Too late.
Why, Mildred, why? Why did you send me here? Come on, I brought you tea!
Her mother leaped up and strode towards her, with Miles in tow. “We’re here to take you home, darling,” her mother said loudly, her big, bright smile pasted on her face. “We’ll get you the help you so desperately need. We’ll never abandon you.”
The entire diner had fallen silent. Lainey felt as if a white-hot spotlight were glaring down on her. It was like being on stage and having your pants fall down in front of the audience.
Lainey turned to face her mother, prepared to yell, to curse, to stomp out of the restaurant. She was horrified to see that Miles had sunk to one knee.
“Lainey Robinson, I love you, despite everything,” he said loudly enough for the entire diner to hear. “I promise I will take care of you for the rest of your life. I forgive you. You agreed to marry me, Lainey. Are you an honorable woman? Will you honor that agreement and be my wife?”
“The word ‘honor’ is one that should never pass your lips,” Lainey snapped. “And no, I will never marry you.”
“Don’t you understand? Your father and I will not allow you to stay here, and we certainly will not allow you to mate with a dog,” her mother said loudly. There was a gasp of outrage from the customers in the room, canine shifters, feline shifters, and humans alike.
“Yes, you will, mother,” a voice said from behind a family of panther shifters who had been standing in line to pay for their bill. It was Donavan—and next to him was Tate.
Lainey’s jaw dropped. “What is happening here?”
Tate and Donovan walked up to her, and Tate threw his arms around her and kissed her. Lainey was so shocked that she didn’t even respond.
“What—the—how—what are you doing here?” she asked.
“We were about to go to the boarding house to find you, but I saw your car parked here,” he said.
“Donny, darling!” their mother cried out, her face lighting up at the sight of her big, handsome son.
Donny scowled at her. “Don’t darling me. I heard what you did to my sister, and I’m here to tell you it’s over. I’ve contacted the district attorney’s office, and I’m turning myself in.”
“Donny, don’t. You’ll go to jail.” Lainey was horrified. “What about your wife and baby?”
“I’ve talked to her about it, and she agrees with me. I did the crime, so I’m the one who should do the time. I may be looking at some time in jail, yes. My lawyer thinks it won’t be more than a few months. That’s not what matters. What matters is that you’re being punished for something that I did.”
Donny scrambled up on top of the counter, and yelled at the top of his lungs.“Hear ye, hear ye,” he shouted, although he didn’t need to. Every eye in the place was on him. Even the cook and the servers had stopped to stare at him, riveted.
“You don’t know me. I am Donavan Robinson, and I am privileged to be the brother of the best sister in the world, Lainey Robinson. A few years ago, I was acting like a real jerk, getting arrested, driving drunk, vandalizing things for the hell of it, getting in bar fights. I was out on probation when I stole money from the account of one of my parents’ clients.”
“Donny, no!” Renee wailed. She turned pleadingly to the crowd. “Donny didn’t do that. Lainey did. She even admitted it. She confessed to the police.”
“My parents made her take the fall for me,” Donny yelled. “They told her I’d go to prison if she didn’t say she’d done it. They promised her she wouldn’t have a record, and then they came here and tried to use it against her, because they knew she’d never turn me in. I’m done living a lie, and I’m going back to Philadelphia to clear my sister’s name and take responsibility for my crime.”
“Donny!” Lainey held up her hand in protest, but he shook his head.
“This is what I have to do. This has been eating away at me for years. I owe your boyfriend a debt for helping to convince me to finally make things right.”
“Tate, what did you do?” Lainey asked in astonishment.
“I flew to Philadelphia to get to the bottom of this,” Tate told her. “I know you’re not a thief. Deep in my bones, in my soul, I knew it. I tracked down the district attorney in your case yesterday, and he told me his suspicions, and then I found your brother and told him what your mother told me.”
“I can’t believe you’d do this to me,” Renee cried out, her face flushed red with fury. My own children. Everything I did, I did for you. Donny, I kept you out of jail!” She turned to Lainey. “And you! You could have married one of the oldest and most respected names in the country, and finally, I would have been proud to show you off in public.”
