by Mac Flynn
"Deputies," Adam whispered.
Cain nodded. "Undoubtedly. While the case is active judge has them stand watch. Nothing short of my capture will force them to leave."
Chapter 9
Our chat was interrupted by the arrival of two people from the wing opposite where we stood. One was a man of about forty with jet-black short hair and chiseled features. His lips were pressed tightly together in a habitual frown and his eyes were narrow and attentive. He wore a long black overcoat over an equally dark suit complete with tie and muddy boots.
His companion was a great deal flashier in a red, body-hugging dress which showed her ample cleavage. She had red hair to match, and her locks were pulled behind her and trailed down her back to her waist. She had a gay smile on her pert lips and a mischievous twinkle in her eyes that was dimmed somewhat by her stoic companion.
"How can you be so sure he will come here?" she asked her companion in a voice that teased seductiveness.
Before I knew what hit me Adam's delicious rear rear-ended me. I was pushed backward and almost went tumbling down the stairs. Adam did a good contortionist performance as he turned in the tight vent passage and snatched my hand just as I slid over the edge. He pulled me against him and I eagerly clung to him.
"What's the mean of backing up like that? I'm worth more to you alive than dead," I half teased and half scolded him.
My joke died when I noticed Adam's angry face as he whipped his eyes over to Cain. Cain now knelt in our spots and his eyes were glued to the slit. His mouth was open slightly in a smile and his palms pressed against the wall in tense eagerness.
"You nearly injured Chris!" Adam growled at Cain.
Cain frowned and waved a hand at us without looking at us. "She is fine."
"Are we sure he didn't murder somebody?" I asked Adam.
He pursed his lips and his narrowed eyes remained on Cain. "It has been many months since his eyes fell on his mate, Lilith."
"Lilith? That woman's his mate?" Adam nodded, but I still couldn't believe that the smelly Cain was married to a beauty like that.
"Shh!" Cain scolded us.
In our silence we were able to pick upon the outside conversation again. "That's such a cliched reply, judge. Surely you have something better than 'the criminal always returns to the scene of the crime?'" the woman I now knew to be Lilith mused in answer to the man's reply.
My blood ran cold at the mention of the word 'judge.' Here was our enemy, the merciless Judge Hawthorne, and he wasn't too bad to look at.
"I have been a judge for a great many years, Miss-"
"Call me Lilith," the woman insisted.
"Very well, but as I was saying, I have been a judge for a great many years, and my experience has shown that the guilty return to the scene of the crime to gloat over their victory," the judge explained to her.
Cain pulled away from the slit and scrambled up the stairs. Adam and I followed him, and our direction mirrored the voices on the other side of the hall as they, too, climbed the stairs to the second floor.
"But Cain isn't stupid, and what does he have to brag about?" Lilith countered.
"He has so far eluded my capture, but I hope that my first deputy will find him and bring him back for justice," Judge Hawthorne replied.
The pair reached the top of the stairs and continued farther back. The upper hall was as cramped as I feared and Cain scurried ahead of us on his hands and knees to keep up with them. Adam looked over his shoulder at me. "You can stay here if you wish," he whispered.
I shook my head and pushed him forward. "Ladies first," I teased.
While we talked I heard Lilith laugh. "I'm afraid all your brains in the world won't find Cain. He's too cunning."
"But not cunning enough to hide his victim, and foolish enough to call us before he realized his mistake," the judge countered.
"He was hung over. Everyone makes mistakes when they're hung over," she protested.
"No, Lilith, I believe he will make the mistake of arriving here to gloat over his kill, and that's where we need you."
By this time the pair of talkers and we had reached the rear of the house. Through more slits in the wall I could see the end of the hall finished at a large window with a door on the opposite wall and a small nook of five feet square with a linen dresser set into the nook. The end of the cramped space in which we found ourselves finished on the nook wall closest to the stairs. The pair we watched stopped in front of the door opposite us.
