Brainy Bear (Justice Squad Book 5)

by Scarlett Grove

  Downstairs in the kitchen, she fixed Jimmy's breakfast. She found the grocery list Sampson had mentioned attached to the refrigerator door. Underneath it was an envelope full of cash. After feeding herself and Jimmy, she left a plate of French toast, eggs, and sausage under tinfoil with a note for Sampson.

  She didn't know if he’d eaten yet, but wanted to extend the kindness. He had hired her to cook for him and the baby, and she wanted to do a good job, despite the utter confusion of the situation. She wished it could be different.

  Sampson was a good man. The kind of man worth living for. He had also left her the car keys to his SUV to do the shopping. She couldn't believe the amount of trust he was giving her — a total stranger off the street. Megan thought that maybe, despite all her lies, he still believed that she was the woman from mate.com.

  She hadn't really expected to find a mate when she'd filled out the questionnaire.

  She'd been on autopilot since her sister's death. Her parents had asked her to come home, but she couldn't face them. The guilt at the loss of her twin sister was too great. Amber had never told anyone except Megan what had happened to her, and Megan felt utterly responsible for never having been able to convince her to get the help she needed.

  Megan packed little Jimmy in the SUV and started off down the road. It was a clear day and the sun was out. The sky was bright blue, and the autumn leaves danced as they flitted on a soft breeze. The gourmet grocery store wasn’t far from Sampson’s house, and she looked forward to shopping there. While walking down the aisles, she picked up two dozen eggs, a gallon of organic milk, and a pound of grass-fed beef.

  Leaving the meat section, she saw a familiar face turning the corner. She stopped dead in her tracks.

  It was him. The man who had hurt her sister! The man she was determined to destroy.

  She turned away, shock running over her like an electric surge as she felt his eyes hot on the back of her neck. She started in the other direction, but her cart ran right into his, and their eyes met. He looked as if he'd seen a ghost, briefly, but then his lips curled back in a snarl. Megan untangled her cart, her heart pounding in her ears, and hurried away.

  When she got to the checkout, she saw the man was at the checkout two rows down from her and several people ahead. By the time her groceries were bagged, and she made it into the parking lot, the terrible man had finished loading his groceries into his car, and had started away.

  She hurriedly strapped Jimmy into his car seat and unloaded the groceries in the back of the car before following the man down the road. He hadn’t left his house the entire time she’d been stalking him. She'd been trying to find some discernible pattern to his behavior so she could catch him unaware and confront him.

  She followed as he drove through the suburban streets of Fate Rock, curious why he wasn’t headed to the freeway out of town. She was careful to stay a few cars behind and out of sight. Her heart slammed in her chest as she played the dangerous game of cat and mouse with the rapist. Finally, his car stopped in front of a suburban house on a busy street. She slowed at the stop sign and watched him get out of the car and go inside. She hurried around the corner and away, then looked in the rearview mirror at Jimmy.

  "What the hell am I doing?" she said to herself.

  Now that he knew she was in town, he might come after her. Maybe he would try to hurt her the way he had hurt Amber. She drove away as fast as she could and then found herself back in the heart of Fate Rock, driving past a public park, busy with families and children.

  She let out a deep sigh and pulled into the park. It was a cold day, about forty degrees, and she and Jimmy were bundled up. She needed some fresh air and to relax before going back home. The groceries would be fine in the car if she cracked the window.

  She got out and put Jimmy in the stroller. Taking a deep breath of the fresh air, she started to walk around the trails of the park. The pine trees had a lovely scent and the deciduous trees had all but lost their leaves. She was finally starting to calm down and consider what she was going to do about Sampson. It was becoming far too difficult to lie to him.

  Last night had been so awkward. Her stomach had been so upset that she’d nearly thrown up when she'd gone back to her bedroom, which was why she’d avoided him for the rest of the day. She didn't know if she could stay in his house like this. It was just too difficult.

  As she approached a man on a bench by the trail, the familiar form made her breath catch in her throat. He looked up at her and there was no avoiding him.

