A Tiger's Tale (A Call of the Wilde Mystery) (31 page)

“I’ll have to go around.” I turned, but before I made it more than a few steps, Kai scooped me up into his arms.

“This will be easier,” he said, looking down at me with a smile as he leaned over the rail and gently set me down on the other side.

My heart was fluttering in surprise and from the sensation of being in his arms.

“Umm . . . thanks.”

“I’ll be there in a minute,” he said, fishing his phone out of his pocket as he turned away.

“Lord!” Sonja let out a dreamy sigh as she watched him go. “A knight in a tuxedo.”

We walked down the path, making it to the main area, where Emma was listing auction items and announcing the name of the corresponding winning bidder.

Kai appeared beside me a few minutes later as she said, “Next up, we have a complete Call of the Wilde pet consultation provided by my lovely sister, Grace. Wave, Grace, so everyone can see you.”

Sonja elbowed me.

I plastered a smile on my face and waved.

“And the winning bid goes to . . .” Emma looked down at the bid card. “Mr. Anthony Or—” She broke off. Her gaze flew to meet mine. She didn’t have to say his name, I knew.

Anthony Ortega.

Emma fumbled with the microphone for a moment. “We’ll just move on to the next item,” she said hastily.

“Wait a second,” Sonja murmured. “Anthony. Like Anthony Ortega, Emma’s ex-husband?”

I didn’t answer. Anger, cold and sharp, stabbed at my gut. I could feel the weight of Kai’s gaze as he looked down at me. He was a smart enough guy to judge our reactions and come to the conclusion that Ortega was the man who’d abused my sister.

“What does he want with you?” he asked.

“Whatever it is,” I said, “he’ll get it over my dead body.”

Turns out, I wasn’t the one who ended up dead.