“Thank you, this was my mothers. My Aunt Linda always kept it in her dresser and I never saw it again after she died. I don’t know what it’s doing here.” She sat on the bed and opened the box. It was full of money, a lot more than a thousand dollars. She looked at Charles in shock. There was a small folded piece of paper on top of the money. Charles picked up the note while she sat there speechless, staring at the money; tears still falling down her cheeks.
Charles read the note out loud.
Dear Jackie
If you are reading this note, please forgive me for what I did. I was drunk and didn’t know what I was doing. A man paid me this money for you and said he would take care of you. When I woke up the next morning and realized what I had done, I swore I would never touch another drop of alcohol. The man came back and said you ran away and he gave me two days to find you. He refused to take the money back. This money belongs to you. I hope you come back and find it. Use it to make your life better. You were always very special to Linda and me. Love Uncle Pete.
Charles put the note back in the box and took it out of her hands. “I have to give this to Agent Adams. If no one comes forward to claim it in six months, then it will legally be yours. I’ll make sure they give you the box back.”
“I don’t care about the money, do whatever you want with it.” Jackie took a deep breath. “Okay, it shouldn’t take long at all to get my things together, I’d better get to it.”
“I’ll be right back.” Charles knew she was in shock. Thinking the worst about her uncle, only to find out he actually did love her. Charles took the box out to Luke and showed him the note.
“I’ll take care of it.” Luke told him. “I’m sure no one is going to come forward to claim it. How would they explain it? That man we apprehended was trying to find the money. When he heard Pete was dead, he knew the money was hidden here somewhere. He thought he could use the money to buy his stepdaughter back from the kidnappers. When he saw Jackie, he wanted to ask her where the money was. I don’t think he planned to hurt her.”
“Are you going to release him?” Charles asked.
“He wants to help find his step-daughter. He says his wife is heartbroken.”
“Did he know about the shifting?”
Luke nodded. “Yeah, he did, but he doesn’t know about the other girl. He tried to get her uncle to be quiet about it. He’d really like to talk to her, only to tell her he’s sorry about her uncle.”
Chapter 17
Jackie had just about finished packing everything she owned by the time Charles came back. When he did, he had Luke and Mr. Cox with him.
“Jackie, Mr. Cox would like to talk to you. He didn’t mean to scare you.” Charles walked over to her and stood beside her.
“Miss Jackie, I’m so sorry about your Uncle Pete. He loved you very much, but after Linda passed, he changed. I tried to help him, but he’d get drunk and then there was nothing I could do. He wouldn’t listen to me. When he realized what he’d done, he swore he’d never touch another drop and he swore if you ever came back, he’d make it up to you.”
“Thank you, Mr. Cox. Did you know Franny was a shifter?”
“Yes I did, that’s why when your uncle got drunk and started to talk about you, I tried to get him to keep quiet. Miss Jackie, he kept his word. After that night, he never touched another drop. In fact, I helped him pour out every bottle of booze he had. He wasn’t drunk the night he died, he was heartbroken.”
Luke and Charles looked at each other. Luke immediately went out to talk to the sheriff.
Jackie went over to Mr. Cox and gave him a hug. “Thank you for telling me, Mr. Cox. It means a lot to me. I know Agent Adams and his men will do everything they can to find Franny.”
“Miss Jackie, are you going to be here for very long? It would mean a lot to Mrs. Cox if you could stop by and say hello to her before you go. She always liked you. You were always kind to Franny.”
“Yes, I’ll make sure we have time, thank you Mr. Cox.” Jackie turned around and back into Charles’ arms.
“Oh, Mr. Cox?” Jackie called out. “What kind of shifter was Franny?”
“You understand; I was only her step-father. She was a Bobcat like you. Her father and your father were brothers and my best friends. Franny is your first cousin.”
“Why didn’t anyone tell us?”
