The Lion Within (Ghost Cat Shifters #1) (14 page)

A laugh bubbled out of Sophia. “Neon sign? What does it say?”

“For you. Don’t be stupid just because you’re busy,” Vivi said, somehow keeping a completely straight face.

Sophia laughed so hard she couldn’t catch her breath. When she finally stopped, she looked over at Vivi. “I’ll do my best not to be stupid.” She reached down and lifted Jax onto her lap.

***

Sophia leaned her hip against the counter at Mile High Grounds and took a sip of the espresso Tommy had just prepped for her. Though they offered a wide variety of specialized coffee drinks at Mile High, her personal favorite was straight espresso. Tommy had perfected it, and she turned to him with a smile as she lifted her small mug. “Excellent as always.”

Tommy glanced up from the next coffee shot he was pulling from the espresso machine and winked. “Learned it from you.”

She chuckled and savored another sip. It was late afternoon—the time of day when it wasn’t quite afternoon or evening, but a magical in-between time when the light haloed everything in its soft glow. Her coffee shop had tall windows that allowed the sun to fall through in golden shafts through the room. This time of day was quiet. It was before the bustle of after work customers. At the moment, a number of customers were sitting quietly. Some were college students with their eyes glued to their laptops, either studying or typing away, presumably working on papers. A small cluster of women occupied a few tables in the corner. They comprised a loosely organized knitting group that came every week ostensibly to knit, although they mostly talked with yarn draped across their laps.

She waited on a few customers and glanced at the clock. Daniel had stayed at her house for the day to work. He’d all but abandoned his apartment, which was perfectly fine with her. She was doing her damnedest to follow Vivi’s pointed advice and let herself enjoy Daniel. He didn’t make assumptions and had asked about working from her place. He’d commented that his apartment was hardly home for him, while being at her house meant Daisy didn’t have to spend the day alone. Daisy, of course, loved having Daniel around. Sophia could imagine Daisy simply parked herself at Daniel’s feet wherever he happened to be working in the house. He’d texted a little while ago and said he’d be stopping by for a coffee. Even though her nights were spent with him, a few hours away and she was aflutter with anticipation to see him again.

The bell on the door rang. Sophia looked up and saw Heath entering. Just seeing him lately made her heart feel lighter. After a year of lugging around the weight of worry about him, seeing him back to his old self, even stronger, was such a gift tears sprang to her eyes. Heath glanced around as he made his way to the counter. He pushed his sunglasses up on his head when he reached her.

“Hey Soph. Thought I’d stop by for a coffee. How’s it going?”

“It’s going. What do you want for coffee?”

Heath’s eyes perused the chalkboard menu on the wall above the counter. “What’s that chocolate coffee thing I like?”

“A mocha latte. You want one of those?”

Heath nodded firmly. When she turned to pass the order on to Tommy, Tommy called out. “Already on it.”

She turned back, and Heath was sliding several bills across the counter.

“You don’t need to pay. This one’s on me.”

Heath ignored her and dropped the bills in the tip jar. “If you won’t let me pay for it, then you get a fat tip.”

The bell chimed again. When she glanced over reflexively, Daniel was walking through the door. Her belly clenched and heat slid through her veins at the mere sight of him. He was his usual tall, dark and sexy self. He wore faded jeans that rode low on his hips and a black t-shirt. His chiseled chest and abs filled out the t-shirt. She savored the flex of his muscles as his arms swung loosely at his sides while he walked toward the counter. His eyes locked on hers, and her breath hitched. She remembered her brother was standing right there and shook her head to knock her mind off the pure desire racing through her.

When Daniel reached the counter, he greeted Heath before leaning over and dropping a kiss on her cheek. She flushed straight through. Heath’s eyes bounced between them, but he held his silence. Daniel leaned against the counter and slid his hands into his pockets. “I’m here for that coffee I mentioned,” he said with a half-smile.

Her pulse skittered, but she managed to stay focused. “Right. Double shot Americano?”

He nodded firmly. As she turned toward Tommy, he handed Heath’s coffee forward. “Heard the next one too,” Tommy offered with a grin.

“I know. I forget I don’t need to repeat everything for you.”

When she turned back, Heath was asking Daniel what he did for work.

