Bear Claw

by Crissy Smith

  “And you work at the library,” he said flatly. He wasn’t sure how to take this new information. If he’d thought Brandy was out of his league before, he had no doubt anymore that she was untouchable.

  “I choose to work there. Just like it is my decision to support the shifters and not the legislation against them.”

  “The list Chris handed out named several businesses your family owns that are huge donators.”

  “Yes,” she replied tensely.

  He was at a loss on what to say. How this coffee date had turned so quickly was devastating. He should have gone back to work.

  “Can I tell you how I found myself working a county job before you judge me?”

  “I’m not—”

  “You are. And I don’t blame you. However, I’m not like my parents, or my brothers, and I don’t believe the same things as they do.”

  Of course, that made him feel like shit. He was judging her now that he knew what her lineage was. “I apologize. And I would like to hear your story.”

  She seemed pleased, nodding and smiling. “Chris started dating a new girl who lived over here. He wanted me to meet her and we’d made plans at the little Italian place a couple blocks over.”

  “Mi Piaci,” Jamie provided. He loved their pasta.

  “Right. Well, I was early. I’d been at my parents’ and they were trying to push another one of their suitors at me so I had an hour to kill and didn’t want to drive back across town to my house, so I was driving around.”

  She took a deep breath. “Then I passed the library. It was summer, and the trees were in full bloom, the sun shining. I made a U-turn and pulled into the parking lot. I sat there for a little while watching. A mom came out of the building with a stack of books and a child of about five or six. In a backpack, she had a blanket and they set up under one of the large trees. She leaned against it as he put his head in her lap. Then she started to read to him.”

  Her eyes had begun to fill at the memory. Jamie placed his hand on the table, palm up. Slowly, almost cautiously, she lifted hers and placed her palm against his.

  “It was the most perfect moment I’d ever witnessed. So I climbed out of my air-conditioned car and went inside the old, beat-up brick structure. I walked in and I knew…it was fate.”

  Brandy smiled so big that Jamie couldn’t help but grin back at her.

  “I’ve never had anyone read to me. I had private tutors and attended only the best schools. All I thought about was how happy that boy was. I walked up to the counter and asked if they had any positions open. The lady who ran the place had been there forty-three years. She took one look at me, came around the counter and hugged me.”

  He tightened his hand on hers. “Fate brought you there.”

  “Just like your apartment,” she said softly.

  With those words, all of his concerns dissipated like sugar in a hot cup of java. The moment was perfect, even if it was overly romantic. Hell, who was he kidding? He loved romance.

  They finished their coffees, gazes locked on each another and they still held hands.

  Pushing his empty mug aside with his free hand, he leaned closer to her. “I’m glad we did this.”

  “Me too,” she whispered.

  He brought his lips down on hers. Jamie shuddered as they connected for the first time. Impatient, the bear inside him wanted him to take control and plunder her mouth. Instead, he kept the kiss light, drawing her to him, teasing with a swipe of his tongue. Pulling back slightly, he grinned at her.

  She opened her mouth then shook her head. Not understanding, Jamie cursed silently. She’d responded to his kiss so her reaction confused him. He started to withdraw more but paused because she laughed softly.

  “Let’s try that again,” she murmured, reaching for him. Brandy buried her hands in his hair and tugged him forward.

  This time the kiss was explosive.

  She pushed her tongue at the seam of his lips. He opened for her, allowing her entrance, and their tongues rubbed gently.

  Swallowing his moan, Brandy pushed off her chair slightly to press their shoulders together. Jamie wrapped his arms around her back, losing himself in the intimacy of the moment.

  Too soon, he had to take a full breath and he ripped his mouth from hers. He stared at her, panting, and desperately hard.

  “That’s much better,” she told him with a brilliant smile.

  He couldn’t have agreed more.

  Chapter Seven

  Checking the map in his hands, Jamie tried to figure out where he was on the large university grounds. He was supposed to meet with the roommate of the missing college student Victor Douglas, but couldn’t seem to find the student union.

  He stuffed the piece of paper into his back pocket, deciding just to go with his instincts. They hadn’t let him down often. In fact, he was still riding high by following the urge to kiss Brandy—and the results.

  After a few more heated kisses, they’d finally parted and he’d walked her back to her car parked at the library. They also made plans to meet up again this evening.

  Finding himself almost bouncing on his walk, Jamie felt better than he had in months. If he could discover a lead in the case he’d opened on the missing bear shifters, he would really be able to enjoy his night with Brandy.

  First, he needed to work. So he had to put Brandy in the back of his mind or he would be walking around all day with a stiff dick.

  Ahead, he spied a group of college girls coming around a corner. Seeing the cups in their hands, he started in their direction.

  Sure enough, he picked up the sounds of laughter and shouting. Strolling along the side of one of the buildings, Jamie opened all of his shifter senses. The scent of pizza and burgers filled the air, reminding him it was lunchtime. Small clusters of students hung around listening to music and talking.

  Jamie received several wary looks and a few interested stares. His badge swung from his neck and he was in his usual uniform of jeans, T-shirt and boots.