“Mother, we’re done here,” Donny said. “It’s time for you go home.”
Renee spun around and stomped out, with a furious-looking Miles trailing sullenly at her heels.
“I hope you’re not mad at me for interfering,” Tate said to Lainey, “But I couldn’t let you go through life with the label of a thief.”
“Mad?” Lainey’s eyes were brimming with tears of happiness. “That was the most romantic thing anyone’s ever done for me.”
Lainey threw her arms around Tate’s neck and kissed him passionately. Her lips melted into his, and she pressed against him as he circled his arms around her waist and crushed her into his broad, solid strength.
After a minute, Donny spoke up. “Hey, I’m your sibling, I’m two feet away from you, and for the record, you’re grossing me out. Get a room.”
Lainey pulled back, smiling.
“By the way, speaking of romantic, that bobcat’s proposal was the most epically lame thing I’ve ever seen,” Tate said. “When I propose to you, and it’s coming soon, I can promise you that it will blow his proposal out of the water.”
“He’s going to marry her!” someone in the crowd yelled, and suddenly the room erupted in cheers, and Lainey was crying.
Through her happy tears, she saw Marigold standing on the edge of the crowd, giving her two thumbs up.
“All I ask is that you don’t hold the wedding until I get out of jail,” Donny said. “I want to be there.”
“Done,” Tate agreed, and he and Donny shook hands.
“Another Alpha wedding!” Marigold shrieked, and the crowd erupted in cheers again.
Lainey swayed, leaning into Tate. She was dizzy with relief. It was over. Her parents no longer had any hold over her. They’d played their last card, and lost. She was free.
“All right, now that we’ve got that settled, there’s one thing I need to do, and it’s really important,” Lainey said.
“What’s that?” Tate’s arm tightened around her shoulders, and she leaned into him, loving the feeling of warmth and strength that rippled through her.
“I need to buy a very dear friend a double stack of flapjacks.”
* * *
The boarding house was abuzz when Lainey and Tate and Donavan pulled up to the front door. Alma and Emma and Imogen were waiting for her on the front porch. Marigold had arrived before Lainey, because Lainey had stopped to deliver the order of flapjacks to Myrtle.
“Mint juleps for everybody.” Marigold was holding a tray with a pitcher of mint juleps and a half-dozen Mason jar glasses.
“Hear, hear,” Lainey said. “I second the motion. Shall we take a vote? Unanimous? Good.”
“I’m so glad you two worked things out,” Imogen said. Lainey was getting used to Blue Moon Junction; she was no longer surprised that Imogen already knew what had just happened less than half an hour ago. She would have been surprised if Imogen hadn’t known.
“I should probably head into town myself,” Imogen continued. “This is a day full of big news.”
“Why, what else?” Marigold asked. “Did I miss something?”
“Remember that psychic that Aurora Sinclair hired? Rainbow Moonchild? She’s coming to town today, and she’s going to announce where Portia is located.”
“Oh, th
at,” Marigold said with a look of contempt. “That woman with the national column? She’s a total fake. Take it from a real psychic. She’s well known in the psychic community. Human, not witch, not psychic, no powers whatsoever. Anyone with real power can sense it when we’re near somebody else who has it, like this faint crackling, almost like static electricity. She has none.”
“How does she stay in business?” Lainey wondered.
“She’s showy and she has charisma.” Marigold’s nose wrinkled in distate. “She’ll blow into town and say something like, the missing woman can be found near a swamp, when the whole county is full of swamps, so it’s like, no kidding. Then she’ll charge a fat fee. Then she’ll let the cops do all the work, and she’ll claim all the credit.”
“Nonetheless, it’s news, so I need to be there,” Imogen said. “She’s making the announcement in half an hour.”
Tate sighed. “That’s going to be a big headache for Loch, because whatever the psychic predicts, the Sinclair family is going to expect Loch to follow up on it.”
“You should go help him, then,” Lainey said.
