A small growl escaped her lips. Damn Ben and his meddling. And damn him for knowing she wouldn’t tell Devon right away.
She tossed her phone onto the passenger seat before reversing out of her spot. The drive home was quick and before she knew it, she was sitting in her parked car with a slightly angry yet very concerned Devon staring her down.
The officer that followed her home honked his horn and took off with a wave.
Coward, she thought and got out of her car. Devon was on her in an instant.
“What the hell happened?” He wrapped his arms around her and pressed a kiss against her forehead.
“We’ll talk about it later.”
“I need to know now,” he growled out.
“Devon,” she said and pushed against his chest where her hands were trapped. He got the hint and released her, but didn’t move away. “Something happened at the office while I was trying to leave. I’m fine,” she rushed to say when he opened his mouth. “All I want to do right now is stick with our nightly routine and then we can talk about it once we’re in bed.”
Devon seemed to think it over for a moment before nodding. “Let’s get you some dinner and the kids can tell you about their day.”
Carolline smiled softly, thankful for the reprieve. “Sounds good.” As they walked to the door, she brought up the one thing she hoped would take her mind off the last couple hours and steer him away from thinking about it. “How did it go with your in-laws?”
He grunted. “About as good as it could go with people you don’t really know, but who expect to be treated like family.”
“That,” she paused to really think about what he said. “That doesn’t sound good at all.”
Devon opened the door for her and ushered her in ahead of him. “To be fair, they were great with the kids, and I was a little distracted by the fact you weren’t home and I hadn’t heard from you. I think they sensed something was off. Tracey kept giving me looks.”
“I think that might be just how she is.” She leaned into him and kissed his cheek. “I’m sorry.”
A small grin curled his lips. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing trying to distract me. I will find out what happened with you and work.”
Telling Devon what happened with Nurse Ryan did, indeed, happen later that evening when they were both locked away in their bedroom. But first, he restrained himself and gave her the time to eat dinner and help get the kids ready for the next day and into bed. He shooed her away near the end of the story he was reading to them to allow her to get ready for bed and, she thought, a moment to decompress. She appreciated it and was surprised to see a cup of tea in his hands when he joined her in their room.
“Do you know why she did it?” Devon asked when he walked back into the bedroom from their bathroom.
Carolline set her tea on her side table. “From what I gathered from her rambling, she’s obsessed with you in a very unhealthy way and I was an obstacle she needed to get rid of.”
Devon reached for her, and pulled her down and into his body. He wrapped himself around her, squeezing her tight. “I’m so sorry.”
“You couldn’t have known.” She yawned as the warmth of Devon and the feeling of comfort seeped into her body. “Hopefully, Ben will have a clearer picture of what was going through her mind. I’m certain he’ll be able to close up the case surrounding my trashed office.”
Devon hummed into her hair. “It’ll be nice to have answers on something. Get some sleep sweetheart.” He bussed a kiss onto the back of her head and moments later she succumbed to blessed nothingness.
Chapter 35
The trip to the Sheriff’s station was a quiet one. Devon didn’t have much to say and neither did Carolline, apparently. It was a lot like the ride he’d taken one other time—when he’d had to go to the station after his wife died. Those same gut-wrenching thoughts and emotions rolled through him now. The nauseating dread that had his stomach pitching the closer he got to the station. The heart-thrumming anticipation that put him on edge, pulling his tiger to the forefront. His mind solely focused on what was to come. Would there be answers? Real answers to the horrors plaguing their lives, or would it be more of the run-around? The we’re working on it and we hope to figure out something soon answer.
There was one shining light this time around. He had someone to share the burden with. Someone to comfort and to receive comfort from. There would be a resolution instead of more frustrating questions. And maybe, if he told himself that a few thousand times more, he would believe it.
