by Ava Walsh
Oskar Freyson sipped his coffee as he looked over the properties he was looking at buying. He had been in the town for three weeks now, and although his plans to build a ski hill were just a cover at first, he had to admit that there was a lot of potential here.
Blackcliff was the perfect place for a year-round retreat. It could be a very successful town if they took advantage of their surroundings. Beautiful mountain trails for summer, not to mention the nearby lake that was the best unknown place to fish this side of the Rockies. The slopes were perfect for a ski hill in winter. They even had a good amount of snow. All it would take was to clean the place up a little, throw some new paint on a few of the old buildings, and the town would become very prosperous indeed.
The problem was that all the locals seemed to be opposed to any sort of progress. Or maybe it was that he was a Shifter. There was still a lot of racism in the country, especially in little towns like this.
He'd get his PR team working on the problem of how to win over the locals as soon as his other business was done.
Oskar stretched his arms, feeling his wings just below the surface of his skin, wanting to break free. He'd only shifted twice since arriving in Blackcliff, and his beast, a great bald eagle, was getting anxious. If he could, he would have shed his clothes and soared over the valley where Blackcliff was located, taking in a bird's eye view of the surroundings. Unfortunately, if he did that, chances were some stupid hunter would shoot him. It was too risky to Shift outside just yet.
A knock came on his hotel door and Oskar groaned. If this place was going to end up a successful tourist town, these small-town busybodies really needed to learn how to leave their guests alone. This was the third time this morning that somebody had come looking to see if he 'needed anything'. More likely, they had come to gape at him, the billionaire Shifter alpha.
But when he answered the door, he saw that it wasn't housekeeping. A man wearing an FBI jacket stood outside, looking vaguely annoyed. It was Todd Barton, the leader of the team Oskar was assigned to. His jaw clenched. So the company had realized what he was up to, had it?
Well, he wasn't going to back down. What was the worst they could do?
"Freyson. Going to let me come in?"
Oskar held the door open for him. "I'm taking a leave of absence. What are you doing here?"
Barton stepped into the room. "Got called into town and thought I'd stop by to see you. Nice room. I heard you've been here for three months now. Hard to afford on a government salary."
"Yeah, well, good thing I don't rely on my FBI paycheck, then."
Oskar hadn't needed to work a day in his life. His father had built a massive electronics company that gave him more than he needed to live off of. He wasn't an idle person, though, and kept his time occupied. His low-end job at the FBI had seemed like a good idea when he had taken it.
Juggling the responsibilities of the Shifters he was Alpha too, his various companies and investments and his work with the FBI was beginning to wear on him, though. Mostly working with the FBI. He didn't mind Barton so much, but having to take orders from their superiors rankled him. A bunch of idiots, the lot of them.
Barton turned to him. "David Fezioni was found dead just outside of town yesterday morning."
At first, Oskar didn't believe it. Fezioni was the reason he had taken time off work, the reason he had come to Blackcliff in the first place. For him to be dead… Anger closed over his heart. Now he would never get his answers.
"Dead. Of course, he'd go and die before I got the truth."
"As I recall, you were ordered not to pursue your investigation of him." Barton folded his arms, shaking his head at Oskar. "Just the fact that you are in the same town as him has the deputy director spitting mad. If I found out that you had any contact—"
"He kidnapped and killed my cousin's fiancé." Oskar narrowed his eyes. "A member of the Shifters I am responsible for. And those idiots who give us orders have basically closed the case."
Taking orders had always rankled him, ever since he was a child, but the new deputy director was the most idiotic man he had ever met. Oskar was used to having a measure of freedom. With the Shifters he was their leader. In his companies, he was the top boss. Even with his FBI team, Barton understood that he worked best when given space to be his own man. The deputy director, however, thought that he was an entitled rich boy, and did everything in his power to make the agent's life miserable. At least he knew it wasn't because he was a Shifter. The deputy director was married to a Deer Shifter himself.
The tension between the two men had nearly come to blows over Fezioni. The man was responsible for Cindy's death, but the deputy director never gave Oskar the room he needed to prove that.
