“I hadn’t noticed. What happened to Chrissy?”
“Something about a sick relative that she had to take care of for a while. It sounded a bit suspicious, but I never asked Mom about it. If Maria Gomez is working for some big boss, it’s very well-organized. We need to get on top of this.”
“I agree. For the moment, we’re not doing anything about these possible new people. We don’t want to tip anyone off. We need proof first that they are involved.”
“Fine. I won’t let Terry go, but I’ll try to listen to any phone calls he makes.”
She blew out a breath. “This is such a mess. I’ll pass the information on to Mason. He’s coordinating things for Dad.”
“If you learn anything, be sure to let me know.”
“Will do.”
Tawny stood and left. Oh, boy, this was bigger than she could ever imagine.
She’d just slipped in her car when Brett texted her. He said that Julia had gone home sick, and that he was manning the desk. The problem was that he needed to walk the dogs. Alan was trying to feed, water, and take as many of them outside as he could, but he was overwhelmed.
Tawny texted back that she was on her way back now. She'd driven less than a mile when it started to snow—hard. Because she hadn’t taken the time to put on her snow tires, she drove slowly. Black ice was a real thing in the Montana mountains.
When she leaned over to turn down the radio so she could concentrate better, something slammed into the rear of her car—hard. She flew forward, her head hitting the steering wheel.
Fuck.
Blood trickled down her cheeks. Tawny looked up at the rear view mirror to see what the hell had happened. Before her eyes could focus, someone rammed her again. This time her hands slipped off the wheel, and she hit a patch of ice. The car lost control and slid over the berm and down a ravine.
The airbag exploded, and then blackness surrounded her.
CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE
Liam’s phone rang.Normally, when he and Alex were teaching a class, he let it ring, but given what was happening to the Granger family, he didn’t want to miss anything.
“Take over,”he telepathed Alex, who nodded and continued with the lesson.
The phone didn’t identify the caller. “Hello?”
In case the men shifted and growled, Liam stepped outside.Shit. It was really snowing heavily. The visibility was low.
“This is Brett. I work with Tawny.”
The man’s worried and rather frantic tone sent Liam’s whole body on alert. “I know. What’s wrong?”
“It’s Tawny. She…ah…said she had to visit her brother Mason. About an hour ago, she called and said she was on her way back here, but she never showed up.”
Fuck!He had to think. “Did you call her cell?”
“Yes, like every ten minutes, but she doesn’t answer.”
“That is not like her. It’s close to five now. I’ll have someone stop over at the center. They’ll figure something out. I need to look for her.”
“Thank you.”
“I appreciate the heads up, Brett.”
“Just make sure she’s okay,” he said. “I promised I’d watch out for her.”
“I know, and you just did.”
Liam swiped off the call and inhaled, his mind racing. He stepped back inside. His anxiety must have been through the roof, because Zach and Alex rushed over.