Fox in the Water (The Fox Shorts Book 2) Read online

  "We came to an agreement," Serena said. "She begged us to take our resignations back. We all told her if she ditches us one more time, that was it. We weren't playing that game anymore. And she agreed."

  "What happens when she and I have a fight?" Lara asked.

  "She comes to one of us, tells us to keep our mouths shut, and she lets us protect her. We give her as loose of coverage as we can tolerate. Around the property, that's actually pretty loose, but if we go anywhere, of course, it's much tighter."

  "She's been down a long time," I observed.

  "She's fine," Lara replied.

  That was when I felt a hand on my ankle. Michaela had come out of the water, grabbed my ankle and Serena's, and pulled.

  Michaela was much smaller than any of us, and physically she wasn't remotely a match, much less for two of us. But she is still very strong, as strong as a strong human adult male. She put her feet against the edge of the pool and pulled.

  Serena and I both were jerked off balance, one foot dangling over the edge of the water. Michaela gave one more solid tug, and Serena and I fell into the water together, barely missing the edge of the pool.

  By the time I had come back to the surface, the fox was out of the water and had grabbed Lara. I watched just in time to see Michaela put her shoulder into Lara's stomach, grab her around the legs, and straighten, sweeping Lara off her feet, thrown over a shoulder. We've all seen Lara carry Michaela like that countless times, but this was the first time I saw Michaela pick Lara up that way.

  Lara shrieked in surprise, but with her feet off the ground, she lost a significant amount of her advantage. Michaela turned around, stepped to the edge of the pool, and tried to throw Lara into the water.

  Lara clutched at her, and the two of them fell into the water together, causing a big splash.

  By the time Lara rose to the surface, Michaela was already out of the pool, sitting on the edge and watching, giggling. "Well, ladies," she said. "What have we learned about abusing the fox?"

  Lara laughed. "As if you considered it abuse. Well done, Michaela. I wasn't expecting that."

  "I wasn't even sure I could," she said. "I figured you would pick me up and throw me back in."

  Lara swam closer then suddenly tried to snatch at Michaela's legs. Michaela scrambled rapidly away from the pool, still giggling.

  "Truce!" Michaela yelled.

  "As if," Lara said.

  "Long enough to shed the wet suits," Michaela offered. She was already unzipping her wet suit and began to slither out of it.

  The three of us climbed out of the water. Michaela struggled to free herself from the wetsuit, but we crossed the short distance to her before she was completely free. Serena and I bent down and clasped an arm each, then Lara stepped up to peel the wetsuit away from her.

  "Don't let go of her," Lara said as she began to slither out of her own wetsuit.

  Michaela didn't pull away. Instead, she stepped forward and began helping Lara peel off the thin neoprene.

  One by one, we all climbed out of our wetsuits, at least two of us hanging onto the fox the entire time.

  "This is a crappy, trust-free truce," she said while Lara and I held her firmly and Serena stepped out of her wetsuit.

  "We didn't want to play catch the fox on the slippery tiles," Lara said, grinning.

  "Three big wolves, one little fox," she said. "Fair would be one little fox and two big wolves against one big tough alpha wolf." She grinned at Lara.

  Lara returned her grin. "It takes three of us to even the odds."

  Michaela laughed a hearty laugh. "Damned right," she said. She finished helping Serena strip off her wetsuit, and the three of us stood there in swimsuits. "I'd say we're even," she said.

  Serena took the arm back from Lara. "I don't think so," Lara said. "Maybe after they went in, you were even, but not after you threw me in. Toss her in."

  "But I went in too!" she squealed as Serena and I picked her up. "We're even!"

  Lara stepped closer to her. "But Love, you know by now, I play to win."

  Serena and I carried Michaela to the edge of the pool, her back to the water.

  "Wait!" she said. "Put me down."

  "I don't think so," I said.

  "Please."

  Serena and I looked at each other and set Michaela down, but we didn't release her. She pulled her ankles together and straightened her legs. "Let me face the water. Can you reach my ankles?"

  We turned her around then grabbed her again, one hand on her upper arm, one by the ankle. "Lift carefully," she said.

  We did, lifting her straight up then tipping her so she was horizontal. She arched her back slightly, not allowing her middle to droop.

  "Give me as much loft as you can, please," she asked.

  "One," I said.

  We threw her in, releasing her arms first, her ankles last, and tossing her as high as we could. She didn't hit the ceiling, but she got some real height. At the top of the arc, she rolled into a ball and did two quick summersaults in the air before straightening and entering the water if not cleanly, at least with some style.

  "Nice one," Lara said.

  Michaela came to the surface, laughing. She swam to the edge of the pool and said, "That was fun." She dipped under the water then surged out. Serena and I barely grabbed her as she popped from the water. She turned to me and spit a mouthful of water into my face.

  We weren't dignified about it that time. We picked her up and threw her back in without ceremony. She swam to the bottom again.

  "Oh god," Serena said. "Not again. Elisabeth, go get her."

  "She can't stay down there forever," I said.

  "What's the game tonight, Alpha?" Serena asked Lara.

  "Scarlett and Angel asked if they could organize tonight," Lara replied. "I have no idea." She turned to Elisabeth. "I'll have a wager later."

  I laughed.

  Lara and I went back and forth a few times, coming up with increasingly unlikely games Scarlett and Angel might propose.

  "Um-" said Serena.

  "That's not it at all," Lara said. "We've played that game before. I'm pretty sure they've come up with something entirely new, and if it's not designed to embarrass me, I'll be deeply surprised."

  "Um-" said Serena.

  "Is that your wager, Lara?" I asked her. "That it will be something embarrassing to you?"

  "Like there would be a counter-wager for me to win," she said. "That's too vague."

