Guardian Bears: Marcus (3 page)

“Look, I don’t need your protection. I’ve been fine without you since you left.”

Marcus felt his expression tighten. “Fine? With the Serpents harassing you, with Cal chasing after you? I wouldn’t call that fine.”

“You weren’t here!” She shoved him, her hand small against his chest, the push sending her backward instead of him. “At least Cal’s been in town, damn it.”

“So you’d rather have that slimeball around than me, is that it?” Marcus’s anger was getting the better of him, he knew, but the words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. “Maybe I should back off and let him have his way?”

Lisa’s breath caught, and she leaned back against the wall behind her. “That’s not… I don’t mean that, Marcus. I don’t want him around, him or any of the Serpents. But… I see you come into Lou’s with them, I see you doing business with them, and I don’t know if there’s a difference between you and them!”

Her voice sounded ragged, tired and frustrated, and he wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and comfort her. How could he explain?

Taking a deep breath, he looked down at her and tried to find the words.

“It’s not about them, it’s about you. Us. I needed to see you,” he said, and his voice caught on the words. “It’s been so long, Lisa. Too long. I missed you every damned day I was away.”

“Sure. That’s why you stopped writing, I guess.”

“I never knew what to say!” He leaned back against the wall. “I didn’t know when I’d be back, and there was so much I couldn’t talk about.”

He closed his eyes, trying to hide his sudden pain. It had always been so hard for him to find the words, and writing was even worse than talking. How could he tell her of all the half-finished letters he still had, written and rewritten as he tried and failed to find the words for his feelings? Why would she believe him if he did tell her?

“Well, now you’re here,” Lisa said, sounding exasperated. “You didn’t even let me know you were coming, you just expected me to be here for you, waiting for you to waltz back into town like nothing’s changed. I’m supposed to drop everything for you, I’m supposed to be your, your girl or whatever while you come and go as you please. Just as though you never broke my heart.”

Marcus’s head snapped up at that, and he felt as though a dagger of ice had stabbed into his chest. He swallowed and shook his head. “I did what?”

“What do you think it did to me when you stopped writing, Marcus?” She sounded more sad than angry or hurt. Like she’d made her peace with the pain. “How did you think I’d feel?”

“That wasn’t what I wanted.”

“Does it matter?” She stood up, stretching. “It happened.”

He watched her stretch, trying not to stare at her body. It wasn’t easy.

“Look, this is too complicated right now,” she told him. “I’m tired and I’ve got to get on with my day. Things can’t just stop because you’re in town, Marcus.”

“I’ll keep you company.”

She shook her head. “Not a good idea. I’ve got to work, and somehow I don’t think you looming in the back of the store is going to bring in the customers, you know? It won’t make it any easier for me to concentrate, either.”

He couldn’t argue with that. “How about this evening then, after you close?”

“No,” she said, quickly and firmly enough that it hurt him a little. “I’m going to see my mom this evening, and if you’re here with the Serpents, there’s no way you’re visiting her.”

He looked at her, questioningly, but she didn’t expand on that.
I guess the way things are, a lot of people around here won’t want anything to do with the Serpents or their friends
, he thought. Reasonable enough, though he wished it wasn’t getting in the way of him spending time with Lisa.

He’d need to visit Hazel soon, though, if he wanted things to work out. The whole situation was getting more and more complicated. When he’d seen Lisa the night before, he’d hoped that getting back together would be easy, that it was a good sign, but every step he took, every word he said, seemed to make things tougher.

There wasn’t even an easy end goal in his mind, he realized. Sweeping her off her feet, taking her with him when he left? The idea sounded great, but it was a lot more complicated in practice: she had a life here, obligations, and he knew she wouldn’t just turn her back on them. She wouldn’t be the woman he loved if she did.

It was a lot messier than in his imagination.

“Marcus?” Lisa waved a hand in front of his face, snapping his attention back to reality. He smiled at the crooked little grin on her face, the same one she’d always gotten when she caught him retreating into himself. “You in there?”

“Sorry,” he said. “Got a lot to think about.”

Her smile widened a little, and it took an effort for him not to sweep her into his arms again then and there. It was the wrong moment, he knew, but
damn
she was pretty when she smiled. He reached out to stroke her hair again when the bell on the door sounded behind him.

The noise made her jump, her face flushing red, and he jerked his hand back.
Real smooth
, he told himself, annoyed. This wasn’t the time or place, he knew.

“You’d better go,” Lisa told him as he stepped back around the counter. “I’ve got customers to see to.”

There’ll be other times,
he promised himself. Looking around, he saw the customer was an elderly man, looking through the magazines and ignoring the two of them. With a mischievous grin, he turned back to Lisa and pulled her into his arms for a brief but intense kiss. He felt her knees buckle, and held her tight, supporting her as she clung to him.

A moment later, he set her back on her feet, keeping hold of her as she caught her balance and her breath.

