Ranger Knox (Shifter Nation: Werebears Of Acadia Book 1)
Page 16
So, that means I have to spend an entire afternoon being investigated for my own father’s murder while the actual culprit is probably already in Mexico by now.” She sighed and downed her drink, gesturing at the bartender for another one. The despondence on her face, the dullness in her tone only intensified his guilt. She was right to be angry. The police shouldn’t be wasting their time with her. “What should I do?”
“Call your lawyer. Cooperate completely.” Jason shrugged and slid his untouched drink over. She took it with a small nod of gratitude. “It’ll become clear soon enough that you had nothing to do with it. Especially since you have an actual airtight alibi.”
Another round appeared in front of them, and this time, Jason finished his quickly. She shivered and licked her lips as the alcohol hit her stomach, and he felt a sudden pang of desire for her. He stifled it, reminding himself that now certainly wasn’t the time.
“Feeling any better?” Jason asked.
“Not really. I just talked to him. We had a big, stupid fight over that fucking theme park.”
“A fight? Why?”
“It wasn’t just a theme park to him. It was his...freedom. His pride. Like I was the bad guy for doing my job.”
Jason didn’t want to talk about the theme park. All he’d lost was a potential investor; she’d lost her only family in the world.
“I think I just want to go to sleep,” she sighed.
“Well, I got us a room so we wouldn’t have to drive back tonight.”
“One room?”
“Yes.” His eyes widened. “Unless you’d rather have your privacy. I’ll get another room, no problem.”
“No, that’s not necessary. I enjoy your company.”
Jason paid the tab and guided her out of the bar with a hand on the small of her back. She leaned against him as they passed through the door, and he longed to wrap his wings around her and carry her away. But instead, he helped her settle in the passenger seat and took her back to the hotel. He’d sprung for one of the few suites, which included a whirlpool tub and a well-stocked mini-fridge.
“I’ll leave you to get settled. Take a bath and relax,” Jason said, standing near the door.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to pick up some dinner. Do you have any preferences?”
She shook her head. “I don’t feel like eating at all.”
“I know, but you’re still going to have dinner. I’ll be back soon.”
By the time he returned with cheeseburgers and fries, Mary was curled up on the bed, out cold. Jason stuck the fast-food bags in the fridge, pulled the blanket around her shoulders, and slipped out again without waking her. He didn’t have time to drive all the way to Neil’s empty mansion, but he could fly there in no time. He parked the car outside of town and slunk into the darkness, emerging with powerful strokes of his giant wings, soaring towards the stars.
He ate the miles up quickly, navigating directly to the empty mansion. Behind the wheel of a car, he was just as apt to get lost without a GPS, but as a dragon, his memory was perfect. He could return anywhere with unerring accuracy and it didn’t take him long to reach the home of his eccentric friend. Yellow police tape was pulled tight across the gate and surrounded the perimeter of the property. Jason landed in the backyard, only feet away from the mechanical dragons that could mimic him so perfectly.
Before he returned to his human form, he scanned the area for any additional security guards or dogs, and he sensed absolutely nothing. The house was completely empty. He slipped through the backdoor, into the kitchen, and down the hallway to the foyer where Neil’s body had been found. Due to the marks on Neil’s chest, he’d just assumed that the cause of death had been a burn or maybe a blow to the head. He did not expect the absolute bloodbath that greeted him under the sudden yellow light.
He stared, open mouthed; unable to comprehend the sight before his eyes. How could there be so much blood? It was splattered across the walls, the ceiling, the floor—everywhere. Jason had hoped to inspect the entire house for any further sign of dragons, but he remained completely frozen, afraid to take a step forward. The blood was dry now, but he didn’t want to risk disturbing it. After a moment of study, he was able to map a path along the perimeter of the entryway and up the stairs.
As Jason moved through the house, he noticed more and more traces of blood. Neil might have ended up in the foyer, but that clearly wasn’t where the struggle had started. There was blood on the carpet and the walls all the way to Neil’s bedroom, but the room itself appeared to be clean of blood, if rather messy. Jason had a feeling Neil hadn’t lived in this mess—clearly, somebody had been looking for something. Had it been found?
He moved from room to room, careful not to touch anything, but looking for any sign of the perpetrator. There was nothing on the second floor, but on his return to the first floor, a flash of light from the floor caught his eye. As he bent to examine the object, his blood ran cold. It was a dragon scale, so dark it almost appeared black. It was only under the right light that he could see it was a deep shade of hunter green. He tore a strip from his shirt and wrapped the material around the scale and carefully tucked it into his pocket.
Jason began making his way back to the door, his mind racing with ideas for his next move, when the front door flung open.
“Freeze! Put your hands where we can see them!”
Jason gasped, his heart leaping to his throat, and he immediately put his hands in the air.
“Officers, please, I can explain.”
“You can explain why you are trespassing in a crime scene?” The taller one asked as he approached, mindful of the bloodstains on the floor as he approached.
“Well...yes.”
“Explain it at the station,” he said, jerking Jason’s arms behind his back. The handcuffs clicked into place and the officer pushed him against the wall, patting him down from his shoulders to his feet. He was looking for a weapon, and so he missed the scale in Jason’s pocket.
