Walker grinned. “I’m always right.”
I chuckled. “Taylor agree with that?”
Walker’s grin fell away comically fast. “Don’t tell her I said that.”
I held up both hands. “I’d never. Bro code.”
“Thank God.”
I inclined my head towards the pile of Tessa’s belongings on the counter. “What else are you looking for?”
Walker focused on the items and began combing through them all. “I just want to make sure there’s not another tracker anywhere, and I want to check Tessa’s phone for a bug.”
My knuckles bleached white as I gripped the beer bottle tighter. “I want to end this fucker.”
Walker kept sifting through the pile on the counter. “Don’t say that in front of a cop. If Garrett winds up dead, I’ll have to interrogate you, and that’ll just be awkward.”
He was trying to keep it light, but I knew Walker got it—better than most. He’d been the one to pull the trigger on the man trying to take Taylor from him. “Do you have any guilt?”
Walker straightened and met my gaze. “Not a single bit.”
I nodded. “I need a gun. I have a concealed carry permit, but my firearms are either in LA or back at my parents’ in Georgia.”
Walker was silent for a minute, studying me. “I’ll loan you something. Officially, I have to run a background check, but I’ll do that tonight and drop it off tomorrow morning. If I were you, I’d want to be carrying, too.”
I grunted. I would do anything to keep Tessa safe.Anything. “Did your man, Cain, have any luck tracking the asshole?” I didn’t even want to use his name, it was an insult to Garretts everywhere to let him carry the moniker.
Walker examined Tessa’s phone, popping off the cover. “Nothing good, unfortunately. Garrett has dropped off the map. He withdrew a large amount of cash from his bank account three weeks ago and has been under the radar since. No record of him on any flight manifests or any other travel systems Cain could get into.”
I scrubbed a hand over my head. “Fuck.”
Walker snapped the phone back in its case. “Cain’s still working. He discovered a few well-hidden accounts, and he thinks there might be more. That could give us something.”
I tossed my empty beer bottle in the recycling bin. “We need that somethingnow.”
Walker set down the phone and met my gaze. “I know the last thing in the world you want to hear is to be patient.”
“So don’t fucking say it.”
Walker held up a hand. “I wasn’t going to. I was just going to tell you not to do anything stupid in the meantime.” Walker snapped off his gloves. “I’m not sure what this guy’s plan is, but he might try to approach you. Talk shit until you take a swing at him. Then he gets to press charges, and I have to put you in jail. And what does that mean?”
I cursed. “Tessa’s unprotected.” I hated that Walker was right. I would’ve totally fallen for that play.
“This guy might not be smart enough to realize he should try to get you out of the way. Or he might be too cocky. Let’s hope that’s the case. I just want you to be prepared if it’s not.” Walker tossed his gloves in the trash. “There’s nothing else here. I’m going to take this with me and let you go and take care of your woman. Call me if you needanything. I mean it.” He met my eyes in an intense stare.
“I will.” I grabbed his hand in a manly shake and a slap on the back. “And I won’t do anything stupid.”
“Good.”
I led Walker to the front door and stood on the porch as he got into his truck and drove off. I kept standing there, searching the land all around the house, wondering if that fucker was out there watching right now.
39
Tessa
Iwoke to the sound of very loud and contented purring. I was curled into a ball, my head and knees pressed against Liam’s chest. I always slept in weird positions like this. Luckily, Liam seemed to adapt.
I slowly uncurled, careful not to wake Liam. It was still early, and it wasn’t my day to feed the horses so we had time before we needed to be up. I stretched, taking in Liam’s sleeping form and had to stifle my laughter with my hand. Atop Liam’s head, practically smothering his face, was Trouble.
