One Bear and a Baby: BBW Bear Shifter Baby Paranormal Romance (Who's the Daddy? Book 1) (10 page)

Jenni backed into the office, and motioned for him to follow. He did, trying to relax his body and appear non-confrontational. If she had made a choice to be bad, he would walk out the door and leave her to it. He wasn’t a cop anymore, he reminded himself.

“What are you doing here, Cade?” she asked quietly as he moved level with her. He didn’t turn to look at her, pretending she hadn’t asked the question.

“Can we talk freely?” he whispered back, his lips hardly moving.

She shook her head slightly.

This was going to be tough.

She heard the click of the door closing, and a pause. No one was speaking and she had a sense of dread. It was tough not to go running in there right away, but she didn’t want to mess this up.

Risking another quick look around the side of the building, she could see the two men who had escorted Cade inside had come back out. They were some way from the building, the short one seemed to be talking on his phone.

Isabelle needed to know if the conversation involved Cade. But she couldn’t let herself be seen.

Quickly going through her options, she edged around the warehouse, keeping to the shadows, all the time listening in to the conversation in the warehouse, which had thankfully started up. Cade was safe.

“How is the merchandise?” a woman’s voice, which she presumed belonged to Jenni asked.

“Good,” Cade answered. “Growing more every day.”

“And safely stored? I would hate for anyone to discover it. My boss will not be happy if it’s found.”

“I can imagine. You can come and check it over for yourself. I can take you there now if you want? Your boss wouldn’t know if you went out for a while.”

“He might.”

“Does he watch everything you do?” Cade asked, and Isabelle thought he was about to drop the act. They didn’t have time to mess around, it would be better to get Jenni out of there while they still had the element of surprise.

Isabelle drew closer to the two men. Her bear hearing would be better for this, but it would mean breaking off the conversation between Cade and Jenni. She didn’t want to risk that, or risk her bear being seen.

“I can’t leave right now. Things are difficult here,” Jenni was saying.

Damn it, Isabelle thought, and took the ear plug out of her ear; she needed to switch her full attention to the two men outside the warehouse and their conversation. The smaller guy had put his phone back in his pocket, and the two were talking.

“He’s on his way,” the smaller guy said.

“So what do we do? Go and beat the crap out of the guy up there?”

“No. He says he wants to question him. Bastard has something the boss wants.”

“What?”

“Didn’t say. Didn’t ask. You know better.”

“Better. Stanhope’s in fucking charge. We all know that.”

“Yeah, for now. One day he’s going to slip up and then I’ll spill his guts.”

The small guy laughed and then mumbled something incoherent. Then he added, “When this bust is over, I heard he was moving to a hot country and getting a new identity. I might have to hunt him down when that happens.”

“You kidding me? He’ll have some kind of a security plan in place. You know, you tell on him, he’ll tell the police your little secret.”

“
My
little secret. He should watch whose secrets he keeps. If I had my way, he would become one more of my secrets with his body weighted down in the ocean.”

“Big words for a little man.”

“Shut the fuck up. I’m going to get him, I’m no one’s lapdog.”

“Woof, woof.”

“I said shut the fuck up.”

“How long is he going to be? He’s not mad we let this guy in?”

“Said he would be here soon. And no, at least if he’s inside, he’s trapped, right? Why else do you think I let him in? He gave himself away when he thought she was in charge.” They began to walk back towards the entrance, and Isabelle knew she had to warn Cade.

She put her earphone back in her ear and listened; Cade was talking.

“There must be a way.”

“No. It’s like I’m on a leash.” Jenni’s voice was so emotional Isabelle could tell she was close to tears.

“Then break that leash,” Cade said.

“I can’t. It doesn’t work like that. The surveillance cameras…”

“Do they monitor everything?” Cade asked.

“Yes.”

“Then run now.” Cade seemed to have dropped the pretense, and a gasp from Jenni confirmed this.

“I can’t. You don’t understand.”

“I understand he is holding your guilt over you. I also am pretty damn sure you aren’t guilty.”

“Cade, please just go.”

“No. Your child needs you.”

“Shh. Don’t say it.” A sob escaped from her.

“Why?”

