Bruins Peak Bears Box Set (Volume III)

by Sarah J. Stone

  He let himself out, and Eden sank onto the couch. “This is incredible.”

  “Not really,” Damian countered. “We’ve all seen you attack this case like nobody’s business. You were made for this kind of work.”

  “I never even knew the Police Corps existed. Now, I might be joining it.”

  He sat down next to her on the couch. “You’re gonna be great at it. This could be the opening you’re looking for.”

  She glanced up at his beloved face. “You know what? You’re right. Something drew me to this case. I couldn’t let it go until I figured it out. It wasn’t all about you. I didn’t want to do anything else but think about it and learn about everything that happened.”

  He nodded. “See? Take a look at the files. If this is the path for you, you’ll know right away.”

  She unlatched another screen from the wall and settled herself on the couch. She curled her legs under her and pulled up the files her grandfather sent over. She brought up the cold case he told her about and started reading.

  The victim in question worked on the central Logistics team. Porter Henley controlled the movement of food and supplies from the farms on Renegade Ridge’s southern face into the city. He coordinated the trains, the warehouse gangs, and the distribution hubs.

  The stolen files contained detailed logs of thousands of pounds of commodities into the city. They included schedules for the arrival of goods at key warehouses around the city. They also recorded the transportation of food and other essential items to families, communities, and organizations throughout Arion.

  The question burning a hole in Eden’s mind was simple. Why wasn’t this information stored somewhere else on the computer system? Nothing in Arion ever happened without hundreds, if not thousands, of computer copies spreading all over town. The moment Porter scheduled a train delivery, the date, time, and location would be transmitted to every other computer terminal in the city. Anybody with a tablet could pull up the information and see it for themselves.

  So, why was this guy carrying the only copies in town, that he could be waylaid on the streets and robbed? Not only that, one of the largest, busiest warehouses in the city got robbed of all its goods not three days after the attack. Whoever attacked Porter got the information about where and when the goods would arrive at the warehouse. They stole thousands of pounds, not only of food, cotton, and wool, but copper and steel, gold and silver used in computer manufacturing, and even lumber and coal used in building and energy generation.

  The mystery just kept growing deeper and deeper. Eden got lost reading all the details. Damian startled her out of her reverie by sitting down next to her. He put his arm around her shoulders and kissed her. “I’m going to pick up Arryn now, and I’ll be down at the council building all day.” He glanced down at the screen with a wry smile. “Don’t spend all day with that.”

  She couldn’t help smiling. This stuff already captured her mind. She wanted to spend the rest of the day with it. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with it. For the first time since she could remember, she actually looked forward to putting her shoulder to the wheel and working for something.

  She kissed him, and he slipped out of the apartment. Joshua was already gone, and Eden heard Nova moving around in another room. She turned back to the case.

  In the short time she spent reading this, a thousand thoughts crowded her head. Could she work as an investigator? She spent her whole life on the surface. She never faced any job as challenging as this. It called on every facet of her mind, her attention, and her knowledge. She could study for this job for the rest of her life and never learn everything she needed to know.

  She read through the list of stolen articles again and started putting the pieces together. That list might not mean anything to a NightShade from Arion, but it sure meant a lot to her. NightShade who spent their whole lives downstairs couldn’t understand what commodities like that would be worth on the surface.

  Whoever stole them, did something with them. She would bet her last nickel they didn’t set up an independent manufacturing operation as big as Arion’s. They must have passed the goods somewhere, and they certainly never passed them downstairs. There was only one place the thieves could have gotten rid of a haul that big: on the surface.

  Now, who in the world would dare steal goods from Arion to sell on the surface? Who wanted to interact with outsiders enough to do something like this? Who? The answer stared her square in the face: the Emergent faction. They wanted to interact with outsiders. They wanted to leave Arion for the surface. They couldn’t do that without money or some other way to build a life and future upstairs.

