Bear Territory (Bear Lodge Shifters Book 5) Read online

  “Well, one thing I can say is, it's good to know that they can't jack our shuttle copter or our pilot easily after all.”

  Malik laughed softly.

  “No, I assure you, they cannot.”

  Carly spoke up from behind her laptop.

  “So about this organization....”

  He held up a hand, face and voice apologetic.

  “I'm not at liberty to discuss it. But suffice it to say that I was given permission to approach you openly. At some point perhaps the leaders of my organization may approach your little group. But for right now, I have permission to give you all assistance in this matter.”

  Anna and Jake looked at each other. Gray rumbled uneasily, and Darrin, Julia and Carly all stared at their strange guest. Finally, Jake spoke slowly.

  “We could use the hand. That's for certain. Do you really think that you can infiltrate the Hunters in person?”

  “Given the information you have supplied, and my sampling the voices of the three men from your recordings, yes. I believe I could provide a good enough imitation to infiltrate them properly. If you have transmitters you wish for me to conceal within their trailers and vehicles, I could do that as well.”

  Jake looked at Darrin.

  “Think Esme could get something like that on short notice?”

  “Might as well ask. She and Mark are still around at the Lodge. I just couldn't find an excuse to include them in the meeting. Some of the others kicked up a stink about my letting Mark and a Crow in.”

  “That was more the reaction I was expecting.” But Malik's voice held approval. “So you're already making cross-breed alliances.”

  “Of course,” Darrin replied blandly. “I've never let myself be limited by anything like species exclusivism. If you think about it, we're all mating cross-species anyway.”

  He laid a hand on Carly's shoulder. Jake nodded, his arm tightening around Anna's waist.

  “Good point. So, given all of this, I need to ask you delightful young people another question. Is it possible for you to handle this Hunter situation without it involving any more shootouts in inhabited areas?”

  Anna blushed. The ‘shootout’ in question, besides the rescue of the two Bears at a Hunter camp outside town, had happened when Esme had rescued her from her would be kidnappers with a sniper rifle— in the middle of Jackson, in broad daylight.

  “I'd... like that too. Unfortunately last time, it was that or end up with me kidnapped, and Jake and I both killed.”

  “Hm.” He tapped his lips with his finger again, a strange little thoughtful gesture. “Still, if you could seek to avoid any further public altercations, it would do a lot to win the trust of my associates. And it would be easier for you to avoid Hunter attention.”

  Jake spoke up somewhat irritatedly.

  “We already decided against taking the fight to the Hunters this time because of the risk to uninvolved humans. They have decided to nest themselves in the middle of a trailer park surrounded by human tenants. Essentially using them as civilian shields.”

  “Disgusting.” Malik's lips twisted. “I don't think I'll have much problem with causing problems for this lot.” He rubbed his hands together. “So. We have a recording of the men whom I have an option of replacing, and we know they like to slip into town for a bottle or two. Is this happening daily?”

  “Pretty much, yes. Last two days, certainly.”

  “Let's gamble on a third, then.” He offered his lazy smile again. “Let's see if I can't slip in and listen in on their plans in person.”

  *****

  “So what do you know about Chameleons?” Anna asked Esme as she sat with her in the office, hours later.

  It was her turn to listen in on the Hunters' phone calls. She had insisted on taking her turn despite her ‘delicate condition’, and Jake had agreed not to argue if she ate a full meal first. Her stomach felt uncomfortably stuffed after months of half-eaten meals and snacks, but she felt a lot less light-headed now, so she couldn't complain.

  “Not much. They're rare as hell.”

  The Crow was busily checking one of her gear bags, and pulling out a few small plastic cases she had inside.

  She opened them - on a heavy bed of gray foam padding sat several small, black button-like objects. “But basically, they can look like pretty much any person they want. Look, sound— even change their scent. That lets them fool even other shifters. When one of them goes bad they're really dangerous. But most of them are more interested in protecting themselves and their mates.”

