Chapter24
1746 Words
“So, that wretched beast is Hanna's competition?” Lila Montgomery pressed Tiffeny for answers, taking the occasional sip of her tea.
“Yep,” --- Tiffeny took a sip from her cup — “from what I could pick up, she’s Dylan’s ‘chosen for him, Luna’. I don’t understand why, though?”
“You don’t understand what, dear?”
“I guess pack life. I’ve never lived in one,” she confessed.
“I’m no help either. I’m afraid,” Lila also confessed. “However, that cousin of yours would know.”
“Hanna lived in a pack?”
“Briefly…but, yes. She did, before Malcolm or I came to know her.”
“Oh,” Tiffeny sighed, and then paused. “Were you really going to change Debbie into a hairless cat?”
“Heavens, no! I’m on magical restrictions,” Lila explained. “And restrictions or not… I’m simply NOT that type of witch. I’m a botanist.” Bummer. That would’ve been fun to watch.
Meanwhile, inside Dylan’s office
The afternoon sun shone through the large windows. My cousin, still being Mr. Grumpy-ass, sulked sitting at his turned-over desk. Books, papers, knocked over plants in their broken pots, busted chairs and a slashed-up sofa filled the floor space. He must have taken notes when we paid Professor Bryant a visit in trying to locate Hanna, his mate.
“Henry.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
“Can I get your opinion on an important matter?”
“You want my opinion?” Henry gasped. His eyes widened and his mouth hung open. “But wouldn’t you prefer Luna Hanna’s opinion over mine?” His right eye twitched, observing the mess.
“Luna Hanna is the important matter I would like your opinion on.”
“Oh, I see.” Henry picked up a few books off of the floor and walked them over to the bookshelf. “Is there something wrong with her?”
“Her being bound to a wheelchair doesn’t bother you?” Dylan asked. He stood, stepping on some papers and files to look out the window.
“Why should that matter, sir? If that’s how she needs to get around,” Henry replied. “Why does it bother you if she is?”
Dylan sighed and rubbed his face. “I don’t know…maybe. I never imagined she’d end up that way.”
“I’m not following your thinking, sir,” Henry replied.
“Can we just drop the formalities, please? It’s getting annoying,” Dylan grumbled.
“Sure, Al…um, Dylan,” Henry agreed. “You were saying?”
“Yeah, Hanna wouldn’t be in a wheelchair if it wasn’t for me…” Dylan trailed off.
He went to a small cupboard behind where his desk was located. Inside was a mini-fridge holding bottles of beer. His secret stash. Ha, so he only drinks the hard stuff out of formality. He grabbed two bottles and handed one to Henry.
“How do you mean, ssssir,” Henry began. Dylan shot one eyebrow upward. “Um, sorry, Dylan.”
“If I only came forward sooner and told her…It’s my fault,” Dylan grumbled.
“You need to stop blaming yourself. The council had you running around taking care of all the CEO stuff,” Henry reassured him. “It’s not like you had any good opportunities to tell her.”
“Actually, I did” --- Dylan took a long swig — “I was practically stalking her.”
“No, s**t?! You didn’t… did you?” Henry gawked in disbelief. “What made you hesitant?”
“I couldn’t sense her wolf… I thought she was human,” Dylan reminisced. “And she was with… him…it…whatever that nightmare was. If I only did something sooner…”
Henry finished his bottle and chucked it into the waste can. Three-points! Sweet shot.
“Show off,” Dylan muttered.
“I’ll say it again. Stop blaming yourself for something that was out of your control,” Henry reiterated. “You actually should be having this conversation with Luna Hanna… not with me.”
“So, you seriously don’t have any problems with Hanna not bearing my mark?” Dylan inquired.
“That’s only a mate thing,” Henry stated. “The scars you both have on your right hands matter more to me. You’ve both accepted each other as alpha and luna. That’s the only thing that matters to me…” He paused. “And I’ll fight to the dea.th defending and protecting both of you.”
Dylan looked at the scar Henry mentioned and rubbed it with his fingers.
“We accepted each other as mates too,” Dylan remembered. “Don’t worry about the office, Henry. I made the mess. I’ll clean it up.”
“See, Luna Hanna’s good influence is already rubbing off on you.”
“Har-har,” Dylan sarcastically laughed.
“I’ll help you clean up your office…for another beer” Henry bartered.
“Deal…and thanks.”
“Sure,” he replied. “Oh, and Alpha, um, Dylan…I suppose I should inform…tell you, Luna Hanna is refusing to eat…again.”