It didn’t help his mindset when he couldn’t lock down those nagging questions lurking in the back of his mind. Would they learn that Nurse Ryan was the person behind the near kidnapping of his kids? Was she the one responsible for the destruction of Carolline’s office? The chaos that appeared to take hold of their lives, however invisible it seemed to others. He was sure Carolline struggled with her own questions and concerns as well. Devon couldn’t be sure what went through her mind, but the distant look and furrowed brows were a dead giveaway that, whatever it was, it weighed heavily on her mind.
Pulling into the station, Devon shut off the SUV. The engine ticked a moment longer as it began to cool down; but soon enough, muted silence fell over them. As anxious as he was to find out what was going on, a part of him was worried about what he would hear. There were things he wanted…no needed…answers to, but knowing where to start was daunting. Minutes ticked by without a word from either of them. A car pulling up next to them brought him back to the present. He turned to his mate. Catching her in a moment when she was unaware of him, he took a moment to really look at her. She looked small and withdrawn. Her shoulders were slumped the smallest fraction, but enough for him to notice. Apprehension flit across her face as she stared at the building, which seemed to tower in front of them, regardless of the fact it was one-story.
This wasn’t the woman he had come to know over the past few weeks. His mate was strong-willed and independent. She fought with everything she had for children she didn’t know. She defended herself against a woman that he was certain bordered on crazy. Yes, it is a moment of vulnerability, and he was glad to see another side of her, but it also killed him to see her like this.
A fierce determination set in and coursed through him. He would be strong for her. Support her to the best of his abilities like a mate should. More than that, as a man should do for the woman he loved. His heart skipped at the realization of being in love, but he forced the thoughts racing to the forefront, back. “You ready for this?” He asked quietly.
Carolline jerked her head in his direction, blinking rapidly, coming back to the here and now. “Of course.” A strained smile ticked up the corners of her lips.
Reaching over, Devon plucked her hand off her lap and kissed the back of it. “It’s okay to be nervous. I’ll be right next to you the entire time.”
Her face and nose scrunched up slightly in confusion. “I’m not nervous. Just wondering how much of the trouble we’ve had has stemmed from Nurse Ryan. The office, I’m willing to bet, but I can’t help wondering if she had her hand in more. Kidnapping the kids doesn’t seem like something she would do. She was too invested in being the next Mrs. Devon Andersen.”
Devon grunted at the absurd idea. The thought of that woman plotting to be his wife by taking Carolline out had his tiger pacing, seething with anger. It was damn protective of her and her tigon. Truth be told, that same fierceness bled over into his more human side, as well. “It never would have happened.” He squeezed her hand gently. “Let’s go find out how delusional she really is and to what lengths she went to try and get what she wanted.”
Carolline nodded and squeezed his hand in return before letting go. She got out of the car, as did he. Meeting her at the front, he rested his hand on her lower back and ushered her inside.
The Sheriff was leaning against the receptionist’s desk. His hands shoved deep in his pockets and a smirk on his face. “I wondered how long
it would take you two to come in. I figured it would take at least ten more minutes. I don’t mind saying I was wrong in this instance. We have a lot to discuss. Let’s head into my office so we can speak in private.” The Sheriff pushed off the desk and headed to his left.
Devon guided Carolline in front of him as they followed. Once in the room, Devon shut the door and took a seat next to his mate and across from Ben. The relaxed demeanor of the other man put him at ease. If he wasn’t tensed up with concern, then Devon could only assume he didn’t need to be either.
Ben was Carolline’s oldest and only real friend, from what he could tell. The man’s protective nature was something Devon had been witness to, and on the receiving end of, a couple times now. As much as Devon wanted to think he was the only one with Carolline’s best interest in mind, he knew that wasn’t the case. There was someone else out in the world who knew even better the woman Devon was mated to.
Ben pushed a steaming cup across to Carolline, who took it with a slight tip of her head in thanks, and a grateful smile. He glanced at Devon apologetically. “Sorry, I don’t know what you like, so I didn’t get you anything. I can have Mable get you something from our lounge, though.”
