Bear To The Bone (Bear Claw Security 1)

by Terry Bolryder

  “No, Carrie shut it down for a couple days. Overwhelmed.”

  “Oooh, her name’s Carrie,” he heard Bronson tease in the background, prior to a smack from Limes.

  “Yes,” Cage said, nonplussed. “And she hates me right now. She just found out about my bear.”

  “Uh-oh,” Bronson said. “You better mate her quick.”

  “Right, after I take down a crooked motorcycle club and convince her that every lie I told was for her own good, I’ll make sure and do that,” he said sarcastically.

  “Don’t take that tone with us,” Limes said sourly. “You’re the one who got yourself into this mess going into this thing alone.”

  “I know,” Cage said. It wasn’t right to take his problems out on anyone else.

  “We’re here for you, bro,” Bronson said in a low voice.

  “Great. I’m headed to the bar.” He headed to where his bike was parked near the compound, looked around for anyone who might see him, and started the engine. “I’ll call back when I’m in.”

  “Great,” Limes said. “We’ll keep searching. They didn’t label these damn files properly, so we have to keep opening them.”

  “Sounds good,” Cage said. He appreciated his friends putting so much manpower into a job that was essentially going to be unpaid. But that’s what brothers did for each other.

  Real brothers, not the backstabbers ready to cut each other’s throats at the Aces compound.

  He rode to Carrie’s bar and parked his bike out of sight in the alley beside it. Then he walked up to the back entrance and slid the key Carrie gave him into the lock. He was lucky she trusted him at all considering what had just gone down between them.

  He still couldn’t believe Willow had outed him. Just a day more and he might have been able to tell Carrie himself. He hated the hurt he’d seen in her face while they’d sat on the log in the dark. Hated how disappointed she’d looked that he’d lied about the Aces thing, too.

  Maybe he’d made a few mistakes, but he could still make it right. If nothing went wrong.

  He went inside in the dark and shut the door quietly behind him. Then he locked it before flicking on the lights. He was in the back office. He looked around it as he pulled out his phone and put it to his ear. When they were somewhere they shouldn’t be, they often kept their phone on so if they were surprised and couldn’t call for backup, someone else would hear what had happened.

  He said a quick hi to Limes to let him know he was there and then slid the phone in his jacket pocket and started looking through drawers in Carrie’s desk.

  No, Carrie was organized. If there was something out of place in the office, she would have found it. She wasn’t the type to take over the business and not overturn any space.

  He walked out into the main bar and looked around. It had a rustic vibe, with wood floors and handmade furniture. The guy who had originally owned it when his mom was here was a mountain survivalist type.

  So he had to think. Where would Cage’s mom or a guy like that hide something secret if they didn’t have time to take it outside?

  He looked at the floor beneath his feet. If he had to guess, under a floorboard somewhere. But not where other people would be able to access it. He walked behind the bar, watching outside to be careful no one could see him if they walked by. The lights in the bar were off, and the faint glow from the office was obscured by the closed door between it and the main area.

  He crouched down and ran his hands over the knotty wood floor behind the counter. When his hand hit a raised edge, he grinned and dug his fingernails into the wood, lifting it.

  When he pulled it up, he saw a layer of dirt over something metal. He lifted the box in his hand and it came free from the ground with a loud creak. He looked around and then used light from his phone to see exactly how to open it.

  He heard Limes’s voice and put the phone to his ear.

  “You find it?” Limes asked.

  “Yeah, I think so,” Cage said.

  “That wasn’t hard,” Bronson said.

  “Well, he was a backwoods hick, not Special Forces,” Cage muttered. “Still, the box is locked.”

  “Bear,” Limes muttered.

  “Oh, right,” Cage said, ripping the lock off and prying open the box with his bare hands. The bear in him was far beneath the surface, forced there after his shift had caused a rift with Carrie.

  “What’d you find?” Bronson asked as Cage lifted a worn, musty book with uneven pages out of the box. Some fell out and fluttered to the ground, looking like old leaves. He picked one up and held his phone over it.

