by Sadie Hart
The rope pulled loose over Mel’s hands.
Mel gave a ragged gasp and Lennox heard Mel’s hands struggling to untie the bonds at her feet, then the scuff of tennis shoes as Mel rose and hurried behind her. Lennox shook her head. “No, go.”
She could hear footsteps in the grass now, along with a little girl sobbing, his soft shushes. They were so close now. Mel jerked at the rope and Lennox felt it fall loose around her wrists.
The footsteps were closer now, the girl’s sobs just outside the barn door. Lennox twisted her head into her friend’s shoulder and she breathed the words against Melody’s skin. “Run. Get help.”
“Just...”
“Go.” Melody left her. She heard the wooden door slam open. The sobbing stopped on a gasp, Torres snarled, but then there was the sound of paws hitting the earth in long, effortless strides. No doubt, Mel’s greyhound-style body a sleek blur as she streaked away from the barn. Lennox fumbled at the rope at her feet.
It fell away and she bunched it in a pile on the ground behind her. All that was left was the blindfold, but that had to wait. A shoe hit the wooden floor as Torres entered the barn and a loud lump sounded beside her. Rulon snarled, the low, sick sound turning to a gurgling roar as Torres dragged something else in.
“Uncle Rulon,” a soft, scared voice whispered. A child’s. Lennox felt her heart snap.
Torres wouldn’t hurt a kid.
She wouldn’t let him.
Chapter Seventeen
Tegan gritted his teeth against a growl as the Hound jerked him into a metal chair, his shins smarting under the impact. One more time and he was going to rip this little dog’s head off. He curled his lips back from his teeth and fought the urge to let the lion out and give the Hound’s head a good swat. Losing his cool here would not be good.
Instead he blew out a soft sigh and stumbled after the man dragging him along like a ragdoll. Then his gaze landed on the lion standing in front of a desk to his left, the spitting image of Kanon with a few extra wrinkles and damn. Tegan staggered to a stop.
Gaston Reyes sure left one hell of a mark on his kids. Kanon could’ve been the man’s twin if the man were twenty years younger. Tegan shook his head and blinked. The lion turned, hard eyes landing on Tegan, when the Hound yanked him forward a step and Tegan stumbled into another chair. A surprised yelp sounding from him.
“Clarence, that’s enough.” Brandt stood in the doorway, with a dumbfounded Kanon in his hands.
“Are these the lions with Lennox?” A sharp voice snapped over the crowd and Tegan found himself twisting to get a look at the woman behind it. She stood at the far end of the room, leaned back against a wall. Her hands stuffed in her pockets, she looked almost unassuming, if not for the pack of Hounds milling around her perimeter and the ruthless glint to her eye.
“Yeah.” Brandt gestured for Clarence and Tegan gritted his teeth as the Hound knocked him into a table while leading him towards the other man. Brandt shook his head. “Clarence, if that were any other man, shifter or not, he’d have already punched you.”
Clarence started to curl back a lip but the woman moved, stepping up between them. She was taller than Tegan had thought she would be, nearly as tall as he was. With the same, stocky build as Lennox, though she was softer. Less muscled. “And Lennox?” Then she shook her head. “Never mind. I’d like to speak with them both. Privately. I’ll take this one first since he’s being so docile.”
She reached out, laid a hand an inch above Clarence’s on Tegan’s arm and the other Hound backed off as if she’d struck him. She gave him a wry smile. Brandt just nodded. “I’ll put Mr. Reyes in the holding cell then. You can have Interview Room one.”
Her hand tightened over his bicep, a bare fraction of an inch, but Tegan took a step the moment she did. The Hound tilted her head, gesturing to a hall leading away from the main entrance. “This way.”
She marched him down the hall. The entire building was bare, brick walls and gray tiled floors. Five green doors lined the hall, each of them identical except for the label marking each one. The Hound holding him shouldered open the first one and escorted him into a small room.
A rectangular, metal table took up most of the room. Four orange plastic chairs surrounded the table. The same bare, brick walls revealed nothing but a barred window big enough for a rat to squeeze through. She kicked out a chair facing the door and gestured for him to have a seat. There was a soft intake of breath, her scenting and she stiffened next to him. One glance at her face and he watched her lip curl back.
