Chapter 5

"What do you mean, she died without telling you anything! How incompetent are you three!!!" The smaller of the four men in the office were separated by a large wooden desk. The fourth man, the one doing the yelling, was standing on one side and on the other, were three large men. All three were muscular, covered in scars and wore their expensive suits like they were born to them.

The man doing the yelling slammed his clenched fist down on the desk and pointed at the man in the center. "You need to track her. Retrace her steps, and yours. That micro SD card is somewhere. Retrace her route and check banks, post offices, any place where she would have stashed that chip." Turning his back, he poured himself a large measure of the expensive whiskey that he kept. Turning back around, he nailed the three with a glare.

"Go back to where you dumped her body. And, you better hope that the wolves and bears hadn't eaten her carcass. Search her body, see if she had it inserted under her skin. " When the men looked at him, dumbfounded, he practically growled at them.

"Have you idiots never considered this as an option?" With a quick shake of all of their heads, he mumbled something about working with amateurs.

Before they left the office, the oldest one spoke, in a deep gravelly voice, "Don't worry, boss. We'll find that information and bring it back to you."

Then, they all turned and left. Quietly shutting the door behind them.

"Airport?"

"Airport. We'll fly the jet then take a helicopter to the dump site. Since it's been less than 48 hours, I'm hoping that there will be enough left of her for us to check and see if the boss was right."

Rio was thinking about the girl. Charley had always been a smart girl. She had finished nursing school at a young age and gone straight to work in a hospital. She had specialized in geriatrics. But, when her patients had started dying off, being replaced by more patients that just died, she burned out quickly. She had a good heart and a strong sense of right and wrong. They all had known it. That's why they had all been careful about what they talked about around her. It had almost broken him to be the one to torture her. But, he'd be damned if he had let one of the others near her. They would have done more than just torture.

Rio sighed quietly to himself. He was tired of this life. He needed something quiet, something calm. He was tired of looking over his shoulder. Sometimes, he felt like Jean Reno's character in 'The Professional,' and he needed to sleep sitting up in a corner with a gun in his hand.

Shit. A lifetime of deep cover did that to you. He was so deep, he sometimes forgot that he was one of the good guys. Twenty years. He had been in deep cover for twenty years. His entire family thought that he was a criminal, and he guessed that he really was because of the length of time undercover. He had not spoken to them in a long time.

Stopping the big SUV at the hanger at the airport, he handed the keys to the guy waiting on them. "Gas her up and have her ready in two days' time. We should be back by then." The young attendant just nodded and took the keys.

"Where do we start Rio?" the youngest asked.

" We start where we left her and go backward from there. Until we end up back here in Tampa."

Rio didn't say anything else, just began to get the private jet ready for their trip back to Tennessee.

In the mountains in Tennessee Three days after being rescued and cared for by the big man, Charley was starting to feel marginally human again. But, she had something that she needed to do. She didn't relish the thought of it, but it had to be done. Throwing back the covers, she scooted to the edge of the bed. Just then, Henry came around the corner.

"Hey now! You need to be careful. Why are you getting out of bed?" He rushed over to help her stand and held her around the shoulders.

"I really need to go to the bathroom." Tilting her head up to look at the doctor, she asked, "When can I take a bath or a shower? I feel so gross, and let's not talk about how bad I probably smell."

Henry chuckled. The girl was definitely a strong person. Anyone else in her situation would still be in bed, heavily medicated. "We'll see later today. Jaxson would have my head if anything happened to you."

Charley frowned. There was something about that man. Something that was tickling the back of her brain, but for the life of her, she couldn't recall what it was. She knew that he had found her, carried her here, and cut her clothes off and cleaned her up some after calling the sheriff, who had brought the doctor on his request.

"Where is he?"

"He has livestock to tend to. He'll be back soon. He said he also wanted to check the spot where you were found to see if anything was left behind when you were dropped there. After he comes back, I'll help you get back to bed and check you over. If everything looks good, You can have a shower and come sit in the kitchen to eat while one of us changes your sheets."