  “So do you think this guy is on the level?”

  “I dunno.” She started checking each of the little buttons, opening their backs and testing each little battery in turn for its charge. She sorted them as she worked, placing about every other one on a small, square charger she had plugged in at Darrin's desk. “But I think it's worth a shot. The guy's helped us before, even if we didn't know it was him.”

  “Like when he dropped us off on the road instead of the airport so the first Hunters wouldn't get a warning when we came for them.”

  “Exactly. Presuming that he's telling the truth and that really was him, it gives us some idea as to where his loyalties lie.” She placed the fully charged listening devices back in their case, which she left open while she waited for the others to charge. “I've only met two Chameleons in my work, including Malik. The other guy was a hell of a character too.”

  “Maybe the other guy was Malik too. Would you even be able to tell?”

  Esme stared at her a moment.

  “Okay, that's a good way for me to blow my own mind. Let's... just assume two different guys, though.”

  Anna laughed a little. “Slept with the first one, huh?”

  “Oh Hell yeah, and make all the tongue jokes you want. But now that I'm with Mark, that would be... way awkward.”

  Anna laughed a little... then sobered and leaned forward curiously.

  “Have you ever... even heard of this secret multi-breed shifter organization he was talking about?”

  Esme puffed out her cheeks. “Just rumors. Nothing solid. Last year there was an incident in Chicago that the Crows there told me about. Two Wolves and an Ape blew up a van full of Hunters on its way to ‘investigate’ a group of kindergarten students. Made it look like a gas tank fire, but there were Crows in the coroner's office covering their butts, and word got out to my people that way.”

  “Wow. So... shape-shifter vigilantes.”

  “Shape-shifter Hunter-hunters. Though I'm sure the actual name of the group is a lot cooler.”

  “They could call themselves the Hairy Booger Brothers and I'd still respect them, if they really do go out and deal with these crazy bastards to protect the rest of us.”

  Anna was half listening to another argument over liquor on the Stingray feed, which was dominated by the older man's quavering lecture about self-control and sin.

  Esme laughed. “Well anyway. If this guy wants to shoulder the risk of infiltrating the camp for us, hey— saves me that same risk. You know that the idea that I might have to was driving Mark up the wall.”

  “Well, he's the protective type. He doesn't stop being that type just because you're super competent and stuff.”

  Esme smiled a little. “You guys have been friends for a while, right?”

  “Just since the... hunt. Believe it or not, that's how we met.” She shook her head. “He was trying to look after everyone as much as he could. Unfortunately the woman with us when we were hunted wouldn't listen to him, and she got killed in front of him. I don't think he's been able to quite get over that one yet, so... not that surprised he's being fussy in a crisis.”

  “Yeah, that would explain it.” Esme opened the second case and pulled out another set of listening devices to test. “This should be more than enough for Malik to bug the whole place, if he can get in.”

  “Well, he ‘got in’ at the Lodge and was here for over a year pretending to be a Bear, and then pretending to be the heli
copter pilot. I guess we're lucky that he's actually able to fly a helicopter!”

  Esme laughed a little, and then sobered. “Well, I guess we'll see. But we'll need even more people on shifts listening in on these transmissions.”

  “I'll volunteer more.” Anna actually felt relief that she could do something to help, even if monitoring Hunter conversations was nerve-wracking. “It's not like anyone can complain that I'm putting myself at risk if all I do is listen in.”

  “Fair enough. And who knows, maybe we'll find out something good enough to make all this waiting worth it.”

  Chapter 7 -

  Bearing Bad News

  Jake didn't know how Malik had managed it. But by the middle of the next morning, he and Darrin both got e-mails instructing them on the device names they could scan for to pick up the bug signals. How the Chameleon had gotten in, scattered the listening devices around, and continued to watch the Hunters without being caught... Jake had a basic technical understanding thanks to Malik's explanation, but he was still stunned.

  “How in the hell... did he infiltrate them so fast?”

