Trouble Is Here

I fall asleep fast because I'm going a mile a minute. When I woke up I felt rested for the first time in a long time. I get in the shower, pick out a nice outfit and head down to the lobby. When I get there I see Jon waiting for me.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“No need to be sorry. Where would you like to go to breakfast?”

“I was going to try the Ugly Mug Diner so I can put it in my article.”

“Sounds good, let's go. Would you like me to drive so you can take more pictures or ask questions about anything?”

“That’s fine. I would love to get some pictures and yes I do have more questions.”

“Great, my car is this way.”

I follow him to his car and he opens the door for me. I smile and get in, he closes the door and walks to his side of the car. I watched him the whole time. As he gets in I can’t get over how handsome he is.

"Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I don’t know what you mean. How am I looking at you?”

“I don’t know. I like you, I have never seen you before.”

“No, I was just staring off into space with all the thoughts in my head.”

“Okay, let’s get some breakfast.”

We drove off in silence for a little while. I start taking some pictures and look over at him and I realize he seems on alert or something is on his mind. Then I realized I forgot to call Mom back last night and this morning. Man, she is going to be mad at me. I will text her when we get to the restaurant. When we arrive he gets out and runs over to open my door. I smile up at him and he waves me off. We walk into the restaurant and I look around and see the place is almost packed. That tells me a lot about the place already. Then I look over at a corner table and I see a woman staring at me like I took her man. I don’t say anything to Jon just yet, I wait till we are seated. Once we are seated we order drinks and I wait till the waiter is gone.

“Look to your left to the far back corner at the woman there.”

“What am I looking for?”

“She was staring when we walked in and if looks could kill I would have been dead.”

He turns to the left like he is looking for the waiter. He sees the woman looking at our table. We both can tell that she is not happy for some reason. She has black hair. Her body is an athletic build, if I had to guess her height I would say she is about 5’6. It’s hard to tell how she is sitting. He has a weird look on his face, like he knows her from somewhere. So I think her look could be because she thinks I am with him.  He turns back around to look at me.

“You look like you know who she is. So do you know her?”

“You're right I do know who she is. But I can’t figure out why she is here.”

“Who is she and why do I feel like she wants to hurt me?”

“She is my EX-mate. She rejected me because she was scared of me and she was in love with her pack's beta, which was her brother's best friend. He took her as his up until last year when he found his true mate then he tossed her aside the day he was going to claim her in front of the pack. She tried to get me to take her back, but I couldn’t do it. She swore revenge on me and said if I got a second chance mate she would wait till she was pregnant and kill them both.”

“That is insane. She brought all of that on herself. Why would she think she could leave you and return like nothing ever happened?”

“Because in her eyes she is the queen of the cat world. I think that is what she called it and herself way back then.”

“Wow, that is just crazy.”

“I never took her seriously, because I heard she found her second chance mate and he was an alpha, but never heard of what pack or anything like that. So,  why is she here?”

“Well, you are about to find out.” Just as I said that to him she walked up to the table. He looks at her and raises his eyebrows at her like you want something.

“Well, if- it isn’t my ex-mate and whoever this is.” The strange woman said

“Beverly, what are you doing here and what do you want?”

“Oh, I’m on a job. Seeing you was a bonus.” Beverly stated

“Well, you can forget about me. I already told you we will never get back together.”

“I don’t care about us anymore. I have my mate and he has already marked me. I just want you dead. That would make me happy. Since you think you're too good to forgive a small mistake.”

“Choosing your beta over me as your true mate is not a small mistake. If you found your mate, why do you still want me dead?

“Because my mate doesn’t like you and doesn’t think you should be the one on the council representing the cat breeds. I happen to agree with him.”

“Good to know. So who is this mate of yours?”

“He is the Alpha of the panther pack. You know the one where the alpha and  Luna were killed by rogues along with some of their pack.”

“I thought the Alpha of that pack was a female and her mate was away in the fairy kingdom? I also heard that she got away along with her twins.”

“You calling my mate a liar?”

“Yes, I am. Because you and I both know that I studied that pack in case it was the same one that killed my sister. You also know that the rogues are traveling in packs to start a war. So, why are you here?”

“I told you I’m on a job. And it looks like it’s going to be a fun one.”

“Since when do you work and what kind of job?”

“Oh, you would be surprised what I do now. And my job is none of your business, you're not my mate. But he will be here soon once I let him know that you are around.”

“Bring it. We both know how I get when I am threatened. Now you can leave because we are done here. You still have not changed. You are still just a power-hungry ass female.”

“I don’t know who you think you are, but you can’t talk to me that way and get away with it. I am not the same person I used to be that was in love with you.”

Then she smacked him and walked away. She had everyone watching the show in the place. I just watched her go, but something told me she would be back and not alone.

“Well, we better order and eat 'cause I still have places I need to be,” I said while laughing in hopes of lightening the mood.

“You're right, let's eat and then go enjoy the day. Do you know where we are going after this?”