Lilith coyly smiled at the judge. "You make a girl feel wanted, but I don't think I like the idea of being used as bait. Sometimes the fish snatches the worm off the hook."
"We are here to ensure that doesn't happen," the judge promised.
Lilith leaned one shoulder against the door and laughed. "And how are you going to ensure that? Sleeping in my room all night?" she teased.
"Cain must enter the house through one of the windows or doors, and we learned the learned the combination to the security system and it is active once more," the judge assured her. I noticed Adam raised an eyebrow at that comment.
"Then why all the guards around here?" she countered.
"To seize him when he does enter. A desperate criminal is difficult to overcome, and the terrible blows he inflicted on Abel tell of a cruel individual," Judge Hawthorne commented.
Lilith smiled and opened the door to the room beside which they stood. "Well, I'll sleep better knowing you're here to protect me. Goodnight."
"Goodnight," he returned, and she shut her door. The judge walked a few paces with his head bent low. He was still lost in thought when there came a commotion from downstairs. One of the guards rushed down the hall to him.
"We have found her!"
Judge Hawthorne's head snapped up. "The criminal?"
"Guilty before innocent. . ." I heard Cain mutter.
The guard shook his head. "No, Judge, your mate! She has been found safe and is just returning!"
On cue a head rose above the stairs and Miranda came into our view. She was wrapped in a blanket and sported a nice bruise where Cain had whacked her last. Miranda came up to her mate and hung her head. "Forgive my failure."
Judge Hawthorne raised an eyebrow. "Failure for what?"
"I have allowed the criminals to escape. They took me in their car and dumped me in an old shed," she explained.
The judge's frown deepened. "'Criminals?' There is more than one?"
She nodded. "Cain was with two others, a human female and another male werewolf. I heard the female refer to the werewolf as Adam." I cringed. Me and my big mouth.
The judge stiffened. "Adam? Could you discern the relationship between the criminal and this Adam?"
She shook her head, but looked at him with curiosity. "No, but does this mean something?"
Hawthorne frowned and stroked his chin. "Cain has recruited an interesting ally, but we shall we what comes of this. Where were they headed?"
"This direction."
"Good. If they are not already in the area we shall prepare for them. If they are, we shall find them," the judge promised. He looked to the guard. "Send out the free deputies to search the area. Their car must park somewhere. Have the others keep a strict watch. We can't allow them to leave here." The guard bowed his head and rushed off to obey his orders.
The judge bent his head and his roving eyes told of deep thoughts. Miranda came up and set a hand on his shoulder. "Gideon, you look tired. Won't you rest?"
He shook himself and dropped his shoulder so her hand slipped off. "I am fine. Could you make anything else of their conversations?"
She shook her head. "Only that they wished to prove his innocence."
"Innocence? What a falsehood," Judge Hawthorne scoffed.
Miranda's voice dropped to a soft tone. "The pair with Cain seemed to believe him," she countered.
"That is only the wiles of a criminal working sweet words on the soft minds of fools," her mate argued. Oh, he'd pay for that one.
; "But they are coming up here to prove his innocence." Miranda bit her lip and wrapped the blanket closer. "What if. . .what if they are right? What if he is innocent?"
Judge Hawthorne whipped his head to his mate and his frown deepened. "Has Cain's words already reached you?"
Miranda looked at the ground and shrugged. "They seemed so certain of his innocence. Their faith was-well, it was admirable."
"Their faith is mistaken. The evidence points to his being the culprit, and we will apprehend and judge him as such," Hawthorne insisted. He caught her chin and raised her eyes so they looked into his own. "Is that understood?"
Miranda pursed her lips and nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Good." He released her and strode past her towards the stairs. "For now come. You must be tired to believe in such foolishness."
"Yes, my judge," Miranda replied as she followed him down the hall.
They walked down the stairs and disappeared from our vision. I relaxed my tense body and winced when a charlie horse hit my leg. "Well, that was fun," I quipped.
