Page 14 of Relentless Touch

“You think he’s coming back.”

“I think he’s the type who doesn’t let things go.” Rio turned onto the main road, heading toward Glass Oak. “Just wanted you aware. If he shows up with pack, it could get messy.”

“I’ll be in town in an hour,” Zeppelin said. “Swing by the restaurant. We’ll talk.”

Rio ended the call, tossing the phone onto the passenger seat. His snow leopard settled slightly, satisfied that backup was coming. Zeppelin’s pack controlled the mountain territory around Crimson Hollow. If Izan wanted to start something here, he’d have to go through them first.

That still didn’t explain where Kevin had gone.

Rio pulled into Glass Oak’s parking lot just as dawn began painting the eastern sky in shades of orange and pink. His restaurant sat quiet, its windows dark, the only sound coming from a pair of crows arguing in the pine tree near the dumpster.

He liked these early hours. Solitude before the controlled chaos of service It gave him time to prep in silence and get his head straight before the kitchen filled with heat and noise and the constant demands of cooking for people who expected perfection on a plate.

Today, solitude felt wrong. His snow leopard wanted Kevin here, wanted to know where he’d gone and whether he was safe. Wanted to track him down and drag him back, if necessary, though Rio’s human side knew that approach would backfire spectacularly.

Inside the restaurant, Rio flipped on lights, started the coffee maker, and began his usual routine. Checked inventory and prepped mise en place. Muscle memory carried him through tasks he’d done thousands of times, while his mind stayed half-focused on his little impala.

A sound outside made him pause mid-chop. Engine noise, low and unfamiliar. Not one of his staff. They all drove vehicles Rio could identify by sound alone.

He set down his knife, moving to the window.

An SUV sat idling in the parking lot. Black, expensive, tinted windows that made it impossible to see inside. Just sitting there, engine running, pointed toward the restaurant.

Rio walked outside, wiping his hands on his apron. Morning sunlight hit the SUV’s windshield at an angle that turned it into a mirror. There was still no clear view of the driver.

“Can I help you?” He kept his voice level, friendly enough to be polite but flat enough to make it clear he wasn’t invested in the answer.

After a long moment, the driver’s window rolled down. A man sat behind the wheel, maybe late twenties, with a build that came from serious gym time and a face that probably intimidated people who intimidated easily. Dark eyes swept over Rio with an assessment that was pure predator.

Wolf. Rio’s snow leopard recognized the scent immediately.

“Doubt it,” the man said. A smirk curved his mouth, the expression of someone who thought he was being clever.

“Private property,” Rio said.

“That so?” The man looked around the parking lot with an accessing gaze. “Looks pretty public to me.”

“Looks can be wrong.” Rio crossed his arms and settled his weight into a non-threatening stance, making his immovable presence felt. “You looking for something specific or just taking in the scenery?”

For a beat, nothing happened. Just two shifters staring at each other across ten feet of asphalt while the SUV’s engine purred, and another crow called out.

Then the man smiled wider, put the SUV in gear, and slowly pulled out of the lot.

Rio stood there until the vehicle disappeared around the bend then pulled out his phone and typed the license plate number into his notes. Colorado plates. Seven characters he’d memorized in the short time they’d been visible.

Back inside, he returned to his prep work, but his focus was shot. That hadn’t been random. Nobody drove to a business at dawn just to park and leave. The timing was too convenient, too close to Kevin’s arrival in town and Izan’s interest in finding him.

When the motorcycles rumbled into the lot twenty minutes later, Rio was ready. He met Zeppelin at the door, along with two other wolves. Vaughn, the beta, and a pack member named Quinn.

“Inside,” Rio said, holding the door. “I’ll make breakfast.”

They settled at one of the dining room tables while Rio worked in the kitchen, putting together plates of eggs and bacon and the sourdough toast that was always better when it came from yesterday’s loaf. Cooking gave his hands something to do while his mind turned over the morning’s events.

“Had a visitor.” Rio set the plates down. “About an hour ago. Wolf shifter in a black SUV, just sitting in my lot. When I asked if I could help, he basically told me to get lost.”

Zeppelin’s expression didn’t change, but something shifted in the way he held himself. “He say anything else?”

“I told him this was private property. He said it looked public to him.” Rio pulled out his phone, showed them the license plate number. “Colorado plates. Left when I didn’t back down, but it felt like a message.”