7. Chapter Seven

Superhuman Security was edging her, and she did not like it.

She should do as he said and sleep, but after twenty minutes of staring at the ceiling she got up. She wandered through the still house. It should be creepy, but the cozy wood and plush rugs kept it warm. The makings for a fire were set in the fireplace. She’d ask him later how to start it properly so she didn’t burn his house down.

The sun shone bright on the deck. What passed for spring in Damruck had arrived. Today would be sunny and warm. Tomorrow it might snow. Mother Nature had a sick sense of humor in the South. Or maybe she just stayed drunk.

Gaelynn wasn’t used to so much idle time. Behemoth said he’d take her by her apartment so she could gather a few things, but so far they hadn’t been able to do much without an interruption.

Maybe she could go by herself. She peeked into the garage and found a motorcycle she had no idea how to start, much less drive, and a massive truck. She might be able to handle the truck, but it felt weird to take his vehicle without asking first.

If there had been one of the seemingly endless supply of Supe Sec SUVs, that would have been okay. She could call Virginia or Cate and have them take her, but she’d bothered them once already. Not that she thought her friends would mind. She just didn’t want to be too needy.

Behemoth would be upset if she called an Uber. Matthew and his goons were still out there looking for her. Leaving the house was out then. She stood in the doorway to his office, chewing her lip. He wouldn’t mind if she used his computer, would he? She wouldn’t look at anything personal. She just needed something to do so she didn’t go stir crazy.

She could check in at work, send a few emails, browse the fashion blogs for a few hours and then he’d be back and she could ask to go to her apartment and get her things.

Decision made, she crossed the room, looking over her shoulder as she went for some unknown reason. There wasn’t anyone else in the house. She shook her head at herself and wiggled the mouse.

The monitor flared to life and she let out a sigh of relief that it wasn’t password protected. Much like the surface of his desk, the screen was devoid of clutter. Only three icons marred the otherwise perfect background image of a forest shrouded in fog: the trash can, the browser, and some software program she didn’t recognize.

She clicked into the browser, peeking through her eyelashes just in case he’d left it on a website she’d rather not see. What that would be, she didn’t know, but former elite snipers working for a high-level security company had to have some secrets.

It was just the generic new tab screen.

She scrolled through all her favorite fashion blogs and stared at Instagram for more than an hour before logging in to her work email. Not much was happening. She worked as a personal shopper for several clients on an as needed basis, and right now, none of them needed her.

She logged in to her personal email and decided which of the hundred or so fashion and designer newsletters she wanted to keep. When she got to the end of those, her heart jumped at an email with the subject line “You can’t run forever.”

The mouse pointer hovered over the email for a while as she debated the merits of opening it versus just deleting it. In the end, curiosity won out.

She knew she’d fucked up as soon as it opened. Somehow, the subject line was a link, and the screen blanked before a scrolling wall of text flew upward. The screen blanked again and seemed to return to normal. The body of the email read: I told you I’d never let you go. See you soon.

Screaming “fuck” wouldn’t do any good, but she tried it anyway. She didn’t know computers, but she was pretty sure that wall of text somehow gave Matthew her location. She jumped up and started pacing. All of Supe Sec was in the office in downtown Damruck. She knew how to get there. Surely this counted as an emergency, right? It would be okay to borrow the truck without permission in an emergency, right?

If she had a phone, she could call, but Behemoth hadn’t had time to get her a new SIM card and River had taken hers with her. What to do? Stay here, with no way to contact anyone, and hope that Behemoth got back before anyone found her? Or take the truck and make her way downtown?

The house had a security system. Maybe it was safer to stay put. She wouldn’t be confident in the large truck, and what if she was ambushed on her way?

Stay put it was. She logged out of all her accounts, cleared the cache and cookies in case that helped, and shut the computer down. Then she turned off all the lights inside the house.

She took a candle from the guest bath and found a lighter in the kitchen. With another romance novel (thank you, Behemoth’s mom), blankets from the couch and pillows from her bed, she made a nest in the windowless hallway. She would pretend she was in Little House on the Prairie and lose herself in the book.

It was rough going at first. Every little noise or creak of the trees outside made her jump. But the book was good, and by the third chapter, she’d almost forgotten how exposed and vulnerable she felt.

The crash of shattering glass was a stark reminder.

As soon as the house came into view, every muscle in his body locked. “Something’s wrong.”

River pulled her firearm from its holster .

He cut the engine and turned off the headlights, letting the SUV roll to a stop. Both of them exited and he let River take the lead. She was better in close quarters. She signaled him to follow as they made a sweep of the perimeter.

He almost lost control as the deck came into view. A gaping maw was all that remained where the glass French doors had stood. Side by side, Behemoth and River entered the house, methodically sweeping both wings like dancers in a violent ballet.

