Horan leaned back and spread his arms. “I have not threatened Tommy in any way.”
“We both know that’s not true.” She turned on her heel and Tommy quickly followed her as she marched out of the room.
They were silent until they got on the elevator.
His hands shook as he shoved them in his pockets. “You weren’t bluffing about my dad not being able to do anything, right?”
“No, I wasn’t.” She reached over and squeezed his shoulder. “The case that established that was kind of a crap show, but you’re safe. Your dad has no legal authority over you.”
They hurried back to the parking lot. He sure as hell didn’t want to stay here any long than necessary, and it seemed Genevieve didn’t either.
“I don’t trust that dude and I don’t think the other agent does either,” Tommy said as he buckled his seatbelt.
Genevieve frowned. “What gives you that impression?”
“She was uncomfortable the whole time. Didn’t you see that look on her face?”
“I thought it was RBF or something. She’s not the most pleasant of individuals,” she said with a shrug.
He shook his head. “When Horan was being an asshole, her heartbeat sped up. She’s not happy with what he’s doing. We know Carter is feeding Horan information, and we suspect Horan is trying to frame her for Laurel’s murder. I think if we talk to her she’ll listen.”
Genevieve tapped her fingers against the wheel, staring thoughtfully out the window. “You up for a little espionage?”
The memory of running through The Market trying to avoid Lockhart’s men made him cringe. Everything he’d learned from Werespy had turned out to not work in real life. Who knew TV shows were so misleading.
“Uhhh, sure? Who are we spying on.”
“RBF.”
He followed her gaze and saw Icewind climbing in a beat up elf-spelled hybrid. Those things had been popular when they first came out until everyone realized how hard it was to get them fixed.
“Let’s do it.”
Chapter 43
Genevieve
Genevieve kept her distance, making sure not to drive in the same lane as Icewind to reduce the chance of being spotted. Tommy thought they could trust her, and he was probably right. He had a knack for figuring people out, but she needed to be sure. She also wanted to go into a conversation like that with as much information as possible.
Tommy slumped down in his seat and sighed. “I think she knows we’re following her.”
She slowed down and let a car cut in between them. “Why?”
“Seriously? She took four right turns. We’re literally going in a circle.”
“Oh…” She’d been so focused on keeping track of her she hadn’t noticed. “Look, I’m a lawyer not a spy. I guess I suck at this.”
“We should just talk to her like normal people. Instead of creepy stalkers.”
“I feel like walking up and saying ‘hey, your partner is framing you for murder’ is just a little sudden.”
Tommy sat up suddenly. “She’s pulling into that parking lot.”
“Crap.”
“We have to talk to her now or we’ll look even guiltier.”
Genevieve sighed and pulled in after Icewind. She parked a couple of spots away so as not to look threatening. Icewind didn’t look all that concerned when she climbed out of her car though. In fact, she looked amused, which wasn’t an expression she’d expected to see on the woman’s normally stoic face.
“Come on,” Tommy said, hopping out of the car.
She turned the car off and climbed out as well. This was embarrassing but there was no running away now.
“Fancy meeting you two here. Randomly,” Icewind said drily as they approached.
“Yeah, huge coincidence,” Genevieve agreed, crossing her arms.
Tommy took a deep breath. “We were following you.”
“No kidding,” Icewind said sarcastically. “Care to explain why, or should I just arrest you?”
“You can’t arrest us––”
Tommy cut her off with a jab from his elbow. “Your partner is trying to frame you for the murder of Laurel Teller.”
Genevieve wanted to sink into the ground. She couldn’t believe he’d just blurted that out.
“Which we found out because he is also working with a werewolf named Jason Carter who is giving him false information to try to prove our pack was working with this sorcerer.”
“So you’re following me, and not him?” Icewind asked, looking at the two of them like they were insane. At this point, that was justified.
“I wasn’t a hundred percent sure we could trust you,” Genevieve said, trying to reclaim some of her dignity. “It’s clear you and Horan don’t exactly see eye to eye, but we didn’t know how much you suspected, if anything.”
Icewind shoved her hands in her pockets. “I see. Do you have any proof Horan is trying to frame me for a murder that –– as far as I know –– has absolutely nothing to do with you or your pack?”
Tommy looked at her and she sighed. He wanted to show her the keychain.
“I know I can’t get anything legally binding, but I want your word that if my client shares this information with you, you will not use that information to press charges.”
Both of Icewind’s eyebrows shot up. “That’s a pretty big ask.”
She had no intention of budging on this. “Believe me, he did you a favor. You owe him.”
They stared at each other for a moment, neither of them breaking eye contact.
“Fine,” Icewind said, finally dragging her eyes to Tommy. “I give my word not to arrest you for whatever illegal thing you did that has supposedly helped me.”
Tommy pulled the keychain out of his pocket. “Does this look familiar?”
Icewind snatched it out of his hand. “Where the hell did you get this?”
“So, hypothetically, I went to Laurel Teller’s crime scene for a….really good reason. And, hypothetically, Horan showed up and hid it under a dresser in the room she was murdered in while telling someone on the phone that he was ‘dealing with his problem’ and that the forensics team would find it today when they did another sweep.”
