“Hey!” Rick choked on a sausage link.
“What? I’ve got eyes, and they work just fine. Besides, he’s not as hot as you, babe.” Annie leaned in and kissed Rick.
“Anyway, he’s been a lot of help in the past when we found ourselves in similar situations,” Maggie said.
“You do this a lot?” Nick asked.
Gina shrugged. “Don’t look at me. This was my first kidnapping. I’m new here and haven’t ever had anything like this kind of thing happen before, and I really don’t want it to happen again. Actually, it was a zero-star experience. I would not recommend it.”
“Is the sheriff a paranormal?” Nick asked.
“Yes,” Maggie answered.
“What does he do? What is he?” Nick asked.
“I have no idea. No one does. All we know is that he is some sort of scary when he gets pissed off,” she replied.
“That’s no lie. He took on a whole pack of wolves to save my sorry ass. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Clint said.
“Plus, he helped me with a problem with my old gator clan. He doesn’t put up with anyone’s shit.” Rick added his two cents to the conversation.
“I mean, he’s the sheriff, right? I should be able to file charges for kidnapping. Maybe we should call him. It’s really the most normal human thing to do to report a kidnapping to the police. I know you are all a part of the paranormal world, but up until a few days ago, I had no idea that I was too.
“I would feel much, much better if we called in local law enforcement. Especially since all of you already know him,” Gina said. It really was the most logical conclusion. She didn’t know why she hadn’t thought of calling the police before now. That should have been her first thought.
Maybe because she knew the guy was a shifter and was worried that any human police who responded would likely die. Since that was no longer the case, calling the sheriff made the most sense to her.
“She’s right. We need to let Cole know what’s going on. He’s the one in charge of this parish. At a minimum, we owe him a heads up for all he’s done for us,” Clint said.
“Fine. We’ve come to an agreement then?” Maggie asked.
When everyone nodded in agreement, Maggie pulled her phone from her pocket and pressed the call button. She hit the speaker button and set the phone on the table.
“Hey, beautiful. How can I serve you today,” Cole said as his greeting.
“Hey, you. We have an issue that I was hoping you could help with.” A full blush covered her face.
“I’m on speaker phone, aren’t I?”
“Hell, yeah. You are,” Annie called out to a round of giggles from the peanut gallery.
“Can you pop by the house when you have a few minutes?” Maggie asked.
“I’ll be there in a few. I’m right around the corner.” Cole disconnected.
“That man has the serious hots for you, and you just blow him off. He should arrest you for that.” Annie shook her head in disbelief. “Just ask him to cuff you and stuff you,” she giggled. “Sorry, sorry. I couldn’t help myself. That one just slipped out.”
“You are so bad.” Clara laughed.
A few seconds later, there was a knock at the door.
“He wasn’t kidding when he said right around the corner, was he?” Gina laughed.
“I guess not.” Maggie went to answer the door.
“Why don’t you join us in the kitchen,” she asked as she ushered Cole into the house.
“Wow. You’ve got the whole crew assembled. Some I know and a couple who I don’t,” Cole said, giving Maggie a quick hug.