Bearly in Control (Shifters Undercover Book 1)

by Milly Taiden

“No, no. Nothing like that.” She inhaled a noisy breath. This was so not going the way she’d planned or hoped. “We . . . I think Barry may have something to do with the armored truck robbery yesterday.”

  The director’s brows lowered. “Was he not with you yesterday? Isn’t his memory gone or something?”

  She nodded. “Yes, he had some form of head injury that I think caused it. We hope it won’t be long term, but it’s not looking to come back immediately.”

  Milkan pursed his lips. “Okay, let me know the moment he recalls anything. Especially if what you think about his involvement with the robbery turns out to be true. What part did he play?”

  She scrunched her brows together. How to explain she had no real idea of what the hell was going on without sounding stupid? “It’s really weird. When I found him under a bridge unloading orange bags of money, he was in a zombielike state. He didn’t hear or see me when I called or touched him, at first.”

  Milkan’s eyes widened. “Orange money bags? So he had the stolen money?”

  She bit her lip and winced. “I’m not sure, but I think there’s a distinct possibility they are one and the same, yes.”

  Milkan sat back in his chair and steepled his fingers under his chin. He stared out the window, silent. She’d wait for him to speak before giving more details. Her stomach churned. She was ready to throw up. He would toss Barry into jail without a second thought. How stupid was she to turn him in? But this was her job.

  You care about him. Why would you tell on him?

  Ugh. She needed some vodka-laced coffee.

  In hindsight, she should’ve asked Devin or Russel to help prove his innocence, then brought everything to her boss. It was a good thing her duties in the fellowship dealt with the shifters’ animal sides and not the human evidence. She’d suck at being a detective. Her specialty was really animals and talking to them.

  The director leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk. He didn’t look happy. “We don’t have much choice here, Avers. I think you need to keep him hidden for a while.”

  Charli opened her mouth, then closed it. What the hell? “Excuse me, sir. Keep him hidden?” That was nowhere near what she was expecting.

  He raised a brow, his eyes void of emotion. “Would you like me to put him in police custody?”

  “Oh no. Not at all. I was just prepared to, um . . .” How did she say argue without saying argue? “I was prepared to present alternatives, sir. I mean, no sir. I mean—”

  He held up a hand. “I get it, Avers. You were going to argue. As I said, I’m not like most bosses. Keep him away from the police and the crime scene. Last thing we need is the media spotting him and starting to ask questions. Keep him with you and lie low until we get more information about the robbery from the police. As far as they think, at the moment, it’s all human.”

  The director’s intercom clicked on. “Director, Senator Hayseed is on the line for you.” He pushed the com button. “Thank you, Sally.” He released the button and wiped his hand over his face. “I hate talking to this prick. I haven’t even had my second cup of coffee yet.” He looked at Charli. “I need to take this. We’ll talk later. Keep me updated on his memory.” Charli stood and nodded, then left as the director answered his phone with a jovial tone.

  She leaned against the wall outside the director’s office. Her knees were nearly jelly. Barry was by her side in a heartbeat.

  “Charli, what’s wrong?” He brushed his fingers over her cheek.

  Her stomach flip-flopped. Whoa, girl. She needed some distance or he’d know she had the raging hormones of a teenager on her first crush. She stepped away and laughed. “Nothing is wrong. I can’t believe it. Milkan said for me to hide you.”

  Barry frowned, confusion clear in his features. “Hide me?”

  “Yes. He wants to keep your involvement quiet. No police.” Such relief raced through her that she felt light-headed. Barry put an arm around her shoulders and walked her to her cubed office.

  “What else did he say?” He sat on the edge of her desk as she plopped into her chair. She met his gaze. A stray lock of hair had fallen over his brow and she brushed it away, instantly feeling an erotic pull to him. She saw his eyes brighten and shook her head. No way. Not at the office. “He didn’t say much else. Oh, I forgot to tell him we left the money under the bridge.”

  “He didn’t ask about it?” His lips pressed into a tight line. She wanted so badly to kiss away his concerns, but knew she couldn’t. There was too much she didn’t know, and she couldn’t assume all was fine.

