by Denise Carbo
Rage swamped him. He stalked forward. Bethany grabbed his arm. “Davis you cannot possibly believe Celeste had anything to with this!”
He glared down at Celeste while she burst into tears and hid her face in her hands. Did she really think her pathetic tears would sway him?
“Davis!” Bethany tugged on his arm. He spared her a glance. Her luminous eyes welled also with tears and pleaded with him to listen. She stepped between him and Celeste, placing her palms flat against his chest.
Damn it!
He closed his eyes and sighed. She stepped away from him and proceeded toward her sniveling friend. He grabbed her hand. “Stay away from her. You may think she’s innocent, but I sure as hell am not betting your life on it.”
Bethany frowned. “I trust her as I am sure you trust your friends. Trust my judgement, please.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. She knew damn well phrasing it that precise way would tie his hands.
The healer sauntered over and slapped his phone into his palm. Her gaze encompassed all of them, lingering on the sobbing Celeste. “That was an informative phone call. Ashley has done extensive tests since you were poisoned. I am going to analyze the samples I have to compare and determine if the same poison was used.”
“But I didn’t have the markings. Do you still think it could be the same?”
“Yes, but you weren’t found for days after your poisoning. The marks could have faded enough not to be noticeable. From what Ashley has told me, it really is a miracle you survived. Let us hope Kate is as strong as you were.”
The healer left the room. Bethany sat down next to Celeste and wrapped her in her arms. Celeste leaned into her and wailed.
Davis rolled his eyes. Women!
Chapter Sixteen
“Take me through it step by step. Starting with where you got the tea. Who made it?” Celeste blinked at him and looked at Bethany.
“Did you buy it at the shop around the corner?” Bethany squeezed Celeste’s hand.
Celeste nodded and peeked up at him through her wet lashes. “It is where I always go.”
“What shop?”
Bethany turned to him. “It’s a small bakery which sells coffee, tea, etcetera. If you take a right outside the gates, it’s about a block down on the corner. It’s called, Treats and More.”
“You said always. Is this a daily thing, weekly thing, what? Be more specific.” Celeste kept glancing at Bethany.
Davis sighed. Before Bethany could respond, he held up a hand. “I want to hear it from her.”
Bethany frowned at him and glanced at Celeste. “It’s all right. Davis is simply trying to determine the sequence of events. He knows you aren’t responsible.”
He opened his mouth ready to say he knew no such thing, but Bethany glared at him.
“We take turns. My day is Monday, Kate’s is Wednesday, and Bethany’s is Friday. Tuesdays and Thursdays, we skip because Kate has a weekly department meeting on Tuesdays, and Bethany has one on Thursdays.”
“Did you see who made the tea?”
“Umm…I guess so.”
Davis stuffed his hands in his front pockets to resist the urge to strangle her. “Did you, or didn’t you?”
“I’m not sure. I was looking at my phone.”
“How many people were behind the counter when you gave your order?”
She bit her lip and stared at the ceiling. “Two…I think.”
“Was there anyone else in the shop at the same time as you?”
Her brow puckered. “A few were sitting at the little round tables. A woman left as I walked in. And there were two men who came in after me. I think they were French.” She peeked at Bethany. “They were cute. The tall one winked at me.”
He silently counted to ten and strove for patience. “Was the tea out of your sight any time after the clerk handed it to you?”
“Well, no. I returned to the compound and carried it up to Bethany’s department.” She leaned back in her chair and then shot forward. “Wait. I stopped in my department first to put my purse in my drawer. I didn’t want to lug it around.” She rolled her eyes at Bethany. “I bought this new shampoo and conditioner the other day, and I keep forgetting to take it out of my purse. It weighs a ton.”
“Was there anyone in your office at the time? Did you set the tea down anywhere? Could anyone have been close enough to slip something into the tea?”
She shook her head. “I don’t think so. It was only a minute, and no one was around my desk. It was early. People were just starting to arrive for work.”
Either she was leaving something out, or it had to have happened at the shop. He would have to tread carefully to investigate a store on foreign soil. Hopefully there was video footage he could get access to. Tracing Celeste’s path from the shop to Bethany and Kate was going to be challenging. He didn’t want to involve local authorities. He would have to talk to the guards to see how they handled security issues with the locals. Not something he wanted to do. The more people involved, the more chance for mistakes. He had no one he trusted here. Not knowing who could be involved made him not want to share information, but he didn’t see another option at the moment. He needed to find the one responsible. Celeste was the only viable suspect by her own admissions. Bethany wasn’t about to accept her friend as a suspect, and he had to admit she didn’t seem like the type to poison her friends. He wasn’t absolving her from blame yet. She could be an Oscar worthy actress for all he knew. Could she have been working with Bryant all this time and now getting her revenge for his death or carrying out his plan to kill Bethany? Had they been secretly romantically involved with one another?
There were only more questions and not enough answers. One thing was for sure, he wasn’t letting Bethany out of his sight again.
His phone vibrated, and he pulled it out to check the caller. It was Malcolm. Likely, Ashley had informed him of his phone call and the reason for it. He stepped away from the two sitting in the corner, but kept them in his sight, as he answered the call.
