Page 23 of Flare (Bearpaw Ridge Firefighters #17)

Checkmate

Maggie ’ s face hardened. Without taking her eyes off Andrew, she pulled out her phone and hit speed dial.

“ Mary, Brunborn just showed up,” she said tersely. “ Near the stage, in front of the Bearpaw Fish n’ Game Store.” She paused, listening. “Right. We’re implementing the safety plan now.”

Emily watched, frozen, as Maggie hung up and immediately dialed another number. “ Grandma Elle, he ’ s here,” was all she said before ending that call too.

“ What do we do?” Emily asked, hating how small her voice sounded.

“ Exactly what we planned,” Maggie said firmly. She gestured to the dark-haired man who had been sitting unobtrusively at a table near their booth.

Emily had noticed him earlier but assumed he was just another festival-goer. Now he stood and moved with purpose, positioning himself between their booth and where Andrew stood.

“ That ’ s my cousin, Young Mitya,” Maggie explained in a low voice. “ And there are two more of my cousins in the crowd nearby. Mary ’ s officers are on their way. You ’ re safe, Emily.”

Almost as if he sensed he was being discussed, Andrew turned in their direction. His eyes locked with Emily ’ s across the crowd, and a triumphant smile spread across his face. His predatory expression made her skin crawl.

But then something changed. Andrew ’ s expression faltered as he registered the coordinated movement of people around him. A uniformed police officer appeared at the edge of the crowd, and Young Mitya began walking purposefully toward Andrew.

Andrew ’ s face darkened with a familiar expression of rage as he spotted Young Mitya closing in.

With a glare at Emily that promised this wasn ’ t over, he grabbed the support pole of the pop-up tent nearest to him, and yanked hard. The tent collapsed in on itself.

The booth was crowded with people buying local honey and beeswax candles. Screams rose as the fabric top billowed and descended, trapping the customers.

Andrew turned on his heel and raced away in a blur of motion.

Young Mitya shouted, then went to help the people trapped under the tent.

Horrified, Emily watched as Andrew fled down Main Street, brutally shoving people out of his way and leaving a trail of deliberate destruction in his wake. He was headed toward the medical center, whose parking lot was being used for festival parking.

“ He ’ s running,” Maggie said into her phone. “ Heading toward the parking lot.”

Emily gripped the edge of the counter to steady her shaking legs.

“ You okay?” Violet asked, placing a gentle hand on her arm.

“ I think so,” Emily managed. “ I just… I can ’ t believe he actually showed up here.”

The encounter, brief as it was, had left her shaken to the core. So much for not letting him scare me. He looked so angry just now…

“ Dammit! The police lost him at the parking lot,” Maggie reported, hanging up her phone. “ But they ’ re patrolling the perimeter. He won ’ t get back in.” She turned to Emily. “ I should take you back to Ward ’ s place. It ’ s not safe for you here.”

“ No way,” Emily said, surprising herself. “ I ’ m not running away. I ’ m not letting him ruin this day or scare me into hiding.”

Maggie looked like she wanted to argue, but Violet intervened. “ She ’ s right, Mags. He showed up to intimidate her, but he ’ s the one who ran away. If Emily leaves now, he wins.” She gave Emily a reassuring grin.

“ Besides,” Emily added, finding her courage, “ I ’ m sure he won ’ t dare show his face again now that the police know he ’ s in the area.”

Maggie didn ’ t look convinced, but she nodded reluctantly. “ Stay close to me for the rest of the day.”

“ No problem,” Emily said with a small smile.

As Violet returned to the espresso machine, Maggie looked Emily up and down. “ You know,” she said thoughtfully, “ we could teach you how to handle a gun.”

Emily blinked in surprise. “ A gun? I don ’ t know, Maggie. I ’ ve never even held one.”

“ That ’ s why you should learn,” Maggie said simply. “ Nothing makes you feel more secure than knowing you can defend yourself. If you ever find yourself up against a bear shifter, you ’ ll need every advantage you can get.”

Emily chewed her lip, considering.

“ I don ’ t know if I could actually shoot someone,” she admitted.

“ Hopefully, you ’ ll never have to,” Maggie said. “ Sometimes just having a weapon is enough. And knowing how to use it properly gives you an option.”

