Bear to the Rescue (Bear Claw Security Book 3)

by Terry Bolryder

  She sighed. “All right. Let’s drive back.” She held his hand as she leaned back in her chair, and he pulled the car out and onto the road again.

  Every day was like a rollercoaster with him, but she didn’t think she could ever go back to normal from this day on.

  Someone loved her. Now it was just up to her to believe him.

  Chapter 13

  Bronson felt twitchy as he waited while Carrie checked Regan over for any scratches from her ordeal. He refused to have anything on him checked until he knew she was fine.

  Seeing her in the alley in another man’s grasp had terrified him in ways he didn’t know he could feel terrified. He still felt like a part of him had been permanently shaken and wouldn’t ever forget.

  He’d keep her safe forever. Something that would be easier now that she was agreeing to stay by his side even after they fixed this. Now he had a real chance to win her.

  He wished she could just be like him, just feel it and know it and not doubt it, but he knew she had issues in that area. He didn’t know exactly how deep they went, but he knew being abandoned like that by your parents left deep scars.

  But for some reason, his scars had left him with a longing for a good family, where hers had left her running from the idea of one.

  Perhaps that was the difference between having something good and losing it and never having something good to lose. He’d never been close to any of his family members. He hadn’t gotten to know his brother that well, as his father had kept them apart, and he obviously didn’t feel close to his father.

  Not like he did with the people around him, all of whom had become family.

  Even Limes, who’d just gotten back from vacation, was in today, looking at Bronson with concern as he stood near his mate. They were both glowing from their honeymoon vacation, but both clearly thought only of their friends.

  Limes’s mate, Jamie, a wolf shifter, was sitting next to Regan, holding her hand as Carrie checked her over. Regan gave Bronson a nervous smile, and Bronson grinned back, letting her know he was proud of her for letting in other people.

  Limes walked over to him. The huge, shaved-head shifter with tats and piercings and a generally cranky attitude bumped Bronson in the shoulder.

  “So I leave for a few weeks and you turn the most badass female hacker around into a mush pot?”

  “Took less than that to turn you into a mushpot,” Bronson retorted.

  Limes looked at him with a grin that was almost proud. “Touché. So when you making the big move?” He nudged the other man in the side. “Bear shifter. Nice.”

  Bronson grunted. “None of your business.”

  “I’d do it soon,” Limes said. “Before she sees how you smell after long missions.”

  Bronson snorted. “It’s good to see you, too.”

  Limes raised a fist for him to bump it. “Anyway, I’m glad you’re going to keep working with her. It’ll be good to have her around.”

  “Speaking of that, I need you to run this for prints.” Bronson pulled out the knife he’d wrapped in a handkerchief and handed it to him. “I know you know people with access to the human database as well.” He gave Limes a pointed look.

  Limes sighed and took it. “Yeah, I got some friends. I’ll take it care of it. They can keep their mouth shut. They owe me for shutting someone out of their system.”

  “Good,” Bronson said.

  Limes looked across the room to where Hercules was guarding the door, stern and protective and rather like the demigod he was named for. “Glad you hired Herc. Now you’ll have time to love on your lady instead of just taking hired muscle gigs.”

  Bronson snorted. “Thanks. You two get a chance to catch up?”

  “Nah,” Limes said. “We’d only just got back when all hell broke loose. Anyway, can Jamie stay here with you while I go run this?”

  Bronson nodded. “We’ll watch out for her.”

  “I don’t doubt it,” Limes said, uncharacteristically serious as his vivid green eyes found his mate. “Damn, when you find the right one, it changes everything.”

  Bronson’s eyes wandered to Regan. “Yeah.”

  “All right,” Limes said, clapping the other man on the shoulder. “I’m off, then. Take care of everything here.”

  “I always do.” Bronson scoffed. But he grinned as Limes went over to hug his mate, tell her he was off, and then head out the door.

  The office was fuller than ever, but it was good to have it that way.

  His phone beeped and he swiped his fingers to unlock it without thinking about it.

  There was an incoming message from an unknown number. Something about it felt off, sent a cold chill up his spine. He looked around the room, saw Regan was busy talking to the others as she rolled her sleeve back down, and then saw Carrie was coming over to him with a blood pressure cuff and her first aid kit.

  He waved her away. “I’m fine. I’m a shifter after all.”

  “And you were just in a knife fight,” Carrie said, putting a hand on her hip. “You didn’t send me for that first aid training so I could just sit around, Bron.”

  “I know,” he said hesitantly, eyes flicking down to his phone. Who would be sending him a message and why?

  He was tempted to not open it at all if someone was trying to get under his skin. There was a file attached, and he knew better than to open unwanted attachments. Limes had gotten on him about that enough for it to finally set in.

  He sighed and locked his phone, slipping it into his pocket as he sat.

  Carrie wrapped the cuff around him as he listened to the laughter of Regan and Jamie as they talked to Hercules about something. Just seeing her there, green eyes glowing with contentment, knowing she was safe and all right, made a feeling of well-being well up in him.

  “You okay?” Carrie said quietly, for his ears only. “You know, the way you look at her, you better hurry and put a ring on it.”

