“Seems that way.”
“Still illegal for her to have him.”
“Yes.”
There was a slight hesitation at the end of Fiona's answer and Zander knew she wanted to add more. He heard her murmur something on her end and a chair scrape. He assumed she was excusing herself.
Fiona worked with multiple animal rescue groups. She was the most knowledgeable person he knew about animal rescue and captivity laws and regulations.
She was in Autre at the moment, because she’d joined the Autre gang in Alabama recently following Hurricane Clare. She'd met up with the group to do rescues and they’d ended up bringing home a zebra, tiger, and a harbor seal confiscated from a man who had kept them in a private zoo that had been ruined by the hurricane.
The animals were now living in Autre and Fiona had been preparing to return to Florida. Zander was glad that if a lion cub had to show up, at least it had happened while Fiona was still in town.
“Okay, I'm outside now,” she said. “So the lion cub is healthy, but young. They don't know if he was born in captivity or bought and taken from his mother immediately, or what. This happens all the time, Zander. There are so many cats in captivity. But yes, it is illegal in Louisiana for him to be here at all in private possession. The thing is, if she illegally purchased him, or was given him, or however she came to possess him, she did the right thing turning him over. It's up to you what you do with that information, but I'm very curious where he came from.”
“Yeah, I'm curious about a lot of things.”
“Do you have any idea who she is or where she went?” Fiona asked.
Zander debated telling her the truth. But there was something about Caroline that made him especially protective. Maybe it was just the mystery around her. Maybe it was the fact that, actually, as far as he could tell, she’d been completely honest with him about everything and said she needed his help. She said she felt safe with him. That she wanted to stay close. That messed with a guy who took protecting people very fucking seriously.
Maybe it was the fact that for just a brief moment in Heather's foyer he'd been about to kiss her. In spite of knowing full well that the sparks with her were to be avoided at all costs.
But he definitely needed to get some answers.
“Yeah, I think I'm going to be able to track her down and get some more information from her,” he finally said. “She hinted that there might be more animals. Exotic, endangered animals being bought and sold.”
“Fuckers,” Fiona muttered. “Find her and find out what she knows.”
“This is a little out of my jurisdiction, don't you think?” Zander asked.
He wanted it to be out of his jurisdiction. The thing was, nothing really fell out of his jurisdiction. Sure, as a cop he had his territory and what he was in charge of and expected to do. But honestly, when it came to keeping people safe and keeping bad people from doing bad things, he felt like there was a wide berth and his friends who always had his back and helped him out when he needed it—and vice versa—agreed. Criminals played in the gray area, so sometimes the good guys had to too.
“Zander,” Fiona said firmly, and he could imagine her with her eyes narrowed, hand on her hip, cheeks pink. Nothing got Fiona fired up like animals in need. “Find. That. Woman.”
“Fine. I will get as much…information…from her as I possibly can,” Zander finally said.
The amount of information that he wanted from Caroline Holland was immense.
He wanted to know everything about her. He wanted to keep her right by his side, and he wanted to make sure that no one would ever hurt her.
And that no one would ever come after her and throw her a surprise wedding…that she might end up sticking around for.
Fucking sparks.
His complete overreaction to all of that was a huge red flag. But he couldn't stay away from her. Not just because he couldn't quit thinking about her eyes and her lips and her hair and her curves, but because he literally couldn't stay away from her. She was in trouble and he was the local law enforcement officer. And there were a whole bunch of questions he needed the answers to.
He and Fiona disconnected and Zander let out a long breath.
His fishing pole was still leaning up against the wall at Ellie's bar. Someone would tuck it away for him. It would be fine.
But he had a feeling it was going to be a very long time before he and that fishing rod hit the water for anything even remotely resembling peace and quiet.
Caroline kicked her wedding dress toward the corner of the room, but with the weight of the silk and jewels it took three kicks to get it wadded up into the corner satisfactorily. She glared at it. Then stomped over and picked it up with a sigh. She draped it over the rocking chair. She did want to try to sell the damn thing, after all.
She turned to the bed and regarded her suitcase. So lingerie or evening gowns. What was best for lounging around and waiting for Zander Landry to come back?
Lingerie. Obviously. It was more comfortable and she wouldn’t mind meeting him with only a little lace in a few strategic places. Seeing the heat and intensity in his eyes like she’d seen when…
She frowned. Interestingly, she’d seen even more heat when she’d told him she felt safe with him than when she’d been standing in front of him in just a bra, slip, and panties.
Hmm…
She focused on her suitcase again. If she wasn’t starving, she’d consider the lingerie on the bed thing. A nap didn’t sound terrible either. But the smell of cinnamon in the air seemed to be coming from an actual food item, which she assumed was in the kitchen and which she hoped was full of butter and sugar and was available to the guests.
Tossing the pieces of lingerie aside—far more pieces than she actually owned, which led her to wonder who exactly had shopped for her—she worked on taking deep breaths like she did in yoga.
But no, it didn’t matter how far down she dug, there was not a regular pair of underwear anywhere in the suitcase. Every pair was a thong. She didn’t hate thongs but she really just wanted some plain old underwear right now. Was that so much to ask?
Apparently yes.
Again the frustration and the feeling that maybe she was in over her head started to rise up in her chest.
She took another breath, but it was still shaky. She wanted to be steady. She wanted to be sure of what she was doing. She wanted to know that even if things sucked at the moment or were uncomfortable, it was for a greater good. The way playing the ditzy blonde interior designer who needed her daddy’s friends to give her jobs decorating their offices had been for the past four years. The way being engaged to Brantley had been.
Suddenly an image appeared behind her eyelids.
Zander Landry's face.
Even in her imagination his jaw was tight and he looked a little annoyed, but his gaze was intent, unblinking, and a feeling of security swept over her just thinking about him.
He was clearly competent and had multiple resources. He knew her situation, knew who she was—mostly—and even if he hadn't stuck around to hear her whole story, he knew that she was more or less stranded and he’d made sure she was somewhere safe and had given Heather instructions to keep her that way.
She opened her eyes, surprised to find that she felt less agitated. Zander might not be an ally exactly, but he certainly was more on her side than anyone else at the moment.