Brainy Bear
Justice Squad Book 5
Scarlett Grove
Contents
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Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Also by Scarlett Grove
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Chapter 1
Sampson Reed typed away on the keyboard of his computer, hot on the trail of his suspect. He had been tasked with running down a hacker — the Justice Squad's last obstacle between them and the last of the hyena shifters' terrorist cells.
Their work in Poland had revealed a cache of information, all leading back to one source: a hacker that went by the name Dark Trove. Sampson was so close to hacking into his databases, and when he did, he would have all the information he needed to take him down and confiscate all his hard drives.
He was so close he hardly heard the doorbell ring. It rang again and again until the buzzing began to distract him, so he stood from his desk angrily and stomped toward the front door. When he threw it open, he expected to find a delivery driver or a neighbor wanting a cup of sugar, but instead, he found a woman holding what appeared to be a two-year-old baby boy.
"Can I help you?" Sampson asked. He guessed she must have been a neighbor who needed help with something. Maybe her car wouldn't start, and she needed a jump.
"Sampson Reed?" she asked.
"Yes.”
I'm Bethany Harris, a social worker. I am sorry to drop by like this without notice, but we couldn't get ahold of you and we had to place the child as quickly as possible."
"Place the child? What are you talking about?”
"May I come in? I'll explain everything, but I have to sit down. Little Jimmy here is heavy.”
She smiled at the little boy and he smiled back. Sampson was dumbfounded but he invited the woman into his home. It was a four-bedroom house in one of the nicest neighborhoods in Fate Rock, Colorado. All the members of the Justice Squad lived nearby, making it a perfect location as far as Sampson was concerned.
He'd been quite comfortable here for the last five years. Like the rest of the Justice Squad, Sampson had signed up for mate.com. In the back of his mind, he rationalized that, though he did indeed want a family, he was also perfectly happy to be alone, unlike some of the other men on his crew. He wasn't really bothered by the fact that his mate hadn't arrived yet. If she did or she didn't, there was nothing that he could do about it. So being agitated about waiting would be illogical.
He invited the social worker into the living room, a neatly furnished space with comfortable modern furniture and tasteful decorations. Sampson had a fairly minimalist style, but he did enjoy a comfortable home. He liked to have a place to relax during the crew’s downtime. He had an overstuffed easy chair next to the fireplace where he enjoyed the warm glow of a wood burning fire on cool autumn days. After the raid in Poland and his current job of tracking down the hacker, Sampson was soothed by the ambience of the crackling flames.
"I'm sure you’re confused by all this. I will do my best to explain the situation," Ms. Harris started.
"Please," Sampson said.
He knew it would be polite to offer her something to drink, and his mother had always taught him to be polite to guests when they arrived. But he was so taken aback by her arrival that he'd forgotten his manners.
"I have some difficult news, regarding your sister, Helena."
Sampson hadn't seen his sister Helena in four years. She'd run off with a human who wasn't her fated mate. Being one of the rare female shifters in the world, her parents were understandably confused when she had made the decision to be with him. She was so angry at their lack of support that she had run away and told them she was never coming home. No one had seen her since. Sampson had offered to track her down multiple times, but their parents had said no, believing that even though she was only twenty when she’d left, she was an adult and was free to make her own decisions.
Three years ago, Sampson had done a little bit of his computer magic to track her down. She'd been living in a trailer park in Montana. He'd expected her to return home any minute, but she never had. He had been so busy with the Justice Squad ever since that he hadn’t kept up on her location or living situation. But now, sitting here with this woman and the child who looked suspiciously like him, he was beginning to regret that decision.
"What about Helena?" he asked.
"Your sister was in a car accident a week ago. Luckily, the child was not in the car with her at the time.”
"What about the child?” he asked, more confused than ever.
"Sampson Reed, let me introduce you to your nephew. Jimmy Reed.”
Sampson was completely taken aback. Not only had he just found out his sister was dead, but he'd also discovered he had a nephew.
"I know this is a lot to take in," Ms. Harris said, putting the baby down on the carpet. He toddled over to Sampson, slapped him on the knee with his chubby little hand, and laughed hysterically.
"What about his father?" Sampson said without thinking.
“The father wasn't named on the birth certificate, I'm afraid. Helena Reed’s will names you as her son’s guardian.”
"But I don't know how to take care of a baby!”
"What about your parents? Maybe they can help.”
"My parents have retired to Mexico," he said. His mother would have been a much better caregiver than he.
