Chapter 10
PANTING, John’s bear raced into one of the caves on the farthest end of Gemini Island. Luckily he’d had a good head start when Connor began chasing him, enough of one he’d been able to stow his gun in a hollowed tree stump. The man’s cat was fast, and John’s bear was no match for it as far as speed was concerned. However, he had the extra motivation of not wanting to be torn apart by an angry lover.
Padding softly into the cave, John shifted back into human form. He’d stowed his clothes in there earlier and was eager to change into them. Fully clothed once more, he sat down and tried to catch his breath.
He’d tried to shoot a man today.
He’d attempted to kill a man today.
How on earth had he managed to sink so low?
It must have been when Hill threatened to stuff and mount him.
“Bring me Elaine Gleason,” Hill had said during their last phone call. “I don’t care what you have to do.”
“But Connor is always with her,” argued John.
“Then get rid of Connor.”
Hill had provided him with a gun. A fucking gun. John hadn’t even held one before. He’d had to learn how to use it quickly.
Unfortunately those YouTube lessons hadn’t taught him enough to bring down Connor Church.
Truth be told, John had been avoiding Elaine of late. He didn’t like the idea of turning her over to Hill. He knew Hill had nothing good planned for her and her kids. Killing women and children struck him as distasteful.
And yet when he’d seen Elaine’s fine ass grinding against Connor in the woods, it had seemed like serendipity.
I want her, and I want those cubs. Make it happen.
If only his shots had hit home. If he’d managed to kill Connor, he would have been able to spirit Elaine away. He would have had to come back for the cubs, which wouldn’t have been easy, but Hill seemed more interested in mama bear anyway.
He stood and poked his head out of the cave, breathing deeply. He detected the scent of a pissed-off mountain lion, but it was far away. He’d obviously lost Connor.
He needed to head home and act calmly.
He reached for the resort nametag in his pants pocket and affixed it to his shirt. As he exited the cave, he snagged his shirt on a jutting piece of rock. It tugged and tore, leaving a small hole in his shirt. “Dammit!”
Closing his eyes, John breathed in and out. “Relax. Settle down.” He ran his hands through his hair. It didn’t help. His chest hadn’t stopped heaving.
He hated that he had to do this, but he had no choice. Hill had the goods on him. The trafficker knew all his dirty secrets.
But when would he get another chance? Now everyone on the island would be on alert.
Connor wouldn’t let Elaine out of his sight now. It was clear the man saw her as more than a friend. He loved her and would do anything to protect her. His furious yowls had said so.
That meant John needed to be smarter. Above all, it meant he needed to separate them.
“Separate them?” he mumbled to himself.
How was it he’d been reducing to plotting a couple’s demise? John might have taken one or two of badly aimed shots, but it didn’t mean he had it in him to butcher an innocent family.
He had to find some other way to pay Hill back, with enough interest the loan shark wouldn’t pursue him. He could then disappear. There had to be a way.
His gambling addiction spoke up, rattling his bones with insistence. There’s always another way, friend. Feeling lucky tonight?
If he hurried over to the mainland and grabbed the number twelve bus, he’d be at the casino in no time. Hill might want the woman, but surely a wad of cash would sway him.
All he needed was one big win, and his problems would be solved.
* * * *
As Josh listened to her breathing, Elaine studied his face, as she’d been accustomed to doing. Although the doctor’s face was always schooled, the picture of calm, she’d glimpsed his nerves. Her case bothered him and not just as a medical professional, as a friend.
“Breathe in…and out.” He moved the stethoscope chestpiece to another spot on her back.
It was the first moment since the woods that she’d been able to catch her breath. To be able to sit quietly in the doctor’s office was almost a blessing, especially because she wasn’t feeding off Connor’s emotions as well.
Connor had joined her initially in the exam room, but Josh told him to wait in the reception area. Her feline friend had obeyed, but he hadn’t looked pleased. No doubt he was plaguing the receptionist Sharon with his incessant pacing. He didn’t wait well.
Of course, it had been a tumultuous day.
Connor had done his best to find the person who’d taken the shots at them but had come up emptyhanded. No matter how proficient he might be at stalking, Gemini Island was immense and boasted so many hiding places she doubted even Ryland knew them all. It didn’t stop Connor from worrying he’d failed her yet again, and he’d told her as much. Now he was fit to be tied.