“I do freelance computer coding. I’ve done it for years. I have a few contracts to provide tech support for some companies, but mostly I do coding for special projects.”

“That makes it easy to work wherever you want. Not a bad gig,” Heath commented.

“Works for me. I like it. The only part that’s hard is it’s pretty solitary work.”

“I can see that. So what do you think of Painter now you’ve been here a little bit?”

“I like it.” Daniel paused and glanced to Sophia. He turned back to Heath. “To be honest, I wasn’t sure if I’d want to stay when I came out here. But now, I’m not planning on going anywhere.”

Sophia’s heart tightened. He meant for her to understand his intent. It was obvious Heath sensed as such. Heath’s eyes narrowed and he glanced from Daniel to her. If Heath wanted to say anything, he elected not to. He simply nodded. “Well, I know Soph’s glad to have you here.”

Heath’s eyes landed on her, and she could practically see the wheels turning in his head. She figured he may have an opinion, but he would keep it to himself for now. She interpreted his silence as approval. It might be grudging, but if Heath had a problem with Daniel, it would be clear even if he didn’t say a word. The bell chimed again. This time Vivi strolled through, a wide smile gracing her face when she saw them. She made straight for the counter, putting herself right between Heath and Daniel. “Mocha latte, please,” she said brightly.

“Coming right up,” Tommy called out as he slid Daniel’s drink forward.

Vivi glanced amongst everyone, her eyes lingering on Heath. She leaned up and pecked him quickly on the cheek. “It’s so damn good to have you home.”

The corner of Heath’s mouth kicked up in a grin. “Damn good to be home. What’s this I hear about you all being involved in the arrest of a couple of shifter smugglers?”

Vivi shrugged. “We were just checking things out. We didn’t start anything, so don’t blame us for that.” She glanced to Sophia. “Roger was at Quinn’s last night. He mentioned the two guys they have in custody decided it might be worthwhile to talk. He wouldn’t tell me much of anything, but he did say he thinks the lead on Nelson was solid. He’s hoping they might finally get enough info to get somewhere.”

Heath’s eyes narrowed. “Nelson? Nelson Weaver, your uncle?” he asked, turning to Daniel.

Daniel nodded and took a gulp of his coffee. “When we were out there, I thought he was the guy waiting at the cabin.”

“You know much about him?” Heath asked.

“Not much beyond what my own mother shared and then your mother. My mother lost touch with Nelson years ago, so your mother actually had more up to date info. Even that wasn’t much though. When I went out to meet him at my grandparents’ old house, he wasn’t exactly friendly.”

Heath was quiet for a long moment before he shook his head sharply. “Now the police are on the trail, will you two back the hell off?”

“I said we would and we will,” Sophia said quickly. “You can’t blame us for wanting to. No one got hurt, so just let it go.”

Heath’s eyes were dark and somber. “Rumor has it there was s scuffle in the forest.”

Vivi spoke up. “Maybe so, but it’s not like we can’t hold our own. Obviously we did, so don’t turn this into something it wasn’t.”

Tension raced through Sophia. She understood Heath’s concern, but she didn’t think he quite grasped how much it mattered to them to find some chinks in the armor around the smuggling network. Without its existence in Painter and well-known easy access to drugs, Heath might have never even considered trying to score illegal drugs to manage his painkiller addiction. No matter how many times she told herself Heath was responsible for his own actions, she couldn’t shake the thought that something needed to be done about the smuggling network. Heath aside, there were plenty of reasons to want it gone. Shifter rumors were more frequent, including rumors specifically about shifters smuggling. Then there was the tarnish it was leaving on the shifter community. Shifters had their own code of honor and the smugglers had flouted it blatantly.

Sophia was relieved when a couple walked up to the counter. It derailed the conversation. She busied herself waiting on them. Heath and Daniel made their way to a table nearby, appearing deep in conversation. Vivi waited by the counter. When the couple moseyed away, Vivi rested her hip on the counter and eyed Sophia. “Heath’s being mighty quiet about Daniel.”

“Yeah, I know. Either I’ll hear about it later, or he’s fine with Daniel.”

Vivi looked over at Daniel and Heath. “I’m pretty sure he can pick up on the obvious. He seems to like Daniel well enough.”

