Bear, page 18
Growling, Bear clenched and unclenched his hands. “Fine. You’re driving.” He didn’t trust himself not run off the damn road…to drive right to Roxie.
He followed Brody outside and got into his truck, but his gaze stayed glued on Xan’s house where Roxie was pounding on the door. He was about to tell Brody to wait, but then Xan opened the door and Roxie slipped inside.
Bear waved at Shelby as they passed. No way was he removing his teammate from Roxie’s protection, no matter what she said.
“Your woman is a hothead,” Brody said without any malice. “Whatever’s got her panties bunched up, Xan will help.”
“I know what’s got her mad. Me. I keep fucking things up.”
“We all do, man.”
“Really? So, I’m not the only one who’s ever gotten so drunk he fucked the only woman he ever wanted and didn’t remember it the next day? Or the only one to lie to a school to get her son noticed by a scout? Or how about the only one to hound the woman he loves into telling her son that his father is a psychotic, mafia hitman who’s been taunting them, but it wasn’t him after all?”
Brody winced. “Damn, that’s a lot to unpack there.”
“No shit.”
“Let’s start with the biggest. You’re finally admitting you love her?”
Bear frowned at him. “That’s what you point out first?”
Brody chuckled. “C’mon, man, you’ve been in denial about that for years. The fact that you just owned it is a big step.”
“I’ve screwed up with her kid. Doesn’t matter how I feel. Those kinds of mistakes you don’t come back from.”
Brody sighed. “Making bad decisions isn’t the same thing as totally fucking up. Your heart was in the right place. That counts for something.”
“Does it?” Bear shifted to look at Brody’s profile. “You telling me if you’d done to Scott what I did to Chad, Xan wouldn’t care?”
“Oh, hell no. She’d have my balls.”
“Exactly.”
“Just means you got a lot of groveling in your future.”
“Definitely can’t send her flowers,” Bear muttered. “I’ve apparently done that before and don’t remember.”
“I take it the flowers were part of the drunken night of sex?”
“Yep.”
“When did this happen? It’s hard to get you to drink more than one alcoholic beverage in a sitting when we’re on assignment, and we’ve been working nonstop since the bombing.”
“It wasn’t recent. We didn’t get into the particulars, but she said she’d come to the garage the next day, and I was nursing a hangover. That I didn’t acknowledge what’d happened.”
Brody frowned. “Do you remember the hangover? The last time someone fought one at the shop was back when Blade was drowning his sorrows after Anna had left. Hell, the time before that was probably when I’d done it, thinking I’d killed Xan’s daughter. It had to have been before then.”
“When my father died.”
“Ahh. You’d taken some time off,” Brody said as they pulled into the police station. He parked, and they climbed the stairs into the building. The sheriff’s office was housed beside the courthouse, and both buildings were small.
“I got shitfaced several times over those days, but I remember everything. Or I thought I had.”
“Hey, guys,” Gauge said after they entered the reception area. “He’s already taken Flint to the interrogation room.”
“Who all is here?” Bear asked, pushing his thoughts away from the shitstorm that was his personal life to focus on his job.
“Roc and Hunter.” He chuckled. “They’re bickering about some date their girlfriends want to go on.”
At least those two weren’t going at it in front of Heather and Maya. Bear had known the moment Roc had fixated on Heather that her brother would be a constant pain in his ass. Hunter hadn’t disappointed.
“Axle still at the shop?”
“Yeah, he’s meeting the inspector for the additional permits we need for the new building.”
“Good.” Hopefully, it’d go smoothly. Bear didn’t have time to deal with red-tape bullshit.
Gauge opened the door to the room adjacent to the interrogation one. Through the two-way mirror, he saw a thin man hunched over at a table. Shaggy hair covered his face. No way would Bear glance at this man and automatically think it was Flint. Turning to Oz, he asked, “You’re sure it’s him?”
“Positive. Fingerprints match. He even chatted with a couple of the old-timers on his way in, asking how their grandkids were doing. It’s him.”
