She smiled. “By any chance, is it Paul?”
“Bingo. Now, before you say there are a lot of Pauls in the world, she gave us his contact information. Mason is tracking it now. If it is actually Paul Franklin, he will be caught and sent to a shifter jail for a very long time.”
“Justice would be partially served if they let me carve something in Paul’s back,” Zach said.
Alex chuckled. “What would you carve in his back if you could—which you wouldn’t be allowed to do, of course?”
“Something deep and ugly. I’d have to think about it. Maybe I'd carve the Granger logo in his back to remind him of us.”
A knock sounded on the door. Liam stood. “That might be your ride, Zach.”
“For real?” He jumped up.
Liam opened the door, and Ethan came in dangling a set of keys. “Here you go. She’s as good a new.”
“I can’t thank you enough for not only taking good care of the car, but for finding that bullet,” Zach said.
“It was luck. Trust me. I’d love to stay and chat, but my ride awaits me.” He waved and headed back out.
It was after nine, but Zach probably wanted to head home and settle in.
“What’s your next order of business?” Tawny asked her twin.
“Since those out to harm me are in jail, or at least will be soon, I hope, I am heading home.”
Tawny should have cleaned out his refrigerator at least. She imagined there would be quite a few items that would have to be tossed. “Will you be going back to work tomorrow?”
“I will be indeed. I’ve already been in contact with Mike about helping me with the search for someone.”
“Who’s lost?” Alex asked.
He sat back down. “I told Tawny, but I think she thinks I’m crazy.”
“Is this about your mystery woman?” she asked.
“Yes.”
Who was she to say what was real and what wasn’t? It did seem next to impossible that he was able to crawl to the cave, let alone partially cover the entrance with brush, so he might have had help.
He explained his theory again for Alex and Liam. “Between Mike and myself, we know the forest better than anyone. If this woman exists, we’re going to try and find her.”
“I have to say, it seemed almost impossible for you to have escaped without help, but we found you two or three days after you were shot. Maybe you were stronger before,” Liam said.
“Possibly. All I know is that this woman is special.”
“Not to burst your bubble, but what if she saved you and then left the forest?” Tawny asked. “You were shot quite a while ago. And where would she be if she did stay?”
“The better question,” Alex said, “is why would she stay in the middle of winter? If she is part werewolf, it’s not like she can shift. I know people like to camp in the snow, but a woman? All alone?”
Zach shook his head. “Like I said, it sounds crazy and probably is, but for my own sanity, I want to look for her. I’m hoping that if she did help me into the cave that she left something behind.”
Tawny had been down that tunnel and never spotted anything, but she could be wrong. “I wish you the best of luck.”
“Thanks, sis.” Zach stood. “I am going to get out of your hair.” He faced Liam and Alex. “I can’t thank you two enough for not only finding me but saving me. To let me stay here was amazing.”
Liam and Alex stood and hugged her brother. Tawny nearly cried. She went over to him. “If you need help with anything, let us know.”
“Will do.”