Bears' Claim [PUP Squad Alpha 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (3 page)

“Eric,” Ronan said, indicating West’s cousin, but addressing the men at the table, “is the mate of one of the women we’ve been searching for. Until four weeks ago, she was working as a nurse under the name of Hannah Long. She disappeared sometime between then and now. We’re not sure of the exact timing, but our biggest concern is that she might go back to using her original name.”

“Her original…?” Eric asked in a worried voice from his position on the sofa. It was clear that he wanted answers, but he was at least aware enough to realize he was only here as a courtesy, not as an active participant. Fortunately Ronan took pity on the guy and explained.

“Hannah was born Annie Franklin. Her family was taken into the Witness Protection Program after her father testified against a mobster he’d seen kill somebody.” Ronan glanced at Benjamin, perhaps confirming that Eric had been cleared to hear the details. “The family doesn’t seem to have had any problems once their names were changed. Our big concern is that with her father having passed away several years ago, Hannah would have reason to believe it’s safe to revert to her birth name. The trouble is that the assassinations targeted women all with the same birthday. They’ll be looking for the name on the birth certificate.”

West could see the fear for Hannah written very clearly on his cousin’s face.

“We have to find her,” Eric said in a moment of obviously sheer panic. He had to realize that was why they were all here. The squad had been looking for Annie Franklin and several other women since learning of the link between them and the pixie assassinations of three humans just over a month ago.

“We will find her,” Ronan said in a voice that wasn’t nearly as gruff as it once was. Apparently finding a mate of his own had softened the battle-hardened soldier just a little. He nodded at West and then waited for his report.

“Hannah’s bank records show that she withdrew all but a few dollars of her savings. She sold her car to a secondhand dealer not far from her home. Nothing in her history indicates an ability or willingness to steal a car, so we’re currently trying to trace all cash sales for that same day.”

“Does she have anywhere to go? Maybe family to contact?”

“None that we can trace,” West said, feeling the familiar frustration weave through him once more. Tracking down a human woman should not have been this hard. Even knowing that Hannah was destined to be a bear-shifter’s mate didn’t explain her ability to anticipate a pixie assassination attempt. “Eric,” he said, turning to his cousin, “is there anywhere you can think that she would go?”

“No,” he said, looking as frustrated as West felt.

* * * *

Hannah smiled as she headed to table twelve. Jed Mathewson was an old grump, but over the past week he’d been her most consistent customer. He also seemed to appreciate her sunny disposition even though he always responded with a dour expression.

“What can I get for you today, Mr. Mathewson?”

“Just coffee,” he said in his usual gruff voice. The first time he’d grumbled those words she’d made the mistake of ordering for him “just coffee.” He hadn’t been impressed.

“Coffee?” she asked, smiling at the harrumph that came from the old man. “I believe Ida made one of her famous blueberry pies this morning. I reckon it’d go down mighty nice with a cup of Leo’s famous coffee.”

“Blueberry, huh?” Jed said as if he were ruminating on whether to order the pie or not. “Maybe I should try a slice, so, you know, I can make sure Ida isn’t losing her touch. She’s getting old, you know.”

Considering Ida was probably a good twenty years younger than Jed Mathewson, Hannah was pretty sure her boss would be unimpressed by that accusation. Hannah nodded, grabbed the menu that Jed always insisted upon but never actually used, and headed back to the kitchen.

She stepped around the corner without looking and almost ran over the young girl standing in her path. Immediately her heart leapt into her throat. Hannah backed away, her fingers shaking so hard that she dropped the menu to the floor.

The child tilted her head, looking at Hannah with far more scrutiny than she was used to from one so young. “Hello, Annie,” the girl said with what could only be described as a malicious grin. Hannah backed up a few more steps which almost took her back into the main part of the restaurant. “You’ve been a very hard lady to find. I had a hell of a time uncovering the new name the Witness Protection Program gave you, but then you went and ruined all my hard work by disappearing mere hours before I got there. Lucky for me the type of car salesmen willing to take cash for a car are also the type to take bribes. He sold you out for a hundred bucks. Can you believe that? He obviously knew you were in some kind of trouble, but he never even questioned why a ‘child’ would want to know where you went.” She shrugged as she moved closer. “Of course, if I’d waited just a few more weeks it’s likely you would have popped up on the tax records under your original name and I wouldn’t have had to track you halfway across the country.” She smiled smugly and tapped a finger against her chin as she looked out the window at the end of the corridor. “It was quite nice of you to find an out-of-the-way location, but if you take one more step, I’ll have to kill them, too. Can’t leave any witnesses. That would be very bad for business.”

“I don’t understand. Why me?” Hannah asked, shaking her head. This was the confrontation she’d been fleeing from, even though she’d had no idea why at the time. Right now everything urged her to run for help, but the thought of endangering anyone else was even more terrifying. “What did I do?”

It was extremely bizarre. Despite the child’s outward appearance, something inside Hannah knew—absolutely knew—that the creature in front of her was not what she seemed.

“You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Oracle should never have done what she did.” The child shrugged and moved closer. “Look, nobody else has to get hurt. You’re the only one they sent me to eliminate. If you don’t make a fuss, it’ll be over quick.”

“So I should just stand here and wait for you to kill me?”

Hannah’s would-be assassin winked and went to step closer. But then a rage the likes of nothing Hannah had ever felt before washed through her. Without understanding what she was doing or how she was doing it, Hannah somehow managed to throw the childlike creature down the hallway without actually touching her.

“What the fuck?” the thing said as she landed on her feet several yards away. “You’re supposed to be human. How the fuck did you do that?”

Hannah shook her head, honestly having no explanation for what she’d managed to do. The creature started toward her again, the smile feral, the determination to kill Hannah very clear on her childlike face. But the same thing happened again. Every time the child came at her, some unknown force threw her backward.