Icewind stared at the broken piece of her keychain. “That explains his foul mood this morning.” She pocketed it and looked up at them. “You do nothing with this information. I’ll handle it.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Tommy said, completely exasperated. “He’s working with someone that’s trying to frame our pack for conspiring with a sorcerer. We have to take them both down!”
“This may come as a surprise, but breaking into a crime scene during an active investigation is illegal. No one at the MIB is going to take your word over his that he planted this at the crime scene.” She crossed her arms, staring them both down. “I will file a report with Internal Investigations as soon as I have something concrete to give them. They’ll handle it, and until they do, I’ll be watching Horan.”
“And Carter?” Genevieve asked.
Icewind sighed and pursed her lips. “He won’t be a threat once Horan is under investigation. If you can find some kind of evidence that he’s been talking to Horan, it could help. Just try to be a little more subtle than you were with me.”
“We can be subtle,” Genevieve said with more confidence than she felt.
Icewind snorted. “I’m sure.”
“We’ll be in touch soon. Hopefully.” She grabbed Tommy by the elbow and nodded goodbye at Icewind, dragging her packmate back toward the car.
“If I catch you following me again, I will arrest you,” Icewind shouted after them.
“Noted!”
Once they were safely back in the car, she turned to Tommy. “You’re telling Amber when she gets done meeting with Vernier.”
“Why me?”
“I’m your beta. I get to order you around.”
Tommy rolled his eyes. “Just keep telling yourself that.”
Chap
ter 44
Amber
Amber shouldn’t have answered the call but she’d been worried something bad had happened. She really did worry too much, and it had gotten her in trouble this time.
“Why didn’t you tell me about Deward? I can help,” Shane said, clearly frustrated.
“I just didn’t think about it. We’re handling it. I can’t drag you into every bad thing my pack gets tangled up with.” She pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger, not understanding why this was even an argument.
“You can drag me into all of it. I’m your friend, Amber. Hopefully more than that if you ever get a chance to be normal.”
Silence hung between them for a long moment. “If you want to help us find Deward, then you can, but right now Ceri and another alpha are waiting on me to join them. I have to go.”
“Alright. Just call me after, okay?”
“I will.”
She hung up and hurried inside. It was a nice restaurant. Vernier seemed like the kind of person that preferred upscale establishments so she’d chosen based on that. Part of her felt stupid for wanting to impress Vernier, but she’d tried to remind herself it was reasonable. She needed to be on good terms with the alpha if Vernier was going to help them.
Taking a deep breath, she slowed her pace and her breathing before rounding the corner. She could feel where Ceri was through the pack bond. It led her toward the back of the restaurant to a booth tucked in the corner. Ceri was laughing about something. A full on belly laugh. That had to be a good sign.
Vernier spotted her first and waved. “I was starting to think you’d bailed.”
“Sorry about that. Just had to take that phone call. Council business,” Amber said as she slid in next to Ceri, who scooted over to give her a little more room.
The woman next to Vernier wasn’t as strikingly beautiful as she was. In fact, Amber would describe her as plain. She had thin brown hair and a nervous expression, like she’d rather fade into the flowery wallpaper than make small talk.
“Amber Hale,” she said, extending her hand across the table.
“Jean Yawler,” the woman replied, shaking briefly with a clammy palm. “Nice to meet you.”
“She’s been Tatiana’s shaman for almost four years,” Ceri said with a smile. “They’ve learned so much together.”
“That’s awesome to hear. Did the two of you have a mentor? Or was it something you’ve learned on your own?” Amber asked, looking between the two of them. Tatiana seemed so untouchable compared to Jean. They were an odd pair.
Jean’s eyes flicked to Tatiana, waiting for her to answer.
“When my great-grandmother was a child, her pack had one of the last shamans.” Tatiana leaned in and crossed her arms on the table, smiling wistfully as if lost in nostalgia. “She passed that knowledge down to me. She didn’t know everything of course, but it was enough to guide Jean and I after we found each other.”
A waitress approached with a tray full of desserts. Amber leaned back as she set the plates on the table.
“We ordered one of each dessert since we’ve all already had lunch,” Ceri said, dragging a big slice of raspberry cheesecake over to herself.
“We should meet more often,” she said with a laugh.
“Want to split this disturbingly large piece of chocolate cake?” Tatiana asked, putting the plate in between them. It was worryingly large.
“Sure.” She picked up her fork with a smile and carved out a bite. It was rich. The ganache filling between the layers was almost too much, but it had a thin marscapone layer right above it that evened it out.
“Now,” Tatiana said, patting her lips with a napkin and turned to Ceri. “You’ve been a shaman since you joined the pack and seem to be coping fine. Is there anything in particular you’re struggling with?”
Ceri shrugged, picking at her cheesecake. “It hasn’t really been a struggle. Not that part. We are learning as we go.”
‘That’s great. You’re a natural,” Tatiana said with a grin.
Amber couldn’t help but notice Jean’s eyes darting away at that comment like she was embarrassed. “How’s the brownie sundae?”
Jean nodded. “It’s good.”