“I’ll see you later then,” he told her as he strode towards the door, past her oblivious customer.

T
he rest
of the day passed in a haze for Lisa, and she found herself needing to recount poor Mr. Clifford’s change three times before she could get it right. Her mind wasn’t on her work, it kept getting swept back to Marcus, and his kisses, his body, the feel of his hard muscles as he’d pulled her into him…

Stop it! This business is having enough trouble as it is,
she told herself.
It doesn’t need you dreaming your way through the days, on top of it all.

It wasn’t easy to keep her mind on the store, though. She served customers, tidied shelves, and tried to put together a stock order, but her attention wandered. All she could think about was the impossibly handsome soldier who’d walked back into her life without warning.

The fact that he was hanging around with the Serpents wasn’t enough to keep her from seeing the man under the leathers. A man who’d left to serve his country and to find his own path, nearly a decade earlier.

His time in the military had changed him, she could see that. The traces of awkwardness had all gone, and he carried himself with a comfortable confidence that she envied. Whatever he’d done in his years away had taught him to trust his abilities. Even before he’d stopped writing to her, though, he hadn’t said much about what he was doing there, only that it was confidential. She hadn’t even known where on Earth he was writing from.

Sometimes she’d thought that he must be in the Special Forces, other times that she was being silly and he just wasn’t talking about it. Not that he’d be a bad fit for that kind of thing - Marcus had always been smart, strong, and fast. It just seemed like she was expecting too much.

Now that he was back, though, it didn’t seem at all far-fetched. He had a quiet aura of power and confidence around him, which Lisa knew he must have picked up doing something special. Special Forces just seemed to fit, and looking at him, she couldn’t imagine them passing him up.

She, on the other hand, had spent the time he was away going nowhere. She was just another small town girl doing her best to get by.

And yet here he was, back for her and it seemed he was determined to make her his.

She shook her head. That wasn’t going to work out, no matter how appealing the idea was. She’d wanted him, wished for him to come back, but not like this. Not as someone involved in the dark world of the Serpents and their gang. She had her own life, her own responsibilities, and if Marcus wanted to be part of her life, he’d have to make some changes to his own.

Eventually, it was time to shut the store, and Lisa sighed in relief as she tidied up and switched off the lights. She really couldn’t afford to spend her day dreaming like that, but at least it hadn’t been too busy. Usually she’d worry about that, but for once she was glad - she might not have taken in much money, but there hadn’t been many opportunities for her to make mistakes, either.

Leaving her work day behind, she set out for her mother’s home. It wasn’t a long walk, but in the darkening shadows, she started to wish that she’d accepted Marcus’s offer to walk her over. He wouldn’t have had to come in, after all.

She frowned at that line of thought.
I’d have done this last week without thinking about it. Nothing’s changed.

Still, the shadows seemed dark and dangerous, and she had to admit that she didn’t feel as safe in town as she used to. Things had been getting worse, a little at a time, and it was only now when she had the offer of protection from Marcus that she realized how unsafe she felt. Turning up her collar against the chill wind, she picked up her pace.

Her mom’s home was a single story house on the edge of the woods. The sight of the trees looming behind the house made Lisa smile. the dark streets in town might scare her a little, but the darkness between the trees reminded her of the long, twilight walks she loved. Another memory of Marcus, she realized - they’d spent so much time wandering there before he left.

“Hi, mom!” She called out as she opened the door and stepped inside, luxuriating in the warmth after the cool evening air of her walk. “I’m here!”

“In the kitchen, dear,” came the reply. “You’re just in time to help out.”

The kitchen smelled of baked goods and home, and Lisa smiled as she stepped inside. “Mom! You should have waited for me.”

“I didn’t want to,” her mother said defiantly. “I can manage on my own!”

She rolled her wheelchair around the central counter to let Lisa hug her, a small cloud of flour rising around them, and Lisa chuckled fondly. “I know you can do it, mom, I just like helping.”

“You’re a good girl, Lisa, but I need to practice doing things for myself. It’s been too long since the accident, I shouldn’t be relying on you for everything. After all, you aren’t going to be here forever! You’ll have your own life to live, somewhere better than here.”

“We’ve been over this, mom, I’m not going anywhere.”

The mention of the accident cooled the air a little, and Lisa had to struggle to keep a smile on her face. She admired her mother’s ability to keep a positive attitude, but she knew neither of them would forgive the Serpents for that terrible night when they’d forced Hazel's car off the road into a tree. Just one of those things, they’d said, and the police had been no use. It was just a ‘regrettable accident’ but it had left her unable to walk.

Her mother smiled. Perhaps it was a little bit forced, but it lightened the mood again.

“You say that now, darling, but just wait until you’ve been swept off your feet by a gentleman who wants to take you away from all this.” Hazel chuckled and let Lisa come around the counter to help get the plates out for dinner.

If she noticed Lisa’s blush, she was kind enough not to mention it. Lisa felt like her face was lit up like a beacon at the thought of Marcus, but tried to keep her voice under control.