“Annie,” Mr. Mathewson’s gruff voice said from the doorway, “what in blazes is taking so long?” Before Hannah could stop him, Mr. Mathewson stepped into the corridor. “What the hell?” he asked in a shocked voice as the kid flew backward once more. “Crap. Goddamn pixies,” he said in a voice stronger than any she’d heard out of the old man’s mouth.

And then as if her current reality wasn’t weird enough, some sort of whirlwind, swirling, portal-type thing opened up, and the old man dragged her through.

* * * *

“The computer just flagged a hysterical nine-one-one call made from a diner in a town less than a hundred miles from here,” Wilson said rather urgently. “West, I think it’s your girl. Someone reported a waitress named Annie and another customer disappearing into thin air.”

“We need a lift,” West said, glancing around the room. Alex was still here, but the thought of putting Eric through slip travel twice in one day was enough to make West feel ill. Fortunately, Brody must have thought the same thing because he nodded to Nathan, grabbed the coordinates off Wilson, and opened a dragon jump vortex.

* * * *

Within seconds the three of them were walking in the front door of a small-town diner. Eric felt none too steady on his feet, but the thought of Hannah being in danger kept him upright and moving.

“We’re closed,” a middle-aged man, dressed in what looked to be a cook’s uniform, said in an unfriendly voice. He was comforting an older woman who seemed to be in shock.

Before West or Brody could say anything Eric’s training kicked in.

“I’m a doctor. What happened?”

“She’s just stressed. We’ve been working really hard lately.”

“I am not stressed,” the woman said angrily. “I know what I saw.”

“What did you see?” Eric asked in a low-pitched, soothing tone of voice.

“I saw Annie and Jed disappear into a whirlpool.”

“I’m sorry,” the man holding her said, clearly embarrassed by the woman’s words. “The nearest lake is about fifty miles away. We don’t know what she saw, but Annie and Jed are both missing.”

“I told you, it wasn’t water. It looked like multicolored lights all going around in circles, like a twister.”

“It’s okay,” Eric said quietly, feeling very sorry for the woman. She was clearly describing a warlock’s bounce tunnel, but telling the woman she wasn’t crazy would only lead to more questions. “Sometimes when you’ve been working really hard, or you haven’t had enough sleep, the eyes can misinterpret what they see. I’ve heard descriptions similar to this before. It’s usually caused by the light-sensitive cells embedded in the retina misinterpreting the electrical signals. A good night’s sleep is often enough to correct the problem. But to be on the safe side I want you to book an appointment to have your eyes checked. Okay?”

The woman looked relieved by Eric’s reasoning. It certainly beat the “you’re losing your marbles” explanation. “But we still don’t know where Annie and Jed are.”

Eric glanced at his cousin and the dragon-shifter beside him. “My friends are off-duty police officers. Perhaps they can figure out where they went. Can you show me where you last saw them?”

The woman nodded, pushed out of the man’s arms with a self-conscious smile, and led the way to the place where she’d seen two people disappear.

West had been tapping away on his phone almost since the woman had started talking. His eyes widened slightly at something he read on the screen, before he turned the thing off and put the gadget away. He and Brody made a show of inspecting the area.

“Ma’am,” West said, sounding very much like a police officer, “the gentleman you referred to as Jed…would that happen to be Jed Mathewson?”

“Why, yes. Yes it is. Do you know him?”

West nodded. “He’s actually the reason we stopped by. He’s an old friend of my dad’s. They were magicians together in Vegas for a while.”

“You know, I think he did mention once or twice that he liked to do magic tricks. Do you think he’s doing a trick now?”

“That’s my guess.”

“Oooh,” she growled in irritation, “wait until I catch up with that old grouch. He is going to regret making me look like a fool. Gosh, I even called the sheriff. Heavens.” Her hand fluttered around her throat in a clear sign of agitation. “Excuse me while I go let him know it’s not necessary to come out.” She smiled tremulously at the three of them. “I’m sure glad you boys came along when you did. Reporting two people disappearing into thin air was embarrassing enough. At least now I have an explanation for the crazy talk.” She laughed, the sound filled with relief. “Do me a favor. When you catch up with Jed, tell the old coot he’ll be paying double for his coffee for a whole month.”

“Will do, ma’am,” West said with a wide grin.

The woman moved away, laughing as she turned back to the cook and the few friends sitting out front. “Now,” she said on a sigh, “if we can just identify the young girl who ran out the back door when Annie and Jed disappeared. The poor kid must be so frightened.”

Terror for Hannah froze the air in Eric’s lungs.

* * * *

Hannah would have fallen to her knees if Jed Mathewson hadn’t been there to hold her up. He was surprisingly strong for a frail-looking, old man, but she was very grateful for his assistance. Trying to regain her equilibrium, she glanced around the area, surprised to find herself surrounded by forest. There was a small wooden home about a hundred yards in front of them.

“Quickly,” Jed said as he dragged her toward the home. “It’s far safer inside.”

After her confrontation with a creature that looked like a seven-year-old child, Hannah wasn’t going to argue. She had no idea how long she might have been able to hold the child away from her, so she was very grateful for Jed’s intervention.

He practically manhandled her into a small, rough-looking cabin, and pushed her into a chair. She breathed deeply, trying to rationalize the sudden shift in her reality. She’d almost convinced herself none of it had happened when a loud whooping noise suddenly filled the air.

“Damn it,” Jed said as a vortex-type thing opened in the front yard. He stepped out the front door, ready to confront whoever was attacking them this time. “What now?” he asked over his shoulder as Hannah moved to join him. “How many paranormals did you piss off?”

Two men stepped through the vortex and moved cautiously, but it was the third one who came at her.