Shifting the Night Away (57 page)

A helpful stranger shot out a hand to keep her upright. Her unknown assistant disappeared before she could thank him, but his scent hung around. She’d been pushing too hard. To her jacked up mind, he smelled just like the man she’d bumped into on the way over. “I’m losing my mind.”

Rest. That’s what she needed.
 

Lots of rest and lots of Baron.

Soon, his thick and sweet aroma reached around the corner, pulling her in and quickening her feet. He met her at the door, arms crossed and eyes wide. “I knew you’d be fine. No problems, right?”

Johanna dropped the weight in hands and tried to shake off the invisible one from her shoulders. “All good. I told you not to worry. I’m here for whatever you need.”

Chapter Twelve

What he needed was for Johanna to get the hell inside. Her fear snaked around like the arms of the dead. Respect for what she was trying to do had kept him from running down the street and meeting her halfway.
 

His nose tingled as she passed.
 

A sliver of dread drilled itself into his mind. There it was again. He shifted through smells around her, dialing in on one out of the many. Baron prayed his nose was wrong, but knew it wasn’t.

Wyoming.

Not a lot.

But enough that she wouldn’t walk alone again. “So you didn’t run into anyone?”

“Nope. I bumped into them. It’s crowded out there. Guess everyone’s rushing to get things done in case the rain doesn’t let up. Did your deliveries come in?”

“One. Take this.” He put her to work updating the financials from the latest round of invoices. When he was certain that no one was looking, he went back and did a loop around the building to double check the locks. Indecision gripped him. He wanted to track the scent, but couldn’t risk leaving Johanna without his protection again.

After one last look down the street, he went back inside and folded cloth napkins on the tablet next to Johanna.

She rapped his knuckles with her pen. “I can do that.”

“I don’t mind. It’s my business. Doing little things like this sets a good example. All work here is noble.”

“I know what you’re doing. Are you going to hover all day?” She cut him a look with her fingers paused over the calculator.
 

“Maybe.”
Yes
.
 

“I’m fine.”

“I know.” He kept his voice even, but it didn’t change a thing. He stayed close to her, letting his hope and his head struggle to the same terrible conclusion. The man who’d killed his ex-girlfriend was here. No way could he tell Johanna about this. She’d come so far and with so many new demons to fight, she didn’t need this one. No point anyway. He’d find and kill the bastard before he had a chance to touch her.

“You’re worried about something.”

Baron cupped her dimpled face and laid a kiss across her cheek. “Either everything is going to work out better than I’d imagined, or everything I’ve been building is about to crash down around me.”

“The restaurant looks great. I’m betting on the former.”

“I’m betting on you.”

A call from the back pulled him away, but worry kept him from concentrating. He twitched when he should have been teaching his staff and scowled at every new noise from outside. The distracted niggling plagued him for the rest of the day. The cause of his distress was also his salvation. Johanna led the staff and picked up the slack. It almost soothed him. He had a good team behind him and once this…obstacle…was out of the way, they could march forward together.
 

He ended work early in the afternoon and well before dark. Through careful orchestration, he kept everyone together long enough that they left at the same time. Tomorrow he’d get a designated block of parking spaces in the nearest public lot. Human or not, this was his pack now and he’d keep them all safe.

Somehow.

He fumbled with the radio until all of his employees’ cars pulled out. After another quick check around the block, he took the long way back to Johanna’s apartment, weaving through traffic, unable to tear his eyes from the mirrors. He saw nothing, scented nothing, but his own heartbeat drummed an anxious rhythm. Terror. It wasn’t something he was used to.

Out West, his father would have corralled the pack and set up a perimeter. Here, his troops consisted of his angel, a witch and a dragon.
 

Ugh, the witch. If there was a reason to come clean about all of this, she was it. Johanna was safe in his care, but this bastard might mistake Kate for sister. Johanna would never forgive him in anything happened to her. He had to come clean.

Johanna’s warm hand latched onto his before her apartment door closed. “Spill it. Your emotions are all over the place and Ray Charles could see you looking over your shoulder.”

“You should call Kate. I’ll tell you two at the same time.”

Hands went to hips, brows shot to the sky and Johanna’s lips curled. “You’ll tell me now and if I need to call my sister, I’ll be the one to make that decision.”

“Sometimes I forget how tough you are.”

“Tell me.”

“I didn’t mention everything about Wyoming.”

“The murder?”

He poured them both a drink. The hard stuff. She didn’t partake. “Her name was Nikki. She was filthy rich, never had to work a day in her life. Maybe that’s what made her so fun. Not a care in the world. Get this, the nanny who raised her, Theresa, became her maid when she grew up. That lady was probably the only person Nikki loved. Anyway, when the woman died, Nikki handled it with more partying and sleeping around. She got in thick to the drug scene and I bailed. None of
that
made it into papers when she died. Just me – the new guy.”

