Cadet Bear by Scarlett Grove
When it finally came in, they entered the house. The place was perfectly tidy, in a creepy sort of way. They had two men searching the tunnel system while the other three searched the house.
Heath went into the man’s bedroom, the perfectly made queen size bed in the center of the room. He looked in all the usual places, under the bed, in the closet. Everything was so thoroughly organized, it was hard to find a single thing out of place or out of the ordinary.
He went into the office next, going through the man’s files. It appeared he was some kind of doctor. But Heath still couldn’t find anything that would indicate that he had any understanding of the whereabouts of the ring leader behind the kidnappings.
Heath met Rollo in the man’s living room and shrugged.
“Find anything?” Heath asked.
“Nothing, but we’ve got his computer and we’re taking it back to Fate Mountain.”
12
Maria was sound asleep under the covers, but Rosa couldn’t sleep. She felt like there was so much more to be done. The door of the hotel room slowly swung open and Heath stepped inside. Rosa jumped to her feet and threw her arms around his neck.
“I didn’t want to wake you,” he whispered.
“I couldn’t sleep. It’s okay.”
They walked further into the room and sat together on the second bed, facing away from Maria.
“Did you find anything?” she asked.
“We’re taking the computer back to Fate Mountain. Tech Damien is going to go through it to find anything they can. I’ll take you girls back in the morning.”
“Heath, we found her. You found her. And she wasn’t hurt. I don’t know how to express my gratitude.”
Heath leaned in and kissed her head. Her emotions swirled in her gut and in her heart, but her dry eyes couldn’t produce any more tears.
“You don’t have to thank me, babe. It’s my pleasure and my duty to take care of you and yours. Your sister is my sister and I always protect my own.”
He kissed her again and Rosa felt fatigue wash over her. Maybe she could sleep now that Heath was back and everyone was safe. She moved back on the bed and climbed under the blankets. Heath slid out of his shoes, pants and t-shirt, and climbed in beside her.
They held each other tight, and Rosa finally drifted off to sleep. In the morning she woke with a start, Heath’s strong arms still around her. She shot up in the bed, looking around the room. Maria was still sleeping in the bed next to her. Rosa let out a long breath and relaxed. She’d had a nightmare that Maria was gone again, but it was just a dream.
She slid from the bed, and pulled on her clothes. Maria and Heath both blinked open their eyes and stirred in bed upon hearing her shuffle around in the room. She grabbed her cellphone and looked at the time. It was almost noon.
“We better get going back to Fate Mountain,” Heath said, looking at his watch.
They grabbed breakfast on the way and made the long drive from the coast to Fate Mountain. By the time they made it back to Heath’s house, it was late afternoon. He brought them inside and offered to make them a late lunch before heading back to the police station.
Rosa heard Heath’s phone ping as he pulled some turkey from the refrigerator for sandwiches. He read the text and looked back up at Rosa and Maria.
“Rollo says Damien made a breakthrough with the computer.”
“What did he find?” Rosa asked.
“He didn’t say. I’m going to go down there. You girls should stay here.”
Rosa wanted to help put an end to the kidnapping ring, but she didn’t want to leave her sister alone.
“Okay,” she said. “We’ll stay here.
Heath kissed her on the forehead before leaving, giving the girls some instructions on where to find whatever food and drinks they might want. He also left a hundred dollars in cash on the kitchen counter in case they wanted to go shopping or order pizza.
“I don’t want to leave the house or order pizza,” Maria said nervously.
“Let’s lock all the doors,” Rosa agreed.
The girls went about locking all the doors and windows in the house and then met back in the kitchen to put together their favorite traditional Mexican meal, enchilada de pollo. They found everything they needed in Heath’s kitchen, even green chilies in a can.
When the sisters were done cooking, they set the table in Heath’s dining room, put on soft music and sat down for a family meal.
“This is almost like when we used to have Sunday dinners with mom and dad,” Maria said, after chewing her first bite of food.
“It is. Except it’s better now because I know how much I appreciate you.”
“I know I appreciate you more now too,” Maria said. “Thank you for saving me.”
“I knew you’d never run away. There was no way I’d ever believe that.”
“I’m glad you didn’t. Who knows what could have happened to me.”
“The Bear Patrol is going to shut these sickos down. I know it. Heath will make sure no girls get taken again.”
“I hope so,” Maria said.
“Did they ever say anything to you about their leader?” Rosa asked Maria.
“Not really. I already told the police commander everything I knew.”
“I think what we need to figure out now is what we’re going to do with the rest of our lives,” Rosa said thoughtfully, slicing through her cheesy enchilada.
“Well, you and Heath are mated now. That’s going to change everything.”
“How do you feel about that?” Rosa asked.
“I don’t know. It’s weird that you’re committed to someone I’ve never met.”
“I know. I totally understand where you’re coming from. I’d be freaked out if I were you too.”
“It’s not that I’m freaked out. I’m just a little worried about you.”
