Bears in Flight: Book Four - Supernatural Bounty Hunters Romance Novellas (14 page)

Chapter Fifteen

Tuesday

Logan stilled as he heard the muffled movements in the room next door. His bear grumbled and prowled in his mind. Patience, Logan tried to soothe him.

He’d spent the night scouring bars looking for Brick. There was no point in looking for Maya; she was smart, she could make herself invisible. But Brick, he was as dumb as an actual brick. He liked to drink, a lot, and could barely make it out of a bar without picking a fight with someone or making an inappropriate remark to a female. Through sheer force of his asshole personality, invariably, people remembered him.

Logan had hit pay dirt on the third dive bar he tried. Yes, a bear named Brick, who matched the description, had been a regular over the last week. He’d broken a light fixture by trying to swing from it like Tarzan and had actually prompted their best waitress to quit with his disgusting and leery comments. They were happy to tell Logan that the bear was renting a room at a hotel down the road.

Often at places like these, the bartenders were reluctant to give out info about their clientele. Because the people who drank there were generally in trouble with the cops – so ratting them out would put a serious dent in their business. But, he could see they were willing to make an exception with Brick if only so the bear wouldn’t come back.

It had been pretty late when he found out. He’d gone to the hotel and had waited outside for a little while. Everything was still.

He’d taken his overnight bag out the car and had gone into the hotel to rent a room. Not strictly necessary, but he could just about stomach a night in the flea-bitten hotel if it got him closer to Maya.

The drowsy receptionist hadn’t questioned him when Logan had requested a room near other bears. He usually used the reason that bears liked to be near other bears. That kind of thing worked with humans who generally had no idea what bear shifters liked. This receptionist appeared to be too hopped up on cold medicine to give it a second thought. She gladly gave him a room next to the only other bears staying there.

Logan’s guess that the other bears were Maya and Brick was proved right when he got to his room. The panting and moaning could belong to no one other than Maya.
Yep, they were having some very athletic sex by the sounds of it.

His bear huffed in annoyance and Logan took a shower to drown them out. Hearing it bummed him out for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the fact that he had ever been that intimate with Maya now turned his stomach. He really didn’t want to be reminded of that aspect of their relationship. Secondly, he yearned to be having athletic sex with his own mate.

As he got out the shower, he pressed his fingers to his lips, remembering the sensual caress of their earlier kiss. It had been enough to hold him, but only just. He needed to be with her and soon.

She’d called him when she was going to bed, and that had only made him worse. The thought of her in her tiny pajamas sent arousal searing through him.
Maybe she was wearing the purple vest and shorts, or maybe the tiny pink nightie, or, sigh, the bunny print pajamas.
She looked glorious in all of them but even more glorious when he peeled them away from her skin and licked and kissed…

He had to get a grip. Which he did, in the shower,
several times…

Now, after a reasonable night’s sleep, interrupted by his own desire for his mate and the nocturnal mating habits of the bears next door he was prepared to take them down.

He’d listened carefully as Brick took a shower. Hearing an enormous bear warbling ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’ was one of the many experiences he never wanted to repeat. Then, when Brick was finally finished, he heard Maya get in the shower.
Thank the lord they were noisy bears.

Now, it was time to put his plan into action.

Knowing what he did about Brick, he imagined it was pretty foolproof. Logan grabbed a stun gun and a few sets of handcuffs.

He quietly made his way out his room and knocked on their door.

“Who is it?” demanded Brick, suspiciously.

“Room service!” replied Logan promptly, disguising his voice slightly. Not that he thought it would matter; he doubted Brick would have the sense to suspect it was actually Logan.

“We didn’t order any…”

“It’s a complimentary continental breakfast.”

“Complimentary?”

“On the house,” called out Logan, trying to hide his groan.
Moron
.

Logan heard his clomping footsteps and prepared himself. His own bear howled in anticipation. This was his favorite part of being a bounty hunter – the seconds before he took down his skip. He was excited and relishing the thought of the fight that was to come.

His animal panted and growled. His claws ripped forth, and his fangs pushed into his mouth. He was prepared to shift, prepared to let the beast out.

Brick threw the door open, and Logan hurled himself at Brick.

“Wha…” squawked Brick as Logan tackled him.

The two of them tussled; it was pretty one sided as it took Brick a while to figure out what was going on. But when he did, he started kicking and punching with as much fervor as he could manage. By that point, it was too late. Triumphantly, Logan snapped a pair of oversized cuffs round Brick’s meaty paws, cuffing his hands around his back.

Breathing heavily, he pushed Brick to the ground on his knees. His bear roared. “Stay down, or I’ll stun you,” threated Logan, breathlessly but still menacingly.

Brick spat some blood out on the floor. “Go fuck yourself.”

Logan snorted. “Nice to see you too, asshole.”

“Maya’s mine now,” hissed Brick. “You can’t have her.”

He did a mental eye roll. “You’ve nothing to fear from me in that department. Trust me when I say that you are made for each other. I just want the two of you back in the custody of the cops and my divorce papers signed.”

Brick frowned; his whole faced puckered as he thought about that. “Divorce papers?”

Logan shook his head. “Yes, divorce papers, although I kind of think you might be focusing on the wrong thing here, Brick my man.”

“You and Maya are getting divorced?” asked Brick slowly.

Unbelievable!
“That’s not important right now!”

Logan stilled as the water in the shower stopped. He drew a finger to his lips, signaling Brick to be silent. His bear tensed; he wasn’t exactly thrilled about having to take down his wife. He’d do it, but he had mixed feelings on the matter.