  A mighty surge of energy and power rushed through her. It rocketed her off the couch. She tossed the tablet on the coffee table and jumped to her feet.

  She poked her head into the other rooms, but she didn’t see Nova anywhere. She had no time to waste letting her new mother-in-law know where she was going. One thing and one thing only called her forward.

  She hurried out of the apartment and rode the elevator to the ground floor. She raced outside and back to the main square. She climbed the steps to the Labor Pool building and came to the Police offices.

  A clerk peered at her over the front desk. “Can I help you?”

  Eden burst into a brilliant smile. She squared her shoulders and said in a clear, strong voice, “I’m here to see Constable Griffin.”

  ********The End.

  Book 5: Sunset

  Sarah J. Stone

  76. Chapter 1

  Natalie Dodd sat back on a wicker couch under the veranda at Dodd Homestead. Gentle summer breezes cooled the sun’s heat beating off the mountain. Natalie’s fingers trailed over her tablet resting on the cushion at her side, but before she could pick it up, her little niece Grace Dodd scampered up to her.

  Grace barreled between Natalie’s knees and hit her in the stomach with her chubby dimpled elbows. Nearly two years old and full of energy, Grace ran into the sunshine and back into the shade.

  “Natalie! Natalie!” Grace shrieked. “Come and see the butterfly I found.”

  “Bring it here and show me,” Natalie told her.

  “I can’t bring it there!” Grace exclaimed. “Daddy says that if I touch it, I’ll kill it.”

  Natalie laid both hands on the girl’s shoulders. “He’s right. Your daddy’s always right. I guess that’s why he’s Alpha and I’m not.”

  Natalie laughed at her own joke, but Grace paid no attention. She tugged Natalie’s hand. “Come and see! It’s sitting on a flower right over there. Come and see right now! If you don’t come, it will fly away. Come on.”

  Natalie sat up in her chair. “All right. I’m coming.”

  She took one long, last wistful look at her tablet and let Grace tow her out of her chair. Before she got to her feet, the house door swung open. Natalie’s sister-in-law, Briar Macalister, stepped out onto the veranda.

  Grace let go of Natalie’s hand and rushed to her mother. “Mommy! Mommy! Come and see the beautiful butterfly!”

  Briar didn’t hear her. She sank into the chair next to Natalie’s. Her chin fell onto her chest, and she stared down at her hands in her lap. She let out a shaky sigh.

  Natalie sat down in her own chair. She never saw Briar distressed like this. Briar married Natalie’s brother Riskin and moved into the house to take her place at the head of the Dodd tribe on Bruins’ Peak. In all that time, she never wavered or lost heart. “What’s wrong, Briar? What’s happened?”

  Briar raised her quivering face to Natalie. “It’s my father. He’s dying.”

  Natalie gasped. Just as fast, she recovered her composure. “Well, he is pretty old. This has been coming for a while.”

  “I know,” Briar groaned. “I have to go home. I just got a phone call from my brother Silas. He wants me to come and help Ma take care of him.”

  Natalie squeezed her hand. “You should go. You need to be with your family right now.”

  Briar
’s eyes widened. “Will you keep an eye on Grace while I’m gone? I feel terrible, asking you when you’ve already taken care of her most of the day already.”

  Natalie waved her hand. “Forget it. She hardly needs any taking care of, anyway. Besides, we get on like a house on fire, don’t we, Pumpkin?”

  Natalie gave Grace a tweak in the ribs, but the little girl didn’t laugh the way she usually did. She studied her mother’s pinched face. No one could put anything past Grace. She took in every detail and every facial expression. Nothing happened around Dodd Homestead that Grace didn’t see and understand.

  Briar didn’t see her daughter staring at her. Her eyes roamed out there, beyond the trees fringing Bruins’ Peak. She had already left and traveled down the mountain to MacAllister Homestead, where her parents needed her.

  Natalie touched Briar’s arm one more time. “Go. Just go. Don’t worry about us. I’ll take care of Grace. You take care of your family.”

