Page 23 of Shadow

“Liv?” he called out as he made his way down the hall. Her bedroom door was open a crack, so he peeked in. The bed was made, and her suitcase was open in the corner. He pushed the door open farther and looked around. No phone. No keys.

Fuck.

He sprinted back down the hall and into the kitchen where he yanked open the garage door. Sure enough, her truck was gone. How the hell had she slipped out without him hearing?

He dialed her number. Something he’d made her put in his phone while they were at her house with the police last night.

There was no answer, so he pulled up the GPS tracking they’d put on her truck. Thankfully, Peter had given him access before he left town.

He didn’t recognize where she was. So, he called her again.

When there was still no answer, he sent a text.

Answer your damn phone, Olivia.

His phone lit up with an incoming call. “Where the hell are you?”

“I had an early meeting. I didn’t want to wake you.”

She said it as if her bar hadn’t just been set on fire or her house vandalized.

“Damn it, Olivia. Are you serious right now? The whole point of me being with you is to be with you. If you have somewhere to be, I’ll accompany you.”

“I’ll be done in ten minutes. Meet me at Peggy’s Pies. We can turn that dinner you’ve been pestering me about into breakfast.

“And we can talk about the rules.”

“Just call a car and meet me, Cannon.”

When he convinced her to take him back, she wouldn’t be able to sit for a week, he decided when the call ended abruptly.

After getting dressed and brushing his teeth, he ordered a car through the rideshare app. He would have taken Peter’s car, but then he would have to follow Olivia home when they were done with breakfast, and she was most definitely riding with him. The driver he was assigned was two minutes away, so he stepped outside to wait.

When he reached the restaurant fifteen minutes later, he was relieved to see Olivia waiting in her truck. At least nothing had happened.

“Morning,” she greeted with a curt nod as the Uber driver pulled away.

He put a hand on her upper arm and steered her into the restaurant without acknowledging her greeting.

“What’s crawled up your ass today?” she muttered.

“Aside from a woman who likes to goad me?”

“I’m not goading you, Ripley. I’m taking care of my business. I’m sorry I didn’t wake you. It didn’t cross my mind.”

“Well, it better fucking cross your mind from now on. Until we know what’s going on, you don’t go anywhere without me.”

They were led to a booth by a cheery host, and Ripley didn’t let go of Olivia’s arm until he pushed her down onto one bench and he took the other one for himself.

“Coffee?” the server asked a minute later.

“Water for me,” Olivia said.

“Black coffee,” Ripley muttered, picking up the menu

When they were alone again, he put the menu aside and glared at her.

“If you’re going to be a grumpy asshole, I’ll take a stranger from Peter’s firm, keeping an eye on me. I acknowledge I was dumb for not waking you. But I overslept and almost missed my appointment with the contractor.”

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