  "Megan," Sampson said, standing. He closed the distance between them, and she began to shiver in the cold.

  "I wanted to get some fresh air before heading back home. There's no frozen food, so it should be all right in the car."

  "I needed to clear my head too, so I took a walk to the park to do a little reading. Would you like to join me for some lunch?”

  Megan was so conflicted and so confused that she said yes before she even knew what was coming out of her mouth. They walked together back to the car. She loaded Jimmy into the baby seat and Sampson folded up the stroller.

  "Mommy. Daddy," Jimmy said.

  Megan sucked a breath and gasped as she finished buckling him in. Sampson was standing in the opposite door, stowing the stroller. Their eyes met.

  "The poor thing is so confused."

  "He's not the only one," Sampson muttered.

  Megan climbed into the passenger seat while Sampson turned on the car and pulled out of the parking space. He drove several blocks through town and parked in front of an old-fashioned family-style café. He carried Jimmy while she walked beside him. Inside, the diner smelled like hamburgers and fries. The white-haired waitress wearing a pink uniform approached them with a big smile. Megan thought the woman must believe they were a family, when it couldn't be further from the truth.

  "Three?" she asked.

  "Yes ma'am," Sampson said.

  The waitress grabbed two adult menus and a child's menu and sat them at a table by the window. She brought over a highchair a moment later and Sampson placed Jimmy inside. They gave him some crayons and a piece of paper with a clown to color.

  Megan and Sampson looked over the menu. She decided to have their classic burger and fries and a strawberry shake, and Sampson decided to have the same. They ordered chicken nuggets and applesauce for Jimmy when the waitress returned. Megan could barely meet Sampson's eyes, but he seemed not to notice how nervous she was.

  "So, what really brought you to Fate Rock?" Sampson asked, throwing a fresh fry into his mouth the moment the waitress walked away after delivering their meal.

  "I had personal business here."

  "Seems like you were well-liked at your last job, must be serious for you to leave."

  "Everything changed after I lost my sister," she said, more to herself than to him.

  "You lost a sister too," he said, his voice full of pain and sadness.

  She finally looked up at him and saw the tears beginning to glisten in his eyes. "Yes. She was my twin. We were closer than any two people could be. I miss her so much every day."

  "My sister was two years younger than me. I hadn't seen her in four years. I should have tried harder to contact her. I had no idea what she was going through. And with Jimmy and work and everything I haven't had time to really let it sink in. It almost doesn't feel real."

  "I know exactly what you mean," Megan said.

  She looked up into Sampson's face and saw the vulnerable, sensitive man behind the mask of conservative intellectual simplicity. She bit her lip, almost losing her appetite. It was all just so sad, her heart broke for him. And it broke for herself too. What could they have been if they'd met under different circumstances? But Megan was haunted by the death of her sister. It was driving her mad. She was not fit to be a nanny, or this man's mate.

  She realized, in that moment, that she wanted to be. She wanted to heal, for Sampson and for Jimmy. She wanted to make things right so they could have a real life
together.

  For the rest of their meal, they chatted quietly about their pasts. She didn't tell him enough to raise any suspicions about why she was really here, but they were bonding more than she ever would have expected.

  After lunch, he drove them home and helped her carry in the groceries after putting Jimmy down for a nap. She escaped to her room, locked the door, and turned off the light.

  Climbing into bed, she pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them tightly against her. She sobbed quietly in the dark, thinking about her sister, thinking about the man who'd hurt her, and thinking about Sampson and Jimmy.

  What kind of life could they have if she just gave up her revenge? She could be happy. She could have a family. And maybe she would be healed.

  Deep down, Megan knew that her sister would want that for her. She would want her to go on with her life.

  But as she was drifting off to sleep, a vision of Amber when she was young and happy merged with the vision of her wasting away with despair.

  Megan's eyes shot open and she knew that she could never let that bastard get away with what he’d done to her twin. What he could do in the future to other women. If Megan had to sacrifice her own life and her own happiness to stop that monster from ever hurting anyone else ever again, that's what it was going to take. She was willing to pay the price. She had to be.

