Chapter 23
Robert was thinking that this was a good plan. “We need to make up a profile for William on Facebook that doesn’t say he’s a former homicide detective of Texas. Where should we say he’s living?”
The Playfair brothers, Robert, Maisie, and Chelsea walked around to the back side of the property that overlooked the ocean.
“Living at Castle Farraige might seem too formidable. What about if I’m working here at the inn as an assistant manager? I could say I’m a handyman or groundskeeper, but it might sound like I would be more capable of fighting him. So something more administrative that sounds not as—”
“Alpha?” Robert offered.
William smiled. “Yeah.”
Maisie had William sit on a bench with the ocean at his back and had Chelsea sit on his lap. “Simulate a kiss, but make it look like you’re really into each other,” Maisie said.
William appeared to want to be a gentleman about the whole thing, but Chelsea wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a really great kiss that made it appear they were really going somewhere with their relationship. When Chelsea finally pulled her mouth away from William’s, he looked surprised, but then he smiled. “Hot damn. I knew Scottish lassies were the best.”
Maisie and Robert laughed.
Robert liked Chelsea’s sense of humor and the Playfair brother’s playfulness. Robert was glad she could feel good about trying to catch the man who had killed her friend.
“Well, if that doesn’t piss Jack off, I don’t know what else would,” Robert said.
Then they returned to the inn and let Anne know what they were doing.
Anne shook her head. “I would have loved to see all that.”
“I’ll show you the cute pictures,” Maisie said.
“Mom and Dad shouldn’t be here if we’re trying to trap the wolf,” Anne said.
“Aye, I was thinking the same thing. What if Robert and I stay in my room at the inn and Mom and Dad stay at our house? Robert should be here in case anyone gets hurt,” Maisie said. “And before you say anything, I’m staying with you, Robert.”
“I expected no less,” he said.
“You’re a doctor or a nurse?” Chelsea asked Robert.
“Veterinarian, but he was a family physician before,” Maisie said before he could answer Chelsea, sounding so proud of him, and he smiled.
“Wow. That is so cool,” Chelsea said.
Anne was on the phone with their mom and dad after that, filling them in about the situation. When she got off the phone, she said, “Okay, Mom and Dad are good with this. They’ll drop by and get a bag each to take to Robert’s place. Are you going to let them into your house?”
“Yeah, we’ll have to grab a bag of our stuff from the house. Why don’t we have dinner with your mom and dad when they arrive here? After dinner, we can return home, let them in, and grab a bag,” Robert said.
“That sounds good,” Maisie said. “William should say on his new Facebook page that his hobbies are weaving wool, reading books about oil painting, and his greatest fear is—”
“Spiders,” William said.
Edward laughed. “That has to be on your Facebook page. William always makes me kill spiders of the venomous variety.”
William began building his Facebook page on Maisie’s laptop and Anne’s. He used one of the photos that Maisie had taken of scenery all over Scotland to create his Facebook header.
“Okay, everyone can start friending you,” Robert said. “I’ll send the links to the rest of the pack, letting them know what you’re up to, and you’ll have the whole pack as friends before you know it so that it appears that you are real people.”
“I’m going to make some posts that I haven’t ever met a woman I care about like I do Chelsea,” William said. “Woohoo, got ten friend requests already. Though I’ve set my profile to private for nonfriends so that Jack will just see Chelsea’s dating a guy who works at the inn.”
“Okay, I’m going to post pictures of both of you kissing me on my Facebook page after everyone’s settled down. I can’t wait. If we can catch this bastard and put him down, I’m all for it,” Chelsea said.
After they had the Facebook pages set up, they posted about a bunch of different things—accounting stuff—and things about being an administrative manager, also making it appear to be boring. Neither sounded like wolves who would put up a good fight with another wolf who might try to take their girlfriend away from them.
Chelsea suddenly looked really sad, and Maisie gave her a hug. “We’ll get him,” Maisie said.
“I sure hope so. It’s better to do that instead of just worrying about Jack coming after me when I’m defenseless or going after anyone else that I might even try to date,” Chelsea said. “I just feel bad that Gus died.”