“The Gallagher Coven was a rising star for a long time,” Tatiana commented, licking her fork clean. “I’m surprised you left.”
“Yeah, uh, sometimes family is…difficult. Amber and I found each other at the right time.” Ceri stabbed her cheesecake with a little more force than was necessary. “Did you leave your coven to join the pack too, Jean?”
Jean’s eyes finally moved to Ceri and she nodded. “I didn’t have a coven. My family coven was already full. I would have made it eight witches.”
“Ah. Lucky finding a pack then.” Ceri smiled but Jean didn’t reciprocate. “There’s so much more potential as a shaman I think. Some things are harder but having the power of the pack behind me feels better than being in a coven ever did.”
“I bet,” Jean said with a nervous chuckle.
“Since Jean was never officially a part of her family’s coven, she’s never had access to a spell book. I’ve shared with her everything my grandmother left me.” Tatiana patted Jean on the arm. “But it is more limited than the spells you would have access to. So, I’d like to propose a trade.”
“A trade?” Ceri repeated.
Tatiana nodded. “Share spells with us and we will teach you more about what it means to be a shaman. What you can do. What you shouldn’t do. The four of us can learn together.”
“That’s an interesting idea. We’ll have to think about it and talk it over with the whole pack, but I really appreciate the offer. You’re more helpful than I would have ever expected,” Amber said, glancing at Ceri who was nodding along.
“Oh, Ceri, could I get your number real quick? I have Amber’s but not yours.” Tatiana pulled out her cellphone, looking at Ceri expectantly.
“Sure.” Ceri took the proffered phone and put in her contact information.
Amber nudged the last bite of cake toward Tatiana but she waved it off as she took back her phone.
“All yours, Amber. I’m stuffed.”
She finished it off gladly, glancing at Jean once again. There was just something about the way she sat there so quiet that bothered her. Maybe Jean was shy but…that’s not what her gut was telling her. It reminded her of how Tommy acted at first. Scared and beaten down.
The waitress came by with the check, which Tatiana snatched up before Amber could grab it.
“My treat,” Tatiana said with a grin as she handed it back to the waitress with her card. “We’ll give your pack some time to think all this through. I don’t want to pressure, even though I am excited about the potential here. I really think it’ll benefit both our packs.”
Ceri nodded. “It is an exciting opportunity. Let’s keep in touch while we think it over.”
“Absolutely.” Tatiana glanced at Jean. “You done eating?”
Jean nodded.
“I have another appointment, so unfortunately we’ll have to rush out, but I’m looking forward to chatting again.” Tatiana stood, pulling on a tailored, knee-length jacket. “It really has been a pleasure.”
Amber and Ceri slid out of the booth as well.
“Likewise,” Amber said, shaking her hand.
They walked out of the restaurant as a group, parting ways in the parking lot. Tatiana had a limo there to pick her up, which was honestly not all that surprising.
“Who gets a limo to drive them around downtown Portland?” Ceri asked, shaking her head in disbelief.
“Something tells me Tatiana was born in a limo.” She hesitated for a moment. “Did Jean seem off to you?”
Ceri wavered her hand. “I couldn’t decide if she was shy or…scared of me. It’s like I intimidated her.”
“You can be kind of scary.” She smirked at Ceri just in time to see her indignant response.
“I am friendly.”
She snor
ted. “You are surprisingly competitive and a little bossy. Normally. However, today you were the most relaxed I’ve seen you in weeks. So if Jean was intimidated, I don’t think it was by you.”
“I guess we need to try to find out before we agree to do anything with Tatiana’s pack. She’s charming but that doesn’t mean she’s trustworthy.”
“Yeah.” Amber shook her head. “Nobody is that nice, are they?”
“I would say you’re that nice but you’re actually pretty grumpy.”
“Ha. Ha,” she said drily. “You needed to run some errands while we were out right?”
“Yeah, is that still okay?”
“I was going to see if Shane will meet me at that coffee shop that’s a couple of blocks away while you run them.” She shoved her hands in her pockets, feeling awkward. “Unless you want company?”
Ceri shook her head with a knowing smile. “No, it’s fine. Excellent, even.”
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t you start too. Gen is bad enough.”
Laughing, Ceri waved and headed toward the car. She pulled out her phone and texted Shane. Hopefully he could join her and she wouldn’t end up sitting alone in a coffee shop for a couple of hours.
Can you meet me at that coffee shop on the corner of 24th and Thurman? I’ll catch you up and get some much needed caffeine.
He responded immediately.
Sure. It’s a date ;)
She felt herself smiling like an idiot as she put her phone away. Thankfully there was no one there to see her. Enjoying the cool weather, she took her time walking along the crowded sidewalk. The sunshine had drawn everyone out this weekend and downtown Portland was even busier than usual.
The crosswalk flashed the walk sign just as she reached the intersection, so she hurried across the road. It was quicker to cut through the alley up ahead than to follow the road around the whole block.
The alley was even cooler than the street. A breeze picked up, ruffling her hair around her face and carrying with it a strange scent. It smelled like magic but…different. Off somehow.
Misfit Fortune Page 20
