“Uh-huh. I saw him do it. Now stop worrying. Ki is going to have a fit when he sees how you wrecked your new jeans.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t tell him,” Fionn said, feeling better after Theo’s talk.
“Wise idea,” Theo said, laughing.
Chapter 39
Groose stood looking down at Dakota who was staring at a dish of melted ice cream. “Dakota?” Receiving no reply, he slid into the booth, sitting across from a man who was…shit!...crying. “Dakota?” Groose said, softly this time.
Dakota finally raised his tear-filled eyes, and said, “He never ate his Bear Bug Ice Cream. I made him promise not to do it until I got back, and now he never will.”
Fuck!“Oh, yes he will, I promise we’ll find Slate and bring him home where you can have a giant-sized bowl of Bear Bug Ice Cream waiting for him,” Groose said.
“You promise? We’re going to have a pup…my mate and me…a pup…” Dakota’s voice trailed off.
Groose knew he was losing Dakota who was descending into the hell of regret, blame and heartbreak and he had to act fast if he was going to be of any help in finding Slate. “Dakota,” Groose said, sharply, “I need you to tell me what happened so I can find Slate. Dakota!”
Groose’s strident voice finally penetrated his haze of despair, and Dakota realized he had to pull himself together to save his mate. Putting aside his dark, negative thoughts, he said, “We finished dinner and were waiting for dessert when I went to the restroom. I wasn’t there long but when I came back, Slate was gone. I figured he went to a different one because he drank a pitcher of ale, but when he didn’t come back, I asked our waiter who said he went to help our driver and then took him to the hospital, but that didn’t happen. I was trying to decide if I should follow my mate but I didn’t know which hospital…then Slate’s phone rang. I thought it was my mate so I answered and that’s when I learned he was taken.”
“Who was on the phone?” asked Groose.
“I don’t know. All he said was if I wanted to see Slate again, I had to show them where Fionn’s hoard was,” Dakota said. “How can I do that when I don’t even know where it is?”
“Did you tell the man that?”
“No, I told them I wouldn’t do anything until I knew my mate was alive. I told them I wanted to talk to him,” Dakota said.
“Good. So did you talk to Slate?”
Shaking his head, Dakota said, “He said he would call me back.”
“So they haven’t called back yet, right?”
“No, when the phone rang again, I thought it was my mate, but it was only Logan,” Dakota said dejectedly.
“Hey…listen to me…theywillcall back. I want to talk to your waiter. Can you point him out?”
Dakota looked around until he spotted him. “That’s him,” Dakota said, pointing at their waiter.
“Vesper will stay with you while I talk to your waiter, okay?”
Dakota nodded. He didn’t care, all he wanted was to hear Slate’s voice. Picking up his mate’s phone, he held it, willing it to ring.
Groose walked over to the waiter, waiting until he was through with a customer and, after seeing his name tag, said, “Hi, David, do you have a moment to talk?”
“Sure. Are you going to take him home?” David said, pointing to Dakota.
“Yes. Is there someplace we can talk in private?”
Nodding, David said, “Follow me. The break room is empty. It’s the only place I can be alone with you.”
While David led the way, Groose took the opportunity to check out the other customers, assessing if any were acting suspiciously. The Wolf Pack Pub wasn’t known as a place where someone could hire shifters for illegal jobs, but he wasn’t discounting anything.
David opened the door to the break room and once they were inside, locked it. Sitting down in a worn, club chair, he put his feet up on a padded stool that had seen better days. David looked at Groose and said, “Speak. I have five minutes before I’m due back.”
“Tell me what you remember about what happened to my friend…the man who left,” asked Groose.
“Sure, a policeman came in looking for him. The officer said the guy’s…”
