Chapter 30
Grayson was already on his phone trying to locate the property for sale, but there was no internet service out here. He tried to text Rowland, but there was no signal. “No signal out here. Where are the women?”
“Wearing their bear coats in the forest, watching the three men.”
“The men are probably armed and dangerous.”
“I told Amy that. She said that the one man was swearing about how Younger and JE were useless, but he was angry that the women had gotten away and that Billy was incarcerated.”
Cedric saw two signs for properties with acreage for sale and turned onto the country road. “We’re going to have to be careful and not just run up on these guys.”
“Yeah, I can see them shooting at us as soon as we make our appearance.”
“Amy says she hears my engine. Which means we’re within a 200-yard radius at most. Oh, and Kendra shifted and told Amy that Barney Metcalf is one of the men at Younger’s vehicle. The other two look like a couple of his henchmen, dressed in black suits and carrying guns.”
Grayson thought about it. “Do you want to pull the car off the road, shift, and meet up with the ladies?”
“Yeah. Let’s do it.”
Grayson hated that they couldn’t get hold of Rowland to let him know what was going on. He wished he could tell Kendra he was on his way. But then he realized if Amy could hear Cedric’s car’s engine, so could Kendra, and she would know they were coming to aid them.
They plowed through the underbrush deeper into the forest and away from the road, not wanting to alert the men that a couple of male grizzlies were nearby. But they wanted to reach the women as quickly as they could.
That’s when they heard the men heading through the underbrush, looking for the women.
Grayson turned to Cedric. He nodded his large head just once, then they crashed through the underbrush now that the villains were headed into the forest looking for Amy and Kendra, not caring that they were making a racket.
Grayson and Cedric needed to reach the women before they were hurt.
Gunfire rang out, and Grayson’s heart began skipping beats. He lunged forward, faster than a grizzly could normally run, pure adrenaline pumping through his blood. He could hear Cedric’s heart pounding just as hard, his gaze fierce as they went after the men with the guns.
Amy roared. Kendra growled just as aggressively. The men, if they were only armed with handguns, were stupid to try to fight off grizzly bears.
Grayson and Cedric finally reached the men with the guns, who looked shocked to see two more grizzlies arrive, even bigger than the women. They aimed at them, but Kendra took a swipe at one of the men before he could get a shot off.
Barney Metcalf ran for his car, leaving his men to fend for themselves.
Grayson went after him. Metcalf turned to shoot him, and Grayson clobbered him with a large bear swipe.
He didn’t hold back on his strength. He knew the guy would get off with his high-profile lawyers doing everything they could to exonerate him.
He was known for paying off witnesses and bribing police and judges.
And even make them disappear for good. Metcalf would never have been convicted of his crimes.
Metcalf’s face lost all its color, and he went down, his eyes glazed over.
Cedric had taken care of the last shooter and was checking on Amy.
She and Kendra returned to where they’d hidden their clothes, but Amy had been shot, and Grayson would have killed the men all over again if they weren’t already dead.
Grayson shifted. “I’ll get your vehicle if you want to stay with the women, Cedric.”
Cedric shifted. “Yeah, we’ll be here.”
In the meantime, Kendra took her dress and wrapped it securely around Amy’s arm to bind the wound and help stop the bleeding. Cedric shifted into his grizzly, and Amy cuddled up to him while he sat there like a huge teddy bear protecting her.
Grayson shifted and ran down the road this time, easier and faster to reach Cedric’s vehicle.
He reached his clothes, dressed, and raced down the country road to where Cedric’s SUV was.
Then he drove to where the white van was parked and joined Cedric and the ladies in the forest. He helped Amy into the back seat of the vehicle while Kendra joined her, and Cedric shifted, then dressed.
Grayson removed his shirt and gave it to Kendra since she had used her dress to bandage Amy’s arm and was only wearing a bra and panties.
“We’re going to have to tell Rowland and our sleuth leader about this,” Cedric said.
“Yeah.” Grayson knew they didn’t need to make up a story. They’d had to protect themselves and their mates and, in doing so, rid the world of a few vile men. Grayson and the others weren’t vigilantes, per se. If they could have, they would have turned them over to the police.
But he also knew that justice sometimes didn’t mean justice, and that women all over the surrounding area would be safe from these men while Rowland and the Feds investigated just how big this operation was.
At least Barney Metcalf wouldn’t have a stable full of lawyers protecting him any longer.
No one said anything for a long time in the car. Grayson kept checking his phone for a signal, and when he finally got one, he called Rowland to let him know everything that had happened and where the men were.
