The Alpha’s Forbidden Claim

10

Great. Off to a flying start. I fought the urge to bristle and pulled out my notes — if I was so easily discouraged, I’d have failed at this business ages ago. “You’re working on the Cynthia Smith case, right?”

Hightower wrinkled her nose. “Is that why you’re here? I told her sister we were looking into it, but as you can see, we’re busy.” She motioned behind us, where the general thrum of the busy station was filtering in despite her closed door.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” I said. “I assume you didn’t locate any evidence of her at the—”

“I am under no obligation to share anything with you, Miss Walker,” she snapped, cutting me off. Her minimal patience seemed to have evaporated in mere moments. “You are just some woman playing at a hobby. This isn’t a mystery in a box. This is a real person and a real case. Do you even know how many of you people try to get involved every year? All you’re doing is taking some worried woman’s money.”

I bit my tongue, swallowing down the urge to hiss at her. All you’re doing is wasting her time, and maybe even Cyn’s, you small-minded— No, no. I needed to keep my cool. “I don’t know how other people work,” I replied calmly, “but I don’t take her money until—”

“Oh, save it. You aren’t fooling anyone,” she sniffed, leaning back from her desk. “I don’t have time for hobbyists. I—”

The phone on her desk started to ring, and she glowered at me like I had something to do with it. I didn’t roll my eyes as I closed my notebook, but it was a near thing, and I got to my feet as she picked up her line, watching me walk to the door.

I paused once I reentered the hustle and bustle of the office. There was one last stop before I gave up on the police altogether. I wound my way down another hallway, remembering the layout from my previous visit — thankfully, the building hadn’t changed. A case officer was in charge of filing and transcribing all the cases, and I hoped the officer on duty was in a better mood than the detective. It wasn’t the older woman I’d run into last time, but a man about my age — early to mid-twenties, with short blond hair and green eyes hiding behind thickly rimmed glasses.

Huh.

I straightened myself and tried to erase any venom Detective Hightower had left me with. Being sour would just get me shot down again. I strode over confidently, leaning against his window’s ledge as I smiled brightly at him. “Hello! I’m looking for the case officer — that’s you, right?”

He looked a little startled, glancing down at the file he was working on before glancing back at me. “Ah, uhm, well — yes. That’s me. Officer Mansfield. Can I help you with something?”

“It’s nice to meet you, Officer,” I replied, doing my best to be charming. Flirting wasn’t my strongest skill set, but this wasn’t my first rodeo. There’d been a few cases where honey caught more flies than vinegar, and my honey might not have been very sweet, but… Look, I was getting better, okay?

“I was trying to figure out what happened to my friend, Cyn. I… well, look, she’s been missing for almost a week, and her sister is just so worried, and we haven’t gotten any information at all.”

Officer Mansfield’s mustache twitched. “I’m really sorry to hear that,” he said, and I actually believed him. He looked genuinely apologetic. “Have you spoken to the detective assigned to her case?”

I gave a wistful sigh and nodded, allowing myself a little pout. “I scheduled a meeting and everything,” I lamented, looking back over my shoulder. I decided to take a little gamble, leaning in to whisper conspiratorially. “Detective Hightower told me this wasn’t a ‘murder-mystery game and I should stop playing around, but like… no one’s said Cyn’s dead. They’d tell us if they found her, wouldn’t they? Even if it was bad?”

The officer’s expression turned pained. “Did she seriously—” He cut himself off and shook his head, reaching over to squeeze one of my hands. “I’m sorry she said that, she… She has no bedside manner. I can check for you, but someone would have told you and your family if your missing person was found, deceased or otherwise.”

I smiled and didn’t bother correcting him. “Can you? Oh, that would be amazing. I’d really appreciate it. I feel like my heart hasn’t stopped racing since she said those words.”

He just nodded, turning back to his paperwork and computer. It took him a few moments, and I craned my neck to watch but he was scrolling through tabs so quickly that I couldn’t make much out. “Ah, here she is. Still an active case, I’m afraid — not exactly what you were hoping for, but… Well, I hope that helps more than what the detective said.”

“Oh, it does. I so appreciate it,” I gushed, feeling a bit buoyed when the man offered me a tentative smile. Maybe I’m getting better at this, though I’m starting to suspect Detective Highbitch isn’t very nice to her coworkers either. “Before, they told us she was probably back on drugs, or maybe had gotten into some bad dope, and they haven’t found her yet, but…” I trailed off.

Mansfield looked pained again, muttering under his breath. I strained to hear him; my wolf was abnormally weak, but I still possessed the senses of a shifter. They simply weren’t as sharp. All I managed to catch was ‘nobody uses tact around here,’ but then he was looking at me, and I reached up to touch my hair idly while trying not to look like I was attempting to listen.

After looking around, he leaned back in. “Look, I’m not supposed to talk about this, but frankly, neither were they, so…” He glanced around again, but no one was paying attention. “It is true that there was a batch of bad dope on the streets a few months ago. There were several missing person reports filed around that time, and two of those people were later found deceased as a result, but…” He trailed off with a shrug. “The other cases have gone cold, and there’s no evidence of a large-scale death. It’s either a scare tactic or lazy detective work on th—”