by Terry Spear
“Uh, okay, good.” Ryder should have known she would since she was in the same business of helping to protect Lexi’s secrets.
Of course none of that would really stop them if the men decided to hurt Lexi and Kate. And that was where Ryder came into the picture—protection all the way.
Chapter 10
Having every intention of looking for her father’s message tonight, Lexi wished she could make Tremaine’s thugs disappear—permanently. The sky was filling with clouds late that night, and the air smelled like rain. Lexi was glad they were going to run as wolves, despite the suited men staying at one of the cabins. She just hoped Don didn’t return to find her and her companions running as wolves, but if he did, and he was taking pictures of them, she was grabbing his camera away from him again.
“I destroyed their spy cameras,” Ryder said to them as he returned from his place and entered Lexi’s cabin. “I brought a camouflaged field pack we can use for our clothes.”
“Good on both counts, unless they retaliate,” Lexi said.
“I’m sure they expected it and probably wondered why I hadn’t gotten rid of them already.”
“Okay, hopefully you’re right. Let’s go.” Lexi went out the back way and in a different direction than they’d gone before.
When they thought they were far enough away from any threat, they stopped in the woods and removed their clothes, then Lexi and Kate shifted. Ryder packed their clothes in the field pack, then hid it in the ferns. He shifted, and the three of them ran off through the woods, enjoying the cool breeze ruffling their fur.
And then it started raining again. Lexi growled a little. She wasn’t sure if they could find the message as wolves if it was buried under water.
Feeling no one could be monitoring their moves this far out, she suddenly stopped, and Ryder collided with her. She nipped at him in amusement, and he lightly woofed at her. She shifted, glad the rain wasn’t coming down hard. “I want to look for the message. Now.”
Ryder shifted. “All right. We might not be able to find it yet if the water’s too deep, but I’m all for it. Did you really destroy the map?”
“I did. I didn’t want them getting ahold of it. I have it memorized,” Lexi said.
“I do too. I was also concerned about them seeing it.”
“Okay, I’ll lead the way.” Lexi shifted and so did Ryder. She headed back toward the footbridge that would take them to the area near the bears’ den. They ran through the rain, and she had the feeling she needed to get there before the water rose again.
When they finally reached the area near the waterfall where Ryder thought the note could be, they discovered the tangled roots of the tree that surrounded the bears’ den. They waded a little beyond that, and then she began digging with her paws in the water. Ryder shifted and began digging with his hands.
She paused to watch him work. He was seriously buff. A total wolf hunk, dripping wet, which made her envision him climbing out of her swimming pool, his skin glistening with water droplets. She had a pool service that came out and cleaned her swimming pool, but Ryder would make one sexy pool boy, serving drinks, cleaning the pool, and applying suntan lotion to her heated skin.
Kate suddenly bumped into her, as if reminding her why she was there. Lexi wanted to growl at the interruption in her little daydream. She began digging again.
They had worked at it for about twenty minutes, moving around, searching new spots, but Ryder was concentrating in one area as if he knew that’s where the message was buried. Still, she couldn’t help feeling as though they were looking in the wrong place again.
Then Ryder stopped digging. “Hey, unless I just found trash, I think I’ve got it.”
Her heartbeat quickened.
He pulled a tiny, sealed plastic bag from the water and opened it up. Inside was a note that he hovered over to keep it dry from the rain and read out loud for her and Kate to hear. “C3, dash, 2300, dash, 5, dash, 3. Is this it?”
Lexi shifted. “It is.” She smelled her father’s scent on the message and recognized his handwriting. “Now we have to decode it.”
“Okay, good.” Ryder tucked the note back into the plastic bag to keep it dry.
Overwhelmed with joy, she gave Ryder a hug and a kiss, tears running down her cheeks, mixing with the light rain sliding down her skin. She meant to give him a sweet, thank-you kiss. Nothing more. But she wanted more. The wolf had been there for her every step of the way. And everything he’d done for her meant more to her than he could ever know.
