Page 48 of Squatch Out!
After our mugs are filled and our orders have been taken, Brian clears his throat and leans over his folded arms, looking me pointedly in the eye. “I had no idea Darren was…” he lifts a hand and shakes his head, “like this. But I still shouldn’t have invited him the way I did. And I’m even more sorry about not calling him out on the way I caught him watching you.”
A cold chill sneaks up my spine. “Wait. He waswatching me?”
Brian slowly nods. “I thought if I just kept an eye on him, that would be enough to keep you safe.”
Sean goes stiff beside me and I reach under the table, placing my hand on his thigh. Nothing I can do about what’s already happened. At least Brian’s telling me about it now.
“I wish you would have said something sooner.” My head swings back and forth between Brian and Tony. “Have either of you heard from him?”
Both men share a look and then shake their heads.
“He took off shortly after you did,” Tony says.
Sean speaks up, leveling them with a narrow look, “You should know that yesterday he came to the lodge looking for Olivia. And then he tried to blackmail her.”
“Blackmail?” Brian sits back in his chair. “About what?”
Well, I wasn’t planning on bringingthatup. But since he did… “He thinks he has proof of Sean turning from a bigfoot into a man.”
Brian and Tony wear matching puzzled looks as they turn to stare at Sean—who is very much human.
“Wow,” Brian slowly shakes his head, “you think you know a guy, then find out that he might actually be crazy.”
Relief washes over me like ice water when they don’t question the possibility that sasquatch shifters might actually be real. Because why would they? The only reason I believe it is because I saw it with my own eyes. More than once.
A loud crash makes me jump, and every head in the restaurant snaps to where the French doors are flung wide open. Standing in the opening, as if summoned, is Darren. It’s late enough in the morning that there are only a few tables occupied, but Darren has made sure he has everyone’s attention as he scans the room. When he finds us, his expression turns smug, and he strides toward us with a small entourage following behind him.
“What the hell?” Tony mutters under his breath as Darren marches straight to our table.
“Darren, my dude, what are you doing?” Brian jumps to his feet, trying to intercept him, but Darren's focus is on me as he dodges and then slips past him. His blue eyes are bright andmanic, and his pupils are dilated so wide that I wonder if he might be on something.
Beside me, Sean’s chair scratches across the hardwood floor as he pushes himself to his feet.
Darren’s focus switches from me to Sean, and he points a shaking finger at him. “I know what you are!”
I can’t help but feel sorry for him. Even though he’s not wrong… behaving this way isn’t going to make anyone believe him.
“Darren—” Brian tries again to insert himself between us.
“Don’t!” Darren warns him. “I can prove it.”
He fumbles with his phone, and Brian gives me a sympathetic look as I shrug. If it’s the same footage he showed us, I’m not worried, but if he managed to get something else… My stomach tightens, and I glance nervously at Sean.
The room is deathly quiet as the morning diners watch us raptly. The three men who came in with Darren are standing like hired security, except for the one who has a handheld camera and is recording the entire interaction.
Shoving his cell phone at Brian, Darren can hardly hold still as the video plays, and I wonder how much Brian can actually see. Whatever it is, the look he gives Darren when it ends is sympathetic, and I release the breath I was holding.
“Look, man, let’s go somewhere else so we can talk about this, okay?” When Brian reaches out, Darren jumps back.
“What is there to talk about?” he asks loudly, stabbing his finger at his cell phone screen. “You saw it!”
Brian scrunches up his forehead. “I sawsomething,” he admits, “but this isn’t the place to discuss it. We’re ruining these nice people’s meals.”
Looking around, I see no one truly seems bothered by our theatrics.
Darren stabs a hand into his blond hair, gripping the already wild strands. He shakes his head and mutters something that sounds like, “I’ll make you see.”
Without any warning, he lunges, grabbing me by the hair and jerking me out of my seat. My startled scream cuts through the quiet and I wrap shaking hands around his wrists as my feet scramble against the wood floor.
