Free The Jaguar's Beach Bride: BBW Jaguar Shifter Paranormal Romance (Shifters of Coral Beach Book 1) by Zoe Chant

dripping everywhere. Most noticeable was the old cash register, broken beyond repair, everything taken from inside. Mina never kept much in the way of cash in it—she had a small safe in the back for that. Suddenly remembering the safe, she rushed to the back, already knowing it couldn’t be good.
    “Oh God.” The safe lay open on the floor; they’d taken everything, every bit of money she’d earned this week. Mina crumpled to the floor. “How did they get inside it?” she asked, almost numb at this point. “I never leave it unlocked. It’s all gone, all of it.”
    Mina rifled through a few documents left behind, trying to smooth out the pieces of paper in some attempt to right the wrong done to the store.
    Brennan crouched down beside her, rubbing her arms. He didn’t try to tell her everything would be all right this time. She appreciated that he didn’t try to sugarcoat things.
    “We’ll figure this out,” was all he said.
    Mina had to take comfort in the fact that, at the very least, she wasn’t alone.
    “Did you have any other valuables they may have taken, Ms. Kinney?” Officer Gentry asked as he followed them into the backroom. “Any other safes?”
    “No, this was it. The store wasn’t really big enough for multiple safes.” She forced herself to stand. “But they’ve taken everything of value.” Her voice hitched.
    “I am sorry for all of this, although at least no one was hurt,” the officer said. “We’ll be finishing up here soon, and then you’ll need to come to the station for a statement. If we’re lucky, we’ll find some prints that will help us find whoever did this.”
    Mina just nodded. She was in a daze, and she didn’t even realize that Brennan was the one shaking hands with the officer once more and finishing up the paperwork. A headache pounded in the back of her brain, and she only wanted to go home and sleep for the rest of her life. Forget that all of this had ever happened.
    “Mina.” Brennan tipped her chin up so she had to look at him. “Let’s go get some coffee, okay? There’s nothing else we can do here.”
    She nodded again. Words seemed too hard, too thick on her tongue, and at any rate, Brennan seemed to know what she needed more than even she did. Before she realized it, a hot mug of coffee was set before her and Brennan was urging her to drink it.
    “You should eat something, too,” he said.
    “I’m not hungry.”
    “Doesn’t matter. Something is better than nothing.” He motioned to the waitress, and he ordered two plates of bacon and eggs.
    Brennan began eating while Mina just picked at her food. “Didn’t you have a meeting this morning?” she asked.
    “I told them I had a family emergency. They’ll have to deal.” He drank his coffee and finished up his bacon, clearly ravenous. “Eat something. You’ll feel better if you eat.”
    She wasn’t remotely convinced of this assertion, but she ate a few bites of egg and bacon to appease him. Mostly she nursed her mug of coffee and thought about what she was going to do now.
    She already knew that even though her insurance could replace the merchandise and clean up the store, she had already lost too much money to make the business profitable again. And coupled with the fact that she’d lost this week’s earnings in one fell swoop? It was hopeless. Mina knew that, and she knew it was hopeless when the thought of it didn’t cause her to sob uncontrollably. Instead, a hollowness filled her—a bitter acceptance of the inevitable.
    Her business had been her dream for so many years. A place to work with the locals, who she'd grown up with, providing a bit of fun to the tourists who visited. Mina had adored this pier and stretch of beach for as long as she could remember, and being able to work here everyday, and work in her own business? It had been a dream come true.
    But reality had quickly set in, plus the recession, and now everything had snowballed into a disaster. No longer a dream, but