Zoe glanced at the man. I’d told her about what happened to a handful of people from town when the vampires decided to exert their control. She was intuitive, so she would realize Brandon was one of them.
“I’m feeling good,” Brandon replied, his gaze curious as it bounced between Aric and Zoe. He looked amused as he studied Sami. “I saw you guys from the street and I wanted to say hi.”
“Hi.” Gunner’s expression was hard to read. “I planned to stop in and visit you but a few things happened and I got distracted. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Brandon offered up a haphazard hand wave. “It’s not a big deal. I know you have things going on in your lives.”
“We do,” Gunner readily agreed. “We’ve been best friends since elementary school, though. You’re a priority to me. I just got sidetracked. I’m really sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. I needed some time to myself after ... everything. It’s not as if you’ve been neglecting me. Heck, you saved me.”
“Everyone worked together to solve a problem,” I corrected calmly. “I’m just glad you’re doing okay.”
“Me, too.” There was genuine light in Brandon’s eyes, although it was faint. “Well, I don’t want to take up too much of your time. I just wanted to check in. Maybe in a few days when you’ve finished dealing with whatever you’re dealing with, we can hang out or something.”
Gunner bobbed his head. “Absolutely. It’s a plan.”
“Great.” Brandon waved and moved away from the table. “I need to get to work. It was good seeing you.”
“You, too,” I said to his back as he wandered toward the door. I was curious when I turned back to Gunner. “He seems good.”
“I’ll carve out some time for him when this is over with,” Gunner said. “He seems okay, but I want to be sure.”
I patted his knee. “You’re a good friend.”
“A really good friend,” Sami agreed, mimicking my actions, only on the opposite knee, and Gunner’s cheeks blushed a mottled shade of red.
“I will kill you,” Aric warned Gunner, his shoulders going rigid out of nowhere. He turned his head swiftly and watched the door until he caught sight of a broad-shouldered individual in a uniform.
“It’s my father,” Gunner said quickly, making me realize that Aric had alerted to the approach of another shifter and that’s why he tensed. “He’s a pain in the ass but not dangerous.”
Aric nodded and relaxed a bit. “I think that’s common with shifter fathers.”
“Tell me about it,” Sami intoned, earning a narrow-eyed glare from Aric.
“Keep it up,” Aric warned. “I’ll ban you from that Sephora website you love so much if you’re not careful.”
Sami rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”
Curiosity etched across Graham Stratton’s face when he registered we weren’t alone, his gaze ultimately landing on Aric. “I know you.”
“You do?” Aric’s face remained impassive. “I apologize. I don’t remember you.”
“You were young when we met, ten or so,” Graham said. “I worked security for your father for a brief time when I was first starting out.”
“Oh.” Aric nodded. “I don’t remember, but that’s good to know.”
Graham’s eyes drifted to Sami. “I take it she belongs to you.”
“Yes, and she’s basically trying to torture her father by flirting with your son,” Zoe said. “Just ignore her. She’s at that age.”
Graham smirked. “I’m familiar with the age.” He stared at Sami a second longer and then shook his head. “So, I have a weird situation. I’m not sure if it’s important but I’ve heard buzz about you running all over town, and the woods.” His attention was focused on Gunner. “On the highway, about two miles from the hill house, we have an abandoned vehicle. It was involved in an accident,” he said, scratching his chin. “It appears to be a single-vehicle accident, but there are no bodies in the vehicle or in the immediate area surrounding the vehicle.”
Gunner rubbed his forehead. “They could’ve been disoriented and wandered into the woods.”
“Maybe.” Graham didn’t look convinced. “They also could’ve been taken.”
Gunner heaved out a sigh. “We’ll head out and look after breakfast.”
“That would be helpful,” Graham said. “Right now, our hands are tied. I’m not sure what to do.”
“We’ll find answers,” Gunner promised. “You have my word.”
Fourteen
We picked up Rafael at the hotel. Apparently he had returned sometime during the night, begging off breakfast to recharge. Seeing him wander around in the daylight was still weird to me but I was hopeful I would get used to it.
We drove in separate vehicles and Sami appeared to be ruthlessly questioning the vampire when we landed at the accident scene.
“I’m not being a busybody,” she complained. “I just want to know where you were all night. You snuck in when I was asleep.”
Rafael cast her a derisive look. “I don’t sneak.”
“You’re a vampire. Everybody knows that vampires sneak around. It’s the law or something.”
Rafael’s withering gaze landed on Zoe. “She gets this rather unpleasant facet of her personality from you. Make it stop.”
Zoe smirked. “Sami, vampires don’t sneak. They lurk. Rafael is a lurker. Get it right.”
Rafael’s scowl grew more pronounced. “Oh, great. Now I’m going to have to hear that word a million times over the next two days. Thank you for that.”
“You’re welcome.” Zoe smiled indulgently at Sami. “Ask him about lurking outside of bedroom windows and watching people change their clothes.”
Sami’s eyes went wide. “Gross!”
“I didn’t do that,” Rafael hissed. “Don’t tell her things like that.”
“I think you did it.” Zoe glanced at him. “It’s human nature to stare when someone is naked. Just admit it.”
“I will do no such thing. I was a perfect gentleman.”
I risked a glance at Aric and found him glaring daggers at the vampire. “When did you stare inside her bedroom window?”
“Never!” Rafael was vehement.
“It was when we were broken up,” Zoe said. “You told him to watch me and he took his duties to heart.”
“Stop telling him that!” Rafael jabbed a finger in her face. “If you keep with this narrative there will be a
