It Happens (Bear Bottom Guardians MC 6)

I liked him, but he’d always been a sickly kid, and never really part of the group, despite us trying to get him there.

“Sorry,” I lied. “I have some more in here if you want them.”

I’d purposefully bought too many just so I could reheat them later.

“No,” he shook his head. “It’s easier to abstain than to taste what I can’t have.”

He said it so oddly that I would’ve questioned him on that comment had Liner not come in, looking pissed as hell.

“What’s wrong?” I wondered.

“Just talked to her dad.” He gestured his head in Jubilee’s direction. “The vehicle that the suspect is driving in was seen on a tollway headed in our direction. He was also spotted at a gas station about two hours from here, still headed in our direction.”

Jubilee stiffened at my side.

“Well maybe instead of staying here and giving him a direction to head, we should head out, too,” I said softly.

“How about y’all go ahead and break it all down for me.” Jubilee pushed her way out of the jail cell, paused to glare at the man that almost tripped her when he lunged in her direction, then continued to the nearest chair.

Leed moved his feet from the chair and allowed her to take it graciously.

Leed was always a ladies’ man, even when he didn’t intend to be.

There was one time in junior high that we’d all been on a canned food drive with our fathers. Leed and I had been in the van, driving with my mother, waiting for her to stop at the next house that had cans for us to collect when Leed had shouted to stop.

When my mother had stopped, Leed had bailed out of the van and ran toward a house that looked unkempt.

While we’d watched, Leed had run to the front door of the place and helped a mother carry two babies to her car.

“Please sit down.” Leed rushed to make more room on the table.

“Not to mention everyone that whoever hurt or offended Jubilee in any way in the last couple of weeks has also met their demise between when he confirmed Jubilee left and about two hours ago,” Liner continued.

That landed between us all like a bomb.

“Well, Castiel got to digging,” Liner said. “He was investigating that death of the governor’s kid. Then a dead body was called in with the same type of death. And another. And another. Until the last one that was called in was a limo driver.”

Jubilee’s face lost all color.

“H-how did he know about them?” she asked softly.

“Listening devices were found in your house. If it was ever mentioned there, then he probably knows from that,” Liner said. “Castiel thinks that he went on this killing spree because he was afraid one of them hurt or took you. Since you hadn’t been back to your place in a while, he started to get worried—then killed them when he didn’t find them with you.”

Jubilee closed her eyes. “So how many deaths in total?”

“Five. Including your neighbor,” Liner said. “We’re not sure if it was your leaving that caused him to flip his switch, or his hidey-hole being uncovered. Either way it goes…you’re in deep shit, girl.”

I carefully walked the trash over to the trashcan, tossed it inside, then promptly kicked it halfway across the station.

It hit the meth guy in the forehead, knocking him out cold.

“Uhh,” Leed said. “That was perfect. But, just sayin’, we should probably not do that again.”

“Zee couldn’t do that again even if he tried,” Jubilee said softly. My eyes went to her. “We need to go home.”Chapter 19What is your first language?

-Talking shit

Zee

Needless to say, nobody was happy when we finally arrived back in Bear Bottom at two o’clock in the morning.

Our mothers weren’t happy because they didn’t get enough time with us. Our fathers were pissed because we were home.

Then there was Jubilee, who wanted to go home to see her house and all the shit that had been put there without her knowledge, but I wouldn’t allow her to.

So yes, I was in a bad mood right along with everyone else.

“Thanks, Liner.” I waved to him. “See you tomorrow at church.”

We had a meeting planned with the entire group of Bear Bottom Guardians and would be discussing what had happened over the last few days, and what we could do to fix it.

Jubilee stomped right past Castiel, who’d been there for the last hour watching my house and making sure it was clean of any intruders and headed straight inside.

“She looks happy,” Castiel muttered.

I snorted. “Happy. Yeah, that’s exactly the vibe I got off of her for the last two hours of our trip. You’re very astute.”

Castiel grinned. That grin died just as suddenly as it’d arrived.

“I’m floundering here,” he admitted. “I had techs at her house for the last twenty-four hours trying to find everything they can get. I even got some woman in the house about an hour ago. Her name is Janie. She’s apparently a fuckin’ genius with computers. Phoebe recommended her.”