At Charley's nod, Henry released and shut the bathroom door. Leaning against it, he was lost in thought when Bill popped his head around the corner of the door frame. Several things happened at once then. Henry heard Charley flush the toilet and as she opened the door, she stumbled over her own feet, weaker than she realized, Henry let out a soft gasp and Bill dropped the package he was carrying to tun to catch her. Both men, somehow, managed to reach her at the same time that Jaxson entered the room.

Realizing that his mate was hurt, he let out a deafening growl and rushed to get Charley away from the two men.

"Mine!" Holding her in his arms, he cradled her gently as he walked back to the bed and sat down.

"Jaxson, please look at me." Henry said. He hadn't moved from the bathroom doorframe and Bill was standing there next to him. Looking over at his friend, Henry was at a loss for what to say or do.

Bill took one step toward the young man holding the girl. When he did, the younger man growled. Bill still walked towards him. When he was halfway across the room, he spoke.

"Jaxson, son, I need you to take a deep breath. She stumbled and fell. Henry needs to check her and make sure she didn't hurt herself more."

Jaxson logically knew that Bill was right, but his bear had seen his mate on the floor and the two males standing over her. When he saw that, he flashed back to the day he had found her and realized that she was his mate and would most likely die.

"Jaxson, please. She may be injured." Henry had walked up next to Bill and was starting to approach the bed when Jaxson looked him square in the eye. What looked out at him was not entirely human. So, he tried to rationalize the wild side of the younger man's nature.

"Would like to hold her while I examine her? You would have complete control. I just need to check to see if she tore any stitches or opened any of her wounds." Henry waited to see if the animal side of Jaxson would respond.

Jaxson whimpered at the thought of his mate hurting. He tried to relax and let Henry check her over. It went against everything in his nature to let other males near her because she had not been marked, nor had they mated yet. But, his bear understood that she really needed the other man's attention.

Bill watched the former soldier try his best to relax and allow the doctor to check out his mate. When he was finished, he quickly moved away from the couple. Watching, Henry began to talk to Jaxson.

"I found her scooting to the edge of the bed. She was determined to go to the bathroom by herself. I think she also planned to take a shower. Poor thing is still weak as a kitten. She could barely stand. So, I helped her get to the ensuite and told her that when you got back, I would examine her, and if everything looked good, she could sit in the kitchen and eat while we changed her sheets and then you would help her shower. When she was coming out of the bathroom, she stumbled and Bill and I tried to catch her before she hit the floor." Henry let that sink in. He could see that as he spoke, Jaxson was getting his animal under control. "I think her legs gave out on her. So, someone would have to stay in the bathroom with her and I knew that Bill and I were out of the question." Henry smiled at Jaxson gently, and said, "You'll need to have something for her to sit on."

By the time Henry was finished, Jaxson had his bear under control and was still gently cradling his mate in his arms. But now, he wasn't holding her in a protective manner to guard her. He was just holding her like a lover would.

Bill walked up and handed Jaxson a bag. In it were clothes for Charley. T-shirts, leggings, yoga pants, tank tops and panties. He nodded his thanks to the sheriff.

"I'm sorry guys. I've heard of the guard response but I have never seen it. It's just that when I saw Charlotte on the floor and you two standing there, I lost it. My bear lost it. To be perfectly honest, I'm surprised I wasn't in my fur." Jaxson whispered.

"The guard response?" Henry asked.

Bill answered him and let Jaxson focus on his mate for a moment. "The guard response is a shifter's inborn response to an unmated male being near his mate. Especially when she is injured and incapable of taking care of herself. They will guard her against what they perceive as any kind of threat. Even to the point of attacking the other male."

Henry was extremely grateful that Jaxson had not attacked him and had allowed him to examine Charley.

"From what I can tell, she didn't pull any stitches or re-injure her head. Her gunshot wounds look good. If you want to carry her into the living room, Bill and I can change the sheets for you." Henry offered.

Charlotte groaned as she was coming to, lifting her hand to her head. "My head is pounding." She whispered.

Jaxson gently grabbed her hand. "You fell and hit it. Plus you haven't had any real food in a few days. We will get you fed and cleaned up. How does that sound?"

Charlotte felt her heart squeeze with how gentle this huge man was. A man who seemed to know exactly how strong he was and how to temper that strength. Realizing that he was waiting for her to respond, she smiled. "That sounds wonderful."