That was all the confirmation Bear needed. He tilted his head toward Gauge and muttered, “Kill the feed.” He didn’t want any photographic evidence of what he was about to do. He stormed out of the room. Oz called out to him but didn’t follow. Guess he knew what was good for him. No matter what the new sheriff said, Bear wasn’t stopping. This had been a long time coming.
He opened the door and went into the room. “How’s it hanging?” he asked in the joking manner they used to share back when they’d been friends before everything had gone south.
Flint looked up, his eyes popping wide before narrowing to slits. “Ask your momma.”
Bear took a step toward the man cuffed to the table and punched him once. Flint’s head snapped to the side, and he spat out blood. “You always liked it rough.”
“Just like your momma.”
Flint’s head whipped up, and he glared at him.
“Oh, so no joking about mommas? Got it. Not really sure what our dynamic is after you slithered away like the snake you are to play fucking games and hide like a little pussy. I guess we’re about to figure it out, though, huh?” Bear slugged the sonofabitch again.
Flint grunted at the impact. “Seems to me you’re the only pussy here, hitting me while I’m chained to the damn table and can’t fight back.”
“You’ve never been a match for me anyway,” Bear said as he sat on top of the table right beside his former friend and cracked his knuckles. “I’m going to give you one chance to be honest with me, or I’m going to beat you to within an inch of your life right here in this room. Then I’m going to carry your unconscious ass right out the door and hand you over to the cartel that owned those drugs you confiscated, but for some reason never made it into evidence.”
The smug look on Flint’s face faded. “Don’t have any drugs.”
Bear’s smile was feral. “Don’t imagine you do anymore, but lemme give you a heads up.” He leaned forward and whispered, “We have friends in Cartel de Lluvia. It’s not an empty threat.”
Flint swallowed.
“Oh, yeah, a lot’s changed since you’ve been gone.” He wouldn’t divulge Roc was the cartel leader’s son since that was a tightly guarded secret, but Bear wasn’t above playing up the Bang Shift’s connection.
“Wh-what do you want to know?”
Bear looked over his shoulder and motioned at the two-way window for the guys to join. Brody, Roc, Hunter, and Gauge walked in and stood by the wall, but Flint didn’t look at them. “How long have you been tampering with Roxie’s tires?”
The air whooshed out of Flint’s lungs. “Since I went on the lam.”
Bear gritted his teeth. He’d figured as much, but hearing it confirmed still irritated the hell out of him. “Why?”
Flint bit the side of his cheek. Because he didn’t want to answer? Because he was stalling for a lie? Bear wasn’t sure. “Because she deserved it.”
Bear stood, ready to punch him again, but someone grabbed his shoulder. “Let him talk,” Brody said.
“You won’t understand,” Flint said, his shoulders sagging. “Nobody will. See, I was always there for her. Always. Hell, even after she got knocked up, I was the one who came over to help. She was exhausted from taking care of a screaming, snot-nosed baby. She couldn’t even shower without having Chad right there on the bathroom floor in his carrier. Anytime she needed something, I was there for her. Me. But God forbid she do something for me.”
“What did you want her to do?” Bear asked. “The same thing you wanted me to do?”
Flint shook his head. “I never asked her if she wanted in on my side hustle. I couldn’t trust her with something like that.” His tone was accusatory, but Bear didn’t give a shit. “Everyone screws me in the end,” he spat.
“I treated you like a brother,” Bear yelled.
“Yeah, you fucking did,” he said, but his words reeked of sarcasm. “So did she.”
“What happened to you?” Bear asked, shaking his head.
“I grew up in the shadows of those who wanted more from me than they ever gave back. Most of my family used me, never giving me much in return.” He looked to the side, almost talking to himself. “Don’t know why I expected more from her. She didn’t even help me when my mom died. My family out in California ignored me. All I had was my mean-ass dad.” His gaze shot to Bear. “And still, I gave her time and attention as we grew—and money after she got knocked up. I fucking told her to get rid of it. She was young and broke. Did she listen? No. Then, after she had him, she gave him all her attention, but I still did whatever she wanted, gave her money for whatever she needed.”