Disgusted.
He knew what she scented. Lennox, last night, Kanon—it all lingered on his skin. Faint, but it’d be there. So would their morning rendezvous, the hugs, and the goodbye kiss. She sneered down at him as he sat, the chair unsteady under his bulk. It wasn’t a comfortable seat, his hands pressed tight against the back, still cuffed. The silver ate at his wrists.
Tegan half expected her to leave him there. To storm out and come back with a silver loaded pistol and execute him on the spot. She looked pissed enough to do it. Instead, she crossed the room and pulled the door shut, leaning back against it.
Her attention riveted on him, her eyes sharp and assessing. Waiting, observing, but Tegan held still, his eyes casually downcast. He wouldn’t fidget. He wouldn’t give her any reason to think he had a weakness or was guilty.
“I’m Breanne Torres.” She paused, her keen gaze zeroing in on his face. He recognized the name. Lennox’s boss. Tegan tilted his head back to get a good look at her. Her skin was darker than Lennox’s, her hair too. A touch more ruby, more bloody.
Which was fitting. It matched the cold, hard edge to her eyes. The ruthless tilt of her lips. But one look at her and Tegan could see she’d go to the end of the world for her people, she took care of her own. Loyalty was stamped in every muscle of her body. He’d wondered before what kind of Hound Lennox would answer too and the woman in front of him fit the bill.
“For this little chat you can call me Bree. I’m the Shifter Town Enforcement Alpha for Idaho.” She gave him a feral smile.
Tegan nodded. “Lennox’s boss.”
“Yeah. Speaking of Lennox, where is she?”
That wasn’t exactly a question he really wanted to answer. She wouldn’t like his answer. Tegan closed his eyes. “I have no idea.”
A growl snaked out of her, hard and fast. Bree was across the room in a blink, her Hound magick a hot flash across his skin. Nothing like the way Lennox had kept hers carefully in check. Bree poured her magick out into the air and it made his palms sweat. Her whole body vibrated with rage.
It was all Tegan could do not to flinch. Bree glowered down at him, her body stiff with potential threat. One wrong word and she’d have that bullet between his eyes, no doubt about that. Her palm lashed out and hit the metal table with a loud slap. That time Tegan did jerk back an inch, his lips thinned into a flat line.
Before he could figure out what to say, where to start, Bree pulled back, drawing in a long, shuddering breath. Then, softly, “Why don’t we start from the beginning? The night Lennox came to arrest your partner, what happened?”
A laugh bubbled up inside him, damn near hysterical and Tegan held it back. That wasn’t a safer place to start. Hell. That could get both him and Kanon dead now. He’d convinced Lennox to help clear Kanon’s name, but now all their witnesses were dead. They’d gotten out of Utah by the fucking skin of their teeth. Sheer, dumb luck. And Lennox.
Walker had never known the whole story and Lennox had covered their tracks. Spilling the whole thing out here... One wrong word and all of the murders could wind up pinned on them, probably with Lennox’s status changed from missing to dead. Since they hadn’t heard back from her that was a real possibility.
Bree let out a low, impatient growl. “Mr. Sharpe, I think I’m being very lenient here. Answer the question. What happened the night Lennox came to arrest Kanon Reyes?”
“I talked her out of it. Kanon was innocent.”
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She lifted an eyebrow, obviously skeptical. “And just like that, Lennox believed you and went capering over the States?”
“No. She wanted proof, but she has a fair streak a mile wide. She was giving us the benefit of the doubt if we could provide witnesses.” He swallowed.
Her shrewd eyes narrowed on what he didn’t say. “So you went to Metro. Where both owners and a waitress ended up dead the next morning.”
Tegan gave a small nod, inhaled a deep breath, and took a leap of faith. “They were our three witnesses. Lennox met with them all, we took Tristan’s rental home that night, woke up the next morning to a Hound at the front door. The ridgeback in charge invited Lennox to the first crime scene...”
He closed his eyes, trying not to remember Tristan. Grief clawed at him. They’d all died. Tegan took a deep, shuddering breath and opened his eyes, pinning Bree with a hard stare. “Tristan and Caro, they were our friends.”
