Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 71312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
“I assure you, I am not.”
“Maybe not you, but the shady as fuck organization you work for you is.”
Carl’s brows go up. “I can also assure you the Order is not responsible for this.” He puts his hand to his chest. “I offered my services as soon as I heard.” He tries to take a step forward, but I block his way.
“You are not going in there until I know what’s going on.”
Carl looks at the police station doors and then back at me. “Don’t cause a scene.”
“I’ll do what’s necessary,” I shoot back, though he’s right. “Ethan left the Order and now you’re getting back at him.”
“Quite the opposite,” Carl insists. “The Baileys are valued members of the Order, and we hope in time Ethan will reconsider and join again. Pinning a murder on him would not only guarantee that wouldn’t happen, but it would also cause his father and sisters to drop out as well.” Carl looks around and nervously shifts a little closer. “And reopening this case is nothing but a headache for us. We’d already had this handled. I assure you,” he presses. “The Order had nothing to do with this. I’m here to clear Ethan of the charges.”
“You’re a lawyer?” Nik asks, wrinkling his nose. “Are you any good?”
Carl narrows his eyes. “You better hope so.”
“Fine,” I relent. “Say I believe you and you’re here to help and win back a hunter. Then who framed him?”
“That is a question we want answered as well.” A tiny bit of fear flickers across Carl’s face. “Only a handful of people know about Patrick’s death and the real cause, with a majority of them being hunters. We were able to keep the case as closed as possible. The death was ruled accidentally after Patrick fell asleep with a bottle of Jack in his hand and a cigarette in his mouth. Things were dealt with accordingly…until a few days ago.”
“What happened a few days ago?”
“Someone new moved into Patrick’s apartment and conveniently found a lighter stashed inside a vent in the wall.”
“Okay, that’s a little suspicious,” I admit. “But how does that make an accidental death a murder?”
“The lighter was covered in sulfur dust, which is highly flammable. And there was one very clear fingerprint on the lighter.”
“Ethan’s.”
“Yes,” Carl says, eyes meeting mine. He doesn’t have to say it: I know what he’s thinking, and it’s bad. Really fucking bad. Because whoever framed Ethan not only knew that Patrick’s death wasn’t an accident, but they knew enough to use sulfur.
Which means they know about the demon.
Chapter
Four
“Are you sure we can trust him?” I nervously twirl my hair around my finger. Nik and are back in my car, talking to David on the phone.
“Not in general,” David responds. “But in this case, yes. The Order didn’t set Ethan up. Carl was telling the truth in saying they want Ethan back in their ranks. You know he’s a good hunter and losing him is bad for business, you could say.”
I look at Nik, making a face and shaking my head. I hate the fucking Order, but if they can pull this off, then I’ll owe them one. Which is another problem on its own, but I can’t think about that right now.
“Yeah. I guess. They, um, weren’t happy he left. Retaliation didn’t seem too far off.”
“I agree,” David says, surprising me a bit. “But not in this case. They really do want him back, and…” He lets out a sigh, hesitating before saying what he was about to say. “And Ethan doesn’t know this, but the Order has used him as what you’d call their poster boy for the last few years.”
Now it’s Nik’s turn to give me a what the fuck look. “Poster boy?” he repeats. “What do they do? Send out pamphlets with pictures of him killing demons?”
David hesitates again. “More like video clips.”
“And Ethan doesn’t know?” I echo, surprised but not at the same time. Ethan and I have only been together for nearly ten months now, but I know him. I trust him. I love him.
And he feels the same about me.
But I’m starting to realize there’s a lot I don’t quite know about his family…and now I’m wondering if I’m not the only one. It’s not the first time his dad kept him in the dark about something, either. From downplaying the severity of an Order member entangling with a witch to this?
David was born into the Order, raised as a hunter, and never questioned it. Then he had a son and expected the same. Except, Ethan did question things. He wanted to go to college. Get a regular job and have a life as well as hunt and kill demons.
And I thought we had that, but the Order wanted to keep Ethan on a leash.
“You know he wouldn’t be happy if he found out,” David goes on. “Telling him won’t change anything.”