“Do you hear yourself?” Bear said, shaking his head. “You’re complaining that a single mother…a young single mother didn’t coddle you, a grown-ass man.”
“Dude, you were her only family in town,” Brody added. “You should’ve had her back without expecting anything in return.”
“And I did. I buried my resentment over and over, but after our fathers died, she was all I had here, too. My dad left me some money, and surprise, surprise, Roxie kept needing more. It’s not a relationship if one person does all the giving and the other all the taking.”
“So you steal evidence, embezzle money, go on the run, but decide to sneak back every once in a while to tinker with her tires like some juvenile delinquent? What the fuck?” Bear asked because this shit was ridiculous. Flint was acting like a goddamn toddler.
He shrugged. “Right before everything crumbled, she borrowed money for a new set of tires. When I came back to town a few weeks later to get some of the money I had stashed, she hadn’t replaced them. Figured she ended up spending the money on the kid, probably intended to all along. I got pissed and drove a nail through her tire. Since she’d borrowed the money for a new set, I wanted to make sure that was exactly what she did. Each time I came back through town, though, she still had those same bald tires. I guess at some point, it became a game to me. Just how much could I fuck with her without giving anything away.”
Un-fucking-believable. “And the GT4?” Bear asked.
Flint’s lip quirked. “You know how many nights she cried for that man? He was all she ever wanted. I told her he was bad news. I warned her and warned her, but did she listen? No. Like she never. Fucking. Does.” He leaned closer to Bear, smiling fully. “Also warned her about you. She should’ve listened when she had the chance.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
Flint glanced at Brody and the other guys in the room before looking at Bear again. “It means I tried talking you both out of a relationship. I played on her single mom status to you and your fear of relationships because of your parents. Made up some fucked-up shit about you to her. For the most part, it worked, but then your dad died.” He relaxed in his chair as if he didn’t have a worry in the world while Bear’s muscles grew tighter. “I was your friend, and you didn’t even tell me. I had to find out from someone else.”
Bear was going to throttle this man. “Some friend. Sounds like I dodged a fucking bullet.” But not soon enough. Flint had played with his emotions for years. Maybe he would’ve gotten past the fears he’d had and embraced his chance with Roxie years ago if he hadn’t had someone constantly reminding him of them. It wouldn’t have made everything right with her, but he couldn’t help but wonder.
Flint chuckled. “Maybe, but I wasn’t the only one you should’ve been worried about. While you went off to bury him, Colonel paid me to put a stop to your budding relationship once and for all. I was on patrol and saw you ride back into town, heading straight for the bar. I followed and roofied you. Too fucking easy, man. I’d planned on finding some random chick for you to go home with to break Roxie’s heart, but then she walked into the bar. It was like the heavens smiled down on me.”
That was why Bear hadn’t remembered that night.
Fucking Flint.
Bear lunged. Brody and Roc grabbed both arms and dragged him back. “I’m going to kill you,” Bear roared as he struggled against his teammates. He broke free of one, but then Hunter and Gauge joined in to hold him back.
Oz came into the room and marched right up to Flint. “I’ll be adding a whole bunch of charges against you in addition to your original charges. Officer misconduct, stalking, assault, you name it.”
“Assault? He hit me.”
“I’m talking about the drugging you just confessed to.” He turned to Bear and the others. “Time for you to leave.”
Bear didn’t want to go anywhere, but Brody and Roc nudged him along until he walked in front of them. He seethed all the way out of the building.
“I know you’re pissed, man,” Brody said.
“I’m way beyond that. He played me and Roxie for years, toyed with our relationship, lied to us, used us, and damaged our shop. We’re out years of time and thousands of dollars. Fuck!”
Hunter patted him on the back. Roc crossed his arms and watched him explode while Brody pinched the bridge of his nose. This was a goddamn cluster.
“I have to go talk to Roxie.”
Bear’s phone rang, and he pulled it out of his pocket, hoping it was her. He cussed when it wasn’t who he’d hoped, but he answered Axle’s call anyway.