They’d returned to her cabin, and he’d phoned Ryland to let him know what happened. The entire security team was now on high alert, scouring the woods. With everything they’d been through the last while, the team at the Ursa took any threat seriously. Perhaps the incident was some sort of accident, but none of them believed it.
Connor had brought Elaine up to speed on the illegal hunting situation. It made sense whoever pulled that trigger was involved in some way. Otherwise, there was no reason to run. There was certainly no reason to bring a weapon onto the island. No one hunted there, and if any of them needed to fight, they each had an arsenal of weapons at their disposal, courtesy of their animals.
Everyone on staff was now in a state of hypervigilance. With the resort working at full capacity once again, filled with teen program attendees and their families, the last thing any of them wanted was trouble.
As Ryland had said to Connor on the phone, so loudly Elaine could hear it too, “If someone else has come to fuck with us, they’ll learn they fucked with the wrong animals.”
No one was in the mood for this shit, least of all Elaine. She’d already lost enough.
As she stared ahead at the white paint on the exam room walls, her eyes glazing, Elaine wondered how Connor was faring in reception.
That kiss.
That naked kiss.
She wasn’t even sure what to think about it. Thinking seemed impossible in the face of that caress. There was no thought, only feeling. She remembered each rasp of his beard on her face, each nibble on her lips. The velvet embrace of his tongue was something she knew she’d dream about that night.
Although borne of adrenaline and fear, it had been the perfect kiss. She knew she’d be spending much of her time dreaming about how to sneak another.
When they’d returned to her cabin, Connor had fetched them a couple of robes to warm them up. He’d then insisted on patching up her hip wound. Her hips had already started bruising from colliding with the trees, but when he glimpsed the cut he’d given her, he grimaced.
“I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay. It doesn’t hurt much.”
With gentle fingers, he’d scraped out the tiny bits of debris and applied alcohol. Sighing, he’d covered it in gauze and sealed it with first-aid tape.
Connor met her gaze and smiled when he found a twig in her hair. Pulling it out, he said, “We need to talk.”
“I know.” Although somehow Elaine knew any talking would lead to more kissing, and any kissing would lead to other things she wasn’t ready for.
The little voice inside her, the one belonging to her frail human rather than her bear, reminded her of her betrayal of Lloyd’s trust. How could you kiss another man?
Luckily, with everything going on and with having to go to Josh’s clinic, there was no opportunity to talk to Connor about their newfound intimacy. She’d had to call Fleur to ask her to keep the kids inside, and Connor had been busy with security issues. Once they were settled, they’d taken one of Lex’s boats to the mainland, and Connor had taken her to the clinic.
Josh completed his examination. He removed his stethoscope, sat down on his stool, and stared at her.
“Josh?”
“I’m sorry, Elaine.” He rubbed a hand over his pale face. “It’s just…your heart.”
Whatever state her heart was in, it sank. “Don’t tell me. It’s gotten worse.”
“Actually, no.”
“What?”
He jumped to his feet, put the stethoscope on again and placed the chestpiece under her hospital gown. He was quiet for a moment, listening as if her heartbeat was a signal from aliens in outer space. When he removed the instrument from her chest, he gave her another befuddled, blue-eyed stare. “I don’t know how this is possible, especially given the stress you endured in the woods. Each time I’ve examined you, your heartbeat has grown more erratic. Right now, it’s beating steadily. In fact, it’s the strongest I’ve heard on anyone in quite some time. You have the ideal resting heart rate for a shifter woman of your age.”
“Okay.”
“Tell me again what happened in the woods. I need to know everything.”
Oh. She might have left out the detail about Connor’s kiss and about them being in their birthday suits. “Well, as you know, I was feeling restless and unable to sleep. I overheard Connor talking to you on the phone. It sounded bad. I got upset, so I shifted and went for a little run.”
“Little.” He frowned. “It sounds as if you were trying out for the hundred meter. Against my specific instructions, I’ll remind you.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. Anyway, of course he chased me.” The sound of his mountain lion paws pounding the ground echoed in her mind. “We were both emotional. When he caught up to me, we sort of tumbled together. And, um, when we shifted back, we…kissed.”
God bless Josh and his bedside manner. If he felt any sort of surprise, it barely registered on his face. “I see. That’s a new detail.”
“I guess it is.”
“And then someone shot at you?”
“Yeah. You know everything else.”
