The furball was a very affectionate cat.

  “He’s not being a cop right now,” Moose said. “He’s my boyfriend.”

  Moose looked over his shoulder. He hadn’t meant to out Grayson, but his mate seemed oblivious to what Moose had said. He was staring at the book in Jeremy’s arms.

  “You’re not lying, are you?” Jeremy asked.

  “If I was, would I tell that I was?” Moose helped him to his feet. “I thought we had a little trust going between us.”

  “We do!” The short shit inched away from Grayson. “That’s why I called you.”

  “What do you have?” Moose eased the book from Jeremy’s arms.

  “About two weeks ago, Chris Fisher gave me a huge manila envelope and asked me to hang on to it for him. I thought it was odd but said okay. He made me promise not to open it. I actually forgot about it until a few hours ago. He died, so I didn’t see any harm in seeing what was inside.” Jeremy covered his face with his hands. “Now I wish I hadn’t.”

  Moose opened the book and read through the first page.

  It was the ledger they’d been looking for. “Why would he give this to you?”

  Jeremy lowered his hands and shook his head. “I have no idea. Maybe because I’m drunk half the time he thought I’d forget that I had it.”

  Moose sat on Jeremy’s bed and flipped through the pages. Holy fuck. Talk about having the dirt on half the town. Pasty Marvell was fucking anything that wasn’t nailed down and she took out a hefty insurance policy out on her husband.

  Mr. Hawking…Moose’s stomach turned at what he read about that nasty fucking man. He should be on a sex offenders watch list. He also owed a substantial amount to some bookies, but that wasn’t what he’d been blackmailed for. It was his sexual depravities that Chris Fisher had been holding over his head.

  Mr. Pearl was fucking the owner of the bank, who happened to be married.

  And the list went on and on. Any number of people had motive to kill the guy. If Chris hadn’t died, with this book, he could’ve gone to jail for extorting half of Maple Grove.

  But it was the last entry that caught Moose’s eye. He closed the book and handed it to Grayson. “I have a certain person I need to pay a visit to.”

  “Who?” Grayson asked.

  “A fat fucking liar.” Moose stormed from the room.

  * * * *

  Moose walked the distance, trying to cool off. He did not like being lied to. He especially did not like being played for a fool.

  “Wait up.” Grayson hurried behind him, the ledger tucked under his arm. “Where’re you going?”

  “You need at least one shifter on your police force, and I’m not talking about me,” Moose snapped when he whirled around.

  Grayson took a step back, his brows furrowed, before his nostrils flared and he balled his fists. “I don’t know what the fuck your problem is, but I ain’t the one, buddy. You need to watch who the fuck you’re talking to like that.”

  Grayson started to walk away, but Moose grabbed his arm and stopped him. “You’re right, and I’m sorry. I just…I’m sorry, Grayson.”

  Grayson yanked his arm free and then crossed them over his chest. “I’m not sure I accept your apology. I didn’t deserve your anger.”

  His mate hadn’t spoken in a heated voice, but Moose knew when he was shoving himself into the doghouse. He hadn’t meant to take his anger out on his mate, no matter how angry he was.

  “I’m sorry, but I meant what I said. You have nonhumans living in this town, and you need a nonhuman cop to help them. Maple Grove has been damn lucky up until this point that they haven’t come up against something preternatural.”

  “Just because you have a valid point doesn’t get you off the hook.” Grayson waved a hand. “Now let’s go wherever you’re going.”

  Moose groaned. His sheriff was pissed as hell, but one conversation wasn’t going to help him. He’d have to make it up to Grayson, and Moose was looking forward to the ways he would use to make Grayson forgive him.

  “It was the last name in the ledger that set me off.” Moose started walking again, Grayson at his side.

  “And whose name was it?”

  “Jude Pearson,” Moose said as he stopped in front of the vampire’s darkened house. “Chris must have found out Jude was a vampire and was blackmailing Jude to keep his secret. That was a dumbass move, a move that cost his life.”

  “But his throat wasn’t torn out,” Grayson argued. “I’m no expert on vampires, but shouldn’t Chris’s throat have been torn out?”

  “Not if he was making it look like a human killed Chris, which was pretty smart, and he would have gotten away with it if I hadn’t scented him.”

  He thought of Raven McCoy. The wolf shifter had smelled Jude, as well, but it wasn’t as though he could go to the human cops with his suspicions. Moose had been serious when he’d said Grayson needed to hire a shifter, and he would make sure that his mate did.

