Bear in Pursuit (Heart of the Grizzly #2)

Chapter 1

His heart in his throat, Grayson Stone spied his sixteen-year-old sister walking quickly on a street in Kalispell, Montana, a half hour from their home in Whitefish, after running away again.

She had been fine until their mom had died of pneumonia, but since then, Ivy had been acting out.

Grayson was twelve years older than Ivy and glad he’d tracked her down before she potentially came to harm.

He’d had to hack into her computer to locate her, and what he discovered had shocked him.

She was planning to hook up with some guy she’d met online named Billy, or Big Bear.

No telling how old or who the guy really was, though he’d said he was sixteen like her, and looked about that age with curly blond hair, brown eyes, and a nice smile; looks could be deceiving.

He could be a forty-year-old pedophile, substituting a teen’s photo for his own.

Ivy was just too trusting.

Grayson wished his twin brother, Marcus, had gone after her this time. He and his brother ran a bounty-hunting service while their dad served as the bondsman. Marcus swore that Ivy would listen better to Grayson, so returning her home was left to him.

Grayson tried to reach Ivy as he drove his SUV in hot pursuit.

She either saw him or recognized the sound of his vehicle’s engine and ducked down a narrow alley between buildings.

As grizzly bear shifters, they could easily pick up familiar sounds.

Annoyed with her since he only cared about her safety, he was forced to park and chase her on foot.

He was so focused on going after her, concentrating on her slim figure, her long dark hair, her skinny jeans, boots, and T-shirt, a hoodie over that, that he didn’t see that he was being pursued!

He raced to reach Ivy and managed to grab her arm.

She cried out with shock, swung around, and tore his well-worn but so comfortable T-shirt with her long nails and strong fingers.

It was his favorite shirt too. Ivy could be a wildcat when she was angered, even though she was a grizzly bear shifter like him.

He tore off his shredded T-shirt, threw it on the ground, and ran after Ivy as she darted off.

A woman behind him shouted, “Stop! Leave her alone! Or else…!”

He turned to see who the pest was behind him.

Before he could go after his sister, the woman behind him shot him in the chest with a taser.

His bare chest. He went down, losing the feeling in his legs, and he wanted to strangle her!

Again, he wished his brother were the one chasing their younger sister this time.

The woman was a pretty blonde with wide brown eyes, staring at his bare chest before she came to her senses, stepped over him, and ran after his sister. Hell!

He smelled that she was a grizzly bear shifter like him, but he was still furious with her for thwarting him when he was trying to protect his sister.

He finally managed to get to his feet, yanked out the probes in his skin, and threw them on the ground. Then he ran after his sister again. He just hoped the woman who had tased him didn’t have another one charged and ready to use on him.

When he reached the end of the buildings, he didn’t see any sign of his sister or the blonde. But he did smell their scents. He chased after them.

“Stop!” Kendra Winters shouted at the girl.

She wanted her to know that she was on her side, though now Kendra wondered if the girl had stolen something from the man who had been chasing her.

She thought the man was accosting the girl, maybe intending to kidnap her.

Kendra watched too many true crime videos, though her own previous experience with her twin sister’s kidnapping and murder had a lot to do with her heightened concern.

Both the man and the girl were grizzly bear shifters, so she suspected they knew each other. But she’d never seen them in Kalispell before so she figured they were just passing through.

Kendra could also be impulsive. She wished she had her friend Amy’s psychic ability to read people’s minds and determine their intentions.

The girl charged into the bank, and Kendra followed her inside.

The bank manager, David Shader, used to smile at Kendra in a way that always seemed to say he wanted to get to know her better.

But then he married Amy’s sister, Rebecca, and he was totally in love with her.

Kendra liked him as a friend and was glad he had finally found someone who was right for him. He was more Rebecca’s age too.

Kendra glanced around the bank, but the teen girl had disappeared.

“I was following a teen girl, and she slipped into the First National Bank. Did you see her?” the shirtless man asked David as he barged into the bank.

David frowned. “The teen said some woman was following her and shot her brother with a taser. You can’t be on the premises without a shirt.”