“We always hoped to eventually, but neither you or Franny ever learned how to shift.” Mr. Cox looked at Charles. “I don’t know you, sir, but you seem like you care for Jackie. I assume you are a shifter.” Charles nodded. “Take good care of her.”
“I will,” he said. “Sweetheart, I have to tell Luke something, I’ll take these bags and put them in the truck.” He gave her a kiss and left her to take one last look around the place she spent most of her life.
Luke checked with his office and the sheriff and his men were on a top-secret registry list that cleared them. They could talk about shifters. Since the acknowledgement of shifters, the government had been working with law enforcement to bring them all up to speed and all the northwest states were the first to be introduced to the shifter world.
Outside Charles found Luke talking to the sheriff. He waited quietly and listened to the conversation. The sheriff had not ordered an autopsy.
“Where’s the body?” Luke asked.
“It’s still in the hospital morgue, we were just about to order the cremation. We had no idea where Jackie was to notify her.”
“I want a complete autopsy done immediately, and make sure that the body is not cremated before checking with Miss Todd.”
Yes, sir, I’ll see to it right away.” The sheriff went to his car to call his dispatcher and relay the instructions.
“What is it Charles, did you find out anything else?”
“Too much I’m afraid. Franny Cox is Jackie’s cousin. Her father and Jackie’s father were brothers. Luke, Franny doesn’t know how to shift. Cox was her step father and a very close friend of her father. I don’t know what happened to the father, but I’m assuming Cox stepped in to replace him. That must have been extremely tough. Man, how do you replace the loss of a mate and that bond? I have to give that guy one hell of a lot of credit and Mrs. Cox; I know my old man could never have pulled through that or my mother.”
Luke just shook his head.
“Are you and Jackie staying in town to-night?” Luke asked. “The team and I are staying at the Bend Hotel; I can add a room to our bill if you want. You are helping with the case; we may as well pay for your room.”
“That would be great. We wanted to go and visit with Mrs. Cox before we headed back into town. We may as well do that now and we’ll catch up with you at the Hotel. When Jackie is finished in the house, we’ll lock it up. Was Mr. Cox any help with who took his daughter?”
“No, but he is going to go down to the sheriff station and look through mug shots. There seems to be a concentration of these kidnappings in this area.”
“Luke, we need to find out how many more young, female shifters are in this area. Do you know where Franny was abducted?”
“Not exactly, but I’ll find out.”
“After we visit Mrs. Cox, we’ll see what we can find out about the other girl. Besides Jackie, is there anyone else from this area?”
“There might be. When we get to the hotel, we’ll set up a board with all the stops Jackie gave us and all the locations that have reported missing girls. I have a feeling we are at the heart of this monster. It has to be right here, this area. I’m going to call in some more agents. We have a few female shifters that can come in and go under cover. Maybe we can do a sting.”
Charles headed back into the house to get Jackie. She wasn’t there. “Jackie, where are you?” he yelled. Luke ran into the house. “She’s gone. Shit, shit, shit. They must have come in the back door.” Charles was in an instant panic. “Luke, I need a wolf, a tracker, now, do you have one?”
Luke was instantly in contact with his men. “I have one on the
way, he was already coming here to join us.” Just then they heard the roar of a motorcycle coming down the road, a Harley slid to a stop in front of the house. The rider, clad totally in leather, got off the bike and walked up to Luke.
“Agent Adams?” Luke nodded. “I’m Cane, mid-west crew. What do we have?”
“Cane, this is Charles McCormick. His mate was just abducted not five minutes ago from this house, out the back door. Her name is Jackie, she’s a Bob-cat.”
“Nice to meet you Chuck, do you have something with her scent?”
Charles handed him the teddy bear. She had been hugging it and hadn’t put it down since she picked it up. He found it on the floor where he had left her.
“Cute.” He took a deep whiff and handed it back. He took off his helmet and jacket and laid them on the bike. He looked like the typical bad boy biker with shaggy hair and tattoos. “Gotta go.” Before Charles could blink, Cane had walked into the house, shifted into a black wolf as he went and headed out the back door. Two of Luke’s men shifted and followed Cane.
