Mate’s Harvest: Bear Sheriff III Read online

  “We’ll have to do it again, if…” Marcus said, not finishing his thought.

  If we survive this. If we don’t end up in prison. If, if, if…

  They climbed into Marcus’s Bronco and drove off, heading towards the fancy steakhouse Angie had chosen. They talked on the way there – not about anything important, like what they were about to do in the coming hours – but about the movie they’d just watched, how much they didn’t like it, about the weather, and what they were going to eat for dinner.

  “A steak,” Marcus said, his eyes going far away. “A nice, rare steak.”

  “Rare,” Angie said, shuddering. She’d seen how Marcus liked his steaks and she still didn’t understand how he could do it. Then again, he was a Shifter. She wondered briefly if he’d ever eaten anything in Shifter form – then she pushed those thoughts away, not wanting to know the answer.

  They pulled up out front, parked, and walked to the front door. Marcus opened the door and held it for Angie. She smiled and walked in, instantly greeted by the hostess.

  “Two for Stone,” Marcus said, coming up behind Angie and putting a hand on the small of her back. She felt his fingers wandering downward, then she shot him a playful glare as the waiter came up and took them to their seats. Angie hadn’t seen a place this fancy since she’d eaten in New York, what seemed like a lifetime ago, and all of her worries seemed to fall away.

  The waiter took their drink orders – both waters – and left, coming back moments later with their drinks and some fancy looking bread. Marcus grabbed one without pause, tearing into it, reminding Angie of a starving animal. She smiled.

  Marcus looked good. No, better than good. Great. He’d bounced back after his stint in prison. His face was fuller, his eyes no longer bloodshot, the scruff cleaned up. He still had a rugged air around him, and his manners might be lacking – but he was hers and she loved everything about him.

  Angie found herself looking over the menu, half scanning it and half watching Marcus. He’d taken a few seconds to look at the menu, then she’d watched his eyes scan it, then he closed it and set it down. Then he was back to tearing into the bread. She decided on a nice looking pasta, one of her favorite dishes, and set the menu down and grabbed a piece of bread.

  “You look a little nervous,” Angie noted. “Worrying about tonight?”

  Marcus laughed. “Just feeling a little out of place.” He looked around at everyone sitting at the tables next to them. Most were wearing clothes that even put Angie’s best to shame. They were drinking expensive wines, talking in hushed tones and glancing over at them every now and then.

  “We have every right to be in here as they do,” Angie said. She’d forgotten what it was like to be around people like this. Everything in Charming had seemed so…

  Well, charming, she thought and grinned at the stupid pun. Life had been dangerous, that much was certain, but it had also been good. She liked Charming. She wanted to settle down, out at the ranch, take care of Marcus’s cows, and raise their child. It would be a good life, if only they could stop attracting the sorts of people they did.

  “The hell with everyone else,” Marcus growled, tearing off a chunk of bread. Angie smiled and watched him.

  Their food was brought out shortly and they tore into it, Marcus eating with gusto that made the couple sitting next to them watch in alarm.

  But Angie just laughed and ate her food, enjoying the dinner and the date, everything with Marcus. Finally, they finished, sat around and talked for a few moments more and waited for the check. When it arrived, Angie reached out to grab it, but Marcus was faster.

  “I got it,” he said, his golden eyes going wide at the bill. Still, he reached into his pocket to pull out his wallet.

  “I can get it, Marcus,” Angie said. “You don’t have a job right now, and…”

  “And you have money?” he asked, grinning. “I don’t think we’ve ever been on a proper date, Miss Campbell – and I fully intend to pay for our first date.”

  Angie smiled again and let Marcus pay. They got up, thanked their waiter one final time, and headed for the doors.

  They’d just passed the hostess, who wished them a good night, when the doors opened.

  Angie smiled as she saw Janey Finch coming in the open door, hand wrapped tightly around her son’s, and her husband, Tim, holding the door for them. Janey glanced up at them and kept walking, almost completely ignoring them.

