Raine didn’t want him around Mariana at the moment, just in case. “How are you feeling, Evan?” he drawled.
“Stronger than ever.” The cop’s brown eyes sparkled. “If you know what I mean.”
Yeah. He certainly did. Raine rocked back on his heels and noticed a place set for him next to Mariana. She dished him a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon.
“I couldn’t wait,” she murmured. “After calling in these two, I made breakfast.”
Tabi tipped back her mimosa. “I vouched for you, so stop looking so grumpy. There’s no way you’re a stalker or that you kidnapped anybody.” Her white-blond hair was in a ponytail, and her black eyes danced with amusement. The few pure-bred demonesses alive had similar coloring and were notoriously petite…and slightly nuts.
Even so, Raine’s spirits lifted. “Thank you.” He should’ve thought of calling in Tabi for a character reference. While they hadn’t known each other long, she was a sweetheart and from his world—and Mariana seemed to like and trust her.
“Sure.” Tabi snagged a piece of bacon from her mate’s plate. “I’m sure Abby and Noah would vouch for you, but they’re still in the Caribbean.”
Evan munched happily on a bagel. “They needed the vacation but will return to help with the final week of the campaign in a few days.”
Oh, they’d definitely needed a vacation. Noah was a hybrid who’d mated Abby and defended her from a psycho ex by killing him. “Has the sheriff still been harassing them about her ex’s death?” The sheriff had tried to pin the death on Abby, considering her scumbag ex had been a friend.
Evan’s mouth flattened out. “Yeah. We have to get him out of office.”
It was difficult not talking about real life, but Mariana couldn’t know about immortals. So Raine took his seat and dug into the eggs. They were delicious.
Evan leaned back. “Mariana told us about the kidnapping, and I’m so sorry I missed her call about the roses being left on her porch. What’s your take on it, Raine?”
Raine chewed thoughtfully. “I don’t know. The sedative was a strong one.” In other words, it had taken down a four-hundred-year-old hybrid, so it was possible the enemy was immortal and knew exactly who he was.
Tabi reached for the champagne bottle to refill her glass. “There are several horse tranquilizers that could’ve been used. Strong ones.”
If that was the situation, then maybe the jerk was human and had just gotten lucky with the drug. “If that’s the case, they didn’t care if they killed me,” Raine mused. The quantity probably would’ve killed a human.
Mariana jolted. “How can you sound so casual about that? You could’ve died.” She reached out and planted her small hand on his.
The soft touch wound right through his body to the beast at his core, and the damn creature roared. Raine forced a smile. “I didn’t die, so let’s not worry about that.” It took every ounce of his control not to flip his hand over and capture hers.
Evan watched him. “Do you have any enemies we need to know about?”
Mariana jumped. “Don’t be silly. This was about me and that stupid stalker I can’t get rid of. He took the safety wedge out of my guest window so he can come back. Nothing else is missing, though.” She looked down at her still full champagne glass and removed her hand.
“We’ll get a new lock and wedge for the window.” Raine said, the hair rising on the back of his neck.
She paled. “I know, but it’s driving me crazy that I can’t figure out who this guy is.”
Raine caught an expletive before it emerged. Anger tornadoed through him, and he took another bite of eggs, but now they tasted like dust. He hid his expression until he could clear it. “We will find him.”
Evan drank some water. “Raine, I agree, but is there anybody in your life who might think you’re destined and have gone after her?”
Mariana choked and reached for water to drink. She set the glass back down. “Destined? Evan, that’s crazy.”
Except it wasn’t. Not at all. Raine sighed and reached for the champagne. Why not? “No. None of my enemies would think I have a destiny or would seek out Mariana.”
She looked at him like he was nuts. “You guys are missing the boat here about the stalker. He would think that he’s my destiny.”
Tabi chuckled and drank more champagne. Oh, the demoness loved seeing other people in difficult situations. There was no doubt if they all voted, she’d choose to just tell Mariana everything, which would break the most important law of every species and coalition. “That’s such a good point, Mariana,” she drawled in her husky voice. “But some of us do believe in fate. What about you, Raine?”
Oh, he was going to smack the demoness. Except that he kind of liked her, even though she was a pain. “No, but I do believe in action.” He finished his drink. “Mariana? Do you have copies of the case files from Dallas? We need to find this guy before he goes for you again.”
She nodded. “I have everything in the desk in the guest room. The Dallas police did everything they could to find him, but he stayed under the radar.”
Raine sat back. “Good. I have a brother who’s an expert technical analyst. We’ll have him take a look.” Cade could find anybody.
Tabi sat up. “Ohhh. The mysterious Maxwell clan starts to take shape.”
Mariana looked at her. “Huh?”
Raine placed his hand over hers this time, partially to distract her and mostly to appease his own need. “Also, I need to bring the rest of my stuff in from the truck.”
She blinked. “Why?”
“Because I’m moving in until this guy is caught.” Raine pointedly ignored Evan’s narrowing of eyes, Tabi’s smile of delight, and Mariana’s look of pure argument.
Why hadn’t he just stayed in Montana? Oh yeah. He was dying. Until now that he was next to Mariana. He sighed.
Tabi laughed.
Chapter 5
Mariana stared at the murder board Raine had created across the wall of the guest room. Dates, times, theories—all of them from the Dallas Police Department.
“We really don’t have much,” Raine said, leaning back against the wall. “I’ve sent everything to my brother, and maybe he’ll be able to come up with something the cops couldn’t. If anybody can retrieve the video from your cameras, it’d be Cade.” He rolled his neck, and the muscles bunched in his upper arms.
Mariana tried to swallow and wet her suddenly dry throat. Having him near was too much for her libido, and if the guy had any idea of the dreams he’d starred in lately, he’d probably blush. Well, maybe. Something told her that Raine didn’t blush. “Why did you leave town?” she asked.
One of his brows arched. How could a freakin' eyebrow look sexy? “The job was done.”
Ouch. Okay. Well, then. He’d only been there for the job of watching Ivar and Noah. “Then why did you come back?” She looked away from him.
His sigh was long-suffering and didn’t tell her a thing. “That’s a long story, and I can’t go into it.”