The entire house was empty.

Claws sprung from his fingers and he roared, fighting his bear for control. He needed to stay human to find her. Then he would shift and let the bear rain destruction on whoever had her.

A polar bear appeared at the tree line.

“Where?” He had to force his vocal cords to stay human enough to be understood.

The polar bear stood on its hind legs before melting into the shape of his cousin, Connor. “I don’t know.”

Behemoth took a step toward him, ready to rip him to shreds for allowing something to happen to his mate. His chest caved in. She was his mate. He should have been here to protect her. This was on him, not Connor.

“I’ll call Zeus,” River said. “Connor, did you see anything useful?”

He barely heard her over the sound of blood rushing through his ears. He needed to keep it together. He was no good to Gaelynn if he lost it.

He focused on the polar bear’s voice.

“I caught a few scents, but I was too far away when I heard the glass break to see anything. After Behemoth told me it freaked her out when she caught me on the deck, I moved to a wider perimeter.” Connor shoved his hands into his short hair and pulled. “They were quick, professional.”

His voice came out strangled as he said, “Gunfire?”

“No, none. Nothing but the glass breaking.”

“Not your fault.” No, it was his. The best thing he’d ever known was gone, and he hadn’t been here to protect her. The bear roiled under his skin, eager to do damage. Soon. He would find them. They would regret going after his mate.

River spoke quietly into the phone. “He didn’t see anything.” A long pause before she asked, “Did you hear a vehicle?”

Connor shook his head. “They must have parked far enough away for me not to hear it.”

“You hear that?” River’s voice got louder. “Has to have been several miles. What was their plan for getting her out?”

Gaelynn would fight. Behemoth knew she would fight with everything in her. It would be loud—too loud. He growled again, a ripple of fur cascading down his arms at the thought of her being rendered unconscious.

River’s hand landed heavily on his shoulder. “They won’t hurt her. It has to be the cult, right? Matthew wouldn’t want her hurt.”

The only response he was capable of was a curt nod. It made sense. Matthew saw Gaelynn as some sort of symbol or prize. He would want to show her off to the other members. Gloat over how she had returned. He couldnt very well do that if she was injured.

He launched himself off the couch and paced, looking every bit the caged bear he felt. His eyes snapped to River’s when she set the phone on the counter.

“Bull’s checking the security feeds. They’ll call us back.”

The need to do something, anything, made him crazy. He wished he could attack this the way he did everything—methodically, with plenty of forethought and planning.

All that went out the window with Gaelynn involved. The logical part of him knew going off half-cocked would do her no good, but the bear—who loved nothing more than short, all-out bursts of violence—was winning. It didn’t matter that he didn’t have a target for that violence yet.

“Bear’s going crazy.” He had to warn River and Connor. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could stay in control.

River disappeared into the back, returning with a large case. “You have it locked enough to tell me when you’re about to lose it? I can tranq you, but I’ll need warning.”

He nodded. “Get it ready.”

“You just have a tranq gun capable of taking out a grizzly lying around?”

Behemoth couldn’t tell if Connor was shocked or impressed.

River snorted. “I’m a black bear working with grizzlies. Hell yeah, I carry tranquilizer darts.”

The phone ringing made them all jump. Behemoth got there first and answered on speaker. “Where is she?”

“Glad you have that kind of faith in me, but I don’t know yet,” Bull answered. “What I do know is that it wasn’t the cult.”

His stomach dropped. Finding her just got a lot harder. “Who?”

“The Level.”

River cursed. “How the fuck did they find Bee? How do they know about us at all?”

“Find Ghost,” Zeus barked in the background.

If they had found him, they surely found Ghost. Worry for his friend joined his anxiety over Gaelynn. He set the phone on the counter before he crushed it. Behemoth had an idea about how The Level found out that Supe Sec was dogging their tail. “Garrison.”

The air was sucked out of the room. Zeus was deadly calm when he asked, “What does General Garrison have to do with this?”

“I heard him. On the phone with Sean, right before the explosion.”

He waited for Zeus to ask if he was sure, but it never came. A tiny bit of him relaxed. They believed him. They had his back.

Together, the team was unstoppable. They would find Gaelynn. And he would watch the life drain from Garrison’s eyes as he sank his claws through his former commander’s neck.

She clawed at her attackers, hoping her nails hit skin. If she was going to die, she’d give the investigators as many leads to follow as she could. Pain exploded in her cheek and eye when the man’s hand whipped across her face.

She heard him hiss, “Bitch” and smiled, knowing she’d hit her mark.

“Don’t hit her, you fucktard.” Another voice, this one behind her.

How many of them were there?

“He wants her unmarked. You’re going to get us all killed.”

