Page 83 of Hero Unbound

“I need you to find out everything you can about a Gareth Metter.”

Lincoln didn’t skip a beat. “Okay.Anythingin particular I’m looking for?”

“I don’t know. Anything to do with Eva and anything that catches your attention as odd.”

“When do you need this by?”

“Five minutes ago, Linc. He’s Eva’s ex, he’s here in town, and I don’t like it.”

Lincoln’s fingers were already hitting a keyboard. “I can do a quick and dirtysearchin my system and see what I come up with. I’ll call you back in a few.”

As soon as the call ended, Theo was on his way to his truck. There was no way he was letting Gareth Metter wander around Oak Creek when he might intend to do some harm to Eva.

He called Eva’s number, cursing when she didn’t pick up. When she was working with animals, she sometimes didn’t have her phone with her.

Then he tried Tucker.

“Hey, boss. How’s it going?” Tucker answered in his friendly banter.

“Are you on property?”

“Yeah, I’m in the office. Why?”

“Where’s Eva?” He picked up speed.

“I don’t know. The last I saw her, she was out at the Mad Zoo, but that was this morning.”

“I want you to find her, and under no circumstances are you to allow Gareth Metter back on Linear property.”

Tucker was silent for a moment, definitely unusual for him. “Holy shit. What’s going on? Dude seemed okay to me today.”

Theo wasn’t surprised to hear that at all. “I’ll fill you in later, but for right now, just know I don’t want him anywhere near Eva.Find her and make sure she’s okay, but don’t tell her it’s about Gareth. I don’t know if she knows he’s in town.”

“Uh.” Tucker hesitated. “She definitely knows he’s in town. When I met him this morning, he was in the Mad Zoo with her.”

Shit. “Was she okay?”

“Yeah, they were talking about the animals or something. They didn’t mention knowing each other, so I didn’t think anything about it.”

“Okay, I’ll be back soon. Just get to her.” He ended the call without further discussion.

Theo had parked his truck in the Eagle’s Nest parking lot when he’d gotten here this morning for the search and rescue.

He was almost to it when Callum caught up to him. Theo barely spared a glance for the older man.

“What the hell was that all about, Theo?”

“I’ve got to go, Callum. I don’t have time to talk about this right now.”

“I’m not talking to you as a friend, Lindstrom. I’m talking to you as the sheriff. You just slammed a man up against a wall. I’ve got about two dozen witnesses, so whatever reason you’ve got to go is going to have to wait.”

Theo took a deep breath, getting himself under control. “Gareth Metter is Eva’s ex. It wasn’t a good situation, Callum.”

Callum dragged a hand down his face. “Shit. How bad? Abuse?”

“Honestly, I’m not entirely sure, but I know it wasn’t a healthy relationship.”

“Do you know if she pressed charges? Is there any sort of restraining order against Metter?”

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