He hadn't even been honest about his profession, at first. She couldn't help but remember his face as he told her she was beautiful, and the way his thumb made circles on her hand.
“I'd love to have dinner,” she said firmly.
Chapter Sixteen
Tony sprinted for Amber's cottage, and when he found a locked door, knocked ferociously.
“Amber!” he called. “Amber, answer me!”
When she didn't, he circled the place, and easily climbed onto the porch without resorting to shifting. His tiger roared for release, but he was a little afraid of the intensity of the fear mounting in his chest. The big glass doors were uncurtained, and the rooms inside were dark and empty. Unless Amber was cowering in the bathroom ...
She is not, his tiger snarled at him.
He stalked back along the path, first trying the dining hall, then the pool. He didn't want to believe the tiger inside, who was insisting that Amber wasn't here, that she wasn't anywhere nearby. He stood at the upper entrance of the dining hall, breathing in the delicious scent of whatever Chef had invented for dinner and hating his helplessness.
Scarlet.
Scarlet would know where his mate was. Tony wasn't sure if Scarlet was behind the disappearances or not, but he knew to the bottom of his soul that she had secrets, and that she knew whatever was going on within the borders of her resort.
The path to Scarlet's office was half steps and half steep path, and he nearly collided with a curvy woman in jeans and cowboy boots who made Amber look diminutive but still barely came to Tony's shoulder. She was carrying her own luggage and she was on a cellphone.
“Jenna,” the blonde was saying with vinegar. “Their mother, Jenna Bruin. Don't make me fly from Costa Rica to set you straight. Those are my kids, and if I have to, that is what I will do. You will not enjoy it if I end up leaving my vacation because of your incompetence, and your school will not be happy with the lawsuit I slap you with, so I suggest that you get it fixed immediately.”
She was clearly enraged, and Tony's already activated tiger recognized the riled up bear barely contained behind her fair skin. They glared at each other a long heartbeat on the path while whoever was at the other end of the phone sputtered and folded like a wet paper towel, and Tony, with gritted teeth, took himself carefully around her on the narrow walkway.
Even he wasn't going to mess with an enraged momma bear.
Scarlet was sitting behind her desk, frowning at paperwork with a familiar expression, and she didn't paste on a customer service smile when Tony burst into her close office without knocking.
“Can I help you?” she asked acidly.
“Where's Amber?”
Scarlet didn't even blink in surprise, only narrowed her eyes a small amount and gave Tony an appraising look. “She left with a group of visitors for a tour of the arboretum at the Beehag estate.”
“How long ago?” Tony glanced at his wrist, and realized he still wasn't wearing a watch. Scarlet didn't have any clocks up in her office.
“About five hours ago,” Scarlet said without having to check. “They should be back right about now.” She was all business, green eyes narrow and thoughtful.
Tony wanted to break something, destroy Scarlet's office or smash something valuable. It would serve the smug bitch right if he unleashed his furious tiger right now.
It took all of his restraint to instead grind out, “Where?!” and let Scarlet, moving infuriatingly slow, lead him out to the front gates of the resort.
The van was pulling up just as they got there, and Tony didn't even have to watch the British couple climb out. He knew Amber wasn't there as surely as he knew that the sky was above him. Jimmy, on the other hand, was there, getting out of the driver's seat as if nothing at all in the world was amiss when everything in the world clearly was.
It was only a few steps around the ugly van, and Tony could pull Jimmy the rest of the way out of the driver's seat by the lapels.
“Where. Is. Amber?” he demanded stiffly.
Keeping his tiger inside was like trying to keep a hurricane in a bottle.
Jimmy, all big eyes and clearly rising panic, stammered, “She was invited to dinner with Mr. Beehag. I was just told to drive these nice folks back to the resort.”
The boar couple was clinging to each other, staring at the conflict with big, alarmed eyes. The gardener had materialized f
rom nowhere and was watching them with a dark look, and a construction worker who had been working on the stonework had stopped his work to observe in interest and alarm.
“I will kill you if she is even the tiniest bit hurt.” Tony said the words through bared teeth, very close to Jimmy's face, aware that he was holding most of the man's weight in his clenched fists.