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“I need to ask Dad what his plans are.” She slipped out of the booth. “I want to remind Will to say nothing, though I imagine my mother gave him that lecture.”
“Good idea. We can’t be too careful.”
Tawny walked over to the bar, probably trying not to look like what she needed to say to Will was all that important. When she reached her cousin, she motioned him to the end of the bar.
Alex turned back to Liam. “Are you going to suggest she stay with us? We have that spare room downstairs.”
“Yes, and I'd suggest one of us can drive her to work like we did with Ariel.”
“Taking her to work won’t require much time, but watching her when she’s at work will.”
"I bet either her dad or the deputy can watch the center during her work hours.”
"They could, but it would be better if they spend their time looking for the people who shot Zach instead of being her bodyguard."
“We should ask if one of her employees is a shifter. If so, he might be able to keep her safe,” Liam said.
“Which means, he’d have to be let in on what’s going on.”
“Yes. Here she comes. We’ll ask her.”
Tawny slipped into the booth. “I made it clear to Will not to say anything. He understands that his life is at stake. Once I speak with my dad, we’ll decide how to handle Zach’s missing status.”
“Let’s hope the killers don’t return to the scene of the crime and find him gone,” Liam said.
“Even if they did, they might figure Zach gained consciousness just long enough to crawl into a nearby cave. They would possibly assume he died in there—and he might have if we hadn’t come along.” Thankfully, Tawny kept her voice low.
“True. As long as Zach doesn’t come in here or show up around town looking gloriously healthy, he’ll be fine.”
She finished her drink. “The problem is that he won’t be willing to hide out somewhere for long. I know I wouldn’t.”
Tawny was right. “If I were Zach, I’d want to go after these bastards,” Alex said.
“Shh.” Liam glanced up at the approaching server.
They didn’t take long to order. Once the server left, Alex glanced over at Liam and then at Tawny. “We aren’t sure what is going on here, but it does appear as if the Grangers are the targets.” He held up a hand. “Before you say we have no proof, we can either assume it’s true, or we can wait until another Granger is attacked.”
As expected, Tawny’s lips pressed together. “Meaning what exactly?”
“You need protection.”
“I’m not really a…you know.”
He appreciated that she didn’t want to say the wordwerewolfout loud. “That is true, but this might not have anything to do with our kind. It could have everything to do with your family. Is there anything even slightly unethical that any one of them could have done in the past that could have upset someone?”
“No!” This time she almost shouted the answer. “Sorry. No. I mean no one can know for sure since we have a lot of relatives, but of all the Grangers, Zach is the best. He selflessly puts his life in danger to help others in need.”
“The carving on his back has to be a warning of some kind,” Alex said.
“I know.”
Liam reached across the table and placed a hand over hers. Alex was pleased when she didn’t retract it. “We want you to be safe. You might be in danger or you might not be. Who do you have working at your rescue center who might be able to keep watch over you?” Liam said.
“I only have three employees right now. One is a new woman in town, Julia Smith. She’s a human. Very sweet and very competent, but I doubt she’d be useful if there was a confrontation. Ask Will about her. I think he plans on asking her out. Then there is Alan Lipman and Brett Vinoy who take care of the animals. Of the two, Brett is like us. I hired them three years ago.”
“That could work,” Liam said. “Maybe Brett can have a new job of being your part-time bodyguard.” He stilled. “Or don’t you trust him?”
“No, I do, but I doubt he’s been trained.”
