Page 52 of Claiming Ours (Anchor Bay #2)

“While we were there, I updated Baylee on the female victim, and Ethan told us what he found on the trail.” My lips parted to tell him to get the fuck on with it, but he held up a hand.

“Which was nothing. Not a single damn thing. He’s back out there now, searching.

” Oliver’s brows dipped in what appeared to be worry or something similar.

“What. Happened,” I snarled, inching closer to Memphis and Baylee, hating the distance between her and me while I was this worked up.

“Taylor stopped by,” Baylee said, keeping a close eye on both me and Memphis.

That was all Memphis heard before he carefully detached himself from Baylee and once again attempted to storm out of the cabin, but he couldn’t get past the deputy sheriff. Oliver sighed and looked to the ceiling, mouthing something to himself.

“What did he do, Kitten?” Memphis whispered softly, an edge of restrained anger lacing his tone. “We will kill him if he touched you.”

“Nothing,” she breathed, eyes wide. “He didn’t do anything. He couldn’t even get within a few feet of me.” She gestured to the two dogs. “I had them with me.”

“Good girl,” I praised. Grabbing her hand, I guided her back into my arms and ran a knuckle along her cheek.

“Holy hell, this is too much right now,” Oliver snapped, sounding utterly exasperated. “I’ll let Baylee fill you in on the details so I can get out of here before you guys”—he gestured between the three of us—“do whatever it is you’re going to do.”

A smirk appeared on Baylee’s face. “Oh, don’t act like you don’t know what’s going to happen.

” She shifted in my hold to face the deputy sheriff, whose face was now beet red.

Then she turned those icy blue eyes to me, and all humor faded.

“Not anything to do with me, big guy. I’m referencing a fun night he and two others had. ”

“Fucking Ethan,” Oliver grumbled, cheeks turning even redder. Grabbing the doorknob, he yanked the solid wood open. “Thanks for filling me in, Baylee. I’ll update Hudson and monitor Taylor.”

“Wait,” Baylee said before Oliver could bolt. “There is something else I wanted to bring up that I need you to look into.” She worried at her lip, gaze flicking around the cabin. “I’ve been getting these calls, unknown calls. It wasn’t that big of a deal at first but now?—”

“Now what?” I practically growled.

“The calls are constant and when I pick up no one says anything just this creepy heavy breathing thing and?—”

“Little Bit,” I said voice strained. “How long? How long has this been going on?”

“The calls a month or so, maybe longer. It was just every few days at first but now they are texting me some really disturbing stuff too.” Tears filled her lower lids. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, any of you, I just thought it would go away.”

“Where is your phone?” Oliver asked. Baylee pointed to the coffee table.

He marched over and swiped it off the polished wood, shoving it into his pocket.

“I’ll look into the calls and texts. If I can’t find out who is harassing you, then I’ll pull Carl in to help.

Until then you’ll need to get a new phone, a new number too. ”

“And when you find out who has been harassing our girl,” Memphis said, inked hands curled into tight fists at his side. “You let us handle them.”

“Fucking hell no. I do not need more dead bodies around here. I’ll take care of it.” Clearly having had enough of our drama, he stormed out onto the porch, slamming the door behind him.

With Oliver gone, some of my tension faded, and it seemed to for Memphis too. With a sigh, he tugged Baylee into his arms, picked her petite frame up, and carried her over to the massive couch, pulling her onto his lap with him.

“Tell us everything, Kitten. From that fucker approaching you to the calls and texts.”

Baylee studied me as I lowered to the couch beside them, sitting so close that my side pressed against Memphis’s. She noted the lack of distance between us curiously.

“Taylor came to my office, saying he just wanted to talk?—”

“Did he know you were alone?” I asked. Her lips sealed shut, telling me everything I needed to know. “Did he mention purposefully waiting for you to be alone, without us around, to have this conversation?”

“Yes,” she squeaked.

“Because…” I prompted, though I already had an idea after Memphis suggested Taylor wanted Baylee for himself before we left for Caper.

“He said he wanted a chance with me, now that I was done grieving.” Her eyes narrowed as she pressed her lips into a thin line, clearly pissed about something else he said.

“What else?” Those narrowed eyes looked everywhere but at me. I clicked my tongue in disapproval. “Nope.” Gripping her chin in a firm hold, I tilted her face up to mine. “Tell us what else he said.”

