotted Randy. The kidnapper yelled and broke free from the uniformed officer who had a hold of his arm. Garrett jumped forward as he pushed Randy behind him and to the side, out of the way. The kidnapper barreled into Garrett. There wasn’t much more he could do since his hands were tied, but still, the full body hit slammed Garrett back into a cabinet. His head bounced off the wood and Garrett saw stars just for a minute.
    The commotion in the kitchen was loud and when Garrett blinked his eyes open he saw the kidnapper on the ground with Johnny on his back. The man’s nose was bleeding onto the white tiled floor.
    “You okay?” Haas asked as he approached Garrett.
    Garrett shook his head. “Yeah, fine.”
    Haas patted his shoulder. Garrett just remained where he was as the Clear Creek Police Department cleared the house. Randy leaned against the wall next to him and they stood in silence. Once the place was cleared, Cooper and Josiah strolled over.
    “I just got off the phone with Julie,” Cooper said. “We haven’t told Nick but I think he’d sure be glad to see his dad.”
    Randy sighed. “I want to see my boy.”

Chapter Six
     
     
     
    It was hard for Lily, Julie and Tom to remain calm and not tell Nick about his dad being found or the fact that he was on his way. Lily could barely keep herself from watching the front window giving away the surprise. It had only been thirty minutes since Julie had gotten off the phone with her mate, Cooper.
    Still, the anticipation had her jiggling her leg. She glanced over at Julie and saw that she too was having trouble concentrating on the game of Candyland that they were playing with Nick and Tom.
    A vehicle pulling up in front of the house had all three adults tensing.
    “What’s wrong?” Nick asked, as he looked from one to another.
    She exchanged a look with Julie and received a huge grin and nod. “Come here, Nick,” Lily said to the boy.
    Nick jumped up and hurried over. “Are you okay? Are you leaving?”
    Lily shook her head. “I believe Garrett’s back. He has a surprise for you. Why don’t you go get the door for him?”
    “Another present?” Nick jumped up and down. “What is it?”
    She laughed. “Well, go see!”
    “Okay!” Nick yelled as he ran for the door.
    Lily and Julie followed behind at a slower pace. Through the front window she could see Cooper, Josiah, Garrett and another man she recognized from her file as Randy exiting the black SUV.
    The door swung open and Nick screamed, “Daddy!”
    Randy dropped to his knees while he threw his arms open. Nick ran forward until he was close enough to leap into his dad’s hold. They hugged for a long time. Garrett remained close but Cooper and Josiah walked up to the front door where she, Julie and Tom waited.
    “Everything okay?” Tom asked.
    “CCPD will take the case from here and we reunited Nick and his dad so I’d say that everything is pretty damn good. I invited Mike over as well and thought we’d barbecue,” Cooper said.
    “Sounds good to me,” Julie commented. She turned toward Lily. “You can stay a little while longer?”
    “I need to finish some paperwork so that I can release Nick back to his father. I can do that now and get it out of the way,” Lily answered. “That way Nick can go home with him.”
    “I’ll talk with Garrett and Randy about where they’ll stay. I don’t believe the house is fit for them,” Cooper said.
    One of the questions she’d have for Randy would be where he and Nick would go. She could happily let Cooper start working on that. She’d hate for any of the paperwork to have to be put on hold.