24
Emma MacBride
The worst part about her job was always the cleanup. No matter how strong the soap smelled, she could still pick up the coppery scent of blood lingering on her hands. Her clothes? She might as well burn them; the best dry cleaner in the world wouldn’t be able to remove those stains. But her favorite hoodie and yoga pants were a small price to pay compared to the life she’d been able to save.
Had Richard been human, he’d have died. Head injuries like that were almost always fatal to the normal sort.
Emma cleaned up as best she could. “So I guess you figured out it was the Tweedles?”
“Is that what you were calling them?” Ace looked half-shocked at the nickname and at the same time teetering on the edge of laughter.
“I was waiting for you to get back. I started taking a closer look at Regina. She was drugged, for sure. But the why and when were huge question marks. It wasn’t until I remembered the logbook Jay had sent me for that it all started to make sense.”
“But that was just a distraction.”
Aiden must not have filled him in on the conversation she’d had earlier. That was a troubling thought. Depending on how that information was taken, she could be accused of withholding important details. Small things like that were quickly becoming significant. Time to lay it all on the table. “We assumed so too, until we remembered that a woman signed in before us to visit Leif.”
“Regina?”
“I’d put money on it. Couldn’t really read the handwriting.”
“The code she used would confirm who she was.”
“I hoped you’d set a different one for each group.”
“Better safe than sorry,” Ace agreed. “So she visited....”
“And along with the signature in the logbook, I found a syringe left on the counter.”
One of Ace’s eyebrows shot upwards, and he looked as if he wanted to ask a question but remained quietly surprised, allowing her time to find the right words to finish her statement.
She really wished Aiden had told him this already. Or even Brady. “I assumed whatever drug had been administered was for the purpose of sedating Leif. He did appear to be sleeping in his cell while we were present.”
“We have no such medicines here,” Ace replied quietly.
“I didn’t think so either. I’ve seen no evidence of medical staff or equipment here in your home.”
“We’ve never really needed it until now.”
“Not all packs do. That’s beside the point. Leif wasn’t sick, nor was he really as badly off as he pretended to be at dinner. So, deductive reasoning says he wasn’t given any such medications. He was faking to make your pack look bad.”
“Which didn’t help his case anyway.”
“Right. But that syringe was empty. So it was used. And all signs point to Regina as the victim. She wouldn’t have dosed herself. So that leaves....”
“The Tweedles,” Ace answered back. “But, on whose orders?”
“Only way to know that would be to ask them. And...well.” Emma waved a hand at the room.
“Covering their tracks.” Ace finished the thought. “And then Richard came in and tried to stop them.”
“So is Leif pulling the strings? Even in lockup?” Emma wondered aloud. “If that’s the case, then we need to move to execution sooner rather than later.”
“Without knowing his game plan, execution might be a hasty decision. We don’t know who else he might have compromised. I need that logbook and the list of people who punched in at the door.”
“I’m as clean as I’m getting for the time being. I wish you had an autoclave.” She reassembled the contents of her bag as best she could and hefted it over her shoulder.
“I’m sorry we’re so lacking in staff and equipment here. We do have connections with the hospital.”
“Hospitals are too public. You need an on-call field doc. If for nothing else, to ensure the health of your pack.”
“Based on your work back there, I’d say you handle more than just checkups on a regular basis.”
She blushed, feeling slightly awkward with his praise, considering only one of the three victims in the room was still alive. “The Olde Town has seen more action than most, I’ll admit, but I do a lot of general care for our people too.”
“Deliver puppies?” Ace asked, with a chuckle.
“Yeah. That’s part of the job,” Emma responded, missing the joke. How could he go from the massacre surrounding them to babies in the same sentence?
“You and I have to learn to speak the same language.” Ace squatted down and met Richard’s eyes. “I’m going to lift you up and carry you back to the office, okay?”
“What do you mean, language?” Emma wasn’t sure if he was talking to the wolf or to her.
“You.” Ace lifted Richard’s wolf, cradling his weak body in both arms. “One minute we’re flirting and enjoying each other’s company, then the next you go all–”
“Don’t! Please.” She didn’t need to hear his next word. To everyone who knew her she was Emma the Hard Ass or Doc McBitchy.
“Look, I’m not trying to insult you. I genuinely like you. I think you’re insanely talented. You’re smart. And hot as hell.”
She turned away from him, hiding her face as she pretended to look in her medical bag for the hundredth time. Why was he so sweet on her?
Ace continued. “But you flip the switch from hot to cold faster than I can snap my fingers. What gives?”
She shrugged, not really having an answer for him. Aloofness was just part of her, like the dimple on her cheek. Not always visible, but under the right circumstances it revealed itself, for better or worse. “Defense mechanism I guess. I deal with a lot of crap that would send most people crying home to their mamas.”
“I believe the doctor side of you does that. But that’s not all you are.”
“You don’t know that. You only just met me.”
“Well, I’d like to.” He spoke the words like an order, with all the power of his Alpha behind it. “I’m not going to bite. Don’t be afraid of me.”