  Chapter 7

  After they carried in the groceries together, Megan disappeared downstairs to her bedroom. Sampson was left alone with his thoughts. He was so close to cracking Dark Trove’s database, but his mind was not performing at its best. He was going to have to do something about it.

  If he couldn't concentrate, the entire mission was at stake. Hawk and the rest of the crew were counting on him to come through. He’d never failed a mission in his entire career, and he wasn't about to fail one now. He rubbed his temples as his inner grizzly screamed and growled for his mate.

  "Settle down, boy," Sampson said to himself.

  His inner bear had never given him a fraction of this much trouble. Sampson had no idea how to handle it. He needed advice. He needed someone to help him with this problem. And if he couldn't focus, he at least needed his CO to know his ability to work had been compromised.

  Sampson picked up the phone and dialed Hawk. There was no sense in continuing to beat around the bush. His CO needed to know what was going on with him and why there was a delay in completing his work.

  Hawk picked up on the second ring, his voice happy and jovial. He and Elena were expecting their first child; it was a time of celebration for them. Sampson couldn't be happier for the two, but he had some pretty serious issues of his own to deal with. He needed Hawk’s help.

  "Sampson," Hawk said. “It's good to hear from you. I hope everything is going well.”

  "It's going as well as can be expected," Sampson grumbled.

  "Max told me about the baby. I can imagine it is extremely difficult to manage your mission and a child.”

  "That's not the half of it," Sampson said.

  "Oh?"

  "I hired a nanny to assist me in caring for my nephew, but there has been an unforeseen issue that I could use your help with.”

  "Why don't you bring the nanny and the child over for dinner tonight? Elena is dying to meet the new baby.”

  "We can do that, I suppose.”

  "Wonderful. We'll see you all at seven then?"

  "We'll be there.”

  Sampson hung up the phone and let out a long, tortured sigh. He would have to go downstairs and inform Megan that they were going over to a friend’s house tonight, which meant he would have to talk to her. Which meant he would have to smell her. And he knew exactly what happened when he picked up even the slightest whiff of her scent.

  He let out another deep sigh and his shoulders sank. He walked out of his bedroom, past his office that had been neglected all day and made his way down to the basement. He stood outside her door, fidgeting and unable to bring himself to knock. Finally, the decision was made for him when the door slid open.

  "Oh," she said upon seeing him.

  "I'm sorry to startle you," he said apologetically.

  "Did you need something? Is Jimmy okay?"

  "Jimmy is still sleeping. But after he wakes up from his nap, you should get him ready to go out to dinner. We've been invited over to my friend Hawk’s house. He and his wife want to meet everyone."

  "Including me?" she asked.

  "Yes, of course. You're Jimmy's nanny. Besides, I need you there to take care of him."

  The truth was that he not only needed her to help him with the baby, he also wanted Hawk’s impression of her and whether or not he thought she was his mate. He needed all the help he could get in that department. His inner senses were completely conflicted with Megan's disavowal of the possibility of them being mates. It was so highly confusing and disorientating that Sampson was beginning to doubt his own reality. When your inner grizzly growls ferociously without end, it becomes a challenge to maintain your sanity.

  "All right then," she said. “I'll get us both ready. What time are we going?"

  "The dinner is at seven, so we should leave at about 6:45."

  "Okay then."

  She slipped past him and made her way to the stairs. His inner grizzly growled and clawed at his skull. He shut his eyes tight, trying to drown out the sounds and the pain, but nothing he did changed a thing. There was no doubt in his mind that this woman was his mate. And he couldn't imagine, for the life of him, why she was lying to him.

  He went to his own room to prepare for the dinner, and he met Megan in the living room at 6:45. She had dressed little Jimmy in an outfit of black slacks, a red sweater, and soft leather booties.

  She was wearing a knee-length grey wool skirt, knee-high boots, black tights, and a form-fitting fuzzy pink sweater. Her honey-brown hair was swept back into a loose French braid and she'd put on a dusting of makeup that accentuated her bright green eyes and full lips.

