“They are.” Kendra sighed. “If anyone could have done it, you could.”
“Yeah, and if Younger and Billy had come for us before I had freed the other girls, I would have finished them off.”
Kendra would have done the same thing. But she looked to Grayson, since Ivy was his sister, to see what he had to say about it.
Marcus responded first. “Fighting a full-grown bear or a teen male bear wouldn’t have worked for you, but an unaware human, sure. It would have been best if you could have just knocked them out, but there would be the threat of them being armed also—knives, guns, tasers, or other weapons. Still, rather than have you shipped off and separated from the other girls, it would be better if you stopped them right there. So I’m with you on that.”
“I agree,” Grayson said. “I wouldn’t have thought we would ever face that situation with you, but a cage like the girls were kept in wouldn’t have been strong enough to keep you in it. So fighting your way out of it and ripping up the other cages so the girls could escape would be the way to go.”
“Though the girls would have thought you would kill them first,” Kendra reminded them.
“Right. She would have had to have broken through the door to the basement also, if it had been locked,” Grayson said. “But once that was done, she could have returned to her clothes, shifted, and gotten the girls out of there, reassuring them that the bear had already left the house, if she didn’t tell them the story that she had raised it from a cub.”
Ivy smiled, to Kendra’s surprise. “I feel better about it now. I would have saved the day as I did by saving myself from the kidnappers.”
“Exactly,” Kendra said. If Ivy ever got herself into a similar situation in the future, she would know how to handle herself. They were taught not to shift in front of others, but if it were a life-or-death situation, they would do what was necessary to survive.
“Maybe I should try to be the bait,” Ivy said.
18
Even though they had tried that ruse before with Billy at Glacier National Park, and it hadn’t succeeded, at least Kendra had saved another potential victim from Billy and Younger. And they had caught Billy.
"Using you as bait is a great idea, Ivy, but we still have the problem with you not showing up the last time, not that you were going to, and they probably wouldn't believe you would go this time. I'm sure they believe you're spooked from everything that has happened," Grayson told Ivy.
"What if I sweetened the pot? What if I told him I was going to be somewhere with my girlfriends, and then Younger and Billy might think they could grab all of us. I could say two of my girlfriends, so they wouldn't think there were too many of us to handle. You probably wouldn't want me to show up for real, and I know my friends' parents would say absolutely not, but if we actually did go together, they might be so desperate to grab us and get the money that they would do it. Especially if we do it before Younger discovered the police had rescued the other girls."
Kendra shook her head. "We can make up the story about the girls and you being someplace to meet Billy, but even that might sound suspicious. But actually going and putting yourself in danger, no."
"Yeah, I agree with Kendra," Grayson said.
"But what if they go after other girls then? I mean, you know they will. And you'll have done nothing to stop them. I'm a known quantity, as Dad and you always say, Grayson. You have no other leads right now, right?"
Grayson had to agree that his sister was right. He ran his hands through his hair. No way did he want to use his sister as real bait. When they went to the park to try to apprehend Billy and Younger, Ivy had been safe at home with their Dad and Marcus.
"You know, we can shift, right?" Ivy said, her chin tilted up.
"Yeah, but if they drug you, zip tie you, then what? You could be disabled and then easy prey. Plus, you still have a cast on your arm."
"Well, let me know if you want me to do it. We could meet up at the mall in Kalispell. If I actually go, I could drive my new car and tell him I just got it for my birthday. And then you could hide in the back seat. I could say my girlfriends were going to meet us at the mall's ice cream parlor. That way they would never be in harm’s way. But maybe Marcus and Kendra could be there waiting for us."
Grayson considered what his sister was saying and didn't just dismiss her idea. The older she got, the more they allowed her to take part in their operations, such as locating fugitives. Nothing this dangerous, though, and nothing where she would be part of an apprehension team.
"So?" Ivy prompted.
"So your girlfriends wouldn't really show up." Grayson couldn't imagine safeguarding three teenage girls while trying to apprehend Younger and Billy.
Marcus folded his arms across his chest. "Sure, Ivy got herself free from her kidnapper one time, but too much could go wrong."
Ivy released her breath in exasperation.
Their dad walked into the den and asked what was taking so long. "Ivy's girlfriends are waiting on the birthday girl to join them."
Grayson quickly summarized what they had been discussing.
Dad looked at Ivy. She smiled. "I can do it. Catch these guys red-handed. Someone has got to stop them."
"I don't know, Dad. It could go sideways in a heartbeat." Grayson really didn't want his sister to be Billy and Younger's target again.
