Chapter 10
The trip to Los Angeles was over three weeks, and the longer I was away, the more infrequently I heard from Jorge. Olivia just dropped me off at home, and I had a misguided fantasy that he would be here waiting. The house is empty.
The knot in the center of my gut tightens.
We had the greatest few months of my life. Despite all the differences that to some might seem insurmountable, we love each other. So, why haven’t I heard from him in five days? Why did he go from a doting lover to a distant friend when I went to LA?
I’m not one of those people who needs to know everything, but if the man I love has given up on us I have to find out. Trying my best not to be too dramatic, I call his number.
It goes to voice mail.
“Hi. I’m home. I thought you might be here.” I hang up and without bothering to settle in or unpack, I turn around and head for his apartment.
It’s about a six-block walk. When I’m standing at the plain white door in the garden apartment complex, I hesitate. What if he tells me he never loved me? What if all of this was just a lark for him and he lied about his feelings?
No. Jorge doesn’t lie. He holds his emotions close, but he told me he loved me and I believe him.
I knock.
No answer and it’s dark inside.
Maybe he’s at work. I go home, get my keys, and drive to the diner.
The owner, Milo, who I’ve learned is a cougar shifter, smiles at me. “You’re back from the big city.”
“Just got in.” I force an I’m-not-on-the-brink-of-tears expression as best I can.
“How did it go?” He wipes down the counter with a rag.
This is the last thing I want to talk about. “Good. Do you know where Jorge is?”
His expression darkens. “He went back to Florida. Left almost a week ago.”
My legs start to shake, and I have to sit on one of the barstools. “What? Why?”
Milo puts a glass of water in front of me. Shaking his head, he says, “I don’t know the details. He told me he needed some time to sort things out.”
I sip the water. “Did he say when he’d be back?”
Shrugging, he shakes his head. “He didn’t say. Maybe he didn’t know.”
Pushing myself up from the stool, the first tear breaks free. I dash it away. “Thanks.”
“You might try up at the club. Jude, our president, might know more. Jorge went up there a few times last week, though he didn’t say why.”
“Thanks.” I step out of the diner. I’ve never been to the motorcycle club, though I know where it is. Since I’m not part of that world or even a shifter, there’s never been a reason to go there. Jude came to my show at the firehouse, and he was very nice. He has a reputation for being fierce but fair. To me, he’s always been polite, but gruff.
What I should do is go home, unpack, and mind my business. The clubhouse is no place for a human woman. That jerk Gabe is not the only danger in Broken Arrow. I should have faith that Jorge will call when he’s ready.
I turn toward the outskirts of town, then up the dirt road. I reach an open area with a run-down-looking building that faces miles of woods. Outside is a line of about six motorcycles in varying styles and makes.
“You’ve lost your mind, Daile.” I take a deep breath, put my car in Park, and head to the front door.
The inside is much like the outside. It’s basically a roadhouse bar and sitting at one end is Jude. He’s a giant of a man and fierce-looking. He’s reading a stack of papers and his nostrils flare as I approach.
Turning his head, he raises a brow. “Miss Whittaker.”
“Sir.”
He cringes. “Jude. Definitely not sir. This is no place for you, which I’m sure you know. What brings you out so far from home?” He puts the page he was reading down and gives me his full attention.
My stomach knot is about ready to burst. Reminding myself to breathe, I look him in the eyes, which does nothing to help my nerves. “I’m looking for Jorge Panteras. Do you know why he went back to Florida?”
“If he wanted you to know, he would have told you himself.” He takes a deep breath through his nose.
“I was away, and I’m starting to think he believed I wouldn’t return.” Telling a man whom I barely know about relationship issues feels strange, but I need him to tell me what he knows.
He cocks his head and studies me. “You know, I wouldn’t divulge personal information to anyone but his mate, but I can smell him on you.”
Gasping, I step back. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve been in California for almost a month.”
A hint of a smile pulls at his lips. It seems out of place on the rough and burly man who I know is a bear shifter. “Don’t panic. When a pair is mated, even if one of them is human…” He gives me a look that says he’s trusting me with classified information. “They carry each other’s scent in their skin. A month would not be long enough for that to fade. It’s so other shifters know there is a bond and not to interfere.”
For some reason, this is more comforting than worrisome. I like the idea that Jorge has left his mark on me. “Will you tell me why he left?”
“His birth pride is holding a tribunal about the deaths of his parents on Friday. He’s gone to clear his name.”
“I have to get to Florida.” I start toward the door. Friday is only two days away.
A very large hand takes hold of my upper arm. Firm but gentle, Jude pulls me to a stop. “Where will you go? How will you find him? These things are closed to outsiders.”
“I’m his mate. You said so yourself. I’m not an outsider. He needs to know that someone is in his corner.” I pull but Jude holds firm.
He lets out a long breath and lowers his gaze to the rough wood floor. “I will take you and do what I can to get you into the hearing.”
For the first time since Jorge stopped communication, I feel a sense of relief.
Jude is as good as his word and on Friday morning, I’m escorted into a makeshift courtroom in a complex in South Florida. There’s a long wooden table in the front with three panther shifters seated. All have dark hair and bright eyes in varying shades of green and yellow. There are two men and the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.
In fact, all the cat shifters are lovely to look at. It’s a wonder Jorge sees anything in me with my freckles and constant blushing.
