Page 23 of Secrets at Dawn
Toby ran from down the hall. He stopped at the entrance and searched the room. When his gaze landed on Griffin, he sighed in relief and then closed the distance between them.
Griffin was a little surprised when his arms came around him for a hug. He hesitated to return it for a fraction of a second and then held Toby against him. Toby felt right in his arms. Perfect. Like a mate should. “Care to tell me what’s going on?”
Toby sighed. “I have a bully. Julia’s attacker, actually.”
Griffin frowned. Something about that answer didn’t add up. “Keep going.”
“That’s it.” So Toby was keeping it simple. That was a mistake.
Griffin let him go, and when Toby tried to pull him back into a hug, Griffin kept him at a distance with a hand on his shoulder. He shook his head. “If you don’t trust me enough to tell me all of it, then I don’t know what we’re doing here.”
Toby should know, given that they were mates, that Griffin would never hurt him. In fact, he wouldn’t let the people who hurt Julia continue their tirade with Toby.
Toby sighed. “That’s all you need to know for now. Your involvement in this is already more than it should be.”
Griffin sighed. “I’m going to find out, Toby. With or without you.”
“Don’t go digging into this.” Toby began pacing as if there hadn’t been shots fired a few minutes ago. “I don’t have all the answers.”
“No, but you have plenty of secrets.” A few too many for Griffin’s liking, if he were being honest. But he couldn’t exactly make Toby tell him anything. So Griffin would have to find out for himself.
Toby was right about Griffin’s getting dragged into the middle. It put Griffin in danger. But he would not cower in a corner. Griffin had never been that kind of guy. He wouldn’t let Tobydeal with any of it on his own. Even though Toby didn’t trust him.
Griffin saw movement outside the window. Then he recognized his dad’s gait heading straight for the bakery.
Griffin made his way toward the front door, but Toby stood in his way.
Griffin rolled his eyes. So maybe Toby’s protectiveness was a little more annoying than it had been. “It’s my dad.”
Toby stepped aside and let Griffin pass. “Be careful.”
“Right.” Griffin shook his head.
Griffin unlocked the door just as Dad got to it.
Dad didn’t waste time but got straight to it. “We found Frank Daniels on the roof. Cass is taking him to lockup because he’s technically trespassing, and he shot at Cass. He has a lot of charges against him, but he isn’t likely to be in lockup for long. A few months, most likely.”
“Frank Daniels. Really?” What was he doing on the roof of the gift shop? “Was he doing drugs up there? Did he say whether he dropped the letter on the sidewalk?”
Griffin had a thousand more questions for Frank.
“He’s not talking, but we’ll question him and see what he says.”
“Who’s Frank Daniels?” Toby came to stand beside him.
“He’s a member of the local pack. And a known drug addict,” Griffin answered.
“So this isn’t about pack rivalry?” Toby clearly knew more about the pack dynamics in Forbidden Falls than Griffin had thought.
“Maybe.” Dad shrugged. “I don’t know. Like I said, we’ll question him.”
So they didn’t know what Frank was up to or if he had anything to do with the attackers from the park.
“Can I listen in when you question him?” Griffin asked, knowing his dad would agree, since Griffin had been deputized.
Iven nodded. “That’s not a problem.”
“Can I?” Toby asked and bit his lip.
