CHAPTER ELEVEN
It turned out that Ezra Tate could speak in full sentences, using words of more than one syllable, as Beth found out when Trevor introduced his friend to Big John. They’d moved off the street, leaving the doctor, deputy and a good portion of the town council outside to continue mopping up. The sheriff had already escorted the two men left standing to the jail, which was adjacent to the town hall.
After locking them up in the heretofore unused jail cell and arranging for guards, Sheriff Brody joined Beth, Trevor, Big John and newcomer, Ezra, over in the mayor’s office for a quick discussion. Beth remained a silent observer while the men talked tactics, strategy and intel. The focus of the matter was the bounty on her head, which gave her every right to hear what they were talking about, but she readily admitted that their sense of strategy and military operations was way above her pay grade. She was content to let them plan the defense of their town, but since she was the reason for the danger, she was pleased they included her in the meeting.
If it all got too complicated and she believed she was putting too many people in too much danger, she’d just leave. It was her life. They couldn’t stop her. She didn’t want to, but if it was the only way to protect her friends, she would take her chances on her own.
She had the hope that Trevor might come with her, if she should have to employ that option, but she still wasn’t one hundred percent sure. Still, he’d claimed her in front of his friend. He’d come to her defense and made her attackers bleed. The primal part of her nature couldn’t help but admire him for that. He was a man strong of character with the deadly skills to back it up. He’d make a good mate to her animal side, as well as her human half…if he was interested.
Although he’d done a lot to prove his desire to keep her safe today, she still wasn’t certain if he was on the same page as far as the emotional component went. Did he love her? She just wasn’t sure. Hopefully, she’d find the courage to bring up the topic later, when they were alone, but a part of her wanted to be more chicken than predator and simply not ask questions she might not like the answers to.
“So, who do we have in our jail cell?” Brody asked at one point in the men’s conversation. Beth stopped woolgathering and refocused on the information being imparted.
“You’ve got Johnny Balkan. He’s the one who pulled the gun. A lynx shifter out of Canada. The one who was a bit smarter and backed off is Wayne Cudkin from Ohio. He’s a lone wolf. Usually a good guy, but I hear he’s fallen on hard times, which is probably why he took up with the other four. The bounty is big enough to share, even split five ways,” Ezra told them, ending with a questioning glance at Beth, as if he was trying to figure out what she’d done to warrant such a price on her head.
“How much are we talking about?” John asked quietly.
“Half a mil. No permanent damage. Delivery by the end of the month.” Ezra ticked off the requirements of the bounty as if discussing a shopping list. It made Beth feel a bit queasy to hear herself discussed in such a way, but she knew it wasn’t Ezra’s fault. This had Jonathan written all over it. “Bounty’s been active for a good long while, but nobody knew where she was until about a week ago. That’s when the alerts that had been set up started pinging Grizzly Cove, and the insane or desperate began to make plans to invade your territory.”
“What happens if she’s not turned in by the end of the month?” Brody asked.
Ezra shrugged and sat back in his chair. “Bounty goes away. The thing would have to be reissued at that point, but since there’s a strict time limit on this, I get the feeling it won’t be. There’s something special about the end date.” All eyes turned to Beth. Brody’s raised eyebrow compelled her to speak.
“I turn twenty-one on the thirty-first,” she told them, dread rising as she realized what this must all be about. “My father—my real father—owned a lot of property and it’s being held in trust for me until I turn twenty-one. My mother is the legal trustee, but Jonathan—my stepfather—has been using the property, and Mom just signs everything. It could be that he wants to retain control of the real estate.”
She was shocked she hadn’t thought of this before, but she’d been free for a long time now, and he’d never really sent anyone after her. She’d been safe with the pod. Or so she’d thought.
“How much real estate are we talking about?” John asked.
“I’m not really sure anymore. A lot of it was industrial. Warehouses along the coast. Things like that. Dad had been the leader of my mother’s old pod, but it was decimated after his death, and everybody scattered. A lot were killed. Mom never talks about it, but I’ve heard rumors since running away from home that a school of sharks attacked the pod and killed just about everyone.”
“Shapeshifter sharks?” Ezra’s voice held suspicion.
Beth nodded. “Probably. I mean, it’s the only thing that really makes sense. Mer are usually able to deal with all life in the sea—even sharks and other predators. We’re the apex predator in the ocean…except for the rare shifters we run across, like the occasional family of selkies, dolphins or sharks, but they’re even rarer than we are.”
“But Jonathan is a shark shifter,” Trevor said quietly.