  "Um," said Serena. "Where did she go?"

  Lara and I joined Serena at the edge of the pool, peering into the water.

  "I don't see her," Lara said after a minute.

  "She's small," I said. "Maybe she got sucked up by the filter."

  "She's not that small," Serena said. "Could she have gotten out without any of us noticing?"

  "I don't see how," Lara said. "But she designed the pool. Did she have a panic room installed?"

  Serena chuckled at that.

  "Yes," I said. "She did."

  "What?" said Lara.

  "Well, not a panic room. Panic caves."

  "She's hiding in one of the caves?" Lara asked.

  "Either that or she got out when we weren't watching."

  "What if she shifted to fox and hid in a corner?" Serena asked. "Or slipped out. She's awfully quiet."

  "Would that qualify as slipping away from her security?" Lara said. "If she really promised..."

  "I'd have a hard time arguing that," Serena said. "Someone go look in the locker room."

  "No," I said. "She's in one of the caves." I dived into the water and went looking for her, Lara and Serena immediately behind me. There were two small caves and one larger one. I checked the nearest cave first. It was a lot easier to swim through with no scuba gear on my back. She wasn't there.

  Serena and Lara each checked a cave. No sign of the fox.

  We surfaced. "Where did she go?"

  We carefully searched the entire pool, checking the caves again. She was
n't in the water.

  We climbed out of the water in time to see Michaela returning from the dressing room, dressed and brushing her hair. "I'll dry it back at the house," she said. "Are you guys done screwing around? I'd like to relax a little before the picnic. And Elisabeth, I have a wager for you, which I will give you at the very last minute."

  We stared at her, then Serena and I looked at Lara. "Throw her in."

  "No!" Michaela said, backing away from us. She turned to dash to the front door, but I cut her off. She retreated from me and backed right into Serena.

  "No!" she said again. "This shirt is silk!"

  "It's not a good color for you," Lara said. "Throw her in."

  "No!" she yelled again. We ignored her protests and picked her up, carrying her to the edge of the water. "Put me down!"

  We did, right into the water.

  She came to the surface, sputtering and swearing a blue streak. She tried climbing out. Serena and I picked her up and then dangled her in the air.

  "Again," Lara said.

  "No!" she yelled. "You'll pay, Lara!"

  We threw her in.

  We threw her in twice more before she swam slowly to the shallow end where she could stand up. Then we watched as she pulled her car's electronic key from her pocket. "I bet this doesn't work anymore."

  "Like we ever let you drive anyway," I told her.

  "That's hardly the point," she said, glaring at me. "I presume one of you will obtain a replacement for me." She walked to the edge of the pool and slammed the now ruined device on the edge of the pool.

  Then she fished in her pocket and pulled out a cell phone. "And one of you is replacing this, too." She looked at it. "Oh, wait. This one isn't mine. Hmm. Elisabeth, it looks like yours." She set it on the edge of the pool. She pulled out another phone. "I think this might be Serena's." She had a third phone, buried in her back pocket. "Ah yes, this is Lara's." She made a point of searching her pockets. "Hmm. I wonder where mine is? Oh wait, mine is on my dresser in my bedroom, where I wisely left it, knowing how much you guys like throwing me in the pool."

  She climbed from the water. None of us stopped her as she stepped past us.

  "Don't forget to rinse out your wetsuits," she said. I glanced over, and hers was missing. "Do I have permission to cross the compound without my guards?"

  Serena and I were her guards. She didn't wait for an answer but walked to the doors leading to the front lobby. She paused there, but no one protested. A moment later, she slipped through the doors.

  The three of us looked at each other then down at the phones then at each other again.

  "Damn," Lara said. "I had just gotten that one configured from the last one she ruined."

  "You probably shouldn't have told her how unreasonable she was being," I suggested.

  "But she was being unreasonable!" Lara exclaimed.

  "So?" I asked.

  Lara began chuckling.

  "What?" I asked.

  "She beat us. All three of us. Again."

  "Yep," said Serena. "Is anyone surprised?"

  "Nope," said Lara. She stared at the door. "I love that woman."

  "Yeah," said Serena.

  "Yeah," I agreed. "If you two take care of my things here, I think it's my turn to go get the replacement phones."

  "Why does she pick on our phones?" Serena asked.

  "It's the one thing we each have we each need to replace immediately," I replied. "If we were willing to carry dumb phones, we could just keep an extra supply around. But the smart phones need a trip to the store."

  "Maybe we should try those," Serena said, gesturing to the pile on the floor.

  "Go ahead," I said. "She made sure we threw her in several times before she pulled them out of her pocket. They're dead."

  "Get me a waterproof one this time," Serena said.

  I laughed. "You don't really think that would stop her."

  Serena sighed. "She'd probably dip it in liquid nitrogen and let it shatter."

  "Don't give her any ideas," Lara said.

  "As if it would matter," I replied, laughing.

  Serena sighed. "At least she isn't ditching us anymore."

  About the Author

  A writer by avocation, Robin has a renaissance interest in many areas. A bit of a gypsy, Robin has called a few places home and has traveled widely. A love of the outdoors, animals in general and experimenting with world cuisines, Robin and partner share their home with a menagerie of pets and guests, although sometimes it is difficult to discern who is whom.

  As of September 2014, Robin is the author of 20 novels, 3 novellas and a variety of short stories.

  Robin can be reached via email as [email protected]. Robin's web site is http://www.robin-roseau.com.

  Fox in the Water

  Copyright 2014 by Robin Roseau

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, copied in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise transmitted without written permission from the publisher. You must not circulate this book in any format.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, businesses, characters and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, actual events or locales is purely coincidental.

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