  He was taken aback by seeing her like this. Usually she wore comfortable but serviceable clothing suitable for her profession as a nanny. Not that she looked unkempt or frumpy in her athletic attire, but now she looked even more beautiful than he'd ever seen her. As she stood and walked toward the front door beside him, his mouth dropped open and then he closed it again. He opened it a second time and then closed it, having no words to speak. Finally, he found himself and croaked, "Ready?"

  "I'll just put on our jackets," she said, grabbing them from the hall closet.

  She set Jimmy down and slid on his jacket, and then pulled on her own. Sampson grabbed his jacket from the closet and the three of them went out to his car. He warmed up the car while Megan loaded Jimmy in his car seat. A moment later they were off down the street toward Hawk’s house.

  When they arrived, they were both greeted by Hawk and Elena on the front doorstep. Elena was glowing and radiant with her first months of pregnancy. She was barely showing, but it had already filled out her features and added a glow to her skin that was quite becoming.

  Hawk invited them all inside while Elena gushed over Jimmy. They sat in the living room and Hawk brought them all drinks. Megan accepted a hot chocolate. Elena joined her. Sampson and Hawk both had a tumbler of single malt scotch on ice. Sampson was not a man who habitually partook in spirits, but lately he had needed the relaxing effects of alcohol more than ever.

  When the timer dinged in the kitchen, Hawk and Elena hurried off to bring their meal to the table. There was a highchair at the table for little Jimmy and Megan put him into the seat beside her. The table was covered with heaped platters of steaks, mashed potatoes, biscuits, and salad.

  They passed around the platters of food and Sampson sliced into the juicy medium rare steak before taking a bite.

  "This is delicious," Megan said, eating a bite of bacony potatoes. "You are very good cooks."

  "I learned from the best," Elena said. “Hawk has been teaching me about American food."

&nb
sp; "Hawk cooks?" Sampson asked.

  It was a running joke in the crew. Hawk pretended he was an excellent baker, but everyone knew he always bought his fresh-baked pies.

  "Absolutely," Elena said, smiling as she took a sip of ice water. "It must have been a shock for you to find out you had a nephew," she continued, her voice full of compassion.

  "I admit, it hasn't completely sunk in yet."

  "Have you arranged a funeral for your sister?"

  "My parents are taking care of that. We'll be meeting back in our hometown to scatter her ashes and say goodbye sometime next month."

  "Then you won't be missing Thanksgiving?" Hawk said.

  "No. And if everything goes smoothly, I should complete my current work project well before then."

  "Even with all these new distractions?" Hawk said, looking at Jimmy and Megan.

  "There is something I could use your help with," Sampson said. "I'd like to discuss it after dinner.”

  Hawk nodded knowingly. The rest of the dinner was filling and full of delightful conversation. Elena was quite taken with Jimmy, and she and Megan seemed to become fast friends.

  "You have to meet the rest of the girls," Elena said. "Most of the guys’ mates are part of my yoga class. I'm sure that you can find some time away from your work to join us."

  "I'm not anyone's mate," Megan said.

  Elena looked confused and cocked her head to the side. Sampson knew that after years of yoga and meditation training Elena was incredibly intuitive. Even not being a shifter herself, he wondered if maybe she could sense that the two of them were meant to be together.

  "Why don't you help me in the kitchen. Bring Jimmy and we’ll give the guys some time to have their private conversation," Elena said, tapping the back of Megan's hands with her fingertips.

  Megan nodded and picked up some of the empty platters. The women disappeared into the kitchen, and Hawk nodded for Sampson to follow him. They slipped into Hawk's office, which was the public front image of his civilian life. Hawk was a day trader as his cover, and as far as Sampson knew, he was quite successful at it. Everyone in the Justice Squad had a "day job” and Sampson was no different. He made his civilian income by doing freelance coding work and developing gaming apps that he sold for subscription fees on all of the major platforms.