Sly Bear (Justice Squad Book 7) Read online

  As he drew closer, his heart pounding and his mind racing with questions, Emma collapsed. He rushed toward her and caught her in his arms. When he looked down at her, her eyes fluttered closed. She’d lost consciousness. He hurried her to the car and buckled her into the back seat.

  Moments later, he was rushing back toward Fate Rock. He had to get her to the hospital.

  How had she gotten out here? What had happened to her?

  He dialed Detective Sparks.

  “I had an emergency come up. I found an injured woman on the side of the road on the way to the gas station. She's in bad shape. I'm taking her to the hospital.”

  “I wonder if this is connected?” the detective muttered under his breath.

  “It could be. I will stay with her until she regains consciousness and ask her what she knows.”

  For Zander, this was well beyond the scope of the investigation. This woman was his mate; he was personally invested now. He needed to know what had happened to her, and there was nothing more important than protecting her and ensuring her safety from here on out.

  Zander pulled into A&E and a nurse helped him settle her onto a gurney. They wheeled her into the emergency room and the doctors began to work on her.

  “External laceration requiring eight sutures. Severe contusion. Signs of hypothermia and frostbite.”

  They asked Zander to wait outside while they worked on her behind a sheet, but he didn't want to leave her side. That sense that something was wrong had been proven right. She must have been out in the woods during the snowstorm, alone and scared and injured. He had to find answers. He had to know what had happened to her so that he could make it right. So that he could protect her and never let anything bad happen to her ever again.

  Zander grabbed his phone and called Hawk, the commanding officer of the Justice Squad.

  “I've found my fated mate.”

  “Congratulations. That makes all of us now,” Hawk said in a jovial voice.

  “I found her injured and hypothermic on the side of the freeway.”

  “That's not so good,” Hawk said, his tone growing serious.

  “We’re at the hospital now.”

  “Do you want us to come over?”

  “I'm going to wait here. There's no sense in anyone else coming. But she could probably use some fresh clothes when she wakes up.”

  “Wakes up?”

  “She collapsed in my arms. She's been unconscious ever since.”

  “I'm sorry to hear that, Zander.”

  “Everyone has had challenges with their fated mates. Why should I think that I would be any different?”

  “Now that the hyenas are taken care of, I guess I’d hoped that we could all live happy, healthy, safe lives.”

  “The mayor of Fate Rock has been murdered. And this time we can't pin it on the hyenas.”

  “I haven't heard anything about it.”

  “They're keeping it hush-hush until they have a better idea of what happened. I’m on the investigation. I found her on the way to the crime scene.”

  “Do you think she has anything to do with it?”

  “Do I think that she is the murderer?”

  “No. But it seems like a big coincidence to find her like that so close to the area if she is not at all involved.”

  “I will ask her what happened when she wakes up. It may help with the investigation.”

  “I'll ask Elena if she has any clothes that your mate can borrow. And I'll bring them over right away.”

  “Thank you, Hawk. I appreciate the help.”

  “No problem. That's what friends are for.”

  Zander got off the phone with his CO and waited in the waiting room for the doctors to give him information about Emma. No one came to inform him of anything for quite some time.

  Hawk arrived eventually with a bag in one hand. Zander stood and the men clapped each other on the back before sitting back down.

  “This is what Elena found. I hope it will fit. Elena is a bit thin.”

  “They seem to have a similar body type,” Zander said, although he had no idea really because she had been wearing a heavy parka when he'd found her. But the pictures she'd uploaded onto mate.com seemed to show a slender frame.

  “How are you holding up? Have they told you anything?”

  “Not yet.”

  Then a doctor approached them, pulling a mask from his face.

  “You brought in the girl with the head injury,” the doctor said to Zander.

  “Yes. Is she awake?”

  “She’s still unconscious, but she’s stable. We put stitches in the head wound and treated her frostbite. She had pretty severe hypothermia. She's being warmed now. She's out of the woods, but she'll need to stay in the hospital at least overnight. Do you know her name? She doesn't have any identification.”

  “No. I found her on the side of the road. She passed out in my arms.”

  “She's lucky you were there. Another hour in the cold and this would have been a very different conversation.”

  Zander felt a wash of anger and fatigue. He hated that his mate had been in so much distress, and he hadn't been there to help her. But he was here now, and he would do whatever it took to keep her safe.

  “You don't have to stick around. We have it under control and we'll contact her next of kin as soon as she's conscious and can tell us who she is.”

  “I'm not going anywhere. Please tell me as soon as she wakes up.”

  “Okay. If you want to stay, we won't stop you. You aren’t family, though. If she doesn't want to see you, then you should be prepared for that. We can't give you any additional information about her identity, health, or anything else.”

  “I understand,” Zander said with a sigh.

  “We’ll ask her if she wants to see you as soon as she wakes up.”

  “Thank you,” Zander said. The doctor turned and walked away. Zander had never felt more helpless in his entire life.

  “I can wait with you if you want,” Hawk said.

  “No. There's no sense in both of us staying.”