Barton's gaze was steady on Oskar. "Look, we all know that you had your suspicions where Fezioni was concerned. Which makes this situation all the worse for you."
Oskar scowled. "Are you seriously considering me a suspect in his death?"
Barton merely stared back at him. Clearly, he was.
The implications of what this meant had Oskar straightening. If they were looking for suspects… A smile crossed his face. "So he was murdered. It wasn't an accidental death. It could be his partners, they double crossed him for some reason and—"
"And you had a grudge against the victim."
"I didn't kill him." Oskar rubbed his hands together while his Eagle chattered in excitement. "How did he die? Shot execution style?"
"Hit in the head with something like a baseball bat and thrown into the river."
Oskar frowned. "I'd have made him suffer."
Barton rolled his eyes. "We don't have an official report from the ME yet, but until we get news otherwise, we're treating it as a homicide. With any luck," here Barton narrowed his eyes at Oskar, "it will turn out that Fezioni's death was accidental. It would make all of our lives much easier."
"Not mine. If it was accidental, then my leads into Cindy's death are gone."
"You have to let it go, Freyson. I know you took her death hard, but it's been two years. You're ruining your position with the agency and—"
"I don't need the agency. I'm a billionaire, remember? My first duty is to the Shifters that rely on me. Cindy was one of them, and I will bring the people who murdered her to justice."
Barton sighed and shook his head. The older man had streaks of gray in his dark hair, and as he gazed at Oskar, his gaze softened. "You need something to ground you. I've known you for a while now. You were nothing more than a rich drifter when you first joined the agency, even with being the Alpha of your shifters. They don't really need you, they'll all wealthy, and all of the real problems they run into are easily handled by your lawyers."
"So you're saying I'm useless?" Oskar ground his teeth.
"I'm saying that joining the FBI gave you purpose. Without it, you'll just end up drifting again. Is that what you want?"
"I want to bring Cindy's killers to justice. If the agency won't let me do that—"
"Where were you between seven and eight last night?"
Oskar stopped. His shoulders hitched. Barton was seriously treating him like a suspect. Grinding his teeth together, he shook his head. "I was hiking by myself. Looking for a place to fly where I wouldn't get shot."
Barton pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Hey, I didn't know that Fezioni was going to get himself killed, otherwise, I would have had a proper alibi. You know me. If I had killed him would I be so stupid as to not have come up with something better than hiking alone?"
"At this point, I just hope the preliminary exam is wrong and Fezioni wasn't murdered," Barton said shortly. "Given his ties to organized crime, the FBI is handling the case, but I don't want you to get yourself involved. Understood?"
The order had Oskar grimacing. Don't get involved? Unlikely. He knew that Fezioni was involved in Cindy getting kidnapped and killed, and he was darn well going to find out what had happened so he could bring the others to justice. With any lu
ck, it would bring some closure to the Shifter community he was Alpha of. And to him. Cindy was too important to just lock away in the unsolved files folder.
Another knock came at the door.
"Room service," Oskar explained when Barton looked questioningly at him. "They're really pushy here."
"Concerned for their customers?"
"Nosy is more like it. I don't think any of these people have met either Shifters or billionaires before."
He opened the door and was surprised to find the realtor, Melody Zabat, on the other side.
She smiled at him, a pretty smile that always made him smile back. Even now when he didn't feel like smiling. Melody was the best part of Blackcliff. Red hair, green eyes, a dusting of freckles over her face. She was also very invested in her work, and never wasted his time.
"Hi," she said. "This might sound odd, but is Todd Barton here?"
Oskar pulled back, glancing over her shoulder. "Barton?"
"Mel, what are you doing here?" Barton shook his head as Melody stepped into the room.
"They said I'd find you here. We need to talk, Uncle Todd."
"Uncle?" Oskar's brows rose. "You didn't tell me you had a family."
Melody's brows rose. "You two know each other?"
"Yes," Barton said. "Freyson is on my team with the FBI. Freyson, this is Melody, my best friend's daughter."
"We've been working together," Melody said. "Looking at the property. If he's a member of your team, how come we haven't met before?"
