“Do you think we should go ask the business owners about what happened back then?”
Damien clicked with his mouse and typed on his keyboard and then brought up another official document from the county. A death certificate.
“It looks like the business owner who brought the charges against Updike mysteriously died before his testimony was ever recorded.”
“Does he have any relatives?” Raven asked.
“Yes,” Damien said. “He has a daughter who is now living in Seattle. I will give her a call and ask her a few questions.”
Damien searched for the woman’s phone number, picked up his cell phone, and dialed the number. The phone rang several times, and then someone picked up.
“Hi. I’m officer Damien Fellowes with the Fate Mountain Police Department. I have a few questions for you about your father and the charges of extortion he filed against Marvin Updike twenty years ago.”
“That man killed my father,” the woman said over the speakerphone.
Raven’s mouth dropped, and Damien raised an eyebrow at her.
“What makes you say that?” he asked the woman on the phone.
“My father never would have killed himself, but that’s what they made it look like.”
“So your father supposedly committed suicide before he was supposed to testify against Mr. Updike?”
“That was the official story.”
Damien wrote some notes as he asked her several more questions. When he had everything he needed, he thanked her and got off the phone.
“I think what we need to do now is send all of the new data through the random-probability generator. We may be able to get back a lot more than the previous investigators with our updated technology,” Damien said.
“Then we’ll take it to Commander Bear?” Raven asked.
“Hopefully, we’ll have enough information to get a search warrant on Mr. Updike.”
Damien started the random-probability generator, asking it to access all the information associated with Marvin Updike, the previous business owner, and Raven’s mother. The drive had access to the Fate Mountain Police Department databases, the open court documents, and everything else on public record.
“It’s going to take a while, so maybe we should go downstairs and have a bite to eat,” Damien said.
Raven followed Damien down the stairs and into the kitchen, where she sat at the counter and watched him make them dinner. He smiled up at her as he fried steak in a pan and baked potatoes in the oven. She could definitely get used to living like this. Being with Damien filled her with contentment, and the only thing missing in her life now was the knowledge of what had happened to her mom.
All this time, she had been searching for one thing, but she hadn’t realized that something else entirely would make her whole. Being with Damien had solved almost all her problems, and she couldn’t have planned it better.
After he finished cooking dinner, he carried their plates to the dining room table and opened a bottle of wine.
“How long is it going to take for the drive to finish parsing the data?” Raven asked.
“It could be all night,” he said. “There’s a lot of information to get through. Honestly, our connections are slim, and we don’t have any concrete proof except the DNA sample. That doesn’t really mean anything.”
“It proves that my mother was at the lodge and that something happened to her,” Raven said.
“Yes, but we really can’t attach that to anyone specifically,” he said. “We need more than that. Some kind of connection or motive.”
Raven and Damien chatted over dinner, talking about the future and everything they would like to do together once the case was solved. Raven could tell that Damien was doing absolutely everything that he could just to give her the peace of mind she needed. She couldn’t be more grateful for what he was doing. And she wanted to show him how much she adored him.
After dinner, they cleaned up the kitchen and went upstairs to check on the computer. It still hadn’t finished parsing the data, so Damien suggested they play some video games and then go to bed.
They went downstairs to the living room and played Xbox for an hour until they had proved to each other that they were both equally good at the game. While laughing and teasing Damien about how much better she was at Mega Fighter Jets, she leaned over and kissed him on the lips.
“I want you to know how much I appreciate you,” she said, whispering into his ear seductively.
“I appreciate you too, babe,” he said softly, cupping her cheeks in his hands to kiss her more deeply.
Raven ran her hand up his thigh and over his hardening shaft. He groaned gently into her mouth as she touched him. With deft fingers, she unbuckled his belt and then opened the fly of his jeans. Sliding her hand under the thin fabric of his boxer briefs, Raven gripped his thick cock in her little hand, and Damien groaned.
“I want to show you how grateful I am,” she said, stroking his shaft firmly in her grip.
Damien let out a sharp breath and leaned his head back over the couch. The video game load screen played on the TV, and Raven went down to her knees on the floor. Between his legs. He ran his hands through her hair and looked into her eyes as she licked his hard cock from the base to the tip.
“You are so fucking gorgeous,” he said.
Raven closed her eyes and sucked the head of his cock into her mouth, groaning at the feel and the taste of him. She could smell his musky scent, and it made the bear inside her growl with need. She was wet and ready, aroused from the feeling of his cock in her hand as she slid it into her mouth. Damien ran his hands through her hair and gripped her scalp as she bobbed up and down on his cock. Her groans vibrated over his shaft, and he sucked a sharp breath through his teeth.
“Oh my god,” he growled. “Baby, you’re going to make me come.”
That was exactly what Raven intended. She wanted to suck his cock until he came in her mouth, showing him exactly how much she adored everything about him. She stroked faster and sucked harder, trying to make him come right then and there. But Damien wasn’t having any of it. He pulled her off him and lifted her up onto the couch. She was still wearing her gray dress, and he pulled it up over her head, revealing her bra and panties.
