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Image: Free Wallpaper from http://www.scenicreflections.com/ ~Sephrena.

Author's Note: This Chapter is dedicated to Stan who always had nice things to say about my writings and everyone else's writings. Stan you are sorely missed.

Thank you Hope for your encouragement and help in editing. Thank you Sephrena for making the post appear professional. Most of all thank you to all who have commented or left Kudos. For those who have left comments, I answer them with what I hope is something witty and appreciated. ~Barbara.

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Chapter 33: The Capture
 
The warning from wolves spooked the fugitive as he eased across the field. He crouched down trying to hear in the rain. He could see someone by the fire filling coffee thermoses with coffee. From the earlier report of the rifle, knew he was being watched. He was not prepared to survive in this rain, and if the temperature drops below freezing he was in big trouble. The butcher's helper gave himself up, but he had left him with two more magazines for his weapon. He could make a stand in the woods, but the sheriff posse was content to let him freeze to death. And those damned wolves seemed to be helping the posse. There was one by the fire with whomever was making the coffee.

The rustler eased back into the woods to consider his options. He could try to make a run for it on foot, but how far would he get with these wild wolves around. Everything around him was wet so making a fire was out, besides if he built a fire then the deputies would know where he was. If he gave himself up, he would probably spend the rest of his life in prison. There were warrants for his arrest in Canada. It is either die here, or die in prison. Neither option sounded very good. If he came out of the forest shooting, then he might take some of these losers with him.

The rain turned to sleet as the fugitive was making plans. The sheriff deputy got on the patrol car's PA system again. “MIKE, If you don't give yourself up, you are going to die of Hypothermia. If you try to come out shooting, I have trained snipers with night scopes that will take you down. Come out and put your weapon down, and we'll get you the medical attention you need.”

“Mike, we have hot coffee and fresh grilled steaks. The other deputies will be back in the morning with German Shepard dogs to track you if the wolves don't get you first. How long will your ammunition hold out against and unseen enemy? If you die out here, we won't take your body back in. We'll just let the wolves eat it. It is about three hours until daylight. You will be dead by then.” The thought of being eaten unnerved the fugitive, but still he wasn't ready to make up his mind.

The deputy turned to Gabriel, “Look in the truck and see if there are any clothes.” The cowboy came back with a red plaid shirt. “Perfect. The red plaid will be easy to see from the woods. See if you can find a small carcass in the truck. “

“What are you thinking deputy?” asked Alex.

“We'll put the shirt on the carcass and drag it to where Mike can see it. Then we will turn some headlights on it and have the wolves come in and start eating it. Then we will call to fugitive and let him think that it was his buddy from the truck.”

“Do you think it will work?” asked the young lady. “I mean this is way over the top.”

“I know, but I am cold and tired and so are my officers. If this will help end this stand off more quickly then I am willing to try.”

“Deputy,” said Gabriel, “We found some coats during our search and some tarps that the rustlers used to turn the rain. We can set one tarp over the fire so those that come back from watching could rest and stay dry as they warmed themselves. Another tarp we can cut in half to aid those keeping watch to stay drier along with their wolf companions. Also,we found some rain suits in the trucks which we can use.”

“We can take some of the watches,” said Alex, “to spell you and your men. And it will be a little less gruesome. If the fugitive doesn't give up by morning and he is still alive then we can employ your plan.”

“How much longer will the batteries in the night scopes last?” asked Gabriel.

“I don't know,” answered the deputy. We have been using them much longer than usual. Mike doesn't know that. And he probably doesn't know if we have spare batteries. We will just have to keep up our bluff for now.”

The next hour seemed to drag by as Jesse sat by the fire and dozed. She would take the next watch with Silver Ears. Mean while she kept the pot full with strong coffee. The deputies sat around dozing or in their cars with the heater running. She was afraid they may asphyxiate themselves, but the deputies were used to stakeouts and knew how to protect themselves. The young wolf was dozing and having a wonderful dream of running through the forest with her pups when Gabriel lightly kissed to wake her. “Mmmm, What a wonderful way to be awakened,” she said.