  “Janey, hi,” Angie said, stopping her. Janey glanced up at Angie and Angie gasped. Janey sported one black eye – it was mostly concealed with makeup, but it was unmistakable. “Are you okay?”

  “Hi, Angie,” Janey said, flashing a smile. “I’m fine. Good to see you.” And with that, she was moving towards the hostess. Angie spared a glance backward and saw that Ricky sported a couple of bruises on a forearm, and even more alarmingly – what looked like burn marks.

  “Marcus,” Tim said, nodding as he passed the two of them.

  “Tim,” Marcus said, holding the door open and ushering Angie out, an angry and confused look on his face.

  “What the hell was that?” Marcus yelled as the door closed behind them. “Was that a bruise? And did you see Ricky?”

  Angie was stunned. She didn’t know what to say.

  “What the hell is wrong with that man?” Marcus yelled again, leading the way back to the Bronco. “I should have him arrested! Hell, I should beat him for what he’s done to them! See how he likes it!”

  “We can turn him in,” Angie suggested. “Let the cops handle it.”

  “Like they’d do anything,” Marcus said, throwing up his hands. They had climbed into the Bronco, both obviously shaken by what they had seen.

  “He seemed like such a nice man,” Angie said. “They seemed like they were completely happy together. How could something like that happen?”

  “Angie,” Marcus said. She looked over at him, concern etched deep in his face. He grabbed her hand and held it tightly. “I promise that I will never do anything like that to you or our daughter.”

  “Our daughter?” Angie asked. “How do you know our child is a daughter? Can you see the future?”

  “I’m a Shifter, remember? I can tell these things,” he said, tapping his nose and smiling.

  “That’s… weird,” Angie said, but she was smiling too.

  A daughter? We’re going to have a daughter?

  For some reason, she’d imagined they’d have a son, a rough and tumble young man, just like Marcus. She’d imagined he’d be tough, but fair, smart and headstrong, exactly like his father.

  But she’d never imagined that they would have a daughter. What would she be like?

  “Are you sure? Are you okay with that? I figured you would want a son…”

  “I want to be with you, and I want our child to be happy. I don’t care if it’s a boy or a girl – that doesn’t matter to me. What matters is that we’ll be happy and we’ll take care of her the best we can. That’s what I want, Angie. So I’m going to do everything possible to make that happen.”

  “So let’s make that happen,” Angie said. They drove off, heading towards Charming. Night had fallen. The road back was deserted, as was their conversation. Angie was unsure what to think. Half of the trip her thoughts were on their daughter. Other times, her thoughts drifted to what they were about to do. And still, she couldn’t get it out of her head what she’d just seen. Tim Finch was abusing his wife and son. What kind of man could do that?

  They parked in the bar’s parking lot, which was busy as usual. They slipped around the back of the building, cut across a barely used alleyway, and then headed towards Main Street. Charming was small, yet it took them nearly a quarter of an hour to make their way over towards the sole payphone – they didn’t want to be seen by anyone.

  Finally, they were there, and Marcus made the phone call, careful to mask his voice. He told the dispatcher of a suspected murder, suspicious activity, and everything else that sounded like it would get th
e police involved – Angie thought he might be laying it on a little thickbut the dispatcher took his suggestions very dear to heart.

  He hung up when she asked who he was, then they crossed the street quickly and entered another alleyway. Angie followed Marcus as quietly as she could. They came out of the alleyway with a decent view on the front of the Sheriff’s Department. There were cars out front, but even as they watched, the front door opened and everyone seemed to run to their cars as fast as they could. Angie couldn’t make out faces or even how many of the officers had left, but all of the cars were gone – including Sheriff Nixon’s.

  “Are you ready?” Marcus asked. Angie nodded. “Okay. There might be one officer left in there, if I’m right. He’ll be there to watch the place in case anyone else comes in, take calls, that sort of thing.”

  “And that’s how you’re going to get your information.”

  “Yeah,” Marcus confirmed.

  “Marcus… when I agreed to help you here, I didn’t know that we would be forcing someone into giving us the information. They’re going to recognize us. They’ll be after us.”

