Joselyn struggled to keep a straight face.
Liddie refocused. “Doesn’t anyone see it was all just a coincidence? Mountain Peak was already making a similar lemon malt beverage. They just got lucky and released first.” She snorted. “Who cares?”
Yes. This woman was indeed certifiable. But Joselyn didn’t think she was dangerous. She considered asking her to leave but decided to point out the obvious. “Have you considered the possibility that Vinson was using you to get information?”
Liddie’s face fell. “What? No. Of course not. Don’t tell me you believe all this nonsense too.”
Joselyn stared at her. How was she supposed to reason with this girl?
“Have you made contact with Alton yet? When is he supposed to get here?”
Joselyn had made no contact with Alton for over two hours. She couldn’t imagine how Alton could help. And the last thing Joselyn wanted to do when he arrived was entertain this strange girl who had single-handedly caused so much turmoil, especially since she was so flaky she didn’t even recognize her role in the disaster.
Liddie looked nervous.
“I don’t know for sure when Alton’s getting here. I haven’t connected with him in a while. He was at work.” He might still be at work.
She sat up straighter, looking alarmed. “But you’re going to help me, right? You realize this is your fault, right?”
“I’m not sure how any of this is my fault. But I’m also not sure how Alton can help. He doesn’t have any idea where Vinson is.” It was possible Quint knew where his son was, but Joselyn doubted many other people knew. Undoubtedly Vinson was smarter than Liddie and fled town the moment the new product launched. He’d probably planned his escape for months. Since the beginning—the first time he spoke to Liddie.
At first, it seemed unlikely because it wasn’t until Vinson disappeared that he became a suspect, but now that Joselyn had Liddie’s story, she realized Vinson probably always intended to vanish after the launch, knowing this half-witted girl would rat him out eventually.
He was probably halfway to Europe by now. She was certain if there was a paper trace, she would find a stash of money had been set aside months ago for this exact date.
Joselyn needed to get rid of Liddie. She stood. “Listen, do you have a room at the hotel? If not, we can get you one. It’s hard to know how long Alton will be, and I’m really tired. I was planning on napping until he got here. Let’s get you a room, and I’ll call you when he arrives.”
Liddie was shaking her head. “No. You’re just trying to trick me. You don’t want to help me, do you?” She looked like she might cry.
“Of course not.” Joselyn pasted a confused look on her face. “Why would I do that?” She took a step toward the door.
Liddie’s face changed. Before Joselyn could react, Liddie reached into her purse and pulled out a gun. She lifted it toward Joselyn, her finger on the trigger.
Joselyn froze. Dammit. Was Liddie stable enough to avoid accidentally firing the damn gun?
“This is all your fault, you know. It didn’t have to come to this. If you had just helped me out, I never would have had to use this.”
Joselyn lifted her hands slightly. “Put the gun away, Liddie. You don’t want anyone to get hurt.”
Liddie shook her head. “No. I don’t. So sit back down on the bed and make contact with Alton so he can tell me where Vinson is.”
Joselyn backed up slowly. Her heart raced. Fuck. “Liddie, I’m telling you, Alton doesn’t know where Vinson is. No one does. If they did, they would have spoken to him.”
“Stop saying that,” she shouted, her hand shaking. “The Tarbens have to know. I’m certain they’ve hidden him somewhere. He wouldn’t leave me behind like this.” Her voice rose higher.
Joselyn didn’t want the gun to go off. The last thing they needed was for Liddie to shoot a hole in the wall and draw attention to them, possibly hurting someone in another room. She figured if she needed to, she could lurch forward and knock the gun out of Liddie’s hand, but only as a last resort.
“Do it. Get Alton here. Now.”
Joselyn nodded, lifting up a hand as she lowered herself onto the bed. “Okay. I’ll get him.” She considered her options. The last thing she wanted was to add her mate to this situation. He was two hours away. There was nothing he could do but worry and drive erratically. She didn’t want to put his life in danger.
