Page 61 of Juan

Anthony’s fingers curled over the arm of the chair. “No, just California.”

A tiny bit of tension eased from Juan’s shoulders. That Anthony didn’t know about Mystery Lake wasn’t much, but he’d take it.

Calder nodded. “I’ll let myself out,” he said, striding away without waiting for a response.

Juan kept his eyes on the screen as he dialed Leo, rather than Mantis.

“Yo,” Leo answered.

“A man, Calder, just paid a visit to Anthony. He’s looking for Clara, Adrian, and Zoe. And now Amber.”

“On it,” Leo responded, all signs of his lighthearted greeting gone. “I’ll pull a picture from the video and run it through our system. Won’t take long. I’ll get back to you.”

“Appreciate it,” he replied. Ending the call, he dialed a second number.

“Juan,” Mantis answered.

“I need someone else to take my shift. Anthony is sending a PI to find Amber. The same PI he’s been using to track Clara, Adrian, and Zoe.”

“I’m five minutes away,” he replied. “I’ll step in until Wesson can get there.”

“Thanks.” Nothing more needed to be said, and he ended the call.

“Everything all right?” Marley asked, coming in from the back. Rita’s didn’t need the two of them there, but the club had a policy that even on slow days, no one ever worked alone.

He repeated what he told Mantis. Marley’s dark eyes narrowed, a rare look from his most laid-back brother. “Go be with your woman and family. Mantis will be here in four minutes. I got this,” he said, traces of his Jamaican accent lacing each word, another sign of his concern. None of his brothers would be happy, but Amber and Marley were close.

Juan searched Marley’s eyes. There was no immediate danger. Anthony’s orders had only been issued less than five minutes ago. But tension crawled through him like an army of ants.

“Go,” Marley repeated, with a wave toward the door.

With a nod and a hug for his brother, he did.

Cursing the fact that he brought his bike to the bar, ten minutes later, he cruised slowly through town, looking for Amber’s car. He’d called her before leaving, expecting her to be at the clubhouse, only to find out both she and Zoe were in town at the park between the high school and the small commercial district.

Again, logic told him no way would Anthony and his PI find Amber so fast, but he was also pretty sure he wouldn’t even be able to spell the word logic if asked. Not until he set his sights on his two girls—well, his woman and his girl.

Pulling into a spot, he lowered the stand, then swung his leg over his bike. Scanning the park as he stalked to the play area, he forced himself to take a deep breath when a woman holding the hand of a toddler shot him a wary look and scooted away. He didn’t care so much about the stranger, but he didn’t want to scare Amber or Zoe when he finally laid eyes on them.

Pausing outside the fence of the massive wooden structure, he crossed his arms as his gaze skimmed over the towers, bridges, slides, and alcoves.

His muscles tightened, his joints locked, and his heart started a heavy thud in his chest when he didn’t see them after the first pass. Telling himself to calm the fuck down, he took another deep breath and another look. Three-quarters of the way through his survey, a pair of familiar Chuck Taylors appeared at the end of a slide facing away from him. Two seconds later, Amber’s feet landed on the ground, and she swung Zoe up into her arms from where she’d been sitting between her legs, their laughter floating toward him on a warm summer breeze.

The sound eased the panic simmering under his skin; even so, he did another quick scan of the area, this time on the lookout for pervs. He hadn’t heard of any problems like that in Mystery Lake, but he sure as shit wasn’t going to hide under a rock and pretend it never happened. Not on his watch, not with Zoe and Amber.

Amber set Zoe down and turned toward him as she brushed the static from her shorts. He waved, drawing her attention, and he’d swear the fucking sun glowed a hundred degrees brighter when she smiled. She guided Zoe toward him, a slow process at toddler speed. He didn’t mind, though. Seeing the two of them holding hands, the summer light filtering through the play structure as they came to him, did things to his body, his heart, he couldn’t explain but fucking loved.

“Hi,” he said, pulling Amber toward him when she was within reach and dropping a kiss on her lips. “And hi, you,” he said, picking Zoe up and giving her a raspberry through the green cotton shirt she wore. Her tiny fingers grabbed onto his hair as she laughed. If he lost a strand or forty, it was totally worth it.

“I thought you were working today,” Amber said, taking his free hand and leading them toward a bench, Zoe perched on his hip.

“Something came up we need to talk about.” He hated the concern that filled her expression.

She glanced around. “Do we need to worry?”

He wouldn’t lie. “Not right now, but it would be good to get back to the clubhouse and we can talk there.”

“What about Clara and Adrian?” she asked as she began gathering the diaper bag and toys she’d brought.