Bears in Blue Shifter Romance Box Set

by Mia Taylor

  “Your lead can wait. In my office. Now.”

  Lewis’ voice left no room for argument and with a grunt of frustration, Mal rose from his seat to follow the new staff sergeant through the department and up toward the elevators.

  “I have half a mind to cup your ears,” Rhett hissed.

  “I dare you,” Mal barked back, casting his superior a defiant look with icy hazel eyes, but he knew there would be no scrap that day or any other.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” Lewis wanted to know and Malcolm snickered.

  “Would you like me to go chronologically or—”

  “You coerced a witness in the Barney case. Her mother was in my office for two hours giving me an earful. She’s trying to convince Henny not to testify.”

  Mal gaped at him, the blood draining from his face.

  “Henny has to testify! She’s the only one who got a good look at him!”

  “Well, if you hadn’t scared the shit out of her, she probably still would be.”

  “I’ll talk to her again,” Mal said begrudgingly, shaking his head in disbelief.

  He had been on the trail of this human trafficker for over two years. If Jacob Christensen fell through the cracks because Henny refused to testify…

  “No,” Rhett said flatly. “You won’t. You’ll stay the hell away from her and you’re benched from the case.”

  Mal laughed.

  “Not a chance. I’ve put my sweat and blood into this case for two years. I know every witness, every victim, every low-life and his family involved. I’m not giving up when I’m about to nab Christensen for good.”

  Lewis sighed.

  “That’s the problem, Barnes. You’re too close. You may as well be a victim yourself. You’re going off the deep end. I’ve noticed it for months.”

  “If you’ve noticed for months, why did you wait until the bastard was going on trial to give me a time out?” Mal protested.

  “Because this is exactly the time you need to step back and take a break. Everything’s done. You need to take a few days and regroup before the trial.”

  “There are witnesses to prep, evidence to secure—”

  “You have an entire team for that. Consider yourself on vacation as of right now.”

  Mal could barely believe what he was hearing.

  “Are you joking me right now?”

  “You know I’m not.”

  Mal scoffed.

  “You want to take my badge and gun now?”

  Lewis scowled and folded his arms over his chest.

  “When was the last time you took a vacation, Mal?” Rhett demanded. “How long has it been?”

  The question sent chills through Mal’s body and he knew exactly why that was.

  The entire Christensen case, tracking him down, meeting his victims, all of it, reminded him of Brynn.

  That’s why I’ve taken this case so personally. It reeks of Brynn.

  “Go fishing or visit your sister. I don’t care. Just get out of Chicago and don’t come back until the DA calls you to testify.”

  Mal couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

  “Before you start arguing with me, Mal, think about what will happen if your case falls apart, if you ruin everything because you’re too stressed out to function. Think about it.”

  Mal clamped his mouth closed and lowered his amber-brown eyes.

  There was no sense in fighting with his sergeant, especially not with someone like Rhett Lewis.

  After all, he was in charge of the split, responsible for all of the bears in the Chicago Police Department. He was not one to be spoken to lightly. Mal knew that over the years, he’d been cut a lot of slack.

  It looked like his slack had been tightened again and Mal seethed slightly with resentment.

  “The trial starts on Monday,” Lewis reminded him as if he needed to be told. “That’s five days. Go and enjoy yourself.”

  Enjoy myself, Mal thought bitterly, turning away without comment. How the hell does he propose I do that?

  “Mal, I’m serious,” Lewis called after him. “You’re not to step foot back in this building until after you’ve testified. Stay away from witnesses. Don’t discuss the case with anyone—”

  “I got it,” Mal sniped. “Like I said, I can give you my badge if it will make you feel better.”

  “Having your head in the game without bias is what I need. The defence isn’t some legal aid hack. Christensen made good money off the backs of those girls—”

  “I don’t need to be reminded what he did,” Mal interjected.

  “Fine. But I’m warning you that your entire investigation is going to be under a microscope from start to finish. Defence counsel is not going to be easy on you.”