Emily nodded slowly. “ You ’ re right. I can ’ t depend completely on you and Ward and the others for protection. I want to stand on my own two feet.”

“ That ’ s my girl,” Maggie said with approval. “ We ’ ll start self-defense training on Monday, if you ’ re up for it. I ’ ll talk to Eddie about taking you shopping for a gun.”

“ I ’ m up for it,” Emily said, surprised at herself..

The Emily of a few weeks ago would have balked at the idea of handling a weapon.

But that Emily hadn ’ t known what lurked beneath Andrew ’ s charming exterior. She hadn ’ t understood the world was full of predators, both human and not.

As they returned to work, Emily stood a little straighter. Andrew had come here to scare her, to make good on his threat that he could reach her anywhere.

Instead, he ’ d revealed his own weakness when he was the one who ran away when confronted. Emily felt something shift inside her.

She wouldn ’ t be Andrew ’ s victim again.

∞∞∞

Maggie: Just a heads-up—Andrew showed up at the booth just now.

Maggie: Emily spotted him across the street.

Maggie: YM and Malia were on it. Andrew bolted as soon as they moved in.

Maggie: Emily ’ s okay. Shaken, but okay.

Maggie: Thought you ’ d want to know.

Ward and his bear both snarled as he read Maggie ’ s text messages. That dumb-ass had actually dared to come to the festival and show his face in broad daylight!

He didn ’ t bother responding to the texts. He tore off his woodworking apron and safety glasses and sprinted out the door in under thirty seconds.

Moments later, Ward spotted Emily. She sat at a small bistro table next to the Cinnamon + Sugar booth, nursing a hot drink. Her shoulders were tense, and her gaze kept flicking down the street, where a line of vendors’ booths sagged like deflated hot-air balloons.

Ward made a beeline for her.

∞∞∞

Ward dropped into the chair across from Emily, covered in sawdust but still somehow making his sawdust-covered t-shirt and worn denim look like a GQ spread.

Her heart skipped a beat. Of course someone—probably Maggie—had let him know about Andrew.

“ Hey, stranger.” She put down her chai latte and did her best to make her voice sound normal.

“ Just thought I ’ d drop by and see if there were any chocolate chunk cookies left.” Ward was a terrible liar.

Just like me , she thought fondly.

She raised an eyebrow, her voice dry. “ You sure you ’ re not just checking to make sure I haven ’ t skipped town?”

Ward shrugged. “ Your car ’ s still parked at my place. I ’ d have seen you leave.”

Emily laughed. The way he looked at her—steady, focused, like she was the most important thing in this chaotic town—made her feel anchored again.

Maggie came over with a plate of chocolate chunk cookies and a coffee for Ward.

There weren ’ t any customers at the moment, so Maggie dragged a chair from the next table over and sat.

“ Tell me exactly what happened,” Ward demanded. “ And how the hell did Young Mitya and Malia let him get away?”

He listened, scowling, as they told him the story. When Maggie told him she planned to teach Emily to defend herself, he grunted in approval. “ Great idea.”

A family passed them, then slowed down. “ Ooh, cookies!” their oldest kid shouted.

They gathered in front of the booth. Break time was over. Maggie and Emily both got to their feet.

As Emily drained the last of her chai latte, Ward stood and reached into his pocket. “ I ’ ve got something for you.”

He handed her a small tissue-wrapped bundle.

Emily unfolded the paper and gasped as she saw the carved wooden pendant: a grizzly bear, smoothed to a soft shine, strung on a simple leather cord.

“ It ’ s black walnut,” Ward said, his voice low. “ From the same tree I ’ m using for the table. I liked the idea of giving you something solid—something that ’ s been through a lot and still came out beautiful. Like, uh, you.”

His cheeks went red above his dark beard.

He thinks I ’ m beautiful? Emotion tightened her throat. She closed her fingers around the little bear, feeling its warmth. “ Ward, this is… gorgeous.”

His voice lowered. “ Thought maybe it ’ d help. On the hard days.”

“ It ’ s going to be my lucky charm,” she said, clutching the pendant tightly. “ A guardian bear, just like you.”

“ Except the pendant ’ s better looking than my bear,” Ward joked with a self-deprecating smile.

She already felt safer. Was it because of the charm—or the man who ’ d made it for her?