  “You don’t have to come if you don’t want to, Angie. I know it’s asking a lot. But if I’m right, and we can get the information that we need – then we’ll have figured out who the serial killer is even before they can find us and arrest us. We’ll draw the man out. He’ll never see our faces.”

  Angie was unsure, yet she trusted Marcus more than she trusted anyone else in the world. She put her hand on her stomach, thinking of their unborn daughter. Right now, Charming wasn’t a safe place to have a child, especially since the serial killer was targeting her specifically for her daughter. She felt disgust and intense hatred.

  “We do whatever we have to do to stop him,” she agreed. Marcus nodded and they headed across the street to the almost deserted Sheriff’s Department.

  Marcus knocked loudly. There was no answer for a few moments, then Angie heard the sound of someone making their way to the door.

  “What the hell?” the officer asked, opening the door. “What do you want at this hour?”

  But Marcus and Angie were pressed up against opposite sides of the door. The man leaned out, looking around – and Marcus grabbed him, one hand over his eyes and the other around his mouth. Then he forced the man back inside of the Sheriff’s Department. Angie spared a glance around just to make sure no one had been watching, and then she followed them inside quickly. She slammed the door, locked it behind her, and breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Do exactly as I say and no one gets hurt,” Marcus whispered, grabbing the man’s pistol from his holster and putting it in the small of his back.

  Angie’s heart was pounding in her chest.

  And then she heard a voice that said, “God damn, Stone. I never thought you would be this stupid.”

  Chapter 17

  Marcus froze at the sound of Sheriff Nixon’s voice. Slowly, carefully, making sure not to make any sudden movements, Marcus turned, all the while keeping the other deputy between him and Nixon.

  “Let him go,” Nixon ordered. Marcus was surprised to see that Nixon had yet to draw his sidearm; next to him, Angie must have noticed the same thing. Fear flooded through the building. “Let him go and we’ll talk this through. No one needs to get hurt.”

  “The second I let him go I’m a dead man,” Marcus muttered, barely comprehending even what he was saying. What has happened to me? When did I become someone like this?

  How many times have I been on the other side of this? Looking at the poor bastard in front of me, pitying him? And look at me now.

  “I don’t want anyone to get hurt. Especially not one of my deputies,” Nixon assured Marcus. He reached down towards his sidearm and Marcus aimed at the man. “Ah! I’m just taking it out. Then I’m going to slide it across the ground straight towards Angie there. Like I said, no one has to get hurt. Let my deputy go and we’ll talk this out.”

  “And the first thing he does is radio this in,” Marcus growled, aiming the pistol at Nixon. But then he let it fall, ever so slowly.

  “He wouldn’t be that stupid,” Nixon said. “Right, deputy? Because if you called this in, then Mr. Stone here might feel threatened, and that’s the last thing we want, isn’t it? So let him go and we’ll settle this. Whatever you want.”

  “I want to find out who’s behind these murders. Because no one else seems to care.”

  “I care, son. I care. But you know it isn’t that cut and dry. There’s more to it than even you understand.”

  “Enlighten me, then.”

  “Once you’ve let my deputy go. He hasn’t done a damn thing to deserve this.”

  “Marcus?” Angie asked. He spared her a quick glance. She looked worried. “I think we should listen to him.”

  Marcus wanted to argue – but he trusted Angie more than he trusted himself. He nodded and waited as Nixon slid the gun across the floor. Angie grabbed it and held it uneasily. Marcus breathed a slight breath of relief. At least Nixon was unarmed.

  “Now, like we said – let my man go.”

  Marcus pushed the man out the door and slammed it behind him. Then he turned the key in the lock and turned back towards Nixon, who was no leaning against the desk. He looked smug.

  “So what was your grand plan, Marcus? Break in here and what?”

  “Do a little research. Figure out something,” he said. Saying the words now, however, Marcus felt a little foolish. Would his plan have worked, or was it just a stupid idea? Was he grasping at straws?

  “You think you’re the only one in town that’s trying to figure this out, don’t you?”

