Carlton put up his hands. “Slow down, slow down.”
He chuckled, eyeing her with an expression she couldn’t read.
“What’s so funny?”
“Well, I came in here prepared to make a deal with you.”
Adrenaline whirred in her blood. She sat up straight, fixed with attention. “What do you mean?”
Carlton shrugged. “You’re a nobody, Jules. You’re not really who we’re going after. Our sights are on Mr. Ellis. We’ve been watching him for a long time. The case is building. But we’re not quite there yet. I came here to ask for your help, but it looks like you’re already prepared to offer it.”
Jules nodded, suppressing a smile. She was thrilled at the thought of having a direct hand in Nick’s demise.
“It’s my understanding that you’ve had an intimate relationship with Mr. Ellis for the last several years?”
“Yes. Well, no. We broke up last year, but we’ve remained close.”
“You said you can offer us information? Eye witness testimony is one thing we’re lacking. We’ve traced back several murders to Nick, but we’re still missing the final push to get him locked up forever. If you can help us out with that, we may be willing to strike you a deal.”
“What deal is that?”
“I can’t promise anything just yet, but you might be able to walk.”
Her ears perked. “Walk? You mean, with nothing?”
“Nothing. No time served at all.”
Jules’s jaw dropped. A million fireworks exploded inside her. She wanted to laugh and cry and scream all at once. She shook her head in disbelief.
“Nick Ellis is a bad man. A very, very bad man. He’s been linked to over twenty-five murders. He is one of the biggest distributors of methamphetamine in the western United States. Locking him up would be a huge win for us.”
Jules shivered. Twenty-five murders? She had no idea his reign of terror extended that far. She’d witnessed one murder herself and knew from his own admission that he’d killed at least a handful more. But twenty-five?
She gritted her teeth. Anger rolled, blinding her vision. How could she be so stupid to stay with a man so vicious? So evil? How could she not have seen the extent of his depravity?
“I’ll tell you everything you want to know,” she said quickly. “Anything and everything.”
Carlton cocked his eyebrow. “Good. You know, walking in here, I was afraid you might take the fall for him. I’ve seen it before, you know. Girlfriends who won’t talk. Won’t say a word to incriminate anyone. They’ll happily serve the years as some twisted way of showing devotion. It usually goes unappreciated, too.”
“That’s not me,” Jules said. “I want Nick locked up forever. I want all of his men locked up, too.”
Carlton chuckled. “That’s the spirit. Give us everything you’ve got. If Nick falls, the rest of his organization will crumble as well. We’ve got nearly enough evidence to lock up the lot of them. We’ve just been sitting on our hands for now, waiting until the right moment, trying to squeeze as much evidence out as we can. Hopefully you’ll be able to put the final nail in the coffin.”
Jules beamed. In an instant she had gone from the lowest point of her life to the highest, and it was a jarring, dizzying change.
Walking away from her bears was the most difficult decision she’d ever made. But it was something that had to be done, even though it completely crushed her. She couldn’t bear the guilt of being the cause of so much violence and upheaval. What kind of a life did they have to look forward to? Constantly running, fighting, looking over their shoulders. It wasn’t right. It didn’t feel right. She couldn’t tell them she wanted to turn herself in. She knew deep down that their bears would never, ever let her go, no matter how foolish it would be to keep her.
Jules had realized on their long car ride that the only possible way to stop the madness, to prevent more violence, was to turn herself in and lend herself to the case against Nick in whatever possible way she could. She had to sacrifice herself for the good of the bears, for their well-being. She knew it would crush them. But like Zariah had said outside the cabin... it was for their own good, and in time they would come to understand her decision and thank her for it.
Now it didn’t have to be a sacrifice at all.
For the first time in her life, she wielded all the power. After being afraid of Nick for so many years, the tables had turned. Now Nick would be cowering in his boots, afraid of her. She would finally put a stop to him. To the violence. To the drugs. All of it would finally come to an end and she would be able to close this dark, regrettable chapter of her life forever.
