Don't Moose With Her (Bearbank Book 1) (7 page)

“I needed to know,” Ethan insisted, fighting for control of his temper.

“Why?” Leo roared, actually roared at him. “I can pass on any information relevant to the case. Without distressing Dana any further.”

“You should have told me,” Ethan growled, temper fraying. He was right up in Leo's face now, unable to stop himself. He would not allow himself to be shut out.

Leo appeared to calm down. He shrugged. “Well, I didn’t. Now it’s my job to protect Dana. She’s a sweet girl. Pretty too. Looks like I’ll be spending plenty of time with her. I may as well get to know her better.”

Ethan couldn’t stop the rage that came over him at the thought of Dana alone with Leo. Snarling, he launched himself at his partner. Leo was clearly prepared for him, throwing himself at Ethan. As fights went, it was short, scrappy, and totally uncontrolled. Ethan was too enraged to bother with anything resembling tactics, simply lashing out and taking the hits Leo returned. They rolled on the ground like a couple of schoolboys fighting in the playground.

“Stay. Away. From. Her,” Ethan ground out between punches.

“Why?” Leo roared, pummelling him back and managing to roll on top.

“Because she’s fucking mine!” Ethan roared. Surprised at his own outburst, he failed to dodge the punch Leo landed on his face. Stunned, he stared as Leo straightened up and looked down on him. Vaguely, he was aware that his nose was broken. He could feel the blood on his face. Plus, it hurt. His eyes watered with the throbbing pain.

“About time.” Leo’s smug tone matched his equally smug expression. “Now get your head out of your ass and do something about it. Quit torturing that girl, yourself, and everyone around both of you. Especially me.”

With that, Leo leaned down and snapped Ethan’s nose back into place. The pain shot through him, making his eyes water again. “Idiot,” Leo murmured before standing and walking away. Leaving Ethan sprawled on the grass of Dana’s front garden, stunned and confused. Looking up, he saw Dana and Katie standing at the window, staring at him, mouths hanging open. When he made eye contact, they both turned away, Katie shaking her head and clearly mouthing the word “Idiot.” Yeah, that seemed to be the general consensus.

She hadn't listened to the warning. Bad enough that she'd called the police, although it wasn't a surprise. Worse than that, apparently she'd also called the male shifter from the bar. He had turned up a while after the police. Clearly, she wasn't that important to him or he'd have arrived earlier.

He had watched as the two males fought in front of Dana's house. The one from last night staking his claim for the entire town to hear. Damn shifters. The bitch apparently now had two of them fighting over her. No doubt she enjoyed the attention from having men compete to have her. Looked like another lesson was needed. Perhaps this time he should be a bit more direct.

“Can we get out of here?” Dana asked. It had only been a day and already it felt like the walls were closing in on her. She refused to feel like a prisoner in her own home. Yesterday had been an emotional day but this morning she had felt calmer. So far, anyway. As long as a certain wolf stayed out of her way.

“Shouldn’t we stay here?” Fiona asked, frowning. She put her book down on the table.

“I can’t stay in my house for the rest of my life,” Dana pointed out, flopping down onto a chair. “I’m going back to work tomorrow. I’ll be surrounded by people. I don't see why I can't go out as long as I'm not alone and I stick to public places.”

“I guess,” Fiona said uncertainly. “So where do you want to go?”

“How about we go out for lunch? Maybe hit a few shops while we’re out. Or catch a film. Anything other than sitting here staring at the walls.” Or thinking about a certain wolf.

“Fine,” Fiona capitulated. “I guess you're right. But we stay together and only go to public places.”

Grabbing her coat, Dana opened the door and found Katie standing on the doorstep, hand raised to knock.

“Where are we going?” Katie asked, looking at the coat in Dana's hands.

“Shouldn’t you be at work?” Dana asked, shrugging on her coat.

“The office got closed for the afternoon,” Katie shrugged. “There’s a power cut and it’s not expected to be fixed for a while. So, I thought I’d come and see what you’re up to.”

“Apparently we’re going for lunch,” Fiona chimed in, pulling on her own coat and shooting a look at Dana.

“Cool, I’m so hungry I could eat a zebra. We can take my car,” Katie turned and walked back down the path.

