Free Baby Protector Bear: BBW Bear Shifter Baby Paranormal Romance (Who's the Daddy? Book 4) by Harmony Raines Page B

speak to Liam please.” A pause. “He’s still on his honeymoon. Damn, I forget. Is there someone else I can speak to? I think Liam mentioned a Detective Landy.” Another pause. “Thank you. My name? Beau Branson.”
    Beau looked at Joel, and gave him a thumbs-up. This next part of the conversation was going to be tough, Joel only hoped Beau didn’t come straight out and ask Landy what was going on.
    “Hey. Detective Landy.” He paused. “I think I met you at the wedding. Yes, you were with Joel, Liam’s partner. Yes, it was a good day. Listen, I’m having trouble getting hold of Joel. He has the key to Liam’s house while he’s away, and I am coming into town and wanted to stay there for a couple of days. Do you know where I might be able to get hold of him? Or did he have to get out of there, because they are coming ?”
    A longer pause. Joel felt sick to his stomach. He had given Landy enough to go on, enough for him to know exactly where Beau was, if he had written that text.
    “And who exactly is they ?” Beau asked. A long silence. “I understand, thanks for your time.”
    Then he hung up.
    “What happened?” Joel asked.
    “He said he will call you tonight, when he can, on the phone he texted you on. Well, that’s what I got from his cryptic message. Life is so much easier when you can just say what you mean.”
    “All phone calls are recorded. He had to be careful.” Joel sat down heavily. “I really need to get some fresh air. Clear my head.”
    “There is a whole mountain out there to romp on. Why don’t you take Chrissie with you? Sam is safe here with us. Tamsin will be awake soon; they can sit and stare at each other for an hour or two, while you and that mate of yours do the same.”
    “I do not stare,” Joel said.
    “Listen, don’t waste a moment with her. You should have learned that from Joel. He kept Louisa hidden from you and your department. And she kept him hidden from us. Now learn, because you might not get a second chance like he did.”
    Beau’s words were the truth, a truth he had been putting off. If he was ever going to be in the best place to tell Chrissie about his bear, then this was it. He could follow a trail up into the mountains, and at least if she screamed no one would hear her, and if she ran, he would be there with her, and catch her and persuade her it was OK, that his bear was why she was his and why he would always keep her safe.

Chapter Fourteen – Chrissie
    “Elise is lovely,” Chrissie said. More lovely than she could have imagined. Very grounded, and the most loving mom Chrissie had ever met. Her life was perfect, and it was hard not to feel jealous. The words of the guy who had attacked Joel came to her. He had thought everything about Chrissie’s life was perfect, and he had been so wrong.
    “They are a lovely family,” Joel said, reaching for her hand as they hit the trail, and she didn’t pull away. Through the trauma of yesterday, and the flight through the night to escape whoever was after Sam, something had shifted in her. She trusted Joel implicitly. He wouldn’t have brought her here to this lovely family, if he wasn’t sincere and on her side.
    Joel wouldn’t have put Beau and his family in danger. She could see how much he liked them. But that was exactly what they had done, if anyone had followed them.
    A penny for your paranoia , she thought as they went through the trees, the cool air lifting her mood, and the greens of the leaves soothing her headache. This was exactly what she needed, a break from the stress, to be alone with Joel and her thoughts.
    She needed to get some perspective, and figure out if her boss really was the bad guy.
    “Forget about it all for a while,” he said as if reading her thoughts. “This place is beautiful; why don’t we enjoy it?”
    “Because Sam is back at the house on his own: What if someone comes for him? What if Elise and the children get hurt, or Beau?”
    “Beau can look after them