I struggled to catch my breath and finally managed to contain my shock. I forced myself to sit up, still aching from where the connection had reattached.
“Fancypants — he’s in the van. Whatever May did, it wore off. I can feel him. He’s terrified. He needs me!”
By now, the van had almost reached the warehouse and was pulling into the open chain-link gateway.
Faron said nothing, simply started the car. Revving it up, he screeched forward towards the gates. Bree scooted forward and turned around, then pushed over, squeezing into my side of the seat. She turned and opened the back of her seat, folding it down. She thrust her phone inside the trunk, turning on the flashlight app. Without a word, she began handing me all the weapons she could grab from the trunk. There were three daggers, a short sword, and a stun gun.
I took the stun gun, and handed Bran the sword and two of the daggers. By then, we were through the chain-link fence. Faron stomped on the gas again, yelling, “brace yourselves!”
I dropped the stun gun in my lap and put my hands against the back of Bran’s seat. The next second, we plowed into the back of the van, causing it to lurch forward and skid on the ice. As the van skated into the fence on our right, we tumbled out of the car and raced forward.
Bran and Faron made for the front doors, and, as they yanked them open, the MacFarland brothers stumbled out, looking confused. Thinking there might be hired help in the back, I grabbed Bree and we raced for the back doors of the van. As she turned the handle, opening the right side, I held up my stun gun and jumped into the van. But there was no one there except a cage, containing Fancypants. Immediately, I jumped out into the snow and ice again, racing around the van with my stun gun held out.
I had raced around to Bran’s side, because while he was strong, Faron was stronger and better at fighting. Bran was struggling with a man, I assumed one of the MacFarland boys, and they went down the moment I saw them, wrestling in the snow. Bran had a bloody nose and his opponent had him pinned down. Without hesitation, I flipped the switch on the stun gun and raced forward jamming it into the guys side.
The stun gun crackled, startling me so much that I almost dropped it. But I pressed the charge button again and — as the MacFarland brother shouted and flipped around I managed to come in with an underhand job and pressed the stun gun right against his crotch. This time, he shrieked and dropped to his knees, crouching into the fetal position as he fell over on a side.
Bran scrambled up, grabbing him by the collar and, with one punch, knocked him out, dropping him into the snow.
The next moment, two police cars barreled through the gate, screeching to a halt next to us. I glanced over to see Bree holding her phone. She must have called Daisy and told them we were already embroiled.
As the cops raced over, we all set down our weapons. Even though they knew us, we followed protocol to make sure nobody got hurt. As the men from one patrol car hurried over to gather up the MacFarland brothers, the other pair headed toward the warehouse, motioning for us to stay back.
Within less than a minute, two more patrol cars pulled in, one manned by Daisy. The officers from the other car headed in as backup to the warehouse, while Daisy walked over to us.
“I know you wanted us to wait, but we saw the opportunity —” I started.
She waved away my explanation. “Trust me, I doubted you were going to wait for me, even though I wish you would. This is the van?”
“Yes, and Fancypants is in there, can I get him please?”
“Let me take a look first. I just want to make certain everything’s okay.”
I fidgeted as she opened the door, wanting to rush in behind her. But I made myself wait. A moment later, she returned with Fancypants cradled in her arm. He seemed drowsy, and I knew he was still sedated. But when he looked up into my face and saw me smiling down, the weakest of smiles appeared and he let out a soft sigh. I took him, now totally focused on the dragonette in my arms.
Daisy was talking into her mic affixed to her collar. After a moment, she turned to us.
“They found the women, and five familiars—cats.”
“I’m so glad,” Bree said, worrying her lip. “Are they all right?”
Daisy shrugged. “I have no idea. We’re transporting the women to the hospital and the cats to the emergency vet’s clinic. Luckily, there were only a couple goons inside that my deputies were able to take down. I’m amazed. We actually have the MacFarland brothers in custody. In fact, until you called, I’d forgotten all about them. I was under the impression that they never came back, but apparently I was wrong. We might be able to solve a lot of crimes because of this. How did you know where to find them? How did you even though they were here?” She asked, her gaze narrowing on Faron.
He fidgeted a moment, then shrugged. “The rumor mill?”
“Right,” Daisy said. “Sometime we need to have a talk about that rumor mill. It might come in handy.” She paused, then added, “so, you’re a free agent now?”
Faron nodded. “Seems that way, doesn’t it?”
Still holding his gaze, Daisy said, “have you ever considered applying to become a deputy? You’d make a good one.”
None of us were expecting that, and we all turned to stare at her. Faron looked especially surprised.
“Are you serious?” He asked.
“I don’t joke about things like that,” she said. “I’m serious, all right. We can use a couple good men, and if you are looking for a job, I can wait until you’re through the training. Given your past, I’m pretty sure you could accelerate your studying and be done within six months.”
I glanced at Faron. “I do have a thing for uniforms,” I said, winking at him.
