Page 39 of Protecting Vera

Justin’s lips curled into a snarl. “I’d like to see him try.”

“He’s dangerous,” Vera said.

Frizz tapped her husband on the shoulder. “He did set her building on fire. And look at her wrists. He wouldn’t hesitate to kill us.”

Justin rolled his eyes. “I wouldn’t mind meeting him on a level playing field.”

Ben shook his head. “You know he wouldn’t do that. He would make sure whatever situation you were walking into was weighted for him. He’s a bastard, and there isn’t an easy way to deal with him. You need to keep Frizz safe.”

Justin ran his hand down his face. “I know. It just pisses me off. It makes me mad that we have to run away.”

Ben nodded. “Thario will be here tomorrow. He will give us an update on where Logan is. Maybe he isn’t looking for you. Maybe he’s going there on business.”

Vera didn’t like the threat hanging over their heads. She hated that her mess had become Frizz’s mess. Justin was right, she hated having to run away. But she’d found something great when she’d run. It wasn’t fair that Frizz was being affected by this. If she could keep her friends safe, she would.

Logan’s fatherhad sent him to Phoenix for business, but while he was in the city, he planned to flash Vera’s photo around and ask if anyone had seen her. He only had a good photo of her with long hair, but it would have to do.

He checked into his hotel, ready to go out and start canvassing the town for Vera. He would start at the mall and then head to a few bars. Someone had to have seen her. He pulled up the maps application on his phone and stared at the screen as he zoomed out to find the edge of the city.

Shock coursed through him. Why hadn’t anyone told him how huge Phoenix was? There was no way he would ever find her. The city stretched out on all sides, filling in almost all the space between the mountains. How would he find Vera here?

He pulled up a list of malls and was overwhelmed. There were so many places. How could there be so many places to shop? This was supposed to be easy. He needed contacts in this place, but no one knew him.

He was here to get this location of his dad’s business back in line. They’d missed a payment. That wasn’t acceptable, and he had to convince them they needed to pay now or their license would be pulled. He thought the threat had no meat behind it. He wanted to tell the licensed extensions to fall in line or else, but his dad wanted him to keep it civil. Logan thought it was ridiculous to fly all the way out here for something that could have been a phone call, but he’d come thinking he could kill two birds with one stone. Now he knew that wasn’t realistic.

Finding Vera here would be impossible. Unless he could convince the people who work at the extension to look for Vera for him. The benefit would be he would have someone working for him here while he went home to Texas. But his father might find out. The man would be pissed. His dad wanted him to forget Vera and concentrate on work. But he wouldn’t let Vera win. She had to pay for the damage she’d done.

He struck out asking if people had seen her at the two malls he’d gone to. The bartender at the one place he showed up told him to leave. Said his story sounded sus and he wouldn’t help him do something illegal.

Anger pumped through him as he left. The asshole had said something about him sounding like a human trafficker. What was that about? He was just looking for a woman. Why did that guy have to get weird about it?

The next morning he headed to the shop, ready to get the people in charge of this location in line. They needed to be shown who was boss. He wouldn’t follow his dad’s lead and be wimpy. These people needed to learn who was in charge.

He stepped into the place, and the door chimed loudly throughout the shop. The sound of metal clanking in the back area stopped, and then a huge hulk of a man stepped into the office, wiping his hands on a rag.

Logan swallowed, trying to come up with words to speak. If he pissed off this guy, he might end up in a dumpster. He’d seen that movie before and didn’t need the pain.

He cleared his throat and tried for a smile before he explained why he was there. For a second, Logan thought the guy was going to hit him.

The man spat on the ground and shook his head. “Tell your dad I ain’t paying nothing. I’ll take the name off the shop before I pay that slimy bastard.”

Logan hadn’t encountered anyone who hadn’t apologized for being late on a payment. This guy was scary, and he didn’t want to get into a fight. His father would have to count this as a loss. The man would never be intimidated by Logan. This wasn’t a successful visit, and his father would be pissed. He had no way of making this guy pay up what he owed, and he certainly couldn’t ask him to look for Vera. His plans were falling apart. He wasn’t used to being told no or having to give up.

He drove away from the business, a hollow feeling inside. No one turned him down or told him no. He should go back there and show that guy who was boss. Fear slid through him, and he rejected the thought in an instant. Instead, he focused on getting to the airport. It was like a block had gone up in his mind, shielding him from the full reality that he was nothing when it came to anything outside his tiny Texas town.

The only way to get his power back was to find Vera and make her his. She’d started his downfall, and she would pay. There wasn’t any other option.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Vera missed having Frizz around. She wished they lived closer to each other so they could see each other at least once a month. It would be at least half a year before they ended up together again.

Ben had a busy week ahead. His chain of command had informed him that they should expect to have a lot of late days. She planned on getting caught up on work and maybe get ahead. She needed to do some planning for a future product release but hadn’t had time. This would give her the extra hours.

On Monday and Tuesday, she was already asleep when Ben came home. She actually saw him on Wednesday, though he came home late and left early on Thursday. When he called on Thursday afternoon and told her he had to stay late at work and might not be home until Friday morning, she decided she needed to get out of the house and be around people.

She called her friends and asked if they wanted to meet for drinks that evening, and Remi and Ellis said yes. They planned to meet at Aces bar, but she needed to get out before then, so she headed to a coffee shop to sit and work amongst other people just for a change of scenery.

The coffee shop she picked had a delicious quiche that made her wonder what she’d done to find food so good. If she could have eaten another slice, she would have bought one. The food was so good she didn’t start work until she finished eating. She vowed to come back for lunch or brunch. She figured Ben would enjoy how this tasted.

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