“I just got you back. I don’t want to leave you behind.” Tate flashed mournful puppy dog eyes at her, and Lainey felt an overwhelming wave of love and affection flowing through her. He was hers. All hers. Forever.
“I’ll go with you,” she said. “This is important. Mint juleps can wait. My God, I can’t believe I just said that.”
“Seriously, what? Who are you?” Marigold peered at her suspiciously.
“Well, just a sip. I won’t drive. I’ll go in Tate’s pickup truck.” Lainey grabbed a mason jar and took a healthy swig before setting it back down on the tray.
“That’s a sip?” Tate asked as she followed him to his truck.
“Yes, and darn it, I want a to-go cup, but I guess that wouldn’t be legal. The whole open-container thing. And you’re a cop and all.”
“Yes, we wouldn’t want me to have to bust out the handcuffs.”
“Wouldn’t we?” Lainey grinned wickedly. Wow, Marigold’s naughtiness was apparently contagious. Well, there were worse things she could catch.
Tate put his hand on her thigh as they pulled out of the parking lot, and squeezed affectionately. “I had no idea you were such a pervert. Lucky me.”
When they pulled up in front of the sheriff’s station, they were greeted by Loch himself. He stood outside the station waiting for them, and he looked worried.
“What’s happening?” Tate asked.
“I was just about to call you. We picked up Frank Sinclair, over at the Beaudreau mansion. Odd thing, he seems…I don’t know. He seems as if he’d been drugged or something. Not drunk, I don’t scent any alcohol on him, but he’s slurring his words and babbling and his pupils are dilated. We’ve got a doctor on the way. He’s coming out of it now, in his cell. I thought you might want to talk to him, put the fear of Alpha in him. Or maybe it’s time to issue a Challenge.”
Frowning, Tate followed Loch into the holding section, with Lainey at his heels.
Frank was fully awake when they got there, staggering in his cell, his clothes ripped as if he’d tried to shift, his eyes wild.
When Tate got to the jail cell, Frank rushed over and grabbed the bars.
“You’ve got to go find her,” he cried, his voice thick and slurred. “Now. Go!”
“What the hell are you talking about? You’ve been told to stay away from my sister and stay out of this county. Do you realize I’d be within my rights to issue a Challenge right now?”
“Megan! He took Megan,” Frank howled. “You’ve got to find her. You’ve got to go.”
Chapter Twelve
Loch quickly unlocked the cell door, and he and Tate rushed in. Tate grabbed Frank by his neck and lifted him completely off the ground. “What are you talking about? Who took Megan?”
Loch grabbed his arm as Frank’s face turned purple. “You’re killing him, you jackass. Let him talk.”
Tate dropped Frank to the ground, and Frank wheezed and gasped, staggering back and clutching at his throat.
As Frank struggled for breath, Tate quickly dialed Megan’s cell phone. It went straight to voicemail. Panic clutched at his chest as he dialed Kyle’s number.
“Where is Megan?” he demanded. “I can’t get ahold of her. Frank Sinclair is saying something about somebody taking her.”
“What the hell? I don’t think anybody took her…she said she had to go to the bathroom a little while ago, asked me to watch the kids. She hasn’t come back yet,” Kyle said, sounding worried. “Oh, crap. Wait. It’s been half an hour. I didn’t notice. Schuyler ran off after Megan, said she had to go to the bathroom, too. She isn’t back yet, either. I’ll have everyone start searching for them.”
“Call me as soon as you find her,” Tate said, and hung up quickly.
He swung back to Frank. “What the hell is going on?” His voice was a threatening growl, his eyes glowing red with rage as his thick, black claws shot from his fingers and his face went hairy.
“That man took her. The one she was trying to fall in love with, because you said we had to break up.” Frank was leaning against the wall for support, slurring his words.
Fury ripped through Tate, and he pushed forward, grabbing Frank’s shoulders and pinning them against the wall. Frank’s head lolled, his eyes rolling in his head. “Make sense! Who took her? Give me a name.”
