Free Lion And The Falcon (Furry United Coalition) by Eve Langlais

to ensure she’s not followed so she can pack one for herself. The agent will then rendezvous with you and take you both to your cottage and remain until we can be sure of your safety. We want to take every precaution.”
    “Thank you, doctor.”
    Hanging up with Agnes after a few more words, he gave instructions to Patricia, who recovered quickly and simpered at him in a way that might leave lasting scars. Bulbous, lashless eyes should not blink so rapidly.
    When the wet behind the ears otter shadow from earlier arrived—his need to ride the bus delaying him despite Nolan’s orders he go home—Nolan sent him off with Patricia in her VW, holding in a grin. The poor lad. When Patricia latched on to the young man, he sent Nolan a terrified look over his shoulder. Nolan smiled and waved. The young fellow had wanted someone to guard. Being the magnanimous sort, Nolan gave him his wish.
    Whistling, h e returned to the kitchen to find Clarice handing off a Ziplock bag to Peter who already held a half dozen. “Find anything useful?”
    “Some hair that I think belongs to our perp.”
    “Patient ,” Nolan corrected by rote.
    A humph was her reply. “I’ve also got a hunk of meat with some teeth marks. The bottle of sauce with what appears to be a fingerprint. And a few other things for the lab to test.”
    “ Fantastic. We can compare those items to what I have on file and hopefully figure out just who and what we’re dealing with.” Nolan already had a sneaky suspicion, but it never hurt to make certain. “Well, since you have things under control here, I think I’ll be heading off.”
    “Off where?” Clarice asked , raising her head and pinning him with a stare.
    “To bed , of course.”
    “Alone?”
    “Despite my mother’s wishes? Yes, alone. Unless you’re hinting for an invitation to sleep over?”
    “In your dreams, doc. ” Clarice stood and peeled off her latex gloves.
    “Hmm, now that opens up a whole world of possibilities. I always did have a very active imagination. ”
    Peter stumbled as he headed out of the kitchen with the evidence.
    Pretending not to notice Clarice’s dark glare, Nolan studied the crime scene and waited for her next repartee. To his chagrin, she didn’t rise to his bait.
    “I think you should stay with a friend tonight.”
    “Why Clarice, are you encouraging me to have sex? I thought you didn’t approve.”
    “ I said stay with a friend, not screw them.”
    “Doesn’t that defeat the whole purpose of a sleepover ?”
    “Oh come on, don’t tell me you’ve never bunked on a buddy’s couch.”
    Actually, he hadn’t. Home schooled and over protected, Nolan had very few friends to begin with, and of the male ones, none close enough for him to call out of the blue and ask such a large favor. Not that he’d admit it out loud. “I’d rather sleep in my own bed, thank you. It’s been a rather long day and I am tired not having had my regular naps.”
    Hand sweeping out to encompass the messy kitchen, Clarice shook her head. “ Going home is not a good idea, or is this not evidence enough that your home is probably not safe?”
    “My building has security. I highly doubt whoever did this would have the same ease infiltrating my condo. Not to mention, I am a lion. I can defend myself.”
    Clarice arched a brow. “Yeah. I’ve seen how good you are at that.”
    Point for the bird. “Th ose tigers caught me by surprise.”
    “ Exactly my point.”
    “It won’t happen again. I’m more worried about my staff. People like Agnes who are not natural born predators. What’s being done to protect them?”
    “I already thought of that. I contacted Kloe. She’s sent as many agents as she can to cover the houses of your staff, or at least those with some ability to defend themselves. Those most at risk have already been told to stay with friends or relatives until we can ascertain whether they are safe or not.”
    “ Good. I’d hate anybody to get injured. Seems like