“Alright, that sheds a whole new light on the search,” agreed Tanner. “But what about if we find them?”
“That’s why I needed you. I doubt I’ll have the restraint to keep the guy alive if we find him, so you’re going to need to hold me off. The important thing is to get Zach back to where others might find him.”
Tanner nodded, narrowing his eyes.
“This means something deeper to you than finding your assistant’s lost kid, doesn’t it?” Tanner asked.
“Does it matter?” Derek hissed. “We can talk about that later. Right now, we need to get out there and look for Zach before something terrible happens to him.”
Tanner held his hands up.
“Alright, I get it. Don’t bite my head off. I’ll call the sheriff now and get it in motion.”
Derek smiled weakly. He was glad he could count on his brother to drop everything and help him and Audrey out like this.
His phone buzzed in his pocket.
“Derek speaking?”
The younger officer was on the line.
“The keys were taken from the office,” he said. “The manager didn’t notice they were missing. So, in all likelihood, we’re now looking at a kidnapping. I’m filling a report. We’ll have the airport covered, as well as road toll booths. If Jerry Ennis has entered the county, we’ll know about it as soon as possible. I’ve put a request through to the sheriff to start the manhunt.”
“Tanner and I will be helping in that regard too,” Derek peered in the direction of his brother, who was having an animated talk with someone over the phone. He looked angry. “I think he’s talking to the sheriff now,” Derek added with grim satisfaction.
“We’ll call if we have any more news.”
Derek hung up. He strode through to the living room. Chloe and Heather sat on either side of Audrey, talking to her in calm, soft voices about all the successful rescue attempts they’d witnessed over the years as she held herself, gently rocking back and forth on the sofa. She looked up the instant Derek entered.
“The spare keys were stolen,” Derek said. “I’ve just had it confirmed by one of the officers. So, all things considered, I think we should assume your ex-husband’s taken him. Is it likely that he’d hurt Zach in any way? Or would he just want to get him away from here?”
“I don’t know,” Audrey replied hoarsely. “He was physically abusive toward me, but with Zach… I just don’t know. This may just be another way for him to continue hurting me. He better not lay a finger on Zach!”
Derek felt his face heat with rage. He had to remind himself not to get upset in front of Audrey. The last thing she needed was to see him lose his cool.
Tanner appeared, putting his phone away.
“It’s on. We’re meeting officers and dogs at our ranch, since it’s on the edge of the creek,” he added for Audrey’s benefit. “We’ll be able to spread out into the wooded areas more easily there. Derek and I are going to take my truck and head to Halpern Drive. We’ll start out from there.”
“Derek?” Audrey said, silently imploring him not to leave her. He wished he didn’t have to, but the best chance they had of getting Zach back was for him and Tanner to get out there. They had a couple of good ideas of routes someone might take if they were unfamiliar with the terrain and were looking to travel through the woods, maybe to a second vehicle they had stashed somewhere.
“They know these woods better than anyone,” Chloe said suddenly. “My dad and Uncle Derek can track an Elk one hundred miles off. Trust me, this is the best way, Audrey.”
Audrey nodded, seeming satisfied with the explanation she’d been given. Derek shot Chloe a grateful glance. He owed his niece, big time.
* * *
They took Tanner’s truck to the ranch. Instead of stopping at the house, they drove right up to the edge of the clearing, where a team of officers, sniffer dogs, and an assortment of kind, volunteer civilians surrounded three trestle tables.
On each of the tables were maps with grids laid out, covering the wilderness that surrounded Jackson Hole. They had water canteens, flashlights, whistles, and everyone was armed for protection.
Derek had sat next to Audrey on the way, holding her close as she leaned against him. He felt immensely protective, as if he didn’t want to leave her side as long as he lived.
Tanner and Derek escorted Audrey, Chloe, and Heather over to the officers.
“Thanks for getting this set up at such short notice,” Derek said, nodding at the younger officer.