Seconds later Maya emerged from the bathroom; a tiny towel was wrapped around her long body. Brick moaned in appreciation of her lithe frame, but Logan was unimpressed. He pulled out a stun gun. Ordinarily, he didn’t like using it, but he certainly didn’t want to hit a woman, and he had an ominous feeling that Maya wouldn’t go down without a fight.

Her eyes bulged as she saw him. Her gaze desperately flickered between him, Brick, the door, and the window. She was considering her options.
She appeared to be favoring the door.

“Don’t run, Maya,” he told her gently. “I’ll just have to chase you.”

She sighed and sat on the bed. She started braiding her wet hair. She was trying to be blasé, but Logan could see how tightly coiled her body was, she was itching to get out of that room.

“You would, wouldn’t you?” she asked, a hint of vulnerability and sadness creeping into her voice. “After everything I’ve done for you, you’d take me back to the cops.”

She started sniffling, working her way up to her fake tears. She was one hell of an actress.
Meryl Streep, eat your heart out.

“Cut the crap, Maya. I don’t want to, but I will stun you.”

Irritation flashed over her face. “You really are an ungrateful piece of…”

“Enough! I was your loyal slave for years. I did all kinds of things that I’m still trying to forget. I paid for your bond to get you out of jail and gave you a place to live. And how do you repay me? By blabbing to my girlfriend about us being married and putting cameras in her apartment.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” she demanded crossly. “Why on earth would I put cameras in her apartment? I don’t even know who she is or what she looks like.”

“But you did tell her you were my wife?” He watched her carefully as his bear snapped his jaws.

Maya shrugged. “I told some female who happened to call you that I was; I’ve no idea if she was your girlfriend. When I asked who she was, she said she was no one.”

Logan felt momentarily unsettled at hearing that.
Mia wasn’t no one
- she was everything to him. His bear whimpered a little and Logan chastised him, forcing him to focus. He’d asked Maya about the cameras, and she said it wasn’t her. That was good enough for him; he couldn’t scent any deception,
not that she was particularly easy to read in that area…
but it was enough to satisfy him. He and his beast were mildly relieved, although it still meant that whoever did it was still out there.

Maya looked at Brick with contempt, and he wilted a little under her look. Logan had to stop himself from chuckling; female bears could be damn domineering when they wanted to be. Brick was as big and ugly as they came, but even he couldn’t stand up to the she-bear. He’d practically dissolved into a pool of custard.

Of course, he’d liked that for a while too, being told what to do by a dominant female. Not now, though. Now he had his own mate to dominate. His conscience prickled. Is that really how he saw Mia?
As a submissive little rabbit?
He knew that was the relationship between her father and mother, but, no, it wasn’t like that with Mia. His bear didn’t like where this train of thought was going and pushed at him to leave those dark thoughts alone, for the moment.

“Given that the door remains intact, I’m guessing you opened it for him,” sneered Maya.

Brick looked down in embarrassment, and she let out a sound of disgust.

“Why the fuck would you do that?” she snarled, eyes blazing to the black of her bear.

Brick rolled his shoulder, as much as the tight handcuffs would allow, and gave her a look of remorse. “He said he was from room service.”

“Brick, you idiot! This place doesn’t have room service!” Maya screeched at him. “What do you think this is? The Four fucking Seasons?”

Logan watched her warily as her limbs trembled. She was trying to fight her shift. He’d never seen Maya almost lose control, but here she was, fighting with her beast. After a few seconds, she was pale and a little sweaty, but she seemed to have regained her composure.

“What now?” she demanded tersely.

He grabbed his cell phone. “I’m gonna call the cops, while we’re waiting for them to arrive you’re gonna sign our divorce papers, then, when they arrive, you’re going to jail. It’s as simple as that.”

“Don’t!”

Logan expected her to beg him not to, but he wasn’t prepared for the genuine fear in her voice.
What kind of trick was this?
His bear urged him to get on with it, but Logan couldn’t help himself.

“Why not?”

Maya swallowed. “I’m sorry about the bail money, but I can’t risk going to jail.”

“You were never intending to keep your court date, were you?”

“I can’t, I need to be free.”

Logan’s grip tightened on his phone; just the press of a button, a few words and this will all be over, but damnit if his curiosity hadn’t got the better of him. “Look, if you’re about to tell me you’re scared of enclosed spaces…”

“No, you dolt!” she hissed impatiently. “I can’t go to prison; there’s something I need to do.”

Logan, with an exaggerated huff, turned off his phone and stowed it back in his pocket. He folded his arms and leaned back against the door. “Well, I’m waiting.”

Maya mirrored him by crossing her own arms. “I can’t tell you,” she said petulantly.

“Suit yourself.” He pushed off the door and reached for his phone once again.

“No, wait!” she let out a strangled cry.

Logan froze mid-reach. “You gonna tell me what’s going on?”

“No.”

“But you don’t want me to call the cops?”

“No.”

Brick watched the two of them, silently. His eyes pinging between them like he was watching a tennis match.

Logan fixed her with a hard glare. “Those are your only two options.”

Maya scowled. “Did I ever tell you that you made a lousy husband?”

His bear almost barked out a laugh. “Did I ever tell you, I don’t care?”

She let out a loud wail and lay back on the bed, covering her face with her hands. “We have to do something for Merrick.”

Logan froze; he felt a chill of fear slice through him, and even his bear calmed and took interest in what was happening. “Merrick?” he breathed.

Maya said nothing. Logan turned to Brick, who looked as ashen as he felt.

Brick couldn’t look him in the eye. “Merrick turned up at our apartment a couple of months ago; he said we owed him for what happened in Canada.”