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“Great. Is Dad in? I’ll only be a sec.”
“Sure.”
She went to his office, knocked, and eased open the door. Her father closed his laptop and looked up. “So?”
“Everything went smoothly. Liam and Alex promised Zach that he could go for a run in the woods if he wished, and that made him happy.”
“Impressive work. Just watch him though. Your brother has a tendency to overdo things.”
“I know. I’ll make sure he doesn’t have a relapse. Look, I have to get back to work, but I wanted to let you know that operation-hide-Zach was a success.”
“As much as I enjoy your visits, you could have called, you know.”
“I know, but you were on the way.”
Her father nodded. “Well, I appreciate it. Call if anything happens.”
She smiled. “You’ll be the first to know.”
Not wanting to be away from the center any longer than necessary, she hopped in her car and drove back to work. Once there, Tawny hurried inside to find a couple with a young child filling out paperwork for one of the animals.
Julia looked up and smiled. Apparently, Tawny wasn’t as needed as she believed, thanks to her new hire. After Tawny checked on the animals and spoke with Brett and Alan to make sure there were no emergencies she needed to take care of, she headed to her office and closed the door.
Now that her brother was all set, she wanted to honor her commitment to Julia and ask Mason if he could use any help in the private investigation area. However, she’d rather speak with him in person than talk over the phone. Not that she was paranoid or anything, but she wouldn’t put it past these vigilantes to bug her phone or her office. How they’d achieve that, she didn’t have any idea.
Speaking with Mason and then packing to move into the men's house would take quite a while. If she worked at the center until three, she could get everything done before heading out. Cutting out early would be unusual for her, which was why Tawny planned to say her father had texted her and told her about a lead regarding her brother’s whereabouts. He’d asked for her help.
At three on the dot, Tawny went out front. At the reception desk, Tawny told Julia about her need to leave again. “I don’t like being away this much, but my dad thinks they might have a lead on Zach, and he wants my help. I have no idea how long I’ll be. If I don’t return before closing, can you lock up?” That involved checking on the animals and punching in the key code at the front door.
Tawny probably shouldn’t have said anything, other than telling Julia to lock up, but it was too late now.
“By all means. Go. We’ll make sure everything is okay. And good luck.”
“The number for the vet clinic is on the board. Call them if something comes up.”
“Don’t worry. We got this.”
Tawny tapped the desk. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”
Julia smiled and motioned that Tawny should hurry. Once she left, Tawny called Ariel. Since Benson would know what happened to Zach, Tawny had no problem revealing the series of events to her good friend. Ariel would understand the need to keep everything under wraps.
“Tawny? Thank goodness you called. How is Zach?”
“Good. I have so much to tell you, but the main point is that my brother is safe. I’m actually heading to his place now to pick up a few of his things. Just so you know, Liam and Alex insisted that I stay in their spare bedroom so that I'm out of harm's way at night.”
Ariel chuckled. “Benson and Preston said the same thing when I had my stalker. Trust me when I say the bedrooms didn’t stay separate for long.”
Tawny didn’t need this. Sure, her brother was safe, but that didn’t mean she could let her guard down. These vigilantes had to be caught. “Zach will be with me.”
“Oh. Well, he should be safe with Liam and Alex around too.”
“That’s the plan. Anyway, I wanted to call to say thank you for Trent’s help at the center. I heard he did a nice job.”
“He loved it. If you ever need any more assistance, please call on him.”
“Absolutely.”
Tawny pulled in front of her brother’s place that was a half mile north of town. “I’m at Zach’s right now. I need to go. We’ll talk later, okay?”