  “I don't know. This guy fooled all of us. Maybe he's just the James Bond of shifters.” Darrin had permanently set up his laptop in the office, with the feeds running.

  The big display on the wall meant they could line up the various windows and keep an eye on all of them. The audio would garble when two different conversations got picked up at once, but they could select a window to pick which one they wanted to listen to. Even to less than computer-savvy guys like Jake it was pretty straightforward.

  He stood behind Darrin as his friend activated the feeds from the listening devices and checked them all. They were fairly quiet for now, as it was Sunday and the whole lot of them were gathered in one trailer for prayers. Darrin listened to all those male voices yammering in chorus about God's righteousness for only a few seconds before turning that feed way down and checking the others. The corner of his eye twitched as he did so. Hunters had murdered his family. To him, they were anything but Godly or good in any way at all. The hypocrisy pouring out of that speaker hurt Jake's ears, so he could only guess what it felt like to Darrin.

  “They're at prayer. Most prayer meetings take over an hour. Guess that means we can finally get some breakfast.” Darrin sat back from his chair and stretched, stifling a yawn. They had been at this since five that morning, and the tedium and tension had made the shift seem longer. Worse, for five hours they had gotten absolutely nothing useful. The Hunters still hadn't given them anything to go on or prepare for. But at least with Malik and Esme's work they had a chance in hell of having the warning before they actually needed it.

  “Yeah. You know what, screw it. I'm having steak and eggs. Or maybe steak, steak and eggs.” Jake stretched as well, one of his shoulders popping alarmingly. “Let's grab the ladies.” He practically bounded for the door, he was so glad for the break.

  Darrin got up and trailed after him, texting on his phone.

  “I know Carly's awake, she was catching up on Dr. Who this morning.” A faint beep. “Yeah, she'll be down. How's your lady doing?”

  “Not eating enough. Though she's been trying. We end up negotiating a lot. Obstetrician says her stomach should settle down now that she's into her second trimester, but she gets a bad stomach just from stress anyway.” Jake tried texting Anna. She answered immediately, but with some fumbly typos.

  Syik kj o Sorry. What's up?

  Breakfast break, the H are in a prayer meeting.

  That's not hypocritical or anything. I'll be down. Canteen?

  Yeah. Love you.

  Love you.

  “And we've all had plenty of stress lately.”

  Darrin led the way as Jake tucked his phone back into the pocket of his leather jacket.

  “Yeah. I keep hoping to see the end of it. For all of us, but especially so she can catch a break.”

  The cavernous lobby of the Lodge was deserted right now, its enormous fireplace crackling for no one. Only a handful of Bears had fled on the shuttle yesterday evening, but right now it seemed like everyone was holed up away from everyone else. Jake could understand the impulse to hide with Hunters around, but they really could have used more help with monitoring. Even with all of them taking extra shifts, they just couldn't cover the feeds all the time.

  At least most of the Bears would actually be there to stand and fight, if it came down to a pitched battle. Which he was still hoping they could avoid.

  “So how do you think we can lead these Hunters into the wilderness?”

  “Gonna have to lure them. Maybe we can do it through total misdirection, but chances are that means one or more of us shifting in their line of sight and then leading them into the woods.”

  “Oh Hell no.” Jake winced slightly as they headed for the big double doors leading to the canteen. “That sounds like suicide.”

  “Maybe. But not if we have a couple of snipers covering the 'bait'.”

  Darrin smiled tightly and pushed the doors open, looking around. Three other Bears sat at one of the tables. Darrin chose seats at a table across the room from them. All the spying they had been doing made him, and Jake as well, very aware of potential eavesdroppers. Neither of them wanted any chance of rumors spreading bad or incomplete information around before they had an actual plan to give people.

  Anna showed up a few minutes later, looking a little pale but still lively. She kept one hand on her belly as she crossed the room to them. Jake stood up to hug her gently, and pulled out her seat for her.

  “How you doing, Baby?”