Jules was no longer helpless. She could finally steer her own ship. Guide it exactly where it needed to go, and at the end of it, her bears would be waiting for her.
“There’s just one other thing,” Carlton said slowly.
“What’s that?”
“We wanna make sure our case is rock solid. The best way of doing that is sending you in with a wire and getting an admission of guilt straight from his mouth.”
35
Max woke to the sounds of his mother’s screams echoing through his ears. He bolted up in bed, sweat pouring down his forehead. He felt strangely cold. Carter lay sprawled out next to him, mouth agape as he snored loudly. A beam of yellow morning light streamed out of the window. Jules wasn’t here. She must have woken up early, he figured.
Eager for her touch to calm his frittered nerves, he rolled out of bed and strode down the hall into the kitchen, expecting to see her cooking breakfast, or drinking a cup of coffee with a romance novel in hand. The tiny house was empty. He pushed the front door open and scanned the front yard. Nothing. He turned to re-enter the house when he was struck with cold realization. Their stolen Ford Taurus wasn’t parked in the driveway.
His heart pounded in his chest and his throat went dry. “Carter!” he croaked. He bolted into the bedroom and shook Carter roughly.
“Go away,” Carter mumbled, voice thick with sleep.
“Jules is gone. The car is gone.”
“What?” Carter’s eyes bulged with disbelief.
He tore out of bed and stomped through the cabin before heading outside.
“What the hell?” he asked. “Where could she have gone?!”
Max shook his head bitterly. “I don’t know.”
“Why would she leave alone? What is she thinking?”
“I don’t know!” Max rubbed his jaw prickled with a five o’ clock shadow, his mind spinning a million miles a minute.
He thought back to Jules’s behavior the previous night. She was quiet. Withdrawn. Even a little stand-offish. He’d chalked it up to exhaustion, and perhaps lingering trauma from their violent encounter with the cat shifters. He should’ve taken it more seriously. He should’ve talked to her. Soothed her nerves. Let her cry on his shoulder.
“She seemed really sad last night,” Carter said, mirroring Max’s thoughts. “Do you think... do you think she was planning this? Was that why she was so upset?”
Max clenched his fists and hardened his jaw. His heart grew cold. He didn’t know what to say. Deep inside him the fear came roaring back with a vengeance. It had never really left, he realized. It had just been easy to ignore when his soul was on fire with passion and endorphins rushed through his veins.
“I don’t understand,” Carter said helplessly, his forehead wrinkled with confusion and hurt. “We finally got away. We annihilated those shifters. We distanced ourselves from Yellowstone. I figured we’d be safe here.”
He swept his arm, showcasing their remote surroundings. “I mean, we’re out in the middle of nowhere. Hell, we’re thirty-five miles out from the nearest neighbor. No one will ever find us here. Why on earth would she run?”
Max squeezed the bridge of his nose, trying to prevent the approaching migraine from taking over. “I don’t know,” was all he could say. He couldn’t bring himself to speculate. To question. To debate Jules’s possible m
otives. None of it mattered. All that mattered was that Jules was gone. She hadn’t been arrested and carted off in the back of a police car. She hadn’t been kidnapped by Ellis’s men. She’d left on her own accord.
The betrayal pierced deep into his core and a wave of nausea passed over him from head to toe. His intuition had been right all along. It was his bear that was wrong. The stupid, impulsive, feral animal inside him had gotten carried away. He should’ve never let his bear make his decisions for him. Fated mates were real, but fate was a bitch. Love was nothing but pain and angst disguised as happiness, a sickly-sweet siren song that lured men and beasts alike to their doom.
Carter stared at Max, his face blank and hopeless. “What do we do?”
“I have no idea.”
The day passed slowly. The sun was hot and brilliant, yet everything felt shrouded in a thick layer of fog. Carter could only pace back and forth, while Max sat on the front porch, expressionless, staring off into space. He seemed near catatonic from shock.
