by Alexis Davie
“I think I’ve made that clear,” Paul said with a haughty sniff.
“Then can you explain to me why my deputies who searched the scene found no evidence of the body of a bear or any sort of bloody tracks that would indicate an injured bear had gone back into the woods? And why they found the body of a man who had been shot through the chest with a crossbow instead?” Levi asked.
“Don’t answer that,” Piper said instantly. She turned to Levi. “My client is done answering your questions, Chief Carter.”
“Fine with me,” Levi shrugged. “He can answer them in court instead.”
He stood up and turned the video recorder off. He moved to the door of the room and called out for two of his deputies. Piper was still reeling from the questioning. How had Paul thought this wouldn’t come out? One thing she really hated was her clients lying to her, but at least this had come out early instead of her being blindsided in court by it.
Maybe I can go for some sort of diminished responsibility defense, Piper thought. I mean, clearly he has some mental health issues if he seriously thought that story would work.
The deputies arrived and handcuffed Paul and led him from the interview room. Piper stood up and left, not bothering to look back at Levi, knowing the way he would be looking at her and not wanting to see the smug expression on his face.
10
Levi hurried after Piper. He knew the time had come to tell her everything and make her see how much danger she was in representing a monster like Paul Brackenstone. He had tried to tell her before she even went into the interview, but in her typical stubborn fashion, she had cut him off, no doubt assuming he had nothing of any interest to say.
He caught up with her as she crossed the lobby. He was just in time; she was just about to leave the building.
“Piper, wait!” Levi called.
Piper turned back, raising an eyebrow. She waited for Levi to catch up with her.
“Look, I don’t want to hear it, okay?” she said. “Surely you’ve worked as a cop long enough to know that everyone is entitled to a defense?”
“I have,” he said. “And I’m not saying Paul shouldn’t have a lawyer. I just… look, this is important. Will you please come to my office and hear me out? And afterwards, if you think I’m crazy, then you can do whatever the hell you like and I won’t try to stop you.”
“See, this is what I don’t understand, Levi. On some level, you seem like a nice enough guy. But then you pull stunts like this. First there was Nancy Maynard. I haven’t gotten to the bottom of all of that yet, but I know something there didn’t add up. Then you threaten to arrest me. And now this. What do you have against me? Is there some reason you want my business to fail? Because if there is, I would much rather you just come out and say it.”
“I know you’ll find this hard to believe, particularly without the full story, but I don’t want you to fail. In fact, it’s the opposite of that. I’m trying to protect you, alright?” Levi snapped.
“It seems that the only thing that needs protecting right now is my career. From you,” Piper said.
“That’s not true at all,” Levi said. “Look, you’re an intelligent woman. You know something isn’t adding up here. And I’m giving you the chance to come and get all of the answers you want.”
Levi saw Piper’s face change. Her curiosity had gotten the better of her, just like he had hoped it would.
“Fine. I’ll come and hear you out. But don’t think that means I’m dropping this case,” she said.
Levi didn’t answer her. He had a feeling she would drop this case quicker than a hot stone once she heard the full story, but he knew that to point that out now would only anger her and he couldn’t risk her storming away and refusing to hear him out. He led her down the hallway in silence until they came to his office. She sat down without waiting for an invite and Levi sat down opposite her.
“Where do I even start?” Levi said, thinking out loud.
“How about with what you have against me?” Piper said. “Oh wait, you claim you’re trying to protect me. So, start there. What are you trying to protect me from?”
“A bear hunter,” Levi said, looking Piper straight in the eye.
“Right,” she replied, drawing the word out to make it clear she was being sarcastic. “That’s what we’re calling Paul now, is it?”
“Yes,” Levi said. “Because that’s what he is. Or more specifically, a bear shifter hunter. Someone who is looking to kill shifters like you.”
Levi watched Piper closely as she processed this revelation. Her face flickered with doubt for just a second, and then her doubt was replaced by anger and she stood up abruptly.
“You’re crazy,” she snapped.
Levi got to his feet equally quickly. He grabbed Piper’s wrist.
“Am I?” he demanded.
That was as far as he got before his words froze in his throat. The second his skin touched Piper’s, his bear roared inside of him as tingles flew up and down his arm. There was no mistaking this feeling. His bear had claimed Piper as his mate whether he liked it or not. Levi knew Piper was feeling it too. He could see it in the lustful look in her eyes. They stayed that way for a moment, frozen in time, looking at each other like they were seeing each other for the first time.
When Levi finally released Piper’s wrist, he felt like he had let go of something he never wanted to let go of. Piper sat back down heavily in her seat as though her legs refused to hold her any longer. Levi sat back down too. He glanced at Piper again, who seemed to have regained her composure and was now looking at him like he was crazy once more.
“Piper, let’s just cut to the chase here. You’re a bear shifter. So am I. I’m the alpha of a local pack and we’ve been watching your back since you first came to the town. We knew after the publicity you got in New York that hunters would be tracking you,” Levi said.
“But…” Piper started.
