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Howard motioned for them to follow him down the long winding driveway. “Stay away from the back of the house. There’s a surveillance camera there still working and a bunch of werewolves in the woods.”
    As soon as the front of the house became visible, Dougal teleported to the guards, and they slumped onto the ground.
    “Whoa,” Jimmy whispered. “What was that?”
    “Some kind of vampire voodoo?” Jesse asked.
    “Mind control,” Howard answered. “The guards will have no memory of this. You guys watch the front. I’ll be back soon.”
    He jogged toward the double front doors and entered the sprawling stone-and-log house. A quick glance back reassured him that Phil had the situation under control. Thank God he and Dougal had come. His cousins were enthusiastic and well-intentioned, but they were totally inexperienced in this kind of work.
    It took less than a minute for him and Dougal to locate Rhett’s home office. Howard retrieved a sixty-four-gig flash drive from his pocket and plugged it into the USB port on Rhett’s computer.
    Dougal stood guard at the office door. “I doona hear any other heartbeats. The house is empty.” He approached slowly. “What are ye doing?”
    “Downloading. Bank accounts, passwords, you name it. I designed this program to be super quick. It should take less than four minutes.”
    “Impressive.”
    Howard nodded, watching the monitor. “I didn’t just play football in college. I majored in computer science.”
    “Och, I dinna know that.”
    Howard slanted an amused look at the vampire. “How do you think all the computers at MacKay S and I and Romatech manage to stay secure? That’s what I do during the day while you guys are sleeping.” He grinned. “And you thought I was just eating donuts.”
    Dougal chuckled. “Aye.” He looked around the room, then, with a wince, he motioned toward the stone fireplace. “No’ someone ye know, I hope.”
    Howard’s eyes narrowed on the white bearskin rug resting on top of the polished hardwood floor. A polar bear. He gritted his teeth.
    “ ’Tis no’ a were-bear, right?” Dougal asked. “I thought shifters turn back to human form when they die.”
    “That’s right.” Howard sighed. “I wish we could take the bear with us, but we have to leave everything exactly as it is.”
    “Ye doona want to rob this house and destroy it like ye did the others? We could set it on fire.”
    “An old friend of mine named Smoky told me to never start a forest fire.”
    Dougal snorted. “This is all fun and games to you.”
    Howard shook his head. “When it comes to strategy, I’m dead serious. We have to get in and out of here without anyone knowing. We would be vastly outnumbered if they caught us. And we have to keep everything the same, because if Rhett suspected we were here, he would change his passwords and secure his accounts.” He leaned over to check the progress of his software. Almost done.
    “Is it worth it?” Dougal asked. “Playing yer game of revenge when ye canna let him know ye’re the one toying with him?”
    Howard straightened slowly. “I don’t have a choice. I have to protect my family and friends.”
    Dougal stepped closer. “But if ye had a choice—”
    “I don’t.” Howard removed the flash drive. “We’re done here. Let’s go.”
    Dougal followed him. “If ye had a choice, would ye play the game differently?”
    “There would be no game.” Howard glanced back. “I’d kill him.”

Chapter Four
    T he following afternoon, Howard and his team arrived at his grandfather’s house on Paw Island. His cousins were sent home, two houses down the street, so their parents would know the boys were all right. A quick check in the basement assured him that Dougal had safely teleported back the night before and was now in his death-sleep.
    Phil settled in the small family room with Howard’s grandfather, Walter, and they found a baseball game to watch on TV. Howard greeted his mother, who was busy