As if she’d conjured him, however, he was suddenly in her head. “Hey, Jos.”
“Hey.” She tried to sound as normal as possible in his head. She wouldn’t tell him. She could easily reach out to her father for help. As pack leader, he could communicate with the Arcadian Council and get help faster than Alton, anyway.
“I’m so sorry. I’m just leaving the apartment now. You would not believe the day I’ve had. Where did you end up stopping?”
“That hotel with the Denny’s outside of Calgary.”
“Got it. The one we met at for your birthday.” She could hear the smile in his communication.
“Yep.”
“You sound tired.”
Good. That’s exactly what she wanted him to think. “Exhausted. I just got here. I’m going to lie down for a while.”
“You should do that. It will take me two hours to get there. Sleep. I’ll think of ways to wake you up when I arrive.”
“Mmm. Sounds good.”
“Okay, baby. See you in a while.” The second she broke the connection, she knew Liddie was staring at her intently.
“What did he say? Is he almost here? Does he know where Vinson is?”
Joselyn shook her head. Alton was totally going to kill her, but at least he would be alive when he arrived, and she wouldn’t have to add his funeral from a horrible car accident to her list of events for the week. “He’s just leaving Silvertip. It will be a few hours. He doesn’t know where Vinson is, but he’ll ask around.”
It occurred to Joselyn that Liddie was even more unstable if she thought it would be a good idea for Joselyn to tell someone two hours away that she was being held at gunpoint. Did she not realize Alton would send someone closer to get his mate out of this bind if she mentioned the hostage situation?
“Put the gun down, Liddie,” she tried again. “You’re not going to be able to hold it up like that for two hours, anyway.” She slowly swung her legs onto the bed. “Like I said, I’m exhausted. I’m going to lie down and take a nap while we wait.”
Liddie cocked her head. “Are you trying to trick me?”
“Why would I do that? I just completed the binding myself. I totally understand how frustrating it is to be separated from your mate. I was out of my mind before we finally took this step.”
Liddie’s face softened. “Then you understand.” She nodded at the bed. “Fine. You nap. But if you hear anything new from Alton, you tell me immediately.” She finally lowered the gun. Thank God.
“You have my word.” Joselyn set her head on the pillow, lying on her side, facing Liddie. She pulled her knees up enough to appear to be comfortable, and then closed her eyes.
The entire nap was a ruse so that Joselyn could keep her eyes closed and it wouldn’t be obvious to Liddie she was chatting with any number of people over the next two hours. None of them would be Alton, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to try to get some help.
Joselyn forced her body to relax to give Liddie the impression she was asleep, and then she reached out to her father. “Dad.”
“I’m here. You okay, honey? Did you leave town?”
“Yes. Listen, I have a problem.”
“What is it?” He sounded alarmed in her head.
“Liddie followed me.”
“Liddie? Our receptionist?”
“Yes. She’s totally not in her right mind, Dad. She followed me all the way to my hotel outside of Calgary. She’s the leak, Dad. She doesn’t even realize how serious this is. She thinks the launch from Mountain Peak is a coincidence. She’s the one who shared th
e details of our product with their brewery.”
“Are you serious? She’s always been such a sweet girl.”
“Well, she’s not.”
“Who did she tell?”
“Vinson Tarben. He’s Quint’s son. Alton’s cousin. And he’s been missing since the launch, supposedly.”
“What are you saying, Jos? Is Liddie there with you now?”
“Yes.”
“What does she want?”
“Vinson. She’s convinced he’s her mate and that Alton can reunite them.”
“Jos.”
“Yes.”
“What aren’t you telling me?”
Joselyn tried to remain as still as possible. The hardest part was to keep her breathing slow and even. If she appeared to be stressed, Liddie would sense it in a heartbeat. “She has a gun, Dad.”
