“I-I thought you would leave Churchill.” Renee shrugged. “I didn’t mean to get serious, but I did.”
“You noticed how stubborn we are?” Calian said. “We persisted when you didn’t want to go out with us.”
Renee took a sip of her soup. “Yeah.”
“There was no way we’d have left without making sure you knew we were committed to you.” Calian’s gaze remained on her face. “My brothers and I are all in, and when we thought you might be dead… That was the worst moment of my life.”
“The woman tried to shoot me. I was able to get away, but a lucky shot took out my tail rotor. I don’t know how they tracked me down. I’ll have to get in touch with my contact. Maybe move again.”
Calian cleared his throat. “Let’s worry about the important things first.”
“Yeah,” Matto said. “One of us intends to marry you, then we’re all gonna live together, happy ever after.”
14 – Found: Bumps And Bruises
Two helicopters landed around ten-thirty. Sax, Ran and Tate Hallsten arrived with a bag of clothes.
“Thank you,” Calian said. “I was wondering how we’d manage to get back to Churchill. I hated the idea of sneaking into town naked.”
Sax laughed. “Didn’t fancy the run back to town?”
“Not this morning,” Dakota said.
“Renee needs a checkup at the hospital. Dakota and Kansas, you want to go back with Renee?” Calian shot them a big-brother warning.Keep her safe.
Their inclined heads told him they’d received his silent order and understood.
The twins trotted inside and returned not long after with Renee. The pilot of the first helicopter strode over to them and spoke to her. Calian watched the greeting for an instant before turning away and following Sax and his brothers.
“We’ve eaten quite a few of your stores. We’ll make sure we replace them,” Calian said.
“No problem. You told me our father helped Renee,” Sax said.
“He saved Renee’s life,” Calian corrected. “As far as we can work out, thanks to your father, Renee survived when the assassin came after her. It looks as if he killed the assassin, taking a bullet to stop the woman from getting to Renee.”
“Who was the woman?” Sax asked.
“I’m not one hundred percent sure.” Calian scanned the tree line to his left, marveling at the blue, cloudless sky and the sun glinting off the pristine snow after hours of wind and sleet. “My theory is she was doing a hit for Jason Vega, a drug baron from Florida.”
“A hit on Renee?”
“Yes. Matto and I will come with you to collect Gunnar and the woman.” Calian changed the subject even though he trusted Sax.
Sax blew out a breath. “My brothers and I saw our father in Churchill around two months ago, late one night. We assumed he’d see us the next day, but he disappeared. We haven’t seen him since. He told us he was sick and hadn’t long to live. When he didn’t make a reappearance, we thought he’d returned to the tundra to die. Gunnar told us that was what he preferred.” Sax swallowed. “How did he look?”
“Thin. The twins intimated that cancer riddled his body.”
Sax nodded and consulted his brothers. Calian stepped away to give the polar bear shifters privacy.
“Do they want help?” Matto asked.
“I think so.” Calian’s satellite phone signaled an incoming call. “Yes.” He listened for a time. “Thanks for letting me know.”
Matto studied him. “Good news?”
“Jason Vega is dead. Hopefully, that will be an end to Renee’s problems.”
* * * * *