Kendra’s mouth dropped open. Ohmigod, she had shot a perfectly innocent man?

The teen’s brother? Kendra was in so much trouble.

Not only with the law but with her bear sleuth.

The chief didn’t tolerate infractions of the law from anyone in the sleuth, since they were shifters and could put the whole sleuth in harm’s way if one of them was incarcerated.

The shirtless man was totally built, and Kendra’s wanton gaze kept focusing on his beautifully sculpted chest; she hoped he wouldn’t press charges.

One of the pretty, white-haired Winston twins, who owned the Dress Boutique, neither of whom had been married, entered the bank and said, “Oh, my.” She cupped her mouth to see the shirtless man standing there.

Then she smiled and winked at him. “Hire him, David. He would bring in lots more business.” Then she went to the teller and deposited some checks.

“You were behind my sister,” the shirtless man accused Kendra. Then he turned to David. “You must have seen my sister come in here. I smell her scent.”

“I’ll check the woman’s bathroom,” Kendra offered, wanting to make it up to the man. She hurried off.

“Okay, listen, I’ll look for her, but you can’t be in here without a shirt,” David reminded him. “What’s your name and cell number? I’ll call you if I find her.”

But the man was looking behind desks, not about to leave, when Kendra came out of the bathroom. He glanced at her. She shook her head. “Uhm, I’m Kendra Winters. Sorry about shooting you. I thought you were trying to abduct the girl.”

“Ivy.” He continued to look under desks, even those occupied by employees, as if they were hiding her beneath their legs.

Not finding Ivy anywhere, he asked, “Do you have another—” Then he saw another door. “Damn it.” He took off through the door.

“Who is he?” David asked Kendra. “I’m calling Deputy Sheriff Rowland Smith to help him track down his sister.

“I don’t know who he is. I’m going after him,” Kendra said.

“Hey, Rowland, I’m at the bank. A man is trying to track down his sixteen-year-old sister, who has run away. He’s like us, but not from here.” David called out to Kendra as she headed out the door. “Rowland’s on his way.”

She dashed off after the man, wishing she at least knew his name. She was following his scent as he was following his sister’s. But she’d already lost sight of him.

Grayson couldn’t believe the bank manager and Kendra, who had shot him!—had prevented him from finding his sister. He knew Ivy would try to meet up with the guy she’d met online, and that could be terrible news.

He could see her being taken hostage, or if he was the same age as her and she thought she was in love, that they would take off together somewhere and go into hiding. Was the guy even a bear shifter? Did he even live in Kalispell? Who knew where they might end up.

Since Billy went by the handle of Big Bear, it could mean he was a shifter, or he just thought it was a cool name. But if he wasn’t a bear shifter, his sister could have thought he was just from his nickname.

Then Grayson heard someone following him, and he turned around to see the pretty blonde behind him.

Grunting at seeing her, he suspected she felt bad that she had nailed him with a taser when he was one of the good guys.

“I’m Grayson Stone, by the way. My sister ran away from home to meet a guy online that we don’t know.

Next time, maybe you won’t be so trigger-happy when you see a situation and jump to the wrong conclusion. ”

“My sixteen-year-old twin sister died at the hands of a kidnapper some years ago. I’m sorry if I jumped to the wrong conclusion, but that moment in time just hit me, and I knew I had to rescue her, even though I didn’t realize you were just trying to help her. I’m sorry I tased you.”

“Hell, I’m sorry about your sister. I understand your frame of mind now. If I had been you, I would have most likely thought the same thing and reacted in the same way.” He checked his phone to see where Ivy was now. She was stationary. Great.

He ran off in her direction.

“How do you know where she’s at?” Kendra asked.

“I’m tracking her phone.”

“Isn’t that illegal?” She hurried after him.

“She has run away twice, well, three times, since our mother died. So I put a tracker on her phone after the first time.”

“You said she was meeting with some guy?”

“Yeah, some guy by the name of Billy. He goes by Big Bear also.”

“I’ve never heard of someone who calls himself Big Bear or who is named Billy.”

