“What are you going to do?” River asked desperately, and his heart stuttered at her concern for his wellbeing—but he wasn’t the one who needed to be protected right now.
“Make sure you are safe,” Daniel replied simply and finally pulled himself up off the floor.
Finally! It took you long enough, his cougar growled as he felt pins and needles run through his left leg.
River reluctantly picked up the other pannier and left with Alice. She didn’t say goodbye or anything else to Daniel, but the gentle smile she gave him spoke more than any words.
Alone in the dining room, Grant turned to Daniel and waited to hear the plan.
“We both know the area. Know what this should smell and feel like,” Daniel began.
“So you want us to walk around the town checking for those that don’t smell right, on New Year’s Eve and right after Christmas?” Grant sighed. “You know you’re an idiot, right?”
“Then what do you suggest?” Daniel asked, biting back his irritation. Grant was, after all, helping. In theory.
“Well, to start with, I think you need to get the guy’s number off her broken phone,” Grant said.
“And then what, call him?”
“Why not? You can listen to the background noise, his voice, use your shifter hearing to your advantage and track him based on that,” Grant replied.
“You’re not as dumb as you look, are you?” Daniel said, narrowing his eyes as his lips twitched into a grin. It felt good to have a plan.
“I have my moments,” Grant shrugged.
River had given her phone to Daniel and the passcode so that if her ex had tried to call or text again, he had the phone andcould deal with it. She didn’t want to know anything about any new messages or calls, she just wanted him gone. Daniel was touched by her trust in him, and he intended to be worthy of that trust.
He took out his own cell and switched on the private number function. If he was going to call, he wasn’t going to give the psychopath his number to harass him on. He opened the contacts and pulled up the number. He punched it in and waited for the call to connect.
“Hello?” a voice answered. “Who is this?”
I want to rip out his throat so I never have to hear that voice again, his cougar snarled, and Daniel shared the sentiment.
“A friend of River’s,” Daniel growled the reply.
“River doesn’t have any friends. If you didn’t already know, she uses people. Cons them, gets what she can out of them and bolts,” her ex said in a rather smarmy tone. Daniel forced himself to push down the rage he felt and concentrate on what he could hear in the background.
He pricked his ears and closed his eyes to block out other distractions. Behind the cocky voice, he could hear the sound of traffic, people talking and some kind of construction.
He’s here. In the town square,his cougar said, and Daniel’s blood ran cold. He was here—near their mate.
“You may have been able to convince others of that, but you’ll find I’m not so easy to manipulate. Stay away from River. This is the only warning you are going to get,” Daniel said and hung up the call.
“You think he’ll listen?” Grant asked with amusement.
“No,” Daniel bit out. “He’s already in the town square.”
“Well, let’s go pay him a visit, then.”
The two men wasted no time. They stepped out into the street and strode in the direction of the town square. Every instinct and sense that Daniel possessed was on high alert.
Let me find him. He’ll never bother our mate again, his cougar insisted. He felt it try to claw its way out and had to stop to concentrate on controlling it.
Not here. Everyone will see,Daniel warned it, and reluctantly the cougar backed off.
“Keep it together,” Grant hissed at Daniel, and Daniel only nodded in reply.
The town square was alive with noise and activity. There were people from all over town helping to make the final preparations for the party, and Daniel groaned at the thought that he was going to have to dress up for it as Father Time. But he’d rather face that a million times than live through knowing a man who wanted to harm his mate was in town.