“Ashley told me a friend of Bethany’s has been poisoned, and it might be the same one Bryant used to poison Bethany?”
“Not sure if it’s the same poison. There are some similarities in the symptoms. The healer is running some more tests based on what she learned from Ashley. That’s not all, though. Bethany was the target. Her friend drank tea intended for Bethany.”
“I see. Any leads?”
“Her other friend, Celeste, bought the tea from a shop off the compound. She claims it wasn’t out of her sight since the shop.”
“Do you suspect the friend?”
Bethany glanced up at him. With her exceptional hearing she could hear Malcolm’s every word. He looked at Celeste. She was wiping her smeared makeup with a tissue. He didn’t know if she could hear or not. She wasn’t making any signs that she could. He didn’t even know if or what she could shapeshift into. One more thing he needed to find out.
“Bethany doesn’t.” Malcolm would know it meant he was reserving judgement and hopefully it wouldn’t upset Bethany too much.
Bethany frowned, but she didn’t leap to her friend’s defense or try to correct him. He hoped it meant she understood his stance on this.
“I know I don’t have to warn you to tread carefully. You will have some help with this investigation. Aki is sending one of his guards, Kioshi, to assist you. His cover is the same as yours, council advisor.”
He remembered Kioshi from the last time they visited the European compound. “You trust him?”
“I trust Aki, and Aki trusts him.”
“Good enough for me. He knows everything?”
“Yes, I’ve been keeping Aki apprised of the situation. He had already decided to send Kioshi before I updated him on the latest. I was planning to call you today to let you know when Ashley informed me about the poisoning.”
“When does he arrive?”
“Should be later today. I’ll text you his information and relay yours
to Aki to pass on to him.”
“Okay, I’ll get him up to speed when he arrives. It will be nice to have some backup.”
“Good. Keep me informed. And Davis, if you need more backup call me immediately. You’re not in this alone.”
“Understood.” Malcolm disconnected, and Davis slipped his phone back into his pocket.
He wasn’t about to get all sappy, but he missed the connection of his clan. Knowing they always had his back was vital to his make up.
The healer entered from the side door. “I’ve run some further tests, and although I am still waiting on two other results, the comparisons to the poison given to Bethany and the one to Kate are strongly linked. I won’t know if it’s an exact match until all the tests are complete.”
Bethany took a deep breath and stood. She had expected them to be similar, but why she wasn’t completely sure.
“What does that mean for Kate?”
“I gave her the antidote for fallibar quickly. You were exposed longer to the poison, and therefore sickened more deeply. She hadn’t ingested all the tea, plus she vomited some of the poison out of her system. It is my hope, and my professional opinion, Kate will recover more quickly. Now that I know some of the other ingredients I can watch for further toxicity and treat her accordingly.”
Bethany walked over to Kate and stroked her arm. Her friend had to survive this. The guilt weighed heavily on her. Kate was lying there in her place.
“Right now, I need for you all to leave. Kate needs her rest.”
Bethany was ready to protest. She intended to stay with Kate but staring into Elizabeth’s dark eyes she knew there was no point in arguing. She nodded and faced Celeste and Davis.
Celeste stood several feet away from Davis, clearly waiting for direction from her. She knew in her heart her friend would never harm her. Despite the doubts her brother’s betrayal had created, she would not believe Celeste intentionally put poison in her tea.
Davis stood feet apart and arms folded across his chest. An argument was coming from him. There was no doubt in her mind on that score. His faith in her friend or her own judgement wasn’t as strong. He was going to argue guilty until proven innocent. He was back to being her self-appointed bodyguard.
Whoever was trying to kill her might not get a chance to finish the job. The stress of it all and the pain of the close proximity of a mate who didn’t want her might be enough to finish her off.
Chapter Seventeen
“Lady Bethany, Lord Aaron requests your presence upstairs.”
Bethany forced a smile for the guard, Ned. She was not in the mood to deal with her cousin this afternoon but ignoring him would not help his disposition any. Why couldn’t he simply use the phone instead of sending one of the guards to fetch her? She sighed. Probably because she could ignore a phone call, but not a guard waiting to escort her to him.
Glancing up at Davis standing outside her cubicle with his back to the wall, she noticed his folded arm stance and aloof expression. The same position he’d been in all day. Kioshi, the guard from the Asian clan, had arrived yesterday morning. The two had shared long whispered conversations, and then Kioshi had disappeared while Davis continued as her silent shadow. He barely spoke to her except to protest her return to work this morning. He had been displeased with her decision to put it mildly. She had to return to work, though. It was either that or go insane dealing with the tenseness between them.
Standing, she shut down her computer and grabbed her purse. There was no telling how long Aaron would keep her. The topic of his conversation was a given—he wanted her support. She could not in good conscience provide it. Which meant this meeting could get ugly if he pushed the issue. She didn’t think she would be able to put him off much longer. She had already put off meeting with him yesterday because she spent the day with Kate. The sight of her friend opening her eyes yesterday had filled her own with tears. Elizabeth had implied Kate should make a full recovery. A vast wave of relief had washed over Bethany with the prognosis. She had helped get her settled in at home, so she could spend the remainder of her recovery in comfort—surrounded by her own things. A guard was posted for her safety.