“Hey, man, sorry to bother you. The inspector wants to see you. There’s a problem with where we have an electrical conduit. Says you’re the one who signed the application. You’re the one who has to approve the modification. If you don’t come out now, he’ll stop the build until he can get back out. We’re talking weeks.”
“Fuck. Don’t let him go anywhere.”
He hung up and growled. “Don’t have time for this shit.” He relayed the news Axle had shared. “Let’s head to the shop before the weasel leaves.”
Brody dug his keys out as Bear followed him to his truck.
“I know you’re itching to go talk to your woman, but maybe it’s a good thing you have to go out to the garage. It’ll give Xan time to calm her down and maybe talk some sense into her.
Bear dropped his head against the headrest. “She’s feisty on good days. On bad, she’s a force to be reckoned with. When she finds out what Flint did, we’re all going to feel her wrath.”
“Maybe you should text her now. Give her time to get pissed about it, while she’s already stewing, before you see her again.”
“That feels like a cop-out. I can tell her to her face.” But he stared at his phone, considering it. It wasn’t like he’d be confessing to anything. He’d just be giving her an update on what had happened at the station, checking in with her.
Brody shook his head. “She’s going to be livid either way. I can even message Xan and tell her to have a bottle of wine ready before you text Roxie.”
“No, nothing to impair her. Tell her to break out the ice cream. Chocolate if she has it.”
“If she has it,” Brody said with a scoff. “I’d bet you a thousand bucks they cracked that open the moment Roxie stormed in.”
Bear drafted a text on the way to the shop, hoping he wasn’t about to make another mistake.
Chapter Twenty-Six
If ever there was an occasion where chocolate and therapy should be blended together and served in a pint container, this was it. Whoever had created this ambrosia of deliciousness over at Ben & Jerry’s needed a billion-dollar raise. It was so good Roxie had a hard time thinking of anything else beyond putting this yummy goodness in her belly, and after the shitty day she’d had, that was saying something.
“This tastes like sin.”
“It tastes like salvation,” Xan corrected. “Bear’s.”
Roxie grunted around another spoonful of bliss. “Don’t kill my vibe.”
“Don’t you think you were a little too hard on him?”
Roxie shot her best friend a glare. “Are you serious right now? How many times do I need to throw myself at him—”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. You haven’t been doing that. Flirting? Yes. But you have not come across as desperate.”
“I deserve the fairytale,” she muttered.
Xan dropped her head. “I totally regret comparing you to that movie.”
“I do.”
“Girl, I know you do. We all do, but as compelling as your scraps argument must’ve been—”
“It totally was,” she said around a mouthful of ice cream. Some dripped on her shirt, but she ignored it. “I’m tired of not getting anything but scraps!”
Xan smirked. “You know deep down that’s not true. Bear has always bent over backward for you. Sure, he’s kept you at arm’s length, but you have always been his priority.”
“He has a shitty way of showing it.”
“Does he? No, really. I mean it. Besides him being emotionally stunted, what faults has he shown you?”
Roxie opened her mouth, but she had no idea what her argument was going to be. Her friend had a point, which didn’t jive with her desire to stay spittin’ mad. “I really hate you sometimes.” She took the last bite of her ice cream and set the container on the coffee table.
“No, you don’t. You love me. Just like you love him.”
Roxie rolled her eyes. “Not exactly like him.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Why can’t he just be open and honest with me, huh? It’s not too much to ask.”
“You say that like he’s lied to you,” Xan said gently. “Do you think maybe he’s unfairly taking the fall for every man who’s wronged you in your past?”
“What do you mean?”
“Your dad disowned you and moved off after you got pregnant, only to drink himself into an early grave a few years later. You haven’t heard from your baby’s daddy in years, and even back when you did, he barely supported his kid. Your cousin was always there for you, but then he turned out to be a criminal in disguise and bailed.” Xan’s gaze softened as she leaned forward and placed a hand on Roxie’s knee. “Chad’s going off to college.”