“Because he’ll know.” Her voice was a whisper, but Isabelle heard it and she wondered how close to Cade Jenni was standing. A rush of jealousy coursed through her. No other woman should touch her man.

Then, from behind her, the sound of a car engine made her jump, and she picked up the phone and shouted into the mouthpiece. “Cade, company.”

“Are you sure?” he asked down the phone.

“Yes. Your new friends, Little and Large, made a call.”

“I told you this was a mistake. Now he’ll know you,” Jenni was shouting at Cade. “He’ll know and he’ll hurt her.”

“Not if I hurt him first,” Cade said, and then the line went dead.

Isabelle’s heart raced along with her brain as she tried to process what was happening, and how they were going to control the situation so that Stanhope went down and Jenni went free. They could not afford for Stanhope to run, and they could not afford for him to die either. For Jenni to go free, he was going to at least need to be able to talk.

But not necessarily walk,
her bear said.

I like your thinking,
Isabelle answered.

The car drew right up to the warehouse, and the two men went to meet it. Behind them there was a flash of light and she could see the warehouse door stood open. Raised voices could be heard, and one of them was Cade’s. She made her move, running across the open tarmac, but keeping low. No one noticed her, their attention centered on each other.

“Cade. It’s good to see you. It feels as if my little family is getting bigger all the time.” She guessed this was Stanhope. His voice was light, as if he were meeting an old friend after a long absence.

“I’m not part of your family.”

“Yes, you are. It all fits together now. I always wondered what Jenni did with her bastard child. Now it makes sense. She gave it to you.”

“Please. I’ve done what you asked, please leave my daughter out of this,”

“I can’t, Jenni. You know that. For so long I tried to track her down. I never found her with your family, or with your friends. I never would have guessed you would give her to Cade. I didn’t know you two were so close.”

“I never…” Jenni began.

“Don’t lie to me.” Stanhope’s voice was louder, not the congenial old friend now. “You had your chance. When I first found you with that mewling brat, I showed you what would happen if you didn’t do as you were told. Then you dumped the kid and ran. I had to find you again. Do you know how angry that made me?” He laughed. “Of course you do.”

“This is over.” Cade stepped forward, and Isabelle, who had reached the car now, peered through the windows to see what was happening trying to gauge how it was all going to play out.

“No, it’s just beginning. I was going to retire after this, but now, I might expand.”

“You are delusional,” Cade spat and Isabelle saw him tense as if he were about to lunge at Stanhope. But the guy who had been driving Stanhope’s car got out. In his hand, he held a gun, and everyone froze.

“I am not delusional, just highly organized.” Stanhope’s voice was mocking. “As soon as I heard you paying Jenni a visit, I pulled your records. It all fell into place. You did go the extra mile for Jenni here and her squawking brat. Retired on medical grounds. Right about the time Jenni ditched her baby.”

“Please,” Jenni said.

“Don’t worry. I’ll find somewhere safe for your baby. After all, she is my insurance policy. I could semi-retire, leave you two to manage the drug business while I relax in the sun.”

Isabelle frowned. She couldn’t let him do this; she had to act now. She moved into range. This was going to be tough to accomplish alone, especially if his other two henchmen joined in. But maybe they wouldn’t, she remembered their conversation, they wanted an end to this too, and end to being controlled.

She had to focus on disarming the guy with the gun. The rest would play out one way or the other.

Sliding out from the cover of the car, she made her move. At the same time, Cade moved for Stanhope, catching him off guard. The guy with the gun fell to the ground as her fists came into contact with the back of his head, then she finished him off with a kick to the abdomen which knocked the wind from him and sent the gun to the floor, clattering as it skidded across the tarmac.

As she pinned the man down, she looked quickly to her left and saw Cade had overpowered Stanhope while the two other men ran for it. They had done it, they had caught Stanhope, and now all they had to do was get him to confess.

However, Stanhope was lay face down on the floor laughing. “You think you’ve won?” He took a deep breath. Cade was crushing him into the ground, making breathing difficult. “I will have that baby of yours by now. I know where you’ve been, Cade. I know where that baby is. And by now she will be in my control, as you will be for the rest of your life.”

“You’re lying.”