“Don’t you like Heath?” Rosa asked.
“Sure. He’s a great guy. He saved me from that sicko. How could I not like him? I just have suspicions of any man at this point.”
“You were kidnapped and then you found out your sister mated with a shifter you’d never met. You have a reason to be suspicious, but I can assure you, Heath is everything I’ve ever wanted in a man.”
“So, are we going to move to Oregon now?”
“I haven’t really had a chance to think about it.”
“He’s not going to leave his bear clan to live in LA. I know enough about shifters to know that.”
“You have a point,” Rosa said. “I don’t think I could ever ask him to leave Fate Mountain anyway.”
“I’m in the middle of the school year,” Maria said, taking another bite of enchilada.
“I know. But the sooner we sort things out the better.”
“Do you want to move to Fate Mountain?”
“Everything is different now, Maria. Going back home isn’t the best option for either of us anymore.”
“I’ll miss my friends though. Everyone is going to be worried about me.”
“As soon as Heath gives you the go ahead, you can post on social media and let your friends know you’re safe.”
“I guess that might help,” Maria said, looking down at her plate.
Rosa didn’t want to disappoint her sister or make her life harder. But they had to think about the future now. Being with Heath would make both their lives better. They lived in a crappy two-bedroom house in the ghetto in east LA. Rosa worked as an underpaid administrative assistant. There wasn’t anything for them back there except Maria’s teenage friends.
“There are great schools on Fate Mountain,” Rosa said. “The Bright Institute for Shifters recently opened its doors to humans, I’ve heard. Maybe you could go there.”
“I guess. I don’t know that much about shifters.”
“It’s a great school.”
Rosa felt like she was losing ground. Maria seemed upset for no real reason. She understood that a teenager’s friends were important, but Maria ha
“I’ll have to think about it,” Maria said, pushing away from the table, her plate only half finished.
“Are you done?” Rosa called after her.
“Yeah…” Maria muttered, walking into the living room.
Maria plopped down on the couch and turned on the TV with a dramatic sigh. Rosa had been raising her sister for five years. She knew exactly how difficult she could be when she got into one of her moods. But things were different now. The stakes where higher than ever. Maria had been traumatized, and this didn’t seem to be the appropriate reaction. It made Rosa worried that her sister might need a lot of counseling to move on.
Rosa picked up her plate and iced tea and carried them into the living room to sit beside her sister on the couch. She wasn’t done eating, but she also wasn’t going to sit in the dining room alone.
Maria absently clicked through the channels as Rosa finished her meal. Maria finally settled on a reality show about teenagers who got married. Rosa tried not to roll her eyes. She hated shows like this and didn’t want her sister exposed to them. But Maria had already been exposed to horrors beyond the imagination. Rosa was going to have to learn to loosen up, especially if she wanted Maria on her side about moving to Fate Mountain and her relationship with Heath.
13
Heath and the Bear Patrol paced around Damien’s office while he worked at the computer on his large desk. Heath was simultaneously worried about Rosa and Maria and impatient to find out the truth about the men who had hurt them. He wanted to get home to the girls and tell them that he had found and stopped the men behind the trafficking ring. It was the most important thing he could do for them now.
“I have recovered some deleted information,” Damien said. “From what I can tell, the man who captured Maria was involved in some pretty twisted stuff. There is reason to believe that the kidnapping ring involves a lot of ranking officials from Los Angeles to Alaska.”
“Could that be why the LAPD shut down Maria’s case so fast?” Rollo asked.
“It’s very likely,” Damien said. “This is bigger than all of us.”
“What exactly have you recovered?” Rollo asked.
“I have names and addresses of numerous men in law enforcement and government. I was able to recover this information from password protected files on his computer. The files link these men to the kidnapping ring. They buy these girls as sex slaves and torture them for pleasure.”
“That’s disgusting,” Heath asked. “We have to put an end to it now.”
“It won’t be that easy,” Damien said.
“If we’re talking about high ranking officials, it will be a challenge to get to the bottom of it,” Rollo said.
“I agree,” Damien said. “We have to play it cool or it could be disastrous for the Fate Mountain PD and our community.”
“I’m going to call my shifter contact at the FBI and start an investigation,” Rollo said. “Print me a list of names and bring it to my office, Damien. We will get to the bottom of this. I won’t let these perverts scare me away from protecting my people.”
“Copy that,” Damien said as Rollo left his office.
“Rollo is right,” Deputy Knox said. “We can’t allow sick people to scare us into non-action.”
“What else do the files say?” Detective Gauge said, stepping behind Damien to look over his shoulder at the computer screen.
“I’ll print out the information I have here for everyone to read,” Damien said.
Heath watched Damien send the files to his printer and then hand the information packets to all the Bears still in his office. The guys read through the list of names. Heath already knew that it was going to be a big bust that left entire communities reeling for years.
