Bear's Match (Bear Heat Book 6) (6 page)

“Your bear didn't
behave badly,” Dylan said at last. “You found your
mate...”

“...and you claimed and
marked her!”

“Well done, Luke!”

Luke felt himself being
pushed into a chair. “Sit. You look like you're about to fall
over.”

“Are you saying...”
he finally spluttered. “...what I think you're saying?”

“Yup! You found her,
man.”

“The one female that's
meant for you.”

“It's Nicole, isn't
it?” Dylan grinned. “I knew it.”

Luke nodded mutely.

“Jade knew it too. She
was just telling me this morning that you and Nicole would make a
great couple!”

Luke stared at them for
another minute. “So...I'm not losing control of my beast? I'm
not going to shift uncontrollably and hurt her?”

“You'll never hurt her.
She's your mate,” Thor said. After a pause, Thor asked, “Does
she know, about what happened to you?”

“No.”

Dylan and Thor glanced at
each other.

“You didn't tell her?”

“No. I didn't want to
scare her. And I don't know how much I should...”

“You should tell her
everything,” Thor said.

When Luke winced, Thor put a
hand on his shoulder and went on, “When I first met Aubrey, I
thought the same way you did. I didn't want to scare her and I
thought I was protecting her by keeping her away from my world. When
I was working undercover with the Mob, I saw and did things which
tainted my soul and stained my hands. I tried to shield Aubrey from
the darkness and violence of my world and I tried to push her away.
What I ended up doing was hurting us both. Aubrey's my mate, and
she's strong and brave. She is a part of me. I should have let her
in right at the beginning.”

Luke blew out a breath and
nodded. “I...I understand.”

“Talk to Nicole,”
Dylan advised. “Thor is right. Your mate is your world and
your strength. Don't hide from her, and don't hide anything from
her.”

There was a sharp rap on the
door and Baxter burst into the room.

“You rascal!”
Baxter grabbed Luke in a headlock and rubbed his knuckles into Luke's
blond hair.

“Hey!”

Luke wrestled Baxter to the
ground and finally managed to disentangle himself. Baxter dusted
himself off and grinned. “Someone has found his mate, eh? And
he's claimed her too. You smell like a freshly mated bear, Luke!”

Luke looked up and saw a
crowd at the door. Some of the Black Bears were still in their
security vests and had grime and blood on their faces. They should
be exhausted after an intense mission and fierce firefight. Instead,
they were crammed in the doorway of the small meeting room, craning
their necks and pricking up their ears to catch the latest juicy news
and gossip.

“Shouldn't you guys be
off?” Luke glared at them. “Your shift's over. Go home.
Catch some sleep! Move along now, nothing to see here.”

“You have something to
tell us, Luke?” Paige, another team leader, called out
gleefully.

Luke huffed in exasperation.
“You're all such busybodies.”

“We are concerned,”
Baxter corrected. “We care, therefore we share. Now share,
Luke. Don't skimp on the details.”

Through the meeting room
window, Luke saw his alpha and beta, Ethan and Caleb, strolling past.
The two tall men glanced at the crowd of jostling Black Bears in
amusement and gave Luke a knowing smile. Ethan and Caleb were good
bosses and leaders. They knew everything that happened within the
company and the clan. But they weren't coming to help him this time.
He would have to fend off his gossipy, over-caring-and-sharing clan
members and colleagues on his own.

“Is nothing secret and
sacred around here?” Luke groaned.

The Black Bears laughed as
they pounded him on the back. Luke threw his hands up in surrender.
When you worked with a clan of shifters who were experts at
surveillance and security matters, nothing could remain a secret for
long.

CHAPTER
TWELVE

Nicole rocked the baby to
sleep in one arm and held her phone to her ear with her other hand.
She had been trying to reach Anna Ward but Anna wasn't picking up her
phone. She thought Anna would have calmed down and rushed back for
her son by now, but nope. No sign of Anna.

She tried Anna's home number
but the line had been disconnected. She rang Anna's mobile number
again. “Come on, Anna, where are you?” she hissed under
her breath.

Blowing out a breath in
frustration, she put down the phone and frowned at the baby boy.
“What happened, Brendon? What's gotten into your mom? What's
gotten her all worked up and weirded out?”

Nicole drained her cold
coffee and left her pancakes untouched. She paid for her half-eaten
breakfast and grabbed her bag and phone. She had to do everything
with just one hand because she was clutching a precious bundle in her
other arm. Nicole had a newfound respect for all the multitasking,
unflappable mothers who juggled babies, bottles, bills and whatnots
without a single complaint.

“Okay, I know Anna's
address. I hope she hasn't moved. Has she?” she asked the
baby as she slid out of the booth. “I'll get you home to your
mom.”

She tried Anna's number again
as she tottered to the door. “You know, I like talking to
you,” she murmured to the infant. “I can think aloud and
look normal.” She managed a crooked smile as she listened to
the ringing tone on the phone. Perhaps Anna would finally pick up
this time.

There was a distinct click on
the other line.

“Oh! Hello? Hello!
Anna! Anna, are you there?” Nicole said quickly.

There was a clatter, and she
heard strange sounds, sounds which made her blood freeze in her
veins.

“Anna?” she
whispered. “Can you hear me? What's going on?”

There were thuds, bangs and
male voices. Something terrible was happening. The sounds of
violence escalated, and she heard Anna scream. But it wasn't a
scream of fear. Anna was screaming in rage.

Nicole gripped the phone
tightly and concentrated on Anna's words. Anna was shrieking in the
background, and there was some static over the line. Anna had
dropped her phone but the line wasn't disconnected.