He nodded and began to pace. “I won’t lie to you, Elaine. This is all highly unusual. I’ve never seen a shifter in your position recover from an ailing heart. Once the decline sets in, I’ve never known it to be anything other than irreversible.”
“Great.”
A spark lit up his eyes. “It is great. I mean, what’s happened to you is great. This changes things. This makes me optimistic.”
A wave of relief washed over her, but she was cautious not to let it sweep her away. “Okay. So what do we do? Why the sudden change?”
He gnawed on the inside of his cheek and then held up a finger. “Just give me one moment.” He walked outside the examination room. When he returned, he was dragging Connor by the arm. He moved Connor in front of her. “Kiss her.”
Elaine and Connor both looked at Josh. “What?”
Josh grew more excitable. “I know about the kiss. I need you to do it again.” He waved his hand. “Look, I know this is weird, but I swear it’s for medical research. Just pretend I’m not here.” He sat on his stool, crossed his arms over his chest, and waited. “Go on.”
Elaine turned to Connor and shrugged.
His mouth twitched on one side, a hint of amusement under his beard. “Seeing as it’s for medical research.”
She breathed in his scent as he joined her at the exam table. Nudging her knees open, he stood between them. Curling his fingers behind her neck, he brought her mouth to his. Her whimper escaped into his kiss, and she leaned into him, closing her eyes.
His tongue slid against hers.
Oh, yes. This.
Gluttony. Luxury. Sin. Everything she hadn’t felt in a long while and everything she thought she’d never feel again.
Connor’s other hand snaked over her hip, gently grasping, pulling her closer. He licked at the corners of her mouth, teased and explored, and then dove back in again on a low growl.
His mountain lion became visible to her bear for the first time. The creatures moved toward one another, tentative, sniffing the air around each other. Although of different species, they recognized each other as kindred souls, bonded by history and lust. Her bear bumped its head against the cat’s neck. The mountain lion purred and nuzzled her spirit animal, licking the side of her bear’s head.
Elaine’s insides melted into the most wonderful puddle of goo. Her breathing calmed. Her body stilled. The constant weight around her dissipated. She had an image of a balloon floating into space, with a tiny Elaine clinging to its ribbon. It carried her into space.
Into bliss.
“Okay, that’s great, thanks. You can stop now, if you’d like.”
At Josh’s words, she remembered where she was. Hot in the cheeks, she pulled away. Connor licked his lips, his eyes narrowed on her.
The tide rushing between them had changed. It would carry her away. It was just a matter of time now.
Josh listened to her chest once again and asked her to breathe in and out a few times. When he was done, he stepped away. He ran a hand through his hair, leaving a couple of blond tufts sticking up. “Unbelievable. I’ve never seen anything like it.” He sat down and proceeded to jot some notes down in her file, mumbling to himself. “Of course, studies with both humans and shifters have shown the power of physical contact is a palpable thing. We are programmed, after all, to respond to the touch of our fellow humans, or nonhumans in this case. One only needs to examine the cases of infants exposed to differing circumstances. Those who are deprived of touch end up at higher risk for developmental problems; whereas those who receive emotional engagement via touch tend to thrive. Nevertheless, these results are unprecedented.”
“Josh, dude.” Connor nodded. “You’re not defending your thesis. What’s going on?”
The doctor grinned. “Sorry about the rambling. It does appear, Elaine, that your heart is responding well to this physical expression of affection. However, my suspicion is the significance of the source, rather than the actual kiss. For instance, if I kissed you, I doubt we’d see the same results. There needs to be some sort of strong, underlying bond.” He paused.
They both waited, silent.
“In short,” Josh said, laughing, “Connor’s kiss appears to be…healing you.”
Her jaw dropped.
“I’m at a loss for any other explanation. My colleagues in the shifter medical community will be eager to hear about this. I don’t want to jump the gun, and I wouldn’t say my findings are worthy of publication. However, if a loving touch from a significant person can heal a shifter in mourning, we may be able to save others from dying. Of course, I’m getting ahead of myself. For now, I think it’s safe to say we can trust your heart to Connor, so to speak. I will want to keep monitoring your progress, but there’s no reason for you to stay here tonight. You can go home.”
“And?”
Josh blushed. “You’re two consenting adults. The rest is up to you.”
She turned to Connor.
“Did you hear what the doc said?” His smile lit up in cocky splendor. “My kiss is healing you.”
Oh, brother. She would never hear the end of this one.
