“I feel like I know where Maria is,” Rosa said.
“Good. We’ll see what Damien has to say,” Heath said.
Once they made it into Damien’s office, he looked up at them from his desk.
“Tell me you got some sleep last night,” Heath said to Damien.
“Don’t worry about me, I got plenty of rest. I had my computer inform me the minute the processor came up with search results. What I found is that the man who purchased Maria is most likely living on a secluded piece of land on the coast. If this is our guy that is. What do you think Rosa?” Damien asked, inviting her over to look at his screen.
Rosa moved around the desk and blinked at the computer screen in front of her. There was a grainy headshot of a man who looked exactly like the guy who had taken her sister from the mobile home the night before
“That’s the guy. That’s him,” Rosa said.
“Let’s go find the bastard,” Heath said.
“I’ve already informed Rollo and the rest of the Bear Patrol. We’re going to meet up with the law enforcement on the coast to make the arrest.”
They all piled into patrol cars and started the long drive from Fate Mountain to the coast. Heath and Rosa rode in the back of Rollo’s SUV with Damien who rode in the front passenger seat. As they made it into Portland, they got news from the Coastal Police Department that there was no one in the home of the man who was suspected to have taken Maria.
“He could be anywhere,” Damien said.
“This is exactly why we needed Rosa to come with us,” Rollo said.
“After everything I’ve been through, I can’t tell you how good it feels to be involved like this.”
By the time they made it to the coast, Rosa’s feelings of agitation grew. Rollo pulled up in front of the man’s property, but Rosa knew that Maria wasn’t in the house.
“What do you think?” Heath asked her.
“I don’t know, but I know she’s close.”
Heath helped her out of the car, hoping that she would be able to come up with something.
“We’re going to start searching the area,” Rollo said.
“I’ll come with you,” Rosa said.
“Don’t leave Heath’s side this time,” Rollo advised her.
The Coastal Police Department and the Bear Patrol from Fate Mountain all began to spread out over the vast acres of the kidnapper’s land.
“Can you smell anything?” Rosa asked Heath as they walked through the lush coastal underbrush.
“I can’t, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t here. There are a lot of ways to hide a scent.”
“Like how?” Rosa asked.
“If someone is underground or high above the ground. It’s more difficult to make out a scent.”
“Do you think my sister is underground?”
“I don’t know.”
Rosa stopped short all of the sudden and gasped.
“She’s here,” Rosa whispered. “She’s close.”
“There’s nothing anywhere close to here,” Heath said.
“Maybe she is below ground,” Rosa whispered. He picked up his walkie-talkie and brought the mouthpiece to his lips.
“Cadet Bear to Commander Bear. Could the target be below ground?”
“Commander Bear to Cadet Bear. We just found the entrance to some kind of tunnel system,” Rollo said in response.
“We’ll be right there,” Heath said.
Heath looked over at his mate. Her expression was dire.
“Come on, Rosa. It’s going to be okay.”
“He’s had her all night,” Rosa said. “Who knows what he could have done to her in that time.”
“We will find her.”
Heath hurried through the underbrush to Rollo’s location with Rosa right behind him. His mind reeled from all of the information he had learned over the last twenty-four hours. There was a kidnapping ring that had been taking girls all over the west coast and maybe Mexico for who knows how long.
Rosa had somehow made the connection and busted up one of their stops, but until they found the ring leader, it wouldn’t be the end of it.
They joined the rest of the Bear Patrol who were standing around some kind of metal exit hatch.
“What the hell is this?” Deputy Knox said, shining a flashlight into the hole in the ground.
“I don’t know, but it’s time we found out,” Commander Rollo said.
They took turns climbing down the ladder into the tunnel, Heath going last and helping Rosa into the hole before he went down. At the bottom of the shaft, he found the rest of the gang standing in a damp earthen tunnel. Their flashlights shinning on the mud packed walls and rocky ground.
“Do you smell anything now?” Rosa asked them.
“All I smell is earth.” Heath said.
“Same here,” the rest of the bears agreed.
“I think I can sense her,” Rosa said. She walked up to the front of the group and shined a light into the darkness of the tunnel. “This way.”
Heath and Rollo walked up and took the lead in front of her, wanting to protect her from harm. They came to a fork in the tunnel and Rosa pointed toward the right. They followed it further, Heath holding his pistol up in front of him as he shined his flashlight with the other hand.
In the distance, they heard a scream.
“Maria,” Rosa whimpered as she broke through the group to try to run to her sister’s aid.
“Hold on,” Heath said holding her back. “Damien, look after her.”
Damien took Rosa’s hand, holding her back. The rest of the bears ran forward, Rollo and Heath in the lead. In that moment, Heath no longer felt like a cadet. He felt like a leader. He felt like he’d come of age.
They followed the tunnel until they came to a dug out prison cell with bars covering the entrance. They shined their lights inside and found nothing but a pool of dried blood. Revulsion sank in his gut.
“Come on,” he growled to the gang.