  It amused him that while the guys seemed to try to make themselves smaller and avoided eye contact, the women openly ogled him.

  A lone young male stepped off the stairs and headed toward him. Jamie stopped and waited for him to approach.

  “Agent Ward?”

  “That’s right. You must be Johnny Lancaster.”

  “Yes, sir. Thanks for meeting me here. I only have a thirty-minute break until my next class.”

  “No problem. However, I have a few questions for you. Can we sit somewhere?”

  “Yeah, follow me.”

  The younger man led him away from the others toward several benches in the courtyard.

  He sat, waving for Jamie to join him. “The guy I talked to on the phone said you wanted to talk about Victor.”

  “You reported him missing. I need a little more information.”

  “I made that call a while ago. I talked to some other agents. They seemed to think, because there was no sign of him leaving under distress and since he was an adult, it wasn’t worth looking into,” Johnny told him.

  “In usual circumstances that’s normal. But I’m inclined to think his leaving might be connected to a few others.”

  “I knew he wouldn’t pick up and take off. I tried to tell them that.”

  “What makes you say so?”

  “Victor loved school. Loved it here. It was his first time away from his family and he wanted to learn. He didn’t come from money so he had to keep his GPA up for his scholarships. He wouldn’t have thrown all that away.”

  “The days leading up to his disappearance, did he start acting secretive? Or strange in any way?”

  “No, he was completely normal. We’d come to the student union for pizza the night before. Talked to a couple of girls then I headed for our room and he went to the library.”

  “Do you know what he needed from the library?”

  “He was writing a paper on the integration of shifters into the government.”

  O
h, wow. A bad feeling began eating at Jamie. “What was he studying?”

  “Political science, specifically revolving around the shifter communities.”

  “Do you know who his professor is?” Jamie could get Victor’s schedule but he wanted to talk to the teacher soon.

  “Professor James. She’s the only professor who’s a shifter.”

  He doubted that. There were more people with the shifter gene than most humans realized. But not every shifter came out with the large groups. If it hadn’t been for his job, Jamie probably would have remained in hiding. “Okay, I’ll talk to her.”

  “She was really great while I was trying to find Victor. Concerned too. She knew he wouldn’t take off either.”

  “You called the police. Why not his parents?”

  “I did call his mom. He talked about her sometimes. I don’t know anything about his dad. Victor said his old man had taken off when he was small. But his mom didn’t seem to care. She told me that Victor was an adult, and if he got himself into trouble, there was nothing she could do about it.”

  That sounded very familiar to Jamie.

  “I couldn’t believe it. I mean, she’s his mom. No wonder he never went home during breaks.”

  “Yeah, some parents.”

  “So I called the police myself.”

  “Tell me the rest of what happened that night,” Jamie urged.

  “Well, I went back to the room and worked on some calculus assignments I had due soon. I went to bed around eleven-thirty. Victor wasn’t there the next morning, but that wasn’t unusual. He could have come in when I was asleep and left before I woke. I’m a pretty heavy sleeper. Or maybe he stayed all night studying in the library. He’s done that a lot.”

  “What time did you start to worry?”

  “He didn’t join me for lunch. We always ate together unless one of us had to meet with a professor. But he would have told me if he couldn’t have made it. He never called or left me a message. But then he didn’t come back to the room after his last class. And he missed dinner. I started calling his cell and got voicemail.”

  Visibly upset, Johnny realized his hands were shaking and clasped them tightly in his lap. A tremble lurked in his voice.

  “Take your time,” Jamie told him.

  “The next morning, I still hadn’t heard anything. I left him another voicemail and went to my classes. After he didn’t show for lunch again, I decided to go to his morning classes and see if he’d made it. He had missed them all. I was really worried then. I even went by the library. But the librarians hadn’t seen him the night he told me he was headed there. I didn’t know what to do.”

  “That’s understandable. It was a hard situation.”

  “Yeah, but I still didn’t call the cops until the next day. I couldn’t believe anything had happened to him. I should have called the first day.”

  Since Jamie knew it probably wouldn’t have made any difference, he just shook his head. “You called. Being concerned for your buddy shows you cared. A lot of people wouldn’t have done that.”

  Johnny sniffed. “He’s my best friend. I was scared coming here on my own. I don’t know what I’m going to do now.”

  “Hang in there,” Jamie told the kid. “There are some good, smart people working on this case. We’ll do our best to find Victor.”

  “Thank you,” Johnny said softly. “Thank you for looking for him. I’ve got to get to class.”

  It had been many years since Jamie had first started working missing person cases. It never got easier. Already he was feeling a little too close to this poor student. So much reminded Jamie of himself. “I’ll call you if I find out anything.”

  “Okay.”

  As Johnny walked away, Jamie couldn’t keep his heart from going out to the young man. If there was any way to bring Victor back to his friend, Jamie would do it. He’d been in Victor’s shoes and knew the bond that could form between two good friends. He owed a lot to his two best buddies. He knew he wouldn’t be where he was today without them.