“There are no buts. If I wasn’t telling the truth, why would I suspect you might be a bear? And if I wasn’t one too, then why wouldn’t I be freaking out right now if I had somehow worked it all out? I can turn right now and prove this to you if you want me to, but to be honest, I’d rather not risk being caught by one of the deputies.”
Levi watched as Piper digested the information.
“Okay, I believe you about the bear thing. But I still don’t understand how you being such a dick to me means you’re somehow looking out for me,” she said.
“Nancy Maynard was never a real suspect in the drug dealer case. She was a plant. My idea was you’d be busy trying to prove her innocence and I had a fair idea where you would be looking. I had pack members on your tail.”
“I knew someone was watching me in that library. I thought I was being paranoid,” Piper said.
“You weren’t,” Levi smiled. “My theory was it would keep you busy for a while, but obviously that didn’t pan out. The threatened arrest is simple—you were talking to the hunter in the bar. All he had to do was follow you out of the place and you’d have been a goner.”
“And of course I was too stubborn to just come with you the easy way,” Piper said with a smile.
Levi flashed her a grin in return.
“I didn’t like to say anything about that, but yeah,” he said.
“So, this Paul guy is a hunter. And you wanted to protect me from him. Okay, I guess I can see that. But this stunt, Levi? Do you really think you can pin a murder on him and make it stick?”
“I’m not pinning anything on him. He did murder someone,” Levi said. “And I have to admire the sheer audacity of him to tell the truth—that he shot a bear.”
“You’ve lost me,” Piper said.
“He killed a member of my pack,” Levi said.
“What?” she gasped. “Oh shit. God, I’m so sorry.”
Levi nodded his thanks to her.
“So he tells you he killed a bear. How does he expect a jury to believe that? I mean, obviously you have evidence th
at he killed a man, right?”
“Right,” Levi agreed. “The thing is, he doesn’t expect it to go that far. He knows who I am. He expected me to panic at the thought of the pack’s secret coming out. But what sort of jury will ever believe that he killed a bear shifter?”
“They won’t,” Piper said. “But how do you know for sure he knows who you are?”
“The day I arrested the real drug dealer, she was shot. Did you see the story in the paper?”
Piper nodded.
“Yeah. A higher-up in the chain did it, right?”
“That’s the official story. But that bullet was silver, Piper. And it was meant for me.”
Piper went quiet for a moment and Levi joined her in the silence, giving her a chance to dissect all of this. After a few moments, she looked up at him with purpose.
“I have to drop this case,” she said. “There’s no way I can represent him now.”
Levi laughed and Piper frowned.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “Obviously you’re right. It just struck me as funny how your ‘everyone deserves a defense’ theory just went up in smoke.”
Piper stood up.
“I’m going down to the cells to tell Paul he needs a new lawyer,” she said.
She headed for the door, but she turned back to Levi.
“And for the record, I still believe everyone is entitled to a defense. I just don’t believe everyone is entitled to a defense from me,” she said.
She left the office, leaving Levi smiling and shaking his head.
11
Paul stood up when Piper approached the bars of his cell. She was wary, hanging back a little, being careful to stay out of his reach. He had to know there was a chance Levi would brazen this thing out, and if he was going down, then maybe he would decide he might as well go down for two murders instead of just one.
Maybe he doesn’t know who I am, though, Piper thought to herself. I mean, why would he choose me to represent him knowing I’m one of the things he hates?
“Paul, I’m sorry but I can no longer represent you,” Piper said.
She waited for him to demand to know why, to shout or plead, or react somehow, but he didn’t. He just nodded his head.
“Okay,” he said.
Any notion that he didn’t know who Piper really was left her head at his quiet acceptance of her statement. Levi had been right. He knew exactly who she was and his pack were just a bonus find. The pack member who had been killed—his blood was on Piper’s hands now.
“So what do I do now?” Paul asked.
“You can choose a different lawyer. I can give you some recommendations if you’d like them,” Piper said.
“It’s fine,” Paul said. “I can find someone myself.”
“Okay,” Piper said.
She turned and walked away from Paul without another word, afraid that if she stayed, she would say something that told him she knew what he was. She didn’t think that was a good idea.
She moved back toward Levi’s office. She had already made her mind up to leave the town. She had caused enough trouble for Levi and his pack. After he had gone to so much trouble to keep her out of harm’s way, the least she owed him was a goodbye. She reached the office and tapped on the door.
She suddenly felt nervous, and something else, something that she didn’t much want to admit to feeling, not even to herself. She felt like walking away from the town, or more accurately, walking away from Levi, would be the biggest mistake she’d ever make.
She felt the way her bear had responded when he grabbed her wrist. She knew her bear saw him as her mate, and she thought that maybe, just maybe, fate had brought her here. That she had always been going to end up here, had always been destined to meet Levi.
But she couldn’t condone staying in the town if she was putting his life and the lives of his pack in danger. She had already caused the death of one of them. Surely that was enough?
“Come in,” Levi shouted.
Piper went into his office. She looked at Levi, trying to ignore the lust she felt when she saw him, trying to ignore the way her instincts screamed at her to not walk away from him.