Devon shook his head. “No, I’m fine.”
The Sheriff paused and let out a long breath. “Alright then. Let’s get down to it. As you’re aware, Nurse Ryan attacked Carolline in her office last night.” His gaze, unsurprisingly, landed on Devon.
He nodded and the Sheriff grinned wide. “Good. I know I called to give you a head’s up about something happening. It’s good to know she told you, seeing how you aren’t surprised by the name. I can never tell what Carolline will do sometimes. She has a tendency not to share things that are important in her life when she believes them to be handled and closed.”
“I do no such thing, Ben,” Carolline sputtered indignantly.
“You do and I’m not about to argue with you right now. You thought you could handle that kid back in PA, but you couldn’t.”
Carolline opened her mouth and then snapped it shut before letting out an annoyed huff. “I could have handled it,” she mumbled, to which Ben disagreed with a simple roll of his eyes.
Clearly, Devon needed to know more about his mate’s past. Repeatedly saying after things have died down might not be in the cards anymore with that small tidbit thrown out there. He had a good start the one night be went to her house to claim her, but the time for long heartfelt talks just hadn’t happened yet.
“Anyway.” Ben continued. “Nurse Ryan has what I would call an unhealthy obsession with you, Andersen.”
Devon scoffed. “Obsession? I have a hard time believing that. Maybe infatuated, at most.”
The Sheriff shook his head sadly. “Believe me. She is. We haven’t finished going through her apartment, but we’ve found multiple journals and scrapbooks laying out your lives together. Articles about you from newspapers and magazines. Wedding plans. Names for future children. There was one dedicated solely to redecorating your house when she moved in. Things like that. We’ve also found a few pictures of you on her phone, obviously taken without your knowledge based on the angle and places.”
“Jesus,” Devon mumbled as the shock of the situation hit him. Carolline’s slim hand sliding into his offered a modicum of support. His instincts never warned him about the woman. At the same time, he didn’t put in a lot of time thinking about her either. She was just another nurse he worked with on occasion. There was nothing special about her to make her stand out.
“Luckily, at least in my opinion, we didn’t find anything relating to the kids. No pictures or plans to have them kidnapped. Unfortunately, that means we’re still looking for who hired the Rouges.”
“So,” Carolline drawled, breaking into the conversation. “She was the one who trashed my office then and, more importantly, why?”
The Sheriff shrugged his big shoulders. “From what she’s said, she was enraged when Devon scolded her the day you were admitted to the hospital, and she got caught treating you poorly. She blamed you for him seeing her in a bad light. Then the rumors started floating around about you two being an item, more specifically mates, and she spiraled from there.”
“Well, that’s just ridiculous,” Carolline said. “Devon and I didn’t have any type of relationship then.”
“It didn’t matter to her. You stole her soulmate, her words not mine, from her, and the only way she could lash out at the time and possibly scare you off, was to destroy your office. Make it look like someone was searching for information, yours in particular, and put your life in danger.”
“The case is closed on that, right?”
“Yes. One thing to cross off the list.” The Sheriff glanced down at his desk and picked up a couple sheets of paper. He held them out toward Devon. “Something else we can cross off the list, the newspaper article about the kidnapping.”
Devon took the papers and scanned over the first page. It was a list of phone numbers. The following page appeared to be a statement.
“During our initial pull of Ms. Ryan’s phone records, we found multiple, long distance calls to the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. Ms. Ryan was behind the article that showed up in it. Once she realized her plan to scare off Carolline wasn’t working, she contacted them. She knew, like everyone else in this town, about the bad blood between you and your in-laws. She hoped they would see the story and come to Garden, demanding to see their grandchildren. Which they did, by the way, so her plan kind of worked. The part she counted on was them disapproving of Carolline and her hybrid genes and threatening to take the children away if you didn’t break things off.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” Devon mused. “What good would come from Carolline leaving? Ms. Ryan is a shifter, right? They wouldn’t have accepted her either.”