Nicole pressed her phone
tightly against her ear, listening to every horrible, wrenching
sound. She could picture Anna's phone on the floor, and some
faceless men beating Anna mercilessly. She heard the grunts and
curses and threats, and the pounding and punching.

Customers were coming into
the diner and giving her curious stares as they walked past her but
Nicole didn't care. She stood rigidly just in front of the door,
unable to move as she concentrated on every word that Anna was
screaming to her.

“You will never find my
son! Never! He's gone. He's dead okay? Yes, dead!”

“I will ask you one
last time. Where. Is. The. Baby,” a male voice growled.

“He is dead. He is
free at last, and he will live forever!” Anna laughed a
horrible, demented laugh.

There was the sound of
smashing glass. “You will beg for death.”

When the screams died down,
Nicole heard Anna's rasping, broken voice. “Please, remember
your promise. You promised, you...”

Anna Ward's last words were
addressed to her.

Nicole jerked back as she
heard a sharp whack. “Finish her off,” a hard male voice
snapped. “Find the kid. Go through her family and friends.
She must have dropped the baby off with one of them...what's this?”
The voice sounded very near. The man was speaking directly into the
phone.

“Shit, the bitch made a
call. There's someone on the other line.” Before Nicole could
disconnect the call, she heard the man laugh as he addressed her. “I
know you're there,” he said into her ear. “You heard
everything, didn't you? We'll be coming for you, you hear?”

Without warning, the baby
scrunched up his face and let out a high-pitched wail. “You—have
the boy,” the man snarled over the phone. “You...”

Nicole pressed madly at her
phone and threw her phone into her bag. Her heart was pounding and
her palms were slick with cold sweat.

Anna was dead. She was sure
of it.

And little Brendon was in
terrible danger.

“Why do they want you?
Who the fuck are they?” she squeaked. “Oops, sorry,”
she mumbled, remembering that she shouldn't be using language like
that around a child.

Her mind reeling, Nicole
stumbled out of the diner and rushed to the side of the curb.
Jumping into a cab, she told the cab driver to drive her straight
home.

“I can't go to the
office,” she muttered to the baby. “My phone is
registered to the office account. They know where I work and now
they know I have you. Shit, shit, shit! Who wants you, kiddo? What
did you do, rob a bank?”

“You okay back there,
miss?” The cab driver glanced at his rear view mirror.

“Yeah, just talking to
myself, I mean, my baby,” she said quickly and flashed a
strained, plastic smile.

The cab driver raised a brow
but said nothing.

Nicole peeked out of the cab
window, trying to see if anyone was following her or watching her.

Everywhere she looked, she
saw faces turning towards her and vehicles speeding after her. When
she saw people talking on their phones, she imagined they were
calling those faceless men who had beaten Anna to death to inform
them of her whereabouts.

God, she was becoming
paranoid. But who could blame her?

She had no idea what she was
up against or who she was running from.

Until she knew, she would
just have to assume that everyone was the enemy.

Brendon's life depended on
it. If she made a wrong move...

Nicole squeezed her eyes shut
as she fought her rising panic and nausea. She could still hear Anna
Ward's blood-curdling screams in her head. She had died to protect
her son.

Those men knew what they were
doing and what they were after. Their violence was systematic, cold
and unflinching.

Would Anna's body even be
found?

“Anna,” Nicole
whispered, pressing a fist to her mouth. “Oh God! Anna...”

CHAPTER
THIRTEEN

Nicole paid the cab driver
and raced up to her apartment. Her apartment was on the top floor of
an old walk-up building but the place was huge and she had decorated
the spacious interior beautifully.

She clutched Brendon and
looked fearfully over her shoulder as she climbed the steps. “I
feel like a fugitive,” she whispered to the baby. “And
why am I whispering?”

Nicole unlocked her door and
rushed into her apartment. She pressed her back against the door,
forcing herself to remain upright and took deep, steadying gulps of
air.

She fumbled for her phone and
made a quick call to her secretary. She told Monica that she was
taking urgent leave for a week to see to a family matter. She was
about to call Luke when she saw an incoming call on her mobile phone.

It was an unknown number.

With trembling fingers,
Nicole succeeding in switching off her phone altogether. Smartphones
were useful but they could be too smart. Those scary men who had
killed Anna could probably pinpoint her location if she picked up the
call.

Nicole rushed into her
bedroom and put the baby on the bed. The little boy was sleeping
soundly, and she marveled at the peaceful look on his face. He had
no idea that his mother was dead and he was in the hands of a woman
who could fight like a tiger in court but couldn't change a diaper to
save her life.

“Don't worry, little
buddy,” she muttered. “I'm a fast learner. I can learn
to change a diaper. You might be stuck with me, but you won't be
stuck with a dirty diaper.”

Nicole wondered if she should
go to the police, but she had heard of people disappearing while in
police custody. The Mayor was doing his best to clean up the city
and wipe out organized crime, but the mob still had a wide reach.
There were dirty cops and high-ranking officials in government
departments who were on the take. She wasn't taking any risks. She
couldn't risk handing Brendon over to the wrong people.

Who could she trust?

She wanted to call Luke so
bad. She could trust him. But she didn't trust her phone.

She was being hunted and she
hated feeling so helpless.

“What should I do?
Where should I go? I know, I should pack,” Nicole said with
grim determination, spinning round and pulling out a backpack from
her cupboard. “I don't think we have a choice, Brendon. We've
got to run. But I don't know where we're going, yet.”

She found it oddly comforting
and calming to talk aloud to the sleeping baby. It made her focus
and enabled her to organize her thoughts somewhat.