  “No,” Angie bit off. Nixon gave her a glare. “There were others. Maybe you remember Joanna Rivers? She was doing more to help this town than you’ve ever considered.”

  Marcus almost jumped when Nixon’s laugh filled the room. He leaned back, a hearty, throaty noise escaping his lips that almost made Marcus aim the gun at him.

  “Let me guess,” Nixon said, finally getting himself under control. He wiped one eye with a finger. “Let me guess. After Joanna Rivers was killed, you went to her house to do a little research. Maybe you snuck in after my deputies had left. Am I getting warm?” he asked, looking at Marcus. Marcus felt himself bristling. How did this man know?

  “You talked to the reporter.”

  Another laugh from Nixon.

  “They were there, too? No, I didn’t, Stone. But I’m not surprised. They’d do anything to get a story. Anything.”

  “You don’t mean – They didn’t?” Angie asked before Marcus could say anything. It couldn’t be them, could it? And how would Nixon know?

  “No, it wasn’t them,” Nixon told them. “I’ve cleared them.”

  With that, he walked around the back of the desk – Marcus raised the pistol – and Nixon said, “Whoa, I’m just grabbing some paperwork. Probably the same kind of information you were coming in here to get, if I’m not mistaken.”

  Marcus watched warily but true to his word, Nixon opened up his desk and pulled a manila envelope out of it. He tossed it onto the desk where it landed with a heavy whump! Marcus looked at it, then realized it was extremely similar to the one he’d retrieved from Joanna Rivers.

  “I bet you have something like this, somewhere. Hidden in a drawer at home, underneath the seat in your Bronco. You got a load of information from Joanna Rivers – it probably told you just about everyone in town, everyone that’s came to Charming over the last few years. It’s a valuable piece of information.

  “But it’s only half of what you need.”

  “How did you know?” Marcus growled. Something wasn’t adding up. How did Nixon know all of this? Had he been watching Marcus?

  “Put it together, Stone! Joanna Rivers had some of the information, but not all! Where did she get it?”

  And Marcus suddenly understood.

  “You gave it to her.”

  Angie gasped and said, “What? Why? She never mentioned anythin
g like that.”

  “Because she didn’t trust you! At least, not all of the way. And look just how far you’re willing to go to get some answers! I don’t blame her!”

  “You were helping her?” Marcus yelled. He felt a new sense of rage coming over him. “You’ve had this information and you haven’t done anything with it?”

  “I’ve done more than you know!” Nixon yelled, opening the folder and pointing. Marcus had found himself drawn to the desk. He followed Nixon’s finger to the page. Angie was right next to him. They had both lowered their weapons and were instead focused solely on what Nixon was showing them.

  “See here? I’m way ahead of you, Stone. I was way ahead of Joanna Rivers, too.”

  “Why’d you give her this information? Why her?” Angie asked. She looked concerned.

  “Because she was wired into the town. She’s grown up here. Her family was the backbone of Charming. Everyone trusted her. She knew them. She could get in close. Find information I never would have been able to. Find information neither one of you would be able to, for that matter. People around here have been freaked out for a long, long time.”

  “So you used her.”

  “I used her,” Nixon said with a rueful grin. “And if I had to do it all over again, I would.”

  “You got her killed,” Marcus said. “She was helping you out and you got her killed.”

  “I never wanted her to. She pushed someone too hard and she got herself killed. I had nothing to do with it.”

  “She wanted to do something to help the town,” Angie said, sitting down and looking exasperated. “And what we were doing? Meeting in the back of the bar? It was pointless.”

  Nixon shrugged. “She told me right away what your little group was up to. I’m not sure what you wanted to accomplish – but it was pointless. This is a matter for the law enforcement and it always has been.”

  “Why couldn’t you just be up front with us?” Marcus demanded.

  “Because I still didn’t trust you!” Nixon yelled. Angie flinched back for a moment but Marcus held his ground. “And I still don’t, if I’m going to be brutally honest! You’re a loose cannon, Stone. You’re driven by a thirst for vengeance and a determination to do what you think is right, everyone else be damned!”