  In a town with preternatural, Maple Grove needed to police the nonhumans. “I don’t think you should come inside with me.”

  “How do you kill a vampire?” Grayson asked.

  Moose frowned. “You want to kill him instead of arrest him?”

  “I mean…if I have to. If it comes down to it,” Grayson rectified. “Whether the perp is human or not, I don’t derive any pleasure from taking a life, Moose. But we’re not talking about a human, and I need to know how to defend myself.”

  His mate had a point, although Moose didn’t like the idea of Grayson squaring off with anyone, especially someone with greater strength and speed.

  “Sunlight.”

  Grayson glared at Moose. “Since it’s not even midnight, I doubt that’ll come in handy right now.”

  “Ultraviolet bullets.”

  “Fresh out of them.”

  “Rip his heart out.”

  “Fucking gross, and unless he stands still while I grab a knife and carve it out, I don’t think that’ll help me.”

  “Remove his head.”

  “Fine, you made your point,” Grayson groused. “This puny human is no match for your vampire.”

  Moose grinned. “That’s why you have me, boo.”

  “Get moving.” Grayson shoved at Moose’s arm. “I’m still coming with you. But even if you capture him, what the hell am I supposed to do with him? It’s not like I can lock him up.”

  “No,” Moose said as he walked up the driveway, “but we do have a prison for our kind, and Jude will wish he was dead instead of being sentenced to the underworld.”

  “Underworld?”

  “I’ll explain later.” Moose pressed his finger to his lips as he crept to the living room window and peeked inside. The interior was quiet, and Moose wondered if Jude was at work. He moved toward the front door, but Grayson grabbed his arm.

  “We don’t have a warrant.”

  “He’s a vampire. We don’t need one. Jude won’t be standing trial, so we don’t have to worry about technicalities.” Moose tried the handle. The door was unlocked. Small towns. When were people ever going to learn?

  He eased the door open and stepped inside. The vampire scent was strong in there. Then again, a vampire did live there. Moose swept the room, checking the closet and other places a person could hide.

  When he found nothing, he moved to the kitchen, which, of course, looked untouched except for bags of blood in the fridge.

  Moose had stepped silently through the dining room when he heard a small whimper coming somewhere down the hall. He looked at Grayson and could tell his mate had heard the noise, too.

  Did Jude have someone in his bedroom? Was he snacking on a human? Moose moved forward with purpose, ready to kill Jude if he found the vampire had kidnapped someone and was using them as a blood bag.

  He gave Grayson hand signals to tell him to wait in the hallway, and his mate understood them. They were both ex-military, and god love that fact.

  Moose’s claws slid free as he stepped into the bedroom. His jaw dropped.

  “Not one more step.” James Marvell was holding Jude at knifepoint.

  “What the fuck is going on?” Moose shoved his hands behind his back to let his claws retract.

  “He slept with my wife, so I followed him and saw through the window that he was drinking bagged blood!”

  “I didn’t sleep with your wife!” Jude looked wide-eyed as he stared at Moose, his eyes filled with a plea for help.

  “Fucking liar,” James growled.

  “Dude, she was sleeping with half the town,” Moose said.

  “You take that back,” James shouted. “We only have swinging parties because it keeps our marriage spicy.”

  “You have those parties because your wife wants to sleep around,” Moose countered. He pointed toward the hallway. “Sheriff Grayson has the ledger that names every man she’s slept with.”

  “But he was drinking blood.” James’s eyes were filled with insanity. Moose didn’t think he would be able to talk him down.

  “Let me guess,” Grayson said when he stepped into the room, his weapon drawn. “You vandalized those you suspected sleeping with Patsy?”

  “She’s mine!” James pressed the blade harder against Jude’s neck, drawing a drop of blood. “She should have never suggested sleeping with other men.” His face fell as his shoulders slumped. “I only agreed because I wanted to make her happy.” His nostrils flared as he glared at Moose. “Why couldn’t she be happy with just me?”

  “I have no idea. You’ll have to ask her.” The look in James’s eyes told Moose the truth. “Tell me you didn’t.”

  James looked away.

  “Didn’t what?” Grayson asked.

  “James, did you kill Patsy?” Moose’s stomach shrank and twisted.

  James’s face contorted into pure rage. “She got what she deserved! She took a life insurance policy out on me. I just got her before she got me!”

  “This town is fucking insane,” Grayson said under his breath. “Kooky doesn’t even begin to cover it.”

