Bearly a Memory: Pacific Northwest Bears: (Shifter Romance) (8 page)

“
T
his was me
, wasn’t it?” Brooke was staring at her hands in awe, like they belonged to someone else. But clearly she had worked the stitches, made the patterns from memory. It was something to cling to, something to know was really her, not just something about herself that someone had told her. It was a skill that she had learned or taught herself.

“I wonder what you like to knit?” Tanner asked, wanting to keep her talking about the hobby.

“Well, I’m working on a cowl. But now that I know I can do this, I’m thinking you might need a scarf or a hat,” she said, thinking seriously.

“You want to make me something?” Tanner asked. He liked the idea of her wanting to make something for him to wear.

“I do. I owe you,” she said.

Tanner noticed how she phrased those words; he didn’t like the sentiment. “You don’t owe me anything, Brooke. If you want to make me something, I’d be proud to wear it. But you owe me nothing.”

Brooke frowned at him. She wasn’t sure how to take that. It was confusing; he seemed almost offended at the idea that she wanted to repay him in any way. Not that warm and fuzzy knitwear was the normal currency for keeping one from being offed by bad guys.

Not knowing how to salvage the change in the conversation, she decided retreat was her best bet.

“I think I’m going to go take a shower and change my clothes. It will feel good not being in someone else’s gown.” Brooke started to get up off the bed.

“I’m sorry, that came out all wrong. Please, I’m an asshole – seriously, ask around. I just meant that if you wanted to make me something it would be great. But please don’t think that anything I’m doing is so that you are beholden to me. That is not how I want you to think of me.” Tanner quickly tried to fix the situation.

Brooke chewed on her lip and decided she wasn’t ready for him to go, so she sat back down. Tanner spent another hour talking to Brooke, listening to her chat about things she’d seen on TV, what the nurses were gossiping about. She said a number of them had stopped by and said hello to her. By name, Tanner knew they were relatives being snoopy.

Tanner’s phone had been ringing, and he’d checked it a few times. It was an unknown caller, and he let it go to voicemail. He should probably check it, but he didn’t want to leave Brooke. The day was progressing, and he knew that soon he would have to leave her alone again.

He could see her eyes getting droopy and felt bad for keeping her up. His mate needed her rest to recover.

“Hey there, you look like you could use a nap. I need to head back to the station and see if there are any updates from California,” Tanner said, standing up. His bear was roaring for him to sit his ass back down, but Tanner fought him.

“I don’t want you to go, but I am feeling sleepy. You’ll come back and visit?” she asked. Brooke made a split decision that she didn’t really care how needy that made her sound. She liked Tanner and felt better when he was around. She felt whole, settled. Not wanting to decipher just why, she accepted the emotions because it was easier than fighting them at the moment.

“I’ll be back tomorrow; it’s my day off,” he promised.

“What about pasta?” she teased.

“First thing after you get released from Dr. Eddie’s jail, I’ll get you pasta.”

Brooklyn smiled up at him with a dazzling grin, and it melted Tanner’s heart to a puddle. Fuck him, he was so lost in his mate, and it had only been hours since he found her.

“Sleep well, Brooke. I’ll have someone outside your door all night. You have nothing to worry about,” he said. Tanner needed to touch her again. Reaching out his hand, she slipped hers in his, and he squeezed.

“Night, Sheriff,” she said. She was the first to let go.

Tanner gave her a nod and walked out of the room.

Once he was in the hallway, he texted Cage that he was leaving for the night. Cage texted back that Conner was coming over for a few hours, then would be relieved by Wyatt. Cage or Cash would be taking the early morning shift.

After getting that settled, he listened to his voicemails. They were all from Harry Nishi.

Finding an empty waiting room, Tanner sat down and dialed Brooke’s dad.

“Haruto Nishi,” the brusque voice answered.

“Mr. Nishi, this is Sheriff Tanner Rochon. I’m sorry I was unable to take your calls. How can I help you?”

“You listen to me. My daughter is my precious jewel. If you think her mother is scary, you have no idea what I am capable of, Sheriff. I need to know what you are doing to keep my daughter safe. What are you doing that her mother and I couldn’t do? We could fly her out of the country and be done with it. I have family still in Japan. We could be quite happy there,” an angry Harry scolded.

“Mr. Nishi, please know that I am doing everything in my power to ensure your daughter’s safety. I have guards posted on her room, she has the best medical care, and I’m in touch with the detective working the murder case in San Francisco. They are aware that Brooke might have information on the case but want her hidden and protected as much as you do,” Tanner assured him.

“Brooklyn…” he pronounced slowly. “So you have somebody watching her? Are they police officers? FBI?” he demanded.