  “I know,” Bronson said. “Easier said than done. Especially with people after her.”

  “I know,” Carrie said. “It’s a weird situation. Although, it was kind of lucky, since it forced you two closer together.”

  “I know,” Bronson said. “Who would have thought?”

  “I dunno,” Carrie said with a small grin. “I could have seen it from the outset. You needed someone in your life who saw through your bullshit, and she needed someone to bring some sunshine into the darkness.”

  Bronson glanced up at Carrie. “I’m glad you think so.” He let her wipe up the small grazes of blood on his knuckles where he’d punched the men. “I’m fine though, really.” Despite his best efforts, the message waiting on his phone was burning a hole in his pocket.

  “Put a ring on it,” Carrie said firmly. “Don’t take no for an answer. She wants you. She’s just waiting for that sharp brain of hers to catch up with her heart. It’s usually smart to be cautious, you know?” Carrie stood, putting things back in her kit. “But sometimes in the case of good guys, it’s just a little bit counter-productive. Thank heavens for patient men like you and Cage.”

  Bronson grinned ruefully. He didn’t feel that patient at all. He longed to take Regan in his arms and carry her to his office and claim her right there on the desk. He wanted the right to stay by her forever. Protect her forever.

  She’d promised him as much as she could, yet he still felt insatiable.

  She looked over at him, as if she could feel his eyes on her, and her jade gaze softened, a small smile lighting her lips. If someone had told him weeks ago that the spunky, harsh employee would be looking at him like he was the only person in the world, he would have told them they were crazy.

  But here she was. And here he was. Here they were together.

  He bit his lip as he looked back at her, and she flushed and turned back to her conversation.

  He felt his phone buzz and walked back to his office to think about how to deal with it while he waited for Limes to do fingerprints. He knew Regan would be safe ther
e with Hercules and Cage watching out for her.

  Who could be after her? He felt stupid for not knowing even after they’d made three attacks on her. He pulled out a pad of paper and doodled diagrams on it, trying to sort out his thoughts.

  He wrote down what he knew. That the stalkers had harassed her online before she’d come to work there, but never in person.

  And then after she’d been working there, they’d made a move to be there when she came down to the garage. And then escalated to trashing her house. All of that had been somewhat cowardly and shadowy and had still fit the profile of a deranged internet troll who couldn’t show his face.

  But normally, those trolls wouldn’t be able to hire guys to come threaten her in person and hold a knife to her neck.

  Bronson forced himself to focus as he diagrammed more, trying to find connections. The Salazar case. She’d been working that since she’d been there. Had it been them all along, escalating their efforts to keep her off the case?

  But that didn’t fit perfectly either. There were other things they could have done than come after her in person.

  He tapped his finger on the desk. Who would want to go after Regan and why? Sure, she’d done a lot of hacking, but how would anyone know she’d done it?

  It was hurting his head just thinking about it, and he hoped Limes would call back soon with info so he could put his brain on the next task. Bronson simply wasn’t as sharp as his tech savvy partner.

  He heard the door to his office open and saw Regan standing there, looking adorable as usual. She looked like she’d mostly recovered from her ordeal, and she gave him a sassy smile as she sidled over to his desk and sat in front of him on it.

  He wanted nothing more than to run his hands over her thighs and pull her down for a kiss on the lips, but right now, he was stuck in business mode. Someone was after his mate.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, getting off the desk to stand between his legs as he sat back on his chair, running a hand through his hair in stress.

  “Nothing,” he said, his hand moving to the phone in his pocket out of habit. He then moved it back to the arm of his chair, catching her suspicious look as he did.

  Whatever the message was, he didn’t want her seeing it until he knew what it was.

  “Something’s off,” she said, looking him over with narrowed eyes the color of cool moss. “What are you hiding from me?”

  He shifted nervously. Why was he such a terrible liar? “Nothing,” he said.

  She blinked at him, and he saw hurt flash in her expression. “You’ve never kept anything from me,” she said, walking around him to sit on a chair in front of his filing cabinet. “If there’s something happening, you need to tell me. I can’t be your partner if you won’t.”

  “You won’t necessarily believe me either way, will you?” he snapped, more due to the tension in him than anything else.

  He hated feeling out of control. He hated not knowing what was going on. And she, who could have given him at least one piece of certainty in this storm of vagueness, was making him wait.

  Even though she had to know they were meant to be together.

  And if he were honest, not knowing for sure if she was going to be his was slowly killing him.

  Along with not knowing who was after her or when it would be over.

  He felt irritation welling up in him and turned from her to face out the window. He didn’t want to say anything he’d regret.

  “Ah,” she said. “I see. So you’re getting pissy and now you’re going to shut me out?” She shook her head. “So much for promises.”

  “Promises?” He scoffed, standing up to his full height. “What good do promises do? I’ve been promising you the world for days now, and you still aren’t sure about me.”

  Her eyes flashed, but she bit her lip in hurt. “You know that’s not your fault. Or mine. I’m working through things.”

  “Well, I’m working through things, too. I’m working through how to protect you when I don’t even know what from. I’m driving myself crazy over it when I don’t even know if you’ll be mine.”

