over there and stop whatever travesty is being planned before it can be fully carried out. First, I need to find Echo, lock him up and interrogate him until he finally breaks and shares all of his deep, dark secrets.
Nine
Vaughn
The weird feeling I had finally eases and I suspect it has to do with the man striding into his office. For someone who never thought she’d have a mate, I find myself craving the time we spend with each other. Gaia, who just let us know that her sister was on the way to meet the babies, pops her head in once he’s sitting down.
“Sheriff, Dooly just picked Echo up. He’s bringing him in shortly,” she states. “Ladies, I’m about to order some lunch so let me know what you want from the diner and I’ll hook you up as well.”
She then disappears as quickly as she showed up, causing me to giggle. “Is she always like that?” I ask Trigger. I’ve known her and her family all my life but I’ve never worked with her so I have no clue if she’s like this all the time or not in a work setting. His facial expression is indecipherable right now and my leopard is yowling inside wanting to help him.
“She’s gotten worse,” he admits. “Although, she’s definitely a huge asset to this department as well as the community.”
“I like her, she’s feisty,” I say. “She has to be to keep up with you.”
His bark of laughter sends frissons of delight through my body since I wasn’t expecting him to find what I said funny. “She keeps me on my toes. Do you know what she did?” he asks, pulling something out from under his desk calendar. “She made me a cheat sheet of common terms that I might not understand because I’m a shifter supernatural, not a witch or Fae.”
I start giggling at the disgusted look on his face. He’s always so in control that him not knowing something must have aggravated him. “That was nice of her,” I finally stammer out.
He’s about to say something when there’s a knock on his door. One of his deputies sticks his head in at Trigger’s bellow to come in and says, “Dooly’s here and has Echo in Room One, Sheriff.”
“That’s my cue to get to work,” he says, standing and grabbing his hat. Placing it on his head, he comes toward where I’m sitting with Emmaline and I watch in fascination as his finger lightly strokes her cheek before he leans in and whispers, “We have much to discuss, mate.”
Oh my. At this point, whether or not we have hell raining down on us, I want to see where this discussion might lead.
“Well, that was enlightening to watch,” Shyla states. I was so caught up in all things Trigger that I completely forgot that my best friend was sitting there, watching it all.
“Whatever,” I scoff.
“No, seriously. The two of you entered your own little world and it was as if I ceased to exist,” she replies.
“Shyla, my leopard recognizes he’s my mate, as does his bear. But we kind of have our hands full dealing with the missing lion baby and these two,” I tell her, shifting my eyes between the two babies. “You know how mates are; they get lost in one another when they first find each other. We don’t have that luxury so just shut it, okay?” I probably sound snippier than I should but us not connecting is bothering me on a visceral level. Most nights, I toss and turn, longing for something I’ve never had.
“Sorry, sorry. Maybe he’ll get to the bottom of one of the issues since it sounds like they brought someone in who they’ve been looking for?” she asks, probing me for answers.
I shrug because other than the file I peeked at earlier, I honestly have no clue what else he might be investigating. From the sound of things, he’s got his hands full. I know he’s trying to get to the bottom of the rogues who are trying to perpetuate their evil, but it’s possible that the former sheriff left him hanging. Who knows? I’m about to reply when there’s a knock on the door and Gaia strolls in, her sister behind her.
Pushing thoughts of Trigger aside, I focus on the here and now and soon, am lost in all things baby.
Trigger
I glance down at the file I pretty much have memorized before my gaze lands on the man in front of