Jude stays in the back of the room with his arms crossed and his gaze narrowed.
I make my way to an empty seat near the front. There are two tables, each with two chairs facing the judges.
The male judge in the center bangs a gavel. “The parties will enter the court and be judged.”
A door behind the judges and off to the right opens and a scruffy-looking man in handcuffs with blond hair and shifty eyes is escorted in by a large man who is in street clothes but wears a badge on his chambray shirt. Behind them is a woman with black hair and dark brown eyes in a gray suit.
The woman and the prisoner sit at the table to the right.
Who the hell is he and what does he have to do with my mate?
Another door on the left opens and Jorge walks in alone. He sees me and stops. After a moment where my heart leaps into my throat, he steps to the table on the left and sits. There was no emotion on his face, but his eyes shone with the same love pouring through my veins.
The room bustles with chatter and the prisoner howls and rattles his cuffs.
Pounding the gavel, the judge in the center calls for order.
The female judge clears her throat, looks at a paper in front of her, and then directly at Jorge. “Jorge Panteras, you were accused of the crime of murdering your parents ten years ago. Despite there being insufficient evidence to convict you of this crime, you were banished from the pride. Let the record show that this was done for the safety of the community as well as your well-being.”
Jorge stares without emotion, but the muscle in his jaw ticks.
She turns her attention to the other table. “The defendant’s council will enter a plea.”
The woman who I gather is a lawyer stands. “The defendant, coyote shifter, Munsey Drake, pleads guilty to the charges of murder of a manatee shifter couple last week as well as six other murders in the past ten years, starting with the Panteras.” She then names the other five couples who were murdered. “Mr. Drake has agreed to the plea under the conditions that the death penalty be eliminated from his sentencing.”
“The court so agrees,” the judge in the middle says. “Sentencing will be this afternoon. Bailiff, please take the convicted back to his cell while we finish this morning’s court business.”
My heart is beating so fast, I can barely contain myself.
The entire courtroom is buzzing with dozens of shifters talking at once.
“Order.” The gavel falls and the female judge looks at Jorge. The fire is gone from her expression and sympathy is in its place. “Mr. Jorge Panteras, this community and pride owes you an apology, which I hope you will accept. I hope that in the ten years that have passed, we have developed better ways of dealing with unsolved crimes.”
Standing, Jorge clears his throat. “You will see that Munsey Drake never sees freedom again?”
She nods. “He will likely be sentenced for each crime individually, and without parole, but that outcome won’t be official until later this afternoon.”
“I appreciate the apology.” Without any expression, Jorge stares back at the three judges, then turns toward me.
“Court is adjourned until one o’clock this afternoon.” The center judge bangs the gavel.
Everyone in the courtroom stands and the noise level grows with fifty different conversations.
Stepping to me, Jorge draws me into his arms. “How did you get in here?”
It feels perfect to be pressed against his chest with him holding me. “Jude brought me.”
Jorge looks toward the back of the room where the Devil’s Pack president is watching. His gaze returns to me. “Why did you come?”
I cup his cheek. “You’re not alone, Jorge. You’ll never be alone again. Nothing will keep me from you, not even if it means facing a scary bear shifter alone.”
It looks as if he’s about to kiss me when there’s a soft feminine throat cleared. “I’m sorry to interrupt, Mr. Panteras.”
Jorge turns toward the judge whose dark hair shines in the lights of the courtroom. Her bright golden eyes are captivating. The warm expression he’d shown me fades into cold expressionless contempt.
It’s such a stark change that I back up a step.
Jorge pulls me to his side. “Yes, Judge Gonzales?”
“I wanted to say how sorry I am. I was not the judge here in those days, but the case was handled badly and you were treated unfairly. I also wanted you to know that you’d be welcomed back into the pride should you wish to come home.”
Most of the shifters have already made their way out of the room. There are only a few stragglers and Jude still stands in the back. Jorge looks at him and Jude nods once and steps out of the courtroom.
Turning back to Judge Gonzales, Jorge says, “This has not been my home in a long time. I have a home with a pack I trust and a mate.”
With a sigh, the judge says, “I understand.”
Once she turns and leaves, he pulls me into his embrace and lowers his lips to mine. The kiss rocks me and sends shivers through my body. I grip his arms, never wanting to let him go. When he pulls back, I say, “Why didn’t you return my calls?”
“I didn’t know how this would turn out.” He gestures to the judges’ table. “I didn’t want you saddled with a convicted killer.”
“You didn’t kill anyone. I never doubted that. I love you, you big jerk.” I smack his arm.
His smile blooms and it’s the most breathtaking thing I’ve ever seen. “I love you too.”
I’d like to stay angry at him for a few minutes, but it’s not possible. “Take me home, mate.”
Swooping me off the ground, he spins me around the center of the courtroom. “Mate. How did you know?”
“Jude told me. But you should have.”
“I didn’t want to frighten you away.” He kisses my cheeks, my lips, and my neck.
“Never. I’m yours for as long as I live.” I have an image in my mind of the two of us old and happy, rocking on the front porch.
“You know, shifters and their mates live a long time.” His grin has turned playful.
“Good. All the more time to love you. Now let’s find Jude and go home.” Taking Jorge’s hand, I lead us out of the past and into our future.