“It’s done,” she said. “And I wanted to come and say goodbye.”
“Okay, great. See you later,” Levi smiled.
“No. You won’t. That’s what I mean. I’m saying goodbye because I’m leaving town,” she said.
“Piper, no,” Levi said quickly, jumping to his feet.
“Yes,” she said firmly. “One of your pack is already dead because of me. I won’t stick around to put you all in more danger. I’m just sorry someone had to die at all.”
“Piper, listen to me,” Levi said. “This isn’t your fault. The only person responsible for Mal’s death is that fucking hunter. Is that clear?”
“He wouldn’t have been here if it wasn’t for me,” she pointed out.
“Or maybe he would have been. And if it wasn’t him, it might have been another hunter. Our kind are always going to be hunted. And you can’t take the blame for that, Piper,” Levi said gently.
Piper nodded her head, although in truth, she wasn’t convinced it was true.
“Why did you look out for me?” she asked suddenly. “I mean, you could have just forced me out of the town. And then the hunter might never have ended up here at all.”
“Running innocent people out of the town isn’t really my style, Piper. You might not be part of the pack, but you’re still one of us, and my pack’s philosophy is to take care of our own. At least that’s what it was at first,” Levi said.
“And now?” Piper asked softly, subconsciously moving closer to Levi.
He moved toward her as she moved toward him. There was less than a foot of space between them and Piper’s body was responding to Levi’s closeness. Her center was wet, tingling, begging to be filled by Levi. Her breathing quickened, coming in short gasps, and her heart raced.
“Now I’ve grown to care very deeply about you, Piper,” Levi said with a smile. “Beneath that stubborn streak, I think there’s a person in there who I would very much like to get to know better.”
“You know,” Piper said in a breathy voice, a half-smile on her face, “despite all of your stunts, I think I would very much like to get to know you too.”
“So you’ll stay, then?” Levi asked.
Piper nodded. She couldn’t help herself. It was like her body was making the decisions for her now. Levi stepped even closer to Piper, reaching out and cupping her cheek in his hand. Goosebumps covered the surface of her skin where he touched her and she felt like she would burst if he didn’t just kiss her already. He leaned in, his lips moving toward hers.
The office door opened and Piper and Levi jumped apart.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Chief, I didn’t know you had someone in here,” the deputy said, his face burning.
Dammit. He knows what we were almost doing, Piper thought to herself.
“It’s fine, Harry,” Levi said.
“Yes. I was just leaving,” Piper said, wiping her sweaty palms down her front. She flashed a quick smile at Levi. “See you later.”
She hurried out of the office, out of the police station, and back to her car. She liked Levi, she really did, and she knew her bear was pushing her toward him, but she reminded herself she didn’t date cops. Somehow, though, that didn’t seem like such a big deal anymore.
12
Levi desperately wanted to go to Piper, but since she had left his office yesterday, he had barely had a moment to think, let alone do anything else. Harry, one of the deputies, the one who had interrupted him before he had a chance to kiss Piper, had brought him news of a robbery and he had been embroiled in the details of that until after midnight, and then it had seemed far too late for a social call.
Levi had come into work this morning planning to slip away early, but things kept piling up and piling up. It was almost nine now and he was just getting ready to finally leave the station. His stomach swirled with ne
rvous excitement. He could be out of here and to Piper’s place by ten. And surely that wasn’t too late for a social call. Not for a girl who had been willing to kiss him just yesterday.
He stood up and put his jacket on. His heart sank when his office door opened and the desk sergeant stood in the doorway.
“Can this wait until tomorrow?” he said.
“I’m afraid not, Chief,” she said, giving him an apologetic look. “The paperwork just came through from the courthouse. Paul Brackenstone has been granted bail. His lawyer is waiting out front and if he’s not released immediately, there’s going to be hell to pay.”
Levi nodded, knowing she was right.
“I’ll get it sorted,” he said.
“All of the paperwork is complete, Chief. You just need to sign it and let him out,” the desk sergeant said.
She stepped into the office and spread the paperwork out on his desk. Normally, he would go over it with a fine-tooth comb, but he trusted his desk sergeant to get it right, and he just wanted to get this mess over with. He signed quickly and with a flourish.
“Tell the lawyer he’ll be out in a few minutes,” he said.
Levi had a bad feeling about releasing Paul at all, but the courts had ordered it and he had no choice in the matter. He sent a quick text to Violet explaining what had happened and asking her to update the rest of the pack. He debated texting Piper, but then he decided against it. This gave him the perfect excuse to go over there. That took some of his nerves away and he strode out of his office and down the corridor purposefully. He reached Paul’s cell and nodded to the guarding officer there to unlock the cell door. The office did it without question and Levi motioned for Paul to step out.
“Follow me,” Levi said, starting to walk away from the cell.
“What’s going on?” Paul asked, falling into step beside Levi.
“You’ve been granted bail,” Levi said. “Your lawyer is waiting for you in the lobby. Your personal effects will be returned to you there and your lawyer will tell you what comes next,” Levi said.
