Her Reluctant Bear: A Hot Paranormal Fantasy Saga with Witches, Werewolves, and Werebears (Weres and Witches of Silver Lake Book 5) (25 page)

“Me too.” Dalton placed the bacon on a tray, covered it with a paper towel, and shoved it in the microwave. He stirred the eggs, and when they were done cooking, he placed them on three plates. The microwave oven dinged just as her cell chimed.

She had a message, and every muscle froze. When she saw Anna’s name on the message her hope soared. Brian leaned close as she tapped the screen. “It’s a video.”

Heart in her throat, she pressed the arrow. “As you can see, Ms. Garner, your friend is still alive, but barely. Meet me in fifteen minutes or she dies. And come alone. Take Pine Avenue to Crandall Boulevard and head left. I’ll find you.”

The video continued for another few seconds, but the only sounds were Anna’s whimpers. Jillian’s need to kill soared.

Dalton stepped next to her. A strong light was shining on her friend who was gagged and tied to a chair. Her left eye was swollen shut, her lip was cut and bleeding, and her cheek bruised. Jillian grabbed her stomach, needing to vomit. She looked up at Brian and then at Dalton. “I have to go.”

Brian squeezed her shoulder. “You can’t. This is what he wants.”

“I will not have another friend’s death on my hands,” she said between gritted teeth.

Dalton held out his hand and wiggled his fingers for her phone. “I want to send this to Connor. He might be able to figure out where this is.”

“Whitlaw put a white sheet behind her to disguise the location.”

“You’d be surprised what those guys can figure out.”

Jillian handed him the phone. “I need to go.”

“I’m coming with you,” Brian said.

She loved that he wanted to protect her, but she had to do this alone. “I don’t want to lose you too.”

“Brian, Jilly’s right. We’ll follow behind discreetly,” Dalton said. “I promise he won’t suspect a thing. I’ve been trained to be invisible.”

Someone having her back made her feel better. “If you’re sure he won’t know.”

“He won’t.” He handed her phone back to her. “Message sent.” Dalton walked around the counter and hugged her. “Be careful.”

“I will.”

Brian hugged her and whispered in her ear. “I can’t lose you.”

“You won’t.”

Even though her heart was slamming against her chest and her stomach was threatening to upheave, she had to do this for Dalia, for her dad, and for Anna.
Please let Whitlaw be a wolf.

Dalton gave her brief instructions on how to reach Pine Avenue. “You can’t miss Crandall. Pine Avenue dead ends at it.”

Once Brian helped her on with her jacket, she grabbed her purse and keys. “Wish me luck.”

“Luck.” His chin wobbled. Brian then grabbed her to his chest again and pressed his cheek against hers. “I’m scared.”

“Me too.”

His hold tightened as he dipped his head and inhaled. “This can’t be goodbye. You have to promise me.”

Jillian sniffled and leaned her head back. She tried to give him a confident smile, but the corners of her lips refused to hold the pose. “I promise. You’re my mate and mates never leave each other.”

His eyes watered as he slanted his lips over hers. Her tiger rose to the surface to greet him as he deepened the kiss.

“Jillian,” Dalton said. “You don’t want to be late.”

They broke the kiss. “You’re right.”

She looked deep into Brian’s eyes and the love she saw gave her courage. As much as she wanted to tell him that she loved him, her heart wasn’t strong enough right now.

Brian stroked her cheek with his knuckle. “Be safe.”

Before she broke down, Jillian twisted around and rushed out the door. Cold air met her as she dashed out of the house.

I can do this.

Hell, yeah you can. I can’t wait to claw the bastard’s throat out
, her suddenly vicious tiger warned.

We have to be patient
.
We need to find Anna first.

Leaving Brian had been so hard, but it was what she had to do. Because her hands shook so much, it took her a few tries to fit the key into the door lock, and then two more attempts before the engine turned over. Once on the road, she found Pine Avenue easily. As much as she wanted to speed so that she could reach Anna faster, she wanted to give Dalton and Brian time to follow her. At least they knew where she was headed.

Not only did she glance at the clock to make sure she wouldn’t be late, she kept looking in the rear view mirror trying to spot Dalton and Brian. The sun had set, making it dark enough to detect headlights, but she couldn’t see any. Either they hadn’t left the house yet, or her brother was one stealthy cop.

By the time she reached Crandall Avenue, her stomach was in a thousand knots. She shouldn’t be nervous. Her tiger was strong. Unless Whitlaw shot her multiple times, she’d survive. The chances of him even having time to raise his weapon though were slim. The second he went for his gun, she’d shift and attack. Being able to move almost instantaneously would assure that she would succeed.

Her headlights illuminated the road’s end. She came to a stop at the intersection then checked both ways. No cars were on the road in either direction. Following Whitlaw’s instruction, Jillian turned left but didn’t see him. What kind of game was he playing?

About a quarter of a mile down the road, a car pulled out from the berm and turned into the road to face her. The bright lights nearly blinded her. Unless she drove around him, she had to stop. Not wanting to block traffic should anyone come her way, she edged over onto the berm.

Now what?

‡

T
he temptation to
jump out and shift was strong, but Jillian had to think of Anna.

Whitlaw opened his car door, and when the light illuminated his face, acid burned in her gut at his image. Her nails extended and her bones cracked. She wanted to take him down so fucking bad.

Head slightly forward, he marched toward her car. Oh, shit. Because she didn’t know if he wanted her to follow him or what, she stayed where she was.

Whitlaw yanked open her door. “Get out.”