“It’s not our first rodeo. We got a good turn out too,” the officer replied, nodding in the direction of the Jackson Hole inhabitants. “In all honesty, I think they wanted to help out the now-famous Derek Holt.”
Derek looked at the crowd. They were staring at him, nudging one another and muttering with excitement. He was taken aback. Sure, he usually had strangers staring at him every day, but these people weren’t exactly strangers, and it felt odd for it to be happening while he was standing on Tanner’s land, where he’d stood and even helped out so many times when he was a nobody. Somehow it didn’t mix well with his celebrity status in his brain. Still, he was grateful for the effect. He didn’t care what brought people out here to look for Zach, only that it did.
“Tanner and I will veer off to the west and search on our own. That alright with you?” Derek asked.
“Sure is,” the officer replied. “Just call us in if you find anything; you think something might be evidence, don’t touch it. Just wait for us.”
He handed Derek a walkie-talkie.
“The range on these things is decent. You know how to use it?”
“I do.”
Derek turned his attention to Audrey. She looked a bit more determined now, focusing intently on the map the sheriff was guiding them all through. He was relieved to see a bit of the old Red back—the fierce, determined version who wouldn’t rest till her son was found and safely back in her arms.
“Audrey?”
She turned to him, biting her lip in agitation, obviously impatient to get going.
“I’m going to head off with Tanner now, okay? Stay with Heather and Chloe. Don’t go off on your own. I mean it.”
“I won’t. Just find him, Derek.”
“I swear to you, I’ll do my best.”
Derek leaned forward and gave her a tight, quick hug for comfort and support. He fought back the urge to keep her wrapped in his arms in a lingering embrace. There would be time for that later. If there was one thing he knew for sure, it was that when this was over, he was never letting Audrey or Zach fend for themselves ever again. He loved Audrey and her son with everything he had, and he would protect, love, and keep them for as long as there was breath in his body.
14
Derek and Tanner took the truck along to Upper Cache Drive, which was probably the entry point to the woods closest to Audrey’s apartment. There was a small path up that way, more like a deer trail than a footpath, which would take them straight into the wilderness of the mountains surrounding Jackson Hole. The midafternoon sun was blazing elsewhere, but the tall aspens blocked off the light, covering the forest floor in dark shadow.
“Chances are, he stuck to the deer paths and more open spaces, and he may not have covered his tracks. According to Audrey, he was never much of an outdoors type, but who knows, that might have changed in the past few years,” Derek said.
“I keep thinking how I’d feel if this happened to Chloe,” Tanner shuddered. “I can’t think of anything worse.”
“I know. Audrey’s going through murder. If I come across that vile—”
“You’ll do nothing,” Tanner interrupted harshly. “I don’t want to see my brother locked up for assault, thanks very much. We’ll let the officials deal with him. Not us. You got that, Derek?”
“I got that,” Derek grunted. He knew that Tanner was right. It was the main reason he’d brought his brother along. He wasn’t entirely convinced that he wouldn’t tear the guy to sh
reds if he came face to face with him.
Derek slammed on the breaks.
“You ready?” he asked Tanner. Tanner nodded.
“Here.” Derek passed Tanner one of Zach’s T-shirt he’d taken from the boy’s room.
“Thanks.”
Tanner acquainted himself with the smell of the young boy, then placed the T-shirt on the back seat and they both got out of the truck, swiftly undressing.
“Like old times,” Tanner grinned.
Derek reluctantly smiled back. It was like old times. He just wished it was under vastly different circumstances.
Tanner shifted in seconds. It had been so long since Derek had seen his brother shift, he’d almost forgotten what he looked like—a huge beast covered in dark, chocolate-brown fur, flecked with gold when the light glinted off the strands of coarse hair. Derek’s bear was lighter than Tanner’s, his fur a more molten gold with a darker underbelly, but both brothers were equal in weight and size.
Derek closed his eyes, letting the pull in his gut grow more insistent, allowing the balled-up energy to expand and roam across his muscles and bones. He took a deep breath, feeling his back stretch and lengthen, falling on all fours as the weight became too heavy for his legs to take. His hands morphed into six-inch-long claws, gripping the dusty summer soil beneath him, his face lengthened to a snout that could sense all the sights, smells, and sounds of the never-ending expanse before him.
