Devoted to the Bear Read Free Page B

men.
    A bike and two boxes labeled winter clothes with thick permanent marker came flying out of Robert’s bedroom closet. She ducked as a tennis racket followed. Finally he re-emerged and blew a healthy layer of dust from the ratty cardboard box she’d given him a year ago.
    He set it in her hands and it nearly took her arms out of their sockets. Apparently she’d been cool with hoarding garden rocks in her old life.
    “Here, let me,” Robert offered, pulling it from her failing grasp.
    “Robert, what does the cop look like?”
    “What cop?”
    “The one who’s been looking for me.”
    “Medium height, medium build. Short hair, brown eyes.”
    All right, he could’ve just described himself or about half the population of New York. She needed more than that vague description. “Anything identifiable about him,” she asked, following him into the living room.
    Riker stood in the doorway, his eyes passable as human once again.
    “Can I help you?” Robert asked.
    “I’m with her,” Riker said. He took the box from Robert’s arms and made it look like it was full of toilet paper rolls.
    Hannah was in the middle of trying to count exactly how many months it had been since she’d last been to a gym when Robert offered his hand for a shake.
    “Robert.”
    Riker balanced the box and grasped his hand. It looked painful. “Benson.”
    Feeling rude for no t introducing them, Hannah tried to explain. “He’s my…” She wanted to say mate. Everyone used the word often enough in Bear Valley but it wasn’t exactly a popular term in common English. She’d thought Riker ran a cult when she’d first met his bears, but for some reason she couldn’t explain, she wanted Robert to accept Riker on her behalf. Old life meets new life and everyone gets along. She opened her mouth to say boyfriend, but Riker beat her to it.
    “I’ m her bodyguard,” he said, a slight frown pinching the corners of his eyes. Robert wouldn’t be able to tell he was upset, but she knew her mate.
    “Robert, anything identifiable about him?” she pressed on.
    “Not that I can think of. Wait. One of his front teeth overlaps the other one. I can’t stop staring at it when he talks.” He rested his hands on his hips and looked back and forth between Riker and Hannah. “That’s all I got.”
    Riker’s gaze said he knew exactly who they were talking about. Maybe he’d heard their conversation with his super bear hearing. “Listen, I don’t think you should let that guy in here.”
    “Why? He’s a cop. I don’t think I really have a choice about the matter.” Robert’s frown deepened. “What’s going on?”
    “If that cop doesn’t have a warrant, you do have a choice,” Hannah explained. “He’s dangerous.”
    He looked to Riker and then to her. “Funny. He sai d the same thing about you. Said you even killed people.”
    Shock anchored her in place. T rue, she’d cursed anyone who came close to her in the first year of witness protection and they had died for their loyalty at the hands of Stone’s men. Even bigger than bad luck, she’d pulled the trigger on a man. But how did the rat know?
    “Did he tell you his name? A badge number? Anything?” Her voice trembled like a flame on a wick.
    “So, it’s true? You killed people?”
    “In self-defense. I was shot too.” Her newly healed injuries burned just to mention them.
    He stared at her for a long time, as if his emotions had been toyed with and he didn’t know whom to trust anymore. She hadn’t done that though. That was all thanks to the dirty cop who had spilled her secrets in his game of manipulation. “He gave me his card once. Said his name is Lieutenant Murphy.”
    “With NYPD?” Riker asked.
    “That’s what the card said.”
    Riker adjusted the box and swung his gaze to her. “Do you know him?”
    “There were so many people at the trial. I don’t remember him from the description but maybe he was behind the scenes, I don’t know. When was the