She wouldn’t have deepened the kiss, though, if he hadn’t been encouraging it. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her snug against his naked, muscular body, warming her all the way to her toes.
Then, remembering Kate was undoubtedly observing them and that they needed to get back to the cabin, Lexi pulled away from him and he slipped the bag into the corner of his mouth. Which was a great idea. They shifted and all the way back to her cabin, she played the message back in her mind. Her dad had been in the military as an army doctor. Did 2300 mean eleven? Meet him at eleven at night? Five-three. Five-three. It was May 2. Did he mean for her to meet him on May 3? C3. Location? Maybe C3 corresponded to a location on the map of the park.
They finally reached the place where Ryder had hidden his field pack. He shifted, took the plastic baggie out of his mouth, and slipped it into a pocket of the backpack. He started to bring out their clothes. Lexi and Kate shifted and hurried to dress. But they were going to be soaking wet again by the time they reached the cabin.
As soon as they arrived at the back deck, Lexi unlocked the door. They walked inside, and Kate shut and locked the door. Lexi was glad they didn’t smell any sign the men had been in the cabin.
“What do you think the message means?” Ryder asked Lexi.
“Not sure. But Dad was an army doctor early on. I was thinking the 2300 would be 2300 hours, military time. Eleven at night,” Lexi said, giving him the towel he’d used before. “Be right back.”
Kate headed for her bedroom, too, and they both changed into dry clothes before returning to the living room.
Ryder had removed his shirt, jeans, socks, and boots and was drying off. Kate was gawking at his beautiful chest.
Lexi broke the silence first. “Did you want some coffee or tea?”
“Coffee would be good,” Ryder said. “Thanks.”
“I’ll get it,” Kate said. “Decaf tea for you, right, Lexi?”
“Please, thanks.” If Lexi had caffeine after two in the afternoon, she’d never be able to get to sleep.
“What do you think about the rest? May third? And C3 is the location?” Ryder asked, towel drying his hair.
Kate brought a tray out with a cup of coffee for Ryder, cream and sugar, and tea for her and Lexi. Then they took their seats in the living room. Ryder was still only wearing his boxer briefs. Lexi wished they had washers and dryers in the cabins. Though she didn’t mind the view. At all.
“That’s what I was thinking. Would C3 be a location on the map?” Lexi pulled out a map of the park. She looked it over. “No, it doesn’t correlate with the area. No C3 here.”
“Cabin? Would he be staying at Cabin 3 on the third?” Ryder asked.
“God, I hope not. I mean, I want to see him, but not if these men are still here. What if they got wind of it? But that’s all we have to go on, so it must be.”
“I could call Rafe, and he could discreetly take these guys to some other location so you can visit with your dad.”
“But if they have to check in with their boss and suddenly they’re not able to?” Lexi envisioned Tremaine sending an army of hit men to check it out. In fact, even now, she imagined he’d know Ryder and Don were giving the thugs trouble and might send more men to deal with them.
“We could do it before your father arrives, if that’s what we think he’s going to do
. Would he stay at the cabin all day?” Ryder asked.
“Probably not. I imagine he’ll arrive a few minutes beforehand and look for any indication that anyone’s found him. If he doesn’t see them, he’ll go to the cabin. At least, that’s what I assume he’ll do.”
“Then we move the guys out right before that. Their boss won’t have time to send men to check it out. You see your father and then he leaves for wherever he’s living now, safe and sound. Right?”
Lexi nodded. She felt tears prick her eyes and looked away from Ryder. She didn’t like to show weakness. She always felt it could come back to bite her.
* * *
Ryder reached out and stroked Lexi’s arm in a comforting way, hoping she wouldn’t be offended, but after she’d kissed him in a passionate manner, he wanted to show her he cared about her. She triggered carnal needs in him that he’d never felt for a woman before, but it wasn’t all about that.