“Great…” He stood with his hands on his hips and let out a frustrated sigh. “Help me flip my desk back over, please. Luna Tiffeny gave me a vial when Lil Bet was in the hospital the last time. It’s in the desk.”
March 8th, 2:03 PM, the streets of Wolfdale City, residential area
Detectives Barton and Harper (that’s Isaiah and George) carefully turned onto J. Butcher Boulevard. Yep, that’s the street where I reside and George too. They avoided the potholes and cracks that could easily disable a vehicle. They obviously were looking for me, but I wasn’t home. However, a mysterious vehicle sat parked in the driveway across from my humble abode. Under normal circumstances, a vehicle parked there wouldn’t be a huge deal. But the house has been on the market for almost a year now. No one lives there. Weeds and tall grass were telltale signs of neglect. Not that my property looked any better, but I do try to keep up on it.
Anyhow, George took immediate notice and so did the driver of the vehicle. It quickly pulled out from its parking spot and took off rather fast in the opposite direction. It hit one pothole rather hard, causing the vehicle to jolt. Ouch.
“Are we following them or not?” Isaiah asked George.
“Yep, and try to get close enough so we get a make on the plates.”
“On it!”
They tailed the mysterious vehicle for a few blocks before they could check the plates. The registration belonged to Harry Diehl, owner of Shady Slim’s Used Cars and Rentals.
“Dammit! We’re gonna need a subpoena to find out who rented the vehicle,” George grumbled. “The old fart.”
“Should we keep following this POI or go find Mike?” Isaiah inquired.
“Let’s keep following and see where it goes” --- George took a sip from his travel mug — “then we’ll find Mike and alert him.”
The police SUV continued tailing the POI. The vehicles weaved in and out of traffic, circling the same blocks a few times. Eventually, the rental car ventured toward a familiar area–The Roundhouse. But before it got there, the rental turned abruptly into the alley between the disgusting dive and Abernathy’s Taxidermy building and disappeared. Say what?
“f**k it, all!” George yelled, banging his hands on the dashboard. He rubbed his face and scratched his scars. He grabbed his phone from an extra cup holder and dialed.
“Hello?” I answered my phone.
“Hey, Mike. What’s your 10-20*?” George asked. *Location
“The public library. Why, what’s up?” I replied, worried.
“I’d rather tell you in person than on the phone,” he explained.
“Okay. So, what’s your ETA?”
“Roughly twenty to thirty minutes to your location.”
I checked my watch.
“Yeah, that should work. Jewel still has another hour before her community service is done. I’d rather discuss this issue without her prying ears listening in and getting her worked up.”
I hate seeing my daughter upset. And may the G-ddess help whoever causes her any harm. Thanks to George, my curiosity is aggravated. Now I have to sit here and wait. I hate waiting.
Twenty-three minutes later, The Wolfdale City Public Library
Isaiah pulled the SUV into the parking lot and parked in a spot several cars over from my Rogue. Since I wasn’t on duty, I got out and padded over to where they waited. George rolled his window the second he saw me.
“So, what’s so important you had to hunt me down?”
“Yeah, sorry about that Mike,” George sheepishly explained. “But there are two things I should let you know about.”
“Okay, shoot.”
“Nice choice of words, Mike…considering,” Isaiah snickered. Ass-hole. George shot him a side glare.
“As I was about to say…” George began. “The least troubling one is your hunch about Emogene Lawrence. She has connections to both the Blackwater Industries, Inc. building site and the university campus.”
“Oh, how’d you figure that out this fast?” Hey, I had to ask.
“That Grayson guy from the Security company and the weird girl from the college were spotted together,” Isaiah blurted out. George nodded that his verbal report was correct.
“Okay, that is unique. But how do we know that Mr. Grayson wasn’t on campus for a job fair looking for new hires?”
“Great…what else would you suggest?” Isaiah grumbled. “Should we keep on Grayson?”
“It’s a good place to start.”
“But that’s not the only thing unique about Mr. Grayson, Mike,” George mentioned.
“Continue, I’m listening.”
“He looked different. Bigger, more dangerous,” George explained in hushed tones. “Like an alpha would.”
“Great… I suppose you’d like me to alert my cousin about him.” George’s expression confirmed my reply. “What’s the other thing that still needs to be addressed?”
“Yeah, that…” George sighed, pausing briefly. “We discovered someone in a rental watching your house.”
- Writer