Ben’s lips twisted into a frown. “Actually, no. We found pheromones in her locker at work. It didn’t make sense at first, but after a deeper investigation into her background, we found out she’d lied…and convincingly. She obtained false documentation about being a pure-bred jaguar. From what we pieced together, she used the pheromones to dilute the scent of human. Wearing it much like a perfume. Currently, we’re tracking down where she bought them and from whom.”
Devon couldn’t believe what he was hearing. They conducted extensive background checks on hospital staff before hiring them. Something that was implemented into law after one particularly gruesome event during the time of The Cleansing. Never again would the shifter community stand for Purists taking matters into their own hands to eradicate hybrids, no matter their age. “How did we miss that?”
“With the right connections, people can lie, and lie well, when they have a deep, burning desire. What her motives were when she first got to Garden and was hired on at the hospital, we don’t know yet. But believe me, we will find out.”
“How did you find all this out? That she’s a human impersonating a shifter?” Devon paused in thought. “Is her name…I don’t actually know her first name,” he mused out loud, surprised at the realization.
“Whitney. At least that’s what her identification shows. Whitney Ryan.”
Devon nodded sharply. “Is Whitney Ryan, in point of fact, her real name? Is that something you can find out as well?”
Carolline snorted. “Ben has good connections back East. He can find out anything if he’s willing to call in a favor.” She canted her head slightly and narrowed her eyes at the man. “You called in a favor with DoSI, didn’t you?”
The Sheriff smirked, and Devon’s mind tumbled in another direction again. Who the hell did they hire to be the new Sheriff? He had to wonder about the man’s background, as well as how good his connections were if he could call up the Department of Shifter Integrity on a whim. The men and women who worked there did so in secrecy for the most part. It was a way to keep major shifter issues in-house and under wraps. They would be the ones to know who dealt in illegal pheromones and trade. Also, the very same group that
kept The Purists in check and relations between humans and shifters on an even keel.
Ben cleared his throat, gaining Devon’s attention again. Damn, he really needed to stay focused on what was happening at the present and not on the million new questions filling his head.
“That’s all I really have for you right now. Ms. Ryan will be charged with breaking and entering, assault with a deadly weapon, involvement in illegal drug trade, and whatever else we can dig up. There are people who want to talk to her and investigate further. People who will keep me updated…with what they can share, at least.”
“She’d better not get a deal,” Devon growled out at the sudden thought.
“She won’t.” The Sheriff’s voice was threaded with steal and Devon believed him. “She messed with the wrong shifter.” His gaze skittered to Carolline. A soft smile of fondness lit up his dark eyes.
Yeah, Devon believed the woman wouldn’t get away with trying to harm his mate. Not if Ben stayed involved. Judging by the look of determination on the other man’s face and his unwavering loyalty toward Carolline, his abandoning the case wasn’t an option. Devon was confident Ben would be part of the investigation to the bitter end. He’d ensure it no matter the hoops or favors he had to call in.
When they arrived back at the house, they were surprised to find the Jordan’s vehicle parked on the street. Devon’s hackles immediately shot up, as well as his suspicion. The couple usually parked in the driveway, too paranoid to park their luxury SUV on the street. They also let him know when they were coming over. He didn’t know if it was out of courtesy or fear of seeing someone in his family shifted. Personally, he leaned toward the latter of the two.
As he and Carolline got out of their SUV and made their way up the path, he sent a silent thank you to his parents for knowing how stressed Devon and Carolline would be and suggesting the Timmons take the kids for the day. It was easy to agree knowing that Mr. Timmons used to be the Sheriff and protected his grandchildren, and their friends, with a ferocity that scared even the biggest of Alphas. No one crossed the man’s path with ill intent and lived to see another day.
Finding More (Tiger Nip Book 3) Page 22