“Yeah, but I have to check out of the Inn and go to another one so I can go to  Salem Witch Trials Memorial, the 4th. I have to check in at Longwood Inn at noon today. You got me sidetracked and I forgot to check out today which I am going to have to go back and do before I go to the memorial.”

“Sorry for sidetracking you. After we eat we can go check out then go check in and after all of that we can go to the memorial of the witches.” He said while laughing at me. We finished eating and then went back out so I could head to the next inn. I have to remember to get my car as well. If he is going to stick around I might turn in the car so we don’t have to worry about two cars.  We got back to the inn and I went up to my room and was about to open the door when I heard someone in my room. Thank god Jon was there with me cause he heard it too. He went in first and that’s when we saw three people in my room going through my things. When they saw us they charged at us trying to knock us out of the way. I jumped out of the way and two ran by me. The other one Jon caught. I called the police and then I went down to inform the inn hostess of what happened as well as tell her I already called the police. She was going to call the manager to let him know. Once all that was done I called Mom and told her what happened and that I was alright. Then I told her I would call her once I checked in at the other place. This was nuts, I still couldn’t help wondering what they were looking for. I walked back up to where Jon was and we both waited for the police with the guy tied up in one of the chairs. Jon told me not to touch anything until the police had a chance to see it and take pictures. I just stood there against the wall not touching anything. Next thing I knew the police were there and Jon was talking to them. Then they came to confirm what Jon had told them. I gave them the same story Jon did. They took their notes and pictures and asked where I was going next. I told them where I was headed next and what I did for a living. Jon helped move it along faster and gave them both our contact information. Then they left with one of the men that broke in. I started picking up my stuff so I could leave. Jon just stood there watching me and seemed to be thinking about something. I figured I would ask him about it later. I just wanted to get this day behind me now knowing that I will be here an extra day just so I can finish my work. By the time we got to the other place, it was time for lunch. I was so pissed off that I didn’t know if I even wanted to go out. But I knew I had a job to do. I go get checked in and go to my room then I call mom and let her know everything. I wait for Jon to come to my room when he is ready to go get some lunch. My day was wasted for the most part. After talking to Mom for a while there came a knock on the door. I looked through the peephole to see who it was. It was Jon and he said Hello through the door.  I opened the door and let him in.

“You ready to go”

“Yeah, I am.”

We left the room and headed to one of the cars. I looked over at him and he looked like he had a lot on his mind. I had a feeling I knew what he was thinking about. He called her Beverly and I called her trouble.

“Hey, I was doing some thinking. If you are going to be with me for the rest of my trip, then should we get rid of one of the cars?”

"That’s a good idea. We should turn your car back in at the airport and just keep mine. Then we need to go over what all you have to do for work, so I can make sure you are safe.”

“Sounds good. We can talk about that at lunch and more if you're ready to talk about it.”

“I know you have questions. I don’t blame you for that. Let’s hold off on that talk when we are in a more private area.”

“I can do that. So when do you want to take the car back?”

“Let’s do it after lunch. That way it will give us enough time to talk on the way back and also maybe go somewhere to help your article in some way since your schedule was blown today.”

“Now that sounds like a plan I can live with.”

We had to do a little research on where to go for lunch. But we found a small mom-and-pop shop to eat at. It was a cute little dinner off the beaten path that I thought I would add to my article. I talked to the owner and some of their employees and took some pictures. They were all friendly and sweet. Their food was out of this world and I couldn’t believe this place stayed hidden.

“This place is wonderful. I can’t believe no one knows about this place.”

“I agree, this place is a gem.”

“Well, let's go get the car and take it back. I am hoping to salvage something today. I don’t know how but I will somehow.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

We headed back to get the other car so I could take it back to the airport.  When we got there we saw the police there waiting. We wondered what happened while we were getting something to eat. So, we parked the car and got out. The police met us halfway.

“Ms. Snapper, we have news about the break-in at the other inn that involved your room.” Officer one said

“Can we have a word with you and your friend here?” Officer Two asked

“What is this about Officer?” I asked him

"Plus, you said you didn't come by.” Jon made a point to point that out to them.

“We are just helping out with the case. We told them we would swing by getting a follow-up.” Officer one said

“I think I would like to talk to the officer that is in charge of my case, gentlemen. Plus, I don’t see your patrol car anywhere around here.”

“Ms. Snapper, it would be in your best interest to us now instead of later.” Officer Two told me with aggression in his voice.

Jon and I looked at each other and knew these were not the real cops and we had to get away from them quickly. We both took a few steps backward towards both cars. I moved to get my keys out of my purse and that is when one of them went to grab me. Jon was able to get in the way and keep them from getting me. I took that time to run to my car and jump in. I took off in a flash calling the cops on my way. I told them that we had to have fake officers jump us at the new inn and I took off in my car and left Jon at the inn and he was fighting them by himself. I was driving around because I didn’t want to be alone. They said they would send someone over to help Jon and kept me on the line till it was safe to return to the inn. I drove around for an hour before they told me I could return.