Anna held her baby and kissed him tenderly. She whispered something to the child and dashed away her tears.
Looking up, Anna said in a frantic whisper, “Take him and hide him. Hide him where they can't find him.” Anna thrust her baby at Nicole. “Please, take him and run!”
“No! Are you crazy?” Nicole barked. She tried to push the baby back, but Anna released the infant and Nicole was forced to catch the baby in her arms.
“What the hell are you doing, Anna?” Nicole was growing alarmed. This wasn't the Anna she knew. Anna Ward was a level-headed, even-tempered, responsible woman. She held a respectable job, and never even had a speeding ticket. She wasn't irrational and unhinged. Was she suffering from some sort of psychosis?
“Anna, get a hold of yourself,” Nicole said sternly. “You're scaring the baby.”
Brendon had woken up and was squirming and crying in her arms. Nicole looked down at the red-faced infant and tried to shush him.
“I have to go,” Anna said, scrambling out of the booth.
“Anna, sit down,” Nicole ordered. “Your son wants you. Hold him, Anna. Come on.”
Anna shook her head and backed away, covering her mouth with one hand. “I have to go,” she sobbed. “Mommy loves you, Brendon. I love you so much.” She looked up at Nicole. “Please, protect him. Keep him safe. Let him live.” Her eyes lingered on the boy. “I love you, son.”
Nicole tried to stop her but Anna bolted out of the diner and fled across the street, heedless to the traffic. Nicole watched in horror as Anna narrowly avoided being run down by a car and made it to the other side of the road. She kept running like a madwoman, not stopping and not looking back.
Nicole stared down at the baby and huffed. “What's up with your mom?” The baby fussed and made a sound of distress. “There, there. Don't worry, buddy. I'll call her back in a few minutes after she's calmed down. I don't know what's gotten into her, but I'll give her a good talking-to.”
Nicole rocked the baby until he quietened down. Her frown deepened as she recalled Anna's strange words and behavior. Anna had seemed more frightened than depressed. Was she going to do something foolish?
Nicole pulled out her phone and dialed Anna's number. “Come on, Anna. Pick up the phone. Your son needs you,” she hissed.
But Anna wasn't picking up.
Nicole weighed her options and decided to wait at the diner for a while more. If Anna came back and found her gone, she might start panicking again. Anna Ward wasn't an irresponsible mother. She had just left her son with Nicole and fled in a moment of insanity. Everyone was entitled to a moment of madness once in a while.
“She'll come back,” Nicole muttered to the baby. “She will come back for you. She loves you.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Luke went back to his apartment to grab breakfast and shower. Nicole's scent lingered in his bedroom and bathroom and he liked it. He liked it a lot.
Whistling, he shaved, showered and got ready for work. He gobbled down a bowl of oatmeal and drove to the Black Bears headquarters in a very good mood.
He was seeing Nicole again tonight. Jade had answered his message almost immediately, adding lots of smiley faces and hearts and kisses to her message. She was excited to meet up with Nicole and she said she would call Prisha to make a reservation at Curry Corner.
Luke arrived at the office at the same time as Dylan. His brother-in-law grinned at him and said, “Big date tonight, eh?”
Luke laughed. “It's not a date. You and Jade are coming too, remember?”
“Yeah. Jade is so excited! She told me this morning that she used to babysit you and Nicole when you guys were kids. It's always nice to meet up with an old friend, but...Nicole is not just an old friend, is she?” Dylan said shrewdly.
“Nicole is...special,” Luke answered carefully.
“I bet she is.”
Luke could feel Dylan's eyes on him, and he knew that there was no hiding anything from Dylan. Dylan Hart had been his mentor when he first joined the Black Bears Group. Dylan was like a big brother to him, and he was family. The guy knew him like the back of his hand, knew his weaknesses and saw his strengths. He could act cool and nonchalant, but he bet Dylan could tell how important Nicole was to him.
Plus, Dylan was a bear shifter and it was clear that Dylan had caught Nicole's scent on him. After Baxter, Dylan was the next best tracker in the Black Bears Group.
