“Gee, thanks.”
He moistened his lips. “It is good to see you, Nancy.”
I smiled despite myself. “It’s good to see you too.”
“We got busy so I wasn’t able to appropriately discuss your problem. The ad is down?”
“Yes. Leif removed it.”
“So why did he do it?” Norm sat down on the couch.
I followed his lead and sat beside him. “You don’t want to know.”
“Why wouldn’t I want to know?” His brows furrowed.
“Because it involves you.” I’d embarrassed myself enough already. I might as well get the rest of it out there and over with.
“How could it involve me?” He rested his elbow on the arm of the couch.
“Alex isn’t the only one who meddles.”
“Maybe Leif isn’t as bad as I thought.” He shrugged.
Before I could respond, louder grumbling grabbed my attention.
“Our visitor is awake.” Norm jumped to his feet.
I stayed a few steps behind, but I wasn’t going to miss this.
The man blinked a few times. “What the hell?”
“Surprised?” Norm smiled, revealing all of his teeth bright white teeth.
“Who the hell are you?” The captive man scowled. “I was told she lived alone.”
“Excuse me?” Annoyance flooded me.
“How come you never told your family about your boyfriend?” His eyes set on me. “Isn’t that what normal girls do?”
“He’s not my—” I stopped myself. Was defending my single status the important issue here? “Who are you?”
“I’m here on behalf of your mother. It would have been nice if your boyfriend hadn’t decked me.”
“My mother?” The mention of her felt like a punch to my gut. Did he really have information on her? Could it be possible? “Yeah right.”
Norm gave me a look, I shook my head. I couldn’t explain without revealing too much info to the creep, and I didn’t trust the guy enough for us to leave the room. What if he could break free of the rope? I didn’t want to spend time with the stranger, but if there was a sliver of a chance he knew something about my mom’s disappearance, I needed to keep him near long enough to get the information.
“I was told you’d be willing to take your mother’s place, but maybe that’s before anyone knew about this guy.” He nodded toward Norm.
“Look. I think you’re in the wrong house.” That’s all this was. I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up. This was mistaken identity. There had to be other women in my neighborhood whose mothers were involved with shifters.
“You’re not Nancy, daughter of Hal and Margaret?”
How did the guy know my parents’ names? Hope spiked again.
“Who sent you?” Norm spoke when I couldn’t.
“Her mother. Are you that slow?”
“Her mother didn’t send you.” He stepped closer to the stranger.
“She did. Indirectly of course.”
“Indirectly? What were the indirect instructions you were given?” Norm took over the questioning, and I didn’t mind. I was too stunned to say anything.
“That if I retrieved Nancy and brought her back safely, she would take her place with the king.”
“The king?” I sputtered out.
“Yes, the king.” He frowned. “Don’t tell me you don’t know who I’m taking about.”
“Humor me.” I had absolutely no idea.
“Has your family told you nothing of who are you?” He might as well have spat at me by the expression on his face.
“Yeah, my family and I don’t talk much—well, other than my brother but I assure you he doesn’t know much either.” He knew nothing about a king, that was for sure. My brother hated shifters. I still hadn’t told him I’d been spending time with some. It would have made our strained relationship even worse.
“What about your grandfather? He must have told you. He struck the original deal.”
“Which grandfather?” I couldn’t imagine my paternal grandfather had anything to do with this. He’d never raised his voice except to yell during Eagles games.
“Your mother’s father.”
“Never met him.” He’d died before I was born.
“Would you please get to the point? You’ve taken enough of our time.” Norm’s expression hardened.
“Untie me so I can take her to the king, and you can be on your way.” The stranger looked to Norm.
“I can be on my way? Right. You have no idea what you’ve stepped in to here.”
“Norm.” I grabbed his arm.
“Don’t even think of trying to escape,” Norm threatened before following me into the corner of the room.
I waited until I thought we might be out of earshot of the guy before speaking. “Norm, I think this guy is insane.”
“Why don’t you call your mom and make sure nothing’s wrong? I don’t want to turn him over to the pack to deal with until we know more.”
“I can’t call her.” I looked down at the ground.
“Why not?” He gently raised my chin with his finger. “You can trust me, Nancy. You can tell me anything.”
“She disappeared.”
He nodded. “When?”
“On my twenty-first birthday.” It was the worst birthday of my life, and one I would never forget. It was also the last time my dad had thrown a Christmas ball.
“Wait, what?” Norm froze.
“She disappeared when I turned twenty-one. Pretty sucky birthday.”
“And you have no idea where she went?”
“No. She disappeared sometime during the ball. Afterward my dad forbade us from looking for her. It’s why we barely talk. I did everything to find her on my own, but I’ve had no luck. I’m still trying—maybe if I talk to him now he’ll help.” When I received the invitation to the ball I knew there had to be a reason. Maybe he was finally ready to help me understand what happened.
“And that’s why you’re so worried about the ball?”
