I have nothing planned for tomorrow. Why?”
“Nothing. I will call you after my meeting, yeah? Don’t leave the house without me. We can run errands together tomorrow afternoon.”
“What? Why?”
“Chantal,” he sighed, sounding exasperated. “Just please listen to me right now. It is late, and I have a lot of stuff to deal with. We will talk tomorrow, okay?”
She didn’t like the way he was talking to her. It was short and held nothing of the loving tone he usually used.
But she didn’t really know him all that well yet, did she? It had only been two weeks. Maybe mates could turn into real assholes. She would have to ask another shifter. Jeremy was out, but maybe she could call Gwen for some girl talk.
“Chantal, goodnight.”
“Okay, goodnight.”
“Night.”
Chantal looked down at the phone in confusion. Why had Rush decided to call her? More than that, why had he been so abrupt? The uneasy feeling that started in the pit of her stomach earlier grew and grew.
When she finally fell asleep, she had nightmares of wolves chasing her.
Chapter Sixteen
Rush
To be back once again at the Winslow Hotels headquarters so soon was either a really good thing or a really bad thing. Rush wasn’t a fool. He knew better than to expect that Jeremy and his family would hand over the help needed to save one of the family branches.
Rush respected the man who preferred to give him the bad news in person. It spoke to Jeremy’s better nature. It was very professional, a quality that Rush admired in others.
His mood was in the pits. He had barely slept at all after Chantal had called him about the strange man in her store. Rush couldn’t be sure, but he had the suspicion that the man was one of Spike’s cronies, spying on Chantal. It was pure paranoia, probably brought on by the fact that he hadn’t mated Chantal yet.
Still, he was comforted by the thought that she wasn’t going to leave her apartment all day. At least he knew she would be safe from Spike and whatever plan he might be cooking up. He had been debating calling Chantal to let her know his fears about Spike, but he didn’t want to worry her. This was his family’s mess, and he didn’t want Chantal to call Jeremy and put their lifelong friendship on the line.
He could fix it.
He would fix it.
To top it all off, Rush had spent the better part of the morning rifling through the entire house, the very last thing George Henry Winslow III had left the now-called Jensen family. There was nothing. No hidden door leading to a safe. No loose floorboard.
Only junk and some old white dresses packed into bags in a chest that his mate would probably be interested in.
If his ancestor had indeed taken the jewels, they had long since been traded in for cash. That was the truth of it. Even Marlon had been around to help him dig through the family’s belongings.
“The jewels are never going to be found. This is a dead-end. We can’t give them back to Jeremy to get his help, nor can we give them to Spike to get him off our backs.”
“Maybe we should dig in the family crypt.”
Rush’s head snapped in his brother’s direction. “Are you insane? We can’t do that.”
“I was only half-joking. It’s the only place we haven’t checked if you think about it.”
“We’re not going to dig up our dead relatives for treasure. That is final.”
“Fine, fine. Now, if you will excuse me, I’m leaving. My lovely girlfriend has a gig out of town, and I’m going with her. We’re using it as a little getaway. It’s exciting.”
“Just don’t spend money. We have none. We have a business to run and people who depend on us.”
As Rush rode the elevator up to Jeremy’s office, he couldn’t help but think of Marlon and all of the trouble his brother would get into while out with his newest girlfriend. It must be nice to be the brother without any sort of responsibility.
The elevator dinged, signaling his arrival. Jeremy was once again sitting in the conference room. His head was bowed over the business plan Rush had given him.
“Jeremy,” he said by way of greeting.
“Rush, please take a seat. Thanks so much for coming in to talk. I really do prefer having these kinds of conversations in person.”
“Of course.”
“So, listen, this business plan is impressive. I do think it would be a viable option for Winslow Hotels. Unfortunately, the