I shook my head. “Emma took his gun away from him as soon as he got to the park.”
Liam gestured again for me to sit across from him. I didn’t.
He put his coffee down on the desk. “Let me offer an alternative narrative. What if Anthony didn’t get to the park at midnight? What if he got there closer to eleven, or eleven thirty? What if he caught Oliver hurting Gypsy?”
I started to speak, but Liam silenced me with a raised hand.
“He could have shot him then, killed him to keep him from hurting his dog. The shot scares Gypsy, and she takes off. She’s injured, but not so much she can’t outrun her owner. Anthony gets in his car and drives around, waiting for a chance to catch her. He sees his chance, gets out of the car, and that’s when Emma confronts him and takes his gun.”
I said nothing. So far, he could be right.
“That’s why he was so agitated,” Liam went on. “Because he already knew Gypsy was hurt. And he already knew Oliver had done it. Emma tells him to leave, but he doesn’t; he drives off. Emma finds Gypsy, who by this time has hanged herself in her mad dash to escape the gunshot. She takes her to the animal hospital, calls Anthony, and he shows up. He’s furious with her because, in his eyes, it’s her fault he didn’t find Gypsy sooner—because she stopped him when he’d set eyes on her.”
“Is the gun Emma took from him a .40?”
“No, but we don’t know for sure that Oliver Dale was shot by a .40. We don’t have the bullet, and there is a margin of error for Dr. Dannon’s measurements on the bone.”
I got the distinct and uncharitable impression that if Stephen carried a 9mm instead of a .40, Liam would have considered the bullet hole measurement hard evidence of his innocence. “It’s only a theory,” I said. I remembered my conversation with Kylie and stepped closer to Liam’s desk. “And another thing. Why didn’t Stephen mention that Oliver Dale had been shot? It would have made him less suspicious, wouldn’t it? Better than everyone thinking Oliver died from an animal attack—a possible werewolf attack. But Stephen didn’t mention that. He just said the body was bloody.”
“Doesn’t mean anything,” Liam said. “Any number of predators could have gotten to the body before Stephen found it. Even a small amount of predation could obscure a bullet wound.”
Now I let the sarcasm loose. “Ah, yes, the elusive barghest. Or are we abandoning that excuse now it’s been proven false? Are we saying coyote? Perhaps a large rabbit?”
Liam’s face darkened. “You don’t know Stephen, and you don’t know me. If Stephen did this—”
“If Stephen did this, you’d never know, because you take him at his word.” All the good will I’d had in the car, the epiphany I’d had with Peasblossom, flew out the window on a flood of anger. “You never really considered him a suspect.”
Liam’s aura flared, the warm buzz exploding into the same bonfire I’d felt inside Stephen. The hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up. Outwardly, nothing changed, but my fight-or-flight instinct was suddenly raring to go.
“Careful, Ms. Renard,” he said softly. “You are…uncomfortably close to challenging my authority.”
“Careful, or what?” I straightened my spine, unimpressive as my stature might be. I fed the adrenaline scalding my veins into my temper, pushing it out like a shield in front of me. “You won’t let me talk to him. If the situation were reversed, can you honestly tell me you wouldn’t be suspicious?”
“I’ve talked to him, and for your information, Blake has talked to him.”
“All pack,” I said. I let my thoughts on that show in my voice.
He took a step around his desk, slow and deliberate. “Which is what makes us qualified. Unlike a witch with dreams of being a private investigator—a dream even her own mentor has no faith in. You talk about the situation being reversed. Tell me, if you were me, would you trust a magic user to interrogate someone under your protection, knowing she has an ulterior motive for wanting the case solved? By any means necessary?”
His aura burned at the edge of my own, a strange combination of pain and excitement. I closed my hands into fists. “If I wanted it solved by any means necessary, I’d jump on the bandwagon to hunt down Anthony Catello. I’d give up on fighting you and just go along with whatever you said.”