"That's something you will have to discuss within the family," she said. "But legally, I am to leave the child with you."
"What am I supposed to do with a baby?"
His mind was reeling. He felt a lump in his throat at the thought of Helena, dying alone and estranged from her family. He should have tried harder to reach out to her. He felt so ashamed. He was also completely shocked by the idea of him taking care of the baby. It was preposterous. He had no idea how to care for a toddler. The child in question continued to laugh and slapped h
is knee rhythmically.
"He likes you."
Sampson looked at the child skeptically; he was a strong little tyke with a surprisingly powerful slap.
“I do need to have a quick inspection of your home, if you wouldn’t mind. It’s just protocol. And then we can sign a few papers and be done."
Not knowing what else to do, Sampson led the woman around his house for a quick tour, showing her the extra bedrooms. One was fashioned as a guest room, another was fashioned as his office. He then showed her down to the finished basement where there was another guestroom and what amounted to a rec room. And, behind a wall that he didn't show her, were all the databases, servers, and high-tech communications gear for the Justice Squad.
"This will do quite nicely. Your records indicate you have a good career as a freelance computer programmer so you shouldn't have any problem providing for the child.”
They stood in his kitchen and she produced a stack of papers while holding the child on her hip. She asked him to take Jimmy and he reluctantly accepted his nephew in his arms. The child clapped and said, "Daddy!"
Sampson lifted an eyebrow.
"Why does he think I'm his daddy?"
"He could just think that any male is his father. I got the indication from Helena’s social welfare history that there was no man in her life. Maybe you are the first one your nephew has had real personal contact with.”
"That's absurd."
"Your sister was not doing well from what we were able to determine after she was pronounced dead. The babysitter arrived at the hospital with the child. Your sister had very little in the way of financial resources. It’s a wonder that she had a will at all. But I get the impression that she was doing her best to provide for the child, working two low-paying jobs in a rural Montana outpost.”
The social worker put the stack of papers down on the counter, told Sampson where to sign, and took the child out of his arms. As soon as the little chap's weight was lifted from him, Sampson felt a wash of loss he didn't understand.
After the papers were signed, Ms. Harris handed Sampson a diaper bag filled with all the child's necessities.
"But what am I supposed to do with a baby?" he asked, following her to the door. “I have no idea how to take care of him. And I have my work.”
“If you can afford it, I would suggest getting a nanny."
The social worker walked down the street, climbed into her car and disappeared. All the while, Sampson stood in his doorway, holding his nephew and wondering what the hell had just happened.
Sampson walked back inside and put the child down in the middle of the living room. He stared at the little boy, his mind racing. The toddler climbed up to his feet and immediately went for the bookcase. Sampson watched in shock as the child pulled all the books from the bottom shelf, all the while squealing with delight. When Jimmy made it to the bookend, he started throwing Sampson’s keepsakes from his travels around the world.
An antique globe from Victorian England crashed onto the floor. Sampson rushed across the room to pick it up, then realized that he needed to somehow constrain the child instead. He picked Jimmy up and began looking around his house for tools to get the job done.
After only a few minutes of toddler destruction, Sampson was aware that he was going to take some drastic measures. He buckled the child in the car seat Ms. Harris had left for him, but the kid began to rock back and forth, threatening to knock himself to the ground.
That wouldn't do at all. Sampson then picked up the car seat and strapped it to a sturdy wooden chair that he propped against the wall. The child began to cry. Sampson shuffled through the diaper bag, looking for something to offer the little boy.
"Hungry. Hungry,” Jimmy protested.
Sampson found some snacks in the diaper bag and spread them on the tray of his car seat. He found a sippy cup and backed away from the child into the kitchen. He quickly filled the cup with milk and hurried back to the kid in the living room. As the child ate and drank, seemingly oblivious to the utter panic that Sampson was experiencing, he searched his mind for answers.
"Max and Stephanie!" Sampson finally said, snapping his fingers.
He grabbed his cellphone and smashed the speed dial button for his crew member Max. He and his mate Stephanie had had a baby just a few weeks ago. They would know what to do. Max did not answer on the first ring, or the second ring, or the tenth. It went to voicemail. Sampson left a hasty message and then immediately called again. He had to get ahold of his friends. This was an emergency!
After the fourth ring on the second call, Max finally answered, sounding groggy and tired.
"I have a baby, Max. I need your help immediately."
