Chapter Twenty

“I’ll do it.” Paige met the eyes of George and Henry, the two members of the Arcadian Council who had arrived at seven in the morning to get the lowdown on Kelly Smith. They took the matter very seriously. So seriously that by seven fifteen they were determined to bring the reporter in for questioning. She could feel the collective glares coming from Gavin and Wyatt at her back without looking.

It was Paige who suggested it would be tidier if she picked Kelly up as if it were a regular work day and brought her to a chosen location where humans would not be present in order to lower the risk of this breach growing any wider than it already had.

“No way.” Wyatt was shaking his head when she turned to look at him.

Paige cocked her head to the side and sent him a sharp look. “She’s not dangerous, Wyatt. She’s just a woman who thinks she’s seen a bear shifter. We need to bring her in so the Arcadian Council can fix this breach.”

She saw Gavin flinch out of her peripheral vision as she spoke those words. No doubt he was beside himself worrying how the Arcadian Council would react to him knowing about shifters too now that they were in town. He took a deep breath where he stood next to Wyatt as if the two of them were suddenly a unit, conspiring against Paige’s intentions. “I agree with Wyatt. This idea stinks.”

George cleared his throat, demanding attention. He was an older man in his sixties. His graying hair and distinguished look made people do a double take. “Under the circumstances, I’m inclined to agree with Miss Osborn. From what you’ve told us, this reporter, Kelly Smith, somehow thinks she knows something. She has shown no signs of aggression even though she’s spent time with Paige, Dale, and your friend Gavin.

“Since she has indicated an interest in going to people’s homes to collect the data for Paige’s project, this solution seems perfect. Paige simply needs to call Kelly, let her know she’s picking her up for the day’s research, which will include visiting the homes of several locals, drive her to the Arthur’s place, and we’ll take it from there.”

Wyatt turned to Gavin and Dale. “You’re both sure this woman didn’t seem dangerous?”

Gavin shook his head. “She’s weird. No denying that. But mostly I got the feeling she’s chasing the Loch Ness monster. Surely she doesn’t really believe shifters exist.” He glanced at Dale. “Right?”

Dale sighed. “That was my impression. But I’ll be honest, if Paige were my mate, I’d be nervous too.” He didn’t take his gaze off Gavin as he spoke. Oh yeah, there was definitely something deep going on between Gavin and Dale.

Too bad Paige didn’t have time to question her friend. “Then it’s settled. I’ll call her, and we’ll get this ball rolling.”

Wyatt rubbed his temples with the thumb and middle finger of one hand spread across his eyes. “I can’t talk you out of this?” he asked into her mind so no one else could hear.

“No. And there’s no need to worry. She’s just some reporter who heard or saw something that made her want to check it out. You know as well as I do that George and Henry can fix this. They just need some time with her.”

Wyatt let his hand drop and settled his gaze on Paige. “You’ll pick her up out front, drive to my parents’ house, and let George and Henry handle things from there.”

“Of course.”

»»•««

Paige didn’t even need to go inside. She texted Kelly to let her know she was in front of the apartment building and then opened her phone to check her email while she waited.

After deleting about a dozen, she noticed there was finally a response from her professor.

When she opened the email, she almost dropped the phone.

Paige,

Sorry it took me so long to respond to your email. I’m on vacation and haven’t had internet service for several days. I’m confused about this reporter you say has been assigned to you. I wasn’t aware of anything like this. I also checked with the journalism department head, and he said he didn’t assign any student to mirror you. In addition, there’s no record of a Kelly Smith enrolled at U of C. I tried to call you but was unable to get through. When you get this message, please contact me or someone in the dean’s office immediately.

Myron Jefferson

“Fuck,” she muttered. Hands shaking, she shot off a text to Wyatt.

Got an email from my professor. There is no Kelly Smith registered at U of C. I’m going to drive away instead of picking her up.

The second she hit send, her car door opened, startling her so badly she dropped the phone. She was also pissed at herself for not being more aware of her surroundings. It was unusual for someone to sneak up on her or any grizzly shifter. Even though the fact that she was inside the car would have blocked some of her ability to sense someone approaching, she should have been paying better attention.

Before she could think of an excuse to give Kelly, who was leaning toward her, the loony woman lifted a hand and covered Paige’s face with a white cloth.

Paige panicked, grabbing Kelly’s forearm with both her hands, but the nutjob had more strength in her scrawny body than Paige would have expected, and Paige couldn’t get the upper hand. It only took seconds for her to succumb to whatever disgusting substance she had inhaled. And then the world went black.