“I wanted this to be all about you,” she said with a giggle.
“And I’m going make it all about you,” he said with a growl.
He stripped her bra and panties off her and left her naked on the couch. The video game music still played on the TV, and Raven laughed as he spread her legs and descended between them. He pulled off his shirt and pants and was naked on the floor in front of her. The light of the TV glowed on his gorgeous muscles as he licked up her slit and sucked her clit into his mouth.
Now it was Raven’s turn to groan and throw her head back in pleasure. He kept licking and sucking her until she felt herself barreling toward climax. She had wanted to make him come, but now he was going to make her come instead. It just made her want him that much more. The intensity of her love and gratitude and desire for him all accumulated in her belly as the orgasm ripped through her. She groaned in a low scream as it hit her, radiating from her core into her nipples and throughout her entire body.
With her pussy still throbbing, Damien turned her over onto her hands and knees against the couch, spreading her legs wide from behind her. She felt the smooth head of his cock brush against her slick opening. He rubbed it over her throbbing clit and then slid slowly inside her channel.
Raven groaned as he entered her. The thought that this man would be her husband, the father of her children, that he would take care of her and protect her forever, made her climax again as soon as he slid inside. She groaned and bit the back of the couch, holding it between her teeth.
She could feel her canines descend and puncture the cloth. Damien pulled back with his hips and thrust into her from behind, holding tightly to her hips. Harder and faster, he thrust over and over again. The primal heat o
f his hips and thighs slapping against her ass drove her wild. Her inner bear growled and roared as another climax overcame her. She let go of the couch with her teeth and cried out. Damien lifted her up toward him, her back against his chest, his hands on her breasts as he thrust up inside her harder and faster. His sharp teeth grazed her skin, and he licked her neck with his slick tongue.
“I love you so much, Raven,” he growled into her ear. “I’m never going to let you go. I’m never going to let you be alone again.”
With that, Raven erupted as Damien shot his seed deep into her channel. Their bodies throbbed together in time with their heartbeats, and Raven fell forward, sweaty and exhausted against the couch. Damien climbed onto the couch beside her, and they held each other, naked, panting, and sweaty, with the video game loading screen playing on the TV. Raven had to giggle as they held hands and caught their breath.
“It just gets better every time,” she said.
“Every time we don’t use any protection,” he reminded her.
“Do you mind?” she asked.
From the very first time they’d made love, they hadn’t used any protection. She’d really thought he’d done it on purpose. Raven had been too overcome with her own desire to even care. And part of her, the part of her that felt so alone and so without a family, really wanted a child of her own.
“Of course not. I’ve been trying to knock you up all along.” He laughed.
Raven giggled and hugged him closer as they rested on the couch and drifted off to sleep.
Chapter 14
Damien woke in the morning, realizing that he and Raven had fallen asleep on the couch. The loading screen of Mega Fighter Jets still played on the television, but the room was warm, even though they had slept naked on the couch. He slid out of Raven’s embrace and grabbed a throw blanket from the back of his chair to gently lay over her sleeping form.
He grabbed his bathrobe from the downstairs bathroom and wrapped it around his shoulders before going upstairs to check on the random-probability generator. When he sat in front of his computer and woke up his monitor, he was astonished at what he found.
A whole bunch of documents that connected Marvin Updike to both the business owner and Raven’s mother came up on the screen. Most of it was tax records and newspaper clippings and vague testimony taken down by police officers twenty years ago. But, altogether, there was enough of it to show a connection. Damien didn’t think he could get Marvin Updike locked up for extortion claims after twenty years, but he did think there was enough evidence to look into the disappearance of Raven’s mother.
The next step was bringing this information to Rollo, getting a search warrant, and then going to question Marvin Updike himself. This case was so close to being solved. Even though Damien had Raven in every way he wanted, they still didn’t have the truth about her mother. That was a truth that Damien wasn’t willing to let go of.
He quickly went to the bathroom, took a shower, and got dressed. He hadn’t been to the police department in days and needed to check in with his boss. Raven was going to have to stay at home while he was at the police station. And he hoped that she would be okay with that. Once he was dressed and ready, he went back downstairs and put some toaster waffles in the toaster oven. Raven came into the kitchen, looking blurry eyed and tired, wearing the same dress she’d had on for two days. Damien had washed it for her, but he knew she’d want to change. He was going to have to take her back to her apartment so she could get cleaned up and get some new clothes. He just hoped she would be okay while he was gone.
“I think we have enough information to get a search warrant now,” Damien said.
“Really?” she asked as she went to the coffee maker and poured herself a cup.
“Absolutely, yes. I’m going to call in Rollo and the rest of the Bear Patrol today. Hopefully, we can go down to Marvin Updike’s house to look around.”
“I can’t believe this is finally happening,” she said.
