Survivor Bear

by Raines, Harmony

  “Mr. Marsh.” Craig took the hand offered him, surprised at the firm grip. His experience dealing with people in the corporate world was that the most weight they lifted on an average day was a pen. Or their glass of chilled chardonnay when they got home.

  Yes, glass of chardonnay. Not even a pint of beer.

  Bear Creek Honey Beer, his bear practically drooled at the thought of a nice cold bottle of beer sliding down his throat.

  “Our flight takes off in thirty minutes. I assume you have everything you need.” Mr. Marsh smiled nervously as he looked around the airport terminal where he had arranged to meet Craig.

  Unusually, Craig had not been given any idea where they were flying to, only that he needed to dress warmly.

  Mr. Marsh had no idea Craig was a bear shifter who didn’t really feel the cold. But, to keep up appearances, Flint had insisted Craig wear warm clothes.

  “I have everything,” Craig confirmed and indicated the backpack slung over his shoulder.

  “You travel light,” Mr. Marsh observed, although Craig was convinced he was only trying to make small talk. Great, a guy who didn’t like awkward silences. This was going to be a long flight.

  Twitchy. His bear studied the man before them. A man with a secret.

  You got all that when we’ve only just met? Craig asked his bear.

  Sure, you know what a good judge of character I am. His bear cocked his head to one side. Definitely twitchy.

  Mr. Marsh looked at his watch one more time and then up at the list of flights. “Shall we get checked in?”

  “Sure.” Craig waited for Mr. Marsh to lead the way, while scanning the airport for threats.

  That was his job. Look for threats and terminate them when necessary. Unusually, this assignment didn’t come with any identifiable threats. From what Guy and Flint, the two guys who ran Bear Creek Protectors, had told him, Mr. Marsh might just be looking to boost his status. If you looked the part, people assumed you were the part.

  In this case, Mr. Marsh might have hired a big bodyguard to make himself appear more important.

  Craig’s bear chortled to himself. Since when have we been compared to a sports car or a trophy wife?

  Craig wasn’t going to rise to that comment. He was here to do a job and he would do it to the best of his ability. If there was one thing he prided himself on, it was his work ethic. After serving his country for over fifteen years he understood if you did your job right, more people survived. You slipped up and let your guard down, people got killed.

  And no one was dying on his watch.

  Craig hitched his pack higher on his shoulder and refocused. He missed the Army, he missed doing a job that had some meaning. Keeping one person from getting hurt by a paper cut wasn’t fulfilling. Yes, he enjoyed the comradery with the other guys back in Bear Creek, but when he was out on a job alone like this...

  His hand slid from the strap of his pack and rested on the left side of his chest. The letter tucked inside his jacket pocket seemed to burn through the fabric and warm his palm.

  He’d been happy in the job until a week ago when the letter dropped on his doormat. Now, he was fighting the need to return to active service and make good on a promise he’d made to his best friend, Harry, when they joined the Army together. Although, it went deeper than that. Harry wasn’t the only one who would be happy to see Craig reenlist.

  “I have to go and pick up the tickets,” Mr. Marsh told Craig and darted off toward the Reamington Airlines desk.

  Twitchy and erratic, his bear commented.

  A frown creased Craig’s brow. His bear was right. Usually his employees bought their tickets beforehand and were ferried straight through passport control and into an exclusive departure lounge. Not this time.

  More intriguing, Mr. Marsh pulled out a bundle of cash and handed it over in exchange for the two tickets. Was he trying not to leave a trail that could be followed?

  The furrow on his brow deepened. Was this job about to skirt the line between legal and illegal? Or was it more of an unethical job? Either way, Craig didn’t like it.

  When Mr. Marsh turned back to face Craig, after completing the transaction, he was met with a neutral expression. It wasn’t Craig’s business to ask questions about his employer’s business practices.

  Innocent until proven guilty, his bear commented. It was easy to jump to conclusions. It was not so easy to backtrack if those conclusions proved false.