* * * *
Despite the friendly commotion back at Elaine’s cabin, Connor couldn’t follow the conversation. His every thought, his every breath, was caught up in Elaine. Although their friends had swung by to help, he wanted to tell them all to go home so he could try out another kiss and check her heart rate.
“Important decision time.” Fleur held up a box of crispy rice cereal and a couple of bags of marshmallows. “Crispy rice squares with plain marshmallows or pink and green marshmallows?”
Layla and Andy jumped up. “Pink and green!”
“All right. Let’s get cracking.” Fleur directed the kids toward the kitchen of her cabin. “I’m hungry. Lia, come help me. I’ve never made these things before.”
“It’s the easiest recipe ever, and it’s right on the box,” teased Lia, caressing her protruding belly.
“But I burn everything,” explained Fleur.
“It’s true,” joked Fleur’s mate, Jani. “She needs help.”
Fleur stuck her tongue out at him. “That’s not what you said last night.”
Andy leaned against Fleur’s leg. “Did you help Uncle Jani last night?”
“I sure did. In his favorite way.” Fleur turned red. “So, Lia, those rice squares? Please.”
Ryland went to help Lia out of her chair. She grimaced as she stood.
“Are you okay, babe?” asked Ryland.
“Yeah.” Lia exhaled and smiled. “The little guy’s just getting heavy, that’s all. He’s been moving around a lot lately.”
Ryland bent down and kissed her tummy. “Hey, little man, take it easy on your mom, okay? We need to look after her.” He stood and kissed her on the mouth. “We won’t be long. Save me a rice square.”
Lia hugged him and walked into the kitchen.
Connor was left in the living room with Ry, Jani, and Elaine. Although the other women had disappeared into the kitchen, Elaine seemed reticent to join them. She hung back, standing close to Connor.
She’d been quiet ever since they returned from the doc’s office, no doubt mulling over the strange kiss experiment. He couldn’t stop thinking about it either.
She touched his sleeve. “I want you guys to be careful out there.”
The temptation to tease was too great. “Are you worried about me? I can see how you might be. After all,” he said, leaning in and whispering, “I’m your personal healer. You know, with my kisses.”
“Yeah, yeah.” She glanced at Ry and Jani, but they were deep in discussion and hadn’t heard them. “Thanks, Doctor Oz.”
She might prefer to act as if their kiss hadn’t upended her world, but he knew it had, and that was because everything in his world had changed too. That one kiss, that one naked kiss, had put a fine point on all Connor’s muddled emotions. The one in the doctor’s office had merely sealed the deal. He wanted to taste Elaine again, to see if he could make her moan and whimper. He wanted to dance his hands over those perfect hips and hold her closer than he’d ever held anyone else.
He wanted to be naked with her again, and this time, he wouldn’t allow anyone to interrupt them.
Jani opened the front door to the cabin. “Connor, we’ll meet you outside.” He and Ryland exited and closed the door. Through the front window, Connor spotted flashes of brown and orange fur. Jani had shifted into his tiger, and Ryland had changed into his bear.
Connor turned to Elaine. “I shouldn’t keep them waiting.”
“It’s a cold night.”
“We’ll be warm.” As a fellow shifter, she knew their fur would keep them toasty.
“I know you want to track the shooter, but don’t you think it would be better in the daytime?”
She was worried about him. The knowledge made his throat run dry from thirst. Connor ran a hand along her arm. “It’s already been hours, and the forecast calls for more snow tomorrow. We need to get out there now if we have any hope of figuring out who might have done this.”
“I get it. I would just rather come with you.”
“No way. I realize my kisses are extremely powerful, but it wasn’t all that long ago you were having heart palpitations.”
“You’re never going to let me live it down, are you?”
“No.” He smiled. “Never.”
“Just…don’t stay out late and be careful.”
“Are you going to miss me, lady?”
“Connor.”
He drew her in, making her start. With one arm wrapped around her waist, he kissed her on the cheek. Moving slowly, noting the way she held her breath, Connor kissed his way toward her neck. He found that soft spot right under her ear and flicked his tongue against her lobe. Her breath escaped in a soft, shaky puff of air.
He pulled away, pleased with the pink tones of arousal along her neck. “I’ll miss you, too.”
There was a light thud on the window. Connor looked over his shoulder. Jani’s tiger head-butted the pane again, as if to say, “We’re waiting.”
