Chapter 51

Danny’s POV
“Amanda’s been gone for two days. I’m starting to get really worried” Claudia cries as we head into my office. “There is probably a lot to go through. We’re heading to Grandma Nelly’s house to see Tim shortly. Hopefully he will be able to share some light on what is happening” “Did he respond to Chelsea’s message?” she asks, as we walk through the door and sit behind my desk. “Not sure; I hope it was cryptic enough” I answer her, frowning.
“It should be. ‘Meeting Jerry at his old hang out spot. He wants to see Jacob and I.’ That’s cryptic; I hope he understands what we want him to do” she says, giving me a kiss. “He does, he responded a few moments ago with ‘I don’t want you seeing Jerry. I’ll rip him into 10 pieces, if you do’” Chelsea tells us, coming into the office.
“10 pieces? It’s 9.30 now. We should get going” “Dad, Jason, Rick and Alpha Henry are already waiting out the front with Jacob” Chelsea responds, walking back out the door. “Let’s go, Snow Blossom” I smile, grabbing hold of Claudia’s hand and we walk down to the front of the packhouse.
“I’m going to drive Chelsea and Jacob over in the car. The rest of you, will be walking” Simon informs everyone as Claudia and I reach them. “When you get there; if you see anything out of the ordinary…” “We know; hop in the car and come back. I don’t want to risk Jacob getting hurt” Chelsea says, cutting me off and getting into the front passenger seat.
“We will meet you over there” Simon says, getting into the driver’s seat and pulling out. “Shall we go?” Dad questions, looking at the rest of us. “Yep” Jason responds as we head towards the western border. “No sign from Mandy yet?” Rick asks Claudia. “No, and I am really getting worried about it” she answers.
“She’ll be back. We just have to be patient” Dad responds, pulling Claudia into a side hug. Patience isn’t something Claudia is known for. “Wipe that smirk off your face; I can be patient” she screams at me. “I didn’t say a thing” “You don’t have to. I know what you are thinking” she fumes. “I’m not getting involved” Rick chuckles, heading to the other side of Dad.
“Chicken.” “Hey; it’s not my fight” Rick responds to my taunt. “We’re not fighting” Claudia huffs at him as we all burst out laughing. “What are we going to ask, Tim?” Jason questions, as we get to the western border. “I would really like to know what Michael and Callum are planning. I don’t know how much he does know about it. We will find out what he does know, I imagine” I answer him. “Simon’s already there, let’s get a move on” Dad says looking towards the house as we break into a run and Jason takes off.
“What took you so long?” Jason laughs as the rest of us reach the house. Claudia rolls her eyes at him and we all walk through the front door.
“It’s about time you lot got here” Tim says from Grandma Nelly’s sofa, holding Jacob. “They don’t suspect Grandma Nelly’s house?” Dad asks him. “No; Todd was sitting next to me. We were having breakfast, when I got the message. I looked at it, sent the message back and threw my phone across the dining room; smashing it. He asked me what was wrong and I told him, it didn’t take Chelsea long to seek out an old flame” he chuckles.
“What did you tell him about coming here?” I question him. “Nothing. I told him I needed to go buy myself a new phone and took off in the car. I will get one when we are done” he answers. “We needed to have you come here…” “Dad explained the situation, Claudia. I can’t tell you much more than what we already know, regarding Michael and Callum. They haven’t come back onto the territory, now James is dead. Craig’s hasn’t been back either and Todd is pretending to know what he is doing as Alpha, barking orders left, right and centre” Tim interrupts her.
I look over at dad and Simon; they are both frowning with this information also. “Tim, you can come home. We won’t get any information from Todd” Simon says to him. “It was worth a try” Claudia shrugs, getting out of the chair she was in.
“What do you mean?” Rick asks, looking at Simon. “Craig has taken on James’ roll, not Todd. Although Todd will eventually be involved, they won’t tell him what is going on and I suspect; they still don’t trust Tim, to have Todd know” I elaborate.
“I’ll go get my new phone and mope around the packhouse. Then make the decision to go back to Chelsea. My jealousy of you seeing a stuffed mouse will get the better of me” Tim laughs as he gives Jacob and Chelsea a kiss and heads out the door. “We should head back also” Dad says, as we all walk out the door.
“I’ll lock up and put the key back” Simon tells us as Claudia, Dad, Jason, Rick and I head to the western border and Chelsea puts Jacob in Simon’s car. “We’ll see you at the packhouse” Dad calls over his shoulder to them.
We all head out the door and I put my arms around Claudia. “Mandy will be back, soon. They are probably going over every detail; to find out what is happening” I tell her. “Perhaps; or they aren’t telling her squat” she sighs at me.
“When Tim comes back, we will sort out what we need to do next” Dad says, walking up beside Claudia and myself. “There isn’t anything we can do, until Mandy gets back” Claudia snaps.
“Sweetheart, I know you are worried. She’ll be back and we can move forward from there” Dad answers, giving her a kiss on the side of her head and she relaxes a bit. “How about you go bake some cookies” he adds, giving her a smile.
“Can you make some of your sticky caramel and chocolate chip cookies?” Jason calls out. “They sound yummy. Do you want me to help?” I question her and she rolls her eyes at me. “What?”
“You don’t want to be in the kitchen when she is baking her cookies; she gets… How do I put this?” “Bossy, Demanding, Out of Control” Jason adds to Dad’s comments and Claudia glares at him. “Point taken. I will be there to help you eat them” I chuckle, seeing her roll her eyes again as she heads into the kitchen, when we get to the packhouse.
“Let’s just say, Claudia and Jade are more alike than they care to admit” Dad whispers, giving me a knowing look before I head upstairs to get Sophia from Mum.