Bear's Fake Bride (Shifter Marriage Service 2)

Once they had cleared out, he turned to the remaining members of the clan and addressed them, still seething as he spoke.

“I know that these are your sisters. I know some of you are close to them. Perhaps some of you knew what they had done and said nothing. I hope that is not the case and I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt on it. They are responsible, along with Ted Canton, who I will find and deal with, for the kidnapping of at least a dozen young women and the death of another. They are not to return here. If I find anyone here associating with them, then you will suffer the same fate. Got it?”

Everyone nodded. Kay scanned their faces and didn’t see anyone who didn’t seem to agree with the actions. Bradley waved his hand for them to get back to work and turned to walk away. He motioned for Kay to follow. Once they were inside, he returned to his study and pulled her in, shutting the door and picking up the phone.

“I’ve got a name for you. Ted Canton. He lives over in the apartments on Hoover Way. #97, I think. Verify. Give him a message from me, since he is too cowardly to hang around to receive it personally.”

Kay listened as he delivered pretty much the same message he had to the others. She wondered who he was talking to and why he wasn’t going there to do it himself. Finally, he was silent, apparently listening to whoever was on the other end for a moment.

“If you have to. I’m not asking for that, but if it’s necessary, do what you must. I don’t care. How long?”

He waited again, listening and then said his goodbyes, hanging up the phone.

“You got any contact info for those FBI schmucks?”

“Yes. I have a card somewhere in our room.”

“Let’s go find it.”CHAPTER TWENTY-NINEThe news was everywhere by the following day, not just at the ranch, but all over the country. Headlines revealed that the four girls that had gone missing were recovered and the men who had done it were killed during their escape. The way it read, they had planned their escape on their own. No mention of any bears or others being involved was included.

There were additional articles about the meth lab discovery and additional arrests of unnamed accomplices having been made. It would be a while before they were named, if ever. Bradley’s final action had been to give the FBI all of their names. It was his way of making sure they paid a final penance for their involvement and also, showing his cooperation in an effort to keep them off the ranch.

“Do you think this will be the end of it?”

“I don’t know. I hope so. I think it will. They can’t very well expose themselves as shifters and will only sound crazy if they try to expose us. There is no reason for them to have any knowledge of the remains buried here on the ranch, as they weren’t involved in those fights. You know bears don’t talk about that sort of thing, even among ourselves. No one likes to kill, but if we do, it is kept to a need to know basis. Only Trevor knew and he’s not around to tell the tale.”

“I still can’t believe they did this. I mean, I didn’t know them very well, but I guess I can’t believe that anyone would do this. It’s insane.”

“No, not insanity. It’s greed. He convinced himself that it was okay because his wife was sick and they needed the money. How he decided to force other people to make his drugs, young women and school girls, is beyond me.”

“Those girls...when we went in there, they were wearing nothing under those coveralls. Do you think they...?” Her voice trailed off, unable to say the words.

“No. I talked to the agents for a while after they arrested the lot of them. The victims all said that they were not sexually assaulted. Their clothes were taken so that they couldn’t hide drugs in them for themselves.”

“Those poor people.”

“Yes. They said that the other women were all transients, young women they lured in off the streets with the promise of a warm place to sleep and free drugs. All came in after the girls. It’s like having to figure out what to do with them once they had taken them from the woods sparked some idea in Trevor. Some horrible idea that he followed through with.”

“Unbelievable,” Kay replied, still unable to shake off how terrible all of it must have been for them.

“Hopefully, it is all over for them now. I don’t think there will be a trial for anyone but maybe Clara. The others were involved with the drugs, but not the girls. Then again, she’s weak. She might plead guilty and take a deal. Who knows. Hopefully, it won’t drag out and life can go on for the ones that suffered the bad choices of her and the others.”