Page 59 of Claiming Ours (Anchor Bay #2)

MEMPHIS

T he cigarette shook between my fingers as I inhaled a long drag, hoping it would calm my racing heart and tremors.

Blinking at the sun hiding behind low gray clouds, I tried to think of anything other than the look of utter confusion on Baylee’s face when I left her on Liam’s bed.

It had only been half a day, but it felt similar to withdrawal symptoms being away from her, knowing she was upset.

I didn’t feel this way when Liam and I were in Caper, but that was a totally different situation.

One, he was with me, two, she wasn’t upset with me for leaving unexpectedly, and three, I wasn’t planning a murder.

Well, hopefully it wouldn’t come to that, but I would do it as a last resort if it meant protecting my girl.

I checked my phone, ignoring the messages unread from Baylee, knowing they would rip me in two and make me run back to her before I took care of what I needed to here in Anchorage.

Tapping on the thread with Mom, I read through her texts again, double-checking that I hadn’t misread anything in my utter debilitating panic, even though I’d read and reread them a hundred times on the boat ride here.

Mom: I need you to call me now!

Mom: Memphis Tennessee Thomas, you call me right now!

My grip tightened around my phone, knowing if Mom wasn’t so fucking exclamation point happy, I would’ve called her immediately when those two texts came through last night.

But no, I thought she just wanted to talk since we hadn’t in days while I was busy in Caper.

I pushed off responding because at the time, my focus was on feeding Baylee, and then Liam went and did his little show.

I blew out a breath and closed my eyes, pushing that erotic moment to the back of my mind, needing to focus on the issue at hand. Relaxing my fingers to keep from snapping the phone in two, I scrolled to the messages I’d flipped out about earlier.

Mom: Memphis, this is serious. You and Baylee are in danger.

Movement out of the corner of my eye drew my attention from the screen to someone leaving the hotel. I carefully watched and frowned at the three businessmen disappearing into a rideshare. Fuck, not who I was waiting for. Disappointment and worry filled my gut, wondering if maybe I was too late.

Shaking my head, I took another hit and tossed the spent butt onto the ground, grinding it into the sidewalk with the toe of my boot.

Mom: Well, not danger danger, but danger.

That text, despite the confusion and fear racing through my veins, had my lips quirking upward. Mom was just so Mom sometimes.

Mom: Jerry, Dean’s dad, came by the house to tell me that Bethany heard about you going to Alaska to find Baylee.

Mom: I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize she’d react this way or I wouldn’t have told my Bible study group about you finally getting your chance with Baylee.

Mom: You know Bethany has been… unwell since Dean’s death. Grief twists people up sometimes.

Mom: And boy is she twisted up about you and Baylee.

Mom: Jerry even found a burner phone. All the calls were to Baylee’s number. He found texts too, horrible texts that she sent to that sweet girl.

Mom: She told Jerry that Baylee didn’t deserve to be happy because she killed her son.

Mom: So she’s on her way to Alaska.

Mom: You have to intervene before she can get to Baylee. The things she’s saying are… it will kill Baylee. She has such a kind heart. Hearing the hate and lies Bethany will infect her with will destroy that sweet girl.

Mom: She took a flight to Seattle yesterday afternoon and will land in Anchorage sometime tomorrow.

Mom: Call me. I’ll tell you what I know. Jerry is helping. He knows Bethany needs help and doesn’t want her to hurt Baylee emotionally or physically. And his concern about both are valid in his mind. He doesn’t know what she’ll do if she actually gets to Baylee.

I called Mom while I waited for the boat Liam arranged to take me to Anchorage.

Every word she repeated that Bethany had said to others in town or vented to her husband made me both sick to my stomach and raging mad.

How dare she think she could pull Baylee into the twisted, toxic mess she’d fallen into after Dean’s death.

Yes, she lost her only son, but that was not Baylee’s fault. How she came to that conclusion in her warped thoughts was not for the sane mind to comprehend.

Based on the credit card charge Jerry noticed on their online statement, Bethany had checked into the hotel I was currently staking out. I’d wait for her to emerge and then…

Tackle her?

Talk to her?

Hell, I didn’t have a clue what I would do, but there was no limit to how far I would go to keep Baylee safe.