He waved at Jani’s tiger and kissed Elaine one more time, this time on the forehead. “I’ll be back before you know it.” Hoping to give her another little thrill, he began to strip out of his clothes, his gaze pinned on her face.
She looked back and forth between him and the kitchen. “Um, wouldn’t you rather undress outside?”
“Nope. I’d rather undress in front of you.” He tossed his shirt on the couch and pulled off his socks. Grinning, he began to work on his jeans.
Elaine shook her head and laughed, looking away, but as he lowered his jeans and underwear, her gaze slowly returned. Her lips fell open.
“What’s the matter, lady? You’ve seen me naked lots of times.”
“It’s different now, and you know it.”
“I do know it.” He held out his hands and spun for her. “Like what you see?”
“Connor, the kids are just in the other room.”
“We’ll talk later. Maybe then you can point out exactly what you like best.”
“Go.” She laughed. “You egomaniac.”
Connor opened the door and headed outside. Two huge predators awaited him outside, and neither was known for their patience. The bear and the tiger prowled the area in front of the cabin, their eyes shining in the night. As he shut the door and shifted into his mountain lion, they greeted him with muted growls. Connor looked back once, to make sure Elaine locked up behind him. As soon as he saw her blonde hair in the window and heard the click of the door lock, he followed the others into the black woods.
His flirty mood had disappeared the moment he stepped foot outside the door.
Right now, Connor wanted blood.
After reining in his temper for the better part of the day, when what he really wanted to do was tear up the island in search of the little shit who’d tried to shoot them, he was now eager to check his good manners at the door.
The shooter could have hurt Elaine.
He knew without a doubt the bullet had been meant for him. In rooting out troublemakers over the past few years, he’d made one or two enemies. In keeping the Ursa free from mischief, it was par for the course. It was possible someone held a grudge.
However, if he’d learned anything in security, it was to trust his instincts. Right now his gut was on fire.
His mountain lion told him, in no uncertain terms, that although the shooter had been gunning for him, the real target was Elaine. He couldn’t explain it and would need proof, but he couldn’t shake the sensation someone meant her harm.
Of course, he couldn’t think of a soul who’d want to hurt her. She’d never been the cause of anyone’s misery and only had friends on the island.
Perhaps this had something to do with the harvesting of animal organs. Maybe the hunter had wound his way to the island, arriving without detection. The shooter had probably witnessed their frantic run through the woods and had taken a shot, intent on bagging their spirit animals.
The theory bothered him for more than one reason. No human could have made it onto Gemini Island without at least one of the shifters noting his presence. In general, humans didn’t find their way to the Ursa Resort. Only shape shifters did. In fact, the last humans who wandered onto the island were Lia and Nina, but neither of them had understood the nature of the place.
For that reason, the shooter must be one of them. Perhaps not a member of the staff, or one of the guests, but the huntsman had to be a shape shifter.
The prospect sickened Connor.
When he’d shared his theory with Ryland and the others, they’d felt the same way. When the Alpha Brethren had burned the lodge to the ground, killing a number of their friends, they all thought they’d seen the last of their troubles. This time, it seemed even more of a personal affront, whether or not the shooter intended it to be one.
He would pay for turning his gun in their direction.
Even now, as he and his friends traversed the paths, taking note of the various scents nearby, Connor begged Lloyd to give him some guidance. Lloyd didn’t appear, though. Somehow Connor knew his friend had finally moved on.
They headed back to where Connor and Elaine had been standing when the gun was fired so he could double check his directions and retrace his steps. He’d raced off so quickly after the gunshot and didn’t want to make a mistake. Once there, the three men changed back into human form in order to communicate. Although shape shifters could speak telepathically with their mates and those in their immediate families, Connor didn’t have that sort of connection with Jani and Ryland.
“This is the spot?” asked Ryland.
“Yeah,” said Connor. “When the bullets whizzed by, they seemed to be coming from the east.” He pointed toward a copse of linden trees.
“Aren’t there some caves in that area?” asked Jani.
Ryland nodded. “There are caves all over the island, cut into the rock face. When I first bought this land, I heard lots of stories about how this island has always been sacred to shape shifters. Early people used it as a place of sanctuary. The many caves provided them with shelter and with an escape route. I was told you could even find native writings on some of the cave walls, but I’ve never found any, and I’ve gone through most of them.”
