Page 6

Chapter 6

A bear! An actual fucking bear! I squealed, dropped back and lifted my service weapon to face the enormous creature in front of me. It took one look at my gun and slid to a stop, then it lifted its paws. It would have been comical if I hadn’t just nearly shit myself.

Clearly this wasn’t a normal animal so it had to be shifter. I dropped my weapon down to my side but didn’t re-holster it. ‘Who are you, and why are you tormenting Hayleigh?’ I yelled.

Sidnee joined me, her breath ragged with exertion and panic. She put her hands on her hips and glared at the bear too. It shrank into itself and morphed from a huge beast into a thin, scraggly, middle-aged looking man. I kept my eyes firmly on his face since he was butt naked; I still wasn’t accustomed to the nonchalance of shifter nakedness and I really didn’t want to see a strange man’s junk. The only dangling equipment I wanted to see was Connor’s – not that I got to see it dangling all that often .

‘I’m not tormenting her,’ the man said hesitantly, rubbing the back of his neck. He had pale blond hair and looked as though he’d been trying to grow a beard but couldn’t find enough energy for the hair to appear. He seemed a little shy – not about his nakedness, since he made no move to cover his meat and vegetables – and didn’t meet my eyes when he spoke. He was tall, but his nervousness made him seem much smaller than he actually was. But that bear hadn’t been shy; he’d been prowling through the woods intent on doing who-knew-what to Hayleigh.

Much to the man’s alarm, Shadow stalked around him. I slapped my leg in a half-arsed effort to call him to me fully expecting nothing to happen, but Shadow promptly came and sat next to me as though he were a trained dog.

Huh.

I put my gun back in its holster, stroked my cat for a job well done and folded my arms. ‘Hayleigh thinks a bigfoot is going to ravish her. But it’s you she keeps seeing, isn’t it?’

Looking ashamed, the man nodded his head.

‘So start explaining or I’m taking you in for stalking and intent to cause bodily harm.’ I was bluffing because there wasn’t really anything I could pin on him, but the threat seemed to scare him .

He looked at me, eyes wide with panic. ‘Please don’t!’ he blurted. ‘I’d never hurt Hayleigh. I love her. I’m her husband, Ray Farnsworth.’

Sidnee snorted derisively. ‘Her husband left her. That doesn’t sound too much like true love.’

The bear shifter seemed to collapse in on himself even further. ‘I–I did leave, but it’s not because I don’t love her. Things had grown stale between us. She’s … bored with me. She loves these smutty romance books – she spends hours reading them and I can’t compete with that.’

As he gestured down at his junk, I followed the gesture then berated myself for looking. Ack. I couldn’t unsee that. I tore my eyes back to his face, wondering how I’d got sucked into this fiasco.

He continued, ‘I told her I’d leave her unless she gave up reading those books. She didn’t, so I went.’ He shrugged. ‘It’s important to follow through so people know you mean what you say.’

‘Sure,’ I interrupted. ‘So maybe you should be careful about what you say!’ His shoulders slumped. I held up a hand. ‘Let me just make sure I’m clear on the situation. Your wife likes books and you made her choose between you and them?’

‘Yes.’

‘And you were surprised when you lost?’ I shook my head in disbelief. What an idiot. I glared at him. ‘Everyone deserves books. Books are knowledge and fun and escapism. It’s not okay for anyone to dictate what books someone reads and when.’ I paused. ‘Except school teachers – I guess they have to specify books to read for exams. But apart from that, fictional dictatorship is an absolute no-no. Do you hear me?’

Ray nodded mutely.

Sidnee huffed. ‘Good Lord, this is an easy fix. Are your clothes nearby?’ Ray nodded and pointed to a tree. ‘Well, go get dressed,’ she instructed, shooing him with her hands.

He went and dressed; when he returned, he was wearing fishing gear: brown Xtra-Tuf boots, jeans and a sweatshirt with a rain jacket slung over it.

‘Now, we’re going to talk with your wife.’ Sidnee’s tone brooked no argument. He slumped further but followed us obediently.

I stopped to put Shadow in the vehicle, which the cat protested loudly about, then we all walked to the front door and knocked. Hayleigh flung it open again. ‘What…?’ She stopped dead when she spied her erstwhile husband. ‘Ray!’ She looked gobsmacked, then she burst into tears and ran inside the house.

We followed her and guided Ray firmly to the sofa. ‘You stay here,’ I growled. I prowled down the hallway to find Hayleigh, leaving Fluffy and Sidnee guarding him in case his crimes were far greater than the bookish sins he’d confessed to.

