Brown cleared his throat and nodded. “I’ll plot the route carefully.” Brown was a master at helping Finn get lost. It was a skill he was beginning to truly appreciate.
“He’s traveling with a man. And a woman.” Finn waited, watching Brown’s face. “It might be your daughter.”
Shock and horror first. Then anger, followed by sadness and grief. “She’s one of them?” Anger took precedence in the end.
“We don’t know,” he said. “Tess Brown was the name used to rent a car.”
“Tess?” His voice broke. “Tess’s my…baby girl.” He shook his head, but his expression remained the same, guarded. His hands flexed, fisted, and flexed again.
“Can you do this?” Finn asked, hurting for the man he also considered his friend. “If you can’t, I’ll call in someone else. I need to protect Jessa.”
Brown nodded once.
“Are you sure? I can—”
“Have I ever let you down?” Brown asked, turning steely eyes upon him.
“Never.”
Brown nodded. “No plans to start now.”
Finn clapped the man’s shoulder and headed back through the connecting door. Telling Brown about his daughter was one thing. Telling Jessa the Others had tossed her home was another.
He lingered inside the door, watching as she dried her hair with a thick white towel. She’d slipped into white leggings and a brightly colored shirt that read “I left my Heart in San Francisco.”
“Nice shirt,” he said, crossing to her side.
She wrinkled her nose at him. “Brown likes the grab and go style of shopping. He grabs, we go.”
Finn smiled, leaning against the counter to stare at her.
She paused. “Is everything okay?”
“It will be,” he assured her. “But you need to go now.”
“Me? Not we?” She waited. “Tell me.”
“I need to go back to San Antonio.” He’d promised to keep her family safe. He wasn’t going to fail. “There was a break-in at your place—”
“My brothers?”
“Are safe,” he assured her. “But I don’t want you and Oscar there. Not now.”
She nodded slowly, but what she said was “I’m coming, too.”
“No, you’re not.” He gripped her shoulders.
“Finn… My brothers.” She stared at him.
“Are fine, Jessa. I promise you. Our son needs you. Please. Go with Brown.” He pulled her close. “I need to know you’re safe.”
“I miss them, Finn.” A tear fell down her cheek, breaking his heart and infuriating the wolf. As far as the wolf was concerned, his job was to make Jessa happy. Her tears didn’t sit well. “Where am I going?”
“A safe house. We have several. If we’re caught out on a full moon, we can lock ourselves in. Prevent attacks.” He spoke softly, his hand cupping her cheek. “The same reason for the safe room in the apartment.” She wasn’t listening anymo
re. How could she? Her whole life had been about caring for her brothers, and now he was keeping her from them.
She shook her head, closing her eyes. “Safe houses and attacks.” She sniffed. “Full moons.” Her voice broke. “Wolves. Bonds. Packs…” She was sobbing now. “What I wouldn’t give for a night of crappy delivery pizza, an old movie, and… and sleep.”