Bear Me Away (Alpha Werebear Paranormal Romance) (A Jamesburg Shifter Romance) (17 page)

“West,” Paul said, “I owe you about eighty beers. You saved my partners life, I—”

“She’s the one on top of me,” West interrupted, wheezing a little when he breathed. “She tossed that rabbit, jumped on top of me. I just thought I was about to get lucky, so I hugged her. I may or may not have lost a lot of blood.”

A furious blush crept down Elena’s bare neck, and then she remembered she wasn’t really wearing very much to hide the redness.

Paul laughed out loud. “Damn, this one really came out of his shell, huh? Anyway, can you move?”

West grunted loudly and somehow pushed himself out of the piled up rubble. When he stood, an outline of busted slate from the roof remained in his shape. “Where’s the rabbit?” he asked, dabbing at one of the numerous wounds all over his face, neck, shoulders and back.

“Did she do that to you?” A pair of hyenas approached, one of them in uniform and the other wearing a pair of Wranglers and an undershirt. “This rabbit? Petunia Lewis? Oh sorry, I’m Lieutenant Jorgenson, JPD.”

They all shook hands, although it took Elena a significant amount of effort to lift hers. “Yes sir,” she said. “I was investigating er... well, my client’s case. We found some evidence, and were,” she trailed off, not sure how to explain “frolicking in the woods until I got kidnapped.”

“He knows everything,” the other man said. “After I managed to get through to him and explain everything, he’s come around to our side. Still something funny going on, but this ain’t the time for that sorta thing.”

She recognized the voice. “Ralph? I’d hug you but I think I’d probably throw up.”

“How’s that for a compliment?” Ralph asked, laughing and scratching at the same time.

“I’m not sure why I’m doing this,” Jorgenson said, “but probably because you solved a case we weren’t even aware
was
a case.”

“Why is that, boss?” West asked, and then corrected himself. “Lt. Jorgenson, I mean. I guess you’re not the boss if I’m not a cop.”

“Good God, look at you.” Jorgenson took a step over and put his hands on West’s arms. “Still go by West?”

“Yes, sir. Do you still go by sir?” The big bear smiled and stuck his hand out, shaking Jorgenson’s.

“No need for all that,” Jorgenson said. “I’m just glad you’re doing well for yourself. Better than well, if you fell in with the Saints. They’re the best in town.”

Paul sidled up. “We try. Although we don’t do any ghost busting, if that’s what you need.”

“Exactly.” He was quiet for just long enough that no one knew if he was being serious or joking. There was gravity to the slow, patient way the gray-haired hyena spoke; the kind of voice that everyone leans in to listen at when they speak. “But no, you did good police work, even when we failed. My opinion isn’t exactly popular, but I think it’s good to have people like you around. You know,
licensed
private investigators.”

“Yes, of course, sir,” Elena said. “He’s actually our newest hire. He’s an intern. Training. He’s going for his exam in a few weeks, so, uh,” she trailed off, not particularly sure where she was going.

Jorgenson cracked a smile. “I wonder if Google interns regularly have buildings dropped on their heads?”

Paul beamed. “Welcome on board, West!” he said. “You passed the test.”

It was all Elena could do to keep from making a wildly inappropriate rhyme.

“Oh,” the big bear said. “That’s, good, I guess. Say, where
did
the rabbit go?”

“She ran,” Ralph said plainly. “We rolled up and the roof of this place was collapsing. Damn shame, too, lots of highly collectable dolls in there.” He looked around the crowd and saw West nodding in agreement, but everyone else shaking their heads. “Right, anyway, she somehow got away. She ran, but we’ve got people after her. She won’t get very far. I guess we’ll just prosecute her for, uh, reckless gardening? Well that and trying to poison a bunch of food. There’s that too.”

Jorgenson grunted another laugh. “I think it’ll be slightly more severe than a vandalism. But, as usual in cases like this, we’ll need the private investigators involved in the case to appear in court as witnesses.” He looked down at the bagged dentures, turning them over in his hand. The headlights from the patrol cars gave him enough light to see. “Hell of a thing to wear, though judging from how torn up your intern is, they did the job.”

“She ate with them,” Elena said, her voice hollow and distant. She made like she had more to say, but stopped herself.