The bears hurried down the tunnel. Heath could smell the scent of Rosa’s sister heavy on the air. The scent was full of fear and panic, acidic in his mouth. There was another scent as well. It was twisted with perverse sickness. It almost made his stomach turn over.
“Help!” her scream echoed through the tunnel, reverberating through the walls.
The Bears broke into a run, turning a corner, they came to a well-lit chamber. A man in a white lab coat turned to look at him, a giant syringe in his hand.
“Drop it!” Heath commanded, pointing his gun at the man.
Maria was strapped to a gurney, stripped to her bra and panties. Heath could barely see through his rage.
The madman lunged for Maria, but Heath shot twice, hitting him once in the arm and once in the thigh. The man fell, unable to stand again. The Bear Patrol moved in and began arresting the kidnapper while Heath attended to Maria.
“Are you all right?” he asked her. “Did he hurt you?”
“He tried,” Maria said as Heath unstrapped her from the gurney.
He wrapped a thermal blanket around her naked shoulders and lifted the small girl in his arms. She was like a tiny version of his beloved mate. He felt a wash of relief that he’d found her in time. With Maria in his arms, Heath walked through the tunnel to where Damien was waiting with Rosa.
“Look who I found,” Heath said, holding Maria in his arms.
Rosa jumped forward, and Maria slid to the ground. The sisters embraced, crying and shaking in each other’s arms.
“Did he hurt you, Maria? Tell me what he did to you,” Rosa demanded.
“He kept me down here last night. About an hour ago, he took me from that cell and brought me into his surgical room. I don’t know what he was going to do with me.”
“We’ve got the perp under control,” Rollo’s voice came through the walkie-talkie.
“Copy that,” Heath said.
They all climbed out of the tunnel and Maria and Rosa were taken to the nearest hotel to rest and get c
leaned up. The perpetrator, whose name was Aaron Flynn was taken into custody while the Bear Patrol searched his house.
“We need to find all the clues we can that could lead us to the ring leader of this operation,” Rollo said to Heath as they stood at the front door of the man’s house, waiting for a search warrant.
When it finally came in, they entered the house. The place was perfectly tidy, in a creepy sort of way. They had two men searching the tunnel system while the other three searched the house.
Heath went into the man’s bedroom, the perfectly made queen size bed in the center of the room. He looked in all the usual places, under the bed, in the closet. Everything was so thoroughly organized, it was hard to find a single thing out of place or out of the ordinary.
He went into the office next, going through the man’s files. It appeared he was some kind of doctor. But Heath still couldn’t find anything that would indicate that he had any understanding of the whereabouts of the ring leader behind the kidnappings.
Heath met Rollo in the man’s living room and shrugged.
“Find anything?” Heath asked.
“Nothing, but we’ve got his computer and we’re taking it back to Fate Mountain.”
Chapter 12
Maria was sound asleep under the covers, but Rosa couldn’t sleep. She felt like there was so much more to be done. The door of the hotel room slowly swung open and Heath stepped inside. Rosa jumped to her feet and threw her arms around his neck.
“I didn’t want to wake you,” he whispered.
“I couldn’t sleep. It’s okay.”
They walked further into the room and sat together on the second bed, facing away from Maria.
“Did you find anything?” she asked.
“We’re taking the computer back to Fate Mountain. Tech Damien is going to go through it to find anything they can. I’ll take you girls back in the morning.”
“Heath, we found her. You found her. And she wasn’t hurt. I don’t know how to express my gratitude.”
Heath leaned in and kissed her head. Her emotions swirled in her gut and in her heart, but her dry eyes couldn’t produce any more tears.
“You don’t have to thank me, babe. It’s my pleasure and my duty to take care of you and yours. Your sister is my sister and I always protect my own.”
He kissed her again and Rosa felt fatigue wash over her. Maybe she could sleep now that Heath was back and everyone was safe. She moved back on the bed and climbed under the blankets. Heath slid out of his shoes, pants and t-shirt, and climbed in beside her.
They held each other tight, and Rosa finally drifted off to sleep. In the morning she woke with a start, Heath’s strong arms still around her. She shot up in the bed, looking around the room. Maria was still sleeping in the bed next to her. Rosa let out a long breath and relaxed. She’d had a nightmare that Maria was gone again, but it was just a dream.
She slid from the bed, and pulled on her clothes. Maria and Heath both blinked open their eyes and stirred in bed upon hearing her shuffle around in the room. She grabbed her cellphone and looked at the time. It was almost noon.
“We better get going back to Fate Mountain,” Heath said, looking at his watch.
They grabbed breakfast on the way and made the long drive from the coast to Fate Mountain. By the time they made it back to Heath’s house, it was late afternoon. He brought them inside and offered to make them a late lunch before heading back to the police station.
Rosa heard Heath’s phone ping as he pulled some turkey from the refrigerator for sandwiches. He read the text and looked back up at Rosa and Maria.
“Rollo says Damien made a breakthrough with the computer.”
“What did he find?” Rosa asked.
“He didn’t say. I’m going to go down there. You girls should stay here.”
Rosa wanted to help put an end to the kidnapping ring, but she didn’t want to leave her sister alone.