“She’s moving fast. She’s in a vehicle. Damn it.”

“Maybe he’s not a bad guy,” Kendra said. “Maybe he’s just sixteen like her and wanted to meet her. And she wanted to meet someone her age who has some things in common with her.”

“And if he’s not?” That’s what Grayson was worried about. “Hell, I’ve got to return to my SUV.” He raced back in the direction he’d come.

“Do you mind if I go with you?”

He didn’t say anything for a moment, though she was following him anyway. She felt she had to help him after thwarting his attempt to stop his sister from running away.

“Yeah, sure.” He handed her his phone. “You can keep track of them while I’m driving.”

“Good idea.” She was glad he would let her help as they got into his SUV and took off.

Then she saw the sheriff’s car. “There’s Deputy Sheriff Rowland Smith!

He can help us. He’s a bear like us. And the sheriff and two other deputies are bear shifters also, though one is a black bear, not a grizzly. ”

Grayson flashed his headlights at the deputy and pulled over. Kendra got on her phone and called the deputy. “Hey, it’s Kendra. We’re behind you.” She explained the trouble.

Rowland got out of his vehicle and walked back to Grayson’s SUV. “Do you have a photo of her?”

Grayson shared a picture of his sister with Rowland. “We’re tracking her on my phone. She’s in a vehicle about a mile ahead.”

“Okay, let’s go. I’ll follow you.” Rowland returned to his car, waited for Grayson to pass him, and then followed him.

“So what do you do when you’re not tasing possible kidnappers?” Grayson asked Kendra.

“Uh, I’m a bounty hunter.”

“Bounty hunter. Do you often shoot the fugitive you’re trying to apprehend with a taser?”

“Of course not.”

“That’s good to know.”

“So what do you do?” she asked.

He smiled a little. “I’m a bounty hunter when I’m not chasing down my sister.”

“No way.”

“Okay, she’s stopped in the parking lot.” Grayson pulled into the parking lot of a grocery store. “It says she’s right here.” He got out of his SUV and walked to a pickup truck. In the bed of the truck, he found her phone. “Aw, hell, she has ditched her phone.”

“She has, or the guy she’s with did it himself?”

“That’s possible.” Rowland pulled up next to his SUV, ran the truck's tags, and confiscated her phone, using gloves to place it in a bag as evidence in case she had been forced to hand it over.

“I’m going to check the grocery store in case they went inside,” Grayson said.

Rowland cleared his throat. “You need to wear a shirt in the store.”

Grayson shook his head. “I didn’t have time to pack anything extra when I jumped in the SUV to go after Ivy.”

“I’ll run in and get you a shirt, and then you can go in,” Kendra said, though seeing him bare-chested and buff had been an absolute pleasure.

“All right, but hurry. I don’t want her slipping out a back door.”

Though they didn’t even know if Ivy had gone into the store. If she were with some guy, they could have put the phone in that random pickup and then left. But had he learned her brother was following her, and had he gotten rid of it? Or was she in on it?

Rowland went into the grocery store with Kendra to look for the pickup's owner and see if he could find Grayson’s sister while Kendra bought an extra-large T-shirt for Grayson.

She hoped she got the right size to cover all his muscles, because they didn’t have a double extra-large.

He might not like the style, but they didn’t have many choices.

They only had two racks filled with T-shirts and sweatshirts.

She hurried outside, where he was pacing, waiting for her to hurry it up. She handed him the T-shirt. He read the saying aloud: "Of course I talk to myself. Sometimes I need expert advice.”

He laughed and pulled it on. It stretched over his beautiful muscles. He looked great in it, though he probably could have worn one that was a little larger.

She was glad he liked the T-shirt as he headed into the store, and she hurried after him. “I smelled Ivy’s scent in the store.”

“We need to look at the video security to see who she was with,” Grayson said.

Kendra agreed, but then she got a call. It was her bail bondsman with a mission for her. “We’ve located Monty Houston at the movie theater on Walker Avenue.”

“I’ll be on my way momentarily.” She hurried after Grayson.

“She’s not here,” Grayson said, half growling.