The muscle along her jaw flexed as it worked back and forth. “He said that I….” With a hard tug, she tried to break free but couldn’t. “Listen, it doesn’t matter.”

“What did he say, Bay?” Memphis urged, his tone all business.

“That I deserved better than to be shared.” Her throat shifted with a hard swallow. “To be with someone at my level.” Those icy blue eyes rolled to the ceiling. “Like fucking degrees or education can determine one’s character quality or what they deserve out of life. Asswipe.”

“His intent was to take you from us,” I stated evenly, barely able to keep my anger out of my voice, not wanting her to think it was aimed at her.

Her blonde hair slid over her shoulders with her slow headshake. “No, Liam. He wanted to take you two from me. Fuck him, and fuck his elitist attitude. I know where I belong,” she whispered. “I know what makes me happy.”

“Just happy?” Memphis asked, his hold tightening around her waist.

“Cared for, seen, wanted.” She locked her eyes with mine. “Loved.”

A deep rumble sounded in my chest at that last part. Leaning forward, I pressed a hard kiss to her forehead and then stood.

“Come on, Memphis,” I growled while helping Baylee off his lap so he could stand. “We have that errand to run we talked about.” I gave him a hard stare, hoping to convey that our errand wasn’t anything Baylee needed to know about.

He responded with a clipped nod and pushed off the couch, storming to the front door, waiting for me there with a white-knuckled grip around the knob.

“Why didn’t you tell me last night, Little Bit?” I asked, gazing down at where she sat on the couch. “About Taylor or hell, these fucking calls you’ve been getting.”

Her lips curled in wry smile. “Really? Look at how you acted being here when I told you. If I would’ve mentioned it last night, then both of you would’ve risked your lives traveling back here as quickly as you could.

You had a job to do there, and I was safe.

I only told Oliver today because… it felt off. ”

“What did?” Memphis’s voice trembled.

“His entire attitude about our community, about women in general. I don’t know, it was just strange.

I don’t think he has anything to do with what’s going on along the Soul Trail, but I wanted Oliver to know so he’d have that on his radar, I guess.

” She chewed on her lip, staring at the ground.

“And there’s the bandage on his arm. You saw it the other day.

” She looked at Memphis, who nodded. “What if it’s a dog bite? Hank’s bite?”

I stilled. “Did you ask him about it?”

“Um, no. I didn’t get a chance. Halfway through his little speech about all that shit, he apparently forgot about my two animal besties and took a step toward me.

” She slid off the couch to kneel in front of Elvis and buried her face in his neck.

“Elvis and Hank took that as an act of war and freaked out. Elvis lunged at Taylor while Hank snarled and snapped like he’d gone mad but stayed right at my side. ”

I gazed down with appreciation at the lab and then the husky. “Good job, boys.” Both of their tails went wild, like they knew my praise was for them. “I’ll pick up steaks on the way home for you both.”

“He ran out of there like… well, two dogs might bite his balls off if he stayed in my clinic another second.” She grinned into Elvis’s fur before turning that smile up to me.

“Dogs are the best.” Movement in the kitchen and a little squeak made her smile grow.

“And ermines,” she said louder, as if the rodent knew what she was saying.

“You would’ve clawed his face off, BamBam. ”

Another squeak, this one more high-pitched, had me eyeing the ermine standing up on his hind legs on the kitchen island.

“I swear you speak fluent animal,” I muttered under my breath while rubbing a hand down my face.

“What errand do you two need to run?”

Memphis and I exchanged a knowing glance before he yanked open the door and left me to answer Baylee alone. Asshole.

“Nothing to worry about, Little Bit. Plus, now I need to make a stop for these two fellas’ reward.” At the front door, I paused. “You’ll be here, right here, when I get back.”

“I might even make dinner.” At my grimace, she barked out a laugh and waved me off. “I think even I can manage spaghetti.”

“Remember last time when—” She threw her hands in the air in exasperation. “Right. Well, I don’t expect us to be gone long, so wait for Memphis to cook when we get back. He seems to love cooking. You wouldn’t want to deny him that, right?”

Hands on her hips, she cocked one out to the side. “You’re playing dirty, Liam.”

My responding chuckle was deep and throaty. “No, baby. That’s later. Be back soon.”

Locking the door behind me, I leapt down the steps, my boots slamming to the ground in front of where Memphis paced.

“You know where he lives?” he asked, lip curled in a snarl.

“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.