Which was how I’d ended up hurting her feelings by leaving Anchor Bay like my ass was on fire.

I didn’t want her to know what Mom said.

If Baylee knew Bethany was here, she’d want to talk to her, see if she could reason with her.

I couldn’t take the chance that the verbal barbs Bethany might spew would take hold of my sweet, sweet Kitten.

Someone stepped out the side door, drawing my focus, only to make eye contact with someone I did not expect to see on this unexpected rogue mission. Langston pushed up the sleeves of his shirt, exposing the colorful ink decorating both forearms, and started my way.

“Don’t look at me like that,” he said when he stopped beside me and leaned back against the brick.

“You mean like how you looked at me when I first arrived, suspicious and cautious?”

He barked a laugh and shook his head. “Touché, Memphis.”

“What are you doing here?” And why the hell does he not seem surprised to see me loitering outside a hotel in Anchorage?

“I’m staying at the hotel while West recovers in the hospital.”

“Why aren’t you there with him?” I asked, reaching for another cigarette.

He cut a hard look my way. “Apparently, I’m a pain in the ass and question everything they’re doing and react… badly when he’s in pain, so they asked me to leave.”

I arched a brow while lighting the end and sucking in a lungful of smoke. “You mean they kicked you out. Of a hospital. Not sure I’ve ever heard of that actually happening to someone.”

His eyes narrowed on the cigarette between my lips. “That shit will kill you.”

“So I’ve heard.”

“Being a medic, haven’t you seen enough people with major issues that all stemmed from smoking to make you not want to touch that shit?”

“Not yet.” I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. “Why haven’t you asked why I’m here instead of back in Anchor Bay?”

“Liam called me.” I grumbled under my breath about the intrusive asshole.

“Said you might need some… help to convince this crazy person to head back home instead of coming to mess with one of ours.” He shrugged and leaned his head against the brick, closing his eyes.

It was then that I noticed how exhausted he looked.

“You helped West, so whatever you need, man, I’m here for it. ”

“How is West?” I asked, monitoring the way he stiffened.

“He’s okay. The surgery went well, and hopefully, if he follows the doctor’s instructions, the recovery won’t be too bad.

But he’s a stubborn asshole, so he’ll probably ignore all their rules and start working again the second we get back to Anchor Bay.

Who is this woman anyway? Liam didn’t have much time to explain the whole fucking backstory. ”

I inhaled and held it for a second, allowing the burn in my lungs to ease some of the rising nerves.

“It’s Baylee’s late fiancé’s mom. Apparently, after Dean’s death, she had some kind of psychotic break.

She wasn’t always this way. Back in high school, she was the best mom.

We all wanted to hang out at Dean’s place because she was so cool and always had a stocked fridge.

But ever since Dean’s death, it’s like she’s been poisoned from the inside out by her grief. ”

We stood in silence for a few seconds, both watching the door without being obvious.

“I think if anything happened to someone I loved, it would twist me into someone I didn’t recognize or even want to be too. But that doesn’t justify the actions she’s taking now, coming here to spread that toxic shit. Baylee is innocence personified?—”

“Not anymore,” I said, tongue in cheek, hoping to lighten the mood. “Liam and I are doing a good job of corrupting her.”

“Fuck, I do not want to hear that,” he groaned, shaking his head.

I huffed and took another drag. “She’s nice to everyone, that’s what I meant.

And we were all there watching in the background as she fought her way through the grief that almost drowned her.

There is no way in hell I could sit back and let someone drag her back into that again. ”

I studied the massive man for a few seconds before nodding. “Thanks. I’m glad Liam told you to come find me. I don’t have a plan outside of stopping her from getting on a boat to Anchor Bay. Even with that, I don’t know how to stop her.”

“We try talking to her. Then, if that doesn’t work, we escalate.”

“Escalate to what?” I asked, not horrified or intimidated by the glee in his voice.

“To whatever it takes to protect your girl.”

I nodded in agreement and shifted to angle myself toward the hotel’s entrance.

With every minute that passed, my nerves and anxiety rose, making me a twitchy, amped-up mess.

I was about to tell Langston that I needed to take a walk around the hotel’s perimeter to calm down when a tall, thin woman stepped out the glass doors, turning our way for just a moment before storming down the sidewalk in the opposite direction of us.