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"All right, Jake Toht there" Ryan raised a brow at her as he snapped his phone shut "Sa any hu to watch the waiting rooht"

"You’re going to try and track them down?" She hated hoorried she sounded

"It’s what I do, Carol I’ood PI" He motioned to Tom as already headed down the hall toward them "Did your brother call you?"

Touard stance "Yeah Jake said for me to stay with her"

"She’s only to see special patients"

She rolled her eyes at him, perturbed that he didn’t think she could handle this

Ryan half hid a smile "Is Christian in place?"

"Yeah, he hurried over here and is sitting in the waiting roo to be a patient, but he wanted to be the one in the room with Carol instead"

Ryan shook his head "He can want all he likes, but Carol needs one of us to watch over her"

The unspoken words were that she needed an alpha for protection And Mervin and Christian were definitely not alphas

"I agree," Toet your next patient, Carol?"

Ryan hesitated to leave Did he think Toht" Carol shoved her hand in her pocket and ran her fingers over the syringe

To her shock, Ryan stepped close to her, his gaze re his fingers over the inner-pocket fabric covering her thigh in a e

Toe "What’s that for?"

"A weapon," Ryan said He handed it back to her "You won’t need it, but if it makes you feel safer… keep it with you I’ll be back" Then he stalked off down the hall

All of a sudden she didn’t feel so safe Sure Tom was an alpha, but Ryan was truly soot on his bad side Hell, she had been afraid he uy had torn tendons froht have even asked her out if Ryan hadn’t been hovering over hi But she felt incredibly safe when Ryan ith her

Now, she felt apprehensive again, and while she thought Ryanto hunt the , she still wished he hadn’t gone

"You okay, Carol? Want to go home?" Tom asked, concern etched in his expression

"No, I can’t leave the others to work here alone I’ll be fine" She patted his chest "I have you" And the hypodermic with the tranquilizer cocktail in her pocket

Ryan was torn betanting to stay and protect Carol and locating the bastards who had taken her from her shower He hated that she felt she still wasn’t safe, so e, nurse style--with her for protection On the other hand, he adht to protect herself, and he knew she had the fortitude to carry out her plan, as long as a would-be kidnapper didn’t get the upper hand

If he could catch theain--or Lelandi either, if they had a o after her next He met Jake and Darien, their expressions hard and determined, near the woods where the reds had taken off

"None of us can shift this close to town," Ryan said

Darien raised his brows at hi a leader and not used to giving up command, even in another wolf’s territory, at least not in a case like this where it was a dangerous situation Dariento aid in the search"

"We… you want us to split up?" Ryan asked, trying to be e, even if it killed hi Probably better than o with you Just watch out if they’re shooting bullets again"

Appreciating Darien’s comments, Ryan nodded and headed out while Jake ran to catch up to hiside Ryan, Jake shook his head "I never in a ht Darien would say that about you But you know, I think he’s kind of taken a liking to you So, do you believe in Carol’s sixth sense now?"

Ryan bent down to check out a broken branch and then headed west "She had a pre taken"

"Hell," Jake said

"I wonder if she thought she had the vision earlier, but she really had nightmares about it after the fact when she was still half doped up" Not that Ryan didn’t believe her, but in his business, he always looked at all possible sides of an issue

Yet, that didn’t explain what she’d been thinking of when she was sitting in his truck with a faraway look, like she was not really there Just like when he’d be deeply conte a case and Rosalind would interrupt histhe truth, that she’d had a vision and that she truly had other psychic abilities

"Keep thinking she doesn’t have psychic connections, and I’ll have to lanced at him He looked daly, she’s got a thing for you"

Ryan almost smiled