“No, they are my deputies and my family. We have taken Brooke, er Brooklyn, under our wing, and since my family makes up over half this town, we know who is supposed to be here and who shouldn’t. No one is getting near Brooklyn. I can guarantee it,” Tanner promised. It wasn’t lost on him that this man was his mate’s father and his future relative too. He needed to make a good impression. He also realized he was telling a man with an injured daughter not to rush to her side. Being a father and a doctor made this request especially taxing.

“If you don’t take care of my daughter, I will hunt you down and carve you into so many tiny pieces they would need super glue to put enough of you back together to identify the body,” he warned.

Tanner could appreciate the anger and violence the man was expressing to protect his child.

“Understood, Mr. Nishi. I will not let you down,” Tanner said.

“You better not,” Harry said, then hung up.

“Well, that was fun,” Tanner moaned, covering his face. He needed to find some way to distract himself from walking back into Brooke’s room and crawling into her bed to hold her and keep her safe.

He knew he needed to check in with Detective Buchannan, but he also needed to run off some frustration. Leaving the hospital, he headed off the main road and sped towards a remote trailhead deep in the woods that didn’t get a lot of traffic. It was steep and not well maintained. Perfect for letting his bear loose during the middle of the day.

Pulling the SUV to a skidding stop, he jumped out, grabbed a plastic bag from the back, and locked the doors. He jogged into the woods and found a fallen log he’d used before. Stripping down, he put all his clothes, gun and belt into the bag, tucking it deep beneath the log. The chances of anyone finding it were slim; he tucked it deeply enough that it couldn’t be seen unless you were lying on your belly.

Scenting the air to assure himself he was alone, Tanner told his bear this was his chance. He felt the air around his body start to vibrate as a shimmer shifted over his body. His bear pushed forward, his skin stretching to accommodate the muscle and fur of the other soul that shared his body. It was not the most graceful of shifts. Tanner was agitated; he was feeling like he didn’t have control of the situation, and he always had control.

As he fell to the forest floor, Tanner gave his bear the lead. Tanner’s brain was swamped with plans he couldn’t enact. Words he couldn’t say. He needed the blankness that came with letting his bear take over.

His bear was happy to have the lead. He sniffed the air and took off into the woods, running at a lope, jumping over fallen trees and stretching his muscles.

T
anner stopped worrying
about his mate for an hour. His bear was strong and confident in his fur. It gave Tanner a sense of peace that he had such a strong soul to fall back on. They ran until they were exhausted. His bear knew they needed to expend enough energy to remain calm and collected around their mate.

Heading back to the log, Tanner thanked his bear for the release. His bear chuffed into the woods in acknowledgement and let Tanner fold back into his own skin. He dressed and walked back to the SUV. He felt physically more in control, but his mind was still a jumble of desires.

Sitting in the driver’s seat, he dialed Buchannan. When the call was rejected with a pre-recorded message that he was in a meeting, Tanner drove back to the main road and waited.

His phone rang a few moments later, and he snatched it up to answer. “Rochon.”

“Sorry, Sheriff. I needed to step away for privacy. Last night a clerk at a local car rental place was beaten up. He said a couple of goons came in asking about a black girl renting a car. How they knew to track her down that way, I have no idea. I’m guessing they hacked in and found out she’d used her credit card for the car.”

“I’m guessing she must have. I don’t know if she used it anywhere else. She seems too smart for that. She had a good amount of cash in her wallet, but if she’d been using cash the whole trip, maybe they don’t know what direction she headed?” Tanner wondered.

“We can hope, but we can also assume if they can track down that she rented a car, that we aren’t working with two-bit criminals here. They really don’t want her talking. Any improvement with her memory?” Buchannan asked.

“Not yet, which I’m thinking is a good thing. I’m afraid once she remembers the seriousness of her situation, it might have her running again,” Tanner admitted.

“I’d advise you to keep a close eye on her. She’s a sitting duck if she doesn’t have police protection. I’m working with the DA on whether we can roll this into a federal case. We might be able to offer her witness protection if they want to take the case,” Buchannan said.

Tanner did not like that idea. Brooke would have to testify and then she would disappear. That was not acceptable to him or his bear.

“I don’t think she’s the type to leave her family, even if she thinks her life is in danger,” Tanner told him.

“Met a few of those types in my life. They don’t usually last too long,” Buchannan warned.

“Thanks for the update, Detective,” Tanner said. He didn’t want to keep talking to this officer about Brooke having a short lifespan. It pissed him off and made him killing mad.

“I’ll let you know if anything changes,” Buchannan said before hanging up.

Tanner didn’t like that these men were willing to beat up a clerk at a car rental lot just to find out if he knew anything about Brooke. It meant that they weren’t going to be letting off their search anytime soon.