  Mr. Marsh looked down at the tickets in his hands and Craig masked a long sigh. There was something about this job that didn’t sit right with him. His instincts, honed over his years in the Army, told him this was not going to end well.

  “Ready?” Mr. Marsh sounded unsure and led the way to the check-in desk looking like a man walking to the gallows.

  Craig followed, keeping his guard up. This might be the airport, complete with armed guards, but that didn’t mean a crazy couldn’t appear from nowhere and inflict damage before Craig had a chance to react. He’d learned from experience that guns were not always a deterrent when it came to fanatics.

  Although what kind of fanatic would wish harm to a businessman from Reamington, who traded in nothing more sinister than wholesale machinery and truck tires, Craig had no idea. Unless Mr. Marsh’s company, Marsh Machinery, traded in other things. Things they didn’t advertise openly.

  Craig pressed his lips together. If it came under unethical or illegal, he was out of there. It said so much in his contract.

  “Sorry.” Mr. Marsh looked up at Craig sheepishly. “I’ve got a lot on my mind.”

  Craig raised an eyebrow. “I’m used to being seen and not heard. If you don’t want to talk, that’s fine with me.”

  Mr. Marsh nodded. “That’s a good philosophy.”

  Craig remained impassive. He wasn’t here to talk. Their relationship was purely professional and that was how it would remain.

  Mr. Marsh sat down, and Craig resisted the urge to do the same. Instead he prowled the perimeter of the red plastic chairs grouped together to form a cluster. He examined each of the other occupants in turn and then switched his attention to those people sitting in the next cluster, then the next cluster, until he’d memorized the faces of everyone who might pose a threat.

  “Could you sit down, please?” Mr. Marsh indicated the seat next to him. “You’re making me nervous.”

  With a curt nod, Craig did as he was asked, feeling like an obedient puppy.

  “Do you want something to eat or drink?” Mr. Marsh asked. He opened his leather-bound briefcase and took out a packed lunch, the kind Craig’s mom used to make him for school.

  A smile twitched on his face, but he didn’t voice his thoughts. Was Mr. Marsh a mommy’s boy? Was that why Craig had been hired?

  “No, I’m fine, thank you.” Although the homemade chocolate cake did look tempting.

  “My sister,” Mr. Marsh explained. “She always says I don’t look after myself.”

  Craig smothered a smile. “Sisters can be overprotective.”

  “Samantha’s a lot older than me, she’s settled down with two teenage kids. I’m nearer to their age than I am to her.” He opened the packet of neatly-wrapped sandwiches and took a bite.

  “So what’s the story?” Craig cursed himself for asking.

  “What story?” Mr. Marsh asked. “My story?” He pointed at himself as if surprised anyone would want to know about him.

  “Why am I here?” The plane tickets were one thing, the neatly-packed sandwiches another. Mr. Marsh was an anomaly and Craig hated anomalies. Anomalies got you killed if you didn’t inspect them from every angle.

  Mr. Marsh shrugged. “I need backup.”

  Was he being evasive? Craig really should have kept his mouth shut. “I see.”

  “You probably don’t.” Mr. Marsh frowned. “I didn’t mean to sound so dismissive.”

  “It’s your prerogative, you are paying me to watch over you, not to talk to you.” Craig itched to get up out of the chair
and pace the lounge one more time.

  “What if I told you I’m not sure why I hired you?” Mr. Marsh looked up at Craig. Even sitting down Craig was a foot taller than his employer.

  “Are you in danger?” Craig’s eyes narrowed. The unknown was the hardest thing to deal with. It was like trying to protect someone from a ghost.

  “There was a woman…” Mr. Marsh gave Craig a wry smile. “I fell for her hard.”

  “And?”

  “And for some reason I screwed it up. And when I say for some reason…” He raked a hand through his hair. “We met, we had a…thing, and then she cut me off.”

  Craig still couldn’t fathom why this story ended in Mr. Marsh needing a bodyguard.

  “It turned out she was the CEO of a large company. A company that could break my family’s business in two, chew the parts up and spit them out like they were nothing.” His frustration bubbled over.

  “Wait, I don’t do revenge.”