Carter wracked his brain, mentally retracing their steps all the way back to Yellowstone. Ever since their confrontation with the cougars, Jules seemed different. Her spark disappeared. She turned into a zombie, listless and forlorn. It all seemed so obvious now. Why hadn’t he picked up on it? Why hadn’t he said something to her?
He wondered where she went and what she was thinking. Why would she leave them? She was in love with them, wasn’t she? Where could she go that would possibly be safer than a secluded cabin out in remote Oregon woods, protected by her shifter mates?
As he contemplated, a gnawing realization slowly dawned on him. Did she intend to meet Nick? Perhaps she thought she could settle everything herself. He paced back and forth on the front lawn, weighing the likelihood, until he convinced himself that he must be right.
“Max,” he said. Max rolled his head in Carter’s direction, looking at him with glossy, empty eyes. Shit, this was really doing a number on Max, Carter realized. Max had always been emotionally fragile, teetering on the edge between stability and despair. This event might be enough to send him plunging into the depths.
“Max, I think I know where she is,” Carter said, his heart pounding.
Max’s eyes widened as he sat up attentively. The fog momentarily drifted from his cloudy eyes.
“Jules feels guilty about everything that’s happened. She thinks it’s all her fault. I think she’s gotten the crazy idea in her head to go to Nick Ellis directly and try to hash things out.”
Max bolted to his feet, fists clenched. His eyes bulged. “Why the hell would she do that?!”
“I don’t know. She said he has a soft spot for her. Maybe she thinks that if she talks to him, she can get him to calm down and put an end to all this violence.”
“That’s insane, Carter. It’s a death sentence. Nick’s never gonna let her get out of there alive.”
“I know.”
“We have to go. Now.”
The two shifters sprang into action. They stuffed their belongings in a small bag, then bounded out to the front yard and peeled off their clothes. They shifted and ran into the forest, Carter carrying the satchel around his neck. It would take them a long time to get into town, so running in grizzly form was their only option.
They tramped through the dark woods, scattered sunlight sparkling their fur.
Adrenaline coursed through Carter’s veins. He was possessed by the indomitable need to find his mate and protect her at all costs. He couldn’t let his mate go. Prison was one thing. At least she would still be alive in the world. But dead... the thought of it made his blood run cold. He imagined sinking his teeth into Nick Ellis’s neck, puncturing his artery and leaving him a crumpled mess on the floor, spurting fountains of blood. Carter’s roar echoed through the trees as he planned his attack.
Once in town, they shifted back into human form, dressed quickly, and walked down main street until they came to a little car rental place, with only two vehicles to choose from. Max paid for an older model green Hyundai and the two set off on the long journey to Salt Lake City.
36
Jules’s pulse thrummed as she parked her car on the side of the road. Black memories crept into her mind as she took in the familiar sight of Nick’s central office, an old warehouse on the outskirts of the city. He’d done business there for years. It was a seedy, grimy place that had always put her on edge, even when things between her and Nick were going well.
A tall, burly man with a thick gray beard and a leather jacket stood at the front entrance, his hands clasped together solemnly. A cool glint of metal stuck out the front of his torn jeans as a warning.
Jules’s limbs shook as she stepped towards him. At first he just stared straight ahead. But then his eyes settled on her and glimmered with shocked recognition.
“Tony,” she greeted with a timid smile, extending her hand. “Good to see you again.”
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Tony barked, his eyes bulging. He gripped her arm roughly and pushed the door open with his shoulder, dragging her inside. She forced herself not to look over her shoulder at the unmarked police van that sat up the block, watching her.
She was immediately hit with a blast of heavy cigarette smoke. The inside of the warehouse looked just the way she remembered it. It was like a lounge, with couches and TVs, pool tables, and a full-service bar. Gruff looking men lingered, drinking and smoking and playing pool.
None of them gave even a second glance at Jules as Tony dragged her towards the back office.
“I can’t believe you made it so easy on us,” Tony chuckled, spittle landing on her cheek. “Nick’s been looking all over for you.”
“I know,” she breathed, trying to quell the pounding of her heart.
