Chapter Fourteen – Jacob

He didn’t like the plan, but there was no real alternative. Not unless they both waited outside the crater for the smugglers to appear. However, Avery wanted to attempt to get Manny and Joe to tell her who in the police force was involved. Which would be easier if they trusted her. But understanding her motives and being happy with them were two very different things.

“You should have rested more,” Jacob told Avery as they made their way across the open valley.

“In an ideal world I would have. But we don’t live in an ideal world.” She cast him a smile that was supposed to make him feel better. It didn’t work, the strain on her face made him question whether she could handle herself if it came down to a fight with the two men in the crater.

“Bear Creek is about as ideal as it gets.” Jacob kept his eyes trained on the crater, and allowed his bear senses to roam. They were not as strong when he was in his human form, and this bothered him. “I need to shift.”

She looked at him sharply, and then nodded.

Jacob shifted mid-stride, not slowing as his human side slipped from this world, to be replaced by his bear. Avery gave him one quick glance, and then turned to look ahead. He was disappointed she still seemed hostile toward his bear. Then she did something unexpected; she reached out and touched his fur with her fingertips. His bear shivered in delight, and as he looked up a small smile flittered across her lips.

It was a start. A start of something he was determined would blossom and grow. She was his.

His bear wanted to roar at the mountain, to warn the world that Avery was his mate, and anyone who touched her, anyone who hurt her, would have to answer to him, and his claws.

This was a completely new experience for Jacob. He wasn’t an aggressive man. The only people he’d ever fought with were his brothers, and those fights had never been serious. How he was going to keep himself under control, he wasn’t sure.

But he would. For Avery. Anything for Avery.

“We should split up.” Avery slowed, adjusting her pack, and took the two-way radio from the outside pocket where she had concealed it. “I’ll wait until you are hidden, and you turn on the radio. OK?”

His bear nodded and forked off to the north, heading for the boulders that should provide him with good cover. He jogged on, reaching the boulders a few minutes later. Shifting back to his human form, he took the radio out of his pack and flicked the power on.

“I’m here. Over.”

“Going in.” The radio crackled and then she added, “Maintain radio silence. Over.”

“Will do. Good luck. Over.” I love you. If only he could tell her those three words.

Jacob settled down with the radio set to receive, and then he waited. Squinting, he looked out across the valley, which was cast in long shadows from the peaks that towered above them to the north. He watched as Avery approached the crater. Around ten feet out, she stopped, and her voice reached him over the radio as she called, “Hey there. Manny. Joe. Is that you?”

There was the sound of cursing, and someone moving around. Then a voice called, “Who the fuck are you?”

“Phoenix. Lazarus sent me.” Avery’s voice was confident, as if she belonged.

“Who the fuck is Lazarus?” the voice asked again.

“You don’t know Lazarus?” Avery sounded wary. “Are you Manny Maxwell and Joe Hislop?”

“What the hell business is it of yours?” A head popped out of the crater, and there was the sound of loose rocks falling before a man stood looking at Avery.

Jacob’s bear itched to come forth and get over there to rip the guy’s head off. But Jacob stayed in control.

“I came here to find you. With my partner.” There was a hitch to her voice. “The bear got him.”

“Fuck!” Another figure appeared over the side of the crater. “That mad son-of-a-bitch bear nearly got us too.”

“He was sent to hunt you. Lazarus sent me and my partner as backup.” Her voice drifted off.

“Backup? Fuck.” The guy spun around, looking all around the valley. “Is he here? The bear.”

“No, he stayed on the other side of the pass. I don’t think he can get over the rocks, but I can’t be sure. All I know is we can’t go back that way.” Avery lied like a pro.

“You know another way down?” One of them asked.

“I do.” Avery’s voice turned to one of suspicion. “But how do I know you are who you say you are? If you don’t know Lazarus?”

“Tell us who Lazarus is, and we’ll confirm his identity.”

Avery held her hands up, as if to push them back. “Whoa, wait a minute. Are you cops?”

“No.” The sound of spluttering and a laugh came over the radio. At the same time, his bear senses picked up the presence of another shifter.

Come on, Avery, get your intel.

“So you tell me who your contact is. Or I’m going to leave you to be bear fodder.” She folded her arms, and stood leaning back as she watched the two men look at each other. Avery pushed harder. “Look, I came here to protect my boss’s investment. I’m beginning to think you two aren’t it. What? You think I’ll just protect you from the bear anyway?”

“Listen, I’m Manny Maxwell. This is Joe Hislop. We don’t have code names.”

“Disposable,” Avery said, which didn’t go down well with either of the men in front of her.

“What the fuck do you mean, disposable?” Manny asked, his anger mounting.

“If you know real names, then my guess is Lazarus is going to make sure, if you are caught, that you don’t live long enough to give up his real name,” Avery mocked.

“What the fuck does that mean?” Joe asked, his voice wavering as he looked to Manny for reassurance.