“Me too,” Maisie said.
Janet and Frederick arrived, and they met Chelsea, greeting her with hugs and heartfelt condolences. Afterward, they packed a couple of bags, and Maisie changed the sheets so she and Robert could sleep in there. Edward and William changed out the sheets on the guest room bed for Chelsea to use now.
The guys all went out to grill steaks on the barbecue while the women made salads and mashed potatoes.
“You girls stay safe,” Janet said as she set the table.
“I’ve been thinking of how we can work this,” Maisie said. “Once our parents are at our house, we’ll do the Facebook posts. Of course, Chelsea will be posting all this stuff too, because if Jack sees anyone’s posts, it will be Chelsea’s. If our plan succeeds,” Maisie said.
“Do you think it will?” Janet asked.
“It might take time,” Maisie said. “We have to be patient. We have Iverson coming to join us. We have a cot we’ll set up in the living room near the sofa bed for him. We’ll have a full house at the inn.” Then she asked her mom and dad, “How are things going on finding a place of your own?”
“We’re still looking, though we’ve found a couple of places we like,” Janet said.
“Oh, that’s wonderful. If you want my opinion on a place you’re interested in, just let me know and I’ll go with you to check it out.”
“Thanks, Maisie. We might just do that.”
Then the guys came in with the steaks, and they all sat down to eat and had red wine with their dinner.
“I never expected to stay here like this when all I thought I would be doing was a photo shoot.” Chelsea frowned. “Oh, what an idiot I’ve been. The contest wasn’t even real, was it?”
“No, sorry, but Anne and I do own the inn, and I am a professional photographer. The pictures I’m having printed are yours for free. You just didn’t win a contest for the package deal. We had to learn if you might know who had killed Gus.”
“Did you think I had anything to do with it?” Chelsea’s eyes filled with tears, but she looked angry at the same time.
“Stuart said you were seeing both Gus and Jack and both were perturbed about it. We figured that was your involvement. But a man strangled Gus, and we knew you hadn’t done that,” Maisie said. “As to your staying with us, we genuinely want to keep you safe. Since you don’t have any clothes here or personal items, we have complimentary toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, conditioner, and bodywash that you can have.”
“You can borrow some of my clothes,” Anne said. “You’re the same size as I am, so they should fit you, and you can wash your things here.”
“I want to wear one of your shirts, William. Nothing is sexier than wearing a boyfriend’s clothes.” Chelsea cheered up a bit despite the circumstances.
They laughed.
“If Jack is the one who killed Gus, he’s going to want to kill you for sure,” Edward said. “Let him come for you, and we’ll show him what we’ve got.”
“He won’t stand a chance,” William said.
Robert agreed.
Once they finished eating, Anne and Chelsea cleaned up while Edward and William pulled out the trundle bed in the guest room and moved it near the sofa bed for Iverson. Robert and Maisie returned home, and her parents followed behind them to play out the next part of the plan.
***
Maisie couldn’t believe she and Robert would be staying at the inn again as they packed a bag to take there. He was so cute because he brought out his bag for both of them to pack their things in, and it reminded her they were truly together as mated wolves. But at least this time when they stayed at the inn in her bedroom, she would be with her mate, not just a wolf she was courting! She really hoped the wolves who were trained to take down criminals would be the ones to catch Jack, but she knew if Robert was needed, he’d be in the middle of the action, and she didn’t begrudge him for it at all. He wouldn’t be her mate if he didn’t want to help.
She sure hoped they would be able to trap Jack and take him down for everyone’s peace of mind.
“Are you sure you’re going to be alright, the both of you?” Janet set her bag down in the guest room.
“Aye, we will be. We’ll make sure Jack doesn’t get to any of the women, if he shows up at all,” Robert said. “We don’t know if he’ll take the bait. He might just wait for Chelsea to return to Glasgow. But if he really doesn’t like that she’s dating another guy and he learns he lives here, he might attempt to come after him. Or her.”
Frederick dropped his bag off in the guest room and returned.
“We’re off to the inn.” Maisie motioned to the fridge. “The kitchen is yours—you can make this your home.”