  Mal moved away from Lewis, grinding his teeth with annoyance. Cory looked at him expectantly when he returned.

  “Did he tear you a new one?” his partner asked sympathetically. “I had a feeling he wasn’t going to go easy on you.”

  “I’m intact,” Mal replied, running his hand through his short brown hair. “I’m on vacation.”

  Cory laughed until he saw the scowl on Mal’s face.

  “Wait, what? The trial, this new case—”

  “Sorry,” Mal said sarcastically. “I’m not allowed to talk about it.”

  “Jesus, Mal, I’m sorry.” There was genuine pity in Cory’s voice, something that only served to anger him more.

  “I gotta go,” Malcom muttered, grabbing his wallet out of the top drawer of his desk. “I’ll see you later.”

  He was gone before his partner could respond, out in the parking lot and in his car without another word to anyone. Never in his career had he left a case to take time off. That went again everything he stood for.

  Even as he drove toward his house in Edison Park, he couldn’t stop thinking about both the upcoming trial and the case he’d just been handed.

  After losing Brynn in Belize, Mal had come home to find he had no heart for narcotics. He couldn’t bring himself to care about finding drug dealers when there were women whose lives were at risk every day.

  The Belizean police had been certain that the men Mal had described were members of a trafficking unit known to them and that Brynn had been stolen by them.

  Of course, Mal had left out the part about them being werewolves. That was something that he needed to keep to himself.

  But it’s a piece of trivia I have for my own search.

  Unfortunately for Mal, that search proved fruitless and when he returned to the States, two months later, it was Rhett Lewis who had explained that finding a pack of Lycans was impossible if they wanted to stay off the radar.

  “You need to trust me on that,” Rhett chuckled. “I know a bit about that.”

  The feeling of helplessness never went away but Mal learned to throw himself into work, to forsake the dull ache in his heart.

  I failed Brynn, he thought. But I can help so many others.

  Perhaps a part of him hoped that by investigating special victims, he would eventually, inadvertently, find information on Brynn, but as the years passed, it became abundantly clear that he was clinging to a pipe dream.

  Damn Lewis for making me walk away from work.

  The idea of being alone with his own thoughts for five days was horrific, but the consequences of ignoring Lewis’ orders would be much worse.

  In that moment, he couldn’t be sure which was the lesser of two evils, but for now, Mal had to oblige his superior and go home.

  He parked in his driveway and paused to look down the street, reluctant to enter his house.

  How much time had he really spent in it over the past five years?

  Sure, it had been a place to grab a few hours of sleep and a shower but it was nothing better than a YMCA in some ways.

  It was barely noon and the day was destined to be long and tedious before the night dragged on for hours.

  Maybe Lewis is right. Maybe I should go to Lena’s for a few days.

/>   He had no doubt that his older sibling would welcome him and his nephews would be thrilled to spend time with him, even if it was because they were overly fascinated with the notion of their uncle being a cop.

  Mal tried to remember the last time he’d gone to visit and he was instantly consumed by guilt.

  The problem with going to see his sister was the constant reminder of all he’d lost.

  How much longer are you going to mourn Brynn?

  It was a dumb question. If he knew for a fact that Brynn was dead, he would have had an easier time of it, he was sure, but it was the not knowing that ate him alive, day after day.

  With a deep sigh, he reached into his pocket for his iPhone and leaned against the car, staring at the screen for a long moment.

  Then, before he could change his mind, he unlocked the device and dialed out.

  “Hello!” Lena’s voice was harried. “Mal?”

  “Hey,” he said with some sheepishness in his tone. “What are you doing?”

  “Well, Aiden is home sick with the flu and Peter is in Maryland on business. I’m on a deadline and I’m considering running for Mexico and never looking back. You?”

  “Oh.”

  Lena chuckled, albeit tersely.

  “I’m just kidding, Mal. It’s just another day around here. Are you okay?”