“I’m not worried about it.” I averted my eyes. Instead I focused on the unlit bulbs of the tree. I was impressed I’d even bothered to set up the tree this year. In the past few years I’d only done it for Langdon and my cat who loved to sleep underneath the low branches. That reminded me. Where was Remington?
“I’m going with you.” Norm’s jaw tightened.
“Excuse me?”
“It’s the perfect excuse to get answers from your dad, and you aren’t going alone. It’s too dangerous. There is more going on than either of us know.”
He was offering to go with me to help? I thought about it. Leif was right about one thing. Norm would look amazing in a tux. He looked amazing in everything. “Fine.”
“Ok.” He nodded. “That’s settled.”
“So now what?” I turned back to look at the stranger. He was in exactly the same place shooting daggers at us.
“Now we get our friend over there ready for his trip down to Forest Ridge.”
“Wait. You’re taking him home with you?”
“Correction. We are. I’m not leaving you here alone. Do you really think this guy is the only one they’d send?”
“I don’t know…”
“Nancy, you know what happens when you get involved with the wrong kind of shifters.”
I did. I knew all too well. “Wait. You never told me what he is.”
“A mountain lion.”
“What?” There were mountain lion shifters? That was a new one.
“A mountain lion. That doesn’t mean this so-called king is the same thing. Creatures hire each other out all the time. That’s why we’re going to bring him to Forest Ridge. Get more answers.”
“Or we could ask him more here first. Well, not here as in my house. But here as in Philly.”
“I can find a local place if you’d prefer.”
“I would.” Somehow leaving town made it seem worse. This was the closest I’d ever been to fi
nding my mother. I wasn’t giving up yet.
“And before we move him, you are welcome to ask him all you want. Just know his answers may or may not be honest.”
“I never know if anyone’s words are honest.” Not even my family’s.
Norm grabbed his backpack and put it on. “Where’s your friend? The Leif guy?”
At least he didn’t pretend to forget his name. “At home. Probably packing.”
“We need to talk to him.”
“Why?” I had no idea how he fit in.
“The timing of all this. His ad. This guy showing up. I don’t like it.”
“What do you mean?” Did he really think Leif was in on all of this? That was crazy. Wasn’t it?
“I just mean I don’t believe in coincidences.”
I could accept that answer. And I knew I had more to say. “Thank you.”
“For?” He tilted his head slightly to the side.
“Helping me. This isn’t really your problem. You’re right. He was here for me.” I gestured to the stranger.
“It doesn’t matter anymore anyway. I’m making it my problem.”
8
Norm
“Back so soon?” Leif grinned after opening the door for us. “And you found Norm. See, some things work out.”
I quickly pushed my way inside with Nancy. “This isn’t a social visit.”
“What do you mean?” Leif slowly closed the door.
“I mean we need answers.” I took in his small but updated apartment. I didn’t sense anyone else inside, but you could never be too safe.
“We have questions.” Nancy used a much friendlier tone of voice than I did. I didn’t trust he wasn’t involved in all of this. He’d played some part. The trick was finding out whether his role was intentional or not. That made all the difference as to what our next step would be.
“Questions?” Leif looked between us.
I pushed open the door to the bedroom that was partially ajar.
“Do you mind, man?” Leif followed behind me.
“Making sure we are alone.”
“We are.” He pulled the door closed as soon as I exited his room.
“Let’s sit down, shall we?” Nancy called from Leif’s sparsely furnished living room.
I waited until Leif sat down in a chair he’d pulled in from the office nook before settling in beside Nancy on a small couch.
He cracked his knuckles. “This is going to be good. I can’t wait to hear what this is about.”
I sat forward. “Why did you put up that ad?”
“It was a joke.” His jovial expression fell. “Nancy and I have been over this before.”
Nancy shook her head. “Right. A real funny one.”
“What does it matter? You finally called Norm. All is right in the world. My work is done.” He rubbed his hands together in what I assumed was a gesture to assume he was washing his hands of the issue.
“No.” I narrowed my eyes. “You’ve created a mess. Your work is not done until you help fix it.”
“What kind of mess?” He showed the first signs of concern, but that also could have been worry over his own skin.
“Where did you post the ad? Anywhere else other than the usual dating sites?”
“No. Why?” He squirmed.
“I’m not the one answering questions. You are.”
“Nowhere else. Just Dateaday.”
“Why did you pick that site?”
“Because I’ve used it before, and it’s designed for things like this. For people looking for dates for a particular event.” His reply read like a student answering a teacher. He was nervous, which was exactly what he should have been feeling.
“And that was the only ad you posted? No others?” The guy was nervous, but that didn’t mean I was going to go easy on him. Not when Nancy’s safety was at stake.
“No. Just the one. Like I said it was a joke, but maybe she could have found someone that way. Did you even look at your options?” He turned to Nancy.
“You wouldn’t tell me where you posted!”
“Yeah but you still had the emails.” He put his hands behind his head. “Some of them probably sent pictures, right?”
“Well, it doesn’t matter.” She crossed her arms over her chest.
