Page 19 of Finding Her Panthers

“She can take it, Jax. You can, right, Marie?” she asks.

“Tyler was taken?” Her eyes get wide and water.

“He might have been hurt. Cindy had another man help her. We need any information about who took them or where they were going. Anything anybody saw could help.”

“I don’t want to get into trouble with the Alpha,” she whispers.

“You don’t have to worry.” I interject, “You called me Alpha.”

“It’s not hard to figure out what you all are.” She waves her hand around the room. “Plus, Tyler and I are friends. We talk,” she says nervously.

“We all need friends. What did you see?” I push.

She looks back to Harmony, pausing to scrutinize her.

“You are the Alpha’s mate?” she asks.

“I am. I am also James and Blue’s mate,” Harmony clarifies, causing my brothers to smile.

“So, you will be with them forever. Here?”

“Yes,” Harmony says with conviction, and pleasure courses through me.

For whatever reason, this convinces her to open up. “I was going up to get ready to go out. I usually don’t go with everyone, but I thought I would try to make friends. Tyler has been encouraging me,” she says shyly. “I passed him in the hall. I asked him if he was going. He was very nice, but he said he had to stay and do something for Jax. I heard a thump in the room, which concerned him, but he just told me to have fun. I went to my room to get ready. When I came back down, he wasn’t in front of the door anymore,” she shrugs.

“Did you see anyone as you left the club?” Harmony asks.

“No. I assumed everyone left. I had called a cab to drive me to the party. I didn’t want to drive my car if I was drinking.” Harm nods in understanding. “I was waiting at the curb, and I heard another noise coming from the alley. But when I looked, I didn’t see anything. The cab pulled up then, so I went to get in. That’s when I saw the car parked there, running. I thought it was strange, so I paused, and I saw a man get in it and then drive off, fast.” She glances around fearfully as we all suck in a sharp breath.

“Did you recognize the man?” I ask roughly.

“No, but he looked weird. I mean, he kind of looked homeless. Dirty.”

“What color hair? Can you describe him more?” Harmony asks.

“He had dirty blonde hair, really shaggy. Ripped jeans and a blue long-sleeved t-shirt. He also had a short beard.”

“What about the car? The color?” Blue jumps in.

“Sure, it was a 1980 cream and red Chevrolet Citation,” she says quickly. She notices many surprised expressions and explains. “I have a photographic memory. Am I in trouble? I didn’t mean to keep anything from you. I had no idea it was that important. Last night I decided I would tell Tyler when I saw him today.” Her expression sobers.

“You are not in trouble. We want to thank you.” Harmony reassures her.

“Did you happen to get the license plate number?” Blue asks as he pulls out his phone.

Marie rattles off the numbers. She has blown us all away today. I probably need to pay more attention to all our human employees.

“Will you keep me informed of any news of Tylor?” she asks meekly.

“I will personally let you know when we find out anything,” I assure her, as we all stand as one to show her out.

“Thank you,” she murmurs as she leaves the room.

When we find Tyler, there needs to be a conversation about her. If he doesn’t have good intentions with her, he needs to let her go now. She is certainly hoping for more than friendship, if not totally in love with him. She would be crushed if she had to see him every day, and worse, if he found a mate. It seems I have been slacking with the ones under my care lately. This is a job I take seriously, but I have been wrapped up in my issues.

“The wolf has agreed to meet. The warehouse down the road. Ten minutes. He will follow the rules and only bring two of his own,” Blue informs me, already moving to the door. “The fucking coyote has not answered yet.”

This doesn’t surprise me.

---