He didn’t mention Aiby. Technically, he wasn’t supposed to know about her, though he didn’t think he could flat-out lie to the Hound in front of him. She was watching him too closely, waiting for a slip up.
“I’ll never forget seeing...” His voice broke and Tegan looked away, a growl ripping through him and he could do nothing to hold it back. “Lennox and the Hounds there couldn’t find anything on who killed Tristan. It was wiped clean, Lennox suspected a witch.”
“Or someone hiring a witch.”
“Yeah.” He shrugged. “I don’t know. Just that she couldn’t get a track on it. Kanon and I, we wanted to be the ones to tell Caro... So Lennox took us.”
“She was there when you found Carolyn Hale?”
He gave another nod. “We weren’t even allowed in the house. The moment we got there you could smell it.”
Tegan dropped his head to the cool table, suddenly sick. Damn.
“And if I say I don’t believe you?”
Before he could even think of how to respond to that a knock sounded at the door. Bree made a frustrated sound at the back of her throat, but she left him to go answer it. Tegan rolled his head to see who was standing outside. Brandt...and Walker.
He buried his face back against the table. At least Walker Hennessy could confirm part of his story. The door clicked shut, leaving Tegan alone in the room. It should have been a relief, except all he could see was Tristan and Caro, each brutally slashed open. Kanon’s name written in blood.
The cool metal against his forehead didn’t even begin to ease the swirling nausea in his gut. Lennox could be dead now too. Slashed open. Brutalized. With a ragged sigh, Tegan pulled himself up, leaning back against his arms, the knot in his shoulders tightening. He reveled in the pings of pain racing up and down his arms. His fingers were beginning to go numb.
The door swung open again, revealing Bree. She looked calmer. She shut the door behind her, but this time she didn’t lean against it, or stand towering over him. Instead, she shoved a hand through her hair, raking fingers through the long red strands and then moved up behind him.
“Lean forward and I’ll undo the cuffs. Then, me and you, we have some talking to do.”
The moment the silver was away from his skin, Tegan let out a relieved breath, it hissing between his teeth. He rubbed the red marks over his skin and watched as Bree took the seat across from him, bracing her elbows against the table so she could look at him.
“That was Walker Hennessy; he’s from the Shifter Town Enforcement in Utah. You know him?”
Tegan nodded. “He was the one who let Lennox in on the case.”
The muscle in her jaw jumped. The first sign that she was still angry since she’d come back in. Instantly, Tegan felt his whole body go on alert. “He confirms your story. Lennox looked like she was there willingly. If anything, she seemed to have control of the both of you.”
Tegan forced a wry smile to his lips. “Do you really think we could boss her around?”
That earned him a soft crinkling of the skin around her eyes. “He also says that Lennox was lying to him at the second crime scene.”
Every muscle in Tegan’s body went utterly still. That had to be what Walker had found, had to be why Lennox had made them come back, but she hadn’t seen anything. She must have messed up...shit.
Bree leaned closer to him, her gaze level. “Be straight with me, Tegan. All the way. What happened in Utah? What made you flee?”
Yeah. Easier said than done. Tegan pursed his lips and looked at her. She wasn’t the vibrating, raging Hound she’d been when she’d left the room a second ago. She was angry, but willing to listen. He blew out a small breath and inclined his head slightly.
“First. Let me say a few things.”
Her eyes narrowed but she didn’t stop him.
“One. Lennox, hell.” He glanced at the ceiling, trying to find the words. “She’s not the kind of woman you can force. Kanon and I, we never once forced her. We asked her for help that first night.”
“What are you getting at?”
“The second murder... Caro’s. She let us in the house.” He turned back to Bree and she’d gone very still. That obviously wasn’t what Walker had shared with her. Whoops. Still, straight with her all the way. “You have to understand, we were there with her the night they were murdered. The whole night. When we left Metro after she met with the witnesses, we were with her. Ask Hennessy if you don’t believe me, but we ended up in a drunken puppy pile on the bed. That’s how we got to the first scene.”