  “Just let Jude go and we can talk about this,” Moose said in his most calming voice, although he wanted to remove James’s head from his shoulders.

  “There’s nothing to talk about. I’m gonna kill everyone who slept with her.”

  “I didn’t sleep with your wife,” Jude repeated. “She’s not my type.”

  “She’s everyone’s type,” James snarled.

  “Not mine,” Jude argued. “I’m gay!”

  James looked confused. He crinkled his brows as though he couldn’t understand the concept then bared his blunt teeth. “You’re just saying that so I don’t kill you.”

  Grayson aimed his gun at them. “I’m a damn good marksman,” he said. “Don’t make me kill you, Mr. Marvell.”

  This was the completely wrong time for Moose to get turned on by watching his mate in action. Grayson looked badass, and Moose wanted to… Stop thinking about that right now, moron.

  James pointed the knife at Grayson. “You do what you have to.”

  As soon as the blade was away from Jude’s neck, Moose rushed across the room and slammed his fist into the guy’s face. Jude dropped to the floor and crawled away as James fell backward, cupping his nose as blood appeared between his fingers.

  The bastard had been lucky that Moose hadn’t used his full strength. All he’d given James was a love tap. If he’d unleashed his rage, the human’s face would have been caved in.

  Grayson closed the distance, spun James to his stomach, and cuffed him before reading him his rights.

  Moose helped Jude to his feet. “Are you all right?”

  Jude nodded as he stared at James with disdain and fear.

  “You could have unarmed him at any time,” Moose said. “Why didn’t you use your inhuman strength?”

  Jude looked aghast. “I’m a nonviolent person. The thought of hurting anyone makes my stomach turn.”

  What. The. Fuck? A pacifist vampire. Now Moose had seen it all. “I thought you were the killer when I saw your name in Chris Fisher’s ledger.”

  “He was extorting me, but I never laid a hand on him.” Jude’s shoulders slumped. “And I can’t say I’m sorry to see him dead. I was barely surviving paying my bills with all the money he took from me.”

  Maple Grove was one strange town, but it was now Moose’s home, and as wacky as most of the residents were, Moose would do his best to keep them safe.

  Grayson hauled a screaming mental James from the house. Lights swirled outside. Moose had no idea how the cops knew to come, but Deputy Hayley got out of his squad car and opened the back door as Grayson helped James into the backseat.

  When his mate returned to the front door, he said, “I texted Hayley while I was in the hallway. He might not like me, but Joshua is a good cop.”

  Moose decided to keep his opinion to himself.

  “Marvell will undergo psychiatric evaluation, but I’m pretty sure he’s incompetent to stand trial.”

  Now that was something Moose could agree on.

  “I also dispatched a few of my deputies and the coroner to James’s house.” Grayson scratched his jaw. “I never saw that coming, Moose.”

  “Me, either,” Moose said. “Come on, let’s go home.”

  “Paperwork,” Grayson groused. He looked up at Moose. “How’s Jude?”

  “Shaken, but he’ll live.”

  “Good. Deputy Hayley just told me Mr. Pearl was released from the hospital. He’s gonna be fine, too.”

  Although murder was a heinous crime, Moose wasn’t gonna lose any sleep over Chris’s death. He’d rolled the dice when it came to blackmailing people and had lost.

  Grayson looked around and then said in a low voice, “Got any candidates for a nonhuman deputy?”

  “I might know a guy.” Moose winked. “His name is Darren Christopher and he’s a friend of mine. I’ll give him a call.”

  Deputy Hayley joined them. “We’ll need…this guy to come to the station to make a statement.”

  Grayson faced Hayley and replied, “My boyfriend. Moose is my boyfriend, Joshua, and he’ll be down there right away.”

  Moose couldn’t have been prouder of Grayson in that moment.

  Hayley looked Moose up and down, shrugged, and walked away.

  “Mate,” Moose whispered to Grayson.

  “Yeah, but I couldn’t say that,” Grayson said. “Hayley would have been all over that, asking too many questions.”

  Moose kissed Grayson on his temple. “I love you.”

  Grayson blushed as he looked up at Moose. “I love you, too.”

  “Enough to watch cartoons with me while I eat us out of house and home?” Moose wiggled his brows.

  “Don’t push your luck,” Grayson said as he walked away to join Hayley at the car.

  Moose chuckled as his heart swelled, filled with so much love for his grumpy old man.

  THE END

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  Table of Contents

  BEAR THE HEAT

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

 

 

  Lynn Hagen, Bear the Heat

 

 

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