“Mom, we’ve been over that,” she said, setting the table. “I’m going to look after you no matter what, and any man who doesn’t understand that isn’t going to be sweeping me anywhere.”

She wished she could be certain of that. Yesterday she had been, but now, today, she couldn’t help wondering what she would say if Marcus asked her to leave with him. Could she say no? Who would help her mother if she said yes?

Not now
, she told herself firmly.
It’s time to enjoy an evening with my mother, and that can all wait until tomorrow.
She put Marcus firmly from her mind and settled down to dinner.

* * *

R
iding
out towards the Serpents’ compound gave Marcus a chance to assess the area, which was half the point. The place was off in the woods, down one of the many old logging trails that crisscrossed the area. An old lumber camp converted into a compound, he couldn’t help assessing it from a military point of view, and found it lacking. The fence was strong and high, barbed wire making it hard to climb, but the forest grew far too close to it, and blocked line of sight. Anyone trying to creep up on the base would have an easy time of it, and cutting a hole in the fence would be easy, too.

None of that would matter to the Serpents, of course. They weren’t worried about being attacked by a military unit, they were worried about rival bikers or possibly the cops, and neither of those were likely to approach through the woods. The road itself was pretty well watched, and Marcus was sure they’d get warning from someone in town if any group big enough to be a threat was coming through. But he couldn’t keep his training from looking at it as a military problem, and seeing how easy it would have been for his old unit to take the place.

He watched for a moment from the trail. A lot of the gang were off on their ride, but there were still a few around - of course, they wouldn’t leave the place unoccupied. Especially not with him arriving, welcome guest or not. Taking a deep breath, he let his inner senses take a peek, the bear inside him grumbling awake and tasting the air. It was foul.

His normal human senses just picked up the forest scents, the crisp smell of wet leaves and the earth underneath it. But to the bear, there was a deeper smell of darkness and evil, corruption lying beneath the surface. He bared his teeth, halfway between a smile and a snarl.

This was what he was here for, after all. Mere criminals wouldn’t call for his special skills; the FBI would do. But whatever was happening near Coldwood wasn’t entirely natural. The way any investigations against the Serpents simply vanished was a sign that they had some kind of protection. It was just fortunate that he and his partners had made the connection of the missing persons without investigations - all pointing back to the Serpents.

If no one else was going to look into it, well, that was what he’d founded Guardian Bears Security for. To handle these problems which people outside the supernatural community weren’t equipped for.

All I need to do is track down the source of their power,
he reminded himself.
Undo whatever rituals they’ve got to keep the cops off their back, and the rest should take care of itself.

It was tempting to deal with everything himself, but he didn’t have to. If any of the disappeared women he’d connected to the gang were still here, their best hope was for the FBI to rescue them.

Marcus had a nasty feeling that whatever darkness the Serpents were dealing with wanted sacrifices, and those girls were long gone.

He swallowed his anger, twisting the throttle on his bike and roaring into the compound. No one was surprised to see him, confirming his belief that they’d had warning of his arrival.
Good to know they are watching for people headed this way
.

Lewis was there to greet him again, all smiles and a big hug. Marcus figured it must be doing his old friend’s reputation a world of good to know that he’d brought in a big contact. Of course, things would turn sour soon enough, but he wasn’t sorry for Lewis. He was involved in what the Serpents did, like everyone else here.

“Come on Marcus, let me show you around,” Lewis said, gesturing around the compound as proudly as if it were his.

Marcus smiled and clapped him on the shoulder. “Sure, let me see the place,” he said.
The more I see, the more chance of tracking down that smell.

It was stronger here, and he could feel the angry stirrings of the bear inside him. But not strong enough. There must be something else somewhere around here. Somewhere the Serpents did their rituals, or whatever they did.

But wherever it was, Lewis didn’t go there. The compound was heavy with the scent, heavy enough that Marcus’s bear was constantly on edge wanting to do something about the place. Not strong enough to be the site of a ritual, though, and that made Marcus want to snarl with frustration. He’d hoped he could find it and get things done today, but no such luck. Apparently the Serpents were too smart, or too lucky, to lead him right to it.

Instead he saw a gang compound, with plenty of space to work on bikes, places for the club’s members to sleep, even a bar for them to get drunk in - not that it stopped them going into town to harass the locals at Lou’s Bar, of course. And there were areas he wasn’t shown, but nowhere large enough to hide the source of that stench.

It’s not here
. Marcus hid his frustration as he settled down in the Serpents’ bar with a beer.
Looks like I get to spend an afternoon telling my lies and sticking to my cover story instead of doing anything useful.

After this day, he knew he’d want to see Lisa again. Maybe he could catch her after she left her mother’s? He didn’t want to intrude, but he was drawn to her and knew that she was drawn to him. There wasn’t any way he’d stay away from her for longer than he had to.