In the meantime, Cedric got on his Bluetooth and called the clinic to tell them he was bringing his wife in for a gunshot wound in the arm.
“Barney Metcalf? And there’s no way to tie any of you to his or the other men’s deaths?” Rowland asked Grayson.
“Nope. Younger killed himself in a car crash. The others harassed wild bears and paid for it with their lives,” Grayson said. “We rescued the women they took as hostages. Amy was shot in the arm, so we’re headed to the clinic.”
“Keep me informed on how she’s doing. I’m glad you terminated the men. I’ll tell our sleuth leader, just to give him a heads-up. Now that we know that Metcalf was actually involved in all this, we’ll get the FBI involved and see if there are more cells that are part of this operation.”
When they ended the call, Kendra said, “Thanks for coming to our aid.”
“If it weren’t for Amy and Cedric’s ability to communicate telepathically, we might still have been looking for you.”
“I’m so glad they were able to.”
“Yeah, our phones wouldn’t work, but we figured they got rid of yours.”
“They did, and I tried to use theirs, but they wouldn’t work either,” Kendra said.
“We didn’t have dessert,” Amy said, sounding disgruntled.
Everyone smiled at her.
“After I get patched up, can we go to the ice cream parlor?” Amy asked.
“If the doctor says you don’t have to stay overnight,” Cedric said. “If he says you have to, we can bring ice cream to the room.”
“What about dinner?” Kendra asked.
Grayson had forgotten all about that. They had finished their dinner, but hadn’t paid for their meals. He called the restaurant. “Hi, my friends and I were at the restaurant, had dinner, and then our wives were kidnapped.”
“I’ll get the manager.”
“Hi, it’s Sheila Winger, the manager of Brannigans. Are your wives okay?”
“Yes. One of them was shot, and we’re taking her to a clinic as we speak. But we need to pay our dinner bill.”
“Oh, my heavens, no. The meals are on us. I’m just glad to hear that the women are mostly out of danger. We look forward to seeing you all again soon.”
“Thanks so much. We appreciate it.” Then they ended the call. Grayson smiled. “Well, that’s one way to get a free meal at a 5-star restaurant.”
“I wonder if they would throw in a dessert if Amy’s free to have one tonight,” Kendra said.
Amy laughed. “I love Brannigan’s, but for now, I’m happy to go anywhere else tonight.”
When they arrived at the clinic, medical personnel had a gurney waiting for Amy and rushed her back to the operating room.
Grayson and Kendra stood with Cedric while they waited for news. Kendra finally said, “I’m going to wash up.”
She had blood all over her hands from taking care of Amy’s wound and was wearing just Cedric’s long shirt over her bra and panties and high heels.
“Is Amy telepathically talking to you?” Grayson asked Cedric.
“No, they knocked her right out.”
Then they both took a seat in the waiting area.
Blue rushed into the clinic and said, “You got the guys.”
“Yeah. I guess I need to let my family know.” Grayson felt Cedric’s anxiety for Amy.
“I’m sorry to hear Amy was shot,” Blue said. “But I’m damn glad you got the guys. I’ll let my sister know. And I’ll take care of the investigations at the agency until Amy is back at work.”
Grayson called his dad. “Tell Ivy the men are no longer any trouble. Well, except for Billy, but he’s in jail for now, and no bond is being given. But the men who he worked for, Billy’s stepdad, and the others, are all gone. Though they’re still looking into it in case anyone else is involved.”
“I’ll let Marcus and Ivy know.”
Then the doctor walked out to the waiting room and clapped Cedric on the back. “Amy is going to be all right.”
“Can she go out for ice cream tonight?” Kendra asked, coming out of the restroom and joining them.
The doctor chuckled. “She can have ice cream, but she’ll need to stay overnight.” She glanced at Grayson’s naked chest. “They wouldn’t serve you without a shirt either.”
Kendra laughed out loud. Only Grayson got the joke and kissed her mouth. “You’ll have to get me another T-shirt, only a little larger this time.”
At least this time, he’d loaned his shirt to Kendra as a heroic gesture after she used her dress to bandage Amy’s arm. The last time? His sister had ripped his shirt to shreds.
Then Kendra and Grayson drove Cedric’s vehicle to get their car at Brannigan’s, dropped by her house so he could grab another shirt.
She wasn’t giving up Grayson’s, though she was swallowed up in it.
She put on a pair of jeans and switched out her dress shoes for tennis shoes.
Then they dropped by the ice cream shop for everyone’s favorite flavors.