It was no use trying to deny anything, and he did want to talk to Dylan about Nicole. Something was troubling him. His bear, to be precise.
Luke cleared his throat. “Um, Dylan,” he began.
Dylan jerked his head towards one of the smaller meeting rooms in the office. “Let's talk in there.”
They navigated their way past desks and cubicles, greeting their colleagues on duty and exchanging jibes and wisecracks. The office of the Black Bears Group was open round the clock, and the office was a hive of activity at all hours of the day and night. Some teams were just coming in after an all-night operation, and they looked exhausted but satisfied.
Luke slapped Baxter on the back as he passed Baxter's team. Baxter was sitting on a desk, debriefing his team members. Baxter's nostrils flared as he took a whiff of the feminine scent that clung to Luke's skin. He smirked and winked at Luke.
Dylan and Luke saw Thor McKenzie coming out of their Alpha, Ethan Flint's office. Thor strolled to them and put his hand on Luke's shoulder. “You okay, buddy?”
“Yeah.” Luke looked up into Thor's intense, mismatched eyes. Thor's right eye was blue while his left eye was dark green. The big guy looked forbidding and intimidating on the outside, but inside that hard, scarred exterior, Thor had a big, caring heart. It was Thor who climbed out onto that window ledge and stopped Luke from throwing himself to his death.
Without Thor, Dylan and the rest of the Black Bears, Luke wouldn't be here today. Thor knew him as well as Dylan, and Luke knew he could count on them for anything.
“Do you have a minute, Thor?” Luke asked.
Thor nodded wordlessly and followed Dylan and Luke into the empty meeting room. Dylan closed the door and pulled out a chair. Dylan and Thor sat down while Luke began to pace in small circles. They waited patiently for him to speak.
“My bear's behaving badly,” Luke said at last and grimaced at his lame attempt at a joke.
Dylan and Thor didn't laugh. They only nodded and waited for him to carry on. They knew how hard Luke had worked to control his beast. Luke wasn't a born shifter. He was Changed, violently, painfully and against his will.
“How bad?” Dylan asked flatly.
Luke scrubbed his hand down his face. “I almost lost control. I almost let the beast out...when...when...” He took a deep breath. “I don't ever want to let her see me like this. As a...” He swallowed the word. Monster.
“What do you mean you almost lost control?” Thor asked slowly.
“I...my bear...it, we, I—I wanted to claim her, you know, really stake my claim and mark her as mine. And I think I did...mark her. I bit Nicole, when we were...” Luke closed his eyes.
Dylan and Thor blinked at him and he saw their eyes widen a fraction.
They looked at each other and back at him.
He expected to see revulsion, horror and outrage on their faces. Instead, they were laughing and grinning at him.
“Your bear didn't behave badly,” Dylan said at last. “You found your mate...”
“...and you claimed and marked her!”
“Well done, Luke!”
Luke felt himself being pushed into a chair. “Sit. You look like you're about to fall over.”
“Are you saying...” he finally spluttered. “...what I think you're saying?”
“Yup! You found her, man.”
“The one female that's meant for you.”
“It's Nicole, isn't it?” Dylan grinned. “I knew it.”
Luke nodded mutely.
“Jade kne
w it too. She was just telling me this morning that you and Nicole would make a great couple!”
Luke stared at them for another minute. “So...I'm not losing control of my beast? I'm not going to shift uncontrollably and hurt her?”
“You'll never hurt her. She's your mate,” Thor said. After a pause, Thor asked, “Does she know, about what happened to you?”
“No.”
Dylan and Thor glanced at each other.
“You didn't tell her?”
“No. I didn't want to scare her. And I don't know how much I should...”
“You should tell her everything,” Thor said.
