Cleaning out the garage while Karl wasn’t around had been easy, even if they had to cut the lock. And somehow they’d avoided detection from the gangs too. Brock knew a guy on the police force who took possession of the drugs for destruction without asking too many questions. They couldn’t technically arrest the gang members since Jane and her crew weren’t cops and it wasn’t a legal search and seizure, but they could make sure the drugs didn’t end up back on the street. And they could make sure that the cops were too busy to answer if the gang, or anyone else on the block, called them in to investigate a wild animal sighting.

Convincing Karl and the guys to take the day off was easy too. In fact it took no convincing since Karl’s contact from the gang called to schedule a pick up so Karl cancelled work for the day. There wasn’t much left to do. They had to finish cleaning up and then toss the set-dressing furniture into the house, and then put it up for sale. Still, every delay was threatening to eat the profits from this job.

Getting into the garage? Well they’d gotten in once to clear out the drugs so getting in a second time to set the trap wasn’t hard at all.

No, the hardest part of the whole operation thus far was the waiting. Bryce sat on the steps of the back porch, legs dangling, beer in one hand while looking for all the world like a lazy home owner surveying his lawn on a Saturday afternoon. But looks were deceiving. It wouldn’t take much for this whole thing to go horribly wrong and he didn’t relish the idea of getting shot.

Several vehicles pulled up in the back lane and stopped along the property’s back fence, the truck parking nearest to the garage. Men piled out speaking a mix of English and French. The leader, who had threatened Bryce twice before, came through the gate and stopped, his expression hardening.

“You just don’t get the message, do you?”

“Nope, I guess not.” Bryce polished off the beer and set the bottle aside.

“You looking for an ass kicking?”

“Nope, and I suggest you hold off on that a moment.”

“Why would I do that? So you can call the cops?”

“No cops. I swear it.”

“Then what?”

“I just wanted to let you know that you’re wasting your time. The garage is empty.”

His hand darted out like lightening, grabbing a fistful of Bryce’s shirt and hauling him to his feet. “Where the hell is my stuff?”

“I don’t have it,” Bryce said. “I don’t know where it is or who has it and I can’t get it back.” All that was true. He knew who’d taken it and why he couldn’t get it back, but everything else was technically true. “What I can do is tell you to pack it in and leave, now.”

“I’m just supposed to take your word for it? You want me to leave without at least checking the garage?”

“I want you to leave and not come back. I want you to stop calling Karl. He’s not interested in renting out space to you anymore.”

“No man, you just don’t get it. Karl’s in way over his head. He’s not done until we say he’s done.”

“I’m saying he’s done.”

“And why the fuck should I listen to you?” He gave Bryce a little shake.

“You don’t have to. By all means, don’t take my word for it. Just remember, I’m not dumb enough to bring the cops here. I sure as hell don’t want to be in the middle of a shootout. We just finished renovating this place.”

He dropped Bryce and tugged his shirt straight. “You just stay right here.” He waved one of the men over. “If this joker so much as moves, knock his teeth in.”

“Sure thing.”

Bryce looked on as the men got organized, opening the back of the truck and the back of the van, and gathering around the large back door of the garage. He didn’t bother calling out a last warning. They weren’t going to listen to him and he liked his teeth where they were.

---

Jane waited, listening. She stretched, rubbed her nose against her foreleg, and glanced around the dark interior of the garage. It still smelled of marijuana in here, plus dust, stale water, and wood shavings. And bear. It was starting to smell like bear in here.

The voices outside got louder, gathering around the door. Jane padded closer. It was almost time.

---

Softly Bryce said, “Hey man, maybe we should move closer to the fence, just in case they need your help.”

“I was told not to let you move.”

“You could move me,” Bryce replied. “Don’t you want to see what’s going on?”

It worked. With a rough shove to the shoulder, the thug directed Bryce closer to the fence. And just in time too.

The garage door swung open. For a second nothing happened. Everyone peered into the shadows. And then the bear padded forward.