“All right gentlemen,” Rollo said coming back into Damien’s office. “I’ve contacted my shifter contact at the FBI. First, I want to say the most important thing is the safety and integrity of the people of Fate Mountain. We have the responsibility of protecting them, and I take that very seriously.
“We will continue doing our jobs. The FBI has taken over this investigation, headed by my shifter contact. They will take the men who kidnapped Maria into custody in a few hours. It is out of our hands now. But what will never be out of our hands is our continued commitment to the preservation of a peaceful way of life for our families and our community and our world.”
“We are all in complete agreement, sir,” Heath said.
“Thank you for that Cadet Bear,” Rollo said. “You are all dismissed. But keep your eyes out for any signs of what we have all just uncovered today.”
The Bear Patrol walked out of Damien’s office but Heath stayed behind, rereading the information on the papers Damien had provided for him.
“I wish I had better news to take home to the girls,” Heath said.
“This is high level stuff. We can’t bring down this ring on our own,” Damien said. “These officials are too powerful. Rosa experienced that herself.”
“I suppose you’re right. I need to get back to the girls and make sure they’re all right.”
All the way back home to his house, Heath’s mind ran a million miles a minute. He didn’t know what to tell Rosa and Maria about what he had just learned. As he parked in front of his house, he decided he was going to tell Rosa the truth.
Maria was still a minor and it was not his place to make those decisions for her. It would be up to Rosa to tell Maria what was really happening.
He walked through the front door of his house and found the girls on the couch watching TV. Maria looked like a sullen teenager and Rosa just looked tired. She jumped to her feet when she saw him walk through the door and she wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Were you able to find them?” Rosa asked.
“We found something,” he said. “I’ll tell you about it in private.”
“Maria was taken by these sickos. She has a right to know,” Rosa said.
“If that’s how you feel, I won’t question you,” Heath said with a sigh.
“Tell us then,” Maria demanded.
“The truth is worse than we imagined,” Heath started, looking from one girl to the other. “But it appears that a number of high ranking law enforcement and government officials were involved in the kidnapping ring. It may be why they closed Maria’s missing person’s case so quickly.”
“I knew something was fishy about that!” Rosa said.
“You were right all along,” Heath said.
“I had no idea those officers were in on it,” Rosa said, her tone dropping to a scared whisper.
“What are you going to do now?” Maria asked.
“Rollo has turned the investigation over to his shifter contact in the FBI. They will take it from here.”
“Do you trust the FBI?” Rosa asked. “Don’t you think this investigation could be compromised if high ranking officials are involved in the crime?”
“I am afraid of that,” Heath said. “But this is beyond the jurisdiction of the Fate Mountain police department. We have to hand it over to the FBI. What have you two been doing all evening?” Heath asked, trying to change the subject.
“We were just watching TV. Earlier we made enchiladas de pollo and had a big feast.”
“The kitchen is still a mess,” Maria said.
Heath raised an eyebrow at her and then looked at Rosa who had pursed lips and a crinkled brow. Clearly the girls were having some disagreements and difficulty coming together after the kidnapping.
“That’s okay,” Heath said. Not wanting to upset them. “I’ll clean it up myself.”
“I’ll help you,” Rosa said, rolling her eyes at her little sister.
Rosa let out a deep sigh and then looked up at Heath again with a pleading expression on her face. They walked into the kitchen and out of earshot from Maria who was in front of the loud television.
“What’s going on
“Maria is upset that I mated with you so quickly.”
Rosa dished the rest of the enchiladas into a plastic container and put it in the fridge.
“That’s perfectly understandable,” he said.
“She’s being kind of a brat about it.”
“I think we need to be gentle with your sister. She has been through a lot,” Heath reasoned.
“I agree with you, but I think she’s being unreasonable.”
“She may be. She is a teenager. I hear they can be like that.”
They both started to laugh and their laughter made each other laugh even more until they were both laughing so hard that Heath’s stomach started to hurt.
He grabbed his abdomen and leaned against the counter. Rosa gasped for air and finally gained control of her chuckling. She sighed and moved into Heath’s arms, wrapping her own arms around his waist and leaning her head against his chest. She felt so sensual and delicate in his arms. He kissed her temple and let out a long breath, feeling like he had all the love in the world right in his arms.
“Everything is going to be all right, babe,” he said. “I promise to do everything I can to keep you and your sister safe.”
“I know. I believe you.”
He cupped her cheek in his hand and tilted her face up to his, claiming her lips in a deep passionate kiss. Rosa groaned into his mouth, bringing his desire to new heights. He could not resist his need for her. His bear growled and moaned inside his mind. Heath picked Rosa up and cradled her in his arms, kissing her the whole time. They broke from each other’s lips for a split second and looked into each other’s eyes. They both wanted the same thing.
“We can clean up in the morning,” Heath said.
“Umhm,” Rosa agreed lustily.
He carried her down the hall and into his bedroom, kicking the door closed behind them. Rosa giggled uncontrollably as he plopped her on the bed.
“What about Maria?” Rosa asked.