Charles was about to shift when Luke stopped him. “You’re too big. Let them track her. We’ll find her Charles, they’re right behind her. At least she can shift. When we find them, then you can shift and kick ass, deal?”
“I have to follow them, Luke. I can’t stand here and wait around. Damn, I can’t believe they took her from right under our nose.”
“Alright, but hold on.” Luke yelled to one of the sheriffs. “Can you stay here and make sure no one goes in? They just took Jackie Todd.”
The sheriff gave him a high sign and was on the radio in an instant. “Go ahead, we have cars on the way.”
Charles and Luke took off behind the house. Luke had his tracking device with him and could follow his men. They followed for about two miles into the woods before Galen appeared and stopped them on the trail.
“Where is she Galen?” Charles was starting to panic big time.
“There’s a warehouse just over the next hill. She’s there, and so are the other girls. She’s alright Charles. I have men surrounding the place and they are ready to move in as soon as we give the word.”
The three of them headed for the warehouse. When it came into view, it was all Charles could do to keep from charging into the warehouse.
“Hang on Charles.” Luke whispered. Everyone has to be ready. We don’t want any of them to get away and we don’t want anyone to get hurt. Think about Jackie.” Suddenly someone screamed.
“Sorry Luke, that was Jackie.” Charles shifted to his bear and ran for the warehouse.
“Son-of-a-bitch. Everybody move in, don’t shoot the fucking bear.”
Charles broke through the side door of the warehouse, tearing it off its hinges. It was dark inside and his eyes were adjusting to the darkness.”
Jackie screamed again. “Charles, look out.” He sensed someone behind him and he hit the floor. Something flew over his head. Next thing he knew; a tiger was on the back of the man that was behind him. Luke’s men charged into the warehouse. Someone hit the lights. With guns drawn, the agents rounded up five men in the warehouse.
Charles got up and looked around. He shifted and was shocked at what he saw. Cages lined one wall on the ground floor. They held a dozen young women. They were dirty, naked, some of them had signs of being beaten. Of course, he thought. These sick fucks could get their rocks off beating some young girl, and because she’s a shifter, she could heal overnight, only to get beaten again the next day by some other sick-o. Just because they could heal overnight didn’t mean it didn’t hurt, because it did.
“Jackie, where are you?”
“Up here.”
Charles looked up to see Jackie chained to a post on the second floor. It was where spectators could stand and watch the activities below. He looked for stairs. “How the fuck do I get up there?”
“Charles, over here.” It was Luke. He had changed back. He had found the stairs to the second floor. They both started up the stairs when something told them to stop. Charles could see Jackie. He tried to signal to her, to see if she could see anyone at the top of the stairs.
He pointed up the stairs and then held up one finger, and then two, and then three and Jackie nodded her head. He signaled Luke. He pointed up and held up three fingers telling Luke there were three men waiting for them.
Luke sent a silent text message to his men. They needed a way onto the second floor without being seen. They also had Jackie to worry about. They wouldn’t put it past these men to shoot her before they can save her.
Luke got a message, his men were ready. On the count of three, they would enter the second floor. Luke watched the count down on his watch and so did Charles. Three, two, one, go. Charles and Luke broke through the door as the other agents came in the other way. Several shots were fired. The men realized they were outnumbered and surrendered.
Charles ran to Jackie. The chain holding her had a padlock and he didn’t have a key. “Baby, I’m going to shift and break the chain. Watch your eyes.” Jackie looked away. Charles shifted and his bear had no problem at all breaking the lock. Once she was free, she threw her arms around his big furry neck. While she held him, he shifted and held her in his arms. “I thought I’d lost you.” He kissed her until she was breathless.
“Okay, you two love birds, we have work to do.” Galen handed them both a blanket to put around them. “Jackie, I’m going to need your help with all these young women down stairs.”