Jane was not a large bear, her nose only coming up to the men’s midriffs, her shoulders a few inches higher, but the men still stumbled back. She sniffed the air a few times and took another step forward. The lighter brown in her fur glistened in the sunlight.

“What the fuck is this?” their leader shouted.

Jane bellowed at him, the sound reverberating in the tiny space.

“That’s a bear,” Bryce said. “That bear is not happy with you right now.”

“Fuck. It’s just a little bear,” he said. “Get it out of there.”

Something moved in the shadows. A second bear, easily a foot and a half taller than the first, if one was being conservative in their estimates, stepped forward. This bear was darker as well. It looked at the men with dark, glassy eyes, waiting for them to move or speak.

When they didn’t, he started vocalizing at them, a sound that was almost a human voice, without words, blended with what might have been a very large seal barking and some whining sounds.

Most of the men had retreated more than halfway back to the cars. Only their leader was standing his ground and even he looked none too steady.

Without taking his eyes off the bears he said, “So what is it you want? Drugs? Money?”

“Nope,” Bryce said. “I want you to drive away. I want you to stop calling Karl. Lose his number, lose his address. And I don’t want you to even consider retaliating against me or against Karl, ever, not you, not anyone from your organization.”

“I don’t have time for this.” He reached under his shirt and pulled out a gun.

With surprising speed, the larger bear bounded forward and knocked the gun to the ground then bellowed, a deafening roar that shook the window panes of the garage and sent a few of the men scrambling for the cars.

“You don’t understand. You retaliate and you’ll be facing off against my friends here. And they are my friends. They would be more than happy to catch you breaking and entering or attempting to assault someone, like Karl for example. I’m sure even werebears are protected by self-defense laws.”

He glanced from Bryce to the bears and back again. “Bears aren’t bullet proof.”

“Men aren’t bear proof. There are more bears and it would take a lot of bullets to stop them all.”

Several tense minutes passed. The smaller bear was sniffing the air, eyeing his bloody arm.

“Fine. We’re going.” He backed away from the garage as his men took off at a less dignified pace.

Men shouted to each other, doors slammed, engines roared to life and tires squealed as the vehicles took off down the back lane. Bryce stood watching as the dust and exhaust of their departure settled.

“Well, that went well.” He turned to the bears. “You need to back up so I can close the door.”

Jane huffed at him and turned. The other bear stood his ground.

“Uh, I’m a friend, remember? Hi. Bryce. You know me.” He tapped his chest, trying not to look or act nervous. “We’re all done. Bad guys are gone.”

Jane made that odd barking sound that bears used to talk to each other and the larger bear finally turned. Breathing a deep sigh of relief, Bryce closed the garage door.

---

“Did you see the look on their faces! Oh boy, they were ready to shit their pants.” Jane was chortling, her face flushed and animated.

“Not because of you,” Jules said. “You’re just a little bear.” He gave her a shove that would have knocked a normal person out of their chair.

Jane just rocked a little and chuckled. “Yeah. Oh, I wanted to take a swipe at him then and there. How come you got to hit someone? We said no violence.”

“Would you rather I let them shoot you? Tell me there’s more beer in the fridge.”

“There’s more beer in the fridge but isn’t Kaylee waiting for you?”

“Naw, she’s out with her sisters tonight. Girl time. At least she’s not at my mother’s.” Jules crossed the apartment with just a few giant strides. “Want one?”

“Yeah, sure, I could handle another. And don’t touch the kabobs, they’re not ready.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

As he was returning to the table, Bryce joined them. “All taken care of,” he said.

“Yeah? What did Karl say?” Jane cracked the second beer.

“Well, he’s going to miss the extra money but honestly I think he realized he was in over his head and he’s grateful to be out of the whole damn mess. I mean I’m assuming so. He didn’t actually say thank you, and now that I think about it, he didn’t apologize for getting me involved.”

“You got yourself involved. What were you thinking snooping alone like that?”

“I kind of had to. My back-up took off on me.”

Jane’s cheeks flushed darker. “Right.”

There was a moment of awkward silence then Jules said, “Nice place you got here. When do we eat?”

Jane laughed.