He leveled her a look and she nodded. She didn’t look happy, especially not at the part about a ‘drunken puppy pile’ but she let him continue. “Hennessy let her bring us along to when Hennessy asked her to have a look at Tristan’s... The scenes were…”
“Walker filled me in. Someone was magickally wiping them. A lion-shifter alone lacks magick. Even the average Hound lacks the power to do that kind of wipe. But witches can be hired. There are plenty out there willing to work magick for some side cash.”
“They murders were also staged. Caro had written Kanon’s name in blood.”
Bree’s eyes narrowed but Tegan shook his head, hurrying on before she could interrupt him. Hell, before she could shoot him. “Lennox wiped it. Altered the scene, erased our presence.”
He waited for the snap and snarl, the instant denial. Instead, Bree gave a slow nod, not quite happy, but not surprised either.
“That at least fits Walker’s testimony. He said there were places outside that smelled like you’d been there a lot longer than the rest of the place did. He felt she was messing with his crime scenes.”
“She was protecting Kanon. We’d been with her. She knew he didn’t do it. Then, we went to Aiby’s and she parked us down the street and this time she really didn’t let us in the house. We weren’t even allowed out of the car. Didn’t matter. Aiby was dead too.”
“There was no sign of Lennox there, but go on. She was a good enough Hound to hide her trail.”
“Is.” Tegan’s jaw flexed. She wasn’t dead yet.
“Excuse me?”
“Lennox is a good enough Hound. You have no proof that she’s dead.”
Bree gave a small jerk of her head, the corner of her lips twitching in the hint of a smile. “Fine. Go on.”
Tegan lifted his shoulders in a small shrug. “We bailed. Stayed with Mel for the past few weeks. Everything was fine until...”
“The kids. Yeah.” Bree scrubbed a hand over her face, a heavy sigh slipping from her.
Tegan could sympathize. “She went to investigate, check it out. See if this time, the killer had left a trail. She didn’t come back and then we had Hounds at our door.”
He tilted his head towards the building surrounding him. She knew the rest. Bree nodded, her whole face suddenly tired. “We got an anonymous tip. Or well, Brandt did.”
Her breath rushed out of her nose in a sharp burst. Frustrated. The killer most likely then, Tegan decided. How the bastard had found them, he had no flipping clue, but it was obvious they�
��d been made.
He glanced up at the Hound in front of him. Her shoulders hunched, frustration and sadness plastered over her face. She looked like a beaten dog, which might not have been that far from the truth. “So we have a psycho madman on the loose, though we have a few suspects and profiles, a Hound who won’t check in and is quite possibly in danger and...” She shook her head.
Tegan sank forward a notch, angling his head so he could catch her gaze. “Lennox, she was only ever trying to find the truth.”
“And obviously she didn’t think she could come to me.” Bree braced both hands on the table and started to rise, but Tegan shook his head.
“She was sleeping with lions. Well not then, not really, but she was definitely helping us. I think she kept hoping she could get everything back under control first...then, at Mel’s when everything was so quiet, we were just enjoying ourselves. Enjoying the peace.”
Bree met his gaze and held it. “Several of the ridgebacks out there think you raped her. A ridgeback wouldn’t sleep with a lion.”
Tegan felt his eyes go hard the moment the words had left her lips. “And you show you don’t know her at all, if you think for a second—”
She held up a hand. “She’d have gutted you. And for the record, so far, you and your partner have handled yourself with grace, manners, and compliance. A first for your kind as far as I’m concerned.”
“I love her. Kanon does too.”
Bree gave him a grim smile. “The sad part? I think I believe you. About all of this. Even about loving her. Now, let’s go grab your partner.”
What she didn’t say, but it still hung heavy in the air between them as Tegan followed her out, was that they still had a killer on the loose and no one knew who it was. Except for maybe Lennox.
And she wasn’t here to help them.
***
Lennox stiffened, her whole body tensing for a fight. Soft footfalls sounded over the wood, no doubt Torres, with the little girl scuffling her feet behind him as he lugged her forward. Another foot closer, then two. If she leapt now she might have a chance at shoving the child away. Lennox took a deep breath through her nose and waited.