“You know, I could do that every morning.” teased the young rancher.

“Even if I was all furry?” she teased back.

“Then, I'd just give you a big lick,” he laughed as he walked off.

The girl picked up her rifle and the scoped rifle and headed up to the blind on the ridge where Gabriel had been. Before she left, she grabbed an extra blanket to use against the cold. Silver Ears ran ahead of her to look over the hiding spot before he crawled under the tarp they were using to keep dry. It had been snowing heavily for the last hour. The snow was thick and heavy with water that would melt on contact with any man made object, but was building nicely on the thick prairie grass. Foot prints would be easy to trace in the morning. Most of the snow would be gone by noon. Any remaining snow would be in the shadows. Jesse took one more look around before climbing under the tarp to start her vigil.

{Are you going to mate with the young male?} asked the elder.

“Yes, I think he is the one I am to marry and have pups.”

{I like him, but he will need to come before the council to prove his worth.}

“That might be a challenge to him. It is not normal for a human to walk into a wolf's den.”

{If he is worthy of you, he will come.}

“He will come, but don't expect him to be all brave and boisterous.”

{Young child, you misunderstand the term brave. Many think that brave means to be without fear. To me, that is foolishness. Brave is to confront your fears and do the task set before you. Do you think we are not fearful when we have to take down an animal several times our size to be able to feed our families? We feel fear, but we must feed the young ones, so we take down the animal and risk injury or life.}

{If he comes before us confident that he was meant to be your mate, that will be enough. We will know his heart.}

The young lady was silent thinking on the times when she most scared, but she was able to perform the task before her. She remembered the feeling of relief, the feeling of euphoria, the feeling of excitement she felt at these times. She wasn't an adrenaline junky, but she realized that risks are a part of life. Was making a life with Gabriel a risk? She didn't feel that way. She liked the way she felt when he took charge, but she realized that people who prefer others to take charge are lazy. Still it does feel nice to have someone want to take care of her, and she has those same desires for him.

The girl turned on the night scope she was handed. She needed to check the battery and get accustomed to using the scope for sighting the rifle. She could see a faint outline of the other picket under his tarp and blankets keeping watch. She slowly scanned the forest to see if there was any activity. Seeing none she turned the scope off to conserve the battery. Her wolf senses would help her more than a dead scope. The wind was beginning to change as the snow lessened. If the clouds broke up soon, it would get colder, but the moon would cast a light on the snow making it easier to see.

The other picket would scan the forest every fifteen minutes and turn his scope off to conserve batteries. Seven minutes later Jesse would do the same. This would allow each watcher to scan the forest, but would not allow the fugitive a chance to sneak out of the woods. It was during the second fifteen minute wait that the girl caught herself nodding off. The moon reflecting off the snow gave the place an eerie glow. She picked up the scope and took another scan of the area. Just as she was ready to turn off the scope she saw a shape at the edge of the forest, and Silver Ears began a low growl.

“Sam, I see something at the edge of the woods,” she radioed the other watcher.

He turned on his scope. “I see it,” he said. “Just keep watch.”

“I can't the battery died.”

“Okay, you may have to rely more on the wolf if the moon clouds over. I noticed you took your other rifle. See if you can get a bead on the shape with it.”

“Sam, it looks like it may be moving toward you in a crouch.”

“I see it. Damn!! My battery died and all I have is my service weapon.”

“Sam, lie quiet with your radio off. The snow covering the tarp will hide you,” called the deputy in charge.”

Sam clicked his mic twice letting everyone know he understood.

“Jesse, if the fugitive gets too close to Sam, you will have to take him out,” radioed the deputy. “Can you do it.”

“Affirmative, I have a bead on him.”

“Okay, tell me when I can put the spot light on him. If he looks like he is going to shoot, take him out.”

“Affirmative!”

The Deputy turned to Mr. Johnston and Joe. “I hope it doesn't come to her having to shoot the guy. You two take up positions under the truck and see if you can get a sight on the fugitive. Shoot at the same time as the girl. We may be able to spare her the knowledge that she deliberately killed someone. I don't know how she will react.”