“Why are you over here? I already took the ad down. I thought it was all settled.”
“Why did you take it down?” I pressed.
“Because Nancy was upset.”
He obviously didn’t realize his mistake. He hadn’t meant to expose her to her enemies, but the damage was done.
“Come on, why are you making this such a big deal? The picture I used could have been anyone. They don’t have her real email…”
“Yet someone was able to track her down.” Motives aside, his little joke had put Nancy in danger.
“Someone?” He raised an eyebrow.
Nancy leaned in to me. "Should we get him from the trunk?"
“Um, who from the trunk?" Leif paled.
"The mountain lion who tried to kidnap her." I rather enjoyed the look of panic that crossed his face. "Thanks to you."
"Thanks to me? No way. I don't know any mountain lions."
"Your ill-thought out ad. It drew him to her."
"You think I put her address on the ad? I'd never do something so reckless or stupid."
"The ad itself is stupid." And mean. What kind of friend did that to someone?
"It was a joke. Sort of."
"Sort of?" Nancy frowned. “Still going to pretend that?”
"I also wanted to push her."
"Push her to what?" I was reminded of Nancy’s comment, that I wouldn’t want to know because it involved me. And his meddling. What had she meant? What did the ad have to do with me? And what had Leif meant by all being right in the world?
"Never mind. I'd rather know about the man in your trunk. It's your trunk, right Nancy?"
"The guy who's in my trunk because of you." She crossed her legs at the ankles.
"I know I didn't put him there."
"If it wasn't for Norm, I'd be the one tied up in someone's trunk or worse." She shuddered.
I put an arm around her without really thinking it through. She didn’t jerk away though. She leaned into me instead.
"Be real. This is really all from the ad? How? I did it through my own account so her info isn't on there at all. I swear."
"You didn't actually need to use her address." I rubbed her back gently.
"Meaning?" Leif moved to the edge of his seat.
"Meaning let's go talk to our friend in the trunk."
"Now? Outside my apartment? Sure that's wise?" His words flowed together in a rush as he eyed the light flooding in through his window. “There are lots of people around.”
"Not right outside." I wasn’t an idiot.
"Where?" He asked nervously.
"Just come."
"You stuffed a dude in the trunk of a car, and you want me to just come with you?” His eyes widened.
"A dude who wished harm on Nancy. Would you have rather I let him?"
"Of course not.” He shook his head. “But why not call the police? Let them do their job."
"And what? They take him in, and we discover nothing."
"What do you need to discover?" Leif stood.
"Who sent him." I could tell I’d rattled the guy, and I didn’t want to fully throw him for a loop. We needed all the help we could get.
"I thought my ad brought him in." He started to pace the cramped room.
“No, your ad exposed her."
“Oh, the story is changing?" He stopped pacing.
"The ad made it possible for him to find her. Therefore it's your fault."
"Of course." He rolled his eyes. “It’s all my fault.”
“Not all, just some.” Nancy stood up.
I followed suit. “Exactly. Still means you’re coming with us.”
“I don’t have a choice in this, do I?”
�
�No. You don’t.” There was no time to beat around the bush.
Twenty minutes later we pulled into the loading dock of the abandoned warehouse my contact had suggested. It was surrounded on all sides by empty lots. In other words, it was perfect. I waited idling until the doors were opened, and we drove inside. Abandoned neighborhood or not, I wouldn’t risk Nancy getting into any trouble for being involved in this. As Leif had alluded to earlier, it was broad daylight.
I put the truck in park, turned it off, and turned to Nancy in the passenger seat. “This might get intense.”
“I can handle intense.”
“I can’t.” Leif leaned forward in his seat. “You aren't going to torture the guy, right?"
“No, but need I remind you this guy was going to kidnap Nancy.”
"Doesn't mean I believe in torture." Leif huffed.
"And you think I do?" Nancy whirled around in her seat. "Come on. Stop pretending you don't know me."
He nodded. “Sorry. This is all a bit crazy for me.”
“Well, I’ve been through worse.” She sighed. “And this is important. This might be my one chance to find my mom. You know how long I’ve been looking for answers.”
“And it might not be. It might all be a scam.” Leif unbuckled and eyed the back of the truck.
“Maybe, but we have to see this through.”
“I know.” Any sign of resistance left him. He was going to help. “Let’s do this.”
“Finally, a good attitude.” I unbuckled and got out.
Before long my associates had the mountain lion tied up to a chair again and ready for the next round of questioning.
Nancy quietly pulled me to the side. “You were serious, right? No torture?”
“We won’t need torture.” We’d get all the answers we’d need. The question was how long it was going to take.
“Do you recognize him?” I directed Leif to look at the mountain lion.
“Never seen him before in my life.”
“I’ve seen you.” The stranger’s lips twisted into a smile.
“Where?” Leif’s eyes bulged.
“Your apartment. Followed you out on one of your runs.” The mountain lion licked his chapped lips as if thinking about his next meal. Most shifters I’d met didn’t eat people. Who the hell was this guy?
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