Her father sighed. He wasn’t the sort of man to go ballistic. That’s why she’d chosen him. And it wasn’t as if her family hadn’t been through more than their fair share of drama lately. “Is she in your room?”
“Yes.”
“How are you able to communicate with me so blatantly?”
“She thinks I’m napping.”
“While she holds a gun to your head?” His voice rose in her mind. He was stressed. Concerned. As she’d known he would be.
“It was the easiest way to cover myself.”
“Good point.”
“Where’s Alton?”
“On his way now. I didn’t tell him.”
“Okay, give me a second. Stay open to me.” He broke his side of the connection.
She knew what he was doing, reaching out to someone from the Arcadian Council who might be closer to her.
He could also communicate with the leaders of other local packs, including Allister Tarben. Though she hoped everyone had the sense to keep Alton uninformed for a while. The last thing she wanted was for him to get in an accident because he was driving too fast.
“Jos?” Her father continued several moments later.
“Still here.”
“The Council is checking to see if anyone’s in the area. I’m going to get in touch with Allister now.”
“Okay, but Dad…”
“Yeah, I know you well, honey. Don’t let anyone tell Alton yet.”
She smiled into his mind, hoping it didn’t show on her face. There was no way for her to even peek at Liddie to see what she was doing without accidentally giving away the fact that Joselyn wasn’t asleep.
Time moved so slowly it was painful. It was also impossible to keep track of how many minutes went by under the level of stress Joselyn was experiencing.
Finally, Joselyn decided to play another card. She pretended to awaken by stretching out and yawning. When she opened her eyes, she found Liddie staring at her, her eyes narrowed.
“I need to use the restroom.”
Liddie shook her head. “No way.”
Joselyn sat slowly. “Seriously, how will it hurt anything for me to pee, Liddie? It’s not like I’ve stashed a weapon in there or can call the front desk. It’s a toilet, Liddie.”
Liddie looked doubtful, but she finally relented. “Fine. But you better be back in one minute.”
Joselyn rose and padded over to the bathroom. As soon as she shut the door, she glanced around frantically, looking for anything that might help and coming up empty. She looked at her watch. It had been almost an hour. She needed a plan, and she needed to tell Alton soon. She didn’t want him to walk in blindsided, but she also didn’t want him to worry too early.
“Jos?” It was her mother.
“Mom.”
“Honey, how are you holding up? What’s happening?”
“Nothing has changed. I pretended to nap for a while.”
“Okay, your dad says two members of the Council are almost at the hotel. What’s your room number?”
“Twenty-three nineteen.”
“Okay. Have you told Alton yet?”
“No. I’ll do that now. Can you have the Council keep their distance for a bit? I want to try to reason with Liddie again first. Do my best to get the gun away from her without her possibly freaking out and discharging it.”
“Okay, honey. Be careful.”
In reality, the two grizzlies from the Council could be standing right outside the door to the room, and neither Joselyn nor Liddie would be able to sense them. The Arcadian Council could block nearly any detection.
“Joselyn Arthur.” Alton’s voice sounded in her head, irritated and freaked out. He’d used her full name. That wasn’t a good sign.
She winced. “Alton? What’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong is that the mate I just bound myself to two days ago is already keeping shit from me. When I spanked your sweet bottom last night, I did so for sexual reasons. When I spank it tonight, it’s going to be to knock some sense into you.”
She grinned. And in spite of the dire circumstances she was in, she also got aroused. “Can’t wait. Now, where are you? I assume someone told you about Liddie?”
“Only because I’m in the lobby downstairs with two council members who made me suspicious.”
“Downstairs? How did you get here so fast?”
He sighed. “Because I lied about how close I was when we last communicated. I wanted to surprise you. We’ll discuss that later. What’s the situation?”
She quickly gave him the rundown as Liddie bellowed from the other room. “What the hell is taking so long, Joselyn?”
Joselyn reached over for the handle on the toilet and flushed. She then turned on the water and let it run a few seconds before shutting it off. “I’m coming, Liddie. Hang on,” she called out.