Sophia followed Vivi’s gaze. Heath was leaning back in his chair, looking comfortable and at ease. Daniel looked much the same. Whatever Heath might think of her and Daniel, he appeared to get along with Daniel, which was a relief. She might be struggling to stare down her own uncertainties, but she wanted Daniel to be accepted by her family.

Vivi turned back to Sophia, the loose braid in her hair swinging over her shoulder. “Heath looks good. He seems almost back to himself, the way he was before the accident.”

“I know. I’m so relieved. I just hope he stays this way. My mom isn’t going to relax for a good long while.”

“I know she’s been worried, but I think Heath’ll be okay. He looks better than ever.”

Another customer approached the counter with yet another right behind. Vivi caught Sophia’s eyes. “Catch you later, okay?”

Sophia nodded and stayed focused on taking orders. Vivi made her way to the table where Daniel and Heath were sitting. The after work rush began. By the time things slowed down, Sophia glanced over to see Heath and Vivi had left. Daniel had pulled his laptop out and was busy working. A part of her was thrilled to have him here waiting for her to finish work.

Chapter 13

Daniel stood in the middle of the living room in his apartment. He’d spent so little time here, it didn’t even look lived in. He could easily pack up and move in an afternoon. His mind rolled backwards to the months he was planning his move to Painter. What he’d said to Sophia about his family was true. He’d had a good childhood. The only mar of significance was the heavy burden of his brother’s death. He’d been so young, his memories of David were vague. However, his recollection of his parents’ pain was vivid. Each had carried the grief of David’s death with them to their death. Yet, they’d created a childhood of love and hope for Daniel. He hadn’t come to Painter to fill a hole. He’d come to Painter to connect with the shifter side of himself. Discovering his only living uncle might be deep in the smuggling network made him sick, but he was fairly matter of fact about it. While it would have been nice to find family that could mean something to him, he’d found Sophia. She was far, far more meaningful.

He took a breath and strode to the desk. He quickly tucked his back up hard-drive in its small travel case. He’d reached a point with Sophia where he thought he needed to say aloud what was blaring like a trumpet in his heart. He couldn’t conceive of ever being without her. After tossing some clothes in a bag, he slung it over his shoulder and left the apartment again. On his way back to Sophia’s house, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He tapped the screen on his dash and answered over the speakers.

“Daniel here.”

“Daniel, it’s Roger Shaw.”

“Officer Shaw?”

“You got it. Look, I’m following up after our chat the other day. We’ve done some more digging on your uncle and were wondering if you’d be open to working with us on this.”

He didn’t hesitate. “Sure. How about I stop by the station?”

“Sounds great.”

“Be there in five.”

The line went quiet, and Daniel kept driving toward downtown Painter. He pulled up to the police station and met Roger just inside. A while later, he headed back out. The plan was for him to visit Nelson again and try to rattle him. The police had done their homework and discovered his grandparents’ home had been deeded directly to Daniel, not Nelson. Nelson had probably hoped Daniel would never bother to show up in Painter, much less assume the home had bypassed Nelson. Daniel went straight from the police station to the law office of the attorney Lila had told him about.

The law office in question was housed in an old, stately home on a side street in downtown Painter. Daniel walked into the reception area, which held a desk and a few chairs. With no one around, he followed the instructions on the sign and tapped the small bell sitting on the desk. After a few minutes, a door across the hall opened and an older gentleman walked into the room. The man was tall and lanky with silver hair and brown eyes. He held his hand out. Daniel shook it quickly.

“I’m looking for Paul Thornton. I’m Daniel Hayes and…”

“Daniel, Lila Ashworth told me you were in town. I’ve been planning to call. I’m Paul. Very nice to meet you. Let’s meet in my office.”

Paul walked past Daniel and opened a door to the side of the desk, gesturing for Daniel to follow him. Paul’s office contained a large mahogany desk, a round table with chairs, and bookshelves covering every wall. Two tall windows allowed sunlight to fill the room. They sat at the table. Paul leaned his elbows on the table and eyed Daniel. “You look just like your grandfather when he was younger. Good to see you,” Paul said gruffly.

Unsure what to say, Daniel nodded.

“Lila thought you might want to know about your grandparents’ will.”

“Not because I want to cause any trouble, but it sounds like maybe my uncle isn’t abiding by their wishes.”