Page 9

Chapter Nine

The Right Bear for the Job

Bellamy

I was more disappointed than surprised that Clover passed out before we made it back to Granger Falls. There was no telling what she’d been through at that strange, abandoned camp, but I had a feeling that time and that talisman were slipping away from us.

She needs the rest , my bear said. She’ll have better information for you when she wakes up.

My bear was probably right. He could sense things on a vibrational level that I didn’t have words for. We just called it our instinct.

Beau and Brad headed to breakfast, with an order to bring back to the house. And that meant for the first time in over a decade, I was alone with Clover Crowley.

Why the fuck was I nervous about it, like I was a teenage boy trying to work up the courage to ask her out? This was strictly business.

Do you kiss all your clients?

I groaned as I carried Clover into my bedroom. I took her shoes off and covered her with a blanket. A smile played on her lips as she snuggled into the pillow, my pillow, but she didn’t wake.

Sweet moon, did she ever look gorgeous with her hair splayed out on my pillow. There was a little makeup smudged around her eyes. Her pink lips parted as her breathing grew heavier.

It took every ounce of strength that I had not to crawl in beside her and hold her in my arms while she slept.

Ugh. How could she still have this hold over me?

She belongs to you. This time, she’s gonna realize she made a big mistake.

My bear had high hopes, but Clover was one stubborn woman. That kiss said she might have had a change of heart, but she’d also been under the influence of…something. I wouldn’t make myself feel guilty about taking advantage of her. It seemed to at least bring her to her senses.

Yeah right. I chuckled softly to myself. No kiss would ever be enough to tame this woman. And I liked it that way. I slipped into my office and grabbed a pen and a piece of paper.

Hope you’re feeling better after some rest. Yes, you’re in my bed.

Come downstairs when you’re ready. I had the guys pick up breakfast for us.

It didn’t feel like enough, but I wanted her to know where she was when she woke up in a strange place.

I stifled a yawn and headed downstairs. It wasn’t so easy to pull an all-nighter anymore, but I was too wired to sleep.

So work it was. It was the one thing that never let me down, that always challenged and rewarded me. I loved doing research because it gave me clear answers. New questions. A logical path of how to solve a fucking problem.

All things that my personal life had never given me. I also worked a lot so I didn’t have to think about it, but with Clover upstairs, sleeping in my bed like a tempting little Goldilocks, I couldn’t think about anything else.

So I pretended to be very interested in the aerial scan of Sawtooth Forest because it would give me answers. I had a rough estimate of how far north we’d traveled from the GPS hookup on my truck. We often had to retrace our unexpected steps on cases and tracking came in handy.

But looking at the trees from above wasn’t giving me the clues I needed. It didn’t account for the way Clover’s scent had sang in my nostrils, luring me closer, or the way the guys had picked up on some random bear scent that I couldn’t.

Had they scented her or someone else? And who had brought her there only to abandon her? A growl resonated low in my throat as I thought of all the things that could’ve happened to her out there. Clover was a bear, more than capable of taking care of herself.

Why hadn’t she shifted if she was in danger?

I rubbed my hand over my tired eyes and sighed. I’d scanned deep into the forest, much further than we could’ve traveled on foot, and there was no sign of a camp. My calculations could’ve been off. But this was bizarre. I’d get in touch with the local wolf pack to see what they knew about a clan camp in the area.

Next order of business was to check the dark web to see if that locket appeared on any resale sites, or if any bears were bragging about having something in its possession. I had yet to be convinced of its power of significance, because this was the first I’d heard of it.

Maybe you need to be investigating your own clan first . My bear’s suggestion made my blood run cold.

I typed the Crowley Clan in the search bar and braced myself for whatever came up when I was saved by a knock at the door. It had to be the guys with the food. My stomach rumbled at the thought of it.

But instead, I found Shirley.

“Did I wake you?” she asked. “I hoped I’d find you at the office, but the guys said you hadn’t come in yet.”

“No. You had me out on a wild bear chase last night, and I just got home.”

Her face brightened. “Please tell me you found Clover.”

“I did.”

“Oh, I need to squeeze her and make sure she never scares me like that again.” Shirley clasped her hands together and charged forward, frowning when I didn’t move out of her way. “What’s wrong, Bellamy? Is she hurt? I need to see my granddaughter.”

“She’s fine.” I wasn’t completely sure that was true, but she was in good enough shape that the declaration served my purposes. “She’s sleeping. And needs the rest.”

Shirley cocked a grandmotherly brow. “Are you sure she’s okay?”

“Positive.”

“Well, then I can just wait here for her to wake up, and then I’ll bring her home.”

I shook my head. Forty-two years old and I still felt like a scolded little boy when this woman I’d considered an authority figure all my life gasped at my defiance.

And now, I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach that she could also be a charlatan.

“I haven’t had a chance to talk to her about what happened while she was gone yet,” I said carefully, hating that Shirley was powerful enough to make doubt every word. “I need her help finding that locket.”

“It’s my locket.” Shirley placed her hand over her heart. “No one knows more about it than me.”

Which was exactly the problem.

“If you want to help, here’s the best thing you can do.” I hoped I didn’t regret this.

Shirley’s face lit up. Whatever power that thing had over her made her desperate to get it back.

“Go back to clan land. If a thief struck once, they could strike again. Look for clues that someone got access to it. I need you to photograph where you kept it and the room it was in so I can look for any signs of foul play. Evidence of what happened.”

I didn’t need all that. What I needed was this woman out of my hair.

“But Clover?—”

“I’ll take good care of her,” I insisted, closing the door slightly so this woman knew there was no room for negotiation. “And I’ll have her home as soon as possible, with the locket in hand.”

“I knew you were the right bear for the job.” Shirley leaned in and attempted to give me a hug. “I’m counting on you.”

I didn’t move from the doorway until Shirley had backed out of my driveway and her car disappeared on the winding road.

My body was on point, my bear ready to pounce. Why had that visit felt like an attack?

Because it was.