Page 83 of Claiming Ours
“Yep. First we handle this meddling asshole, then figure out what to do about the harassing calls and texts.” I was frustrated and a little hurt that Baylee hadn’t told me, but I couldn’t focus on that now. “Let’s go teach that fucker that no one messes with our girl.”
And thank fuck Memphis was with me. Hopefully that meant Taylor would survive the hard lesson I planned to teach him the only way I knew how.
27
MEMPHIS
Ihad never felt such an intense anger running through my veins, heating me to the point of sweating despite the cool breeze. How fucking dare that asshole try to take my Kitten away from me.
From us.
The way the air almost vibrated in the truck’s cab spoke to a similar level of fury thrumming through Liam as we weaved through town, headed toward… hell, I didn’t know exactly where. At some point, Liam digressed to only grunts and snarls, which was fine. I wasn’t in a chatty mood either.
Sucking in a gulped breath, I jerked my hand up to grip the oh-shit bar when he took a tight turn too fucking fast. The tires squealed on the blacktop while my heart hammered in my chest from the building terror that the classic truck would flip with us in it, and our revenge mission would never happen.
“It’s not that he wanted to talk to her,” Liam said through gritted teeth as he peeled his white-knuckled grip off the steering wheel to readjust his too-tight hold. “It’s that he waited for us tobe the fuck out of town and cornered her in her own business. Fucking coward piece of shit.”
I nodded, but a sliver of unease filtered through the anger fog. The only doctor in Anchor Bay was about to need one.
Liam turned down a side road, where a few cabins sat far off the track, several acres between them. Everything in the truck jerked and bounced down the pothole-infested gravel road, making us both fight to keep our heads from smashing against the windows.
“Ah, fuck, I should’ve known,” Liam said, slamming a fist to the dashboard as he slowed the truck to a crawl.
“How the hell did he know we’d come here?” I muttered, gripping the door handle to jump out the second we came to a complete stop.
Blocking access to a long drive that I assumed led to the doctor’s house, sat Oliver’s official Jeep Grand Cherokee, with the man himself leaning against the side, arms crossed and glaring at the truck in disapproval.
“Because he knows me too well,” Liam grumbled while cutting the engine.
I was out the door before Liam could say another word, storming up to Oliver, who didn’t appear as concerned as he should have been. Though I had been around him a few times, so the man knew I wasn’t a big threat. With the tattoos and piercings, most people put me in the scary or troublemaker box, judging me before they ever knew me. Which I guess, before I got clean, maybe I was.
But not really. I was always dead set on hurting myself through my addictions, not anyone else. That didn’t make me a good man, but it sure as hell didn’t make me a bad one.
“What the hell, Oliver?” Liam shouted from somewhere behind me.
Oliver just sighed and shook his head like we’d drained the last of his patience. “I knew exactly where you’d come after she told you what happened. I can’t let you kill him, even if we are friends. I’m saving you from yourself, Liam.”
“He cornered her,” I said, crossing both tatted arms over my chest. The material of my long-sleeve shirt scratched against my skin. The sweat and dirt from the long ride back made it stiffer and more uncomfortable than it already was.
“But did nothing,” Oliver said, eyeing me and then Liam, who now stood beside me, mirroring my stance. “I know it was a shitty thing to do, but he doesn’t deserve to die for it. Plus, Baylee doesn’t deserve to see her new boyfriends behind bars for the next twenty-plus years for doing something stupid. Hell, probably more than that since he’s technically a lethal weapon with his MMA training.”
I raised both brows and turned to Liam, whistling low. “Damn, man. Why the hell do you carry that pistol, then?”
His smile held no warmth. “Faster and less bloody. But tonight, I’m itching for a messy one.”
“You’re very scary,” I deadpanned. “I’m glad we’re on the same team.”
“A bloody fight doesn’t sound good for the only doctor the citizens in Anchor Bay have. Think this through, Liam.” Oliver stood and cracked his knuckles one by one. “I really don’t want to detain you.”
We stood in a standoff, the two of us glaring at the deputy sheriff while he acted like this was a daily occurrence. Hell, maybe it was. I hadn’t been a part of the community for more than a few days, or in Anchor Bay for that matter. Maybe Liam threatened people’s lives all the time, which was how Oliver knew to come out here.
Based on what I’d gathered so far about Liam, that last one was probably the most accurate.
“If you won’t let us handle it our way, then what will you do with him?” I asked, doing my best to keep a level head.
Oliver cautiously eyed us both. “Legally, there isn’t anything I can do. There aren’t any laws against telling a woman how you feel, even if he went about it in the shadiest way possible. Baylee only came to me so I would monitor him. I don’t think he has anything to do with the missing women along the trail, but I’ll check him out just to be sure.”
“You need to ask him about the injury to his arm,” I said, tapping my forearm for reference. “It was bandaged the other day, and we think Hank bit the person who killed the owner.”
