“The local police will be in touch.”
Penelope hung up and hugged Sam again. “Thank you.”
“He’s lucky he got away. What happened?”
They walked back to Sam’s car, and he drove them into the car park. “I spotted Murray at his car and called the police, but Grant saw me. I didn’t want to endanger anyone.”
“You should have yelled,” Sam said. “They wouldn’t want that kind of attention.” He parked. “How about we grab some rolls from the bakery and go back to my place?”
Penelope nodded. She’d had enough of being in public. What had they been planning to do?
What had they wanted?
Chapter 16
Sam kept his voice light, but his hands clenched around the steering wheel as he followed Penelope back to his place. When he’d seen Grant going for Penelope, he’d felt equal parts rage and fear. The thought of something happening to her was not worth contemplating. It had taken all of his willpower to stop, make sure Penelope was safe, and not go after them.
They shouldn’t have come back to town. They shouldn’t have gone after Penelope.
Why had they?
Penelope had the same question as she leaned against his kitchen bench, finally safe. “Why would Grant come after me?”
“I don’t know, but I don’t like it.” Sam scowled. “Maybe because you can identify them.”
“So can you.”
“But I wasn’t there, and I’m a lot more intimidating.” He puffed out his chest and waggled his eyebrows. Her laugh was like a balm to his soul.
“You look like a gorilla.”
“Exactly,” Sam said. “They won’t mess with me unless they’ve got the upper hand.” He got a couple of plates out of the cupboard and placed the rolls on them.
She frowned. “We both need to be careful if they’ve come back to town.”
He nodded. “It means they’ve got unfinished business, otherwise why risk it? Retribution Bay isn’t that big.”
“I’ll inform the other marine rangers to be on the lookout.”
He poured them both a glass of water and then they carried their lunch to the outside table. “You shouldn’t go out alone.”
Penelope raised her eyebrows. “It’s my job. I won’t let them scare me away. Besides, out there I should have plenty of warning. A boat can’t sneak up.”
He still didn’t like it. He’d keep an eye out for her when he went out tomorrow. Maybe he could ask Declan which area she was covering and ask Jasmine to search for humpbacks around there.
Brandon would be busy at the Ridge. What he needed was Sherlock up here to help him keep an eye on her, but he wasn’t certain of his friend’s mental state.
Penelope’s phone rang. “It’s Dot.” She put the call on speaker and explained the situation.
“We’ve got people looking for them,” Dot said. “I don’t think they’ve left town, or else we would have seen them.”
Not a comforting thought. Someone must be hiding them. “What are they up to?”
“I wish I knew,” Dot answered.
She sounded almost defeated. Stonefish had been a thorn in her side for months now and as far as Sam was aware, they were no closer to catching who was behind it all.
“Keep aware,” Dot continued. “Avoid going anywhere alone if you can. Penelope, I’ll speak to Declan.”