Everyone was silent for a moment until Ralph finally spoke. “You two need some rest. And by that, I mean you should get yourself to Jamesburg General and get yourselves checked out. I’ve been around Paul and West long enough to know they’ll both agree and then just never manage to get there, so I assume you’re the same way?”

Elena grinned, but didn’t answer right away. “I’ll get there,” she said. “When I find the time.”

The Lieutenant’s radio fuzzed to life. Someone reported having caught Petunia, and how she
“really bit the shit out of my arm when we tackled her,”
which got everyone chuckling.

“Those bites are no joke,” West said, as the two hyenas left Elena, West, and Paul standing alone in the rubble.

“I’m just glad you’re both okay,” Paul said. “And I’m glad they didn’t arrest anyone. From now on, you can keep the adventurous cases. I’ll keep staking out public toilets and waiting for creepers.”

“Deal,” Elena said, smiling a little. “Although I dunno, there’s something vaguely appealing about waiting around to see a disheveled guy fall out of a Port-a-John.” She shrugged. “But okay, you can have that sorta fun.”

The three of them laughed for a moment, before Paul took his leave. “You two get some rest, like Ralph said. And West?”

West turned and looked at Paul.

“If you really
do
want to get into the life, maybe you’re done with the solitary farming business? I’m happy to put another name on the sign.”

“Just so long as mine comes first,” Elena said, with a smile, as her partner trotted to his car, and left with a wave.

“She was all alone,” Elena finally said.

“That’s what you were going to say earlier?”

“Yeah. She was. All she had were the dolls and some really bad memories. She told me a whole lot in the time we were in that basement.”

West nodded slowly. “And here I was, just thinking you were trying to get her pissed off enough to do something stupid.”

“I was,” Elena said. “But she still said a lot. You said it yourself – how sad it is that someone feels alone enough to do something like that just to have someone pay attention to them?”

West cleared his throat. “I may know a thing or two about that. I mean, mine was self-imposed, but...”

“Yeah,” Elena said, wrapping her arms around West’s waist as he did the same to her. “Mine too. And it’s kinda strange to say this, but there’s something else I’ve been thinking for the last couple days.”

He looked down and kissed her forehead, making sure to avoid the bruises. “Yeah?”

“I’ve always kinda wanted to try farming,” she said. “But we’re gonna have to do
something
about those Star Wars toys.”

“Articulated statuettes,” West said with a smile that curled the left corner of his mouth. “And for you? For you, you know what I’d do?”

“What’s that, big guy?”

“If you wanted, I’d even sell him.” He blinked his eyes, trying to make himself look as sad as possible. “If you wanted a piano, or a car, or a new house, I’d sell a Boba Fett. Maybe even both of them.”

“A house?” she asked, stepping up on her tip toes, and wincing a little at the pain in her ribs, and kissed West’s neck. “Those things are really worth that much?”

“A car, maybe. Used Toyota.”

She laughed, even though it hurt. West beamed, even though
that
hurt.

With her arms around him, and his around her, the two kissed under the moonlight, his lips parting hers as he drank her in. She reached up his back, sliding her hands under the torn shirt, and felt his muscles, his shaggy hair, and his heat against her, taking her away to another place – a place she never knew existed until it was right there, in her life.

He closed his eyes, kissed her again, deeper that time, and groaned softly.

“I don’t care how beat up I am, or how many cuts I’ve got,” he whispered. “When I’m with you, the only thing I can feel is
right
.”

Leaning her head against his chest, a tear welled up in either corner of Elena’s eyes. They ran down her cheeks and soaked into West’s ripped up shirt. “I know what you mean,” she said back. “It’s not just right though.”

He tilted her head back with his huge hands, and stared into her moonlit eyes, pushing that copper hair out of her face.

“It’s perfect,” she whispered, and craned her neck for another kiss.

––––––––

T
he law in Jamesburg is a funny thing. The alpha isn’t just the biggest and baddest, he’s also the most deferential bureaucrat in town – and that’s by design. Jamesburg had never had an alpha more happy to defer, or less excited about the minutiae of town politics than Erik Danniken. And that ended up working out just fine.