  “I don’t want revenge, I just want to talk to her.” Mr. Marsh looked down at his sandwich. “I want to know why. And since she won’t answer my calls or see me, I’ve had to be creative.”

  Craig sprang up from the chair; it was no use, he wasn’t the sitting-around type. He took in two full perimeter sweeps before he returned to Mr. Marsh. “Sometimes people change their minds. Women in particular. And you have to just let it go.”

  Mr. Marsh nodded forlornly. “I know what it sounds like. But I can assure you I am not a stalker.” He pulled out his phone and swiped the screen with his finger.

  Great, the guy was ignoring the conversation and was about to launch a game of Candy Crush or some other waste of time game. But instead, Mr. Marsh sighed heavily and turned the phone toward Craig. He didn’t speak, and left Craig to read the text before him. It was a veiled accusation that Joaquin Marsh had slept with the woman in question for personal gain.

  “And did you?” Craig asked.

  “No, I did not. I wouldn’t. Anyway, I didn’t even know who she was at the time.” A pained look crossed his face. “I don’t expect you to understand and I know you probably think I’m a loser, but I had never known the love of a woman, not real love, until I met her.”

  Craig shook his head. He should walk away and leave this guy to track down his love alone. But Craig couldn’t do that. He was a sucker for love. Perhaps because he longed to find his mate and settle down.

  “Okay, so what is your plan?” Craig asked.

  Mr. Marsh cracked a smile. “It’s relatively simple.”

  Craig rolled his eyes, he was already wishing he’d never asked. Relative was an overused word for understated acts that usually ended up with someone’s balls being broken.

  “Okay. Spill.” Craig blamed it on his romantic heart. But truthfully, he was beginning to warm to this guy who was willing to chase down love. It also promised to be a lot more fun than babysitting a billionaire.

  Chapter Three – Linda

  “I’m still not clear on why I’m here.” Linda narrowed her eyes at Gina.

  “Because I need a bodyguard.” Gina repeated the words she’d said to Linda over the phone, the words that had made Linda ditch her vacation and drive four hours cross country.

  “For a business trip to Reamington? And a meeting with a company about tires.” Linda couldn’t narrow her eyes anymore, but if she could, she would have. “Do you want to tell me what this is really about?”

  Gina shook her head and glanced from side to side. “On the way to the airport.”

  “We’re leaving right now?” Linda would kill for a decent cup of coffee, but the urgency in Gina’s voice informed her that wasn’t happening.

  “Yes.” Gina stood up from her desk and grabbed her coat and her purse. “My luggage is in the car.” She gave Linda a tight smile and brushed past her on the way to the door. Linda’s temper was halfway to boiling at being dragged away from her vacation for what seemed like no good reason. However, as Gina swept passed her, she reached out and took Linda’s hand for a brief moment. “Thank you for coming.” The words were muttered through a strained smile.

  What the hell is going on? her bear asked, but Linda had no answers, only more questions. However, now was not the time to ask Gina anything. Whatever was wrong, it’s rot had spread to the office where Gina ran her father’s empire.

  Or perhaps the rot had started here.

  Were some of the employees still loyal to her brother?

  All these questions would have to wait until they were out of the building.

  “Gina.” Chuck’s voice carried down the hallway.

  “Why is he even here?” Linda asked under her breath as they swung around to face Chuck.

  Chuck slowed his pace and calmed his breathing as he approached. Dressed in an expensive suit, smelling of expensive cologne, he looked every inch as if he’d molded himself into a creature who belonged in the corporate world. He smiled and showed off his brilliant white teeth which reminded Linda of the early morning sun reflecting off pristine snow. He could not look less like the college geek Linda remembered if he tried. Only Chuck’s slightly slimy smile remained, reminding Linda of why she disliked him.

  Someone’s had an upgrade since we last saw him, her bear commented.

  They certainly have, Linda agreed.

  “Be nice.” Gina shot Linda a warning look. “Chuck, we’re just leaving.”

  Chuck’s jaw tightened. “Can we talk privately before you go?”