“Didn’t anyone stick up for you?”

He shook his head. “The oligarchs circled the wagons. What they hadn’t counted on was my father being a sheriff and having some contacts. He worked them hard to get my uncles out to investigate. Someone managed to get us onto the scene the night before the county released her house back to the family. We sat in that room for hours, embedding every scent into our memories. Some things you never forget. I may not know his face, but I know the killer and he’s here, Johanna.”

“And you’re just telling me now? When I walked along today—”

“I scented him on you when you came back. We should call Kate.”

“What does my sister have to do with this?”

“If…
if
...he’s following me, he knows that we’re close. She looks just like you.”

“Minus thirty pounds…”

“You’re doing this now? Really?”

“I think I’ve proven myself enough of a survivor. If it involves me, you tell me. If it involves you, you tell me. And heaven help anyone stupid enough to go after Kate.”

“I never doubted you.”

Johanna’s hand landed on his chest. Her heat seared through the fabric of his shirt, scorching the skin over his heart – the one she now controlled.
 

“You did. I forgive you because I know it came from right here. But whatever happens next, we’ll work through it together.”

The impossible happened after she kissed him. His heart grew, filled with a love he hadn’t known. He’d kept her like a thing to protect, something soft to keep safe. Apparently, that wasn’t what he wanted. This was. A partner. Someone he could trust to fight for him and stand at his side. This was the kind of woman you didn’t let go of.
 
Even if she came attached to a sociopath for a sister.
 

“I’ll leave you alone to call Kate.” He almost made it to the hallway before the guilt gnawed him to the point of pain. “There’s just one more thing.”

“I’m not liking this whole fear and foreboding look you’ve got going on.”

“I’m really glad you’ve been avoiding the media.”

“Because?”

“Because…hell. They haven’t caught the third guy.” He waited for an explosion that didn’t come. Johanna turned away from him and that ended up being a whole lot worse. “Say something. I need you to tell me you understand why I did it.”

“
It,
meaning lying to me? Kate must have been in on it too, then?”

“Yes.”

“And Jack?”

“In case he called I needed him to—”

“Back you up when you weren’t here to lie to me,” she said, voice thin as autumn leaves. “You talk all this crap about Mates and fairy tales and—”

“You’re afraid of your shadow. I knew…I know we’ll catch him. I only wanted to give you a little peace.”

“Great.” Her cell started ringing which was just as well since he had no clue where to go from here. He turned to leave and got smacked in the back of the head with her phone.
 

“It’s Kate. You can tell her yourself, since you’re so chummy.”

He almost did, but he didn’t want any more secrets between them. Silently, he walked her cell phone back over, left it on the pillow next to her and closed the bedroom door behind him.

Chapter Thirteen

She woke up tired, scared, pissed off and knowing she was loved. Last night’s call to Kate started with raised voices, progressed to cursing and ended with crying. All three from Kate’s end of the phone.

She made it clear to her sister that neither she, nor Baron, were to EVER withhold anything from her again, but she’d heard the pain in Kate’s voice and seen the heartache in Baron’s eyes when she’d sent him to sleep on the couch.
 

Her two know-it-alls cared. Annoying, but loving.

And both surprised her.

She’d always suspected Kate loved her because she had to. Not anymore. And while Kate had refused to uproot her life, she promised to turn on her alarm system and call first thing every morning.
 

Unfortunately, that meant getting a 4 a.m. wakeup call. Baron grumbled about it being better than not getting one and rolled out of bed. She mostly agreed.

Usually, she couldn’t go back to sleep after speaking with Kate. She either decompressed, cried, or rocked in a corner hugging herself. Today, she laughed.

Baron’s breakfast tray at the edge of the bed doubled down on her swelling heart.

Baron.

He’d skipped right past infatuation and into love, bringing her along for the ride. And what a roller coaster. All fun and dizzying highs and when it dropped low, he held her hand the whole way through.

“I’m glad we made up. I like sleeping with you,” he said, holding a sausage above her mouth. “I like feeding you too. I even love how you love your sister.”

She took a bite and leaned against the headboard. “Love? Because you nose tells you to? You’re still not freaked out about Mates and too fast love?”

“I’m happy. I’m not going to question it. Are you better without me?”

She had to shake her head.
 

“See? Then my nose isn’t as broken as I thought it was. Is yours?”

“I guess I needed to learn how to trust it. C’mon. Let’s go to work. If I stay here for too long, I’ll lose my mind. We don’t have choice. It’s not like we can move back dates at the restaurant. Too many people rely on you. ”

Baron shoved in a forkful of eggs. “It’s a little early and bigger fish, babe.”