Her determination to see her dad despite the danger made Ryder all the more determined to help her achieve her goal. Family meant everything to him, and he couldn’t imagine knowing his dad was alive but being unable to have any contact with him. He just hoped the thugs weren’t aware of what was truly going on.
“Is that your father’s scent on the message?” he asked Lexi.
“Yeah.”
“Okay, good.” Remembering he needed to call Don and tell him he didn’t need him to watch the men in suits, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and called the photographer’s number. “Hey, Don, forget about doing the surveillance on the men late tonight.”
Lexi frowned at Ryder.
“Hell, no pay for the job? I was really looking forward to it,” Don said.
“You can get some sleep instead. The mission’s a bust.”
“What happened? Did they leave?”
“No, I just don’t need to do what I had planned to.” Ryder smiled at the inquisitive looks Lexi and Kate were casting him.
“All right. Well, let me know if you change your mind,” Don said.
“I will. Thanks.” Then Ryder ended the call.
“You had a mission you had scheduled to do in the middle of the night?” Lexi asked.
“Uh, yeah. A lady was looking for an important treasure, and I aimed to find it for her.”
Lexi smiled warmly at him. “So you had planned on looking for the message with or without our help? You are the treasure. Thanks, Ryder, for planning on looking for it, even though you didn’t let us know.”
“I figured I could slip away to search for it alone without arousing the suited men’s suspicions. Then I’d return to hand it over to you, hoping it was what you were looking for.”
“But you were going to hire Don to keep an eye on the men? I know he wouldn’t have done it from the generosity of his heart.”
“You’re right. I tried to get his sympathy for your cause, not telling him details, of course, but he wouldn’t buy it.”
“No surprise there,” Lexi said.
“What do we do now?” Ryder asked.
“We have fun. Just do what we would be doing if we were here on vacation. Hiking, taking pictures, running as wolves,” Lexi said. “The three of us, I mean. We could use your bodyguard skills and another pair of eyes, and there’s no sense in you being by yourself until your friend shows up.”
“That works for me.” Ryder was grateful Lexi included him in their plans.
“I have to invite you to vacation with us,” Lexi continued. “If I don’t, you’ll be watching our backs anyway—surreptitiously.”
He smiled. She had that right.
“So this way, we won’t be looking over our shoulders wondering where you are.” Lexi smiled.
“We could go to the Little Italy Pizza Parlor in town for lunch tomorrow, if you’d like. I could call Mike to let him know to meet us there, if that is all right with you.”
“Sure,” Lexi said, her eyes lighting with interest. “It’s owned by gray wolves, Antonio and Maria Lupo and their two daughters, Gabriella and Adriana. They’ve been friends for years. We always go there for a couple of meals. Best pizzas around.”
“I agree. I’ve known them for years too. Mike and I always get pizzas there or takeout. What time do you want to go?”
“One. That way we can have enough time to hike.”
“Okay, the two of you will be okay?” Ryder asked.
“Yeah, see you tomorrow.”
* * *
Lexi felt immense relief, between learning her father was going to be here soon and she could see him, and knowing she had extra help to keep them safe.
“I think you should hire Ryder.” Kate put the coffee mugs in the dishwasher. “He could be our cabana boy.”
“Pool boy,” Lexi corrected her. “Cabana boy works on the beach serving patrons. Pool boy is the guy who works around a swimming pool.”
“Right. And he could make meals and serve as a bodyguard.”
Lexi laughed. “What if all his helpfulness is a ploy to court me? To win me over, but it all has to do with my money?”
“You don’t have to court him. But after that kiss you shared with him? I have never seen you kiss the other guys you’ve been dating like that. Ryder didn’t even know who you were when he so gallantly helped us with the bear cubs and finding our way back to our cabin. Sure, he was interested in you. As a male wolf is interested in a female wolf. You can deny it all that you want, but you’re interested right back. Just think, you could have him model all your men’s skin-care product lines. You could call on Don to model, too, when you have new products out.”