Another step brought Liam into my personal space. Not sitting in the chair meant my back was to the wall, and I hadn’t realized how close I was until I tried to take a step back and my heel hit the drywall. The fact I’d taken a step back without meaning to pissed me off, and I narrowed my eyes. Liam tilted his head, and a shine of gold slid over his blue eyes. His beast coming out to have a peek at me. I dug my nails into my hands, distracting myself with the pain.
“But that wouldn’t count, would it,” he said, close enough that he didn’t have to use a normal voice to be heard. “Since you had no part in identifying him as the murderer?”
I clenched my jaw, ignoring the pressure building up where our auras pressed together. We were both angry, and just like his temper brought out the energy of his beast, mine brought up a swell of my magic. If I couldn’t see the space between us, I’d have sworn we were touching. “Are you serious? You think I played no part at all in this investigation? You think I’ve contributed nothing?”
“Do you see it differently?” He took another step.
My hand shot out, braced against his chest to keep him from coming closer. A spell tickled my palm, the word to cast it dancing on my tongue. I held it back, pausing when Liam opened his right hand.
There was too much heat between us, too much energy from our chaotic auras. I couldn’t concentrate on the stone I glimpsed in his hand. It was small and black, smooth, as if it had been polished.
Liam looked down at the stone, and a crease appeared between his brows. Confusion. He looked at me and, without warning, leaned in. With his face between our bodies, he drew in a deep breath.
For the second time in twenty-four hours, I slapped him.
This time, he expected it. His hand rose as I swung, our palms colliding in a loud crack of sound. He took a step back and slipped the stone into his pocket.
My cheeks flamed, and I had no idea if it was rage or humiliation. Whatever it was, I needed to get out of here. Now.
I ran into Blake on my way out of Liam’s office. Literally.
“Hey!” He grabbed my shoulders to keep me from catapulting backward, holding on only long enough to make sure I kept my feet. Sonar tensed at his side, as if she thought I’d fall on top of her.
“Excuse me,” I said stiffly. The sound of my blood rushing through my veins filled my ears like the sound of a distant ocean, and I was still so angry that I could hardly see straight. It took more effort than I wanted to admit not to fire off a spell, something painful to wipe that intense look off Liam’s face.
“Don’t worry about it.” Blake looked from me, to Liam, and back. I expected him to make a snide comment, especially since there was no way he hadn’t heard our conversation. But instead, he looked…cautious. “What’s going on?” he asked.
“Nothing. Shade and I were just discussing the case.” Liam returned to his spot behind his desk and picked up his coffee.
I didn’t move. I didn’t trust what I would say or do if it did. Sonar watched me, her canine eyes seeing more than I wanted her to. Her nose twitched as she scented the air, and her snout rose as if following a scent trail. She took a step toward Liam, then stopped.
“I’m sorry if you liked Anthony,” Liam continued, speaking to me with the voice one would use to tell a child there’s no more ice cream left. “But the fact is, whether or not he killed Oliver, Anthony is not innocent. When we executed the search warrant, we found a box of guns in his apartment—literally, a box full of guns. None of which were licensed. We’re testing them now, and we’ve already found one that matches a bullet fired during a robbery at a local gas station.”
“I don’t—” I started.
“There’s more, so
listen before you draw a conclusion,” Liam said calmly.
I crossed my arms and forced myself to face him.
“We also found evidence that there were kids staying there. A lot, by the looks of it. Catello had a room dedicated to video games—state-of-the-art television with a new console and enough games to start his own rental place. The room was littered with bags of potato chips and other snacks, empty cans of soda.”
“No beer?” I said.
Liam arched an eyebrow. His eyes were blue again, no sign of his wolf’s golden gaze. “No. But there were at least six carburetors and a few boxes of other car parts. Now why do you suppose someone would have that sort of thing in his apartment?”
“Maybe he’s teaching auto repair classes? Or perhaps he brought work home with him. He is an auto mechanic.”
