Night Shift (Grizzly Cove Book 3) by Bianca D'Arc Page A

That, it seemed, was the end of that.
    Tina decided to let the topic lie. She’d heard the disappointment in his voice when he’d talked about the realities of the situation. She had learned something important about Zak in this brief exchange.
    He had a dream, but he didn’t have the resources to make it work just yet. Maybe he never would. But Tina was no slouch when it came to business. She resolved to quietly look into things. Maybe there was something she could do to help.
    As it turned out, when the mail arrived just after Zak had left for work, a potential solution presented itself. Master Hiram had sent a thank you letter—along with a very fat check. His note said the money was to cover any clean up or inconvenience his recent visit might have caused.
    She snorted at the euphemism. It would have been really inconvenient if he had killed someone in his blood-starved state. Zak had explained what he knew about vampires and the dire straits Hiram must’ve been in when he arrived, bleeding, on her doorstep.
    Tina couldn’t accept such a large check from the Master, but his letter did give her an idea. She just had to call John to run it past him first, since the Alpha bear might object to getting the Master vampire involved any further in the doings of Grizzly Cove.
    Later that evening, after speaking with John, and just before Zak usually arrived at the bakery to keep watch over her for the night, Tina had a window of opportunity. She placed the call to Hiram’s private number just after dark.
    “Master Hiram? This is Tina Baker in Grizzly Cove.” She was nervous, but she would do just about anything to help Zak achieve his dream.
    “What can I do for you, Miss Baker?” If the vampire was surprised by her call, his urbane manner hid it well.
    “I wanted to thank you for the wine and let you know that, while I appreciate the gesture, I cannot accept the check that arrived today.” She didn’t pause to let him argue but forged right ahead. “However, I do have a proposal I’d like to put forth, with Big John’s agreement.”
    She drew breath while, it seemed, Hiram thought over her words. Finally, he broke the silence.
    “I must admit, I am intrigued. What do you propose, Miss Baker?”
    “The deputy, Zak Flambeau, is a close…uh…friend of mine.” Darn it. She could’ve phrased that a little better. “It turns out, he has always dreamed of opening a restaurant, but he doesn’t have the capital yet to both build his new home on the property he just purchased and build a restaurant. If you’re willing, the Alpha has agreed that the money you so generously offered to give me could be put to better use building a new business here in Grizzly Cove, in which you’d be a silent partner. You can work out the political details with John, but when I spoke to him, he liked the idea of a closer alliance between his people and yours and thought this might be a good first step.”
    She skipped the part about John thinking it was hilariously ironic that a vampire who couldn’t eat food would be part owner of a restaurant.
    “Does your… friend …know about your ideas yet?” Hiram sounded amused.
    “Zak? Um, no, not yet. He should be arriving here in a few minutes, and I wanted to talk to you first.”
    “My dear, I admire your pluck.” Hiram was chuckling quietly on the other end of the line. “By all means, lay out your plan for the deputy and let him know that I can easily double the sum, if needed. I will, indeed, call John Marshall to confirm and clarify all points of this arrangement, but I, too, like the sound of an alliance. Everything I’ve seen of your little community impresses me, and I think it’s important for those of us on the side of Light to band together at this time.”
    She didn’t understand everything he was implying, but she shivered, realizing the vampire Master had confirmed some of the exact thoughts John had shared with her. This was more than a business partnership. This