Beth swallowed hard, her suspicions crystallizing. “It’s very possible that Jonathan engineered the destruction of my father’s pod and took me and my mother so he’d have access to the pod’s wealth, which was mostly in my father’s name and held in trust for me.”
Bright stars! Why hadn’t she put this together before? Had she been in that much of a tizzy that she couldn’t see what must have been obvious to others? Probably. She’d been doing nothing but surviving, her emotions in tatters, for a very long time.
“And when you turn twenty-one, whatever’s left is legally yours,” the mayor said.
The sheriff whistled low between his teeth and sat back. “Girl, you’ve got a massive problem on your hands. Judging by what happened today, that shark bastard isn’t going to give you—and your wealth—up without a fight.”
“It’s not really my money. It belonged to the old pod. If I ever am able to claim it, I’ll probably relinquish most of it to Nansee for the use of my new pod,” she told them, just so they knew she didn’t intend to keep it all.
That wasn’t the mer way. It would honor her father’s memory, and those of his pod who were lost to the sharks, to do the right thing with their wealth.
“We should get Tom to look into the legality behind all of this,” John said, naming the town’s lawyer. “I also want to look into the attack on your father and his people. It sounds to me, just on the face of it, that Jonathan may have seriously broken shifter laws, for which we might be able to exact punishment.” John’s gaze went to Trevor.
“If there’s a justifiable reason to kill him, it would make this a whole lot easier,” Trevor agreed.
Beth was shocked. They talked about killing Jonathan as if it was nothing. Didn’t they know he was a shark? He was guarded at all times! They wouldn’t be able to get to him, even if it was legal to target him. Were they nuts?
Or…maybe…after what she’d seen on the street… Maybe there was nobody better equipped to do something like that than the men of Grizzly Cove. Ex-military. All Special Operators. Men who had killed before and would do so again, under the right circumstances. Could this really be one of those times?
The predator that lived in her soul certainly wished it were.
“The end of the month is in just a few days,” Trevor said, running through the scenario in his mind. “We just have to keep her safe until then.”
He was a little stunned that the woman he’d thought destitute and depending on the charity of her pod was, in fact, an heiress. He had known she’d been hiding things from him, but this was certainly a doozy of a secret.
“She was safe in the water with her pod until they got trapped in the cove by the leviathan,” John said, bringing Trevor back to the matter at hand. “But now, even the water isn’t quite the safe haven it was. Nansee passed along the reports of sharks trying to cross the ward. They haven’t breached it, and according to Urse, they won’t be able to if their intent is evil, but she couldn’t one-hundred percent guarantee some shark shifter couldn’t find a way around the ward—either coming in by land or finding some kind of counter-magic that would allow passage through the water.”
“So the safest place is on land, for now, with me,” Trevor supplied, reaching for Beth’s hand under the conference table.
He’d kept her at his side, but he needed the reassurance of touching her. Thank the Goddess, Beth seemed to understand, her little hand clinging to his.
“We can make the hotel more secure,” Brody put in. “I’ve already got guys patrolling the woods and keeping an eye on the roads leading in and out of town, but it’s a lot of area to cover. Concentrating surveillance on the hotel would be a cinch.”
“I’ve already got the room next door set up for Ezra,” Trevor told them. “Anyone else who wants to stand guard shifts is more than welcome. Thanks.”
“I’ll set up a rotation and get the rest of the team in on this,” Brody assured him.
“Beth.” John’s solemn tone underlined the seriousness of his words. “I just want to make sure we’re not all leaping to conclusions. I don’t think we are, but this needs to be said, just for the record.” They weren’t actually keeping records, but Trevor understood what Big John was getting at. “Is it true that you don’t want to go back to the care and protection of your stepfather, Jonathan?”
Beth gulped and nodded. “That’s correct,” she said, her voice gaining strength as she went on. “I don’t ever want to see him again, if I can help it.”
“Hmm. Well, just so you know, that can be arranged. While in the eyes of human law, he’s your kin, you should know that under the rules of most shifter communities, he has no claim over you since you’re of suitable age and able to make your own decisions about who earns your trust and fealty. If, in the course of our investigations, we discover that he’s done even worse than try to coerce you against your will, I might, as Alpha of Grizzly Cove, order the ultimate sanction against him.”
Trevor silently hoped they would find a reason to kill the bastard who had terrorized Beth for so long. In fact, he’d like to do the job personally.
“I understand, Alpha,” Beth replied. “And while I would never beg for any sort of leniency for Jonathan, I would ask that if you or your men cross paths with my mother, that you’d do your best not to harm her. She’s been hurt enough.”