“The actor. The older guy. You said she had to break up with me, so she told me she was just going to make herself fall in love with someone else. She’s been seeing him for weeks now. That scumbag. She was at the mansion, and I followed her into the woods, and he said something about how she had to go with him, and she said no…I don’t remember, she was yelling, something stung me…” He made a loose, flapping gesture with his hand, and Tate saw a small dark spot of blood on Frank’s jeans, like he’d been jabbed with a hypodermic needle.
Tate’s vision swam with rage and panic.
“Hamilton Hooper. I’m on it. Putting an APB out now.” Loch sprinted from the room.
Hamilton. That bastard.
He’d been hanging around the grounds of the Beaudreau Mansion, volunteering to help. Megan always found a reason to disappear when Hooper was on the grounds. Why hadn’t Tate noticed it sooner? Because he’d been so preoccupied with Frank, thinking that it was Frank that Megan was sneaking off to meet.
Megan had come to town several weeks ago to meet one of her cousins. She’d come home wearing tiny diamond stud earrings, and Tate had worried that Frank had brought them for her. Now, he realized that she’d gotten them at the jewelry store. Hamilton had very likely bought them for her then.
Tate rushed out of the room, and found Loch in his office. His phone rang. It was Kyle.
“Have you found her yet?” he asked.
“No. We looked in all the bathrooms, and we’re looking throughout the building and the grounds. Everybody’s looking for her and Schuyler, but nobody can find them.” Kyle’s voice was shaking with panic and anger.
“I’m with Loch. We think Hamilton Hooper took her, and we’ve put out an APB. Keep looking.” Tate hung up.
“Deputies are on their way to his house,” Loch said. “I called the jewelry store. He didn’t show up for work today. His mother doesn’t know what’s going on with him, and my deputy says that woman is so confused that she doesn’t know what decade it is.”
“What do we know about Hamilton?” Tate demanded, pacing.
“We don’t have much on him after he went to Hollywood. He was picked up a few times for soliciting young men for sex in restrooms, and for public sex in a park. He was never arrested for anything violent.”
Loch quickly typed something into his desktop, then he frowned and turned the screen towards Tate.
Loch had called up a copy of Hamilton’s driver’s license, but something looked off.
“Wait a minute,” Tate said. “I don’t think that’s…”
“I know,
” Loch said unhappily.
Loch clicked a few keys and the picture enlarged, filling the screen.
The man in the picture wore glasses. The nose with the familiar bump was there, the mouth shape was similar, and he looked kind of the same, but still…
Tate shook his head, and now the panic inside him was full blown.
“Loch,” he said. “That’s not the same man. It looks a lot like him, but it’s not him. The man who’s here in town…it’s not Hamilton Hooper.”
* * *
Megan felt as if she were floating underwater. The world was swimming. A spot on her outer thigh stung and ached. Her hands were bound behind her back, and they stung and itched. That meant she’d been bound with copper wire, and she couldn’t shift. As a wolf, she could defend herself. Trapped in her human form, she was helpless.
She heard heavy labored breathing next to her and twisted to her side, and her heart dropped to the bottom of her stomach. Schuyler was lying next to her. They were covered with a canvas tarp.
What was happening?
She frantically started kicking at the tarp, freeing her face.
Thick tendrils of fog wrapped around her memory, but it was starting to come back to her now. Frank had come to meet her at the Beaudreau mansion, and she’d realized that she couldn’t make herself fall out of love with him any more than she could make herself fall in love with Hamilton. She’d snuck off to meet Hamilton for weeks, she’d kissed him, but no matter how hard she’d tried, it wouldn’t work. She wanted to love him, just so she could get over Frank, but she couldn’t.
So she’d gone to find Hamilton at the grove where they always met to break things off, but her timing couldn’t have been worse. He’d been acting strange, all panicky and jumpy. He had asked her to leave town with him, to go on the run, but he wouldn’t tell her why. She’d said no. Frank had followed her, and she heard him shouting, and then she’d seen a strange-looking contraption in Hamilton’s hand. A tranquilizer gun.
He’d shot Frank with it. He’d shot her.
The Bobcat's Tate Page 14