Smiling, Lexi shook her head.
“Of course, you might have the hots for his friend Mike instead. So you should wait to offer Ryder a job until you see the other guy.”
“I’m not hiring another bodyguard. What will Aidan think if I steal Ryder away from him?”
“He will be glad, knowing you are well protected.”
“You protect me,” Lexi reminded her.
“Aidan has four bodyguards, and from what he says, he doesn’t need that many.” Kate shrugged. “So you’d be giving one of them a good home.”
Lexi laughed. “You make it sound like Aidan would be rehoming a pet.”
“A wolf. A sexy, hot wolf, who would make a wondrous caba…pool boy. Okay, look, if you hired him, you’d get to see more of him and you’d know if he was right for you, or not. You could do a prenuptial agreement so that if something happened to you, he wouldn’t get any of your estate. Though we mate for life, so divorcing him would be out.”
“Exactly. Then what if he wasn’t the one for me? I’d begin dating someone else and then what? Poor Ryder would be devastated, if he really loved me. He’d probably want to find another job, when he had a good one already and was very happy with it. Wouldn’t it be better just to date him occasionally? See where things led? It feels like I’d be using him otherwise.” Lexi couldn’t believe she was talking to Kate about this. Not that she didn’t talk to her about most everything, but hiring a male bodyguard? Just to see if he was the one for her in the mating department?
“He’d be working a job, just like he’s working for Aidan now. I see the value of having a couple of bodyguards. Then I can concentrate on the promotion work, yet still be there for backup. He can’t go into restrooms with you like I can. He can post himself outside, but you know.”
“What if he’s not interested in being my bodyguard?”
“Then he doesn’t take the job. I just think it’s something you should consider, if you’re at all interested.”
Lexi couldn’t believe she was even considering such an option. She agreed with Kate about hiring another bodyguard. Hiring someone out of the blue like she’d done with Kate didn’t appeal when Lexi considered taking on a male wolf.
Still, wouldn’t it be better fo
r them to date each other as equals, rather than as if she were the boss and he, the employee? She just didn’t know how it would work. Sighing, she figured that was something she could think about later.
“I’m off to bed,” Lexi said.
“But you’ll consider it? I mean, just think, anytime you needed him to apply your sunscreen before you swim, he’d be right there.”
Lexi laughed, mostly because she’d already considered such a thing. “Go to bed. I’ll think about it.”
“Yes!” Kate pumped her fist in the air and smiled broadly.
Lexi smiled. “You just want him to rub sunscreen on you.”
“Hey, if he’s not the one for you, there’s always me.”
Chapter 11
Ryder knew that one of the goons might try to eliminate him for getting rid of their cameras, so he was wary of the threat when he headed back to his cabin through the woods. Thankfully, it had stopped raining again. He was glad he was a wolf and able to smell scents, hear noises, and see movement humans couldn’t detect in the dark.
Even so, they could be armed with guns and there were two of them. When he heard someone moving in his direction, he slipped behind a tree and waited. The tree trunks were big enough to hide three men at once. He heard a second person’s footsteps, but as the people passed by the tree, flashlights illuminating their way, he realized they were just hikers, returning to their cabin, late from a hike.
Still tense, he waited, listening, then heard more movement—two people. The men, he was guessing. Sneakier. Slower steps. No flashlights guiding their way.
Then he saw them, both dressed in black from their boots, cargo pants, and hoodies to their ski masks, as if they were professional cat burglars, sneaking toward Ryder’s cabin.
If they had been wolves, he would have taken them both out. But since they were human, he decided to wait and see what they were going to do first.
Then a car’s headlights illuminated the parking area by his cabin, and the vehicle parked next to Ryder’s SUV. Hell, it was Mike!
The two men paused, then ducked out of the headlights and into the darkness. They had to be wearing night-vision gear, and the headlights would have blinded them.