They took him to the sheriff’s office and left him in an interrogation room, his hands still locked behind his back, his mind racing. Was he under arrest? Did they intend to charge him? He didn’t want to contact his father, but it was beginning to look more and more like he would need a lawyer, at a minimum. He would also need guidance on what to do next. The scale might just be enough to identify the dragon that had been at the crime scene.
After what felt like an eternity, Tandy arrived, smiling pleasantly as he entered the room.
“Well, fancy meeting you again. And so far away from Albany.”
“Detective Tandy,” Jason greeted. “Good to see you again. Am I under arrest?”
Tandy stepped behind him and unlocked the cuffs. “Not yet. But the night is still young.” He moved to the chair, sitting with deceptive casualness, one leg crossed over the other. “What were you doing at the house?”
“I was looking for clues.”
“Oh, you were looking for clues. Which police department do you work for?”
“I don’t work for a police department.”
“You don’t? Then what makes you think you should interfere with an active homicide investigation? Your fibers and DNA are now going to be all over my crime scene. I should arrest you for obstruction of justice, if not for the murder itself.” His eyes narrowed. “Where were you last night, anyway?”
“I was with Mary.”
“Mary?”
“Shayne. Ms. Simmons.”
“She didn’t mention you.”
“We were definitely together.”
“So, if I call her right now, she’ll corroborate that?”
“Yes,” he said evenly, despite the sudden pit in his stomach. He really did not want her to know about any of this.
“Good, she’ll be here in twenty minutes. Now tell me, what sort of clues were you looking for in the middle of night? You know if you have any information, you’re supposed to call me, not go off on your own.”
“To see what?”
“What happened to my friend.”
“You got an eyeful, didn’t you?”
“I guess I wasn’t expecting so much blood. It doesn’t seem like there could be so much blood in one person.”
“It wasn’t only Neil Simmons’ blood. The bodies of his butler, his maid, and his cook were also found. All of them were torn apart. Whoever did this is a very sick person.”
“But Neil wasn’t ripped apart.”
“No, I guess he got lucky.” Tandy regarded him for a moment, uncrossed his legs and leaned forward. “I want to know what you were doing there.”
“I was just looking.”
“You know, if you don’t cooperate, I can make your life very difficult. Why would you want to risk that? You saw something this afternoon. Something that made you curious.”
Jason nodded, conceding that Tandy’s deduction was correct, but didn’t elaborate.
“Do I have to arrest you to make you talk?”
“If you do arrest me, I’d like to call my attorney.”
“Sit tight,” Tandy said, rising. He disappeared, and Jason moaned, dropping his head to the table in front of him. Was he willing to go to jail to protect a killer? Is that how he wanted to be known to the world? Is that how he wanted to be known to Mary?
It was impossible to track how much time passed in that little room, but sweat was starting to gather at his temples and the back of his neck. Even if he told Tandy the absolute truth of his suspicions, would the homicide detective believe him about a dragon being the culprit?
When the door swung open, Jason’s stomach sank all the way to his feet. Mary walked in—only it wasn’t Mary. It was Shayne. And she was pissed off. He could see the anger radiating from her and in that moment, he realized that Tandy had expertly cornered him into the truth. Regardless of what he wanted to reveal to the authorities, he couldn’t very well lie to her. He didn’t want to.
“What the hell is going on here?” Shayne demanded, each word as sharp as a nail. “You disappear in the middle of the night only to show up at my father’s house? What do you think you were doing?”
“I needed to check something out.”
“What did you need to check for yourself?” she demanded.
“It was just a hunch.”
Shayne sank into the chair across from him, her eyes suddenly losing their flash. “A hunch about what? If you know something, Jason, please, just tell me. Who did this?”
“I don’t know who killed your father and his staff. I don’t know anything.”
“Then why did you come out here? Why didn’t you tell me where you were going? And how did you get out here so fast?”
Jason didn’t see any cameras, but he was certain they were being recorded. “I came out here to see what happened. I didn’t mean any harm, and I didn’t want to wake you up and disturb you. I just drove fast.”
“Fast? It was almost a hundred miles. You would have been driving recklessly. And you’re not a reckless driver, Jason, so tell me what is going on.” When he didn’t answer, she leaned forward and said softly, “They’re going to put you in jail, Jason, and I really would rather you be out. With me.”
Jason took a deep breath, a part of him wondering if he’d done this to himself on purpose. Now he had to tell her the truth. It was no longer in his control if he wanted to avoid a charge. “I was looking for this.” He took the wrapped scale from his pocket and pulled the material away.
“What is that? A rock? Like obsidian?”
“It’s something like obsidian. It’s a scale.”
“A what?”
“A dragon scale.”
She moved her hand from his and leaned back slowly in her seat, her face resembling something of a stone itself. “A dragon scale?”
“Yes. I had a hunch after I saw the burn on your father’s chest.”
“I don’t want to hear it.”
Jason blinked. “What?”
“I don’t want to hear anything about dragons or the rest of that bullshit. No wonder Dad liked you so much. You’re both crazy.”