When Luke winced, Thor put a hand on his shoulder and went on, “When I first met Aubrey, I thought the same way you did. I didn't want to scare her and I thought I was protecting her by keeping her away from my world. When I was working undercover with the Mob, I saw and did things which tainted my soul and stained my hands. I tried to shield Aubrey from the darkness and violence of my world and I tried to push her away. What I ended up doing was hurting us both. Aubrey's my mate, and she's strong and brave. She is a part of me. I should have let her in right at the beginning.”
Luke blew out a breath and nodded. “I...I understand.”
“Talk to Nicole,” Dylan advised. “Thor is right. Your mate is your world and your strength. Don't hide from her, and don't hide anything from her.”
There was a sharp rap on the door and Baxter burst into the room.
“You rascal!” Baxter grabbed Luke in a headlock and rubbed his knuckles into Luke's blond hair.
“Hey!”
Luke wrestled Baxter to the ground and finally managed to disentangle himself. Baxter dusted himself off and grinned. “Someone has found his mate, eh? And he's claimed her too. You smell like a freshly mated bear, Luke!”
Luke looked up and saw a crowd at the door. Some of the Black Bears were still in their security vests and had grime and blood on their faces. They should be exhausted after an intense mission and fierce firefight. Instead, they were crammed in the doorway of the small meeting room, craning their necks and pricking up their ears to catch the latest juicy news and gossip.
“Shouldn't you guys be off?” Luke glared at them. “Your shift's over. Go home. Catch some sleep! Move along now, nothing to see here.”
“You have something to tell us, Luke?” Paige, another team leader, called out gleefully.
Luke huffed in exasperation. “You're all such busybodies.”
“We are concerned,” Baxter corrected. “We care, therefore we share. Now share, Luke. Don't skimp on the details.”
Through the meeting room window, Luke saw his alpha and beta, Ethan and Caleb, strolling past. The two tall men glanced at the crowd of jostling Black Bears in amusement and gave Luke a knowing smile. Ethan and Caleb were good bosses and leaders. They knew everything that happened within the company and the clan. But they weren't coming to help him this time. He would have to fend off his gossipy, over-caring-and-sharing clan members and colleagues on his own.
“Is nothing secret and sacred around here?” Luke groaned.
The Black Bears laughed as they pounded him on the back. Luke threw his hands up in surrender. When you worked with a clan of shifters who were experts at surveillance and security matters, nothing could remain a secret for long.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Nicole rocked the baby to sleep in one arm and held her phone to her ear with her other hand. She had been trying to reach Anna Ward but Anna wasn't picking up her phone. She thought Anna would have calmed down and rushed back for her son by now, but nope. No sign of Anna.
She tried Anna's home number but the line had been disconnected. She rang Anna's mobile number again. “Come on, Anna, where are you?” she hissed under her breath.
Blowing out a breath in frustration, she put down the phone and frowned at the baby boy. “What happened, Brendon? What's gotten into your mom? What's gotten her all worked up and weirded out?”
Nicole drained her cold coffee and left her pancakes untouched. She paid for her half-eaten breakfast and grabbed her bag and phone. She had to do everything with just one hand because she was clutching a precious bundle in her other arm. Nicole had a newfound respect for all the multitasking, unflappable mothers who juggled babies, bottles, bills and whatnots without a single complaint.
“Okay, I know Anna's address. I hope she hasn't moved. Has she?” she asked the baby as she slid out of the booth. “I'll get you home to your mom.”
She tried Anna's number again as she tottered to the door. “You know, I like talking to you,” she murmured to the infant. “I can think aloud and look normal.” She managed a crooked smile as she listened to the ringing tone on the phone. Perhaps Anna would finally pick up this time.
There was a distinct click on the other line.
“Oh! Hello? Hello! Anna! Anna, are you there?” Nicole said quickly.
There was a clatter, and she heard strange sounds, sounds which made her blood freeze in her veins.
“Anna?” she whispered. “Can you hear me? What's going on?”
There were thuds, bangs and male voices. Something terrible was happening. The sounds of violence escalated, and she heard Anna scream. But it wasn't a scream of fear. Anna was screaming in rage.
