The Shadows of Christmas Past

course," he lied, then added truthfully, "but the authorities' missing persons resources are always spread thin, and at least two of these kids are legally adults. I'm the best there is at finding people, and I've got a personal stake in this hunt. These kids' families want them home for Christmas. I plan to see they get their wish."
    She glanced at a wall calendar that featured a photo of kittens. "Then you've got fourteen days."
    "It'll be sooner than that. In fact, I figure Christmas is what's going to bring the kids down out of the mountains. And it's going to be easier for me to find them outside the wilderness than in."

    Normally, that wouldn't be true—at least with tracking humans. But shapeshifters knew lots of tricks to mask their presence. These kids were deliberately hiding from their own kind, and at least one of them was a genius at disguise. Harry was actually thinking of hiring the kid once he got past the rebel-without-a-clue stage and made it to reasonable adulthood. The fact that Harry had picked up a faint scent of the werefox and werecougar at Marj's had been his only lucky break recently.
    "Christmas?" Marj asked.
    "Christmas presents," he clarified. "Christmas food. Christmas parties. These kids are going to want to celebrate the holiday. I figure Phil and some of his friends will show up here, to earn money for presents for their girlfriends."
    "So, you're going to hang around here waiting for them to show up?"
    He nodded. "That's a big part of the plan."
    "What if they don't have any Christmas spirit?"
    He shook his head. "Who can resist Christmas?"
    "Me " she answered.
    He didn't believe that for a minute, but her expression told him that she didn't want to talk about it. She also seemed skeptical of his plan.
    "And while I'm waiting for the kids to show up at your door, I'll also find your wolf."
    This drew a smile from her. He liked making her smile.
    "More toast?" he asked.
    She shook her head, and winced when she did. "I need to get to the office." She stood. "You go wolf searching."

    Three hours later, Marj's headache was finally gone. She had two e-mail responses the to the ad she'd placed for a vet tech three weeks ago, one response the first week, and one just yesterday, and she'd sent off e-mails setting up appointments. She'd also answered several phone messages, and was catching up on a recent professional journal.
    The whole time she'd been doing these tasks, her thoughts had been on Harry and the wolf.
    Sometimes when she looked into Harry's eyes, she thought she saw the wolf looking back at her from them. An odd thought, but then, she could communicate with animals. Certainly there were things in the world odder than that, weren't there?
    And she just couldn't get the dream about the black wolf rescuing her off her mind. She knew that the dream was somehow about Harry. When she tried to remember exactly what had happened when she was attacked, she got a confusing double image of Taffy superimposed over the black wolf. When she thought about it too hard, the headache began to throb in her temples again. So she put it out of her mind for now and went back to wondering how her kitchen door had gotten so badly scratched up if Taffy was outside with her, rather than trying to get out to help her.
    Taffy couldn't have opened the door on his own.
    Before she could pursue this thought further, the phone rang and the outside office door opened. Harry came in as Marj picked up the phone.
    The call was from the sheriff.
    Harry perched on the edge of the desk during the short conversation, and asked, "What was that about?" as soon as Marj was off the phone. "Yes, I'm nosy," he added. "It's one of the reasons I'm a detective. That call was about Noel, right?"
    She nodded.
    "Her owner's been found? Does she have to go back to the dog-racing track? Are you going to break Taffy's heart like that?"
    "Will you let me get in a few words?" she countered. "Yes, her owner's been found," she said, after Harry grinned and mimed zipping his lips closed. "Sort of."
    He tilted up an eyebrow in question.
    The gesture made Marj laugh as she tilted back in her chair. It gave her more distance from Harry, but also a better angle to look up at the big man who towered over her, even while sitting down. The look of eager curiosity made his features even more handsome.
    "The thieves told the sheriff what track they stole Noel from. They wanted to use her as breeding stock with another racer they just happened