John nodded. “You have my word, Beth. I want you to know that when I extended the invitation to your pod to shelter in the cove, you all became part of our community, and as such, you are all under my protection. I hope you know that you can come to me, or one of my team, any time. We bears take care of our people.”
Trevor silently applauded the Alpha’s words. Big John was proving to be every bit of the Alpha his men had named him, and Trevor’s already good opinion of the man was rising steadily. This was a man who had earned his people’s loyalty—with good reason.
Beth seemed moved by John’s words, and she choked out a soft thank you that was full of emotion. Trevor squeezed her hand in silent support.
He wished he could take all these problems off her shoulders, but it wasn’t going to be simple. He would, however, do everything in his power to help her through this rough patch so she could come out on the other side, whole and safe…and hopefully by his side, though he hadn’t dared speak to her about mating yet.
He didn’t want to scare her off, but the time was coming when his beast half would demand he say something. The bear didn’t like uncertainty. He valued action. And he’d push his human half to find out where they stood with the female of their choice. Trevor hoped he could hold off until this situation was resolved, but he had doubts he could make it even a day, much less the few days until the end of the month and Beth’s twenty-first birthday.
The town’s doctor walked into the room at that point, drawing all eyes. He was a tall Nordic-looking fellow who turned into a giant polar bear on occasion, and like most of the men in John’s unit, Trevor had worked with him before. Sven nodded and began his report on the wounded at John’s direction.
“According to their IDs, two of the men in my clinic are brothers,” Sven reported.
Ezra broke in. “That would be the Gomez brothers. Both are leopard shifters and hail from South America but make their home in Texas now when they’re not on the road chasing bounties. I’ve run across them a few times. Neither one is too bright.”
“Trev put them both out of commission for a while. Nasty breaks that even shifter healing would have a hard time with, but I patched them up, and they should recover fully, in time,” Sven told them. “The third man is a bit trickier. He had multiple IDs in his wallet, and he’s still unconscious. I’ll be watching him until he wakes because his brain got knocked around pretty good. I might need to do something about that if he doesn’t wake up within the next few hours, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself. We’re in wait-and-see mode with him for now.”
“That would be Shelly Lowenstein,” Ezra said. “He likes to use multiple names depending on the job, but he was given the name Sheldon by his parents. He’s from Northern California. Another werewolf, affiliated with a lesser Pack near Sacramento. Smarter than the Gomez boys, but still more a brawler than a deep thinker.”
“How are you set for security at the clinic, Sven?” John asked.
“I’m fine for now, but I’ll need some help after they start healing. Or we could move the two Gomez brothers to the jail once they start showing signs of recovery. That would leave me with just the one to watch, which I can manage mostly on my own.”
“Good. Coordinate with Brody on that. He’s distributing manpower and working on a roster,” John told the doctor. “In the meantime, we need to be getting the word out to the rest of the residents to lay low, stick close to home, and report anything out of the ordinary at once. I’ve got a few calls to make, and I need to coordinate with Nansee and make sure she knows what we’re doing on land. Trevor, you’re in charge of Beth. Is that okay with you?” John asked Beth, almost as an afterthought. Trevor was relieved when she agreed without argument.
Brody’s cell phone beeped, interrupting the meeting, and he stood to take the call. It wasn’t a long talk, and when he came back into the office, his face was grim.
“That was Jack. A group of shark shifters just tried to enter the water from the beach near his house. He and his nearest neighbors went bear on their asses and stopped most of them, he thinks, but he can’t guarantee they got all of them. Grace dove in to warn the mer, and Jack’s going a little nuts over it.” Brody swore, but there was understanding on the sheriff’s face. Jack was mated to Grace. If she was in danger, no wonder he was losing his shit.
“Any casualties on our side?” John asked. “Do they need Sven to come out?”
“No. All present and accounted for,” Brody reported. “Not too much damage to our guys. Jack said it was pretty obvious the other side wasn’t so good on land, but they had a lot of firepower on them that had to be neutralized.”
It made sense to Trevor that shark shifters would be killers in the water, but judging by Beth’s lack of skill on land, the sharks probably relied on weapons when in their human form. They probably hadn’t bargained on encountering bear shifters—or if they had considered it, they probably thought they could shoot their way out of a confrontation.
That had been a big miscalculation on their part. Probably a fatal one.
“Were there any survivors?” John asked in a neutral tone.
“Not a lot,” Brody answered in the same tone. “According to Jack, the sharks were rather insistent on a shooting war but had problems when our guys took it in close. In the course of disarming the bad guys, our boys might’ve used a bit of zeal.”
John merely nodded. “Understood. Do we have anybody we can send out to help with mop up, XO?”