Avery lifted her hand and he heard her make a sound like a gun going off. “Or maybe he’ll send someone to rip your throat out.” She gave a sharp intake of breath. “The bear. Shit, Lazarus has betrayed us all.”

“No fuckin’ way. Why would he send you to help us? And then send a bear.”

“A setup.” Avery began to pace up and down, more curses came from the two men. “I’m out of here.”

“No, wait. Maybe we can all get out of this alive. And if it is a setup, we take the drugs and split the money.”

“How do you know the drugs are even going to get dropped?” she demanded.

“We don’t.”

“So why would I stay? I don’t owe Lazarus a thing. I doubt I’ll see my money.” She stormed off, but one of the men followed.

“Look. You’re here. And we’ll give you half if you stay and help us avoid the bear.”

“First you have to prove you are who you say you are. I am not getting shafted again.”

“OK, how do we prove it?”

“Names. You prove to me you know Lazarus, so that I know you aren’t sleazeballs trying to con me.” She pointed her finger at the man, intimidating him, pushing him back toward the crater.

“Chief Banner. He heads up the police force over in Holloway County. This is his retirement fund. He’s my mom’s uncle.” Joe blurted the words out, while behind him Manny put his face in his hands and howled.

“What the fuck have you done?” Manny demanded of Joe.

“Got us a way out of this.” Joe turned on his accomplice. “We talked about this, we were always going to be the ones thrown under the bus. You knew that. He always says blood looks after blood, but that ain’t true.”

A sound pierced the quiet of the mountain valley. The two men started, and spun around to look up at the sky. “He’s here.”

“Let’s get the drugs and get out of here,” Avery said, taking charge of the situation.

“You should hide. If he sees you, he’ll split, there’s only supposed to be the two of us,” Joe said.

“Where the hell am I supposed to hide?” Avery asked.

“In the crater. There’s some boulders, and we can put our packs over you too.”

It had to be the dumbest idea Jacob had ever heard, but he watched as they all went into the crater, out of view. All he could do now was listen and hope that it all went to plan. The sound came again. An eagle, if he wasn’t mistaken. Of course, they were big birds, and would be able to carry a large amount of drugs. They also wouldn’t look out of place here on the mountain. Unless someone took a closer look with a pair of binoculars; if they did, they would get a big surprise to see an eagle carrying packets of drugs. He got a glimpse of how crazy this all must look to Avery.

Jacob ground his teeth together, hating to think a shifter was involved, but it seemed more likely. The only other explanation was that someone had trained the eagle to fly here and drop the drugs. Less likely, but still possible.

He shifted around the side of the boulders, scanning the sky as another cry pierced the air. Then he saw it, a big bird silhouetted against the skyline. Jacob kept still as the bird circled around, surveying the ground. This bird was ideal: big, strong, and no doubt with enhanced senses that would be able to detect any movement on the ground. Well, Jacob did not intend to be its prey. Not today. There was only one hunter on this mountain, and that was his bear.

As the eagle moved closer to the crater, its circling flight became tighter as it descended down toward its destination. Jacob held his breath, willing himself to stay in his hiding place. Then, the radio crackled into life, and he heard Avery’s voice as she whispered, “He’s here.”

Jacob didn’t waste any time: he propelled himself forward at a run, shifting midair to land on all four paws, his claws tearing into the dirt as he set off toward his mate. He had to get there fast, he had to stop the eagle from escaping. This was their chance, their one and only chance to break this drug ring.

He ran like the devil was chasing him across the valley floor, the crater getting closer with each huge stride he took. Jacob kept a constant watch on the skyline, dreading that the eagle might take off and escape. But he didn’t, and Jacob hurtled forward, only slowing when he neared the edge. He could not charge straight in there, not without the risk that they would get away.

There were so many questions he needed answers to. Did the eagle shift? Were they facing three men or two? Was Avery still safe? Had they played her, knowing all along she was a cop?

He lay down on the ground and crawled toward the lip of the crater. His breath shallow, his heart thumping. He hoped the eagle’s hearing wasn’t good enough to hear his blood thundering in his veins as his adrenaline kicked in.

Lifting his head, Jacob looked down into the crater. There they were. The eagle, which was perhaps twice the size of a regular eagle, stood on the ground, while the two men removed a harness from its back. He could only assume the drugs were attached in some way to the harness. That was the proof Avery needed.

Avery. As soon as he thought of her, his senses prickled and homed on his mate. She was hiding behind a few boulders. From this angle, Jacob could see her legs, and wondered how the hell the eagle had missed seeing her; maybe it was because the light was so much dimmer down in the bottom of the crater. They had the element of surprise, now all they needed to do was grab these three and question them.

As he stared at Avery, she lifted her head and looked at him, he could just make out her silhouette. She was nodding, this was it. A shiver of apprehension passed through him. If anything went wrong, someone might die tonight. But it sure as hell was not going to be Avery.