"Sampson? What are you talking about?”
“It's a long story. I need you and Stephanie to come over here and help me figure out what to do with this child.”
"Stephanie and Emmett are sleeping, and I'm not going to wake them up. But I'll be over in a few minutes."
"Thank you so much, Max. You're a lifesaver. I swear."
Sampson stood, staring at the baby for the longest ten minutes of his life. Finally, there was a knock at the front door. He flung open the door and motioned for Max to come inside. The baby was propped against the wall in his car seat still munching away at the treats. Whenever he’d finished some, Sampson would pour more onto the tray and the child would continue eating.
Max looked down at the baby and gasped with surprise.
"Where did he come from?"
"He's my nephew.”
"I didn't know you had a nephew."
"Neither did I until twenty minutes ago. It appears that my sister Helena had a baby and has now passed away.”
Max patted his back consolingly. A sign of affection uncommon for the big warrior.
"I don't know what to do, Max. I have no idea how to take care of a baby. For some reason, Helena left him to me.”
"I may not be an expert on this fatherhood stuff, but I do know a little bit about baby gear. And this Jerry-rigged highchair doesn’t look safe. I can help you go shopping if you want.”
"Yes, please! Anything.”
They went out to Sampson's SUV and Max showed him how to get the car seat properly installed in the backseat. Once Jimmy was safely buckled in, the two soldiers climbed in and Sampson pulled out into the road.
When they arrived at the mall, Max’s phone rang. "Hi babe. I had to leave because my man Sampson had an emergency. You'll never believe this, but he's got a baby." There was a pause. "I know, right." Max laughed with his mate on the phone.
Sampson wasn't sure he wanted to know what they were saying about him.
“Maybe you can help us out a little. We’re at the mall, shopping for baby gear." He turned to Sampson. "How old is he?"
"The social worker said he's two."
Max conveyed the information to Stephanie, and then the two men, the baby, and the new mom on the phone went to the store to purchase everything the little tyke would need. They bought a stroller, a crib, a bunch of clothing in two sizes. Diapers galore. Shoes, hats, jackets, teething rings, a bouncy chair and toys. By the time they were done shopping, and took their massive cart to the checkouts, Sampson was sure that the bill was going to be over three thousand dollars.
Sure enough, his mental mathematics were not far off the mark. He shook his head. The two men made their way back to the car and loaded everything into the cargo space. It barely fit. But they were finally able to squeeze it all in with a great deal of grunting.
Back at the house, Max helped him put together the bouncy chair for the child to sit in while they turned the upstairs guest room into a nursery. By the time it was done, Sampson was mentally and physically exhausted. He’d been a soldier all his life, but nothing had prepared him for this.
Chapter 2
Megan Moore looked through the lenses of her binoculars, staring through the trees at the secluded cabin in the Colorado mountains. She saw movement from the front door as a man
walked out on the porch, stretching and patting himself on the chest. She grimaced with disgust and focused on his face.
It had to be him. He perfectly fit the description her sister had given her.
Megan shuddered, thinking about her sister. A tear slipped down her cheek and she wiped it away, momentarily putting down the binoculars. When she looked back, the man was gone. She gritted her teeth in frustration.
She'd been tracking his movements for the last week, and he didn't seem to have a discernible schedule. She wanted to confront him while he was out of the house. Catch him off guard. And then she would do it.
Megan crawled back from the hideout and made her way through the forest. It was a long hike back to her car, and she was exhausted by the time she made it to the parking lot. She still wasn't sure what she was going to do to the man when she confronted him.
She clutched her handgun and took a deep breath before letting it out. He had hurt Amber. He was going to have to pay. No matter what the cost, Amber deserved to be avenged, and Megan was going to do it.
She put the gun in the glove compartment and pulled out of the parking space in the national forest parking lot. On her way back to the highway through the winding roads of the park, her mind drifted to her twin sister Amber.
She had been such a lovely, sweet girl. She’d loved the outdoors and hiking more than anyone Megan had ever known. She'd saved up her money that first year after graduating from college to spend an entire month hiking and camping in the Colorado wilderness.
Megan shivered at the memory. If only she had gone with Amber like she'd asked. But Megan had never enjoyed hiking and camping like Amber had. She was a homebody who liked to be comfortable and read a good book by the fire. In her darkest moments, deep in the night, Megan blamed herself for what happened to Amber.
Brainy Bear (Justice Squad Book 5) Page 1
