“Good for him.” She grinned. “I know how you feel. I’d like to wrap you up and keep you safe. But that’s not healthy. That’s not life. If we never put ourselves out there, if we never take risks, we never grow.”
“But we would grow old.” Shawn arched an eyebrow, a smile on his kissable lips. She needed to get out of there now before she caved. Not to Shawn’s fears for her safety, but to her own desire for her mate.
“I will see you later.” She grabbed her overnight bag and turned on her heel, heading toward the door.
As she reached for the handle, Shawn dashed forward, his footsteps light, his arms strong as they folded around her and held her close. She looked up at him and he slipped his hand up her body, his fingertips caressing her neck before he cupped her chin in his palm. “I love you.” His lips found hers and with a searing kiss, he made sure she knew exactly why she had to stay safe. Why she had to come home to him.
“I love you, too.” She turned around and curled her hands around the nape of his neck. “It’s all going to take some getting used to. We’ve gone from being single, independent people to suddenly having another person to care for and worry about. It’s not happened slowly. Love hasn’t crept up on us like in a normal relationship.”
“I’m not complaining.” He kissed her lips before reaching behind her and opening the front door. “Go. Before I lose the strength to let you leave.”
“I’ll call you.” She stepped backward out of the house, taking one long last look at him before she turned around and walked down the driveway. With a final wave as she reached the street, she headed for her car which was parked on the street. Her hand shook as she unlocked it and got inside. Placing her hands on the steering wheel, she gripped it tight, the whites of her knuckles showing as she forced herself to breathe.
That was harder than I expected, she told her wolf.
We miss being with him. It will get easier. Her wolf lifted her head and howled a sad lament.
That makes me feel much better. Joanna inserted the car key in the ignition and switched the engine on. She needed to put some distance between her and Shawn. She needed to focus.
She needed to find the hotel Gerald Comer was using as a base for the women carrying the babies he planned to sell. It was a gamble driving so far out of her way to check out the hotel Comer had taken a lease out on. For all she knew, it was perfectly legitimate. But she couldn’t ignore it. The idea that vulnerable women were giving up their children just so the mayor could make a quick buck was like a worm in her head, burrowing deeper and deeper.
Yvette’s face, pale and frail, swam before her eyes. The woman had a mate. But she wasn’t in any condition to enjoy taking romantic walks with Lance or even going to dinner in a restaurant. Her recovery would be long and hard.
But she has Lance by her side. He’ll help her every step of the way, her wolf said.
I know. But being with Shawn. Laughing with him, making love to him, making breakfast with him. All the things we take for granted. Yvette will have to fight to get those back. All because of one man’s greed.
She pushed her foot down on the accelerator and left Cougar Ridge behind. As her car ate up the miles, she switched her focus to her mate and their plans for the future. She’d have to start looking for a new job soon. She wanted to be close to him and Jane, not a long commute away.
A glance in the rearview mirror made her wolf pine for the mountains surrounding Cougar Ridge. They would be happy there. She knew it in her heart.
Joanna drove into the large town where the hotel was situated on the north side. The area was rundown, not the kind of place that attracted tourists. It was ideal for a lowkey place to house pregnant women until they had their babies.
The kind of area where no one asks questions. Her wolf snarled.
I have some questions I’d like to ask. Joanna parked her car down a side road and got out. The air here smelled stale and she longed to be back in the clean fresh air of Cougar Ridge. The town was a wonderful place for a shifter.
The kind of place to raise children, her wolf added.
Definitely. Joanna locked her car and turned toward the hotel. There were few people on the streets, which made her presence more conspicuous. She couldn’t take a good look around without causing suspicion.
Crossing the street, she walked along the sidewalk on the opposite side to the hotel. As she drew level with it, she stopped and put her hand in her pocket and drew out her phone. Pretending to take a call, she walked back and forth a few paces with her head down as if she were looking at the ground.
Using her shifter senses, she listened and watched for any comings and goings. It was all quiet. Too quiet. Joanna lifted her head and scanned the front of the hotel. It was rundown, in need of a fresh coat of paint. The sign above the hotel read Palace eights since the H in heights had fallen off and was nowhere to be seen. Everything about the hotel screamed unloved.
She’d loitered long enough. Shoving her phone back in her pocket, she strolled along the street, using her senses to keep tabs on anyone who might come and go from the building as she walked.
This is going to be a wasted journey unless we get inside, her wolf warned.
We can’t go inside. Not even to the foyer. If we do, we might raise suspicions. And we don’t want to do that. Not if Fiona is going forward with her plan to meet Gerald Comer at his fundraiser in a couple of days. We don’t want this place closed down and the women moved to a new location.
We don’t know if this is the location, her wolf reminded her.
Joanna ground her teeth together and looked around. There was a coffee shop up ahead. She could grab a cup of coffee and something to eat and walk back to her car where she could hang around for an hour or so. She’d be late for her shift, but Trent wouldn’t mind too much.
He might if this is a bust, her wolf replied. There might be other leads to follow.
I have a hunch we’re in the right place, Joanna replied. Why else would Gerald Comer lease a hotel that obviously needs some TLC? No one is going to stay here so it’s just hemorrhaging money.
