She silently apologized to Niall because their night together had been everything.She missed him like crazy.
“If you want to believe otherwise, this cluster is on you.Now go away.I’m tired, and I want to sleep.”She stood and went to the room’s largest, most comfortable-looking chair.A spring jabbed her in the back when she plonked onto the dusty cushion.It was difficult to hide her grimace.
“You’re a cool one,” Colin said.“I thought you might cry the entire time.Blubber like a baby.”He shot a glance at his brother, and Suzie didn’t have to be a mind reader to interpret his thoughts.
Colin was speculating if they’d made a colossal mistake.He was wondering if they had the wrong lever to make their little brother follow their orders.And most of all, he was questioning whether she was telling the truth.
17
Search for Suzie
“Niall,aboydeliveredthis note for you,” Angus said, bursting into his study with barely a pause to knock.Most unAnguslike.
“Thanks, Angus,” Niall said.
Liam and Scott sat across his desk, their expressions holding tension.
Niall ripped open the envelope and read the message before handing it over to the shifters.“Is that Suzie’s handwriting?”
“Yes,” Scott said.
“Will they hurt her?”Liam demanded.“I take it they want your miracle honey.”
“That’s my assumption, but I could give them any old honey and label it with my new packaging.As to hurting her—I don’t know.”
“Will you bring in the cops?”Liam asked.“That’s what we’d do at home, but they’re part of the shifter circle even though our cops are human.”
Niall considered this and nodded.“I think I should contact them and make this official.”
Scott and Liam radiated approval, and Niall appreciated their support.
“We’ll keep searching while you deal with the cops,” Liam said.“They must have Suzie somewhere local.That’s what I’d do.”
“Yeah,” Scott said.“It would make sense that they’d want to monitor you and control the situation.”
Glad to have these two men to run ideas, Niall reached for the phone.Their presence helped to keep the edge off his panic.He didn’t care about his honey—not when Suzie was in danger.He could develop a new product, and that told him everything.Suzie was the critical part of this equation.Her safety.
“Do you have any idea who would snatch her?”Scott asked.
“Yeah, normally people kidnap to obtain money.Honey seems a strange substitute,” Liam said.
“Not if you knew how much money went into research and development.The health benefits surpass anything I’ve witnessed, and no additives is the most astonishing aspect.”
“Your first suspects are your brothers, right?”Liam asked.
Niall inclined his head.
“Would they want your honey?”Liam asked.“You had a private investigator on them.What made you do that?”
Liam was right.“My brothers wouldn’t understand how valuable my honey was unless someone told them.I haven’t seen my family since leaving Canada.I made no secret of my whereabouts, so locating me wouldn’t have been difficult.”
Scott leaned forward, his gaze intent.“Did you ask them why they came?Why they sought you out?”
“They wanted money.”
“Did they say why?”Liam asked.
“No, but the private investigator uncovered gambling debts.My brothers are enthusiastic but unsuccessful gamblers.They borrowed from a loan shark, and their loan is overdue.I assume they thought I’d give them money because they’re family.”
