Safari Island Shifters: The Complete Collection(37)

“No, you go home to your husbands.”

Lily let go of Maura’s hand now that they were at the bus stop. “Alright. But you have to text me as soon as you’re in your room. I’m not going to be able to sleep until you do.”

Maura nodded. “Will do. Thanks again for the nice night.”

“Don’t thank me. I had fun too. It’s been so long since I’ve gone out with a girlfriend sans husbands. This was a really nice night for me too. We should get together again before you leave.”

“For sure. I’ll talk to you when I wake up.”

“I’ll be down at the front desk so just drop by whenever. Things are slow now that it’s so hot.”

Maura took the seat behind the driver. There were only four other riders—two couples—going back to the resort. Maura closed her eyes and rested all the way back. She was exhausted. The evening had been a lot of fun but also so stressful. She couldn’t believe her luck.

Any other time, she would have been thrilled to have someone like Branch interested in her. Especially after her breakup, he would have been a very nice distraction. The elephant shifter was still hot as hell. She’d recognized him right away. How couldn’t she? He’d been the star of many of her teenage fantasies. Branch Dunkin, defensive star of the football team and all-around great guy. He had a wicked sense of humor and made lots of jokes. Some people thought he was a total ass, but Maura knew he was actually a nice guy.

She remembered racing home after school every day to be there before he dropped off her neighbor, who was on the team too. Neither of them ever noticed her, but she was obsessed with Branch. Then he’d gone away to college and she’d never seen him again. She had looked for him online a few times and had heard a few things around town, but mostly, she’d forgotten about him. Until now.

Her greatest dream had turned into a nightmare. He knew who she was. He could name her once the protest got started. He would figure out it was her, and it would all be over. She would be arrested and her life would be ruined. Good-bye Elway, hello gulag.

By the time she got back to her room and lay on the bed, Maura was in a tailspin. She texted Lily and then punched in Jimmy Tony’s number. It probably wasn’t the best idea, since she was drunk, but that couldn’t be helped. She had to speak to him now or she was going to have to call the whole thing off.

“Hello?” he answered groggily. “What’s wrong?”

“Everything.” Tears streamed down her cheeks. “I met one of the workers and he’s from Elway. He knows me.”

There was silence at the other end of the line. Maura was sure Jimmy had fallen asleep until he spoke again. “So?”

“He knows me! He’ll be able to tell the island police that it was me. Interpol or whoever will be after me before I’m halfway back to the States. They are going to toss me into a gulag and throw away the key.”

“Did you tell him about the plan?” he asked harshly.

“Of course not,” Maura sniffled and wiped her nose.

“How would he know, then?”

“He’ll put two and two together. He’ll know it was me.”

“Maura, there are thousands of visitors on the island every single day. Thousands of new faces every single month. Why in the world would he think you had any part in our protest?”

She said nothing. She had a feeling, but there was no way to explain it without sounding crazy. Hell, maybe it was crazy. Something was going to happen. She just knew it. Something was going to happen and Branch was going to be involved somehow. Even drunk as she was, she trusted her instincts.

“I think you’ve had a little too much to drink tonight,” Jimmy said. “When you get up tomorrow morning, you’ll feel much better about everything. I’ll be there soon and everything will be fine.”

“I hope so.”

“Trust me. I’ve been working on this plan for almost a year. We’re going to succeed this time. You still believe in the cause, don’t you?”

“Of course I do,” Maura said slowly. She was starting to feel very tired and her words were slurring even more.

“Good. Think about how good you’re going to feel when we expose Safari Corp to the world. You’re going to make a big difference,” Jimmy said. “You’re very brave. I’m so proud of you. After everything with John, you could have crawled into a hole and been depressed for the rest of your life. But look at you. You’re out there and you’re doing big things.”

“Thank you.” Maura was smiling. “I feel better. Thanks for picking up. I know it’s late.”

“No problem. Sleep tight and good night.”

“Night.”

She did feel better, but that ominous feeling was still there too, like a huge case of nerves. She wanted to trust Jimmy Tony. He had to be right. She would stay away from Branch and it would all be fine.

Maybe after they exposed Safari Corp, business would screech to a halt and Branch would have to come home to Elway. That would be a stroke of good luck.

***

Branch had been texting Lily all day trying to get more information on Maura. Last night had been a bust, but she was too beautiful to give up on after one night. Lily had been stonewalling him all day, but he’d just run into Finn on the way home from work. Finn told him about Lily’s new friend, who was having a very depressing honeymoon dinner for one.