by E L Thorne
Mae looked at my sideways, didn’t say a word.
“Anyway,” I continued. “I wanted to say I’m sorry for troubling everyone. I hate that I was such a bother.”
“Bother?” Her voice was high-pitched. I laughed. “You’re no bother. You’re like family. Like a sister to me.” She reached across the console, put a hand on mine and squeezed. “I couldn’t do anything less for you.”
Tears sprang to my eyes. I felt ashamed. Here I was, hours from kissing—and other things! Very enjoyable things!—with Grant, from betraying this woman with the man she loved.
And I was like a sister to her. Now I really felt like shit. Forget leaving in the morning. I’d leave today. I bit the tears back, regaining my composure.
We passed the road that turned into the town, where the salon and my car were.
But then, Mae kept right on driving. Was she not going to take me to my car? “Where are we going?”
“I’m taking you home to rest. You’re taking the day off. If not the whole weekend.”
“But my car...”
“I’ll have someone help me get it later. Right now, we need to get you rested.”
“Could you take me to my car?”
“Should you be driving?” Mae put her hand back on mine.
“Doctor Evans didn’t say I couldn’t.”
She braked slightly. “I’m not sure. Maybe I should call Doc Evans. Or Grant.”
“No. There’s no need to call anyone. Please.”
Reluctantly, she turned the car around. “Okay.”
They should hate me for all the trouble I’d caused them. Then I remembered, I hadn’t been able to get the car to start last night. If I told Mae that now, then she’d know I had lied when I’d said I didn’t remember anything after locking the door.
Fifteen minutes later, we were in town. The salon was already open. Lana’s car was there.
Was Lana running it alone? I looked at Mae.
“I unlocked and asked her to handle things while I came to Grant’s place to check on you.” Mae smiled. “Now stop worrying about everything.”
Would my car start now?
No luck. It didn’t.
Mae shivered, hugged herself. “I’ll call Jerry.”
“Loose battery cable.” Jerry pronounced, shoving long hair off his forehead, leaving grease and dirt stains in its wake. “Try it now.”
My car started immediately.
“Odd how that came loose like that,” he said.
Yes. Very odd, and very coincidental. What were the chances of a battery cable coming loose at exactly the time Jeff was waiting for me to come out of the salon? When he’d offered to stay and wait until I was on my way?
When I wouldn’t have any choice but to go with him or else risk freezing to death in my car?
All the more reason to put this town behind me. It was one thing when Jeff was nothing more than a creep I preferred avoiding. Now? If I never saw him again, it would be too soon.
Jerry waved away the two twenties that I tried to hand him. “No charge. Friend of a friend, and all that.”
“How about a trade?” I suggested. “A haircut or two in exchange?”
“That a hint?” Jerry laughed, his breath making white puffs in the cool air.
“Noooo.” I smiled, then instantly felt bad. I wouldn’t be there to cut his hair. I was such a loser, offering him haircuts knowing full well I didn’t plan to stick around. I got into the car to go to Mae’s.
Mae stepped up to the car door before I could close it. “I’ll follow you.”
“No. I’ve disrupted enough. It’s fine. A short drive. I promise I’ll be fine. I’ll rest.” For five minutes, before I wrote her a thank you note and left.
“Promise me you’ll take care of yourself.”
“I promise. I’ll even lock the door behind me to make sure I’m extra safe. You don’t have anything to worry about.” It strained my nerves, pretending to be upbeat, pretending to tell the truth. I didn’t know how much longer I could keep up the charade.
Mae frowned at me, but acquiesced.
I would never see her again. She had been so good to me. I hoped she’d understand.
The drive was short and uneventful. I committed the house to memory. I stared at it, willing myself to remember every detail of the two-story stone home. Mae had told me she’d been living there for years, that she’d shared it with her husband. She was so young to be a widow, and without children, too. I was sad for her, until I thought about Grant, and how Grant would give her all the things she needed and wanted. Then I was sad for myself because I would never have those things.
Putting the car into reverse, I backed into the driveway to make it easier to load my trunk. I unlocked the front door and took the stairs to my room slowly, unwilling to rush into the sad task of leaving.
I opened the door to my room.
And felt his presence before I set eyes on him.
Before I heard the nasty sneer in his voice.
“Didn’t think I’d let you go that easily, did you?”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Grant
“What’s with Chelsea?” Doc Evans crossed his legs, getting comfortable in the large library. “You never bring outsiders to your home.”
“She’s the one, Doc.”
Doctor Jake Evans, affectionately known as Doc, had been my friend since we were both youngsters. My grandfather had taken Jake in and had practically raised us as brothers until I had decided I wanted to get away from Bear Canyon Valley. That had been long ago. Then I had returned, done with roaming, to claim my rightful position in town. To live in my family’s home.
“I wondered.” Doc smiled. “I’m happy you’ve finally found someone.”
Astra strode into the room, a steaming coffee-filled mug in her hand. “When are you going to tell her? You know she has a right to know.”
Doc shook his head. “Easy to see where Astra stands on the whole shifter thing.”
Astra placed the mug on a table, put her hands on her hips. “I buried my mother because of her relationship with a shifter. I think shifters should be with shifters. Mortals should be left out of their lives.”
