Ava was married to Chet Kensington, a Cougar Special Forces special agent who dealt with people either targeting cougars or cougar shifters, so the ranch hands had no chance with her.
“Why did you leave your other jobs?”Florence asked Lacy as she began making a peppermint-decorated cheesecake.
Lacy was making croissants and didn’t say anything for a while.
Ava was finishing up an apple pie and glanced at Lacy.
“I was in an abusive relationship.I thought I had gotten away from him in Orlando, until he showed up at the café and began harassing me again.I moved to New Orleans in the middle of the night.When I finally arrived there, I got a job and thought I was safe.Then, a few weeks later, here comes Timothy.I left the job the same way I did in Orlando, slipping away from the apartment I was renting in the middle of the night.I was on my way to Denver when I saw this quaint town and your adorable coffee shop.I thought maybe a smaller town that wasn’t close to any bigger city might be the way to go.”
“Well, if we all get along, and you want to stay here, we’ll make sure he doesn’t harass you,” Florence said.“Not only will all the cougars stand up for you in Yuma Town, but we have a good-sized sheriff’s department and the CSF, Cougar Special Forces, special agents who live in the area and whose mission is to safeguard both cougar shifters and cougars.Ava’s husband, Chet, is a CSF agent even.Is your ex-boyfriend a cougar?”
“Yeah.Timothy Wrangler is.He’s a private investigator, which is how I suspect he keeps finding me.I’ve changed phones, not given my new address to anyone, but he always locates me.”
Having a hunch it wasn’t all luck, Florence called Sheriff Dan Steinacker.“I have a new employee, who just came to town, and she has a stalker ex-boyfriend.Timothy Wrangler is a private investigator.He keeps tracking her down.Can you see if she has a tracker on her car or her personal items?”
“Yeah, sure.We’ll sweep all her things and see if she does.”
“Okay, her name is Lacy Everest, and she’s at my shop right now if you would like to talk to her.”
“We’ll be right over,” Dan said, and then they ended the call.
“The sheriff is on his way to see if you have any tracking devices on your property.”
“Oh, good, I never thought of that.”Lacy sounded relieved.
“Do you have any family?”
“My parents were killed in a home invasion when I was three.My grandparents raised me, but my grandmother was shot by hunters while running with my grandfather as cougars.”
“Does he know where you are?”As a retired FBI agent, Florence was used to asking lots of questions and needed to know all she could about Lacy if she was going to continue working for her and to solve the situation with Lacy’s stalker.
“Uh, no.My grandfather and I are estranged.”
“Oh?”Now Florence’s curiosity piqued.
“Long story.”Lacy didn’t say anything else, and Florence, who was dying to know the truth, dropped it for now.
But she was an excellent investigator, and she would investigate it on her own if Lacy didn’t tell her about it.
The door opened, and Dan, Deputy Sheriff Ricky Jones, his part-time deputy, Chase Buchanan, and Ava’s husband, Chet, walked into the shop.
Florence immediately introduced Lacy to Dan and the others.Then they started sweeping her clothes and purse for trackers, found none, and went outside with her to check over her car.
Florence worried that if they did find any tracking devices, Lacy’s ex-boyfriend might already know she was here.Florence needed to learn where she was staying too, probably at one of the motels in the area for now.
She was thinking of offering Lacy a guest room in her three-bedroom home.She could stay there until she found a place.And if her ex-boyfriend came sniffing around, Florence could protect her.
“Wow,” Ava said to Florence, while Lacy was outside with the officers.“That’s awful about her stalker.Do you think it’s true?”
“Yeah.I don’t think she wanted to tell me what was going on.”
“Well, this is a great place for her.Everyone will watch out for her.”
Then guys and Lacy returned to the shop.“We’re going to the motel where Lacy is staying and checking the rest of her clothes for bugs.She had a tracker on her car.We’ll take care of it.But he might already know where she is now,” Dan said.
“Once you check the rest of her property to make sure she doesn’t have anything else he’s tracking, she can stay with me at my house, if she wants,” Florence offered.“He could know she was staying at the motel.”
“Or she could stay at one of our cabins.They’re closed for the winter, but since Shannon and I live right next door, I could protect her there, and it’s farther from town, so he might not make the connection,” Chase said.