“Oh no. As soon as I knew you were here, it all fit together, the questions about the case, everything. So on the drive over here, I did some digging. You took the little girl home, didn’t you?”

Cade listened to the threat coming from Stanhope and tried to brush it off, but he couldn’t. If there was any chance he was telling the truth, then Maisie, and his parents, might be in danger. All because he had gone home. All because he had sought sanctuary there, amongst the people he trusted most.

“She’s miles away, you can’t touch her,” Cade said.

“Can’t I?”

“No.”

“Not even if I sent a couple of men in a police helicopter? Do you know how fast those things go? Fast enough that by now they will be there. Just as I got out of the car, I spoke to my man. They could see the lights of your town. By now they will have tracked down the little girl. And I will have two more loyal workers.” He laughed again. “And one a sheriff, with an unblemished record.”

Cade wanted to silence him. So he did. With one fist in the face.

He dug in his pocket for his phone and dialed his parents’ house. “Pick up. Pick up.”

“Cade. I’m so sorry to have brought this on you and your family,” Jenni said, sobbing. “I wanted to keep Maisie safe. I thought I could just disappear and make us safe.”

“It’s not your fault,” Cade said to Jenni as the answer phone picked up and his dad’s voice asked him to leave a message. “No answer.”

He looked across at Isabelle, his face creased in concern. This was all going wrong. In a bid to find Jenni and reunite her with Maisie, had he instead risked everything? And lost?

Cade was not a gambling man, but it seemed he had inadvertently taken a chance and the odds were stacked against him.

“Here. Hold this one down,” Isabelle ordered, and as they swapped places, she took her phone out of her pocket and pressed the screen, her hand shaking. Then she listened. “No answer at the sheriff’s office either.”

“Damn it,” Cade said.

“Wake him up,” Jenni said, sobbing. “Give him what he wants and Maisie will be safe.”

“Wait,” Isabelle said, and dialed another number. He could see her lips moving as they silently repeated,
pick up, pick up
. “Tony?”

He could hardly breathe as he listened to one half of the conversation. “So they are safe,” she concluded. “Good work, Tony. Yes. Wait. I have something I need you to do. Get the deputy to give their phones back to them. In the next few minutes they will get a phone call. We need them to tell Stanhope that his plan worked. That they have the baby.”

He watched her face, understanding what she was attempting to do. They couldn’t let anyone spoil that plan. He raised his fist and the guy he was holding down, went limp as his fist smashed into his face. “Tell them if they don’t have full cooperation, they should set a bear or two on them.”

“Did you hear that, Tony? Good. I’ll see you soon. Yes, you are better than any other informant I’ve ever had.” She hung up and then muttered, “He doesn’t know I’ve never had an informant.”

“What happened?” Cade asked.

“Two strange men showed up in town. Tony Marello noticed them and called the deputy. When they asked if a Cade Easton was in town, they soon figured there was trouble. Of course they tried to phone me but my phone was busy listening on your conversation.”

“So now we get Stanhope to phone his men?”

“That is the plan. But first I have to make a phone call,” Isabelle said, standing up and moving away from them.

“Are you OK?” he asked Jenni.

“I think so,” she replied, slumping to the ground. “Are you sure she’s safe?”

“That’s what Isabelle was told.”

“Then it’s over?” She wiped her eyes. “I knew you were looking for me, part of me wanted to be found. Then he found me instead. That’s why I told you to drop it. Then he said he knew exactly where Maisie was. That as long as I played along, everything would be fine.”

“That’s why you got involved in this?” Cade asked, pointing to the warehouse.

She nodded. “I knew what he was capable of. He burned her when she was so young. Made me swear I’d do what he wanted. That’s when I bought her to you and then ran. I hoped it would be enough to give her a chance of a new life.”

“Why didn’t you let me help you then?”

“I thought she was safer, that at least if he found me, he wouldn’t be able to hurt you. That she would be able to settle down and have a life that wasn’t spent looking over her shoulder. I knew he would find me, that he had contacts. I’d gone back to see my sister. He had the local sheriff looking out for me. I was, after all, a wanted woman because of the evidence Stanhope stole. It was easy for the sheriff to believe someone like Stanhope. The sheriff made a phone call and Stanhope was there before I knew it.”