Chapter 33
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
august
The meeting with my team was pointless. They’ve gotten no additional information on the packages or the person behind them.
Tonight, I’ll be forced to explain it all to Shay while praying that she doesn’t turn tail and run when she hears that not only have I been keeping something from her but I also have a stalker.
Reaching for the handle, I realize the door is partially open, which is weird. Slowly, I walk inside, and something brushes against my hand, making me jolt. Poppy blinks her long black lashes up at me and moos. I swear she thinks she’s a dog.
“How’d you get in here, Poppy? I think the guys misnamed the damned rooster. You’re the real Houdini around here.”
She moos her agreement, making me laugh. But that laughter falls flat when I start toward the kitchen only to see the items scattered across the table in the lounge. With dread settling in my gut, every step toward the disaster in front of me feels like my feet are weighted with lead.
“Guys? You home?” I call out.
Nothing.
“Shay?”
Silence.
This is bad. Really bad.
Her bike was gone when I pulled up. If she found this shit…
“Son of a bitch!”
Running my hands over my head, I catch sight of something within the mess—a brand new box that must have been delivered today. At this point, it doesn’t even matter what’s inside it. I’m pretty sure the damage has already been done.
Just as I reach for my phone, the front door opens, followed by the voices of my packmates.
Memphis stops beside me. “Hey, Aug. You’re like a fucking livewire in the bond. What happened?”
Ridge scans the table, pausing on the unopened box.“Did another package come?”
Lyon steps up next to him, and they all turn to me.
“She knows,” I whisper.
Memphis’ brow furrows. “What do you mean she knows?”
I point to the evidence. “I found it like that when I got home. She was already gone.”
Their eyes go wide.
“But she wouldn’t just leave. She’d confront us first, right?” Memphis asks.
Ridge is already shaking his head, looking a little sick. “If she was going to confront us, she’d be here right now. She fucking ran.”
Memphis weaves his fingers together and places them on top of his head. “Are we sure nothing happened to her? You said there was another package. What if the person sending them did something to her?”
My fucking stomach sinks. I hadn’t even considered that as an option, and now my Alpha side is going berserk.
“We need to find her.” It’s a rhetorical statement, but my sense of urgency is building. If we don’t find her soon, we’ll lose everything.
Lyon pulls out his phone, taps the screen, and hits the speaker button. It goes straight to voicemail. Just hearing the brief message in her no-nonsense tone makes guilt swamp me.
“Great. Her phone’s off,” Memphis murmurs, running his hands down his face as the reality of the situation begins to set in. “We have no way of getting a hold of her.”
“Do we call the police?” Ridge asks.
“We don’t know that anything is wrong yet.” Memphis looks around the house, walking over to the front door. “Did anything look off when you got home?”
“The door was open, but Poppy was inside so I figured it was her.”
“Everything else looks to be in place,” my cousin murmurs, then turns and bounds up the stairs.
For long seconds, we stand there in shock and confusion. My mind is such a mess I’m not sure what the next steps are.
Memphis comes walking back down, frustration etched in the creases between his brows and the strain of his jaw. “All of her stuff is still here. That’s a good thing, right?”
“If she left, where would she go?” I ask, glancing at Ridge, but it’s Lyon who answers.
“Call Jules.”
Memphis pulls out his phone. This time, when he hits speaker, it rings once. Twice. Three times. Then Jules’ voicemail picks up.
“Fuck!” I shout, the urge to punch something itching beneath my skin.
“I’ll head over there. Ridge, Lyon, you check the saloon, and Aug, you check her cabin.”
We follow Memphis’ orders, rushing out to our vehicles. I’m glad for something to do because my brain is a jumble of self-deprecating thoughts.
Why didn’t we just tell her? It wasn’t so much about my secret profession as it was the fact that the work that pays the bills comes along with a stalker we can’t seem to find.
Sure, she may not have been happy about it, but I have to believe we’d reached a point where she would’ve trusted us enough to handle it.
Now? Now, she may never trust us again.
The cabin is a bust. Talking to the crew, none of them have seen Shay. Ridge calls and says she hasn’t stopped by the Slick either, so we all decide to pow wow at the Ford Estate where Memphis is with the guys.
When I pull up, everyone is outside, talking. Lyon’s holding Charlotte, who has her hands on her hips and a fierce glare directed at my cousin.
“Mr. Memphis, how did you lose my aunt Shay?” she demands.
Kash sighs. “Jelly bean, no one lost Shay. She’s probably with Mama at Bible study.”
My head cocks to the side as I approach. “Anyone else think it’s a little strange that all of these women are suddenly attending Bible study?”