  “Looks like a log book,” he said. “Some kind of ledger.”

  “Bingo,” Limes said. “Take pictures with your phone.”

  “I gotta take it to the back office,” Cage said. He put all the pages back into the box and carried it back to Carrie’s office. Then he set it down and took the loose pages out one by one. He started taking pics as quickly as he could, not really caring what was on there. He was in a risky position because the Aces could be back anytime.

  And he wanted to get back to Carrie. The guys could look at the scans of the pages for what they needed. When he was done with the loose pages, he started photographing the pages in the thick ledger. That took time. He had to make sure each was clear enough to show the words and numbers.

  He wasn’t positive they would have what they needed, but he did see some things that raised flags. Particularly loan sharking with the locals. That would be pretty much off-limits for the clubs. They were supposed to minimize contact with civilians so they didn’t cause police trouble for the main clubs.

  Not that the Winter Falls Aces had ever tried to adhere to that. Cage just needed proof of it, and he was pretty sure he had it here.

  He heard the bell over the front door of the bar jingle and froze where he stood.

  Someone was coming in, and he doubted it was Carrie. Luckily, he’d locked the office door before going in there, so whoever it was, they wouldn’t know who was in there… yet.

  Maybe they’d think it was Carrie?

  He scooped everything into the box and took a slow step back. The floor creaked, and he bit back a curse.

  “Everything okay?” he heard Limes ask in the phone against his ear where he held it with his head to his shoulder.

  “Shh,” he said.

  The voices in the bar grew louder and became familiar.

  “Someone’s in there,” said a voice that sounded like Harvey’s.

  “Yeah,” Steve said. “We shouldn’t be here.”

  “We don’t have a choice,” Pete hissed. “That idiot Cage will be with his girl when the bar’s closed. We’ve got him fucking her and keeping her out of our way. I told him we’d be gone and to stay at the compound, so I have no doubt he went running to stay at her place.”

  “Why does he hate us?” Steve hissed.

  “Long story,” Pete said.

  “Then why is he back?” Harvey said.

  “Good question,” Pete said. “But until we know, we need to make sure our shit isn’t just hanging out for anyone to find.”

  “Then who’s in the office?”

  “Probably just someone left the light on to make us think someone was here.”

  Cage’s heart thudded. So they did suspect him. Pete had made a smart move, going on a ride as promised but stopping here on the way back. He’d known when he said Cage should stay at the bar to look like a leader that was the last thing Cage would want to do.

  If it hadn’t been for his fight with Carrie, he probably wouldn’t have come to the bar. Which was stupid in hindsight. After Pete told him the bar’s importance, he’d been dumb enough to think he trusted him to get the bar under their care and could wait until then.

  Cage crouched behind the desk, wondering if they planned to take their chances on opening the door. The box was in his hands. Soon, it wouldn’t matter if they found him or how many of them there were. The pictures would be in the right ha
nds.

  The door to the office swung open, and Cage faced them. He hoped he had taken as many photos as they needed.

  Pete glared at him, eyes widening. His hair was mussed from a long ride, and his leather was dusty. Beside him, Harvey and another officer folded their arms, twin looks of disgust on their mean faces.

  “So you came here. Didn’t know if you’d do that or go with your girlfriend. Thanks for finding our book,” Pete said in a cold voice.

  “Don’t thank me just yet,” Cage said. He held out his phone. “All the pages have been scanned and sent to my friends a few states away. Nothing you do now can erase the evidence.”

  A slow grin spread over Pete’s face. “More like nothing you do now can make a difference. We’ve already won.”

  Cage felt something off, a tension that made his hair rise on his neck. “What do you mean?”

  “Your girl, Carrie. I told you what would happen if you ever crossed us.”

  His heart pounded. “What the fuck do you mean?”