Unless he uses it for another means of income. Her wolf nodded sagely as if she’d just come up with the same idea Joanna had gotten yesterday.
You really don’t pay attention to me, do you? Joanna asked.
Sorry, I’ve been too caught up in dreaming about our mate, she replied.
Joanna bought her coffee and a bagel and walked back toward the car, only this time she kept to the same side of the street the hotel was on. As she closed in on the hotel, she pushed her senses to their limit and scanned the building for any people.
Tilting her head, she picked up the presence of fifteen people. Some were grouped together on the ground floor, while others were spread out through the upper floors.
Don’t do it, her wolf warned as Joanna stepped closer to the hotel.
I’ll go inside and ask for directions, Joanna replied. All very innocent. Nothing to raise concern.
With a deep, steadying breath, she stepped onto the first concrete step leading toward the hotel. But before she could go any further, a commotion broke out inside the foyer.
“You need to leave,” a male voice said firmly.
“Not until I’ve seen my sister,” a young female voice replied. The female’s tone was not so firm, it wavered with emotion.
“She doesn’t want to see you.” This voice belonged to an older female.
“Let me see her and she can tell me to my face.” The young female’s challenge was met with the sound of a scuffle. “Don’t touch me!”
“You’re trespassing,” the male said abruptly.
Joanna stepped back onto the sidewalk and kept walking. She didn’t want to be seen getting involved in this. Even though she did want to know what it was concerning. The young woman might just have the answers Joanna needed.
As she passed the hotel steps, Joanna could sense the three people involved in the argument exiting the main door of th
e hotel. The young woman was being escorted down the steps by the guy who walked next to her menacingly.
I could leap on him and knock him to the ground, her wolf said fiercely.
He’s a shifter, too, Joanna replied. We don’t want to end up in a brawl on the sidewalk in full view of other people.
Her wolf wasn’t happy with her reply, but she didn’t act, instead, she snarled angrily and scraped the ground with her forefeet.
“I’m going to the police!” the young woman yelled from the sidewalk as the man and the woman went back up the steps and blocked the doorway.
“And say what?” the guy asked.
“That you are keeping my sister in there against her will!” the young woman yelled.
“Whatever. Your sister made her choice. She’s been living here rent-free. We’ve been feeding her. We took care of her when she had nowhere else to go.” The guy sneered. “Where were you then?”
The young woman stared at him, her mouth opening and closing as she tried to argue back. Instead, she simply turned around and walked toward Joanna.
She is not in a good mood, her wolf warned as the young woman stormed toward them.
Good, she’s more likely to tell us all about what’s happening with her sister if she’s in a bad mood. Joanna stepped to one side as the young woman came striding toward her. As she walked, she took a long breath and when she let it out, she erupted into a strangled sob.
“Are you okay?” Joanna asked with concern as the young woman drew level.
“Yes,” came the answer.
Joanna pushed her senses out behind her. The couple from the hotel had gone back inside. Joanna was willing to take a chance and talk to the only positive lead she had. “Is your sister okay?”
“My sister?” The young woman swung her head around and fixed Joanna with a tearful stare. “What do you know about my sister?”
“Only that you were arguing with the people in the hotel.” A sympathetic smile spread across her face. “I’m not prying but you seem upset.”
The young woman shrugged. “My sister is inside the hotel and they won’t let me see her.”
“So they’re holding her captive against her will?” Joanna asked in disbelief. “Why don’t you call the police?”
“Because I don’t exactly know what’s going on with my sister.” The young woman looked over her shoulder reproachfully. “She went there of her own free will.”
“Why?” Joanna asked bluntly. “Sorry. I just wondered why anyone would want to stay in that place. It looks like a dump.”
“It is,” the young woman confirmed.
“So why? For a job?” Joanna asked, trying to find a way in, a way to get the woman before her to open up.
“Not for a job,” she answered. “But, yes, for money.”
“I don’t understand,” Joanna replied.
“My sister is pregnant, and this guy said he could help her out.” The woman’s eyes misted with tears. “My sister has no money and she thought we’d disown her because she doesn’t know who the father of her child is.” She took a long, shuddering breath. “Someone introduced her to this guy who said he could arrange for a nice family to raise the baby.”
“An adoption?” Joanna asked. “Have the adoptive parents been thoroughly vetted and gone through the correct process?”
She was fishing for information. Maybe she would get lucky. Maybe not. But it was worth a shot. If this young woman and her sister needed help, Joanna would be more than happy to step in and help them deal with the people at the hotel.
Especially if it meant taking down Gerald Comer, too.
If there’s a connection, her wolf reminded her.
“I don’t think this is a normal adoption,” the woman replied. She paused and looked back toward the hotel. “She was offered a room in that dump, plus they feed her, and she’ll also get a payment once the adoption is complete.” She curled her bottom lip. “For her trouble.”
“Her trouble?” Joanna asked with wide eyes. “You mean for having the baby?”
“Yes.” She took a deep breath. “I spoke to Gilly a week ago. We met at a café in town. I finally managed to convince her that we’ll be there for her as a family. That if she chose to keep the baby, we would all support her.”