Dana couldn’t help but feel better with Katie coming along. Her lioness gave her extra strength and she was always fiercely protective of her friends. Of course, Dana’s moose wasn’t to be sniffed at either. Moose were not exactly the shy, trembling sort of deer. Her aunt Matilda had once taken on a bear shifter who had slapped her ass. Startled, she’d beaten him senseless before realizing that he was her mate and then she’d had to nurse him back to health. Poor Uncle Bob still flinched whenever his wife raised her voice.

Nodding to the female cop stationed outside the house, they piled into Katie’s car and headed to the town centre. The car felt warm and safe but once out in public, Dana felt decidedly twitchy and a lot less brave than when she’d planned the outing. Walking to the café, she kept her head down but cast glances around her.

They had chosen a cheap and cheerful café, not the one she worked at. It was well lit, bright, and colourful. They ordered their food and sat at a vacant table.

“So, are we going to talk about The Jerk’s little outburst yesterday?” Katie asked, leaning forwards. She was never one to shy away from difficult topics. Unfortunately.

“I don’t get it.” Dana frowned. “What were they fighting about?”

Fiona looked puzzled. “What did I miss?”

Katie snorted. “The Jerk and Leo throwing punches in front of Dana’s house yesterday.” She leaned back so that the waitress could deliver their food, before continuing. “Then the Jerk bellows that Dana is his. Half the street probably heard it.”

“You’re kidding!” Fiona’s eyes were wide. “So he’s changed his mind, then? About being Dana’s mate?”

“Hardly,” Dana said sadly. “He left after that and I haven’t seen him since. Besides, I don’t think I want a mate who is so adamant that he doesn’t want me.” She deserved better than that. She wouldn't spend her life feeling like a burden. With a mate who was only with her because nature forced him into it. She wanted to be... well, wanted.

“He does want you, sweetie,” Katie waved a chip around, one she’d stolen from Dana’s bowl. Grrrr. “He’s just being an idiot. Leo says his family life was all kinds of messed up and now he has commitment issues. He just needs to sort it out. He’ll come around.”

Dana just shrugged. She was attracted to Ethan and her moose was urging her to mate with him. She was also a person though and she wanted more from a partner than just mating hormones. At the very least, she wanted someone who wasn’t reluctant to be with her. His reasons, while understandable, didn’t change how she felt. Obsessed with him or not, she barely knew him and his behaviour did not exactly endear him to her.

Munching on her chips, she listened to her friends chatter. Her thoughts were never far from Ethan. It was like the old ‘Don’t think about a polar bear’ scenario. Where, of course, you immediately start thinking of a polar bear and can’t stop. Except, in her case, it was ‘Don’t think about the wolf.’ Her moose was not helping. She mooed mournfully in Dana’s head, demanding that Dana fix this. If only she could.

Not really in the mood to prolong the outing after lunch, they climbed back into Katie’s car and headed for home. Dana settled into the back seat, letting Fiona take the front passenger seat. She stared out of the window, barely noticing the scenery.

About half way there, Dana heard a car’s engine revving and then felt the impact as Katie’s car was rammed from behind. The whole world span as Katie fought for control. She could hear Fiona scream as they were all tossed about, saved only by their seatbelts. She could make little sense of what was happening. It was chaos and everything happened so fast. With a sickening crunch, the car came to a halt, demolishing part of a small wall.

Dana groaned. Nausea overwhelmed her and her neck and head hurt. A throbbing came from her leg too. Forcing her head up, ouch... she grasped the back of her neck, she could see Katie slumped over the wheel, not moving.

“Katie?” she asked, her voice high with panic. Please let her be okay.

A groan was her answer. “Give me a minute.”

Fiona was slumped against the car door, quiet and still. Katie pushed herself upright with a groan and reached across the car, feeling for Fiona’s pulse.

“Thank God,” Katie breathed. “She’s alive but she’s out cold.”

Dana breathed her own sigh of relief. “How about you? How badly are you hurt?”

Katie turned to look back at her, wincing and grabbing her neck, just as Dana had a few minutes earlier. “Whiplash, apparently. I think my right arm is broken. And my face hurts from the bloody airbag. You?”

“My leg hurts. I don’t think it’s broken. My head is killing me and I think I’m going to throw up,” Dana answered. “What the hell happened?”

“Some maniac deliberately rammed my car!” Katie growled. “I saw him speeding but I thought he was just going to pass us.”

