Free Loving Her (Keeping Her) by Kelly Lucille

arm.  "And she's out there
alone."
    "I should have been
able to smell her at least," Cleo said.  Her eyes damp.  "She was
just gone."
    "I'm tellin you, she's
good.  Had to be a good hider in the Bone Crusher clan.  She'll show up when
she gets hungry."
    "When she gets
hungry?"  Clytie was aghast. 
    Cassandra narrowed her
eyes, speaking directly to Essie.  "Even if what you say is true and she's
just hiding and this isn't part of an eminent attack, she's a little girl alone
in the woods.  Sitting and waiting is a shit plan."
    Mac had heard enough. 
"Eli, check the perimeter cameras.  Shawn, you take Cleo.  She can show
you where she last saw Roxanne.  If she is hiding, I doubt she's good enough to
escape hawk eyes."  He walked over and kissed Cassie full on the lips, his
hand running down her face in a brief caress.  Then he turned to Ben,
"Just in case, we need the noncoms in the vault."
    "On it," Ben said
grimly.  Pulling Cassie by the arm and going for Clytie.
    Demon kissed her, then
pushed her gently toward Ben.  “Go, I need you safe.”
    “Bring back our girl,” she
said, letting Ben take her arm.  “And not a scratch on you Demon or I’ll be
pissed.”
    He grunted, but his eyes
followed her with the weight of wolf behind them.
     “Follow along Old
Yeller,”   Ben called back to Essie.  “Time to go."
    Essie grumbled, but
followed.  “Still say it’s a waste of time.”
    "Ian, I want you in
the vault too.  Cleo will join you after she shows Shawn where to start
looking," Lucas said and his son and daughter both started protesting at
the same time.
    "I'm not a
child."
    "I can fight."
    He shushed them with a
look.  "We need guards in the vault.  That's you, if I say it’s
you."  They shut up but both had identical mulish looks on their faces.
    "Come on
princess," Shawn said.  His voice, when he bothered to speak, was smooth
and mellow.  Right now, it was rife with sarcasm.  "Let's see if the puppy
did manage to hide from the big bad lioness."
    "Stuff it bird
boy," she hissed at him.  "And don't call me princess."
    “That’s bird man little
girl.  Try to keep up.”
    “Come on ma’am.  You’ll be
safer in the vault,” Ian said, trying to take Essie by the arm for support. 
She whacked him with her cane.  Ian jumped back with a surprised grunt.
    “Mother fu…” he started to
curse but she talked over him.
    “The day I need help
walking from a kitty cat is the day they bury me,” she spat, whacking him once
more for good measure.
    “Can we get that in
writing?”  Ben asked, leading the ladies out.
    Cassie looked back at Mac
while she was being dragged to safety.  "Be careful," she mouthed
silently.  He raised his chin in acknowledgement, but his eyes were steel grey
and cold.  Hunting mode.  If it was the Bone Crusher clan attacking, she almost
felt sorry for them.
    The vault was hidden so
well, Cassie had no idea they were at the door until Ben pressed the wall in
two places and a secret passage opened up.  Very cool.   Then they passed
through and it closed behind them just as silently.  Lights flipped on and Ben
led them to another door that looked like it was solid steel.  He pressed a
sequence of numbers into the keypad and then a little light came on.
    Ben leaned over and spoke
into it.  “The eagle flies at midnight.”  The door slid open.
    “Really?”  Cassie said,
“The eagle flies at midnight?”
    “At least it’s not ‘dry
martini, shaken, not stirred.’”
    “Hey.”  Clytie smacked him
on the arm.  “I was under pressure to come up with a secret code fast.  That’s
what came to mind.”
    He shrugged.  “Voice
recognition.  It doesn’t matter what code you choose.”  He motioned Clytie in
the room ahead of him.  “We’ll program yours in later and you can pick whatever
you want.”
    The room beyond the giant
door was a slightly smaller replica of the great room upstairs, though slightly
more utilitarian and no windows to