Page 24 of No Strings Attached

“I can cook,” Sam offered. “You don’t have to spend your money.”

“That would require you being on your feet. Do you want me to take you back to Dr. Baldwin?”

“This resting is going to drive me insane,” Sam groaned. “I can sit in a chair while I cook.”

“No dice.” Morgan headed toward the door. “I’ll let you rest on the couch tomorrow instead of being stuck upstairs, but you’re not touching a toe on the floor.”

Sam still hadn’t fallen back to sleep when the sun began to rise because he couldn’t stop thinking about the guy across the hall from him.

* * * *

When Deputy Danali Davis pulled into Morgan’s driveway to watch the house, Morgan headed to the station. He checked on Sam before he left and found his mate asleep.

Morgan didn’t plan on staying gone for long. He just wanted to look over the footage, even though Cannon had already done it. When Morgan walked into the station, he was a bit surprised he didn’t miss it. Since becoming a deputy, all he’d done was clock as many hours as he could because he hated sitting at home alone.

Now that Sam was there, Morgan was anxious to get back to him. “What do you have?”

Cannon sat forward when Morgan took the seat next to his desk. He pulled up a file and played a video clip, tapping his pen on the screen. “When you pulled in with your mate, this burgundy car slowly rolled past.”

Morgan tried to make out the driver but couldn’t. He couldn’t even read the back plate because it looked as if mud had been wiped across it.

“While you were in Sheriff Harper’s office, the same car came back, only the guy parked at the curb and got out.”

Hope blossomed that they would get a clear view of the guy, but whoever it was not only wore a baseball cap and sunglasses but he made sure not to look at the cameras. That told Morgan the asshole knew where they were located on the exterior of the building.

“What about when I left in my own truck?”

Cannon shook his head. “The car stayed parked for half an hour after you took off.”

Sam had been damn smart to duck down. He’d seen the guy slowly rolling by. That was why he insisted on being hauled into the station like a perp.

“We can still find him,” Morgan said. “How many burgundy cars can there be in our county?”

Cannon glanced at him. “Surprisingly, fifteen.”

“Seriously?” Morgan said. “I had no idea that color was so popular.”

After minimizing the video, Cannon began to type and pulled up a list. “I ran all fifteen registrations. Twelve belong to elderly men or women. Apparently, they love the color. One was just signed over to a junk yard last week, and one has been in our impound for the past month.”

“And the last one?”

“Registered to a high school student.” Cannon turned in his seat. “Either your guy borrowed the car from an elderly family member, registered the car somewhere else, or it’s stolen.”

Which meant it would be damn near impossible to find. He didn’t want to visit every elderly person on the list. That would tip the guy off that the police were trying to track him down. Morgan didn’t want him to skip town. He wanted the bastard to pay for what he’d done.

“Sam said the guy approached him in the park. He was charming, befriending my mate. Can you look into any cases that might involve that same M.O?”

“Because if he’s done it once, odds are he’s done it before,” Cannon said. “It would really help if we had a name.”

“Sam is too terrified to talk,” Morgan said. “He doesn’t know I’m a shifter who can handle this punk. When I asked him what the guy used to hurt him, he said he didn’t see the weapon.”

Cannon glanced at him. “You think he knows.”

“I’m betting he does, but he thinks I won’t believe him, because who would believe someone grew claws and attacked him?”

“I really want to catch this guy,” Cannon said with narrowed eyes.

“So do I,” Morgan replied. “I think it best that Sam’s car stays in impound. If I take it home, whoever is after him will see it and know where Sam is.” Morgan stood. “No more impound fees.”

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