Derek roared, an animalistic, guttural sound that sent the birds fleeing from their perches and nests. Tanner growled in kind, the two bears nudging one another in recognition. A moment later and they were off, tearing through the woods as nature’s deadliest hunters.
He let the bear’s instincts take over. Derek took the lead, trying to catch a whiff of Zach. He could smell blood up ahead, northwest of where they were running. He veered off, knowing that his brother would follow him.
A few miles in and the blood scent grew stronger. Derek chased it down, leaping over broken trunks. He caught the smell of another predator, and when he came to the clearing where the scent was strongest, he was relieved to see a fallen elk torn apart by a ravenous mountain lion.
He refocused, sniffing the air. They had traveled so far, they were almost at the topmost ridge. No human would have ventured up this far, he knew. Carefully tracking, Derek and Tanner moved back south, constantly pausing to sniff the air. They moved on, past Leeks Canyon, heading in the direction of Snake River, when Derek abruptly pulled himself to a halt.
He could smell something—the acrid smell of fear mingled with panicked sweat. Beneath those scents, he was sure it was Zach, a mixture of freshly cleaned laundry, sleep smell, and the unmistakable aroma of Audrey herself, wrapped around him like a protective blanket.
Derek took off, hearing Tanner pounding fast behind him.
Both brothers arrived at the edge of the ridge. Derek paused, sniffing the air once again. They were close. Now, alongside Zach, he could pick up another smell, a fouler, more masculine one—stale alcohol, days-old body odor, and cheap, fast-food meals.
He waited patiently, knowing that he needed to be sure what direction they were headed before he and Tanner made an appearance.
An angry male voice floated downwind to where Tanner and Derek were frozen on their haunches, ready to strike.
“Stop crying ya’ little shit! Your momma’s gone spoiled you something rotten. You wait till we get home! I’ll put the fear of God in you if you don’t stop that namby-pamby sniveling!”
Derek could hear the repressed sobs of a little boy, the sound of Zach wiping his nose with the back of his hand, and the deep, shuddering breaths of someone trying to stop crying out of fear and shame. Derek’s blood boiled.
Instantly, he was taken back to his own childhood. He and Tanner being made to shift, then being whipped with thick chains till they returned to human form, naked and bleeding. And all the while, the snarling, cruel voice of their stepfather, reminding them how worthless they were, how their mother was too soft on them, how God had forsaken them and made them beasts of burden.
Derek let out a loud blood-curdling roar that shook the very foundations of the mountain. It echoed through the valleys and creeks that sloped across the landscape, as if the cry itself was forceful enough to break the sky and the land they stood on.
“What in God’s name was that?!” the man cried.
Derek didn’t wait.
He launched himself forward, breaking through undergrowth until he reached the small mountain pass. Straight in front of him stood little Zach and his father.
Derek waited, growling at Jerry for a brief moment before Tanner emerged beside him.
Jerry emitted a whimper. With fumbling hands, the man reached inside his jacket pocket, retrieving a small revolver, which he held, shaking, up at the two bears. Zach, terrified, edged closer to his father. Jerry pushed him away, shoving the boy forward as he blindly stepped backward. Derek had never seen a man behave so cowardly in his life, choosing to save his own skin over his son’s.
Derek prepared to leap. He had lost all reasoning. He just wanted to tear Jerry’s face off and be done with it. No one would miss such a vile human being. It would mean that Zach and Audrey would never be bothered by the piece of shit again. To Derek, the morality of the issue was straightforward. Simple.
As he leaped, Tanner plowed into him sideways, knocking Derek off course. Tanner growled at his brother, a warning to stick to the plan. Derek nipped him, pissed off and too furious to be grateful for the interjection.
What Derek had done, was ensure that Jerry was suitably threatened and panicked enough to fire.
