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As soon as they pulled up in front of the bakery, Jake called Cannon.
“Had a run-in with Trenton,” he said.
“Where do I find the body?” Cannon asked.
“No body,” Jake replied. “We were at Dario’s house. Too many witnesses. I have info on his car. I was thinking maybe you could run it and figure out where he lives.”
Jake held up a finger when Sanjay came outside the bakery. Dario got out, walked past Sanjay, and moved swiftly inside the shop. Jake checked his mirrors, making sure no one was watching them. He wouldn’t put it past Trenton to follow them and stake out the place.
“Jake,” Cannon said.
“Don’t Jake me,” he said. “We both know Trenton isn’t going to stop unless he’s stopped. Do you want to wait around for him to kill Dario before any action is taken?”
Cannon gave a low growl. “That’s not what I’m saying.”
“He attacked my mate,” Jake said through gritted teeth. “The fact that he’s still breathing is nothing short of a miracle.”
After Cannon sighed, he said, “Then we work on this together. You know as well as I do that hyenas strike from behind. If he’s obsessed with Dario, Trenton will stop at nothing to get him back.”
Jake would never understand obsession. He highly doubted that Dario and Trenton were mates. There was no fucking way a shifter would abuse his mate. Trenton had to have wires crossed in his brain. He had to see Dario as property, which sickened him.
“I’ll run his plate,” Cannon said. “If anything comes back, I’ll swing by and grab you and we can check it out.”
“I’m at Sweet Spot,” Jake said. “I’m gonna stick around for a while. I can’t shake this feeling that Trenton is going to want retribution for my interference.”
“I’ll get on this,” Cannon said. “If anything comes up before I contact you, call me.”
“Thanks, pussycat.” Jake grinned.
A low, rumbling growl emanated through the phone. “I’m a lion, not a fucking pussycat.”
“Same difference.” As Jake hung up the phone, he saw Sanjay walking toward the car, a worried expression on his face. Jake rolled down the window and asked, “Everything okay?”
Sanjay nodded. “Yeah, I just wanted to make sure Dario was all right. He seemed really shaken up after what happened.”
“I want to give him my number,” Jake said. “Told him to call me if Trenton shows up again.”
Sanjay gave him a grateful look. “Thank you for that. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t stepped in.”
Jake shrugged. “It’s what any decent person would have done. Besides, I couldn’t let that hyena shifter hurt my mate’s best friend.”
Jake still saw the pictures on Dario’s walls in his mind. They looked so happy, and those images, for some reason, just got to him. He wanted the two happy again, without fearing that Trenton would come back around.
Sanjay slipped into the passenger seat, his scent filling the interior of the car. “I want to stash Dario at my place.”
Jake shook his head. “Trenton will look there. We took away his toy, and he’s going to be desperate to get Dario back. I think we should stash him at my place.”
Once Jake had them both safe and secure, he was tracking Trenton down. No one should live in fear. No one should feel that level of hopelessness. Like he’d previously thought, bullies only preyed on the weak and vulnerable. As soon as Jake had shown up, Trenton had fled.
Still, it had to be frightening as hell to live through that. For Dario to constantly look over his shoulder or ease toward the door when someone knocked.
He’d failed Matilda, but Jake would be damned if he failed Sanjay and Dario.
And Trenton would come after Sanjay again. Of that, Jake had no doubt.
* * * *
Cannon went to his boss as soon as he hung up with Jake. Sheriff Harper was seated behind his desk, tapping away on his keyboard. When he saw Cannon in the doorway, he sat back. “Something I can help you with?”