  “Broken sleep. Still getting used to these monitoring shifts. I'll be okay.” She kissed him lightly on the lips - her breath smelled of her toothpaste. “Anything new?”

  “Well, turns out Malik was good as his word.”

  Jake settled back into his seat after she took hers, the sturdy wood creaking under his bulk.

  “Yeah,” Darrin spoke up, a little hesitantly. “We were getting nowhere on the phones, and all of the sudden the guy e-mails us both with details on connecting with the bugs he planted.”

  Anna stared.

  “That fast? Holy crap. Esme's got some serious competition. Wonder how she's gonna feel about that.”

  Darrin laughed.

  “I think she'll feel just fine about it considering that she's not the one risking her neck this time.”

  The server, a bland-faced woman with dishwater hair and a smile that didn't reach her eyes, came up for their orders.

  Jake looked at her, and frowned slightly. He had seen her around for over a year or so. He signed her paychecks these days. He knew she made decent money for her work, and that she had enough coworkers that she wasn't overworked. But somehow, he also couldn't recall her name, or whose mate she was related to, or how she'd come to work there. Malik's quiet infiltration of them had opened his eyes to just how little he noticed the people working for him. It wasn't just a security risk— it dehumanized them, in a way that left him unpleasantly surprised at himself. His father had been very elitist growing up, but Jake had always prided himself on not being that way.

  ...except maybe he still was that way, at least a little. “Thanks,” he said. “What was your name again?” He offered a small smile.

  The woman paused in handing out menus, then continued, glancing at him a little shyly.

  “Margaret.”

  “Well, Margaret, if you could let the kitchen staff know that I'll be coming through later to talk to them, I'd appreciate it. I'm going to be giving everyone a paid vacation for about a week.”

  Her face lit up.

  “Really? Okay, yeah, I uh... I'll let them know. I'll go get your water.”

  She turned and hurried toward the kitchen. Darrin looked at him curiously and he shrugged.

  “Look, we can eat sandwiches for a week. If the Hunters come here, the human staff has no way to fight back. Besides, you know that they'll quit if we put them through something like that.�
��

  “That's true.” Darrin looked up and saw Carly come in through the double doors. “Over here, sweetheart!” he waved an arm, and she grinned and strode over, her easy almost-swagger miles from Anna's careful balancing-her-belly walk.

  Carly plopped into a chair between Darrin and Anna and looked around the table at them.

  “Hey there, what did I miss?”

  As Darrin filled her in, Jake peered at the menu, then leaned over and kissed Anna's ear.

  “Okay if I eat a huge amount next to you?”

  “Sure. Let me guess, steak and eggs?”

  She smiled a little despite her queasiness. “The smell of meat doesn't mess with my stomach like fried stuff does, so go for it.” She looked down at the menu herself. It wasn't a large list, given the size of their membership, and the apparently universal Bear habit of sticking to three to five favorite orders. But they had bagels, which she’d had good luck with keeping down, as long as she didn't slather on the fatty stuff.

  “Oh yeah, with Tabasco. Thanks, Baby, just wanted to check.”

  No point encouraging her to eat if the smell of his breakfast ended up making her sick.

  “That's okay. You go on, treat yourself.”

  Margaret came back, still looking excited, and Jake relaxed a little, glad he'd caught the potential issue before anything could have happened. She set down their waters and took their orders, and moved off again after they exchanged glances. Suddenly she was no longer an invisible fixture - she was one of the people they relied on to keep the place running. She could have been more easily replaced with an infiltrator if he had not started getting to know her at least a little. And it had been unnerving catching himself doing something his father might have. I can't just risk their lives. They're not expendable because they are human, or the ‘help’.

  No big surprise that Anna ordered bagels and lox again. She seemed a little bored and frustrated as she ordered, which he could understand. She had eaten the same meal for six days straight.

  “So... is Malik going to check in with us directly when he has anything, or are we supposed to just passively listen in?”