Charles helped her to her feet. “Come on sweetheart, let’s go find your cousin and see what we can do for these girls.” They watched as the three men were taken down the stairs to the ground floor.
Luke had one of his men lock the prisoners in one of the cages. Out of spite, the agent put them all in one cage, it was a squeeze, but he got them all in and locked the door.
Chapter 18
One of Luke’s men brought in some blankets to cover up the captives, bottles of water and granola bars. The girls looked half-starved and they didn’t want them to get sick. Jackie reassured them that they were safe and once they were cleaned up, they could all go home.
The sheriff’s department had arrived with a van to transport all the young women. They also found two young men. Luke told the sheriff to take all of them to the hotel where they could get cleaned up. The FBI would take care of the bill. At least this way, they would have all the rescued captives in one place for interviews. Luke called the hotel and reserved all the rooms on the third floor. He had made sure there were no regular guests on that floor when he first checked in.
Jackie and Charles rode with the girls back to the hotel and got them into rooms. They put two girls in each room and the two boys together. Jackie instructed everyone to take showers and get cleaned up. None of them had clothes to wear so the sheriff arranged for jumpsuits to be brought over from the jail. Food was ordered and sent to the rooms. Everyone got a hamburger, fries and a drink of their choice.
After they had all been taken care of, Charles and Jackie went to their room, closed the door and locked it. All they could do for the first few minutes was stand and hold each other.
“My god, Jackie. I’ve never been so frightened in my entire life. I thought I’d lost you. I don’t know what I would have done without you.” He reached inside the jumpsuit he was wearing and pulled out the teddy bear and handed it to her. One of the sheriffs had picked it up and brought it to him after they brought his Hummer back from the house. “I love you so much.”
“I knew you’d come for me. I love you more.” Charles growled and Jackie giggled. “Come on, let’s get cleaned up and see about getting these people back to their families. Oh, can I call Mr. and Mrs. Cox?”
“I don’t know sweetheart; we’ll talk to Luke after we take a shower and get dressed.” After the Hummer had been brought to the hotel, the same sheriff that gave Charles the teddy bear, had their bags brought to their room.
*****
After they cleaned up and relaxed fo
r a while, Jackie went to find her cousin Franny. She knocked on the door and waited.
“Who is it?”
“It’s Jackie Todd, can I come in?”
Franny slowly opened the door and let her in. Then she gave Jackie a big hug. “Jackie, I was so frightened for you when those men brought you to the warehouse. They were so pissed off that you got away, you can’t imagine what they planned to do to you. I heard them talk about it last night when they thought I was sleeping. You would never have survived.”
That gave Jackie goosebumps. “My Charles would have killed them all if they so much as laid a hand on me. They were lucky.”
“He was the grizzly bear, wasn’t he?” Jackie nodded. “Jackie, did you know you were a shifter?”
“No, I didn’t. I thought I was some kind of sideshow freak. You didn’t know either?” Franny shook her head. “Did you know we are first cousins?” She shook her head again. “Your father and my father were brothers. I guess that makes your mom my aunt.”
Franny leaped at Jackie and hugged her. “All those years we went to school together, why didn’t they ever tell us.”
“I gathered from what your stepfather said, they didn’t think they should say anything if we didn’t know how to shift. They didn’t know how to help us either. Do you know how to shift?”
“No, I didn’t know anything. I have never shifted.” They sat beside each other on the bed. The other girl was still in the shower. “I had no idea what those men were even talking about.”
“I shifted by accident when I was young, but I didn’t know how to do it until I met Charles and his brother. It was Charles that rescued me. Thank goodness we got to you as quick as we did.”
“Why?”
“If you couldn’t shift when they asked you to, they would beat you to death or near to it.” She put her arm around Franny and gave her a hug. “You’re safe now. After everything settles down and we get the other girls home, I’ll teach you how to shift. It’s much safer if you know how.”
Bearly Saved My Heart: Quake Lake Bears (Madison Range Shifters Book 1) Page 9