Joselyn opened the door while communicating again with Alton. “Give me a sec.”
“Joselyn…” he warned.
“Jesus, Liddie. I had to use the bathroom.”
“Took you long enough,” she muttered. “Find out how close Alton is, and see if he’s found Vinson.”
Joselyn nodded, letting her mind go to the connection Liddie would be able to notice when Joselyn’s eyes got glassy. “Okay. Liddie’s asking me to see how far away you are and if you’ve made contact with your cousin.”
“If I had known for the last hour my mate was being held at gunpoint, maybe I would have been able to answer that question, baby.” He added the last word to soften his frustration. She knew him at least that well.
“Alton, everyone in both our families has been working on this for an hour. There’s nothing more you could have done from the car except crash it and leave me alone in the world. Can we argue about this later?”
“Believe me, we will. Now listen, no one knows where Vinson is. Or at least no one’s willing to admit it. He might have operated on his own. I can tell you his place is cleared out, and he’s probably nowhere nearby. I seriously doubt he ever intended to take your receptionist with him. She’s lost a marble.”
“That’s for sure.”
“Okay, I’m coming up.”
“You can’t do that. She thinks you’re still an hour away.”
“I drove fast.”
Joselyn sighed, jerking out of the connection when Liddie interrupted. “What’s he saying?”
“He’s already here.”
Liddie sat up taller, gripping the gun in her lap. “How did he get here so fast?”
“Apparently he missed me. He obviously broke the speed limit.”
Liddie smiled. “That’s cute. Is he coming to the room?”
“Yes.”
Alton broke into her mind again. “I’m going to knock on the door. Any chance you can let Liddie get it?”
“I’ll try.”
“Okay, at least drop to the floor when I come in. These council members have weapons. They’d rather not use them, but they will if they need to.”
“Got it. I’ll try to let you know who’s opening the door.”
Joselyn turned to Liddie. “You don’t need that gun, Liddie. I suggest you put i
t away. Alton isn’t going to respond well to you waving it around.”
Liddie rolled her eyes. “I’m not an idiot, Jos. I know how to use a gun. And I’m also not stupid enough to think your mate will be willing to help me without a little incentive.”
Joselyn sighed. “Okay, but I warned you.” She backed up to the bed and sat on the side, putting some distance between her and the door.
Liddie stood and glanced at the door at the same time Joselyn scented her mate on the other side. What she didn’t scent, and neither could Liddie, was the two other men out there. Now was the perfect time for members of the Arcadian Council to exercise their ability to block their scent from anyone they wanted.
“Get the door,” Liddie said. “Let him in.”
“You open it, Liddie. You make me nervous swinging that damn gun around.”
Liddie rolled her eyes again and stomped the few steps it took to reach the handle. She held the gun in her other hand letting it hang at her side.
“Liddie’s opening the door. Gun in her left hand, pointed down,” Joselyn rapidly communicated.
The second the door opened, Liddie gasped, undoubtedly shocked to find three men instead of one on the other side. She lifted the gun but never had a chance to use it because Alton leaped forward, swung his arm through the air, and knocked the gun out of her hand. It went flying across the room.
Two seconds after that, he had her in his grip while all three men pushed their way into the room and shut the door. The last thing they wanted was for anyone in the hallway to know what was happening. Most of the people in the vicinity were humans. The Arcadian Council worked hard to ensure grizzly shifters were kept a secret from all other beings.
Alton handed Liddie off to one of the two men with him and hurried across the room toward Joselyn. “You okay?” he asked as he grabbed her by the face to meet her gaze.
“Yeah. Took you long enough,” she teased.
He rolled his eyes. “We’re going to have a long chat about your decision to keep things from me, Jos. Later.”
“Looking forward to it.” She grinned and then lifted onto her toes to kiss his lips.
Grizzly Secret (Arcadian Bears Book 3) Page 23