“I’m not crazy, Mary, and neither was your father.”
“You were found snooping around my father’s house, and now you’re talking about dragons. What were you looking for anyway?”
“This! This is exactly what I was looking for. Mary, look, I didn’t want to find it. I didn’t want to be right, but I’m telling you that this is from a dragon.”
“They’re not real, Jason. They’re just a fantasy. And considering everything that’s happened, a sick one at that.” She rose with that and walked to the door. He immediately scooped up the scale and hurried to follow her, still hoping they could talk and she would come to believe him. He’d been so concerned about whether or not he should reveal the truth about a dragon’s involvement, he forgot to consider the bombshell that dragons existed in the first place.
“Mary, wait.”
“Don’t call me that.”
“What?”
She paused and looked over her shoulder. “Don’t call me, either.”
“Mar—Shayne. Ms. Simmons. Please, just let me explain.”
“I gave you a chance to explain. Instead of an explanation, I got that garbage. So, goodbye, Mr. Cross.”
She didn’t spare him another glance as she left the station and he couldn’t do anything but watch her walk away.
“Ouch, man.” Tandy was suddenly at his shoulder, his voice full of surprising sympathy. “That was brutal. You okay?”
“No.”
“Come on.”
“Where we going?”
“To get you a drink.”
“You mean, I’m not going to be arrested?”
“No, unlike Ms. Simmons, I believe you. Let’s go.”
****
Jason didn’t know why Tandy believed his story about dragons, and he didn’t need to know. Maybe he had previous knowledge of dragons. Maybe he’d seen something like this before. Or maybe Jason’s fantastical declaration fit the evidence, but he was a quiet and attentive audience as Jason explained what he knew.
“So, you don’t know which dragon this scale might belong to?”
“No. Not just by looking at it.
“But there is a way to find out?”
“DNA testing, I’m assuming?”
“To your knowledge, did Neil have any relationships, business or personal, with any dragons?”
Jason took a deep breath. In for a penny, in for a pound, he supposed. “One. Vincent Ryder. He lives in Manhattan. He’s an artist.”
“I’m familiar with his work. Didn’t know he was a dragon, though.”
“Well,” Jason said around a mouthful of peanuts, “it’s a secret.”
“As is your status, I suppose.”
“Yes. How did you know?”
“It’s not hard to deduce and I’m a pretty good detective. Well, we have evidence and a possible suspect, now we need a motive. Was there any bad blood between the two of them?”
“No, not at all. Vincent thought highly of him. They were friends.”
“So, they were close?”
“I don’t know. Friendly, definitely. But I don’t know how deep that friendship went.”
Tandy leaned back, worrying his bottom lip with his teeth for a moment before saying, “Ms. Simmons really doesn’t like dragons, does she?”
“I have a feeling she was tired of hearing about dragons from her father.”
“Neil liked dragons? Did he think they were real, too?”
“Think?” Jason sighed. “You don’t really believe me, do you?”
“It is, uh...farfetched, but I’m willing to keep an open mind.”
“I don’t know if he knew. I asked Vincent after I saw the mechanical dragons he’d designed for Neil. They were very, very...realistic. Vincent was quick to assure me that Neil was completely in the
dark; he just thought Vincent was a creative genius.” Jason lifted his shoulder in a half-shrug. “I think he wanted very much for them to be real. Whether or not he had personal knowledge of them before he died, I can’t say.”
“You think he died with personal knowledge?”
“A dragon is very large, but one could definitely fit in the foyer of the mansion where Neil was found. He couldn’t maneuver much, but he wouldn’t have to. And I think that was probably the last thing Neil saw.”
“Let me see that scale.”
Jason produced it without protest.
“You know it’s illegal to take evidence from the scene of the crime.”
“I understand.”
“And, on a personal note, I find it obnoxious as hell.”
“I understand that as well.”
“But I’m not going to arrest you for it. You’re going to show me exactly where you found it and how you found it and we’ll get pictures and proceed from there. You help me find the guy who did this, and nobody needs to be the wiser about your little adventure tonight.”
“I’ll help you,” Jason said quickly. “I want to find him, too.”
“And maybe prove a little something to Ms. Simmons?”
“Well, I’d like her to have a better view of her father, at least.” He unwrapped the scale and held it up to the light. “Given the size, I’d say we’re definitely dealing with an adult, but I can’t tell you much else.”
“Do dragons eat humans?”
“Not in the past several centuries. It’s hard to keep a low profile and leave a trail of bodies.”
“The staff I told you about before were found mostly dismembered. Several of the body parts were missing. That accounts for all the blood. But why would he eat them and not Neil?”
“Any idea who died first?” Jason asked.
“Not yet. Our best indication is the blood splatter found on, around, and under Mr. Simmons. Once we have the results of that analysis, we’ll have a clearer picture of what happened.”
Tandy refreshed each of their glasses with beer from the pitcher. Jason drank his mechanically, his mind drifting back to the drinks he’d shared with Mary just a few hours earlier. Why hadn’t he stayed with her? Why would he have gotten himself embroiled like this?