"And yet very enlightening," Adam mused. He turned his attention to Cain and put a hand on his mentor's leg. "I believe you now."
Cain glanced over his shoulder and frowned. "You lost faith in me?"
Adam nodded. "Yes. The evidence was hard to disprove, but the conversation between the judge and Lilith has shown me I was wrong."
"You mean the part about the security system?" I guessed.
"Precisely that. Cain is terrible at numbers, and worse at modern technology. He would never have been able to deactivate it," Adam explained.
I glanced between the pair. "Um, not to burst your theory bubble, but what if Abel just gave him the code?"
Cain shook his head. "Abel would have had to be very desperate to reveal the security system combination to anyone. He was very suspicious of others."
I snorted. "Sounds like the whole werewolf world is one big pack of paranoid people," I quipped.
"Unfortunately, one doesn't live long trusting others as Ashton proved," Adam reminded me.
I sighed. "Well, what now? Do we keep cramping up in here or can we get back to that lovely dark tunnel so I can get a breath of fresh mildewy air?"
"We will go see Lilith," Cain suggested.
Adam frowned. "That isn't wise. They brought her here for the purpose of luring you to her."
"Yes, but they don't know we're here yet, and I have not seen my mate in many months," Cain argued. He didn't listen to any more reason, but crawled away from us towards the end of the tunnel. Cain popped open a vent panel at the end and slipped out into the little nook.
"So follow or no?" I whispered to Adam.
"Follow, if only to keep him out of trouble. He can become very blind when a matter involves Lilith," Adam explained.
I snorted as we moved forward after Cain. "You don't say?"
Chapter 10
We followed Cain out of the vent and into the small nook. Cain glanced around the corner and sniffed the air. "It's all clear."
"But not for our scents. We will leave them behind," Adam pointed out.
Cain turned to him with a glare. "You needn't come. This is a private conversation," he shot back.
"Nothing is private in a murder case, and you were the one to ask for our help," Adam reminded him.
Cain sighed and nodded his head. "Yes, forgive an old wolf for forgetting that. I guess I'm just eager to see her again." Cain took off a couple of layers of his clothes and stuffed them into our arms. "This will cover your scent, at least a little."
I took a whiff of the clothes and wrinkled my nose. "Or maybe a lot. The guards get a whiff of this and they might think another werewolf died."
"Dress quickly and we will move across the hall," Cain commanded us.
Adam and I draped the clothes over our bodies. Cain looked around the corner again and signaled us with his hand. He dashed quietly across the hall, and we followed so we all crowded around Lilith's door. Cain tried the knob. Unlocked. He opened the door and we slipped inside. The room was a bedroom complete with a small table with four chairs to our left, a four-post bed to our right, and tall, wide windows opposite us. They looked out on an expansive lawn covered in snow.
Lilith stood in the middle of the room, and Cain made enough noise latching the door that she turned. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened as Cain turned and rushed over to her. "Cain! What are you doing here?"
He snatched her hands and smiled. "Seeing you, my dear."
"But the guards! They will-" Cain silenced her with a passionate kiss that was only broken when Adam cleared his throat.
Lilith pulled away from Cain and looked past him at us. "Adam! Has he dragged you into this horrible mess, also?"
Adam bowed his head. "We are here to help."
Lilith's eyes fell on me and she tilted her head to one side. "A human?" She leaned towards me and gave me a good sniff. A coy smile slipped onto her lips and her eyes flitted to Adam. "And one who bears your scent."
"They are here to help, but my dear, how have you been?" Cain spoke up.
Lilith sighed and shrugged. "Harassed at every hour by the judge and his deputies, and put through a questioning I would rather forget." She slipped from his hands and plopped herself onto the foot of the bed. "It has been like a living nightmare, and every moment I worried word would reach me that you were captured."