“Why?” He’d hit the nail on the head. She was afraid. No one wants to willingly open themselves up to being hurt.
“Why does anyone want to get to know anyone else?” He scoffed as if the question were ridiculous, and nodded at the door before taking a step towards it.
“I’ll be gone in a few days,” she answered, following in his wake.
“And because of that, we shouldn’t even bother to interact with each other?”
“What if....” She could already feel it. The anxiety. Opening herself up to Brady had been hard enough, and the resulting heartbreak...excruciating. Every rational part of her mind screamed for her to avoid this conversation. No matter how well-intentioned, it would end in pain. Best to stop it before it started.
“We like each other?” Ace finished the sentence for her. “Great. I call that a win!”
“And then I go home.” Emma shot back at him, hoping the smack in the face of reality might set him straight.
“You know what’s awesome? They have these things now called phones. Video chat. Cars. And planes, too. Or even....wait for it... trains!” He gasped for effect. “I’ve always wanted to take a train across country. See? You’re only as far away as you want to be these days.”
Damn, he’s persistent, she chuckled to herself, but couldn’t come up with a good response in defense of her point.
“Look. If you don’t like me, then say it. I’m not going to chase down a dead end. But I thought we had a little chemistry, and I’d like to see where it goes.”
“So not the right time for this.” Emma exhaled the words.
“There is never a right time. That much I know.” Ace threw a wink over his shoulder. “But if you’re willing to rip my heart out....”
She snorted. “No more blood tonight, please.”
“So it does bother you? I was wondering. You were like a robo
t back there... In a totally cute way.”
That earned a real smile this time. “Cleaning up sucks, yeah.”
“So you won’t rip my heart out, then?” Ace stopped and met her gaze. Behind the playful nature of his words, there was a real question lingering that needed a real answer.
“Okay. When the drama settles, you and I go on a real date.”
“Deal.” Ace looked as if he’d won the lottery.
“One date,” Emma added. “A real one with dinner and entertainment.”
“Got it! All I have to do is settle a few border disputes and ferret out Leif’s network of spies. Piece of cake. How’s tomorrow night at eight sound?”
“Don’t be late.” Outwardly she hoped her attitude was convincing, but inside she struggled to allow herself to believe that this wasn’t going to end in heartbreak. Just enjoy the ride, she reasoned with her anxiety.
25
Aeson Silverman
Ace set Richard to rest on a sofa in his office as soon as he arrived. The old wolf was made of tougher stuff than anyone could throw at him. Despite the slight whimper as he was moved around, Richard looked better than he had back in the murder room.
“Emma says he needs to wait a little while before he shifts again. And he’ll need food as soon as he can stomach it.”
Orion had kept the Alpha’s chair warm in his absence. He relinquished it as Ace approached. “I will see to Richard personally.”
Not surprising in the least. Richard and Orion had a history that went back to before Ace had even been born. He couldn’t have asked for a better caretaker for the old wolf.
Ace took his place at the desk and addressed what remained of his council: Vivian, Orion, and Jay. “We’ve got to get to the bottom of this before any more people become involved.”
Emma stood silently on the sidelines looking as if she wanted to leave but not daring to ask to be excused. He’d have to send her off soon. She’d been extremely helpful, but she was not part of his pack.
“Jay, I need you to hold off the Midwest arrivals indefinitely.” Ace continued giving his assignments. “They cannot come in tomorrow. Until we have figured out who is under Leif’s command, no new arrivals to our home.”
Jay’s expression paled. “Nikita arrived about an hour ago. We have her set up in a room already.”
“Did she come with any envoy?” Panic had Ace by the balls. Of all the times to have anyone new arriving at the house! He’d been knee deep in gore at that moment after three deaths and one close call happened on his watch.
“No,” Jay responded.
“Good.” Ace nodded, hoping that she’d been steered far away from the smell of blood. “Everyone is to remain confined to their room for the time being.”
Vivian lifted a hand. “Tito won’t abide by that.”
“He’s going to have to. My territory. My rules.” Ace’s tone left no room to question. “It is for the safety of all that we keep this under a tight lid.”
Emma cleared her throat. “Should I head back to my room, then?”
“Yes. Shortly. I will escort you myself to ensure your safety,” Ace replied. “We’ll go through and interview everyone separately and review all the security footage. As soon as we have a better grasp on the situation, we’ll bring everyone together.”
“Regina’s guards were our last clue on the trail,” Jay commented with a defeated groan.
“And based on what Emma found earlier, they were working for Leif,” Ace replied. “We need records of who all had access to Leif since arrival.” He turned to Emma. “And before that, back in your neck of the woods. Who managed his care? Did he have any opportunities to talk with anyone?”
Emma shook her head. “He was in the dungeon for the most part. No guards within earshot.”
“So it would be safe to assume he coordinated his attack from here. But how and why?” Ace asked.
Orion responded. “He appeared as if he wanted to avoid a death sentence. Discrediting Regina would have fed into that. But why kill her?”
“It didn’t work,” Vivian scoffed.
