Page 11 of Combust
The building housing the police station was old. It had originally been a bank, with thick brick walls constructed on an extra-sturdy masonry foundation that had originally enclosed the vault. The later additions of plumbing and ventilation systems had converted the area to a place suitable for a jail.
Andrew had ignored her as he passed the desk where she was seated, typing out her account of the fight on one of the computers. He was too busy complaining about his treatment to Kenny, and trying to argue that he should be allowed to check into his Airbnb for the night, instead of having to spend it in a cell.
The other man, Cade, hadn’t looked happy, either. But he hadn’t protested, just walked through the station with a stoic expression.
As he walked by her, he swung his head around to look her in the face. The heat from his dark blue eyes seared through her chest with a shock that didn’t quite feel like fear.
Her bear sat up and took notice.
Is Cade a threat to us?Maggie asked it silently as she watched Cade’s broad shoulders and tightly-muscled ass retreating towards the stairs in the back of the station.
Her bear settled back down, without offering any reply or comment.
Now, twenty minutes later, Maggie was still puzzled. She put down the pen and slid the printout of her witness statement across the desk to the waiting Kenny.
“Hey, you okay, Maggie?” His expression was concerned as he studied her. “You want to head over the clinic?”
“No, I’m okay.” At his skeptical frown, she admitted, “A bit shaken up, and maybe some bruises, but that’s all. I’ll be fine in the morning.”
“All right.” He looked her up and down one final time, and nodded. “Drive safely.”
Her phone chimed with an incoming text message as she left the building. She unlocked the screen and saw that Malia was asking whether Maggie was coming back to the club.
Until this moment, Maggie had been planning to do just that. But she realized that if she returned, she’d be swamped with well-meaning sympathy and peppered with curious questions about what on earth had happened earlier.
She decided to cut the evening short and go home to nurse her humiliation. She knew, all too well, that by morning, everyone in Bearpaw Ridge would know about the incident.
Sorry, but I’m going to head home, Maggie texted in reply.I promised Mom that I’d work at Cinnamon + Sugar tomorrow morning to cover Violet’s shift while she’s in Colorado.
Dang.Malia’s reply came almost instantly.I’m dying to find out what really happened tonight.
So predictable, thought Maggie. She shook her head, knowing she’d made the right decision by avoiding an interrogation. Then she headed for her Outback, which was parked a little further down the street, across from the firehouse.
I really hope Violet’s meeting with her prospective mate went better than mine did,she thought wryly as she started her engine.I mean, it’s not like it could go any worse.
Maggie had a sudden, vivid flash of Cade Hunter’s powerful, scarred body. Why had her bear reacted so strongly to him? Was he somehow a bigger threat than Andrew?
He sure looked dangerous, she thought. And she’d heard his name somewhere. She just couldn’t remember where at the moment.Hopefully not on a Wanted poster.
Maggie knew that she should be grateful to Cade for stopping Andrew. But she and her bear both found the wild-looking shifter deeply unsettling, and that made it difficult to summon up any feelings of gratitude.
As she began the half-hour drive home to the ranch, she thought wistfully about phoning Sophie and telling her about the incident.
A year ago, Maggie wouldn’t have hesitated. She and Sophie had grown up on the ranch together. They’d been best friends all through high school, and she had looked up to Sophie like an older sister. The two of them had kept in close touch while Maggie went away to culinary academy and Sophie left for university. Even Sophie’s post-graduation year abroad in Todos Santos hadn’t stopped them from texting and emailing each other.
But now, things were different.
Maggie sighed deeply as she drove. She passed buildings and pastures, limned in silver moonlight, and caught an occasional flash of bright water as the highway followed the course of the Salmon River through the valley.
I wish I hadn’t screwed things up so badly between us.
Chapter Four - A Pinch of Cinnamon + Sugar
Downtown Bearpaw Ridge
Saturday, Nov. 1
“…and I don’t know which one of those bear shifter jerks was the worst,” Maggie said, finishing up her retelling of the previous night’s events. “Andrew or the guy who attacked him.”