Cain joined her on the bed and clasped a hand in his again. "If we can prove my innocence then they will have no case." Cain paused and frowned when Lilith closed her eyes and sighed. "You do believe me, my darling, don't you?"
Lilith shook her head. "It doesn't matter if I believe you. The judge has already prepared your execution papers," she told him.
He grabbed her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "But you do believe me, right?"
She turned away and bit her lip. "I. . .I don't know what to believe. I mean, I don't remember that night very well."
"Anything you can tell us about that night would be beneficial," Adam spoke up.
Lilith sighed and shrugged free from Cain's grasp. "I will try, but as I said, I don't remember much of that night, either. What I do remember will-well, it might not help your defense."
"We will see," Adam replied.
She smiled. "Such faith in your friends-" her eyes flickered to me, "-and your lovers is admirable. As I was saying, the night was a blur. It started at the end of dinner when Abel brought out an old bottle of strong bourbon. We all partook a little too much, especially Cain. You do have a weakness for good bourbon."
"It's hard to find a good bourbon," he defended himself.
She chuckled. "I drank a little too much myself. I don't know what you remember from-"
"Nothing," Cain told her as he shook his head. "After the bourbon was passed out my mind passed out with it."
She cringed. "Then you're fortunate for you didn't make yourself out to be the perfect guest. Abel and you slipped into an argument about who was the strongest. Of course, you both thought you were. You even smashed up the chairs in the dining room to prove who could bend the wood in their bare hands without transforming."
Cain furrowed his brow and rubbed his chin. "I do recall the chairs being broken the next morning. Was that how it happened?"
Lilith nodded. "Yes. I was disgusted by the act and left the table soon after. I heard you both shouting at each other a few minutes later from my room, but thought nothing of it. Abel was-well, he could be very difficult to get along with when he was in a stubborn mood. Even then I detested his practical jokes." The last few words were spat out and her face darkened.
"He never meant any harm," Cain defended his deceased friend.
"Did you hear any more after the argument?" Adam spoke up.
Lilith shook her head. "No. I retired and woke up the next morning to Cain standing over me with the wrench in his hand and his clothes soaked in Abel's blood."
"And what did you advise him to do?" Adam asked her.
She sighed. "I. . .I panicked. I told him to run away, to hide himself."
"You were quite angry when you learned I'd called the judge," Cain remembered.
She nodded. "Yes. I wanted you to have a headstart, but the call eliminated that precious time." She turned to him with a furrowed brow. "How did you manage to escape? You never told me of a secret passage in the manor."
Cain shook his head. "That's not important. What is important is trying to find evidence that I'm not guilty."
Lilith raised her head and looked him in the eyes. "Can you be so sure? You said yourself you can't remember any of that night."
"I-I-" Cain closed his eyes and hung his head. "No, I can't remember. I just know something is wrong. Something doesn't make any sense. Even under drink I can't believe I could have murdered Abel."
"We will see what we can find," Adam promised as he stood. "For now we should return to the passage before we are found."
We all stood and Lilith escorted us to the door. She grasped Cain's hand and smiled at him. "Be safe, darling, and be careful. The judge means to catch you however he can," she warned us.
He returned her smile with a grin and a nod. "I will." He pecked a kiss on her cheek and, after Adam made sure the way was safe, away we went into the hall.
Cain closed the door behind us and we hurried back to the vent. Adam boosted me up, and Cain and he followed behind me. When the grate was safely in place Adam looked to Cain. The old werewolf clutched his hand in one hand.
"Are you well?" Adam asked him.
Cain shook his head. "It seems I'm doomed. Even my own mate believes I murdered Abel," he whispered.
"The evidence is against you," Adam agreed.
"Adam," I scolded my fiance.
"He's right, Chris, the evidence is against me," Cain glumly agreed. He sighed and raised his head. There were shimmering tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry to have led you this far only to find I was guilty all along. You two should go to the shed through the tunnel and return to the car. I will throw myself before the judge's feet and plead for-"