  “Let me know if you need anything else,” Hawk said, gripping Zander’s shoulder.

  “I will. And thank Elena for me.”

  Hawk left the hospital, and Zander was alone with his worries.

  Chapter 4

  She woke up alone in the hospital, the pain in her head down to a dull ache. Her fingers were bandaged. She reached up to touch her head and found a bandage there as well. She struggled to sit up and a nurse walked into the room.

  “Good, you're awake.”

  “Where am I?”

  “You're in Fate Rock Hospital. You were in bad shape. The man who brought you here said he found you on the side of the road.” The nurse picked up a clipboard. “Can you tell me your name, hon?”

  “My name?” she asked. She searched her mind. She still had no idea who she was. No memory of how she'd gotten into the forest. Or how she'd been injured. “I don't know my name.” Panic grew in her chest. The curvy nurse in pink unicorn scrubs looked sympathetically at her and placed a smooth, warm hand on her arm.

  “This is common with a head injury. I'm sure your memories will come back soon.”

  “Where is the man who brought me here?” she asked. He was the only thing she remembered. The only thing to hold onto.

  “He's waited here all night for you to wake up. Do you want me to bring him in?”

  “Yes. Please.”

  The nurse nodded and headed out of the room. A few minutes later, the same nurse and the man who'd found her stepped into the room. He looked relieved.

  “I'm so glad you're okay,” he said in a rush. “I was so worried about you.”

  “Do you know me?” she asked.

  “I know that we were matched on mate.com. Your name was Emma and you are a graphic designer from Santa Fe.”

  “Emma?”

  “Does that ring a bell?”

  “No. I can't remember anything. I don't know why I
was in the forest. I don't know what I'm doing here. The only thing I remember is you.”

  “You are my fated mate.”

  “What is a fated mate?” she asked, her heart racing. The heart monitor she was hooked up to beeped.

  “Better not get her too excited,” the nurse said.

  “I'm sorry, Emma. I don't want to upset you.”

  “I want to know what a fated mate is.”

  Emma thought that the man who'd saved her was probably one of the cutest guys she'd ever seen in her life. If she could have remembered her life. She was instantly attracted to him despite the aching in her head and her hands. He had saved her. She had been close to the edge. She knew that if she'd been out there much longer, she wouldn’t have been able to keep going. He had found her and brought her here — he was quite literally her hero. And now he was telling her that they were somehow fated mates. She wanted to know what that meant, because she could feel something special about him.

  “I'm a shifter. Shifters only have one special someone. And that's you for me.” The nurse clicked her tongue in warning and Zander bit his lip.

  “I don't want to upset you.”

  “But I want to know. Maybe it will help me. Are you my boyfriend?”

  “No. We had never met until I found you. We were matched just hours before. I tried to contact you, but you never responded. Something must've happened between then and when I found you. You don't remember anything?”

  “Nothing. I didn't even know my name was Emma.”

  The nurse moved towards the door. “I have to go to attend to other patients. I'll leave you here with her as long as you don't upset her.”

  “I won't,” Zander said.

  He sat on a chair beside the bed and looked down at her bandages, concern bright in his eyes.

  “When I found you, I was on my way to investigate a murder,” he said. “Finding you on the side of the road like that was a strange coincidence.”

  Something seized inside her and she felt fear rise in her chest. Her heart monitor beeped, and Zander stood to take her hand.

  “I'm sorry. I'm sorry I don’t want to upset you. I thought maybe it might jog your memory.”

  “Why would murder jog my memory?” she said, beside herself.

  “Don’t worry, Emma. It's okay. It probably has nothing to do with you.”

  Emma blinked several times, trying to get the word murder out of her head. She didn't understand why, but it left her feeling completely vulnerable and terrified. Maybe she did have something to do with this murder he was investigating. Was she a murderer? She didn't want to believe that it was possible, but she knew nothing about herself. Maybe she was an evil woman.

  “What does my dating profile say about me?”

  “Not much other than what I already told you. We were matched at about 4 PM yesterday. I never heard anything from you after that.”

  “I'm sorry.”

  “You were obviously in some kind of accident.”

  “When will I be able to leave?”

  “I'll ask the nurse.”

  Zander slipped out of the room and disappeared for several long moments before returning with the doctor in tow. He looked down at her arm, then checked her vitals.

  “We need to keep you for observation for another night. And then hopefully you can be released tomorrow morning. Hopefully, by then, you will remember who you are, and we can call someone for you.”

  “She can come home with me,” Zander said.

  “I understand that you just met this man yesterday.”

  “That's right.”

  “I can't in good conscience release you to a stranger,” the doctor said.

  “I'm as trustworthy a person as anyone to look after her until she remembers who she is.” Zander seemed a bit hurt by the doctor’s suggestion that he was not fit to look after her.

  “If I don't remember who I am by morning, I would be willing to go home with Zander. I don't know what else I would do. I don't have any money. I don't know who I am. Where else will I go?”