  “When we headed this way, we sent a few guys her way. Just in case. If you don’t want her hurt, you’re going to turn over the book and tell your buddies to delete the photos. We’ll hold on to your girl for a while, just in case. We hear anything from the police or the head chapter, we take her fingers.” Pete grinned at Harvey. “We’ll take other things in the meantime, as payment for your betrayal.”

  Cage felt his body go totally calm, the way it always did when adrenaline raced through him. The bear in him was pacing, ready to go. But right now, the soldier in him could handle this one.

  He sighed and pulled a pistol from his waistband and held it on Pete as Harvey and the other officer drew their guns. “We can do this the hard way or the easy way,” he said, knowing he was outnumbered on firepower alone. He could heal quickly from most bullet wounds, but he couldn’t risk catching one in the head and not being able to go save Carrie.

  “What’s the hard way?” Harvey asked.

  “I shoot Pete, and one of you hopes you can kill me before I kill you.”

  Pete glared. “And the easy way?”

  “We all put the guns down and do this hand to hand.”

  “That guy’s a monster,” Harvey said.

  “So am I,” said Pete, rolling up his shirtsleeves as he motioned for his men to drop the guns. “Everyone put your weapons on the floor.”

  Cage put his down as well. Pete kicked them over near the door, where no one could quickly dodge for one.

  Pete cracked his knuckles and walked toward Cage, his hulking form not intimidating him at all. “Three on one,” he said, his face spreading in a grimy grin. “I like the odds.”

  Cage lunged forward, ready to fight. He didn’t have time to wait for them to make the first move. He had to get to his mate.

  * * *

  Carrie heard the roar of motorcycles and for a second, wondered if it was Cage.

  But it was too loud and there were too many. She’d only just finished helping Willow get the kids tucked safely into the basement, where there were several rooms in a kind of storm cellar environment. Willow had taken the news that they were in danger with stoic resolution, and Carrie had once again been impressed with the woman who raised her.

  Tim and Thane looked mutinous, and Carrie knew they probably didn’t plan to stay in the basement if trouble broke loose, but for now, she needed them there.

  She looked out the front door and saw headlights coming down the road, accompanied by raucous yells.

  “Dammit,” Willow said, standing next to her. “Didn’t think they’d be coming this fast.”

  “Cage didn’t either,” Carrie said, wrapping her arms over her waist. “He said it would break out in the morning. Something must have gone wrong.” Her heart pounded with a painful possibility. “Oh no, what if he’s hurt?”

  Willow caught Carrie by the chin and forced her to look at her. “That man is going to be fine. He’s strong as a bear, with healing abilities. It’s us we need to worry about right now. Us and the kids.”

  “Aren’t you a bear, too?” Carrie asked.

  Willow nodded. “But an older one. And a black bear. I’m not huge like Cage. We just have to hope he finishes whatever he’s dealing with soon and gets back here.”

  He might be in the bar. Carrie knew. Or not. Suddenly, she hoped all the motorcycles were out front. What if someone ambushed him?

  “Can a bear shifter heal from anything?” she asked. “Even being shot?”

  “Depends where they’re shot and how many. They aren’t immortal; they just heal fast. Problem is he can’t shift into his bear form in front of humans. Right now, he’s probably fighting as a man, if he’s fighting.”

  “Yeah,” Carrie said nervously. If anything happened to him…

  “Stop it.” Willow nodded. “You know someone with his military training isn’t going to lose to some loser hick motorcycle thugs.”

  “Yes,” Carrie said, wanting to believe it. Cage had been through a lot. She’d seen him hurt, but she’d always seen him pull out of it.

  “Damn, there are an awful lot of them,” Willow said. “Not sure what we should do.”

  “I should just go with them,” Carrie said. “Cage will save me.”

  “No,” Willow said. “Cage would kick my ass if I let you go. Metaphorically, I mean, since he’d never hit a woman.”

  Carrie sighed. “But what about the kids? Are we willing to risk something happening to them if the MC thugs break in?”

