Free Bear with Me (Bear Mountain Patrol Series Book 1) by Sydney Addae Page B

Camilla’s phone but there was no scent of Camilla.
    “What can I get for you?” another waitress asked standing next to his table.
    Tag ordered and watched the sidewalk. More and more people strolled about despite the pending rain. No one entered the travel agency or stopped to look at the bright, posters hinting at the perfect vacation. Brody left holding a bag beneath his arm and strode across the street with a quick glance toward the car behind Tag’s.
    After he finished eating, Tag paid his tab and followed Brody to the travel agency. A few people nodded and gave him a double glance. Being a big man most of his adult life, Tag was accustomed to the staring and paid them little attention.
    A bell dinged when he entered. The place reeked of garlic, butter and strawberries. A toilet flushed in the back area. The overhead light offered little illumination against the gray skies but enough to see numerous spider webs in the corners and on the posters. A track of spot lights rested on vibrant posters of sun-filled beaches, exotic locations and smiles of people as fake as this business. The front of the agency lay empty. Tag slipped a device in the brochure holder near the office phone and moved to take a closer look at a sunny destination.
    “Can I help you?” Brody asked patting his mouth while offering a smile. The door to the inner office closed softly behind him.
    Tag turned, his gaze slid quickly over Brody Jensen then returned to his face. Six feet, medium-build, dark hair, longer in the front and back, slightly crooked nose, chipped front tooth. If Brody continued eating meatloaf, potatoes and gravy with biscuits for lunch and sitting at a desk, more buttons on his shirt would soon be missing.
    “Yes, I’m here to find out where you took Camilla Lopez,” Tag said in a solemn tone.
    Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed outside. Brody turned toward the window, and then back at Tag.
    Brody frowned. “Who?”
    Tag detected no subterfuge but his nose never lied. This man touched Ryan’s cousin recently. “Camilla. You helped her from the park the other day, she was feeling sick and called her roommate but she was gone by the time they arrived. There’s a tape showing you putting her in your car. Where did you take her?” He rattled off the question with the same precision and intensity as he would empty a clip from his pistol.
    The acrid stench of fear rose fast and swift. Beads of sweat popped on Brody’s brow. “No… I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else.” He took a step backward.
    Tag crossed his arms over his chest and widened his stance. “The only mistake was when you took her, where is she?” he asked, hardening his voice.
    “Look, I don’t know what you think you know but I don’t know any Camilla…”
    “That’s the first true thing you’ve said since I walked in here. You don’t know her but you took her somewhere. Why? More importantly, where?”
    Brody’s mouth opened and closed. He looked to the side, froze and released a breath. Straightening, he met Tag’s gaze. “I don’t know Camilla and I didn’t take anyone from the park. I don’t even live there. You need to leave my place of business before I call the police.”
    “Where? I didn’t mention a place,” Tag asked.
    Jensen’s eyes widened, he snapped his mouth shut into a mulish expression.
    Tag nodded and walked out.
    The two men had moved from their car and now stood on the sidewalk across the street in front of the post office. Tag pulled up his collar to protect against the rising wind, stopped a couple and asked them the time.
    “It’s 2:10,” the older man said.
    “Have you ever used this travel agency?” he asked tipping his head back toward the building.
    The woman looked in the window then back at Tag. “No, can’t say I have. Don’t know much about him either, keeps to himself.”
    Tag looked behind him and met Brody’s gaze. “Those posters look really good, though.”
    She shrugged. “Too