"Because there was no need to." Barton shook his head. "Melody's the one who found the body."
Oskar winced. "I'm sorry."
Melody shrugged, far too casual about it. Usually, people who found bodies were at least a little traumatized.
Barton gripped Melody's elbow. "Come on. Let's go talk. And Freyson? Don't leave town, okay? I'll be in touch."
Oskar scowled but nodded. Melody's big, emerald-green eyes tracked him as Barton led her out of the hotel room. There was unbridled curiosity in them and Oskar mentally cursed Barton for telling him to stay in town. No doubt the whole town was going to think he was a murderer by the end of the hour. Or maybe not. Melody didn't seem like the kind of woman to go around gossiping. No, he was probably going to be fine.
Fezioni dead. Oskar returned to the map that was spread over his desk. He would need to find a way to get in on the investigation. His gut told him that it was murder. His Eagle screeched, sounding satisfied.
It was no more than Fezioni deserved.
Chapter Three
"You showed me the body, what else do you want?" Melody clutched her phone to her ear as she walked towards Old Gossip, glaring at Cindy. The ghost had been hanging around silently ever since Uncle Todd arrived. Now she scowled and shrugged, causing Melody to roll her eyes. "Seriously, what is it?"
"I don't know."
Great. Another one of these ghosts. Melody sighed heavily as she entered the café. "Okay, I have to go now. I'll call you to talk later."
"You are one of the rudest people I have ever met," Cindy sniffed, her hands on her hips. "Whatever happened to respecting the dead?"
Jane bustled over to Melody, her face practically glowing with excitement. The old woman hurried her to a booth despite Melody's protests. She filled a cup of coffee for the realtor before sliding into the other side of the booth and fixing her wide eyes on Melody's face. Melody gulped down a large swallow of coffee, wincing as it scorched her throat.
"I heard that you found David Fezioni's body two days ago and that your father's FBI friend is investigating. Murder, is it?"
Melody sighed. Uncle Todd had phoned her the previous night to confirm that it was, in fact, murder. He also stressed the importance to please stay out of the case. Melody had every intention of doing just that.
Cindy still hadn't told her why it was so important that David's body be found. In fact, the blonde kept disappearing for long hours, returning silent and scowling. When she wasn't pouting, she was critiquing Melody's choice of wardrobe. She didn't seem that interested in the case–which begged the question, why did she show Melody the body in the first place?
"It looks like murder," Melody confirmed reluctantly. "But Uncle Todd isn't sharing details about it with me, so I don't know anything."
"I bet it was Oskar Freyson," Jane continued gleefully. "Not because he's a Shifter, but he hated David, rest his soul."
Melody frowned. "How do you know that?"
"Didn't I tell you? David was in here last week when Oskar came in, and they got into quite the argument. I almost called the cops, but David left before I could. I heard that they knew each other from the city."
"It wasn't Oskar," Cindy blurted.
Melody ignored her. Uncle Todd seemed pretty certain that Oskar should be a suspect. She really hoped that it wasn't him, not only because he was paying her enough for the rest of the year with his business dealings, but also because she liked him.
Spending time with Oskar was easy. He knew exactly what he wanted, but was open to alternatives. It didn't hurt that he was so good-looking, but really, she got along with him so well that it didn't really matter what his face looked like.
"I heard your Uncle Todd talked with Oskar?" Jane raised her brows.
"I wouldn't know. I'm a realtor. FBI business is none of mine." Melody smiled politely. "I'm in a bit of a hurry this morning, can I just get some toast with one of your lovely Danishes?"
Jane looked disappointed but retrieved Melody's order. By this time Cindy was nowhere to be seen. The Dolphin Shifter was very demanding when it came to attention, and it was a relief to be alone in public for once since the ghost had arrived.
Melody wasn't naive enough to think that Cindy was gone for good, though. There had to be more to the story, and by the way, Cindy had reacted to Oskar Freyson when she had gone to his hotel room, he was probably part of the reason she was still hanging around. Perhaps the Dolphin and Alpha had been lovers? Or maybe Cindy hated him for some reason and wanted revenge? With ghosts, it was difficult to tell what the end result would be.