“Just be careful, Maisie. You and Anne don’t need to take unnecessary risks,” Frederick said.
“We have another former homicide detective coming to join us, so that will make four male wolves providing extra security, and we should be able to manage Jack if he shows up.” Robert rolled his bag to the door. “If we have any trouble, we can call on the wolf pack and get additional support.”
Frederick cleared his throat. “It’s good to have them as a backup.”
“It sure is,” Robert said.
“We’re heading back to the inn if you both feel you’re settled in,” Maisie said.
“Aye, your home is so comfortable, and the guest room is so nice. Let us know what’s going on, and we’ll keep looking for a home in the meantime,” Janet said.
“We will,” Maisie said.
“Like Maisie said, feel free to have anything in the kitchen. Our home is your home.” Robert gave them an extra set of keys to the house.
Robert and Maisie gave her parents hugs, and they left to return to the inn. When they arrived there, Iverson was grabbing a ham sandwich for dinner, and they were ready to start posting messages on Facebook.
“Are we ready then?” Chelsea held up her phone.
“Yeah, go ahead and post,” Robert said.
Chelsea sighed. “I’ve got my post up that I’m seeing a new guy named William and he’s so much fun.”
“Let’s take a selfie.” William motioned to the ocean view. “The sun is beginning to set over the ocean. We can get a good shot before it’s too dark.”
They headed outside to watch William and Chelsea sitting on the bench with their heads placed together and smiling as the sun was setting. It would make a really pretty picture.
Then Chelsea posted the picture. “I’m saying it’s a picture of us at the MacTavish Inn on a moonlit night.”
“Okay, let me take one of us and I’ll post it on my fake Facebook page.” William took a picture of him draping his arm over Chelsea’s shoulders while she was smiling up at him.
“You said Jack hasn’t been in touch with you for a while, right?” Maisie asked Chelsea.
“Right. Maybe he has already given up on me. Or maybe he has been by my apartment looking for me and I haven’t been there,” Chelsea said. “That doesn’t explain why he hasn’t called or messaged me though.”
“What about the work you had to do? You said you were going to be tied up with it for a couple of weeks.” Maisie didn’t want her to lose her job.
“My sister is taking on the job for me. She hasn’t had work for a while, so she was grateful. It’s hospice care at a home, and she and I are both trained for it. Jack doesn’t know that I had that job, so he won’t be after my sister. I’ve told my aunt and uncle and sister where I am and what we’re doing. They’re worried about me, but they said they would be more anxious if I returned to my apartment and I was all alone if Jack wanted to hurt me.”
“Exactly,” Iverson said. “If he has decided you’re only supposed to see him, he might just figure no one has discovered that Gus died at his hands. If he believes he got away with murder, he could believe he will be able to do the same to William and get away with it. I’ve seen so many cases where a guy feels if he can’t have a woman, no one else can. Sometimes, the man will kill both the girlfriend and the new boyfriend, but other times, just the new boyfriend because he still wants the girlfriend.”
“Do you always catch them?” Chelsea asked.
“Yeah. Being a wolf helps with the hunt for sure,” Iverson said, “but when I ran into some of the MacQuarrie kin and learned they had a wolf pack out here, I left my job and joined them. I do whatever they need me to do, and I love it here. It’s great being with a pack.”
“I bet,” Chelsea said.
“It’s late, and Maisie and I need to make breakfast early in the morning for our guests,” Anne said.
“Can I help?” Chelsea asked.
Anne and Maisie smiled. “Sure, if you want to,” Maisie said.
“I would love to. I’m used to earning my keep, so that would be great,” Chelsea said.
Then they all said their good nights. Tomorrow would be a busy day—taking pictures of William and Chelsea and then sharing the photos on various social media networks of the newfound friendship between William and Chelsea.
But then Maisie had a thought. “Oh, oh, Chelsea and I need to see Gus’s car,” she said to Robert.
“To smell the scents there,” Robert said. “Hell, I hadn’t thought of that. Let’s get Chelsea and take a trip to the castle. I’ll call Grant and tell him we’re on our way.”