  “No, that wasn’t his biggest concern. He cared more for you. I think he’s like no one I’ve ever worked for.”

  Barry sat quietly contemplating. “So what now?”

  Charli sat back in her chair, her stomach still doing all kinds of weird stuff after the fear of losing him. “Good question. He’s on the phone with some political big shot, so I didn’t get the chance to ask.” She chewed on her upper lip. They needed to find out who Barry was. She couldn’t go to the police for help, obviously. Who else had the equipment and access to online information?

  Her face lit up. “I know exactly what to do.” She snagged her purse from the drawer and stood. “Come with me. I’m taking you to meet one of my friends.”

  “Who’s that?”

  “She’s a mad scientist with lots of high-tech toys.”

  His brows raised and a strained laugh rumbled from his chest. “Sounds like fun to me.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Barry sat on the passenger side of Charli’s SUV, heading down Interstate 5. The mountains west of them shone with the early sun. Snow-capped tips sparkled. A group of fowl flew overhead in a partial V formation. He thought it was late in the season to be moving south, but what did he know. Didn’t bears hibernate?

  Should he be sleeping somewhere? He knew exactly whose bed he wanted to spend the winter in. He stared out the window at the passing terrain. Who was this woman he’d come to care so much for in so little time? Fuck, he didn’t even know who he was. What if he was married and had a family? Could he leave Charli to go back to those who depended on him?

  He hadn’t had on a ring, but being a shifter, that would be impractical. That was no help. The bear argued that he had no one but Charli. That she was theirs and there was no other. With how possessive the bear and Barry were of her, he worried he’d scare her. Thankfully, she never shied away from his domineering animal or whenever Barry reminded her that he wanted her for himself. To make her his mate. To keep her forever. She appeared to like that he wanted her. Thank god. He couldn’t imagine turning off the possessive bear or their desire to keep Charli as their own. Mine. The word drummed in his mind.

  Take her. Nobody touches her. Fucking hell. This bear made life so damn difficult. He already had enough problems on his mind. Trying to figure out his past while feeling the need to protect and keep Charli as his own was turning into a full-time job.

  Someone had to know who he was. Why hadn’t anyone filed a missing persons report? He ran his fingers through his hair. Charli glanced at him.

  “What’s wrong?”

  He let out a sigh. Wrong? He didn’t know who he was. He wanted to have her stop the car and shove his face between her legs until she was moaning for him to fuck her. He’d been thinking of sliding between her silky thighs all fucking morning. Other than that, not much. “I was thinking about this mess with my memory, wondering why no one has made a claim on missing their—” He clamped his mouth shut, not wanting to admit to his words.

  Charli looked away. “Missing their husband, right?”

  Ah, fuck. He’d gone and done it. The scent of her fear and distress made the bear push at the human cage. He wanted out. Instead of letting the bear roam, he scooped her hand from the steering wheel and brought it to his lips. “Charli, whatever happens, we’ll work it out.” Dammit. He needed to stay in control.

  He pushed the animal back and focused on ways to soothe his woman. No ma
tter what happened, Charli was his. Of that, there was no doubt. “I’m not the man I was before the accident. I like you. I want to be with you more than you know. My bear and I, we are sure you’re it, baby. And we want to make things work. You and me. You’re it, Charli. I’m not going anywhere. This isn’t going away.” He waved a finger between him and her, showing “this” referred to their relationship.

  She smiled, but he smelled her sadness. It created an intense ache in his chest to know he’d caused it. He hated her being so down when she had done so much for him. Changing the topic was probably the best way to go. “So, where are we going exactly?”

  “It’s the Fishing and Wildlife Service. I call it FAWS.”

  He grunted. “We’re going fishing?”

  A wide smile broke over her lips and he felt the air around them lighten again. “No, silly. It’s the only place in the world dedicated to animal sciences and forensics.”

  “Animal forensics?” Was there really such a thing? “You mean like when animals commit a crime and you bring in the animal CSI team to handle it?”

