“Where do you run around here?”
She would have given him directions, but she needed to be alone to think. Her hectic and tiring schedule at the warehouse prevented any quality time. “There’s a National Park not far from here.”
“Great. Well, then, be safe.”
That wasn’t what she expected Mr. Protective to say. “I will. I usually only take about an hour.” She patted her hip pocket. “I have my cell in case I break down or something.”
He smiled, and for a second she was tempted to delve into that delicious man, but there would be time later for that pleasure.
“I’ll see you when you get back,” he said.
“Yup.”
Sarah left, a bit confused by Jay’s reaction. Not that she expected him to suggest they have a quickie, but she thought he’d have been a bit more amorous. Perhaps he was as upset as she was about the assistant buyer’s visit.
Right now, the best thing to do was go for her run and clear her head.
* * *
Jay was about to burst. Not wanting to overwhelm her when she’d walked in, he’d drawn on his training to appear calm. If his wolf had his way, he would have stripped her naked and devoured her, but he wanted to convince her they were right for each other first. He didn’t care what his inner beast said. Being mated wasn’t all about sex.
When she told him she was going for a run, he refrained from demanding she remain at the hotel where it was safe. She had to be aware that after the less-than-pleased buyer’s agent visit, Statler would out take his aggression on someone, and that person might be her.
At that horrid thought, the hairs on his body began to poke out and his bones cracked. The only solution was to follow her. In his reconnaissance of the area, he’d scoped it out enough to know the location of the National Park. After giving her a few minutes head start, he locked up and hopped in their rental.
Jay had barely turned onto the road when his cell rang. Plucking it from his pocket he glanced at the caller ID. It was Connolly. “Yeah?”
“Seems Trax and Dante have some superior talents.”
Jay huffed out a laugh. He’d not only heard about some of their exploits but had seen a few first hand. “What have they done this time?”
“Seems when they were installing the security system, Statler excused himself from the office and left his phone on the desk.”
“That never happened when I worked for him, but go on.”
“Let’s just say, that was about the time when I came to work for him.”
So, Connolly had caused a distraction. “Nice.”
“Bottom line, because of something they did to his phone, they were able to hack into his phone records.”
Fantastic. “What did they learn?”
“Statler received a call about an hour ago from a phone registered to a Norton Denmark. Since your cousin is on route back to Florida, I called the General who is having Chris look into that name. Most likely Denmark is an alias.”
“I agree.”
“The interesting part is that right after that call, Statler contacted a Dr. Gregory Elkhart.”
He ran the name in his head, but it didn’t sound familiar. “I take it the name means something to you?”
“You weren’t there when the buyer’s agent stopped by, but he was disgusted by the lack of care the women were receiving. I’m betting Statler was told in no uncertain terms that the women needed to be in better shape or the buyer would cancel the deal.”
Jay whistled. “Statler would go crazy if that happened. What do you know about Dr. Elkhart?”
“Chris is working on that, but Ford said Bailey thought that he was one of the doctors who’d been at the clinic. That’s why I’m calling. When you see Sarah tonight, could you ask her?”
Riley must have mentioned that Sarah would be staying with them. “Sure.”
“Let me know what you find out.”
“Will do.”
Once he disconnected, several thoughts raced through his head. One was that if the buyer had forced Statler’s hand by requiring the women to be taken care of, no one would be safe around him—especially Sarah. The second was that if Sarah did spot Jay following her, he could always say he needed some intel on Dr. Elkhart.
When he reached the park entrance and found her car, he smiled. Stepping out, he inhaled, but with the wind blowing, he couldn’t pick up her scent. There was only one path into the forest, so Jay jogged in until he was out of sight from the lot before shifting. Instantly, he caught her delicious signature that seemed to have been woven into the fabric of his being.
His goal was merely to keep her in sight and to make sure none of Statler’s men came after her. Jay wouldn’t be surprised if her boss gave Russ the go ahead to do what he wanted to her. Just the idea of anyone harming his woman caused a growl to almost escape, and the urge to go after Russ almost forced him to turn around. Doing so, though, would derail his mission, which was making sure Sarah remained safe.