I knocked lightly on the bedroom door. ‘Hayleigh? Are you alright?’

Uncontrolled sobbing was the only response. I sighed and opened the door. She’d wanted the police and now she had them; I was solving this damned mess so that I could tick it off my list. ‘Has he hurt you physically?’ I asked gently.

She stopped mid-sob. ‘Goodness no, never! But he,’ her lip wobbled, ‘left me!’

So he wasn't an abusive asshole just an inconsiderate one. ‘Come on, let’s go into the living room and work this out.’

‘He left me!’ She started sobbing again.

I stifled a sigh. Was this what I’d spent nine weeks at the academy for? It wasn’t police work, it was social work – but then again, the two were often intertwined. I softened my voice. ‘Hayleigh, he regrets it deeply. Let’s talk to him.’

Hayleigh looked up then wiped away the tears with her sleeve and stood. Some hiccups followed, but they had stopped by the time we entered the living room. Her face was blotchy but her eyes had a hopeful light that I hoped was warranted. If Ray fucked this up now, it was on him.

I led her to sit across from her husband. ‘This little fiasco is because you two need to communicate. Ray says he gave you an ultimatum and followed through. It was a stupid thing to do and he accepts that now. Don’t you?’ I slid a fierce glare at Ray.

He nodded frantically.

‘Good. Ray screwed up. He’s sorry.’ I looked sternly at him. ‘Tell her what you told us.’

He blanched, leaned forward and stared at his hands, which he was rapidly clasping and unclasping. He looked up at Hayleigh then back down again.

‘I’m sorry, Haze, I–I just felt like you didn’t care about me. You only cared about your books and those sexy primal animals. I thought maybe if I left, it would make you realise you had your own one at home. You didn’t seem to miss me but I – I really missed you. I couldn’t stand being away from you so I watched you from out there in my bear skin, just to check on you. I swear I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m sorry.’

Hayleigh’s mouth hung open for a beat. ‘Ray! Why didn’t you just come back home?’ Her voice softened. ‘I’ve missed you so much.’

His head shot up. ‘You have?’

She stood up and threw herself at her husband. He caught her and there was a lot of mumbling and kissing; when things got a bit gropey, it was definitely time for us to leave.

I cleared my throat awkwardly. ‘We’ll see ourselves out.’

Sidnee grinned as she stood up. ‘Our work here is done.’

The couple ignored us. I cleared my throat more loudly so that they would look at me then I said firmly, ‘We don’t want to be called back here. Work your shit out – and get a dog.’ I addressed that last part to Hayleigh.

Hands clasped, they smiled at us. ‘Thank you, Fanged Flopsy!’ Hayleigh beamed at me.

Oh boy. It almost hurt not to roll my eyes. ‘You’re welcome.’ I nodded at Fluffy, and Sidnee. ‘Let’s go.’ I hoped that the couple could work it out and be happy together. Stupid decisions led to weird shit in this town.

Back in the Nomo vehicle, Sidnee said, ‘That was weird but sort of … cute,’

‘Yeah. At least there was no nantinaq or beast from beyond, and I like an easy case we can cross off. It makes me feel like an achiever.’

‘True. Maybe I’ll write a book about all the crazy stuff around here, call it nonfiction and see what kind of reaction I get.’

‘You’ll get a visit from the MIB,’ I warned darkly .

She perked right up, ‘Oooh, speaking of sexy former MIB officers—’

‘We really weren’t,’ I interrupted, amused.

Sidnee blithely ignored me. ‘I’ve got a date tomorrow night with Thomas!’

I put the SUV in gear and backed out of the driveway. ‘Really? Things are moving along?’

Finally!

‘He’s so careful of me. I get it, I know I’m a mess. Part of me is terrified, and the other part wants to climb that man like a tree.’

I grinned. ‘Listen, only you can decide where you want to go.’

‘I know.’ She grimaced. ‘After the whole Chris mess, I just… I don’t really trust myself. My judgement, you know?’

I did know, but Thomas was different. ‘Thomas isn’t Chris. He’s a good man underneath all the weaponry. He isn’t dealing drugs, he’s a pillar of the community and a council member. And he is so gentle with you.’ I paused. ‘So loving.’

She hit me. ‘Don’t use the L word.’

I grinned. ‘It doesn’t bite.’

She looked out the window. ‘Sometimes it does. ’

I changed the subject. ‘Let’s go see what turned up while we were gone, and then in…’ I glanced at the clock on the dash ‘…five hours, I’ll get my doughnuts and talk to a hag.’