  She laughed and rolled her eyes. “Not exactly like that. More like testing blood to see if it’s animal and what species. They inspect bullet wounds, stomach contents, bones, feathers, whatever to link crime scene, victim, and suspect. I’m sure they do more stuff, but that’s the gist.”

  “And we’re going there because . . .”

  She huffed and fluttered her lashes at him. “Because I don’t know what else to do right now. If there is anyone who could find out stuff about you, Marika is the woman. It’s not like we can go to the police and have them research for us.” She glanced at him like she was trying to hide a smile. He wondered what he was getting himself into.

  The drive was peaceful. For some reason, he felt he hadn’t had peace in his life for a long time. He got the feeling he didn’t like his former self. Shit. What did that mean? If that was the case, then maybe he was a thief or some kind of criminal. That didn’t sit well with him or his animal. The bear argued against it. It was still weird to have another being telling him what he thought. He was sure this was how people with multiple personalities felt.

  They pulled into a parking lot outside a modern-looking white concrete building. Inside, Charli walked up to the reception desk and talked with the lady there. He looked at a framed aerial map of the area. Lots of trees and mountainous land with deep valleys that zigzagged for miles in areas.

  Her clacking heels stopped behind him. “Just so you know, Marika is a bit . . .” She paused, which worried him.

  “A bit what?”

  A side door opened into the lobby and a high-pitched squeal echoed off the bare tile floor. “Charliiiii!” A short blonde with neon-green tennis shoes hurried toward them, arms spread wide. “Ohmigod! It’s been forever.” The woman stretched up and wrapped her arms around Charli’s shoulders. “What brings you here? Another case?” She eyed him, then whispered to Charli, “If you brought him for me, I’ll take him.”

  They both giggled. Barry couldn’t help but watch them without saying a word. Seeing Charli with another female gave him a glimpse of her being more bubbly. They were clearly friends. She appeared to be very relaxed around the other woman.

  “I know, right?” Charli whispered back. She straightened and cleared her throat. “Mari, this is Barry.”

  The bubbly blonde stuck her hand out to shake. “Hi, Barry. I’m single.”

  His cheeks warmed. Damn. He was sure women hadn’t said anything like that to him at any point in his past. He took her hand. “Nice to meet you, Mari.” His eyes darted toward Charli trying to refrain from laughing.

  Mari bounced on her toes and clasped her hand in a clap. “Come to my office and we’ll talk.” She pivoted with a loud squeak from her shoe sole on the floor and power-walked toward the door.

  He smiled. She was something else. He wondered how many Red Bulls she drank in a day, or an hour. “So, is she in charge of a three-ring circus or just drink a gallon of caffeine?”

  “Stop,” Charli slapped his arm. “She’s a genius forensic zoologist studying shifter genomes, and a good friend. Not to mention helping us for free.” They followed the path blazed by the overly perky lady.

  Barry stepped from the hallway into Marika’s office. His eyes popped wide; he’d swear an atomic paper bomb had exploded. There had to be ten trees’ worth of paper scattered everywhere.

  “Come in, come in, come in.” Mari removed stacks of papers from what was slowly revealed to be a sofa. “Sit here, you two.” She did the same for a matching upholstered chair. She sat with a plop, a huge smile on her face. “Would either of you like coffee?”

  “No” immediately came from both of them. Just watching her buzz with energy was enough to make Barry jittery. While the two ladies talked personal chitchat, he stared at the whiteboard behind the office’s owner. Symbols and numbers covered the shiny white surface, row after row. He now knew he wasn’t a scientist or mathematician in his former life. The jumble meant nothing to him.

  The women quieted and Mari looked over her shoulder at the board. Feeling like he’d been caught looking at nudie magazines by his mom, he tried to think of something to say. “That’s quite interesting.” He gave a chin pop toward the scribble.

  Mari’s face lit up more, if that was even possible. She hopped out of her chair. “You think so? One might think that the combining of interspecies hemoglobin would cause some sort of incompatibility hemolytic reaction along the lines of a disseminated intravascular coagulation. But maybe not. Sounds exciting, doesn’t it?”