  Willow looked honestly torn. “I don’t know. I don’t think it’s right to give up one person for the safety of others. The kids are safe downstairs, at least for now. I have a couple guns in the attic, but they’re in a safe and I haven’t used them in ages. Don’t want them around the kids, you know?”

  Carrie nodded.

  “I thought we were just taking precautions,” Willow said. “I didn’t think they’d be here this quick.”

  The bikes went through the gate to Willow’s land and pulled up her drive, parking in the large gravel driveway. She heard the gritty thuds of men dismounting. She tried to count how many, but it was difficult in the dark.

  “How many are there?” Willow asked.

  “At least five or six, maybe more,” Carrie said.

  “I’m kind of flattered,” Willow said wryly. “That they think an old woman, a young woman, and a bunch of kids necessitate that many fully grown men just to take us.”

  “What are we going to do?” Carrie asked as Willow began flicking off the lights in the house.

  “We hide,” Willow said. “Wait here a second.” She ran up the stairs as Carrie crouched out of the way of the door. The deadbolt was on, but she knew it wouldn’t take long for a group of men to break through that.

  When Willow came back into view, she was holding a small rifle. “It’s all I’ve got,” she said apologetically. “Have you texted Cage yet?”

  “Oh, right,” Carrie said. She pulled out her phone as she followed Willow to the entrance to the basement, which was entered through a trap door that hid the stairs. This place must have been built a long time ago.

  She texted Cage as she waited for Willow to lift the entrance and go down the stairs.

  Help, they’re here, she texted Cage and then followed Willow down.

  They ignored the whispered questions of the children as they shut the door above them and hid in the darkness. Willow shushed Robert, who’d woken up and was pouting, and Carrie moved him next to Janet so she could hold him and keep him quiet.

  “We need everyone to play the quiet game, okay?” she asked. “It’s so important that the big kids might have to help. No one can be allowed to make a sound.”

  The kids went silent, their eyes reflecting the light of her phone as they stared at her in fright and nodded.

  She shut off the phone, leaving them in the dark. Robert whimpered, and Janet covered his mouth with her hand. He squirmed but stopped and froze in fear as the front door burst open, w
ood shattering as the lock broke free.

  Carrie could only hope it would take them some time to find the entrance to the cellar, which was in a closet off the hallway that led to the upstairs.

  She heard their voices and cursed herself for putting the kids in this situation. Cursed the Aces for making anyone have this kind of fear. Cursed Cage for not being here and for making them a target.

  She knew that wasn’t fair, though. The Aces were after her anyway. Something was hidden in her bar. She should have known something was up. They hadn’t gone after any other private property with that kind of zeal.

  The footsteps pounding on the floor above them were ominous. It was hard to keep her heart steady enough to think while fear was blaring through her mind in a loudspeaker, clouding things up.

  It wasn’t so much fear for herself that was bothering her. It was fear for the kids, that something would happen to them because she was here. Fear for how Cage would feel if she got taken without ever getting to tell him again that she loved him.

  She hadn’t had the time to really think things through about him, but she knew now with clarity, as she considered the thought of not seeing him again, the pain she felt at imagining him in pain, that she would always love him and no one else.

  No matter what or who he was. No matter what he did. No matter if he was the bear in the woods or the boy she’d fallen in love with or the man who had tricked her in order to protect her, she would love him until her last breath.

  She heard footsteps approaching the closet and turned to Willow. “Tell Cage I love him,” she hissed. “If something happens to me…”

  Willow grabbed her by the arm. “Don’t do this,” she whispered.

  The footsteps were getting closer. She heard them hesitate in front of the closet, as if the person wasn’t sure what they’d find inside.

  “We don’t have a choice,” Carrie said, looking at the kids. “I can buy us some time. I’m all they want. To punish Cage, probably. They said they would come after me if he was caught.”

  “Damn him for putting you in danger,” Willow hissed.

  “I was already in danger just for owning that bar,” Carrie whispered, thankful for the thick wood that would muffle their voices. Though she and Willow could hear each other perfectly, she was certain the men thumping and talking and searching the house could hear nothing.