“Right away if you want,” Bryce said, edging around Jules who was head-and-shoulders taller than him and proportionally large. At least now his eyes were back to normal. Those black, glassy eyes still made Bryce uncomfortable. There was no human in them at all and it was hard to believe there was a human somewhere in the bear. “Food is important, I know that much.”

“Aww,” Jane said, half under her breath. “I think you make him nervous.”

“Damn straight he makes me nervous. I thought he was going to eat me today!” Bryce called from the kitchen, his head in the open fridge as he fussed with the food.

Jane laughed even harder and even Jules chuckled. “I wouldn’t eat you,” he said. “I have more control over the bear than that. Though the bear was wondering about you.”

“Great,” Bryce muttered. Honestly though he couldn’t be upset. Seeing Jane this happy, this animated, was a marvel that he couldn’t get over. Maybe it was finally setting her demons to rest, or maybe it was the thrill of doing something that was borderline illegal and certainly thrilling in an ‘oh god we’re all going to die’ sort of way, but he liked her like this. He liked sassy Jane too.

Jane bounced out of her seat. “I’ll grab the door.”

The kabobs cooked up fast and Bryce was happy that Jane had brought extra meat the day before. He’d been impressed by Jane’s appetite but Jules was a force of nature where food was involved. And beer apparently.

Still, kabobs and beer was a cheap price to pay for hired muscle.

Jules rinsed his own plate and deposited all his empty cans in the bin. His smile was wide as he offered a hand to Bryce. “You call me if that problem comes back and I’ll help you deal with it, gladly.” The two men shook. “I’m headed for home. Enjoy your evening.”

Jane and Bryce cleaned up the rest of the dishes and silence settled on the apartment for a while. Bryce felt loose, and it wasn’t just the beer. The house was going up on the market, Karl wasn’t in trouble with the gangs, and things looked to be going all right with Jane. She’d said she wasn’t sure where their relationship was going and that was fine with him. He was more than willing to play it by ear and follow her lead. It won’t be boring, he thought, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.

She had put the last of the dishes in the dishwasher and was drying her hands. “Got any plans this evening?”

“No,” he said. “Thought I might pop out if the guys were on the court, stretch my legs. I’ve got this sort of nervous energy from this afternoon, you know. What about you?”

“No plans tonight. We’ve got some clan stuff next week. Did you want to come?”

“Is it okay?”

“We’re meeting at the Tandell place, Gia and Kaylee will be there. And probably Connie since she doesn’t go more than ten feet from the little monster.”

“I’ve heard Gia and Kaylee’s names before. Who’s Connie?”

“She works for Brock and Gia, keeping the house, helping Gia with the baby, stuff like that. But she’s basically family since she’s been there forever.”

“Huh. Well I guess when you’re that rich you get to have people working for you.”

“Don’t worry. They’re fairly down to earth for rich people. And Remy’s out of town so it’s not like there’s serious business to attend to. We’re just sticking close so Remy knows we’re keeping each other out of trouble.”

“Like threatening drug dealers kind of trouble?”

“Yeah. I don’t think Remy would have approved that. Hopefully he’ll laugh when we tell him as an after the fact sort of situation but if we’d asked permission it would have been a no, even with the police assistance we had.”

“Hopefully I don’t get you into trouble.”

“You won’t. Well, this won’t. I don’t know what else you have planned so you might get me into trouble yet.”

“If I think of anything I’ll let you know.”

She sidled up closer to him. “So, since you don’t have any plans this evening and I don’t have any plans this evening, and Jules has left us to our own devices, what do you want to do? Because I could just head home if you’d like.”

He ran his fingers down her cheek. “No, I wouldn’t like that.”

“Good.”

“Basketball? Unless you think you’re too short to play.”

“I wouldn’t be too short if I was a bear.”

“You said I couldn’t train you to be a circus bear. Besides, I don’t think it would go over very well with the guys.”

“That’s very true.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“Yes, I play basketball, though not very well. But if I come play then I’m not sharing you for the rest of the evening.”

He smiled and kissed her. “It’s a deal.”