»»•««

“Dammit,” Wyatt shouted to the room at large as he quickly sent a return text.

Get the hell away from there. Meet me at my parents’. I’m already here.

“What happened?” his father asked.

Wyatt began to pace as he held his phone up, waiting for a response from Paige. “Paige got an email from her professor. No one named Kelly Smith goes to U of C.”

“Shit.” This expletive came from Gavin who paced the room on the other side of the couch.

The rest of the crowded room jumped to their feet.

When nothing more came from Paige, Wyatt dialed her phone, hoping she simply couldn’t text while she drove. It rang four times and then went to voice mail. He hung up and tried again. Same result. The third time, his fingers were shaking.

His father set a hand on Wyatt’s shoulder. “She’s not answering?”

“No.”

“Let’s go.” Bernard pointed at the door, grabbing his coat off the arm of the couch as he spoke.

Wyatt hadn’t even removed his own jacket. He’d only been there a few minutes. He jogged back out the front door, aware that Gavin and Dale were behind him as well as his father and George and Henry.

Dale took Wyatt’s keys from his hand. “I’ll drive your car.”

Wyatt didn’t even argue. He wanted to keep trying to reach Paige anyway. It would be easier if his hands were free.

“I’ll ride with George and Henry,” Bernard stated.

Wyatt climbed into the front passenger seat of his truck while Gavin clambered into the backseat, and then Dale started the engine. He peeled away from the house with George right behind him.

Wyatt’s mother stood on the front porch looking worried. Wyatt ducked his head back down and shot off another text.

Paige, answer your phone or text me. I’m worried.

Nothing.

Babe.

Nothing.

“Fuck.” He slammed his hand on the dashboard and then gripped it with his fingertips as Dale rounded a sharp corner too fast.

“We’ll find her,” Dale said, but there was no oomph behind his words.

Gavin hadn’t said a word, and he was staring out the window stoically when Wyatt glanced at him. It was hard to remember that Gavin was Paige’s best friend. He would be hurting and feeling awful that he’d agreed to let Paige go pick up Kelly in the first place.

Dale glanced at Gavin in the rearview mirror. “I can see your mind working, Gavin. Stop it. This isn’t your fault.”

Gavin threw his head back against the headrest and closed his eyes. Yeah, he felt a heavy dose of responsibility. Wyatt did too.

It took ten minutes to reach her apartment even though that was a record. Luckily no local cops happened to be on the roads they’d taken. Paige’s car wasn’t out front or anywhere else in the vicinity.

Everyone exited the two vehicles and rushed for the front doors of the apartment building. No one was in the small entrance area, either. Wyatt spun around. What the hell were they supposed to do now?

Gavin rushed for the door to the stairs and yanked it open. “Kelly’s unit is 4C.”

Wyatt followed Gavin up the stairs at a run. When they reached the fourth floor and exited into the hallway to find apartment C, they were still running. Luckily no one was in the hallway either. Wyatt was confident the Arcadian Council members wouldn’t want to draw attention to themselves, but the situation was dire, so not one person suggested the group remain nonchalant.

Gavin reached the apartment first and knocked. No answer. Not surprising.

He started to pound the door harder, but George stopped him with a hand. “No one’s inside, son.” He reached into his front pocket and pulled out what looked like a blank key of sorts. Without another word, he stuck the pick into the keyhole and wiggled it around. In seconds, he had the door open.

When Wyatt stepped inside and flipped on the lights, his heart was pounding. He had no idea how breaking into Kelly’s apartment was going to help, but he didn’t know what else to do at the moment.

Henry rushed through the small kitchen and living room area and entered the hallway. When he disappeared into a room to the right, Wyatt heard him gasp. “Shit.”

Wyatt raced in that direction and stopped dead in the doorway, holding on to the frame with one hand while George pressed past him and then Wyatt’s father.

“Holy mother of God,” Bernard exclaimed.

The room was filled with dozens of pictures. They covered the walls and every surface, haphazardly taped and stacked in groups.

All six of them squeezed into the room to take in the photos.

Bears.

Humans.

More bears.

These were pictures of themselves and their family members and their neighbors.

Kelly Smith hadn’t simply been spying on everyone. She’d set up surveillance cameras and taken pictures.

“Fuck,” Wyatt shouted.

“How did she get these?” Gavin asked the room at large.