He saw Jerry take aim. The gun was squarely on course to hit Tanner. Tanner was too busy watching Derek, ready to stop him from doing anything stupid, to notice. Derek knocked his brother out of the way as the shot was fired. He felt it nick his front haunches, grazing the skin. It was a surface wound and nothing more.
Derek roared at Jerry, rearing up on his hindquarters.
Jerry fumbled with his gun once again, but he was too panicked. His palms were slick with sweat, sheer terror immobilizing him.
He dropped the gun. Leaving his son to fate, Jerry turned on his heel and ran as fast as he could down the other side of the mountain. Derek roared after him, a warning not to come back. Not to ever come back.
Immediately, he turned his attention to Zach. The boy was looking at the two bears with his face as white as a sheet.
Tanner had kept his distance, not wanting to terrify the boy any more than he already was. Derek hurriedly dropped down to his belly and made a futile attempt to look harmless. The worst thing now would be for the boy to run. Derek and Tanner needed to guide him to a place where the search party would find him; otherwise, he could be out in the wilderness for hours.
Derek avoided looking at Zach. He lowered his head, sniffing the ground. Tanner did the same, belly crawling off a few paces to make it look as if he was entirely uninterested in the boy.
Out of the corner of his eye, Derek watched Zach. Slowly, the boy stopped trembling. He cautiously moved his hands to his face, wiping away his tears. Derek mimed chewing on grass, trying to look as close to a picture-book representation of a teddy bear as he could. Eventually, Zach’s look of fear gave way to an expression of wonder.
Very slowly, Derek ambled toward Zach. He kept his nose down, still trying to appear as though he was uninterested in Zach. When he was in reach of the boy, he waited, snuffling around on the ground. Very quietly, and hardly breathing, Zach reached out, unable to stop himself from feeling the fur of Derek’s back. Derek didn’t do anything, waiting till Zach became more confident.
He was astounded by the boy’s bravery—after the ordeal he’d just been through, to then decide that the creatures his dad was so afraid of were no real threat to him.
“Hi, mister bear,” said Zach quietly.
Derek grunted softly in response. He gently nuzzled Zach’s hand, and the boy giggled at Derek’s
wet nose.
It was time.
Tanner slowly made his way over. Zach stroked him too, brave enough to reach out and touch the sleeker hair on Tanner’s head.
Without trying to panic Zach, Tanner and Derek walked on either side of him. The ploy was working. Zach ambled along with them, constantly reaching out and touching the pair of them.
“I saw bears in the zoo,” Zach started to talk. “They weren’t as nice as you. And my mom saw a bear here. You know what? You guys can see in color. Like me! And, you have the best sense of smell over all the other mammals. Bet you didn’t know that. I learned that at the zoo.”
Derek glanced over at his brother. It would have been unnoticeable to any human, but Derek noticed with pride that Tanner’s muzzle was turning up at the corners. Yeah, Zach was an incredible kid.
“I can’t wait to tell Mom I met you. And my grandma. And Derek, who is my new friend. And Chloe, who’s my new friend too. I can draw pictures of you, so they know exactly what you look like.”
Derek felt an uncharacteristically warm glow spread through his heart at the thought of being considered one of Zach’s new friends. He hoped Zach’s mother felt the same. He hoped her time in Jackson Hole had made her see him in a new light, not the reckless, irresponsible man he’d been. He really wanted to be a good man for Audrey. She deserved that. So did Zach. The thought of returning to a life of touring, a constant liquor haze, and forgettable one-night stands were abhorrent.
Tanner and Derek both picked up the scent of the search party at the same time. It was safe to leave Zach now. They were less than a quarter of a mile off. Zach couldn’t be seen with them. It wasn’t worth the risk.
Derek nuzzled Zach goodbye, making the kid laugh loudly and bat him away. Tanner and Derek backed away respectfully from Zach, and when they were at a safe distance, bounded away as quickly as they could.
Derek heard Zach shouting after them, “Wait! Guys, come back!”
Jackson Valley Shifters Complete Series: Bear Shifter Romance Page 17