Her gaze shot to his. “Oh, so you know.”
Gabe frowned. “Know what?”
“That Emily adopted Perez’s dog,” he replied.
His buddy muttered an oath.
“It’s not a big deal.” Lindsey shrugged, but Holden didn’t see it that way. “The guy doesn’t know and now Queenie—a.k.a. Hera—has a caring human for an owner.”
“That doesn’t mean Perez won’t find out,” Gabe said, his gaze dark with concern.
Holden agreed with a grumble as he reached for his lemonade to swallow down a few expletives. He glanced at Zena sniffing at the fence, happy to note she hadn’t picked up on the change of mood. Yet.
“Speaking of Emily,” Lyndsey said with a smile splitting across her face. “How are things going?”
Gabe groaned. “Lynds…” He met Holdens gaze. “Sorry, buddy. You were definitely duped.”
“What?” Lyndsey arched a brow. “I’m just engaging in conversation. And don’t think I haven’t noticed you didn’t answer yet, Holden.”
He raised his hands and shook his head. “About what?”
“Emily,” she replied. “Do you like her?”
“Lynds,” Gabe muttered again.
“What?” she repeated. “She’s been hurt before. The last guy was all sunshine and roses the first few months, then his true colors came through. He tried to control her, complained aboutwhat she wore, her curls, her car, spending too much time with animals. Jerk used to scroll through her call log and messages on her phone until she caught him. That spurred him to sneak a tracking app on her phone.”
Holden inhaled and clenched his jaw, working to relax his shoulders that were suddenly so taut they were ready to snap.
“Sounds like a bastard to me,” Gabe remarked.
He swallowed a mouthful of lemonade but still couldn’t completely relax. “This guy got a name?”
Both Lyndsey and Gabe snapped their attention to him. He held their gazes.
“Um…why?” Lyndsey asked cautiously
Holden shrugged. “He could be the person harassing her.” He doubted it, but if it got him a name, he could get an address and pay the jerk a visit.
Lyndsey frowned. “I thought it was the Perez guy.”
“It probably is,” he said, but he hated that they didn’t have tangible proof. “Doesn’t mean it’s not her ex.”
“True.” Gabe set his glass on the table and nodded. “There wasn’t any evidence to implicate Perez.”
“So, calling her a bitch and painting in on her car isn’t enough?” Lyndsey asked, her tone rising enough to lower Zena’s tail.
“We don’t have any eyewitnesses to the latter,” Gabe said, reaching for his glass. “Not yet. I’m still digging.”
He caught her attention and motioned toward the slightly nervous dog with his head.
Lyndsey winced and mouthed, “Sorry,” then exhaled and turned to pat her husband’s free hand. “You’ll find evidence. If anyone can, it’s you.” Then she told them the name of Emily’s ex-boyfriend.
“Thanks,” Gabe said, hitting Holden with a warning in his serious gaze. “I’ll check into him.”
Good. So would Holden, with Carter’s help. But they didn’t need to know.
“Now, let’s circle back to your intentions toward my friend,” Lyndsey said. “Of course, they’re honorable, right?”