“Your mother was my soulmate.” Doc’s expression sobered. He shook his head.
I rose, put my arm around Astra. “We were all sorry that your mother’s life was taken prematurely. But that’s... We don’t have many problems with enemy shifters. Not like we did in the last century.”
She shook off my arm. “You’re still my favorite shifter. Right behind him.” She pointed to her stepfather Doc. “I’m sorry. I still have so much anger over losing Mom.” She picked up the cup and took a sip. “Do you plan to make Chelsea your mate?”
“If she’ll have me. If she can accept the bear.”
“It’s clear she cares about you. I caught the looks,” Doc said. “Can we plan for a wedding?”
“Don’t put the cart before the horse.” I waggled my finger at him. “Jeff’s up to no good. Her story about not knowing what happened to her; I don’t know how much of that is true, or if she’s trying to avoid a confrontation, but he definitely took her out of the parking lot. And he saw me carrying her—I was in bear form. He left the scene immediately.”
“What are you going to do?” Astra’s eyes were wide.
“Pay him a visit.”
I pulled into the driveway of Jeff’s home, the most opulent in the county, boasting the realtor’s successes. Jeff’s car was there, but the other vehicle he used wasn’t.
A midnight blue SUV.
Gone.
I wondered if that was an indicator of anything, though as long as Chelsea was safe with Mae, where Jeff was didn’t matter.
As I pulled back out of Jeff’s long driveway, the snow began to fall more quickly, in larger, heavier flakes. I put in a call to Mae’s cell. When she answered, I dispensed with the niceties. “How’s Chelsea?”
“She was fine when she left the parking lot. I orde
red her to get some rest when she got home.”
“You let her go on her own? I thought you were going to stay with her.” Deep within, my bear growled in my mind.
“She didn’t want me to. I didn’t want to be forceful. I was going to take her straight to my house but she insisted I take her to get her car, instead. She’s a grown woman. I can’t keep her from her car. I can’t make her do what I want her to do.” Mae’s voice sounded like she was upset that she’d disappointed me.
I turned my truck around, heading toward Mae’s home. “I’m going to your place. I’ll call you when I get there.”
Twenty agonizing minutes later, I pulled into Mae’s driveway and breathed a sigh of relief. Chelsea’s car was parked there. No other cars were around. I jumped out of my truck—the hell with waking her up—and pounded up the steps of Mae’s front porch, almost tripping on a chair that was sticking out.
I raised my fist to pound on the door. Thinking better of it, not wanting to scare her, I rapped on it softly with my knuckles. The door creaked open. It wasn’t locked.
No...
It wasn’t even closed.
I paused, listening, concentrating. I picked up no signs of life. Nothing. My bear could hear no heartbeat, no breathing. I could smell Jeff’s scent. He either was or had been in the house.
And there was something else, too. Something acrid. Like nervous sweat. A third person? Had Jeff sweated it out while waiting for Chelsea to arrive?
Or was it her sweat? Had she been afraid?
I took my phone out and punched redial. When Mae answered, I asked, trying to keep the panic I felt from invading my voice, “Which room is Chelsea’s?”
“First one at the top of the stairs, on the left.” At the other end, Mae gasped. “Why are you asking? What is it?”
“Her car’s here. She’s not.”
“I’m on my way over.” She hung up the phone before I could tell her that she couldn’t help, and that it wasn’t a good idea for her to come.
Dammit. She couldn’t help. She’d get in the way, maybe even end up hurt herself. Who knew what kind of a wild card Jeff was?
I stormed up the stairs and ran through the open door at the top, on the left. Her door. The room was empty, though her scent was strong enough to tell me it hadn’t been long since she’d left. The drawers on the dresser were open and empty. The closet was empty too, no clothing hanging there.
I raged out the front door, searching for tracks. There, barely visible in the blanket of snow that had begun its downward drift—large tires. An SUV, most likely. I was certain it had to be Jeff’s.
I roared, shifted, and began to follow, going in the direction of the tracks, losing them on the main road, but knew there was no other way they’d go. If Jeff had taken her hostage, he wouldn’t go to a heavily populated area. More likely than not, the man had some property somewhere in the area. He’d take her there. An abandoned building... I didn’t know where, but I knew I wouldn’t give up looking.
I kept up a brisk pace, staying hidden by the tree line, just off the road, until I saw tracks on a cut-off. I stopped, studied them, and brushed the light blanket of snow off. Same tread. Had to be it. I took off after the tracks, following them.
There it was.
The SUV.
Stopped.
Parked at the end of the road.
I couldn’t move for a moment. Concern for Chelsea paralyzed me. I knew where this road led, to the abandoned lookout post. That was when I noticed the driver’s side door was open.
My bear’s sharp ears heard it before I saw it. The sound of drops methodically hitting the ground. And right after, my bear’s nose caught a coppery scent. Coming around the back of the vehicle, I approached the door with caution.
In the driver’s seat, Jeff, dressed in an impeccable suit, was sprawled out. One hand on the wheel, the other at his side, but dangling out of the vehicle, dripping blood. The immaculate appearance of the suit was marred by a large pool of blood that wove its way down to his fingertips, then plopped on the ground. The blood was becoming solid, and the dripping was slowed by the cold temperature.