“You’ll have to be prepared for the worst, Raven,” he said. “Chances are you won’t be happy with what we find.”
“I just want to know the truth,” she said.
After they finished their waffles and coffee, Damien drove Raven back to her building and gave her a warm kiss before she climbed out of his SUV and went up the stairs to her apartment. His heart ached as he watched her go. He wanted to protect her every second of the day, but he knew that he had to let her go right now.
When he arrived at the police department, he went into Rollo’s office and sat down across the desk from his chief.
“What is it?” Rollo asked.
“I have some information about a missing person from twenty years ago that has come to my attention,” Damien said.
“A missing person from twenty years ago?” Rollo said, lifting an eyebrow.
“This involves my fated mate,” Damien said.
“You know how much flak we’re getting about all of the help we’re giving to our fated mates, don’t you?” Rollo said.
“I know, boss,” Damien said. “But she’s been searching for her mother for twenty years. I have enough information to associate her disappearance with Marvin Updike, who was accused of extorting business owners on Fate Mountain at that same time. You know he still lives at an estate up on Fate Mountain, don’t you?” Damien said.
“Marvin Updike is the leader of a hyena pack,” Rollo said thoughtfully. “I’ve had my eye on him. I know about the history, and he has proven to be a bit of a troublemaker in the past.”
“Don’t you think it would help human-shifter relations if we looked into a shifter criminal on Fate Mountain?” Damien said, raising an eyebrow. “The business owners he threatened in the past were humans.”
“You have a point. Show me what you’ve got.”
Damien showed Rollo the printouts of the documents and articles he’d gotten back from the random-probability generator. Rollo read everything over and then looked back up at Damien.
“I think this is enough to associate Marvin Updike with Raven Lucas’s mother. It says here that she worked for him under the table. That is from some recorded statements during that same time period,” Rollo said.
“Exactly. I want to get a search warrant.”
“Okay, you have my permission. File it. I’ll call in the rest of the Bear Patrol, and we’ll go down to this guy’s house as soon as it comes back.”
Damien rose from the chair and left Rollo’s office, happy that his chief was actually listening to him. Rollo could be notoriously hardheaded, especially when it came to cases involving fated mates and the human population.
There had been some issues in the past, and the human citizens of Fate Mountain were beginning to turn on the police department. Rollo had to be careful, but at least he was going to allow Damien to help Raven with this case. He sent the information to a judge for the search warrant, and it came back fairly quickly. When he went back to Rollo’s office with the document, the rest of the Bear Patrol was already waiting there. Rollo gave everyone their assignments. And the entire Bear Patrol got ready to go.
Chapter 15
Damien rode along with Rollo in his police cruiser as they made their way across town and up the mountain to Marvin Updike’s estate. They stopped at the front gate and showed the security camera their warrant. The big wrought-iron gate slowly moved open, and the Bear Patrol drove down the drive.
The patrol cars all parked out front, and Damien and Rollo got out first, holding the search warrant.
Rollo and the rest of the Bear Patrol approached the front door of the mansion. Rollo knocked, and they were greeted by a cleaning lady in the traditional maid uniform of a black dress and a white apron. The woman looked at them with shock in her eyes when Damien showed her the search warrant.
“Mr. Updike isn’t here,” the maid said. “I can’t let you inside.”
“I’m sorry, but it doesn’t matter if he’s here. We have a search warrant, and we’re searching the
premises.”
They went inside and were immediately greeted by Marvin Updike’s two grown sons. The hyena shifters gritted their teeth at the police bears as they filtered into the house.
Detective Bear Gauge went one direction, while Cadet Bear Heath went another. Deputy Bear Knox went upstairs, and Rollo and Damien decided to search the basement.
With everyone off in different directions, Damien knew that they would find something. The sons of Marvin Updike barked and growled at the police officers as they went about their jobs, but there was nothing that the men could do to stop them. The Bear Patrol was going to find the evidence they needed to close this case and bring justice to Raven’s mother.
The maid showed them the door to the basement and flipped on the light. A musty smell wafted up the stairs, and even though there was a dim light bulb hanging above the stairs, Damien turned on his flashlight. It was odd to find such a fancy mansion with such a rustic old basement.
“You would have thought they would’ve upgraded by now,” Damien said with a laugh as he made his way down the stairs after Rollo.
“This mansion is pretty old. The Updike family has been on Fate Mountain for half a dozen generations.”
“And from what I can see, they’ve been troublemakers all along.”
“That’s true, but if you are right, we’re going to bring down their kingpin.”
Damien looked up to see one of the sons standing in the doorway, silhouetted by the bright light behind him.
“And that could mean we’ve just made some powerful new enemies in this town,” Damien said in hushed tones as they continued searching the rustic old basement for clues.
“Should we confiscate their computers?” he heard Gauge say over the walkie-talkie.
“Anything that will give us clues,” Rollo said. “I don’t want these people to intimidate the citizens of Fate Mountain. If there’s a criminal ring going on here, I want to bring an end to it.”