  “I think you’ve made your thoughts clear and I appreciate your candor, but my mind is made up.” Gina took two steps forward and kissed Chuck on the cheek. He inhaled her scent and his eyes closed in ecstasy.

  He’s still in love with her, Linda’s bear stated.

  “Gina…” Chuck began.

  “We’re going to be late for the plane.” Gina backed away from Chuck. “I know the company will be in safe hands while I’m gone.”

  “Chuck.” Linda inclined her head toward Chuck and he gave a tight smile before the two women turned around and walked away.

  They rode the elevator in near silence. The only time either one of them spoke was when Gina asked if Linda had a good journey here.

  “I did, the traffic wasn’t too bad once I got off the main routes.” Linda studied Gina as she spoke and noted her pinched expression and black circles under her eyes. The strain was beginning to show and no amount of carefully applied makeup could conceal it.

  “Good, we should make the flight on time.” Gina looked at her wrist watch before staring up at the numbers as they slowly counted down the floors.

  “You look as if you need something to eat,” Linda commented. “Do we have time to stop on the way?”

  Gina glanced up at Linda and shook her head. “No, we don’t.”

  “Maybe there will be food on the plane.” Linda smiled gently. “One way or another I intend to feed you up.”

  Gina gave Linda a tired smile. “You always were like a mom to me.”

  Linda snorted as she dismissed Gina’s view of their relationship. “You were the caregiver. I was the caretaker.”

  “That’s what you think,” Gina said, her smile tired and strained. “But you never saw how much you looked after me.”

  The elevator pinged, and the doors opened, revealing the busy lobby which was the hub of the building. Linda eyed the people waiting to get on the elevator, and instantly dismissed them all as a danger to Gina. She might not know what this was all about, but that wasn’t going to stop her from doing her job. No matter what Gina thought, Linda owed her friend a lot, and if this was how she got to repay just a tiny amount, then she was grateful for the opportunity.

  Linda gave a curt nod to Gina and they stepped out of the elevator. Walking side by side across the marble floor, Linda listened to the click-clack of Gina’s heels while casting a wider look around the lobby.

  “I forgot how serious you are when you’re working.” Once outside the building Gina took a left and headed for the parking
lot.

  “You called me because you needed a bodyguard, so until you explain further, a bodyguard is what you’re going to get,” Linda said playfully. She cocked her head to one side. “Can you tell me now?”

  Gina took her car keys from her purse and pressed the button to unlock her car. “Can we take your car?” She opened the trunk and retrieved her suitcase and a small handbag.

  “Sure.” Linda was getting worried. Gina’s behavior was a little erratic, which was completely out of character.

  “Thanks.” Gina heaved her suitcase off the ground, but Linda reached out and took it from her.

  “Let me.”

  “You always were impossibly strong for a woman,” Gina stated. “Hell, I always thought you were impossibly strong and tall for a man, let alone a woman.”

  “But I’m all woman all the same,” Linda joked as she led Gina across the parking lot to her sporty black car.

  “You never change, do you?” Gina asked, sounding pleased, as if Linda’s unchanging presence reassured her.

  “I’d like to,” Linda admitted. “I want to sell this thing and get something sensible that I can stick a couple of kids in the back seat. But I haven’t met the right man.”

  “Hey, this is the twenty-first century, you don’t need a man.” Gina grinned. “Yes, I know, you want your one true mate.” She placed a hand on Linda’s arm. “But if he’s a no-show, you can do it alone.”

  Linda’s heart skipped a beat. “Is that what this is about? Are you pregnant?”

  Gina’s bottom lip trembled. “Let’s get in the car.”

  Linda’s neck prickled, that’s what this was about, her best friend was pregnant? So why the mystery, this was a cause for celebration surely?

  Linda slammed the trunk closed and got in the driver’s seat, buckling up her seatbelt in one smooth motion while she waited for Gina to get in the passenger seat. The engine started with a purr as soon as Linda turned the key in the ignition. Then, with a glance around the outside of the car, Linda backed out of the parking space and headed for the road.

  “So?” Linda was going to explode with anticipation.