“And she said she wanted to keep it?” Joanna asked.
“Not then. But she called me a couple of days later to ask me to come by and pick her up.” The young woman hugged herself and shook her head. “I haven’t seen her since. They won’t let me in, and her phone is dead.”
“Why not call the police?” Joanna asked. “I’m sure they will understand. Your sister is vulnerable, and it sounds as if these people are bullying her.”
Her eyes brimmed with tears. “I don’t want to get her into trouble. What if they just take her baby anyway because they think she’s an unfit mother?”
“Okay.” Joanna guided the young woman toward her car. “Give me your details and Gilly’s details and I’ll see what I can do. What’s your name?”
“Are you a cop?” The woman’s expression switched to suspicious.
“I am. But don’t worry. I don’t want to see a vulnerable woman get into any trouble. I want to protect her. Just like you do.” Joanna opened her car door and reached inside. As she grabbed a piece of paper and pen, her phone rang. “Here, you write down your details while I take this call.”
“Okay.” She didn’t look convinced, but she accepted the paper and pen. “My name is Clara.”
“Hi, Trent.” Joanna took a couple of steps away from the car.
“Where are you?” Trent asked.
“I’m at the hotel. I have a witness,” she said quietly. “Her sister is in there.”
“Babies?” Trent asked.
“Yep.” Joanna glanced toward her car. She half expected the young woman to make a run for it, but instead, she was scribbling down her details.
“I just spoke to Fiona. Lance has managed to talk to Yvette. She confirms that Gerald was the person responsible for the attack on her. The details are sketchy, but from what she said, she was at dinner with Gerald when he got a phone call. He left the restaurant abruptly saying it was because of work. She followed. There was an altercation, a couple didn’t want their baby. They were demanding their money back, saying they had made a mistake.”
“Oh, goodness.” Joanna felt sick to her stomach.
“Yvette got upset at this point, so we don’t know exactly what happened. But it’s enough.” Trent sounded tired.
“So we’re good to go with Fiona?” Joanna whispered down the phone.
“That’s what I wanted you to know. She won’t wait for the fundraiser, she’s on her way to his office now.” Trent’s words were like a punch in the gut.
“I’m on my way now.” Things were about to escalate. As soon as she had the details from the young woman, Joanna would be on the road, heading for a confrontation and hopeful arrest of a man who traded in babies.
We will nail him, her wolf promised.
Damn right we will.
Chapter Twenty-Five – Shawn
“You didn’t have to come with me.” Fiona side-eyed Shawn as he drove along the highway toward the city.
“Someone has to keep you safe.” Shawn rubbed his hand over his forehead and inhaled deeply. “Does Harlan know what you plan to do?” The question had been burning in his brain since he’d heard the news that Fiona planned to visit Gerald Comer at his office.
“Harlan is looking after our son.” Fiona ground her back molars together.
“That’s a no then.” Shawn shook his head. “I’m going to get on the wrong side of a dragon shifter no matter what I do.”
“I’m doing this for them,” Fiona insisted. “For my daughters, too. And for all the children who cannot protect themselves.”
“And what if this goes wrong?” Shawn asked. “What if you expose dragon shifters as being real to a man who likes to exploit those around him? A man who we already k
now doesn’t think twice about hurting other people.”
“It’s not going to happen,” Fiona said quietly.
“You can’t be sure.” Shawn didn’t want to argue with Fiona, but he also didn’t want to see her or her family hurt.
“I appreciate your concern. I’ve assessed the risks and I’m going ahead with the plan.”
“The original plan was to confront Gerald at one of his rallies.” Shawn checked the road signs, they were nearly at their destination. He flexed his fingers, his hands sweaty where they gripped the steering wheel too tightly.
“Plans change.” She turned her head and stared out of the window. The conversation was over.
She’s old enough to know what she’s doing, his cougar reminded him.
Age is not a barrier to making mistakes, Shawn replied.
However, there was little he could do to stop Fiona. He’d made his fears known and now it was time for him to be supportive and protect her if she needed him to.
She’s a dragon shifter, I doubt she’ll need our protection, his cougar replied. But if she does, we’ll be there for her.
“This is the building.” Shawn pulled off the street and drove into a large parking lot. The building itself was modern, all glass and metal. The sort of building that was meant to impress clients and make them feel the businesses contained were professional and trustworthy.
“Okay.” Fiona opened the car door and got out. “I’m ready.”
“You’re just going to walk in there?” Shawn asked.
“Yes.” She looked at him over the roof of the car. “I can be very persuasive.”
“Don’t I know it.” Shawn grinned at her and she gave him a small conspiratorial smile.
“I don’t think you would have accepted a child off anyone else, would you?” Fiona winked and ducked her head as she slammed the car door shut and straightened the long black raincoat she wore over a blue blouse and a black skirt. With her purse hooked over her arm, she looked like a wealthy businesswoman.
Shawn locked the car. “I’ll walk you to the building.” However, before they took another step, his cell phone rang. Taking it from his pocket, he checked the caller. His heart hammered in his chest, as it did every time he thought of his mate. “Joanna. Hey.”
Shawn Spring Shifter Seasons Page 18