Ah, there it was, Trevor thought. Evidence that the military unit had never really retired. The Alpha had just called his second-in-command by the military abbreviation of XO, which stood for executive officer. No matter that they might be wearing civilian clothes now and playing civilian roles of mayor and sheriff, they were still commanding officer and XO.
“I’ll arrange it, sir,” Brody replied.
Yeah, the bears were just fooling themselves if they thought they were done with the military lifestyle. The minute danger threatened, they fell back into the pattern too easily.
Which was a good thing. They were living in dangerous times. It was good to have a group of kick-ass guys around you that you could count on. That’s why Trevor was part of with Moore’s group, and that’s what the bears of Grizzly Cove had going on here.
“All right,” John said, returning to the discussion at large with a grim expression. “You two hunker down at the hotel. Take the bounty hunter with you.” John nodded toward Ezra. “We’ll arrange a protection detail starting immediately. If these bastards dare to come into our territory and stir shit up, they’ll get what they deserve.”
Trevor found himself joining a chorus of strong yes, sir that sounded around the room. Even Ezra joined in, and Trevor remembered the other man had been in Force Recon when he’d been a Marine. Once a guy spent time in Spec Ops, he always carried that special mojo around with him. That, and the discipline.
The Grizzly Cove bears hadn’t been out of the service all that long, so the soldier mentality was a bit closer to the surface. Trevor had never really left the service, transitioning from active duty with Uncle Sam’s forces to mercenary work without much of a break in between. Discipline was still a way of life for him, but Ezra had faded into the civilian sphere, fitting in a bit better than the others in the room. He might look like some sort of bad-boy biker, but Trevor knew he had it where it counted, and he was glad to have his help in keeping Beth safe.
The meeting broke up shortly after John’s final orders, and Beth was escorted to the hotel by a small platoon of bear shifters. A perimeter guard was already in place, and the hotel itself had been searched and secured well before their arrival. The other rooms would remain in lockdown until this matter was settled.
When they were finally alone in Trevor’s room, he didn’t waste time on words, he just drew Beth into his arms and held her tight for long minutes. She snuggled into him. Her trembling had disappeared from the aftermath of the battle, but he knew she was close to overwhelmed by all that had happened in such a short period of time.
He was used to quick change in his line of work, but he knew it was harder for civilians to deal with the upheavals of conflict. Beth wrapped her arms around him and squeezed tight, her eyes shut as her cheek rested against his chest. The moment was filled with silent communication, emotion rich between them. Her hold on him spoke of trust and gratitude, care and appreciation.
“Did I say thank you?” Beth whispered.
“No need,” Trevor replied.
She would never have to thank him for keeping her safe. It was his honor and his pleasure. But she didn’t really know that yet. He had to figure out a way to get her to agree that they were mates without coming on too strong and scaring her off.
She pushed back, both hands on his chest, so she could meet his gaze. “You were amazing, Trevor. You seem all calm and cool on the outside, but inside is this wild man who probably knows more ways to down an opponent than I could ever count.”
Trevor pretended to consider. “Mm. Eight hundred and forty-two.”
“What?”
“That was the last count I had, but I stopped keeping track when I was about eighteen. Sorry.”
He liked the way she caught on to his joke, laughing with him. It felt good to share a moment of joy after the turmoil of the earlier part of the day.
“You think we’ll be safe here?” she asked after the laughter died down. He hated the fear in her eyes.
“Better here tonight than anywhere else. Ez is next door, and half of a retired-in-name-only Delta Force unit is patrolling the dark. Nothing’s going to get past them.” Trevor had had his suspicions about the team of ex-military bears who called this place home before he’d arrived, but after seeing them in action, he was glad to have them nearby.
“If you trust the set up, then I won’t second-guess you. It’s your business to know, right?” she said reasonably, but he knew deep down she couldn’t help the fear. He wrapped his arms around her once more, rocking her gently from side to side.
“Nothing and no one is going to get to you. I promise.” And Trevor never made promises lightly. When he did, he meant it.
A discreet knock on the door made him let her go. The knock was followed by a gruff voice. “It’s me, Zak. I brought you guys some dinner.”
Trevor relaxed a bit, motioning for Beth to stand out of the line of sight of the door as he went to answer it. He opened the door cautiously, but it really was only Zak, and Ezra was watching from the door of his own room, one door down. He gave Trevor the all-clear signal as Zak handed over a large paper shopping bag that smelled wonderful.
“I figured you two would need some sustenance. There’s also a box from the bakery for dessert.” He handed over a second bag, this one made of plastic. “And here’s a selection of soft drinks, bottled water and other stuff you could probably use.”