As she headed out of Old Gossip, she almost bumped into Elisabeth. Both women apologized, and Melody stepped aside to let Elisabeth into the café, but the younger woman grabbed her arm.
"Melody, I hate to ask, but your uncle is investigating David's death, isn’t he?"
"Oh, Elisabeth, not you, too!"
The young woman twisted her hands. She looked truly ashamed, which made Melody regret the way she had reacted to the question. She let out a heavy sigh.
"Uncle Todd is a family friend, but yeah. He's investigating."
"So it really was murder? That's awful." Elisabeth shivered. "I moved to Blackcliff to get away from the crime and violence in the city. Was it somebody in town?"
Melisa patted the younger woman's hand. "It's nothing to be concerned about. David apparently had ties with organized crime back in the city, so chances are nobody in town was involved."
Elisabeth looked a little relieved, but not much. She shook her head. "It's just awful."
***
That night, Melody scooped up a plate of takeout Chinese from the only Chinese restaurant in town while Uncle Todd dug into a burrito. Even though he was in Blackcliff on official business, he couldn't say no to spending time with his best friend's little girl.
Melody was hoping to get a little more information about the investigation herself. Mostly about Oskar Freyson. She wanted to know if she should stop working for him. And maybe look for another man to fantasize going on dates with. She wasn't going to get involved in the case, though.
"Did you hear about the argument Freyson had with Fezioni?" she asked casually. "Jane Gardens, she's the owner of Old Gossip, told me all about it. Apparently, they nearly came to blows last week."
"I hadn't heard," Todd grunted around a mouthful of burrito. "But from what I can tell, Fezioni wasn't exactly the most popular character around town. Seems he was in a fistfight every other day."
Melody shrugged. "That's true. He was an outsider and not a very friendly one at that. He was always skipping out of paying Jane for meals at Old Gossip, and he owed Jeffery Miller money for the car he bought. There are also a lot of people unhappy with the work he did for them."
"What work is that?"
"Stuff like painting fences, mowing lawns." Melody shrugged. "From what I heard, he couldn't hold a steady job. Rachel Bradley swears he stole her grandmother's ring when he came over to fix her plumbing. Everybody pretty much hated him. He's even rumored to have poisoned Old Gabby's cats."
Uncle Todd made a face. "So, in other words, I have no shortage of suspects. That's going to make my job a lot more difficult."
Melody chomped down on a battered shrimp, nodding. She really didn't envy her uncle's position. "So, Oskar Freyson. Is he a member of your team? Is he new?"
"No. But he's always done his own thing and was never around when you needed my help."
"Is he a real suspect, or just…?"
"I told you to stay out of it." Uncle Todd pointed his burrito at her. "This is none of your concern."
"The ghost is still hanging around, and she is adamant Oskar didn't do it."
"You and your ghosts." Uncle Todd sighed. "Who is this ghost, anyway? What connection does she have with Fezioni?"
"I don't know. She won't tell me anything other than that I picked the wrong shoes or did my makeup wrong." Melody rolled her eyes. "She knows Oskar, though. Her name is Cindy."
Uncle Todd choked. "Cindy?"
Melody dropped her chopsticks. "Yeah."
"Tall, pretty, blonde? Mid-twenties? Shifter?"
"Yeah."
Uncle Todd shook his head. "Well. That explains a few things, then."
Melody waited. When nothing more was forthcoming, she flicked her uncle's knee with her index finger. "Like?"
"You have to keep this to yourself. No telling anybody else in town, okay?"
Melody's eyes lit up. Having a good secret was almost as good as hooking a twenty-pound bass on the line. She leaned forward eagerly. "I can keep a secret."
"Cindy was more than just a member of Oskar's community. She was engaged to his cousin. Two years ago, she was kidnapped and held for ransom. Freyson was tireless in trying to get her back. He paid the ransom, despite it being against FBI policy. In the end, though, all we got back was Cindy's body. Freyson was convinced that Fezioni was part of the group that kidnapped her. But he never had proof."