  The doctor heaved a heavy sigh and then nodded. “I want you to give me your information so I can check you out myself. I'm not going to just release her to you without knowing she’s in good hands.”

  “I appreciate you looking out for her safety. Not that many doctors would care.”

  “Well, I’ve been working in this town for twenty years, and I care very deeply about my patients.” The doctor looked Zander up and down and then left.

  Emma felt more comfortable than ever with Zander now that she knew the doctor was also looking after her.

  “I'm afraid that visiting hours are over, Mr. Shaw,” the nurse said stepping back into the room.

  “Here,” Zander said, handing a business card to the nurse. “Give this to the doctor. Call me in the morning, and I will come right over to pick her up.” He turned to Emma. “I have a nice house and you can have a private room there until you remember who you are. A friend of mine lent you these clothes. She said they would probably fit you.” He handed the bag of clothes to Emma and then gently squeezed her arm. “I know you don't know me. But I'm here for you. No matter what.”

  “Thank you, Zander,” she said. He turned and left the room and she let out a long sigh.

  “He is handsome, isn’t he?” the nurse said.

  “He's my hero,” Emma said.

  “He did what any decent person would've done, hon. Don't get too caught up in all that. You need to take care of yourself.”

  “I know. But I need someone in my side right now, don't I?”

  “I suppose you do.”

  “I think I'm going to go back to sleep now.”

  “You do that, hon. And if you wake up, just ring that bell right there and we’ll be right in to take care of you.”

  “Thank you,” she said, snuggling deeper under the blankets. A wave of exhaustion washed over her as she closed her eyes. The nurse turned off the light and in a matter of moments, Emma was asleep.

  Chapter 5

  Zander didn't want to leave the hospital, but he knew that sitting in the waiting room wasn't going to do anything to help Emma. He had an idea of how he could help establish her identity and possibly find some contacts for her friends and family. When he made it home, he called Sampson, the Justice Squad’s tech guy.

  “I heard from Hawk that you found your fated mate,” Sampson started. “Congratulations.”

  “I did, but it’s a difficult situation. She was in some kind of accident and had a head injury. She's lost her memory and doesn't know who she is. She's in the hospital now recovering from frostbite and a concussion.”

  “What can I do?” Sampson asked.

  “I was hoping that you could work some of your techie magic and find out the name of the woman I was matched with on mate.com. Then do a background search on her so we can find her family.”

  “I'm on it,” Sampson said.

  He got off the phone with Sampson, feeling hopeful that he could help his mate recover at least some semblance of normality. He would bring her home with him, but that was a worst-case scenario. He wanted to be there for her, but what she really needed right now was her friends and family, not some guy she just met in the middle of nowhere.

  He waited for Sampson to call back, but as he was studying the forensic files from the murder case, he began to fall asleep in his chair. The next thing he knew, it was already evening. He had stayed up all night the night before and was more exhausted than he’d realized when he returned home. He checked his phone for messages. There was nothing from Sampson, but Detective Sparks had sent him additional information, which he looked over.

  The mayor had been found by a rancher right before the snowstorm had set in the night before. It was a total accident. He’d been looking for a missing cow near the border of his ranch near forest service land. His dog started scratching at the ground. He’d found a lot more than he’d bargained for when the dog dug up an arm.

  The grav
e was shallow and hastily dug. Zander considered the psychology of someone who would ditch a body like that. He wasn’t very careful or crafty. It wasn’t a professional killer. But someone coldblooded enough to premeditate a murder and then try to cover it up. Definitely a sociopath, but not a very smart one.

  He sent Detective Sparks some thoughts on the forensics and updated him on Emma’s situation. The detective emailed back while Zander was making himself dinner. He was disappointed that she didn’t remember anything, and he continued to suspect that she had something to do with the case.

  Zander assured the detective that he would be keeping tabs on Emma and would continue to review the files.

  The next morning, he showered, dressed, and made a pot of coffee with breakfast. While he was eating his eggs and bacon, he got a call from Sampson.

  “I was able to look into your mate’s background on mate.com,” Sampson started. “It seems that the woman who was matched with you registered on the site as Emma Dixon. I did a bit of digging and facial recognition, and I found out that the most likely Emma Dixon is an orphan, without any surviving relatives.”

  “Were you able to find any roommates or close friends?”

  “She has a social media account, and several hundred friends, but it's hard to say which one of them is close enough to her to come pick her up. You could share the information with her and see if it rings any bells. I could hack into her account if it comes to that. But there are laws against that sort of thing. So, for me, it would be a last resort without her permission.”

  “Understandable. I'll talk to her about it.”

  Zander got off the phone with Sampson, glad that he had at least some information to share with Emma. It wasn’t very good news, but it was something.

  He climbed into his car and made his way across town to the hospital. Before going to her room, he stopped at the gift shop and bought her a box of chocolates. He knew that hospital food wasn't necessarily the tastiest, and thought she might like a treat.

  He went to the nurses’ station and asked if he could see her. The nurse disappeared, telling him that she would ask her. Then several minutes later, she came back.