“Okay,” Erik said, standing up at the front of the courtroom, stretching his hip flexors in front of everyone present for some reason no one understood. “Here’s the way this is going to work. To keep this circus from becoming even more of a circus, everybody without any reason to be here has to go. There are TVs out front that will broadcast the trial. And no, Leon, being drunk at eight in the morning is not a reason for you to be here.”

Leon, the single salamander in Jamesburg, let out a long, slobbery raspberry, and began the great exodus of the curious from Jamesburg County Courthouse.

“Are you sure you want all those local yokels hanging around the lobby all day?” Jamie Ampton, the werebat in charge of Jamesburg Public Relations, asked. “You know they’re going to stay as long as they have to stay. This is the most exciting thing that’s happened in,” she trailed off and looked at her phone for a moment. “Well, probably since the last circus of a trial.”

“Nah,” Erik said with a grin that could melt an ice sheet. “The Wiener Mobile coming through town was
definitely
better than that trial.”

Izzy, Erik’s mate and the town treasurer, perked up. “You are the biggest man baby I’ve ever known, Erik,” she said with a smirk. “But I believe you. I think that probably was just about the biggest day of your life. Fourteen feet of hotdog, two giant buns...”

Erik nodded, without a shred of irony. He was starting to get excited, and when Erik got excited, he also got loud. “It was awesome, huh? I never thought a wiener could get that big,” he announced.

The entire room, including Petunia, Elena, West and the rest of them, froze.

Elena stuck a finger in her mouth and bit down hard enough to squelch the laugh. West, being a bear without a care, chuckled happily. Petunia maintained the same straight-mouthed stare she’d had since the hyenas dragged her into the room in her orange jumpsuit.

Izzy averted her eyes, Jamie turned red, and Professor Duggan, the city manager, part-time history professor and full-time hedgehog, puffed out his cheeks. “Enough frivolity!” he screeched. “This is a serious time for serious business! We can’t sit around and talk about hotdogs!”

“Frankfurter,” Ash Morgan, one of two werebears in the Jamesburg Police Department, who also happened to be the department liaison to the city government, spoke up. “I mean, technically. We were talking about the wiener, not the entire food item. You know what? Never mind. Floor’s all yours, professor.”

“That’s actually a good point,” Duggan said. “I stand corrected. Frankfurter.”

The entire room sat in stunned silence. Finally, someone in the back of the packed house cleared their throat.

“Right!” Duggan announced. “I assume everyone remaining actually has some connection to the case and isn’t just along for the ride?”

No one responded.

“Can we get this moving?” Erik said, turning to the side but still speaking loudly enough for anyone with ears to hear. “I’ve got a, uh, meeting.” He looked at Izzy longingly, but then snapped back to attention when he realized everyone was watching him.

It was Erik’s turn to clear his throat. He then picked up the manila envelope off the lectern, and squinted. He held the document at arms’ length, squinted again, and then pursed his lips before turning to Izzy. She handed him a pair of red, white, and orange paisley reading glasses, which he donned, of course with absolutely no shame at all. Somehow, they matched the multicolored, square bandage on Erik’s left cheek.

“This is the case of the City and County of Jamesburg versus Miss Petunia, uh, Lidless?” He sneered a little when he attempted to say her name, and then rubbed the bandage.

“Lewis!” Petunia squeaked.

“Now you calm down or I’ll hold you in contem—I’m sorry, what did you say?” Erik was still squinting, but was now turning the paper side to side. “Duggan, you have the worst goddamn handwriting.”

“Lewis,” Petunia said. “It’s my last name. Petunia Lewis.”

“Your last name is Petunia Lewis?” Erik asked. “It says here—”

Izzy jabbed him in the leg with a hard elbow.

“Anyway,” Erik continued. “This is the case of the City and County of Jamesburg versus Petunia Lewis, accused of felony vandalism – that’s vandalism causing more than five hundred dollars in property damage – and also of the attempted poisoning of everyone in town who eats diced carrots from a jar. Who
does
that, by the way? Carrots from a can? Why not just... anyway, so that’s where we are.”

He sighed heavily. “I assume you’re representing yourself?”

Petunia nodded. Lawyers had a tough time making a living in Jamesburg. So much was handled in
other
ways that they couldn’t get cases. Eventually, they stopped trying.

“Defense represents herself, and the County is represented by me. Very good, so, I hear we have witnesses?”