Brooke fell asleep not long after Tanner left. She was physically and emotionally drained. Her feelings towards the Sheriff were confusing her. What if he wasn’t even her type? Here she was lusting after him, staring at parts of his body when he wasn’t looking, and all for what? A nice guy doing his job, and Brooke was making it about her and her libido.

She woke up to a soft knock on her door a while later, and she called out for the person to come in.

The curtain moved, and a very tall, very good looking man came walking in with a smile.

“Well hello there! I’m Conner Rochon, Tanner’s cousin, nice to meet you,” he said, coming in with his hand outstretched.

“Oh, nice to meet you, I’m Brooke,” she replied. First Tanner, then Eddie, now Conner. They grew some handsome men up here in the woods.

“You my bodyguard tonight?” she asked cheekily. She couldn’t help herself; she felt like a celebrity having twenty-four hour guards. Or wait, maybe she felt like a felon, she thought.

“Yup, and don’t you worry about me falling asleep on the job, I’ve got a newborn at home. I don’t sleep at all,” he said with a grin.

Brooke thought anyone with a newborn that could still smile about getting no sleep had probably cracked.

“Wow, boy or girl?” she asked.

Conner sat down on the chair Tanner had been in earlier. “Boy, Kingston.”

Brooke saw the man’s eyes soften talking about his son. Clearly this was a genetic trait with Rochon men.

Smiling back at him, she continued to ask questions about his wife and child. Conner was happy to talk about the loves of his life.

Conner was also taking a read on the pretty girl. This was a lot of fuss over a stranger with a bump on her head. Cage hadn’t said why they needed to watch over this woman, just that it was clan and family business so, of course, Conner hadn’t balked. Alpha said jump, you yawned, hemmed, hawed, then finally asked how high.

While they talked, Brooke started knitting a hat for Conner’s son. She told him she’d give it to Tanner to pass along to him when she was done. Conner thought this lost woman was about as sweet as they came. What she was to Tanner he didn’t know. Fate or wishful thinking maybe?

A few hours later after Brooke had dinner, Conner was relieved by Wyatt. The two men exchanged looks that Brooke saw but couldn’t identify. It was like they were silently communicating.

Wyatt came in and introduced himself. She found out he was married with twin girls and was as blissfully happy as Conner seemed. Brooke decided his girls needed sweaters for next winter and promised to make sure they were sent to him before the weather got cold.

When she started to get sleepy, Wyatt excused himself and found a chair in the hallway across from her door. As she slept, Brooke had no idea a giant of a man named Cash came in to take over for Wyatt. He poked his head through her door, made sure she was alone, gave a grunt and went to sit in the hallway. He also called his mate and gossiped with her about the mysterious stranger.

Every shift change included a text to Tanner along with details of her condition, their conversations, and status on knitting projects.

The next morning she woke feeling better than the day before but still no memory. Deciding it was time to start fresh, she was about to grab her bag of toiletries and hit the bathroom when a knock sounded on her door.

“Come in,” she called out.

She was hoping that it would be Tanner this time and not one of the many other Rochons. She was happy to see it was him.

He was looking at the bed and frowned when she wasn’t there. He scanned the room to find her, and his eyes relaxed when he saw her.

“Good morning, Sheriff,” she said softly. She could feel a tension leave her body that she hadn’t realized was there. He made her feel relaxed and safe, but at the same time he ramped up her horniness to an extreme level.

“Brooke,” he said, his voice low. “I was worried you’d been worn out by the rest of the family. They didn’t keep you up all night, did they?” He shoved his hands into his pockets. Tanner didn’t trust himself not to grab her and show her a real good morning greeting.

Brooke took in his faded but fitted jeans. They clung to his legs, and she couldn’t help but skim over the bulge prominently displayed. He had on a dark gray t-shirt and a black corduroy coat. He looked casual and sexy, and it made Brooke feel like pond scum.

“To answer your question, I was happy to meet your family. They are all shockingly good looking, like you. Is your family running some kind of secret model breeding farm up here?” she teased.

Tanner loved to hear she thought he was good looking. He wasn’t ashamed to want his mate to find him handsome.

“You think they are good looking? I only sent the ugly ones. I didn’t want you to think there was anyone better than me,” he teased, then realized that might have been a little awkward sounding.

By the look on her face, it was more than awkward. He kept forgetting they weren’t shifter mates that were already in love with each other.

Clearing his throat, he changed the subject. “So I’ve talked to your parents, and they would really like to talk to you.”

“I don’t know, Tanner,” she said, looking panicked.

“It might help jog your memory, Brooke. This is not something I think you should put off,” he said a little roughly.

Brooke looked down at her hands still holding the bag. “I’m taking a shower. I’ll, uh, think about it,” she said and hurried into the room shutting the door.