“Where are the women?” one of the men asked.
Kendra realized that was the mega-bucks guy, Barney Metcalf, who owned the mansion where Younger had stopped to see JE, and Billy had taken a picture of it. So much for Metcalf not being part of this operation.
They were the bad guys.
30
Cedric was trying to locate the white van but had no luck. But then he suddenly told Grayson, “Amy just contacted me telepathically. Look up a couple of run-down log cabins for sale on Lost Rock Creek. She said they have 17 acres surrounding the cabins. JE and Younger are dead, but three other men arrived at their crashed vehicle and are looking for the ‘ladies.’”
Grayson was already on his phone trying to locate the property for sale, but there was no internet service out here. He tried to text Rowland, but there was no signal. “No signal out here. Where are the women?”
“Wearing their bear coats in the forest, watching the three men.”
“The men are probably armed and dangerous.”
“I told Amy that. She said that the one man was swearing about how Younger and JE were useless, but he was angry that the women had gotten away and that Billy was incarcerated.”
Cedric saw two signs for properties with acreage for sale and turned onto the country road. “We’re going to have to be careful and not just run up on these guys.”
“Yeah, I can see them shooting at us as soon as we make our appearance.”
“Amy says she hears my engine. Which means we’re within a 200-yard radius at most. Oh, and Kendra shifted and told Amy that Barney Metcalf is one of the men at Younger’s vehicle. The other two look like a couple of his henchmen, dressed in black suits and carrying guns.”
Grayson thought about it. “Do you want to pull the car off the road, shift, and meet up with the ladies?”
“Yeah. Let’s do it.”
Grayson hated that they couldn’t get hold of Rowland to let him know what was going on. He wished he could tell Kendra he was on his way. But then he realized if Amy could hear Cedric’s car’s engine, so could Kendra, and she would know they were coming to aid them.
They plowed through the underbrush deeper into the forest and away from the road, not wanting to alert the men that a couple of male grizzlies were nearby. But they wanted to reach the women as quickly as they could.
That’s when they heard the men heading through the underbrush, looking for the women. Grayson turned to Cedric. He nodded his large head just once, then they crashed through the underbrush now that the villains were headed into the forest looking for Amy and Kendra, not caring that they were making a racket. Grayson and Cedric needed to reach the women before they were hurt.
Gunfire rang out, and Grayson’s heart began skipping beats. He lunged forward, faster than a grizzly could normally run, pure adrenaline pumping through his blood. He could hear Cedric’s heart pounding just as hard, his gaze fierce as they went after the men with the guns.
Amy roared. Kendra growled just as aggressively. The men, if they were only armed with handguns, were stupid to try to fight off grizzly bears.
Grayson and Cedric finally reached the men with the guns, who looked shocked to see two more grizzlies arrive, even bigger than the women. They aimed at them, but Kendra took a swipe at one of the men before he could get a shot off.
Barney Metcalf ran for his car, leaving his men to fend for themselves.
Grayson went after him. Metcalf turned to shoot him, and Grayson clobbered him with a large bear swipe. He didn’t hold back on his strength. He knew the guy would get off with his high-profile lawyers doing everything they could to exonerate him. He was known for paying off witnesses and bribing police and judges. And even make them disappear for good. Metcalf would never have been convicted of his crimes.
Metcalf’s face lost all its color, and he went down, his eyes glazed over. Cedric had taken care of the last shooter and was checking on Amy. She and Kendra returned to where they’d hidden their clothes, but Amy had been shot, and Grayson would have killed the men all over again if they weren’t already dead.
Grayson shifted. “I’ll get your vehicle if you want to stay with the women, Cedric.”
Cedric shifted. “Yeah, we’ll be here.”
In the meantime, Kendra took her dress and wrapped it securely around Amy’s arm to bind the wound and help stop the bleeding. Cedric shifted into his grizzly, and Amy cuddled up to him while he sat there like a huge teddy bear protecting her.
Grayson shifted and ran down the road this time, easier and faster to reach Cedric’s vehicle.
He reached his clothes, dressed, and raced down the country road to where Cedric’s SUV was. Then he drove to where the white van was parked and joined Cedric and the ladies in the forest. He helped Amy into the back seat of the vehicle while Kendra joined her, and Cedric shifted, then dressed. Grayson removed his shirt and gave it to Kendra since she had used her dress to bandage Amy’s arm and was only wearing a bra and panties.
“We’re going to have to tell Rowland and our sleuth leader about this,” Cedric said.
“Yeah.” Grayson knew they didn’t need to make up a story. They’d had to protect themselves and their mates and, in doing so, rid the world of a few vile men. Grayson and the others weren’t vigilantes, per se. If they could have, they would have turned them over to the police.