“Did you see him?” Dana groaned as she tried to reach her phone.

“No. It was a red Volvo,” Katie sighed, leaning her head back against the headrest. “That’s all I know. When he hit us, I was too busy to pay attention.”

Finally reaching her phone, she dropped it in shock when it buzzed. Managing to unbuckle her seatbelt, she reached down to retrieve her phone, freezing for a moment to allow the nausea and pain to subside. Flipping it open, she found a new text message.

“Your friends are paying for your sins.”

“Oh,” she gasped, staring at the message.

“What is it?” Katie asked, her hand came back reaching blindly for the phone without turning around. Dana handed it to her. Katie read the message and swore. “I’m calling Leo.”

Too hurt and queasy to argue, Dana laid her head back on the head rest and closed her eyes. Right now, she didn't even care if he brought The Jerk with him.

“He’s on his way,” Katie said. “And he called an ambulance for Fiona.”

Several people had arrived and opened the doors, asking if they were okay. Katie assured them that an ambulance and the police were on their way. Dana tried to get out of the car but her leg was too painful to put much weight on. She wasn’t too worried about her injuries. They hurt, yes. Man did they hurt! However, as a shifter, she’d heal pretty quickly so she knew she’d be back to normal pretty quickly. Fiona, though, was human and Dana was worried about her friend. Looking over, she saw that Fiona still hadn’t moved.

Closing her eyes against the nausea, she waited for help to arrive.

In the end, they hadn’t had to track down Andy Woods, Becca’s admirer from the bar. Instead, he had turned up at the station around mid-morning, volunteering to help.

“My sister told me that you were looking for me,” Andy explained. “I would never have hurt Becca.”

“You liked her, huh?” Leo asked, handing over a mug of coffee.

“Yeah, I liked her a lot,” Andy said quietly, taking the mug, his eyes bright. “I never had the nerve to ask her out. She seemed out of my league, you know. I’d go to the bar sometimes and she’d be nice to me but I could just never ask.”

“So what happened that last night?” Ethan asked. Leo hadn't brought him coffee.

Andy looked down at the mug grasped between his hands. “She actually asked me out. I was so surprised. We arranged to go on a date a few nights later but she never showed up. I thought maybe she’d changed her mind. But then I saw the local newspaper and I realized she’d disappeared that night at the bar.”

“You didn’t come forward then?” Leo asked, frowning.

Andy looked up, surprised. “I did. I gave a statement and then they told me to go. I never heard anything else from them.”

Ethan and Leo exchanged a glance. There had been no report of Andy's interview. What was going on here?

“Who did you speak to?” Leo asked.

Andy frowned in concentration. “I don’t remember the name. A male policeman. In his twenties or thirties. Dark hair. I’m sorry I can’t be more helpful.”

“You’ve been plenty helpful,” Leo assured him.

Once Andy was gone, Ethan turned to Leo. “I don’t like this. Either the original investigation into the disappearance was seriously sloppy or…”

“Or it was deliberately fudged,” Leo finished, running his hand through his mane of hair. “Which is worse. There is no mention of Andy’s statement in the file.”

“Assuming Andy is telling the truth,” Ethan pointed out. “But I have to admit, I believe him.”

“Yeah, me too,” Leo agreed. “Then there’s also the fact that nobody checked the identity of the taxi driver’s fare that night.”

“You think that a cop might be involved?” Ethan asked. He was certainly starting to consider it, himself.

“I don’t know,” Leo sighed. “But we have to look into it. Very carefully. We can’t go around accusing policemen without proof.”

“Well, we know that the Shifter Stalker moves around,” Ethan pointed out. “So which human cops are new?”

Leo shrugged. “Several. There is often a quiet period when he moves, so we can’t be sure of exactly when he arrived. I can think of six right off and that's without even trying. Several people transferred or retired and were replaced by new faces.”

“Shit,” Ethan growled.

“And we don’t even know that we’re looking for the man himself,” Leo pointed out. “He might have a friend on the force covering up for him.”

“Still,” Ethan said. “Finding the cop is our best lead right now. It’ll either get us the Stalker himself or at least one step closer to finding him. If the cop isn't the Stalker, then at the very least he knows who is.”

“I think we should talk to Alex,” Leo suggested. “He can check out the backgrounds of those six without ruffling any feathers.”