Riley grinned. “They’re alright?”
“Seem to be. I’ve got them in a cage on my backseat. Cute little fellas, humming away, their little spines flickering blue. I should be therewithin the hour.”
After thanking him, I ended the call.
Riley leaped from her chair and into my arms. We hugged each other, grateful that the stolen luminooks were safe.
The front door swung open, and my brothers filed in, their expressions ranging from concerned to grim.
When we told them about the luminooks, cheers rang out, along with nudging of knuckles on everyone’s shoulders, including Riley’s.
“This doesn’t solve our in-town problem, however,” I said. “Someone’s been near the pens, and they tampered with the fencing. They don’t appear to be related to the wild luminook theft, so we should proceed with our plan.”
Smiles fell as my brothers arranged themselves around the room. Ruugar leaned against the wall by the window, while Tark and Becken took the chairs across from my desk. Hail and Sel remained standing near the door, and Greel closed the circle, positioning himself beside the filing cabinet.
“We’re worried this could be a coordinated operation targeting the luminooks for other reasons, perhaps biological, military, or research.”
I outlined what Riley and I had discovered, including the professional fence cuts and the different descriptions of suspects seen near the pens.
“We think at least two individuals are involved, possibly more,” Riley said. “They’re methodical and patient.”
“This…could be related to my past.” Riley explained quickly.
Tark came over and patted her shoulder. “You’re family, and we protect each other. We’ll keep you safe.”
“The timing is suspicious, but there’s no concrete evidence they’re involved,” she said, smiling up at him.
“Doesn’t matter,” Ruugar growled. “Whether they’re after you or the luminooks, we protect both.”
My brothers all nodded. They’d accepted her as one of us without question, something that made my chest swell with pride.
“Here’s the plan.” I distributed the color-coded maps and rotation schedules I’d prepared, each brother receiving a packet tailored to their assigned zone. “Ruugar, you’ll track movement patterns around the colony. Hail, observation posts here and here. Tark, eastern patrol routes. Becken and Sel, night watch in alternating shifts.”
Each brother studied their assignments.
“What about the existing security footage?” Greel asked. “Have you reviewed it all?”
“Not yet,” I said. “There’s approximately seventy-two hours of recordings from multiple cameras. Riley and I have gone through about fifty hours so far.”
“Jessi and Gracie can help with that,” Greel said. “The saloon’s closed until noon and Gracie planned to stop by to visit with Jessi this morning.”
My brothers filed out, each carrying their packets. Only Greel remained behind, taking some of the security footage back to the saloon. He returned quickly.
“All set. I’ll stay here and help you both, since there’s so much to review,” he said, settling at the spare desk where Riley had set up the security footage.
For the next two hours, we combed through recordings from around town, focusing on the time periods when luminook disturbances had been reported.
We only stopped when Sheriff Trench arrived with the luminooks.
Ruugar came after my call and did a quick physical of the creatures, pronouncing them healthy.
“I’ll take them to their families,” he said, his gaze meeting mine. “But we’ll need to come up with a new plan for integrating them into the wild. We can’t risk anyone stealing them again.”
“Agreed,” I said, Riley nodding along with me.
He lifted the cage and left my office. We got back to studying the camera footage.
Halfway through the third hour, Riley’s hand suddenly shot out, pausing the playback.