“He couldn’t have coordinated that so quickly though. She died within... about a half hour of the meeting,” Orion said.
“Maybe it was a standing order,” Ace replied. “If his sentence is death, so is hers.”
“Revenge killing,” Jay commented.
“That doesn’t fit the timeline,” Emma interrupted. “If she was injected with a poison before the meeting started, and succumbed to it within hours, then her death had already been ordered.”
“Still falls under revenge,” Jay replied.
“But not because his sentence was death. She was dead either way.” Ace jumped in.
Emma sat thoughtfully, staring off into space. Ace picked up on it and waited, hoping she would have something to say. Her hunches had been right so far.
“We can agree he wanted her dead, right?” Jay asked.
“Maybe not,” Emma replied. “What if he hadn’t intended her to die from whatever it was she was injected with?”
Orion’s face scrunched, matching the same level of confusion Ace felt at that moment. The room waited in silence for Emma to finish her thought, though everyone in the room looked like they had the same question on their mind.
“Okay, consider this,” Emma began, as she took a few steps toward the desk. “Most poisons don’t work on our kind because our metabolism is just too fast. So banking on one to kill a wolf is a stupid way to murder one.”
Ace nodded, though he didn’t really understand where she was heading.
“So she was injected with something. We don’t know what. And the intent was not death. What else could it be?” Emma asked.
No one offered an answer. Emma had the attention of everyone, as they hung on her next words.
“Did you see how Regina was acting?” she asked.
Vivian impatiently sighed. “No one knows what you’re getting at, child. Spit it out.”
Emma’s eyebrows arched angrily, but to her credit she didn’t reply in kind. “She was given something to make her act crazy. To discredit her testimony.”
Nods of agreement silently accepted her theory, but no one volunteered to add weight to her words.
“She drank heavily. She wasn’t eating. She was arguing and getting very nearly belligerent at one point,” Emma continued.
“I assumed she was just grief-stricken.” Orion was the first to speak up.
“As did I,” Vivian agreed.
“Grief-stricken or not, Regina was an Alpha wolf. She’d been in power for a very long time. Long enough to understand the face that must be presented to the public,” Emma added to the theory.
“So rather than having a real breakdown, you think it was manufactured?” Orion asked.
“Exacerbated,” Emma corrected. “She was sent over the edge. To prove a point – that the allegations against Leif had no bearing. Add to that the poor state which Leif presented at the meeting... It was all a big plan to make him look like a victim.”
“But Regina ultimately died from this poison that sent her over the edge.” Jay tossed his opinion in.
“See, that’s the wild card.” Emma pointed at Jay. “She might not have been meant to die, but all that drinking she did while having her public breakdown could have created a perfect storm. Dehydration, starvation, overindulgence in alcohol.... I can think of a ton of drugs that could be exacerbated by those conditions.”
“Okay so she’s drugged for the performance.” Ace tiptoed through the evidence. “Then she dies... unexpectedly.”
“And the Tweedles freak out,” Emma answered.
Orion lifted an eyebrow but didn’t bother to clarify who she had named. “Why not just alert someone to her death, then?”
“They were her security team. She died on their watch. And, not to mention, they were seen accompanying her to Leif’s cell.”
“Okay, so they rush to bury her, and hit a water line,” Orion continued. �
��Clearly not the brightest wolves ever. But why the massacre in her suite?”
“They know they’ll be caught,” Jay said. “They were the end of the trail.”
“Hardly!” Emma answered back. “We still need to know what drug was administered and where they got it.”
“Have you checked your bag?” Jay asked.
“That syringe wasn’t mine.” She shot back an angry glare at him.
“Take a look at how the Reds envoy got here and who else they might have come in contact with from the moment they arrived.” Ace gave the order calmly.
Emma turned to Ace. “You said you didn’t have a doctor on staff – but you do have connections to the local hospital, right?”
That question struck home hard. Ace and Jay exchanged glances as if on reflex. He didn’t want to consider the possibility of one of his own being corrupted by Leif, but he had to admit to himself that it had only taken moments for the mad wolf to get under his skin on their first encounter. “We’ll look into it.”
26
Emma MacBride
“I hope I didn’t overstep in there. I was just working the problem out loud.” Had this been Aiden’s council, she’d not have given it a second thought. He always welcomed outside opinions. But being a guest in this territory meant all the rules were different, and even if the Alpha had a thing for her, she needed to tread carefully.
“No. Not at all. I’m glad for the insight you added. I think we have more directions to look because of you.” He sounded genuinely grateful.
Knowing a killer could still be on the loose added speed to their pace as they wandered down the hallway toward her suite.
One big question still lingered in her mind: what drug could have done this to Regina? The more she thought about, it the more it had to be a medicinal overdose rather than a poison. Her mind kept returning to the fact that it had been slow release. Those who used poison were the cowardly sort; they wanted a quick end to their victim and often enjoyed watching the life slowly leave their eyes. Whoever it was that ordered the injection hadn’t intended for Regina to die.
Being Alpha_Olde Town Pack Page 15