“Get the fucking ties on her, then. I’m tired of fighting this bitch.”

She couldn’t see. They’d thrown a bag over her head. She heard zip ties clicking around her wrists. It must be the nicer one. They weren’t so tight it hurt. Still, her hands weren’t coming loose anytime soon.

They pushed her forward and the mean one growled in her ear, “If you trip on purpose to slow us down, I will drag you by your hair.”

Noted, Mr. Grinch. She nodded to let him know she understood. She stumbled a few times on the uneven ground, but managed to keep her feet. The hand clamped around her elbow kept her from trying to make a run for it.

She stayed alert, in case an opening presented itself. Her feet had gone numb from the cold by the time she heard a car door open. She struggled again. True crime taught her to never, ever get in the car or be taken to a second location.

Her mind whirled as she searched for options.

Behemoth would come for her, but she had no idea how long it would be before they knew she was missing. Somehow, these men hadn’t set off the alarms when they shattered the back door.

She swung her elbow up and back and heard a grunt as it connected. She didn’t waste any time. She spun and sprinted in the opposite direction, yanking the hood off her head so she wouldn’t slam into a tree.

Cursing and shouts sounded behind her. A gun went off—three shots in rapid succession. Splinters erupted from a tree as she ran past, peppering her arm. Holy shit, they were shooting at her!

Her feet pounded the ground and she pushed for more speed. She’d never been a runner, but she was that night. She didn’t move in a crazy pattern to avoid any more bullets they might send her way. She’d read once that most people are terrible shots, and you’re more likely to run into a bullet zig-zagging than if you run straight.

The forest suddenly ended and she slid to a stop. A gravel road reflected the moonlight. Left or right? She’d never had a great sense of direction, but she had to make a choice. She turned left, but after twenty feet she ran across the road, and kept going in the same general direction she’d initially run.

Maybe they’d see her tracks going left and assume she kept going that way. She was probably getting herself hopelessly lost in the woods, but Behemoth would find her. She stopped to listen, leaned against a tree, and tried to slow her breathing.

If they were still following her, she couldn’t hear them. She set off again at a more measured pace. She wasn’t lollygagging, but she wasn’t running either. She needed to free her hands. She tried lifting them high over her head and then slamming them down on her thigh. The ties bit into her skin, but didn’t break.

Great. Now she was bleeding.

She gave up trying to get loose and kept moving forward. Who had grabbed her? It couldn’t be anyone from the Guiding Light Mission. They wouldn’t have bothered putting a bag over her head.

She could recognize a fair few of their voices. Plus, Matthew was egotistical enough to want her to know he’d caught her. From Mr. Nice telling Mr. Grinch he wanted her unharmed, it was clear they knew she was there.

Had Matthew hired someone? It made sense. She knew he didn’t have anyone with enough computer knowledge to send the tracking virus. Maybe they were being paid not just to find her, but bring her back as well. Outside contractors who would want to make sure she couldn’t identify them.

That had to be it.

She was so focused on her thoughts, she didn’t notice when the light got brighter. She’d walked in a large arc and found the road again. She stepped out of the shelter of the trees and was blinded by a harsh light.

“Over here!”

Oh, no. That was Mr. Grinch. She tried to run back into the forest, but they were on her before she gained any distance. He tackled her from behind and they both went flying. She screamed and they hit the ground and slid several more feet.

Her head slammed into the trunk of a tree and her vision blurred. Mr. Grinch spat a slew of curses as he stood. Panic flooded her system with adrenaline. He was angry, and Mr. Nice was nowhere around to stop him from killing her.

“If you weren’t worth so much money, I’d wring your neck.”

He settled for kicking her in the side. She curled into the fetal position, her breath wheezing in and out of her lungs. He kicked her again and hit her upper arm so hard her skin broke open. She screamed again.

She swore she heard an answering roar. For a moment, she thought maybe her polar bear would come to her rescue, but she couldn’t hold on to the thought. She almost giggled. A polar bear in the south. She was losing it.

Mr. Grinch was still swearing—this time about where Mr. Nice was and that he wasn’t carrying her all the way back to the road.

They both stilled when a high-pitched scream echoed through the woods.

An image of Mr. Nice being eaten by a polar bear drifted through her head, and she sob laughed. She wished it was Mr. Grinch.

He was standing over her, panting at the exertion of kicking her. He snapped up straight, his face scrunching.

“What the fuck?”

It was the last thing he said before something furry and brown swept across her vision. His chest opened in four wide gashes. His mouth moved but no sound emerged. Then he fell backward, stiff like a board the way people do in cartoons.

She giggled.

She was still curled in a ball, but she looked over her shoulder and found herself staring into the dark eyes of a bear. Confused, she reached out and ran her hand along its fur. “You aren’t white.”