  Briar got to her feet. “Thank you. I’ll try to get back soon.”

  “Don’t worry about it. Take all the time you need. I’ll tell Riskin where you went when he comes in.”

  Briar’s eyes never stopped searching the forest all around. She didn’t move.

  Natalie peered into her sister-in-law’s face. “Are you okay? Is anything else bothering you?”

  Briar wrung her hands. “It’s May. I should get in touch with her, but I don’t know how. She didn’t leave any contact number or even an address when she left to mate with Arryn Stark on Renegade Ridge. She could be anywhere. What if we never find her?”

  “There must be a way,” Natalie remarked. “We could send a message to Melody Mackenzie. I know Lyric has her phone number. She could find a way to contact Ash Dunlap. He’s married to Arryn’s sister. He must know where May is.”

  Briar shook her head. “All that will take too long. Silas says Pop isn’t expected to last the next twenty-four hours. If we don’t get in touch with May, she’ll never have a chance to see him before he dies. She’ll never have a chance to say good-bye. She might never even find out he was dead.”

  Her voice broke with buried emotion. Natalie sat up straight and squared her shoulders. “Listen. May is not your problem. She knew what she was doing when she moved to Renegade Ridge. You’ve got your hands full back home right now. You go. I’ll take care of Grace, and as soon as I see Riskin, I’ll tell him what’s going on. Forget about May. I mean, don’t forget about her, but don’t try to solve her problems. Just concentrate on what’s right in front of you.”

  Briar peered up into Natalie’s face. “Really?”

  Natalie smiled at her. “Really. You’ve been holding our tribe together ever since you first met Riskin in the forest. Now it’s time for somebody else to take care of you for a change. Don’t worry about May. If she never finds out her father died, that’s her business. She knew when she left she might never see or hear from her family again. Now, go on. Your parents and your brother need you. Go home, and don’t worry about anything else.”

  Briar tried to smile, but Natalie’s encouragement only released the buried grief hidden below the surface. Her eyes welled up with tears, and she turned away to hide her face. She kissed her daughter on the head. “Take good care of Natalie while I’m gone, sweetheart. I’m just going down home to visit Grandma and Grandpa for a little while. I’ll be back later.”

  She made a show of sounding light-hearted, but Briar’s voice wavered. Briar wouldn’t look at Natalie again. She got her car out of the garage and drove away down the mountain.

  Natalie watched the dust cloud vanish into the blue sky. She turned around to find Grace regarding her with those knowing eyes of hers. Natalie couldn’t sit around and wait for Grace to ask questions. Natalie jumped to her feet. “All right. Let’s go see if we can find that butterfly.”

  Grace didn’t move. “It flew away.”

  Natalie put her head on one side. “Are you sure?”

  The little girl nodded. “I saw it fly away while you were talking to Mommy.”

  Natalie collapsed back into the chair. She couldn’t win with this child. “Well, would you like to read a book?”

  Grace jumped a foot in the air. “Yippee!” She dashed through the door into the house.

  “Pick a good one,” Natalie called after her. “No more Dora the Explorer.”

  Grace reappeared carrying five books clasped in her pudgy little hands. She set them down next to Natalie.

  Natalie scowled at the stack. “I said a book, not the whole library.”

  Grace climbed onto the couch next to Natalie. “You said no Dora, and that’s what I brought.”

  Natalie heaved a sigh. If reading kids’ books for the rest of the afternoon kept Grace out of trouble while Don MacAllister passed away, that’s the least Natalie could do. She leaned back and picked up the first book.

  Grace rested her head on Natalie’s shoulder, and Natalie started reading. She really did enjoy spending time with Grace. Natalie had never known she could experience the joy of participating in a young life this way. Kids had always irritated her before.

  From the moment Briar gave birth to Grace, all that changed. Natalie threw herself into helping Briar and Riskin all she could. She took every opportunity to get involved with her family in ways she could never imagine.