Nicole gripped the phone tightly and concentrated on Anna's words. Anna was shrieking in the background, and there was some static over the line. Anna had dropped her phone but the line wasn't disconnected.
Nicole pressed her phone tightly against her ear, listening to every horrible, wrenching sound. She could picture Anna's phone on the floor, and some faceless men beating Anna mercilessly. She heard the grunts and curses and threats, and the pounding and punching.
Customers were coming into the diner and giving her curious stares as they walked past her but Nicole didn't care. She stood rigidly just in front of the door, unable to move as she concentrated on every word that Anna was screaming to her.
“You will never find my son! Never! He's gone. He's dead okay? Yes, dead!”
“I will ask you one last time. Where. Is. The. Baby,” a male voice growled.
“He is dead. He is free at last, and he will live forever!” Anna laughed a horrible, demented laugh.
There was the sound of smashing glass. “You will beg for death.”
When the screams died down, Nicole heard Anna's rasping, broken voice. “Please, remember your promise. You promised, you...”
Anna Ward's last words were addressed to her.
Nicole jerked back as she heard a sharp whack. “Finish her off,” a hard male voice snapped. “Find the kid. Go through her family and friends. She must have dropped the baby off with one of them...what's this?” The voice sounded very near. The man was speaking directly into the phone.
“Shit, the bitch made a call. There's someone on the other line.” Before Nicole could disconnect the call, she heard the man laugh as he addressed her. “I know you're there,” he said into her ear. “You heard everything, didn't you? We'll be coming for you, you hear?”
Without warning, the baby scrunched up his face and let out a high-pitched wail. “You—have the boy,” the man snarled over the phone. “You...”
Nicole pressed madly at her phone and threw her phone into her bag. Her heart was pounding and her palms were slick with cold sweat.
Anna was dead. She was sure of it.
And little Brendon was in terrible danger.
“Why do they want you? Who the fuck are they?” she squeaked. “Oops, sorry,” she mumbled, remembering that she shouldn't be using language like that around a child.
Her mind reeling, Nicole stumbled out of the diner and rushed to the side of the curb. Jumping into a cab, she told the cab driver to drive her straight home.
“I can't go to the office,” she muttered to the baby. “My phone is registered to the office account. They know where I work and now they know I have you. Shit, shit, s
hit! Who wants you, kiddo? What did you do, rob a bank?”
“You okay back there, miss?” The cab driver glanced at his rear view mirror.
“Yeah, just talking to myself, I mean, my baby,” she said quickly and flashed a strained, plastic smile.
The cab driver raised a brow but said nothing.
Nicole peeked out of the cab window, trying to see if anyone was following her or watching her.
Everywhere she looked, she saw faces turning towards her and vehicles speeding after her. When she saw people talking on their phones, she imagined they were calling those faceless men who had beaten Anna to death to inform them of her whereabouts.
God, she was becoming paranoid. But who could blame her?
She had no idea what she was up against or who she was running from.
Until she knew, she would just have to assume that everyone was the enemy.
Brendon's life depended on it. If she made a wrong move...
Nicole squeezed her eyes shut as she fought her rising panic and nausea. She could still hear Anna Ward's blood-curdling screams in her head. She had died to protect her son.
Those men knew what they were doing and what they were after. Their violence was systematic, cold and unflinching.
Would Anna's body even be found?
“Anna,” Nicole whispered, pressing a fist to her mouth. “Oh God! Anna...”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Nicole paid the cab driver and raced up to her apartment. Her apartment was on the top floor of an old walk-up building but the place was huge and she had decorated the spacious interior beautifully.
She clutched Brendon and looked fearfully over her shoulder as she climbed the steps. “I feel like a fugitive,” she whispered to the baby. “And why am I whispering?”
Nicole unlocked her door and rushed into her apartment. She pressed her back against the door, forcing herself to remain upright and took deep, steadying gulps of air.
She fumbled for her phone and made a quick call to her secretary. She told Monica that she was taking urgent leave for a week to see to a family matter. She was about to call Luke when she saw an incoming call on her mobile phone.
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