"Turn around! On your knees, hands behind your head!" the first deputy ordered, stepping into the store.
Bear didn't argue. He slowly sank to his knees on the slick linoleum floor, lacing his thick fingers behind his head. The cold steel of a handcuff snapped violently onto his left wrist, pulling his arm down.
"Wait," Bear said, his voice calm, staring directly at the deputy securing his cuffs. "Before you arrest me. Look at the man outside."
"Shut up," the deputy growled, yanking Bear's right arm down and snapping the second cuff closed.
"He's not her father," Bear said, raising his voice so the lead deputy at the door could hear him. "Her name is Chloe. She handed me a note. She said he kidnapped her."
Outside, the man in the polo shirt yelled, "He's lying! He's a psychopath! Where is my daughter?"
The lead deputy stepped into the store, looking at Bear with open disgust. "We'll let the girl sort this out. Where is she?"
"Back office," Bear said, nodding his head toward the rear of the store. "It's locked. The clerk is with her."
The lead deputy gestured to his partner. "Go get her. Go slow."
Bear stayed on his knees, feeling the cold linoleum seeping through his jeans. He looked out through the broken door. The man in the polo shirt was standing by the cruisers, looking smug, looking relieved. He thought he had won. He thought his neat hair and his nice clothes had bought him a free pass.
Bear waited for the back door to open. He had one card left to play, and he needed the timing to be absolutely perfect.
Chapter 3: The Pink Inhaler
The heavy gray door at the back of the store clicked open.
Gary the clerk stepped out first, his hands raised in the air, trembling visibly. Behind him, clutching the fabric of Gary's red uniform shirt, was Chloe.
She looked absolutely terrified. The flashing red and blue lights reflecting off the interior walls made her pale face look almost ghostly.
"Come here, sweetheart. It's okay," the lead deputy said, lowering his weapon and crouching down to her eye level. "Are you hurt?"
Chloe shook her head slowly, her eyes darting past the deputy to where Bear was kneeling on the floor in handcuffs.
"He didn't hurt me," she whispered, pointing a small, shaking finger at Bear. "He protected me."
The lead deputy frowned, glancing back at Bear, then out the window toward the man in the parking lot.
Outside, the man in the polo shirt pushed past the officer holding him back and rushed toward the shattered doorway.
"Emma! Oh, thank God!" the man cried out, throwing his hands against the metal rack barricading the entrance. "Daddy's here, honey! Come here!"
Chloe screamed.
It wasn't a cry of relief. It was a piercing, guttural shriek of absolute, unfiltered terror. She scrambled backward, retreating violently into the hallway and pressing her small back against the wall, covering her ears.
The room went dead silent, save for the hum of the refrigerators and the crackle of a police radio.
The lead deputy stood up slowly. He looked at the screaming child, then turned his head to look at the man in the polo shirt, whose 'concerned father' routine had just hit a brick wall.
"She's... she's in shock," the man stammered, taking a step back from the glass, his confident posture suddenly crumbling. "He terrified her. That biker did something to her!"
The deputy who had handcuffed Bear looked down at the giant man on the floor.
"Tell them," Bear said quietly, looking up at the deputy. "Tell them to ask her what her name is."