“Sorry I don’t have a tip for you,” Trevor joked with Grizzly Cove’s resident Cajun chef. “But I won’t say no to room service. Thanks, Zak.”
“My pleasure. Tell Beth I hope she likes the salmon. There’s also gumbo and shrimp Creole. I tried to cook a few different fish dishes for her, but there are also some hamburgers in there if that’s what you’re in the mood for.”
“Sounds like you cooked for an army,” Trevor commented, impressed by the weight of the large shopping bag.
“Just planning ahead. You two might get hungry later, and I know there’s a fridge and microwave in your room. Although I wouldn’t normally recommend nuking any of my food, it’ll do in a pinch.” Zak winked as he turned to leave.
“Thanks again, Zak. I owe you,” Trevor called after him.
Trevor watched the hallway until Zak was gone, then shifted his focus to Ezra. “Did you get supplies?”
The bounty hunter nodded. “I’ve got enough to tide me over. Deputy Zak delivered the first care package to me before knocking on your door.”
Trevor smiled at his friend’s curious look. “Oh, you’re in for a treat. Zak owns a restaurant, and his specialty is gourmet Cajun.”
Ezra’s eyebrows rose, and he looked into his room with a bit of eagerness.
Trevor didn’t have to say much more. He shut the door, letting Ezra watch to be sure it was secure before the bounty hunter returned to his room…and his unexpected treat of a dinner.
He and Beth ate dinner together, talking a bit about the situation in which she found herself. She told Trevor more about her stepfather’s business enterprises. She didn’t know many details, but she’d been observant enough while living in his house to glean a few facts. The picture wasn’t a pretty one.
“When you get control of your inheritance, you’re going to have to do something about Jonathan’s activities,” Trevor told her, knowing the task would be difficult and most likely dangerous, as well.
“I know.” Beth pushed away from the small table, having finished eating, and began to clean up. “I’m not looking forward to it, but it’s important. I talked to Nansee about it in a roundabout way. I couldn’t tell her all the details, but I sounded her out on some of it. Mer have contacts in places you wouldn’t necessarily expect.”
“Did she give you any advice?” Trevor was curious about those contacts Beth hinted at. Intel was his specialty, and it sounded like the mer leader might be a good source to cultivate.
“Some,” Beth replied, bringing the small wastebasket over to the side of the table and brushing crumbs into it. “It was hard to get solid steps to take when I couldn’t tell her all the details, but she promised to help when I was ready to tell her everything. I think she can dismantle some of the things that are based along the coast, and she might even be able to call in some favors to stop illegal shipments that are already on their way overseas.”
“That’s good. But you might have to get more hands-on with some of the things Jonathan has in play. If you own the properties, you may need to start legal proceedings to evict or shut down some of the businesses operating out of them. The lawyers here in Grizzly Cove might be able to help with that. And I want you to know, I’m ready, willing and able to help if you need me. I’d be happy to help in whatever way I can.” He wanted to say so much more, but he wasn’t sure this was the right time.
Beth put the wastebasket back in the corner and came over to sit on his lap. She’d taken him by surprise, but he was more than willing to make room for her in his embrace. He loved having her close to him.
“I might just take you up on that offer, my friend. But for now, I think I’d just like to forget my troubles for a little while. Can you help me with that?” She blinked innocently at him, and just like that, he grew hard.
He knew she could feel it against her bottom because she wiggled a bit and smiled at him. The minx. She knew what she was doing to him. But he wasn’t complaining. He liked this playful side of her too much to put an end to it.
Instead, he stood with her wrapped in his arms and carried her to the bed. Luckily, this hotel was built with bear shifters in mind and the beds were large enough for them both. Trevor placed her down on the bedspread and took great pleasure in kissing every inch of skin as he undressed her.
When she was naked and spread out before him, he stood back to just look at her while he divested himself of his own clothing. She watched, and he liked the half-lidded looks she gave him as he peeled off his shirt. Thankfully, he’d had time to clean up a bit from the fight earlier in the day, though he hadn’t been injured. Still, he’d earned a few bruises that were already healing—mostly on his knuckles.
When he was naked, he went back to the bed, putting one knee on the mattress. Beth surprised him by sitting up and grabbing his hand. She ran her fingertips lightly over his bruised knuckles, then brought them to her lips for a sweet kiss.
“I’m sorry you got hurt defending me, but I’ll never forget how brave you were, Trevor,” she whispered. The look in her eyes made his heart go pitter-pat, but he didn’t know what to say.
He knew what to do, though. He joined her on the bed and kissed her deeply, pouring all the things he couldn’t say into the kiss.