Jillian slipped her keys into her purse. As she slung the strap over her shoulder, he yanked on her arm. “Leave your purse and keys.” His arrogant command grated on every one of her nerves. Asshat.

Dalton would not be pleased. He’d added an app to her burner phone that would allow him to trace her location. Now, he’d be blind.

“Mind if I move my car completely off the road? I doubt you want the police to investigate an abandoned car blocking traffic.”

He huffed out a laugh. “Those incompetents couldn’t find a rock if it hit them in the face.”

The urge to defend Dalton and his friends was strong, but she bit back the words. Let Whitlaw think he was invincible. He tugged on her arm again. If she hadn’t been able to stick her leg out for balance, she would have fallen. Drawing on her animal strength, she tried to jerk out of his grasp, but he held on.

Once she managed to stand, she glanced back toward Pine Avenue, wondering where Dalton and Brian were. Hopefully, they’d stopped at Pine Avenue, and were waiting there before continuing. She had no doubt that they’d find her car, but they wouldn’t know where she’d gone.

With long strides, Whitlaw half dragged her back to his car. He jerked open the passenger side and shoved her. “Get in.”

Jillian debated running for it, but she needed to do what he said for Anna’s sake. Whitlaw slid into the driver’s seat. Sitting so close to him had her heart pounding hard and her mouth turning as dry as sandpaper. Jillian wasn’t sure if she could even look at the vile man, but she didn’t want the bastard to think she feared him.

“We meet once more,” Whitlaw said with too much glee.

She ground her teeth together. “You killed my father.” She hadn’t meant to blurt that out, but it had been burning inside her for way too long to keep it contained.

“You’re direct, aren’t you. I like a woman with spunk.”

She didn’t give a fuck what he liked. “Why did you kill him? He was a fellow officer.”

“Tsk, tsk. Such an idealist. If you must know, your father threatened to turn me in to Internal Affairs.”

She swiveled toward him, needing more information. As if his confession meant little to him, he smoothly pulled onto the road and headed back toward Pine Avenue. As they neared the 3-way intersection, a white SUV turned left onto Crandall Boulevard. She fisted her hands. That was Dalton. She released her grip, not needing Whitlaw to know they had company.

Dalton would see her car and might assume they would continue heading west. Hope drained out of her.
Focus
, her tiger urged.

“So that’s why Dad wanted to turn you in. You were a dirty cop.”

“
Dirty
is such a nasty word. I was helping myself to what would otherwise sit in the evidence locker for years and rot. So many of the unused weapons would never be used again, and the drugs were destined to be burned. That was such a waste of money. Hell, I was doing the station a favor by getting rid of some of that stuff, but your father didn’t share in my beliefs. When he suspected I was the thief, he said he was going to turn me in. I couldn’t let that happen.”

So her father died because he was doing his duty. Life wasn’t fair. “And Dalia? What did she ever do to you?”

He sighed. “That was an unfortunate error on my part.” Whitlaw glanced over at her. “I thought it was you, though now I suspect I went to the guest room instead of the master.”

Jillian’s heart ached for her friend. If Jillian had been in the house, she would have sensed the bastard and killed him then and there. “Where’s Anna?”

“Someplace safe. You’ll see her shortly. Oh, how I’m going to take great pleasure torturing her in front of your eyes.”

“That so?”
Shut up.

“Don’t worry. I’ll let you die a noble death right next to her.”

Jillian grabbed the door handle. “I’d like to see you try.”

*

“That’s Jillian’s car,”
Brian said pointing to the blue vehicle off to the side of the road.

“Which means she’s in Whitlaw’s car.” Dalton slapped the wheel then pulled over.

“Why are you stopping?” They needed to go after Jillian. Unfortunately, he didn’t know where that was.

“I need to think. Didn’t you see the gray sedan head in the opposite direction just now?”

“You think that was him?”

“It looked like the car he’d rented.” Dalton put his SUV in drive and did a U-turn. Just then his cell rang. He picked up his phone and glanced at the screen. “It’s Connor,” he told Brian. He placed the cell to his ear. “What did you find out?” He listened for what seemed like a full minute. “You’re sure? Okay, okay. We’ll meet you there.” He disconnected.

“What did he say?”

“Connor didn’t explain how they figured it out, other than Jackson’s drone was involved, but they found Anna. She’s being held at the site where Jackson’s and Connor’s fathers are building the new office.”

“Really? It’s almost like Whitlaw wanted her to be found.”

“I doubt Whitlaw knows who owns it.”

Being a cop, Whitlaw had means and skills to break in. “Didn’t you say it was mostly finished?”

Dalton shrugged. “There are walls and a roof, but not much else. We’re meeting the team there.”

“What’s the plan?” Brian hoped it involved taking down Whitlaw as soon as he arrived. “Did Connor and his men free Anna?”

“We’ll find out when we get there.” When they reached Pine Avenue, instead of keeping straight, Dalton hung a right.

“Where are you going?”

“Taking a short cut,” Dalton said as calm as could be.

Five minutes later, he pulled into a lot about a block away from the building. His cell rang again. “Yes? They are? What do you want us to do? Okay?” Dalton turned to Brian. “Whitlaw’s been spotted. He’ll be here in less than a minute.”

Brian wanted to rush over to him and kill the bastard, but he understood if Whitlaw shifted, Brian would be dead in a matter of seconds. That caused his hatred for the man to fester even further. With the overhead car light turned off, they eased out of Dalton’s SUV and then kept to the shadows. As the gray car came to a stop, Dalton squatted and Brian followed suit. The passenger side door opened, and when Jillian eased out some of the tension in Brian’s muscles released. She was safe, for now.