Tony dragged her down a long corridor, the end of which sat Nick’s office. The green door was closed, but she could hear his voice shouting from the other side. Cold tendrils of fear laced through her nerves as they fast approached.
Tony pounded on the door.
“I’m on the phone!” Nick barked. Jules shivered at the unwanted familiarity, every part of her resisting his presence.
“This is more important, boss,” Tony said.
“What part of on the phone don’t you understand?” he hissed.
Tony rolled his eyes and sighed heavily before barging in. Nick was in his black leather office chair, turned away from them. It rocked with Nick’s anger.
He growled, “What the FUCK is your pro—” He spun around, his jaw dropping as his eyes fell on Jules.
His hand fell away from his ear. The cell beeped as he ended the call without saying a word. His hard, watery black eyes raked her body up and down as his thin lips curled into a sneer. He seemed to have aged in the month since Jules had seen him last. New creases had formed around his eyes and forehead, undoubtedly caused by stress.
Jules’s body recoiled with disgust just at the sight of him.
“Well, well, well,” he said, leaning back into his chair and tapping his fingers against the desk in amusement. “Got tired of running away, I see?”
Jules gulped, her throat dry.
His eyes scanned her skeptically. “You honestly think I’m gonna fall for this ruse?”
“W-what do you mean?”
He smirked, his black eyes glimmering with mischief. Years ago, Jules found his air of danger sexy and exciting. Now it simply terrified her. “You just randomly decide to show up here? Just waltz right into the lion’s den? Jules, you gotta give me more credit than that. I didn’t get where I am today by being an idiot.”
“I don’t have any ulterior motives, Nick.”
“No?” He bolted upright to his feet and swiftly rounded the desk until he was face to face with her, the sickening heat from his body prickling her skin with revulsion. In one swift move, he gripped her blouse and tore it open, buttons flying to the ground. Jules gasped at his brazenness, pulse racing. Nick cocked his eyebrow as he stared at her bosom.
“Where is it?” he asked.
“Where is what?”
Nick narrowed his eyes, never breaking contact, smiling smugly as he unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans. He tore them down and reached around, running his hands over her ass and around her thighs.
“W-what are you doing?” she croaked.
He crouched down, running his hands along her goose-marked skin. “Huh,” he said, flicking his eyes up devilishly. “You’re full of surprises, Jules.”
“You think I’d wear a wire in here? Are you crazy?” Her voice quivered, and she prayed to God that it wouldn’t give her away.
“Perhaps you’re not as dumb as I thought,” Nick smiled. He ran his tongue along his bottom lip and purred, sliding his hands back around her ass again, squeezing her flesh tight. “Mmm, how I missed this ass.”
Jules gritted her teeth as she suppressed the urge to knee him in the face.
“God, you make me so hard. Even with the extra weight. You know, some of my buddies used to make fun of me. Call me a chubby chaser.”
Jules swallowed hard. In her head she was screaming out, cursing Nick’s name.
“You know where they are now?” Nick grinned. “Six feet under.”
A wave of nausea passed through her. She couldn’t bear to have his hands on her, and it took every ounce of her willpower not to kick his teeth in.
“I can’t believe I let you go, Jules,” Nick purred. “I miss this. I miss us.”
Jules forced a smile. “We can go back to that. We can go back to the way it was.”
Even though it was a lie, her heart wrenched as she spoke the words.
“Oh, God, Jules. It’s so tempting. You’re so tempting.”
He stood, his face inches away from hers. His hot breath smelled like cigarettes and whiskey. He took her cheek in his calloused hand and pulled her up to look him in the eyes.
“Oh, Jules, you sweet thing,” he whispered. “You could’ve had me. I was planning on seducing you when you arrived with my shipment. I was so lonely not having you in my bed anymore. I missed you. I tried to forget your touch. Tried to drown out my feelings for you with booze and strippers. I had a new girl on my dick every night, trying to fuck the pain away. But nothing worked.”
Safe with Her Bears Page 20