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M onica tried calling Pierre’s number back. “There’s no answer.”

“What do you think about his claims?” Based on what others said and Pierre’s reactions, Andy wasn't sure if Pierre was a victim of the crime or a willing participant.

Monica ran her hands through her silky, long hair, and he wanted to do that. Every move she made was sexy.

“He was non-committal about his girlfriend duping him out of money. I didn’t have time to ask him how he got the money together so fast. What if he is a crook and had it hidden in a safe in his home or somewhere else that he could easily access?

And he had mistakenly shared this information with Helen? ” she asked.

“That’s a good possibility. That has certainly happened in numerous cases—normally involving theft, not a kidnapping scheme though.”

She sat down on the sofa. “True. That’s an awful lot of work to steal some money. This leads me back to the idea that he was in on it and hoped it would appear he had nothing to do with it.”

He joined her on the sofa, and she leaned against him.

“This is nice.” She sighed, and her body warmed him.

He took in her vanilla-scented fragrance and kissed her cheek. “I agree.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and they just cuddled. “How is your back?”

“Feeling much better. The nap helped.” She kissed his chest. “What did you learn about Denny’s grandparents’ cabin neighbors?”

“I couldn’t reach them.”

“Well, darn. I need to make a call.” She selected her boss’s number from the menu. “Sir, O’Connell here. I just spoke with Pierre.” She explained what she had asked him and his responses. “Andy recorded the conversation.”

“We need to have him working for us.”

She smiled. “We need to interview Pierre to see if he was involved. Can we track his phone? He’s still using it.”

“I’ll have someone get on it right away.”

“Thanks.”

“I’m glad he’s alive and talking to you. Maybe you can still get to the bottom of this,” her boss said.

“I sure hope so.”

Then they ended the call.

“That was a good idea.” Andy pressed a kiss against her forehead. He breathed in the fragrance of the vanilla shampoo she had used on her hair and inhaled her essence.

“Yeah, I just wish we’d been tracking it before this. Maybe we would know where he was.” She slipped her arms around him and kissed his cheek, her lips warm against his skin.

He met her mouth with his and kissed her deeply. “I was thinking that if he were behind some of this, he wouldn’t have kept his phone, knowing the police could track him.”

“Hmm, yeah, you’re right. Maybe he is a good guy.”

“Or he’s just not good at being a bad guy.” Andy got a call and saw it was from Craig. “Hey, are you still grounded?”

“Yeah. I’m going to get a pizza for the missus and me. Do you want me to pick one up for the two of you while I’m out? That will give you more time to recuperate.”

Now that sounded good. “Let me ask Monica. Craig wants to know if we want a pizza for lunch. He’ll get one for us while he’s picking up one for him and his mate.”

“Double cheese, bell peppers, mushrooms, and pepperoni.”

“Did you hear that, Craig?”

“Yeah, I’ll drop it by in about half an hour.”

“All right. Thanks, I owe you one.”

Once Andy ended the call, Monica said, “That’s so sweet of them.”

“Believe me, he doesn’t usually offer to bring a pizza over to me. Oh, and my mother asked what your favorite dessert is.”

“Hmm, lots of things, but I love chocolate cheesecake.”

“How did I not remember that? You had that when I took you out for lunch after you got a flat tire.”

“Yes! It’s still my favorite.”

He got on his phone and called his mother. “Mom, Monica’s favorite dessert is chocolate cheesecake.”

“Coming right up.”

“Thanks, Mom.” Then they ended the call.

“Wow, that’s so nice of your mom to make it for me.”

“She and Dad want more grandkids.”

She laughed. “So that’s how you make kids? That’s a new one on me.”

He laughed, then kissed her cheek. “I’m going to start a fire.”

“That would be nice. And tonight, when we go to bed, maybe we can finish what we started.”

“Only if your back and hand are okay.” He sure wanted to go further with Monica, but he didn’t want her to be in pain. He set a log on the fire.

“I’m sure I’ll manage just fine.” Monica heard something out back and headed for the window. “Ohmigod, how cute. Who are they?”

Andy joined her at the window. He laughed.

On the land connecting his, Alicia 's, and Rob’s property, Alicia was digging a snow cave as a polar bear that she’d started a few days earlier, and both of her bear cubs were checking out what she was doing.

“That’s Alicia, my cousin Rob’s mate, and their two-year-old cubs, Daniel and Jenny. ”

“She has made some inroads.”

“Yeah, it’s their daily exercise. Sometimes, Edward and Robyn are out there with the six-year-old twins. They can shift at will now. But the younger twins, just seven months old, only shift when their momma does.”