“Dare you to say that in front of Jules,” Wyatt mutters. “You’ll get a thirty-minute-long sermon of how we’re all sinners who could use a little Jesus in our hearts.”
Ridge looks over at me. “They can’t reach Jules, but they said that’s not unusual.”
“Wait,” my cousin holds up his finger. “Mama mentioned Bible study tonight too. Should I call her?”
We share a look, and I shrug helplessly. “It’s worth a shot. But if our mamas find out we fucked this up, you know we’ll never hear the end of it.”
“I’ll text. I’m not sure I can handle getting a verbal dressing-down right now,” Memphis mutters.
His fingers fly across the screen. When he hits send, we all stare anxiously at the phone as there’s a quick back in forth. Then he grimaces, sends another text, and holds his phone out to me.
Memphis: By chance, have you seen or talked to Shay?
Mama: Why would you ask that?
Memphis: Something’s happened, and we really need to talk to her, but her phone’s off.
Mama: What did you do?
Memphis: We think she may have found out about August’s stalker, and we’re worried. Just tell me if you’ve seen her, please.
To my mounting frustration, three little bubbles appear and disappear.
Mama: She’s across the room talking to Jules, but something tells me y’all are up shit’s creek without a paddle.
“Aunt Ronnie’s got eyes on her, says she’s upset.”
There’s a collective breath of relief now that we at least know she’s okay in the physical sense. Grabbing the phone, I quickly type out another message.
Memphis: Where are you? We have to see her.
More goddamn bubbles. If I wasn’t so worried about my own mama’s reaction, I’d call her and demand answers right now.
Mama: You can’t come here right now.
Memphis: Why the hell not?
Mama: August David Young, I know that’s you. Don’t you curse at me like that when you’re the one who fucked up in the first place.
My growl rushes up from the depths of my soul.
Memphis: Please, Aunt Ronnie. This is life or death.
“Is he getting in trouble, Mr. Lyon?” Charlotte’s little voice asks.
“Yup,” is all the big fucker says.
“I got in trouble when I lost Mama’s vibrating stick. She got so red I thought I was gonna be grounded for years.”
Ridge and Memphis laugh while Lyon shakes quietly. Her daddies just groan.
“Princess, what did Mama say about repeating that story?”
“She told me if I ever mentioned it again, I’d lose my dessert privileges for a month.” Her bottom lip pokes out on cue. “But you won’t tell her, will you, Daddy?”
Beck tries to fight his amusement, and a smile almost breaks free, but he cuts it off just in time. “I won’t…this time. But you repeat that story again, and I won’t be able to save you from Mama’s wrath.”
Her little chin drops. “Yes, sir.”
My cousin’s phone dings, drawing me back to the catastrophe at hand.
Mama: Don’t be dramatic, Augs.
In a stroke of brilliance, I type the one thing that might earn her cooperation.
Memphis: I’m not. You might as well kiss those grandbaby dreams goodbye if we don’t clean this mess up soon.
After two long minutes of waiting, she finally replies.
Mama: Fine. Meet us in the basement of City Hall. But don’t blame me for what you’re about to walk into. Consider it your penance for causing this shit storm in the first place.
Mama: Your mama says if she doesn’t get grandbabies because your head was shoved too far up your ass, she’ll never forgive you and you’ll be written out of her will.
I read that ridiculousness to the guys.
Memphis’ head tilts. “What the hell does that mean? Your penance?”
“And why the hell is Bible study in the basement of City Hall and not at the church?” Kash murmurs.
“All great questions that we’ll have the answers to once we get there.” Handing Memphis his phone, I head for my bike. “Let’s go.”
“We’ll come with you,” Beck offers. “If she’s with Jules, y’all might need us.”
They pile into Beck’s SUV while I follow on my bike. Minutes later, we’re pulling up to City Hall, and nerves are at an all-time high. We have no idea what we’re walking into.
“Do we have a plan?” Ridge asks.
“Tell her the truth,” I murmur.
Lyon crosses his arms over his chest. “Gonna need to beg.”
“I’ll fucking drop to my knees if I have to,” Memphis says, rubbing his eyes. “We just need her to give us five minutes. Let us confess everything and clear up this entire mess.”
Running my hand over the soft fuzz of my hair, I look at my cousin, then to Ridge and Lyon. “I won’t leave here without her. I’ll toss her over my shoulder and drag her back to the ranch until she agrees to give us a chance to explain ourselves.”
“So be prepared for a brawl,” Wyatt mutters. When we all turn to glare at him, he throws up his hands. “Y’all have obviously never seen Jules go Mama Bear.”