  “I was thinking about coming for a visit for a few days. But if it’s not a good time—”

  “WHAT?!” The disbelief in her tone resonated through the phone. “Gods, yes! Come! When? The boys will be thrilled and I wouldn’t mind seeing your ugly face for once this year.”

  “I was thinking about today.”

  There was a slight pause.

  “Are you okay, Mal?”

  “Yeah, of course. I’m just going to pack some stuff and be on my way.”

  There was another silence.

  “Mal, did something happen at work? Aren’t you working on that high-profile trafficking case right now?”

  “I’ve been given a few days to get my head on straight,” Mal admitted begrudgingly, hating that his sister knew him so well. “Are you sure it’s okay to come?”

  “Of course it is,” she replied without missing a beat. “Come whenever you want. I’m home. I’ll throw on a pot roast.”

  He snickered to himself.

  Leave it to Lena to think about dinner.

  “I’ll be happy with a coffee when I get there,” he replied and she snorted.

  “I bet you haven’t eaten properly since the last time I saw you,” she retorted. “Okay, hurry up and come. I’ve got a dinner to plan.”

  He considered arguing with her but thought better of it. He would lose in a protest against his sister. She was more stubborn than him, if possible.

  “I’ll see you in a few hours,” Mal said before they hung up. He remained outside his car for a few minutes, still reluctant to enter the house during waking hours.

  Most of the time, returning home was an act of stumbling across the threshold in a fit of exhaustion and falling face-first onto the couch. He couldn’t recall the last time he’d even slept on his bed.

  The house itself held no memory of Brynn. He’d bought it the year after she’d been taken in Belize but it wasn’t so much the building itself as the idea of being alone.

  A bag isn’t going to pack itself, he thought and begrudgingly made his way up the walkway toward the entrance.

  “Heya, Mal!”

  He turned at the sound of a neighbor’s voice and forced a half-smile on his face.

  “Hi, Tom.”

  “Haven’t seen much of you around,” the old man next door called. “How are things?”

  Amazing, Tom. My life is in perfect order.

  “Can’t complain,” he lied. “How’s Maryanne?”

  “Nagging as ever,” Tom chuckled. “Some woman came looking for you yesterday.”

  Mal’s eyebrows raised in question.

  “Some woman?”

  “Yes. Blonde, older but very attractive. I thought she might be your girlfriend.”

  “No…” Mal said slowly. “Did she say who she was?”

  Tom shook his greying head.

  “No. Just that she was looking for you. I told her that you were probably at work but for the life of me, I couldn’t remember what stationhouse you worked out of.”

  Mal’s brow creased and he nodded slowly.

  “Did she leave anything for me?”

  Again, Tom shrugged.

  “No idea, son.” Then he chuckled. “I don’t suppose I am helping very much, am I?”

  “You are,” he replied haltingly. “Thank you.”

  Suddenly, Mal was eager to get in the house and check the floor underneath the mail slot, his heart picking up slightly.

  Don’t be stupid. It can’t be Brynn. She might be blonde but she can hardly be considered “older.”

  Still, it didn’t stop Mal from wondering who else might be looking for him at home and not work.

  Once inside, disappointment filled him. There were nothing but flyers to take-out places and some bills on the floor.

  With an exhale of breath, Mal forced his imagination not to take off.

  This is what Lewis was worried about. He thinks you’re getting ahead of yourself. Just pack a bag and go to Lena. There’s nothing for you here but your own thoughts.

  But that didn’t stop Mal from looking out toward the street one final time, like he half-expected to see Brynn walking up the driveway to greet him.

  Of course he was alone.

  Just as he had been since Brynn had been taken.

  Chapter Two

  Lena’s Place

  It was a two-hour drive to his sister’s place but Mal barely noticed, his mind on who the mysterious blonde might have been who had visited the previous day.

  Several times on the trip, Mal considered turning around and going back home to wait for a sign of this mysterious woman, but he knew that Lena was expecting him.

  No. I won’t do this to myself. I’m officially on vacation.