  The ring of his cell phone pulled him from his thoughts. “Hi, Aubrey.”

  “Jamie, I’m glad you answered.”

  “Hey, what’s going on?”

  “I’m headed to the hospital. Someone found Sean Nichols.”

  “Really? That’s great.”

  “It’s lucky we found him, but he overdosed and is in a coma.”

  “Damn.”

  “Can you meet me up there? We’ll compare notes and see where we need to go from there. Lewis is going straight to the alley where they found Sean.”

  “I’m on the campus, so I’ll be there in about fifteen.”

  “I’ll see you then.”

  Jamie swiped his finger over the phone, closing it down. Standing and glancing around, he noted one last time the carefree atmosphere around the university. He’d never attended an institution of higher learning, deciding instead to go into the Police Academy in Phoenix.

  It had been the right decision for him, but he sometimes wished that he had tried college. He loved learning new things. If he didn’t get the opportunity to advance his education, he could do so on his own.

  His many visits to the library were for that purpose. Connecting with Brandy made everything sweeter. He couldn’t wait to get together with her later.

  Slipping his phone into his back pocket, he took off at a jog back to his truck.

  * * * *

  Brandy pulled up in front of her parent’s house with dread coursing through her veins. She knew she couldn’t avoid the conversation they were going to have. She wished she could, though.

  Turning the car off, she sat taking deep breaths. She could see her brother William’s BMW in the front parking space. Of course he would be there.

  Her relationship with William had been strained too. Unlike other brothers and sisters, the two of them had never been close. William had loved telling on her and getting her into trouble during their childhood.

  At first, she had tried to be a good daughter and make her family proud. She’d just never been able to get the hang of it and hadn’t fitted in. By the time she’d hit her teenage years, she had stopped caring whether she disappointed everyone. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. She did care. She wanted her parents and siblings to be pleased with her accomplishments and recognize her as a good person.

  That wasn’t ever going to happen, though.

  With one last calming breath, Brandy pushed open the car door and exited her vehicle. The large house loomed in front of her and she couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable.

  There was no reason her parents should live in a seven bedroom, four bath house other than to show off. It was a mini mansion. Way too big in Brandy’s opinion. Not that she would ever tell her mother that.

  The Brooks were always the envy of their friends and other people in their political circle. While Brandy couldn’t care less about all that, she was the only one who really didn’t care about it.

  Slowly walking up the steps of the home she’d grown up in, Brandy tried to think of the last good memory she’d had in the place. While she could recall parties and fundraisers for whatever her family was supposed to be supporting, she couldn’t ever remember just hanging out.

  No movie nights or games.

  Her best times had always been at her grandmother’s house. Birthdays and special occasions. Damn, she missed her grandma.

  The front door opened as she reached it, surprising her.

  William stood in the entry with a scowl on his face. “You’re late.”

  Of course she was. It wouldn’t have mattered if she had been on time, she had arrived after him. In William’s way of thinking, he should never be made to wait. Especially not by a woman. The old-fashioned and sexist behaviors were beliefs William had learned from their father.

  “Traffic.”

  William snorted as he stepped to the side to allow her entrance. It was all she could do not to stomp on his foot as she passed him. Childish yes
, but William brought that out in her.

  “They are waiting in the front room for you,” William told her.

  “Fine.” She dropped her purse on the entrance table then strolled through the long hallway to the open entrance. Knowing that anytime they met in the formal area never boded well for her, Brandy straightened her shoulders and raised her chin.

  Entering the room, she almost stuttered to a stop as soon as she saw who was sitting with her parents. Shit, this was unexpected.

  “Brandy, you look as beautiful as ever.”

  “Colby.” She nodded to him. “What are you doing here?”

  The question came out harsher than she meant it to but she couldn’t help her shock. Colby Gentry had once been the object of her biggest crush. He’d rejected her, rather publicly, and had broken her heart. She’d been sixteen at the time, and that event had been the very last one where she’d attempted to change herself for her family.

  Colby had moved smoothly to her side and had taken her hand. As he lifted her fingers to his lips, she resisted making a fist to punch him. She didn’t feel a thing from his touch and was relieved once he released her.

  “I’m in town helping with a project and your parents were kind enough to invite me for dinner. Once I found out you were also attending, I couldn’t say no.”

  Suspicious, she narrowed her eyes. “What kind of project?”

  She knew that Colby had also attended law school with her brother and had heard that he’d made partner at a firm in Los Angles.

  “I’m helping William introduce the shifter registration legislation.”

  She shouldn’t be surprised. The Gentrys followed the same social standings and beliefs as the Brooks. That was why her mother had pushed her at Colby when she’d been younger.

  Not that she’d needed much of a push. Colby had been a devastatingly handsome young man—coal black hair with unique hazel eyes. Colby worked out rigorously and had the gym body to show for it. He’d been every young girl’s fantasy and Brandy hadn’t been any different from the rest. Except for the fact that the Brooks and Gentrys were such good friends. As a result, she‘d spent more time around Colby than the other girls had. Plus, Colby and William had been close friends all through school and into college.