The two men ran off to the truck a used the bar under the back of the truck to steady their rifles. They couldn't see the fugitive because of the lay of the land, so Alex worked his way closer to Sam. When he saw the fugitive. He flattened out on the ground. He had been a Marine Sniper in Vietnam. That was a long time ago. He hadn't killed a man since coming home. He still had nightmares, but he would do his duty.

Jesse was watching the fugitive closely. When she thought he was far enough from the woods and about half way to Sam, she radioed the deputy, “Put the Spot light on him.”

The deputy turned on the spotlight and swept the light toward Sam and then toward the forest. “I don't see him.”

“He dropped when the light came on. I still have a shot at him. I will tell you when the light is shining at him.”

The deputy started slowly moving the spotlight as directed by Jesse until she told him to stop. “I have a real good shot at his legs. I can place a shot right next to them.”

“Okay, don't worry if you miss and hit him, but be ready to drop him if he gets up shooting.”

Jess took careful aim, told Silver Ears to cover his ears, and took a shot. The bullet hit the ground right at the fugitives knee, but he didn't move. She took aim again and moved the shot higher up his leg. This shot seemed to get his attention.

“Deputy, call over the PA and tell the monster that the next shot will be right at his genitals, and I won't miss.”

The deputy called out, “The next shot will be through your genitals, If you want to keep your manhood you should give up now. I will give you to the count of three. ONE, TWO.”

“Okay, Sheriff you win,” called out the fugitive.

“Hold your weapon over head and wait for us to approach you. One wrong move and our sniper will drop you like a sack of potatoes.”

The rustler held his weapon up. Then slowly he began to sit up. He sat still waiting on the deputies to come toward him. Sam came out from under the tarp and Rodney started down the hill toward the criminal. The criminal watched the deputies closely out of the corner of his eyes. As the deputies approached, he gauged their distance. When he thought they were close enough, he pulled his weapon down, and began firing at the deputies. The deputies returned fire with their service weapons as they hit the ground to present as small a target as possible.

Jesse had her sights on the fugitive. She saw him pull his weapon down to shoot the deputies. She squeezed the trigger just as the criminal pulled the weapon down. The bullet hit the rustler causing him to miss the deputies. He tried to stand to get a better shot at the officers, when another bullet slammed into his torso. This shot was from Alex's rifle. Not more than a second past, when Jesse's second shot hit the fugitive in the chest. The criminal fell. He tried to rise one more time. This time the officers opened up with their service weapons. The fugitive laid still.

Sam limped over to the fugitive. The deputy had been shot in the leg. Rodney picked up the automatic weapon as Sam checked to see if the criminal was still alive. He checked the man's artery in his neck. The man was dead. The standoff was over.

Rodney helped Sam back to the fire. Alex met them as well as the other officers. They stopped the bleeding and bandaged the leg. Sam was loaded into a sheriff's jeep and taken to the hospital.

Every one was standing around the fire. Alex asked Jesse, “Are you going to be okay?”

“Killing was not what I wanted to do, but it was necessary. It will take time to get over, but I have folks to lean on.”

“Just remember that the man chose to die and you saved the lives of the sheriff deputies by making the first shot,” said Gabriel.

Rodney walked back down to the hide where Sam was and took the tarp and covered the body. Everyone decided they would try to get some sleep before the wreckers came to tow the trucks into town. The two remaining deputies retired to their jeep. Alex and his older son found the heater in the butchers truck and decided to bed down in the back. The wolves gathered under the semi to stay dry. Gabriel and Jesse crawled into her tent and snuggled together to stay warm.

They talked a little before they finally went to sleep. “Silver Ears told me tonight that you will need to stand before the council before you can marry me.”

“If that is what it takes to get to marry you, then that is what I will do.”

“Are you sure?”

“Look. I know you want to make sure we are a good fit and that you love me and that I love you. You are not going to scare me off. I will do what ever it takes to prove my love for you. If it takes standing before the wolf pack, then I will. I may not like it, but I will do it.”

“That is all I need to know. Hold me and let's get some sleep.”

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To Be Continued...