Liam inclined his head. “Possibly. Or they could be evidence of a chop shop. We’ll find out when we talk to him.”
“I’d like to talk to him too.”
“Please, Shade, go home. You can tell your mentor you helped solve the case, and now we’re crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s. No one here will contradict that.”
He looked at Blake, and after a second of confusion, Blake nodded.
“Yeah, sure. We’ll back you up.”
I looked down at Sonar. She didn’t nod along with the rest of her pack. Instead, she sniffed the air again. I wished I could talk to her, talk to her when she was in human form. I wanted to know what she sensed.
I gave myself the count of five to get control of my voice so I could speak without shouting. “Last night you sent me home knowing damn well you would apply for those warrants. You made me think you were done so I’d get out of your way.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way,” Liam said over his coffee mug. “It wasn’t my intention. If you like, I’ll call you after I’ve spoken with Mr. Catello. I’ll even send you a copy of my final report.”
I was so angry that I couldn’t speak. Before I could unclench my jaw enough to talk, an officer leaned in the doorway, glanced at me, then focused on Liam. “Sergeant?”
“Yes?”
“We had a report that Mr. Catello was spotted at the Tyler house. We sent people over, but he left before they got there. Do you want us to sit on the house?”
Liam gritted his teeth. Suddenly, he wouldn’t look at me
I smiled, letting a petty wave of satisfaction roll off me. “You haven’t caught him yet.”
“It’s only a matter of time.” Liam glared at the officer. “Stay there and wait for him.”
I smoothed my hands down my coat, my mind already spinning over my next move. If they hadn’t arrested Anthony yet, then I still had time. “I’ll say goodbye, then.” I turned to the door. “Let me know when you catch him.”
“Shade, stay out of this,” Liam said. “Catello is dangerous, even for a witch.”
I ignored him. He’d made it perfectly clear he didn’t want my help, and he wouldn’t let me participate anymore. As far as I was concerned, I didn’t owe him a damn thing. I stood in front of Blake, waiting for him to get out of my way.
“We haven’t broken the news to Stephen yet,” Liam said in a low voice. “You and your mentor can rest assured that nothing is being rushed for the sake of clearing our own. Stephen will remain collared until we have proof he didn’t kill Oliver.”
“I’m sure,” I said. “I’m particularly sure because you can’t remove the collar without me, and I’m not touching it until the case is solved to my satisfaction.”
Blake took a step forward, but Liam came out from around the desk again and he stopped.
“And when we prove it was Catello,” Liam said, “I trust I can call you to remove the collar?”
“Of course.” I didn’t look at him. The urge to smack him again was too strong.
“Shade?” Liam asked.
I counted to ten and took a deep breath, aware of Sonar’s steady gaze on me. Slowly, I turned. “What?”
Liam stood by his desk, no longer holding his coffee mug. He wasn’t standing as straight as he could, so not trying to be intimidating. And the tension in his shoulders suggested my mention of not removing the collar before I was satisfied wasn’t something he took lightly.
“I don’t know you well enough to know why you want to be a private investigator,” he said quietly. “But as a man who’s met more than one person entering the field, let me give you some advice.”
I didn’t bother to hold back my sarcasm. “Oh, please do.”
Blake shifted on his feet, his aura prickling along the side of my body facing him. Liam glanced at him, and he took a step back.
“It’s not like the movies,” Liam continued. “Or the books. It’s not always the person you least suspect. Sometimes, it is the scary guy with the guns and the foul mouth. Sometimes, it is the most obvious person.”
I met his eyes then, staring at him as if I were taller, as if I could look down my nose at him the way I wanted to so badly. “You know, Sergeant Osbourne, you’re right. Partially.”
“Partially?”
I shrugged. “Well, if it was the most obvious person, then it wouldn’t be the angry man with the gun whose ballistics don’t match your own assessment. It would be the werewolf with the blood all over his face and his teeth marks on the victim’s body. Wouldn’t it now?”