  She went still, her small hands gripping the arms of her chair as she pushed to a standing position, slightly trembling from anger. “Wow,” she said, “good to know this is how you react in a crisis. I knew there was something under that perfect face you give everyone.”

  “Right,” he said. “I couldn’t be perfect forever, and now you’ll hold it against me. I guess that’s it, then, and you won’t want me, no matter what I’ve done for you?”

  She scowled at him over folded arms. “What you’ve done for me was never a reason to love you. And I’m not giving up on you, idiot. Even if you deserve it.”

  He sighed and slumped against his desk, leaning all his weight there. Suddenly, he just felt… incredibly tired. Tired of fighting all the time. Fighting his family, fighting the bad guys, and fighting to be loved.

  He pulled out his phone with a sigh and unlocked it, swiping to open the message.

  He had to know what it was. Had to have just one mystery solved.

  The message popped up ominously, only a few words of text from a number he didn’t know.

  I’m getting what I paid for.

  A shiver went through him. He could think of only one person in his life who had paid for something and not gotten it. And he didn’t intend to ever remedy that either.

  He set the phone down just as the message flashed, this time downloading an attachment. He noticed Regan walking over to him just as the picture showed up on the screen.

  When he saw the image, he jumped back, and the phone clattered to the floor, where Regan picked it up.

  The image on the screen had shaken him. A face he hadn’t seen in too long. Two of them, really. But memories of that woman clouded his vision. Memories of being held down, of fighting back.

  But the other face in that picture. He couldn’t ignore it. He could have ignored anything that woman sent him, except that.

  Regan went quiet as she looked at the screen, and Bronson snapped out of his shock just long enough to register how it would look to her.

  “Wait, Regan, it’s not how it looks!” He reached for her, trying to take his phone back just as his office phone rang.

  Her eyes were impossibly wide, and he saw she was ready to explode on him, but he knew that had to be Limes on the line, and he had to answer it.

  Because Bronson now had an idea who was after Regan, and if Limes had any way to confirm, any way to find the bastards, he had to go after them right fucking now.

  “How can it not be how it looks!” Regan shouted, chucking the phone at him. He caught it as he picked up the office phone, keeping his eyes on her and begging her to wait, to give him a chance to explain.

  Her chest heaved and her fists balled at her sides as she stared at him.

  “Hello,” he said quickly, putting up a finger for her to wait.

  He knew how it looked. He knew he needed to explain. He knew she was fragile and her trust wasn’t easily won, but was easily lost.

  But he didn’t even know if he could fix it right now. But there was something he could fix. Even if she didn’t want him. Even if he was beginning to think she could never trust him.

  “What’ve you got?” he asked Limes quickly.

  “We ran the prints. The guys you met, they work for someone named Sanderson,” Limes said.

  Bronson swore, “Damn.”

  “You know someone like that?”

  “Yes,” Bronson said, running a hand through his hair. “Dammit.” How had he not seen it coming? The people after Regan today, they weren’t after her. Well, they were only after her because she was around him. Because the people he’d been running from had finally caught up. He sighed into the phone.

  “What can I do, man?”

  “I need you get Sanderson’s address,” Bronson said. “I think I know it, but just in case. I’m headed out, so send it to my phone.” He slammed the receiver down and
picked up his phone, shoving it into his pocket as he moved into battle mode.

  Regan gaped at him. “You’re leaving? After I just saw that?”

  Bronson exhaled in frustration, feeling truly stuck between reassuring the woman he loved and solving a problem that desperately needed solving.

  He loved Regan; he truly did. But he didn’t know if he was ever going to be able to get her to trust him. Let alone in the little time he had to spare as he left the building.

  “I saw you kissing another woman in that picture,” Regan choked out. “What, you’re getting sloppy now that you know I’m giving us a try? Like a bear, you can’t just have one woman?”

  Bronson felt anger fire up in him. Sure, he knew how it looked. But he had hoped against hope that Regan was finally understanding him. Even if it looked impossible, a part of him had hoped she would just for once give him the benefit of the doubt.

  “It’s not what it looks like. I can explain, but I don’t have time right now.”

  “Right,” she said. “So now that I’m questioning you, you’re just going to run.” She threw up her hands. “Perfect.”

  “Seriously, you’re making a mistake,” he insisted, trying to get around her to the door. “But you’re not going to believe me even if I tell you, and I have to get moving now.”

  She took a step out of the way, hurt in her expression. As he moved by her, she looked up angrily. “The only way you could explain that is if you somehow have an identical twin I don’t know about.” She huffed. “You’re kissing another woman in that photo. Clear as day. I can see every feature.”

  “Then you should know it isn’t me,” he said, grabbing her by the shoulders and looking her in the eyes. Wounded green pools glared up at him. He released her. “But if you don’t know me well enough by now to know I’d never do that to you, then maybe you don’t know me at all.”

  She glared at him and then turned away, letting him pass.

  His heart pounded in his chest, both for the damage between them and the way it would be almost impossible to repair. But he was nearly choking on the fact his running from his former life was finally catching up to someone other than himself.