I stepped closer, careful, not sure what I would encounter, and wondered if the man could be alive after losing all that blood. I paused in front of the door. Jeff’s eyes were open, a look of surprise and horror on his face. There was a knife next to him. I stared at the dead man.
Chelsea couldn’t have done this, could she? Had Jeff attacked her, and she’d killed him in self-defense? Where was she now? My bear took over, sniffed for her, and found her scent easily.
Found another scent, too, a male. That acrid, sweaty note from her room was still present, fresh. Had someone found her? Was that someone helping her, or was it an enemy? I didn’t recognize the scent as belonging to anyone I knew.
I took off at a fast pace, running between trees, chasing her scent. It grew stronger and stronger, staying on a main path, heading somewhat toward the abandoned post. Was this a local? Who else would know about the post?
I slowed to get my bearings and to scent for her location. My breath left tiny puffs in the cold air. That was when I heard them.
Voices. One man’s, one woman’s. Chelsea. Who was that with her?
The man was hidden by a large tree trunk.
Chelsea was talking. “No. I don’t know what he was talking about.”
I gritted my teeth at how disheveled she appeared. And how pale. Clearly, this asshole wasn’t taking care of her. There was a fresh bruise on her cheek, on the same side as the laceration from the night before. My bear roared deep within my brain, causing my head to ache. I fought to regain control.
“Don’t lie to me.” The man’s voice was a loud snarl. “He said you have a boyfriend.” A hand popped out from behind the tree, and Chelsea swerved and ducked, avoiding the swing.
I gripped the tree trunk. I was going to kill this man, whoever he was. I held the bear in me back from charging. I didn’t know what weapon the man had trained on Chelsea. I couldn’t afford to have her shot or cut.
Chelsea was talking again. “Jeff doesn’t know anything about me. Nothing at all. He asked me out. That’s all there is to know.”
“So he just happened to show up at your apartment, but he’s only a guy who asked you out?”
“Yes!”
“How did he know where you live?”
“I don’t know. He could’ve asked around. Maybe he was following me.”
“Following you? Right. Following you because he wanted to hurt you. It’s like you never listened to any of the stories I told you about what I used to see on the job. That wasn’t a nice guy. He deserved to die. You know that, right?” Now I knew how Jeff had met his end.
And now I knew who I was listening to. Who held her captive. This was her ex, the cop she was running from. He’d found her again.
“Yes. I know that.” She sounded robotic, like she was only telling him what he wanted to hear.
“You’re lucky I was already there, waiting for you to show up.” He sounded like he genuinely believed this. Like he’d done Chelsea a favor by… what? Kidnapping her? Murdering someone in front of her? “Anything could’ve happened to you. This is just like you. You’re too stupid to take care of yourself. I knew that when I found you, you’d be in some sort of trouble.”
I wanted to roar in protest. Nobody spoke to her that way.
Only knowing the danger I’d put her in if I startled this monster kept me silent.
“You’re right.” She was placating him like she had probably done so many times before. “I shouldn’t have ever spoken to that guy. You’re smarter about these things than I am.”
“I was even smart enough not to drive up to that house when I found the address where you were staying, because I knew you’d run again if you saw a strange car. I’ve gotta give you credit. You might be stupid, but you have your moments.”
His voice hardened. “You’ve kept me running after you for a long time.”
He swung in yet another direction. “So who is this Grant that he mentioned?”
Chelsea paused, was silent for a moment. “He’s a man I know. You don’t need to worry about it. There’s no reason to hurt him, too.”
“I told you, I won’t have other men looking at you. Jeff got his just desserts. This Grant fella will, too. I’ll get you situated somewhere, then I’ll go take care of him.” The man moved out from behind the tree.
I got a good look at him. Dirty jeans, a scuffed-up coat, unshaven, and with an angry scar that crossed his cheek.
I couldn’t tamp down the rush of respect that scar brought on. She had been so brave.
Snow and leaves crunching nearby caught my attention. I gazed across the clearing they were in to see if the man or Chelsea had noticed, but they seemed too embroiled in their argument.
I scrutinized the source of the noise. What was back there? Then it came into view.
No.
She came into view.
What the hell was Mae doing here? What the hell did she think she could do? She’d make things worse. Now the asshole would have two hostages.
Damn. Damn. Damn.
Chelsea and the man hadn’t seen Mae yet. I tried to wave her off, not worried that I was a bear because she’d seen my bear before, and having been married to a shifter, she was no stranger to shifter ways.
She wasn’t looking in my direction and didn’t see me. Instead, Mae stalked closer to the couple, a shotgun in her hand.
Great. That made it worse. She’d more than likely be shot.
The man turned to Chelsea, grabbed her and shoved her in front of him, then yelled, “Put the shotgun down, and step away from it.”
Shit. He’d seen Mae.
“Mae.” Chelsea’s voice shook, tears obvious. “Oh, Mae.” Chelsea had lowered her voice, but my bear still heard it. “Why did you come out here?”