Dale answered. “She had to have set up cameras on people’s properties because there’s no way for her to get close enough to take pictures of us without our knowledge. She’s human. Her scent would have alerted anyone to her presence.”

George spoke next. “Which means she might be aware that a grizzly would be able to scent her. You all said she’d been on your properties. Obviously, she set up her equipment and left.”

Bernard pulled his phone out of his pocket and touched the screen. Moments later, he spoke rapidly into the cell. “Allister. Listen, we have a situation. That reporter who’s been following my son’s mate around has surveillance cameras on your property and several others. Get your family to search their property lines… Yes, she has dozens of photos of half the people we know in various stages of shifting… She’s also missing, and we have reason to believe she took Paige.”

Wyatt tuned the rest of his father’s words out. He was the leader of the Arthur pack, and Allister was the leader of the Tarben pack. As pack leaders, his father could have reached out to Allister telepathically. Perhaps he had wanted to be sure there was no misunderstanding.

The Arthurs and the Tarbens were the two largest families of shifters in the area. They would spread the word and begin to clean up their properties. Wyatt headed back to the front room.

The place was clean. Spotless. It looked like a model home in the living room and kitchen area. No one would enter this apartment and expect there to be a bedroom filled with insanity. It looked like the work of a serial killer, which made Wyatt’s pulse beat faster by the second.

A computer sat on the kitchen table, the lid closed. Wyatt flipped it open, his mind racing. Where are you, Paige?

“We need to search every inch of this place and find out everything we possibly can about Kelly Smith.” George stated from the hallway entrance.

“She probably has a home of some sort in Calgary,” Gavin pointed out. “Assuming she was even telling the truth about being from there.”

George nodded, closing his eyes for a brief second before announcing, “Got two men headed that direction too. Let’s see if we can verify that Kelly Smith is her real name and get an address in Calgary from any of her belongings.”

Wyatt turned on the laptop, his fingers shaking as he waited for the home screen. When it finally lit up, he turned to face Dale. “Need you, man.”

Dale hesitated, looking amazingly pale for a First Nations. He swallowed.

Wyatt jumped to his feet and got in Dale’s face, his voice as steady as he could manage. “I need you.” He knew he was asking a lot of his friend. He knew Dale was probably skirting the edge of PTSD. But Wyatt didn’t have any other options at the moment. He needed his best friend to set aside his fears and help him. “Please.”

Dale was the best damn hacker Wyatt knew. Even though he was officially retired from…well, anything related to solving crimes, he was still the best. Wyatt knew he secretly kept his skills sharp in his home office where he owned the highest-tech equipment known to man.

Dale sucked in a breath and nodded, seeming to snap out of it. “Of course.” He rushed forward and pulled out the chair. “I’m on it.”

“We should split up,” Bernard declared. “We need to head out and look for her car. What’s she driving?”

Gavin answered. “White Nissan Versa. Two years old. U of C sticker on the bumper.” He inched toward Dale, confusion on his face. Wyatt saw this, but it wasn’t his business to tell Gavin what haunted Dale.

Dale lifted one hip to extract the keys he still had for Wyatt’s truck and held them out, never taking his eyes off the computer screen.

Wyatt’s father snagged them. “Come on. I’ll drive. We don’t need six people scouring the apartment.”

Wyatt nodded. At the door, he turned around and spoke to Gavin. “Keep trying to call her, okay?”

“Yes.”

Wyatt glanced at Dale but spoke again to Gavin. “He’ll be too focused to pay attention to the rest of you, but you could help George and Henry search the place. They’ll need to remove all evidence of our existence and find anything that might help.”

Gavin nodded. “Got it. Go find her.”

George stepped into Wyatt’s line of sight and set his hands on Wyatt’s shoulders. “I regret sending your mate to pick this woman up, and I’m sorry. Henry and I will work our asses off to find her and get her back.”

Wyatt nodded. “Thank you.” He turned and raced from the apartment with his dad on his heels. He knew it cost Gavin to remain behind, but he also knew Gavin could be more helpful to Dale and the council members at the apartment. He might even be a calming force for Dale. There was no need for three people to go in the truck.

“We don’t even know where to start,” Wyatt muttered as he rushed back out the front door of the building.

“One street at a time,” his father responded.

Wyatt gritted his teeth as he slid back into the passenger seat of his truck. He shouldn’t have agreed to this morning’s plan in the first place. He should have gone with her. He should have bound them together last night.

He should have told her how much he loved her.