Page 30 of Tiger on the Prowl

Something in his words made her suspicious. “What does he mean by take care of him?” She looked the blond guy up and down, and noticed that his beard didn’t look all that natural either. “We have to call the police to get him arrested. He tried to kill my sister.” And perhaps Timothy too.

“We can’t do that,” the blond guy said.

“But I saw it all. I can testify. He’ll go down for attempted murder.”

“We can’t go to the police,” Jay said. “Nobody can know that we were here today—”

“But you’re heroes. You saved my sister, and who knows how many others he would have shot.”

“Olivia, you must believe me when I tell you that we can’t go to the police. Yan—my friend and I can’t go to the authorities. We have to do this our way.”

She gasped. “You’re wanted by the police.”

Jay shrugged. “Not by the police, no. But if the police have us on their radar, soon our enemies will too.” He addressed his partner, “Make sure this scumbag knows we’ll kill him if he ever comes anywhere near Grace’s family again.”

“Not a problem. I’ll make sure to pound it into him, so he won’t forget it anytime soon.” The blond guy slid the side door of the van closed. “Be careful.”

Jay nodded, then turned fully to her, while his eyes roamed their surroundings as if checking to see if anybody was watching them. “I wish you hadn’t recognized me. I had no intention of spoiling this day for you. But since you saw what happened, I owe you an explanation. But we can’t be anywhere in public. Nobody must overhear us.”

Olivia nodded. “I have a room in the hotel. We can go there to talk.” She turned toward the service entrance, but Jay stopped her.

“We’ll go in the other entrance.” Then he shrugged out of the tuxedo jacket he wore and tossed it behind a bush, loosened his bow tie and rid himself of it too. “It’s best if we look like a couple. We’ll blend in more easily. You mind?”

He reached for her hand, and she took it. It reminded her of the evening when he’d walked her home from the restaurant. Was it stupid of her to allow this? To invite him to her hotel room where they would be alone, and where nobody would come to her aid if she needed it? At the same time she recalled the moment when she’d noticed the gun in Dirk’s hand. There was no doubt in her mind that Grace’s stalker had planned to kill the bride and groom. And Jay and his partner had prevented the tragedy. She owed him her gratitude for this heroic action. If he really meant her any harm, he could have tossed her in the van with Dirk, and driven off with his partner, without anybody noticing.

When they reached the elevators, Olivia looked up at him. Who was Jay really? A thief for hire? A reluctant hero? Or something else altogether? Because for sure he wasn’t some meek yoga instructor. The way he’d acted only minutes earlier was evidence that his training was rooted in something else. Military, if she had to guess, since he denied being in law enforcement. Still, nothing that she’d seen today explained why he had searched her cottage. That act didn’t fit at all with what had happened today. But she wouldn’t stop asking questions until she had all the answers she needed to determine if Jay was worth caring about. Because she still cared about him, despite him betraying her trust.