One of the cubs was pawing at his mother from up above while she was digging out the snow down below. She looked up at him, then began digging again.

“That’s Jenny on top. Oh!” Andy said as Jenny put her small paw out to get her mother’s attention again and fell into the snow cave.

Andy and Monica laughed. “Too cute,” she said. “Let’s join them.”

“As bears? What about your hand?”

“It doesn’t feel as bad.” Monica began stripping.

“Okay, I’ll tell Craig we’re out back playing with Alicia and her cubs. He’ll leave the pizza in the house. It’ll probably be half an hour before it’s ready and when he arrives here.”

“Sounds good.” She shifted and waited for him to open the back door.

He quickly texted Craig, undressed, opened the back door, and shifted. Andy led the way because Alicia and her little ones didn’t know Monica.

When they ran across the snow, Jenny and Daniel raced to him until they saw Monica. Then they paused.

Andy nuzzled Monica to show them she was all right, and then he ran to them. They jumped all over him in excitement, their little bear bottoms wiggling.

Monica just watched them.

Alicia came out of the mostly dug-out snow cave. Since half their heritage was polar bears, she figured this was part of their training. Normally, a mother bear wouldn’t dig a snow cave unless she was about to birth new cubs.

Was she? The instinct had to be so strong that maybe that was the situation. Though Andy hadn’t told her that was the case.

Rob finally joined them and worked on digging out of the cave.

Alicia brought her cubs over to meet Monica and nuzzled her face to show her cubs Monica was safe.

The doorbell rang. Andy glanced in that direction. Then he ran for the back door, but Craig opened it and smiled. “Pizza delivery!”

The cubs headed straight for the house. Alicia hurried to corral them out of the way. Monica smiled, then followed Andy back to the house.

Inside the house, Andy shifted and started pulling on his clothes. “We have to appreciate this now because Craig will be back to making emergency deliveries once the visibility is better and won’t have time for it.”

“I make special deliveries on occasion. Even when I’m working,” Craig said.

Monica shifted inside and hurried to dress.

“Thanks, Bro.”

Craig smiled at Monica. “We were getting pizza anyway and thought you might like one also.”

“Well, we appreciate it,” Monica said.

“You both deserve a hero’s welcome home. I’ve got to get our pizza home, or my mate will be frosted because it’s so cold.”

“Thanks, Craig, for the pizza and the thought. Tell your mate I said hi.” Monica pulled a fuzzy white blanket over her on the couch.

She looked like she belonged there in Andy’s home with him, and he hoped he could convince her to continue seeing him even after the three weeks were up.

“I will. She wants to meet you when you feel up to more company. Later, Bro.” Then Craig headed back to his SUV.

Andy shut and locked the door. “Do you want to eat on the couch or at the table? You look so comfortable there.”

“If you think we won’t make a mess?—”

“I have TV trays for eating.”

“Do you eat in the living room a lot?”

He smiled. “At night. During the day, I eat where I can or take lunch with me.”

“Oh, me too.”

He set up oak TV trays, then brought glasses of ice water and slices of pizza on plates. “Do you want to watch something?”

“Yeah. Whatever you would like. I like lots of stuff.”

He sat down to eat with her and turned on the television. With the fire going, it felt like a fun at-home date.

“This is good,” Monica said, taking a bite of the pizza. “Enjoying it with you while watching TV makes it all the better. The toddlers were so cute when they thought they could have some pizza.”

“Yeah, but Alicia would have had to shift so they could eat as kids. As bears, they would make even more of a mess.”

Monica laughed. “So what shall we watch?”

“How about this story about a couple who are CIA who have retired to raise their two kids and end up back in a CIA operation with the kids in tow—who have no idea their parents are former operatives.”

“Yes, it sounds perfect.”

He started the movie, and they continued eating while the CIA couple fought the bad guys. “This reminds me of our little adventure.”

“Yes! Except we were both injured and handicapped during our operation, but we did pretty well with our bear forearms when we could.”

“Right.”

Then came the part where the CIA wife told her husband she was pregnant with their child. Another big fight ensued until the plane went down, and it was the perfect solution—the plane was totaled, and they vanished, presumed dead.

“Hmm, well, they must have had money to start over completely and lead a new life.” She pulled off another slice of pizza.

“Yes.”

“I love this movie.”

“It’s perfect for a fun afternoon of relaxation.” Especially when he could enjoy it with Monica.

“After what we went through, seeing someone else dealing with all those problems is refreshing.”

“I agree.”