Bethany followed Ned into the elevator with Davis close behind them. How was she going to convince Aaron not to throw a fit at Davis’ presence? She certainly doubted Davis would leave the two of them alone. He'd made his distrust and extreme disgust of her cousin well known.
Stepping off the elevator, she was prepared to step right, but Ned turned left. Surprised, she paused. Where was the meeting? Aaron’s office and the conference room were both to the right.
Ned looked over his shoulder. “Lord Aaron has moved into your uncle’s office.”
“I see.” No, she didn’t. It was awfully presumptuous of him. How was Advisor Heyes going to feel about that? Did Aaron plan to barricade himself in there if he lost the vote? Sighing, she followed Ned to her uncle’s former office.
Two guards stood outside the closed office door. She recognized them, but didn’t recall their names. They both nodded at her and one opened the door. She started to stride through when the other guard held up his hand to Davis. “Only Lady Bethany may enter.”
“Like hell. Where she goes, I go.”
“Mr. Campbell is with me.”
“Bethany, cease the theatrics and get in here. Your hulking Neanderthal will wait outside.”
Before she could reply, Davis stepped forward between her and the door. Both guards stiffened. “No, I won’t. You want to speak to her, you’ll do it where I can keep an eye on you. And don’t forget I’m here on the council’s authority. You may have moved yourself into your uncle’s office, but you have no power here.”
Ned hissed a sharp intake of breath behind her, and she prayed a physical altercation wasn’t imminent.
Leaning to the side slightly, she peeked at her cousin to gauge his reaction. She was at a loss on how to defuse the situation. His face was bright red, and she braced herself for an explosion.
“Leave the door ajar then if you can’t bear for her to be out of your sight but make no mistake, I will rule the clan, and one of the first acts I will do is to see you permanently removed from the compound.” Aaron stalked behind the desk and sat down.
Bethany placed her hand on Davis’ forearm. “Please.”
He glanced down at her and then back to her cousin. Giving a sharp nod, he angled to the side slightly giving her enough room to slip past him into the room. She glanced back at him after she passed. He stood in the open doorway sideways, so he could see inside the office and the hallway outside as well. Folding his arms across his chest, he glared in her cousin’s direction before turning his gaze to each of the guards. For a moment she was worried they would interfere, but they quickly swung about and faced away from the office. Was her cousin aware he likely didn’t have the guards’ support should he try to enforce his rule?
Walking across the office and taking a seat in one of the chairs in front of the desk, she noticed little had changed since her uncle presided over the clan. The same antique gilded furniture, priceless paintings and sculptures filled the large room. Aaron may have moved in, but he hadn’t changed much. The prized Oriental rug was missing from the room. Whispered rumors of her uncle’s grisly murder had trickled down to her once she had returned to work. Her imagination could fill in the gaps. A beheading was the traditional method used for one Risharden to kill another. It was how her brother had killed Donald, and likely how he had killed their uncle as well.
Taking a fortifying breath, she squared her shoulders and stared at her cousin. “You wanted to see me?”
Aaron sat with the chair facing left leaving her to stare at his profile. His jaw was clenched tight, and his skin was a blotchy red. It saddened her, this man was her only remaining family. They had never been close. There had been little opportunity with her being raised mostly in the Highlands, but even when she had moved here full time, she had felt little kinship with him. He was alwa
ys so angry, even as a younger man. Perhaps he was simply a product of his environment. He had been raised by her uncle after all, and he hadn’t been an affectionate man. He had pitted Aaron and Bryant against one another for as long as she could remember. Feeling sympathy for his position would be easier if he exhibited a modicum of compassion and restraint.
“Were you aware your brother wasn’t the only murderous traitor in the family?”
Sucking in a shocked breath, she clenched the arms of the chair.
“No, I don’t suppose you were.” He swiveled his chair to face her fully, crossed his legs, and placed his elbows on the arms of the chair. He tapped an index finger against his lips. “I have discovered some interesting tidbits about our family tree and our dear departed uncle. Would you like me to share them with you?”
Good Lord, what now? She could tell by the smirk on his face he was enjoying himself. No, she had no sympathy for him anymore.
“You are too young to remember much about your parents, let alone our grandparents as they died before you were even a thought. They were gone when I was but a child. What do you know about our grandfather?”
“Not much, I admit. He was the ruler of the clan. He had three children, Uncle Elsof, my mother, and your mother.” She doubted he wanted to give her a history lesson.
“Do you know how he died?”
She tilted her head to the side and sighed loudly. “Old age?”
His eyes narrowed over her perceived sarcasm. “He drowned in the loch you call home.”
No, she had not been aware of that.
“Where does the murderous traitor part come in?” Her cousin was drawing out his tale. The slight smirk on his face expressed his enjoyment of the situation. He relished this.
“Did you know our uncle kept journals?”
She inwardly sighed. A trait her brother had apparently shared. “No.”
“Actually, neither did I until I moved into this office and found a stack of them hidden in the wall. Quite fascinating reading.”