  Even the word “vacation” made him cringe slightly.

  Call it a sabbatical. A five-day escape.

  His nephew, Braden, waited on the front porch for him, blue eyes lightening when he saw his uncle.

  “Uncle Mal!” he screamed, throwing himself into Mal’s arms. “I can’t believe it.”

  Mal was temporarily stunned at how big his sister’s oldest son had gotten in the year since he’d last laid eyes on him.

  “Look at you!” Mal growled, embracing the boy in a bear hug. “When did you get so big?”

  They parted and Braden chuckled, looking down shyly at his toes.

  “Well, as I live and breathe!” Lena chortled from the doorway. “My baby brother!”

  “Hey, sis,” he chuckled, moving toward her to place a kiss on her cheek. “You look good.”

  “I look like hell and you know it,” Lena countered, hugging him warmly. “But still not as bad as you. When was the last time you slept?”

  “Not now,” he groaned. “Come on. Give me five minutes before you start in on me.”

  “Never,” Lena jested, staring at him teasingly, but Mal didn’t miss the worry in her eyes.

  “Stop hogging him, Mom!” Aiden called from further inside the house. “I want to see him, too. Uncle Mal, did you bring your gun?”

  Mal grimaced.

  “Aiden, you’re a bear,” he reminded his youngest nephew. “You don’t need a gun.”

  “Neither do you but you carry one,” Aiden shot back and Lena snorted.

  “I’m a cop,” Mal groaned. “We go through this every time.”

  “I’m going to be a cop, too,” ten-year-old Aiden said excitedly. “I’m going to catch all the bad guys like you do and—”

  He broke off, falling into a hacking cough which pained Mal to hear.

  “You shouldn’t be out of bed,” Mal told him kindly. “You sound awful.”

  Aiden scowled.
r />   “I thought I was a bear,” he said sullenly. “I thought I wasn’t supposed to get sick.”

  Mal looked at him sympathetically as Lena ushered him back to his bedroom.

  “You know that in a few years, your immunity to sickness and injury will kick in. Right around the time of your first shift. You just need to be patient,” Lena told him gently, casting Mal an exasperated look.

  “I dunno, Mom,” Braden taunted him. “He might stay a runt forever.”

  “That’s enough, Bray. Leave your brother alone,” Lena sighed, rolling her eyes. “Do you see what I put up with?”

  I could think of worse things than this, Mal thought but he swallowed his misery and forced a grin.

  “Don’t worry, Aiden. I was like you with your mother bugging me like Braden is bugging you. Now look at me. I’m bigger and scarier than her.”

  Lena chortled.

  “In your dreams, buddy. Come on, Aide. You need your rest.”

  Mother and son disappeared down the hall of the ranch house, leaving Braden and Malcolm alone in the front hall.

  “So,” Mal said brightly. “Is there any coffee in this joint or has your mother started some anti-caffeine regime?”

  Braden chuckled.

  “I wouldn’t want to see Mom without coffee,” he confided. “Come on. I’ll get you settled, Uncle Mal.”

  They made their way back to the kitchen and Braden gestured for Mal to sit as he got busy starting a pot of coffee for them.

  “How’s school going?” Mal asked, desperate to keep silence from falling between them. He’d been left alone with his own thoughts for far too long and he didn’t want another second of quiet. It was why he’d come, after all—to get away from his own mind.

  To his chagrin, Braden had other things on his mind.

  “School’s fine, but how’s that case going with that guy who trafficked all those women? Is he going away forever?”

  Shit. I keep forgetting that Braden is almost a man now. I should have known this would come up.

  “I hope so,” Mal replied flippantly. “But the trial doesn’t start until Monday so…”

  “But he’s guilty, isn’t he? I tell all my friends at school how you’re a superhero, finding scum like Jacob Christensen and locking them up.”

  “Bray, your uncle didn’t come here to talk about work,” Lena said smoothly, interrupting the conversation. “He came to visit.”