“Okay,” she said. “We’ll stay here.
Heath kissed her on the forehead before leaving, giving the girls some instructions on where to find whatever food and drinks they might want. He also left a hundred dollars in cash on the kitchen counter in case they wanted to go shopping or order pizza.
“I don’t want to leave the house or order pizza,” Maria said nervously.
“Let’s lock all the doors,” Rosa agreed.
The girls went about locking all the doors and windows in the house and then met back in the kitchen to put together their favorite traditional Mexican meal, enchilada de pollo. They found everything they needed in Heath’s kitchen, even green chilies in a can.
When the sisters were done cooking, they set the table in Heath’s dining room, put on soft music and sat down for a family meal.
“This is almost like when we used to have Sunday dinners with mom and dad,” Maria said, after chewing her first bite of food.
“It is. Except it’s better now because I know how much I appreciate you.”
“I know I appreciate you more now too,” Maria said. “Thank you for saving me.”
“I knew you’d never run away. There was no way I’d ever believe that.”
“I’m glad you didn’t. Who knows what could have happened to me.”
“The Bear Patrol is going to shut these sickos down. I know it. Heath will make sure no girls get taken again.”
“I hope so,” Maria said.
“Did they ever say anything to you about their leader?” Rosa asked Maria.
“Not really. I already told the police commander everything I knew.”
“I think what we need to figure out now is what we’re going to do with the rest of our lives,” Rosa said thoughtfully, slicing through her cheesy enchilada.
“Well, you and Heath are mated now. That’s going to change everything.”
“How do you feel about that?” Rosa asked.
“I don’t know. It’s weird that you’re committed to someone I’ve never met.”
“I know. I totally understand where you’re coming from. I’d be freaked out if I were you too.”
“It’s not that I’m freaked out. I’m just a little worried about you.”
“Don’t you like Heath?” Rosa asked.
“Sure. He’s a great guy. He saved me from that sicko. How could I not like him? I just have suspicions of any man at this point.”
“You were kidnapped and then you found out your sister mated with a shifter you’d never met. You have a reason to be suspicious, but I can assure you, Heath is everything I’ve ever wanted in a man.”
“So, are we going to move to Oregon now?”
“I haven’t really had a chance to think about it.”
“He’s not going to leave his bear clan to live in LA. I know enough about shifters to know that.”
“You have a point,” Rosa said. “I don’t think I could ever ask him to leave Fate Mountain anyway.”
“I’m in the middle of the school year,” Maria said, taking another bite of enchilada.
“I know. But the sooner we sort things out the better.”
“Do you want to move to Fate Mountain?”
“Everything is different now, Maria. Going back home isn’t the best option for either of us anymore.”
“I’ll miss my friends though. Everyone is going to be worried about me.”
“As soon as Heath gives you the go ahead, you can post on social media and let your friends know you’re safe.”
“I guess that might help,” Maria said, looking down at her plate.
Rosa didn’t want to disappoint her sister or make her life harder. But they had to think about the future now. Being with Heath would make both their lives better. They lived in a crappy two-bedroom house in the ghetto in east LA. Rosa worked as an underpaid administrative assistant. There wasn’t anything for them back there except Maria’s teenage friends.
“There are great schools on Fate Mountain,” Rosa said. “The Bright Institute for Shifters recently opened its
doors to humans, I’ve heard. Maybe you could go there.”
“I guess. I don’t know that much about shifters.”
“It’s a great school.”
Rosa felt like she was losing ground. Maria seemed upset for no real reason. She understood that a teenager’s friends were important, but Maria had just been kidnapped. Rosa would think her kid sister would have bigger things on her mind.
“I’ll have to think about it,” Maria said, pushing away from the table, her plate only half finished.
“Are you done?” Rosa called after her.
“Yeah…” Maria muttered, walking into the living room.
Maria plopped down on the couch and turned on the TV with a dramatic sigh. Rosa had been raising her sister for five years. She knew exactly how difficult she could be when she got into one of her moods. But things were different now. The stakes where higher than ever. Maria had been traumatized, and this didn’t seem to be the appropriate reaction. It made Rosa worried that her sister might need a lot of counseling to move on.
Rosa picked up her plate and iced tea and carried them into the living room to sit beside her sister on the couch. She wasn’t done eating, but she also wasn’t going to sit in the dining room alone.
Maria absently clicked through the channels as Rosa finished her meal. Maria finally settled on a reality show about teenagers who got married. Rosa tried not to roll her eyes. She hated shows like this and didn’t want her sister exposed to them. But Maria had already been exposed to horrors beyond the imagination. Rosa was going to have to learn to loosen up, especially if she wanted Maria on her side about moving to Fate Mountain and her relationship with Heath.
Chapter 13
Heath and the Bear Patrol paced around Damien’s office while he worked at the computer on his large desk. Heath was simultaneously worried about Rosa and Maria and impatient to find out the truth about the men who had hurt them. He wanted to get home to the girls and tell them that he had found and stopped the men behind the trafficking ring. It was the most important thing he could do for them now.