Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 104350 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104350 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
“They may not talk to us,” said Makenna.
“Sage assured me that he’d tell his flock mates to cooperate with you,” said Tao. “Hopefully, that will be enough to make them do so.”
“Don’t come across as accusatory, or it will put them on the defensive,” Riley told Dante.
The Beta gave her a shark’s grin. “Don’t worry, this isn’t my first round of interrogations.”
“Oh yeah, I know all about your version of interrogations.” He was quite the merciless master at them. “That’s what’s worrying me.”
“I say we split up to do the interviews,” Dante proposed. “Jaime and I will talk to Sawyer, since I think he’s more likely to talk to a Beta, since he’s so eager to be one. We’ll also have a chat with Shirley.” Dante turned to Makenna. “You’re good at getting people to open up, so you go see Cynthia and Duncan with Ryan.”
At Makenna’s nod, Dante straightened. “Then let’s get going.”
Shirley’s cabin was close by, so Dante decided they should speak with her first. Fingers linked with Jaime’s, he made his way to the small building that was almost an exact image of their guest cabin.
Shirley took her sweet time opening the front door. Then she stood in the doorway, arms folded, peering down at them like a princess glaring down at the peasants. His wolf growled.
Still, he offered her a cordial smile. “I’m Dante, and this is—”
“You shouldn’t have come here.”
“I’m sure your Alpha warned you that we would,” said Dante.
Shirley leaned a little toward him. “I’ll tell you what I told him. I don’t believe that anyone from the flock is the gunman. Your pack mate’s original theory is the only one that makes sense.”
“From what I’ve heard,” began Dante, “you’ve always felt that someone manipulated your son into shooting those ravens four years ago.”
Shirley straightened, face softening slightly. “My Wade was a gentle boy. Caring. He didn’t have an aggressive bone in his body. Even if he was depressed, I don’t believe he went through the trouble of finding himself a gun to kill all those people. No way.” She shook her head, adamant. “If it was someone from the flock, it could only have been Riley.”
Dante bit back a growl. Riley was his pack mate, whether she was prepared to accept it or not, and he didn’t like hearing someone make such an accusation about her. Apparently, neither did Jaime, because her hand was clenching his tightly. “Why?”
“Because he let her live.”
She said it as if that were proof. Dante forced himself to speak calmly. “Maybe he let her live because that caring part of Wade reared its head just enough to recognize that, unlike the others, she was his friend.”
Shirley looked away.
“If you’re right and someone gave your son that gun, it could be that they’re now intent on finishing the job. Don’t you want to know who it is? Don’t you want to know who might have done that to Wade?”
Shirley didn’t say anything, but the hostility seemed to slip out of her expression.
“Did anyone spend a lot of time with Wade before his death?” asked Dante.
Shirley sighed, rubbing her temple. “I don’t know.”
“I understand that this is difficult for you,” Dante began, “but I need you to think real hard. Was there anyone who visited him a lot back then?”
“Riley and Lucy.”
“Anyone else?”
Shirley was about to say no, but then her brow creased. “Sawyer came around here a few times, come to think of it. It surprised me, because they weren’t friends. He hadn’t exactly disliked Wade, but he’d always been aloof toward him at best.”
“Do you know what they talked about?” Dante asked.
Shirley shook her head. “Now that I think about it, Wade used to get a lot of text messages back then too.”
“From who?”
“I’m not sure. I’d ask him who it was, thinking maybe he had a girlfriend, but he’d always mumble, ‘No one’ and walk off.”
After a moment Dante nodded. “Thank you for speaking with us.” Still in possession of Jaime’s hand, he pulled her down the path.
“Delightful woman,” muttered Jaime when she heard the door close. “I agree with Riley. Shirley’s pissed and has a major hard-on for Riley, but she doesn’t have that killer’s edge. So where do we find Sawyer?”
Dante kissed her, just because. “Riley called Hugh before we left; he said that Sawyer is patrolling the southern perimeter.”
“Then let’s head that way.”
It didn’t take long to find Sawyer, and he didn’t seem at all surprised or daunted to see them striding purposefully toward him.
Dante stopped a few feet away. “I’m Dante, and this is my mate, Jaime. We were wondering if you had a few minutes to talk. Like it or not, you’re a possible target of whoever went after Riley and Lucy. We need your help to find out who’s behind this.”
Sawyer studied them intently for a minute. “You’re Betas.”