“We should split up and cover the ground in the immediate area.” Connor pointed out the directions he wanted to search. “If someone discharged a gun anywhere near here, we should still be able to detect the smell of gunpowder.”
Nodding, Ryland and Jani each shifted back into animal form and headed off in different directions.
Connor transformed into his mountain lion and headed east, toward the closest caves. As he stalked through the woods, his pads chilling on the cold ground, his great cat issued several low, gargling growls.
The beast wanted revenge. It had grown fond of its lady bear. It appreciated her round haunches and her soft fur. It liked the way she moved and smelled. Connor knew the cat would kill anyone who tried to harm Elaine’s spirit animal. It wanted to be a guardian to her bear cubs. Although, in the wild, male mountain lions left their females after mating, Connor’s cat had adopted its human’s emotions. It saw Layla and Andy as its own kittens, different species notwithstanding. It wanted to shelter them, to teach them how to hunt. It wanted to bring them meat and help them grow.
It wanted to create new hybrid cubs with their mother.
Whoa. Connor admonished the animal. I’ve barely kissed her, dude. Calm down.
She is a strong bear woman, the cat said on a silent snarl. She will produce powerful offspring with us.
Connor ignored the mountain lion and continued to hunt for any trace of the shooter. A piece of clothing, shell casings, anything. For a couple of hours, he and his friends circled the area but found nothing other than stale scents. A light dusting of snow had already fallen, and any remaining scents had already faded. Connor hated to return emptyhanded, but he wasn’t sure he had a choice.
In front of the last cave, he shifted and whistled to his friends. Ryland was first through the trees, his enormous bear brushing against the large ferns at their bases. As it walked into the clearing, its paws crushed the undergrowth. Jani’s tiger was right behind him. It made almost no noise, stalking as if it had been born to the task. They both shifted.
“I found nothing,” said Jani.
Ry shook his head. “Same here. The bastard covered his tracks.”
In frustration, Connor banged his hand against the cave opening. “Fuck.”
“Connor,” said Ryland. “We’ll find him. I’ve already told the police everything that happened. They’re stepping up their own patrols on the mainland, and I’ve asked Drew to send me some shifter officers to hang out on the island for the next while. If these hunters put even one wrong foot forward, we’ll get them.”
Connor paced in front of the cave, kicking up some of the snow at his bare feet. He didn’t even care that his skin was pink. He was too angry to feel cold. “I just wanted to be able to give Elaine some assurance. She’s been doing better lately. I don’t want her to have a setback.”
“She won’t,” said Ryland.
“I can’t explain it, guys,” said Connor. “I don’t like this. My cat is in turmoil. It keeps telling me to protect Elaine, that she’s in danger. And this isn’t just me being overprotective toward a friend. Something’s wrong. I just don’t know how to connect the dots.”
He paced a few more feet, and a new scent reached his nostrils. It was faint, but his feline senses honed in on it. It was coming from under his feet. He stopped walking and inhaled. The others did the same, gathering around him.
“I smell it too,” said Jani.
“Gunpowder residue,” said Connor.
Ryland crouched at Connor’s feet, breathing in and out. “And something else.” He dug in the snow and produced what looked like a torn piece of beige fabric. He looked up. “I know the scent attached to this. It belongs to one of my waiters. John Page.”
John Page. Connor swirled the name around in his mouth.
It tasted like betrayal.
“Where does he live?” Connor seethed.
Ryland stood and shook his head. “Oh, no, my friend. I won’t have you running off like some half-cocked vigilante. If John is involved, the police need to talk to him.”
“Ry…”
“It’s not up to me,” said Jani, “but I think you should tell Connor where the little fuck lives. Nothing wrong with a little vigilante justice. It’s all some people understand.”
Ryland made a face. “Look, John hasn’t been a model employee, but he’s still on my team. If he’s involved, I guarantee he’s not the brains of this operation. Sure, we could take him out tonight, but it wouldn’t solve the problem. Another hunter could show up tomorrow. We have no clue how big this thing is.”
“But—”
“Connor, I get it. If someone wanted to hurt Lia, you’d have to hold me back too. But let’s do this right. I’ll head back to the office and pull up John’s personnel file. He lives on the mainland, if I’m not mistaken. I’ll get the police to pay him a surprise visit. He might be able to tell us who runs the show.”
Although Connor’s inner predator preferred to go after John Page itself, Connor agreed with Ryland. If Page was indeed part of an illegal hunting operation, there were others involved.
They would all pay.