  “Yeah,” Barry mumbled. Holy shit, this chick was crazier than he was. He hadn’t understood one word of that sentence, but he was sure he’d never been that amped. Even without remembering his past. Was this woman an enigma or what? Crazy, spazzy enigma. “Got it.”

  Next to him, Charli let out a bullshit cough. He scowled and looked at her. She patted her hand on his knee and winked at him. “So, Mari, we’re hoping you can help us.”

  Mari fell into her chair, tripping over another stack of papers. “Oops.” She straightened her lab coat and sat. “Absolutely—anything for a friend. Whatcha got?”

  Charli looked at him. “Barry here has amnesia. Can’t remember anything before hitting his head in an accident.”

  Mari clapped her hands together again. “Do you want me to probe his brain? We just got a new infrared tissue-imaging machine. I haven’t had a chance to use it. You know how much I love power tools!”

  Hell no. He wasn’t about to become Dr. Frankenstein’s next best friend. “Wait, what kind of probing are we talking about? The probe stays on the head side of the body, right?”

  “If by head,” Mari started, “you mean the one that holds earphones, then yes.” She quickly added, “But if you want an anal probe, I can get Sam—”

  Yeah, no. Not in this fucking lifetime.

  “Nope,” he cut in, “just making sure we are all on the same page, or body part.”

  Charli gave a soft chuckle. He could tell she was trying hard not to burst into laughter. “No, Mari. We probably won’t need any probing. At least, not yet.” She flashed an evil grin at him. “We need all of this on the down low. No police involvement.”

  Mari gestured to zip her lips closed and toss away the key. He wanted to burst out with a laugh. What were they, second graders?

  Charli elbowed him, then continued. “He’s a shifter, but believes he wasn’t born a shifter.”

  Marika jumped to her feet and sucked in a scary breath. Her eyes widened and she made a surprised O with her lips.

  “What?” both visitors exclaimed together. Mari whipped her head around to look at the whiteboard, then back around to them.

  “That’s what I’m doing. You said you got it?”

  His cheeks warmed again. “Well, I didn’t—I mean I—the letters—”

  “Mari,” Charli said, “I’m sure he got it, but you know, I’m just a veterinarian. So, could you expla
in to me?”

  “Ugh”—Mari planted her fists on her hips—“you are so much more than just a vet, Charlynne Avers. Don’t make me remind you what you can do that no one else in the world can.”

  “Ladies, please,” Barry said in mock authority. He knew he wasn’t in charge here. “Mari, tell us how your research relates to my situation.”

  She smiled as if she loved talking about her work. “I’m testing to see if human DNA and animal DNA can coexist.”

  “All that,” Barry waved a hand at the board, “means you’re meshing oil and milk?”

  “Milk?” Charli asked. “What happened to oil and water?”

  “I like milk better than water. Especially your skin.”

  Mari tilted her head. “Were you breastfed as a baby?”

  “What?” Barry sputtered at her off-the-wall question. Charli laughed at his embarrassment. “Not that I remember. What’s that got to do with anything?”

  “Oh, nothing. I just always wondered if it was true what they said about adults who were breastfed versus those who weren’t—”

  “No,” he broke into her whirling thoughts. “I don’t want to know, whatever it is.”

  “Mari, why are you working on that? I thought you were into ancient animal genomes or something.” Barry was grateful for her changing the subject.

  “I was, until this project came in not too long ago. It’s fascinating. And before you ask, it’s classified, so I can’t talk about it.”

  “But you already told us what it’s about,” Charli said, looking at the whiteboard. Marika stopped and seemed to ponder this.

  “It’s not the project that’s a secret. Mainly where the data originally came from.” She looked around as if looking for spies. “You didn’t hear it from me, but aliens exist.”

  “Shifters exist.” Charli shrugged. “Why not aliens?”

  Mari bounced on her toes, giving another high squeal. “That’s what I said. No wonder we’re such good friends.” She grabbed Charli’s arm and dragged her to her feet. “Let’s go to the lab and take some samples.”