  She didn’t want to admit it, but she found herself preparing for having her own children. She would be blessed if she could have children like Grace and a family life like Briar and Riskin’s.

  She read one book after another. After the fourth book, Grace’s head grew heavy on her shoulder. Natalie read without a break. She let her voice slip into that mesmerizing cadence without any peaks or troughs

  That little head got heavier and heavier. Natalie read to the end of the book and stopped. Grace didn’t move. That head weighed down Natalie’s shoulder, and the round little hands lay limp in Grace’s lap. Grace was asleep.

  Natalie closed the book and picked up her tablet. Now she could get back to the little thing she looked forward to all day. She flicked on the device and logged onto her message app.

  Sure enough, she spotted a message there. The name tag read Max Allen.

  Hey, baby. How’s your day been?

  Natalie’s pulse quickened. Her fingers danced over the keyboard typing out her reply. Awesome. Did you finish that contract?

  Just finished and turned it in. Feels fantastic.

  Natalie chuckled to herself. I bet it does. Feels fantastic for your bank account, too, doesn’t it?

  You know it, baby. No one but you could understand that.

  No one understands me the way you do, either, Natalie replied. No one around here knows what I go through running my own business.

  Tell me about it, Max typed back. I would go out of my mind if I didn’t have you to talk to every day. Where have you been hiding all my life?

  Natalie buried laughter. She couldn’t wake up Grace at a time like this. She lived for these moments when she talked to Max online.

  No one knew the truth about her secret life. No one in her family or anywhere else on Bruins’ Peak knew she worked online as a freelance graphic designer. She ran her whole business from her tablet, and she met Max doing a website layout for his business.

  He impressed her from their first contact. He ran a consulting service coaching other high-level business owners to maximize their market impact online and in the traditional marketplace.

  From their first two messages, Natalie knew Max was no ordinary businessman. He understood how to twist words on the screen to make people understand exactly what he wanted them to do. His magnetic personality oozed through the internet. He worked his charm on her as surely as if he was standing right in front of her.

  Before Natalie knew what she was doing, what started out as friendship exploded into a full-blown internet romance. How could this happen to her? How could she fall in love with someone she knew only over the internet? Didn’t that sort of thin
g happen only on newscasts?

  I missed you something awful today, Max wrote.

  I missed you, too, Natalie replied. I always miss you. I wish you were here right now.

  What would you do if I was?

  I would put my arms around you and kiss you. Her whole body tingled when she thought about him. I would congratulate you on your contract, and I would give you the reward you know you deserve.

  Aw, baby, don’t do this to me. You know I can’t live without you.

  I’m serious. Do you doubt me?

  Of course not. You know I can’t wait to hold you in my arms and feel your body next to me.

  That was the problem. No one ever excited Natalie like this man, and she still had never met him. What if he turned out to be a horrible old geezer?

  That wasn’t possible. He was twenty-six, only a year older than Natalie, but he already ran several online businesses, along with a few physical ones. She didn’t know half of what he was up to. She didn’t have to. What she knew impressed her enough.

  So when are we gonna get together? Max wanted to know.

  Their conversations turned into this every day now. Anytime you say, baby, she replied.

  Well, that’s the thing. You’re in Oregon, and I’m in Florida. One of us is gonna have to front up for the airline tickets. Who’s that gonna be?

  Natalie stared down at her screen. She and Max could talk about kissing and making out all they liked. Their conversations always came down to this one fundamental problem. How could she meet him, and how could he meet her, to cross the divide between an internet romance and a real one?

  She never thought putting a fake address on her website would cause her so many problems. She couldn’t exactly advertise to the world that she lived on Bruins’ Peak, so she just stuck Oregon on it. Now, that decision came back to bite her.

  She shouldn’t feel this way about him. She shouldn’t long for him. She shouldn’t get a thrill when he called her Baby. She shouldn’t describe holding him and kissing him and touching him when she never would.