Chapter 12
“I think we should stop here and review a list of reasons pursuing the angry man with a box of guns is a bad idea.”
Peasblossom clung to my ear, holding her face as close to my eardrum as she could without plunging her mouth inside my ear canal. The sensation ground against my raw nerves, and it took a lot of effort not to swat her like a bug, but I had practice. Lots of it.
“Peasblossom, if the werewolves find him first, then I won’t have a leg to stand on when I report to Mother Hazel. I’ll have to quit my investigation services and go back to being just the village witch.” I veered off my path to my car to kick a small rock lying on the smooth asphalt. It shot over the parking lot with satisfying force to disappear into the surrounding trees. “As infuriating as the wolves are, they’re right. All I’ve done is read reports they’ve already typed up and tag along to question witnesses. Mother Hazel will not count that as solving the case.”
“You talked to Anthony when he wouldn’t talk to Liam,” Peasblossom pointed out.
“And learned nothing new. I was in that apartment, but I didn’t see any of the evidence Liam mentioned.”
Peasblossom hugged my ear harder. “We found the bullet hole, so they knew what kind of gun the killer used.”
“The wolves would have found it tonight. Besides, now he’s saying that information was misleading.”
I slammed my car door behind me. Peasblossom leapt off my ear to stand on the steering wheel, her arms held out as if to stop me.
“The police are already looking for Anthony,” she said. “What makes you think you can find him first?”
“That cop said Anthony was at Mia’s. Maybe she’ll know where he is.”
“And you don’t think the police will think to ask her?”
“I don’t think she’ll talk to them.” I smiled. “She’ll talk to me.” I started the car and grabbed the gear shift, throwing it into reverse with unnecessary force. “I’ve been going about solving this case like a private investigator. It’s time I solved it like a witch.”
Peasblossom glared at me from the dashboard, where she’d landed after my abrupt eruption from my parking space. “Does that include driving like maniac? You can’t solve the case if you’re dead.”
I laughed, and even to my own ears it sounded too high, too…unhinged. “Then I shall endeavor not to die. Now be a sweetheart and plug Ms. Tyler’s address into the GPS?”
Grumbling, Peasblossom did as I asked, making a big show of grunting and groaning to heave the GPS out of the cup holder and onto the passenger’s seat. I dropped my phone beside her, and she smacked the screen wit
h an open palm, accessing my files with practiced ease. Mia didn’t live far, and less than twenty minutes later, I pulled over and parked a block before her house.
“See any police?” I asked.
Peasblossom hit the button to roll the window down, then flew out and up. A gust of cold wind swept inside the car, and I shivered. After no more than two minutes, Peasblossom zipped back through the window. I rolled it down and turned up the heat as she resumed her perch on the dashboard.
“No police cars, but there’s a car sitting across the street a few houses down with two people inside. They look fairly attentive.”
“Good to know. I’d rather they didn’t see me, so I’ll need a disguise.”
“If any of them are werewolves, I’d be more worried they’ll smell you.”
I snorted. “There’s no way Liam or Blake will sit on a house where the suspect may or may not show up. They’ll have wolves lower in the pack do that, or human officers. None of the other werewolves have met me, so even if they smell me, they won’t recognize me.”
Peasblossom didn’t look convinced, but that didn’t bother me. After going through the past twenty-four hours feeling like a third wheel, having my contribution questioned and insulted at every turn, I was finally on my own.
Excitement raced through my blood, and my magic rose to my call like an enthusiastic pet. I held an image of myself in my mind and concentrated on my appearance. I drew the magic over my features, turning dark brown hair to pale brown, and chocolate eyes to green. My curves flattened out, and I grew a good six inches. The leggings I wore turned black and flared out into dress pants, my long black shirt growing shorter and shrinking into a white button-down shirt. I even added a gold necklace with a faux-diamond paw print and a charm bracelet to match.
“You look like a proper businesswoman,” Peasblossom said. “No one will recognize you.”
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