14. Chapter 14

Chapter fourteen

T here wasn’t anyone to perform the autopsy on Dr. Bennett. Not that we needed one. It was obvious what killed him. Blunt force trauma to the head. The rogue took his time beating information out of him. From the look of Dr. Bennett’s battered body, he hadn’t gotten much.

Benjamin wasted little time ruling the death accidental. Rockslide had been noted on the death certificate which correlated with the injuries the doctor had sustained. The blood found in the office was tested, but it wouldn’t matter if the results confirmed it belonged to Dr. Bennett. The file was sealed, and the services were scheduled for the following day.

According to Lucas, the case was closed as far as the trackers were concerned.

The office park had been abandoned and they were all reassigned to security detail or enforcing Benjamin’s new policy about hunting and shifting on the Department of Natural Resources side of the reserve.

In other words, they had their hands full.

The pack land was teaming with wolves from every territory in the alliance on a normal day. Add a challenge of any sort and the numbers increased tenfold. Wolves within driving distance had already begun to arrive to sign up for the challenge before the deadline.

An opportunity arose and I seized it.

“Lucas, I want to take a look at the files.”

Another opportunity wasn’t going to present itself. It had to happen right then, or it wouldn’t happen at all. I knew I wouldn’t get another crack at Dr. Bennet’s office.

“I’m still here. Dad gave me the keys and asked me to lock up. I’ll wait for you outside.” Lucas ended the call.

“Let’s go.” Gabe slid out of his side of the booth and waited for me in the aisle.

I stopped off at the bar and asked the bartender to put the tab on my room before we headed over to the office park.

Lucas waited outside with keys in hand, as promised.

Dr. Bennett’s office looked the same as it had when I left a few hours before, but I knew it had been thoroughly processed. Someone would have photographed the rooms from every angle, dusted every inch for prints and filled baggies with potential evidence.

All of which would be left to sit in boxes, inside one of the council’s storage facilities.

I wasted no time in getting what I came for and went straight for the filing cabinet. Thankfully, the doctor chose to label the drawers alphabetically and not by patient number. I yanked open the drawer that should contain medical records for at least two members of the Redford family—mine and my father’s.

Both were missing.

“Gabe, check the floor. See if any of those files have my name or my dad’s name on it.”

There were only a few with names I couldn’t make out in my photos. Lucas and I helped him sort through the folders. It didn’t take long, and we turned up nothing.

“Rockslide my ass.” I rested my hands on my hips. “He was murdered over those lab results. The rogue didn’t want anyone to know whatever it was Dr. Bennett uncovered.”

“Seems like an awful lot of trouble to hide the results when you could just order another copy.” Gabe stopped looking at files and busied himself with punching holes in my theory.

“This is why I wanted your help. You’re the homicide detective.” I made a sweeping gesture of the room. “Detect.”

“I’m not saying that’s not the reason, but our guy seems smarter than that.” Gabe scanned the room. “Maybe he panicked, but …”

“It feels staged.” Lucas finished his thought for him.

“Exactly.” Gabe pointed to the files. “It’s misdirection. Like he was laying out breadcrumbs for you to follow the silver.”

“But what other reason could he have for killing Dr. Bennett?” I asked more than a little confused by their line of thinking.

If it wasn’t about the silver nitrate, then what the hell was it?

“What if Bennett discovered the killer’s identity?” Gabe scratched his jaw. “But how?”

“That was my next question.” I raked my fingers through my hair, careful not to rip any out when I reached the tangled ends. “The only thing Bennet was interested in was cause of death.”

“Which brings us back to the silver.” Lucas sounded as exasperated as I felt.

“It could have been an accident. Maybe he got sloppy and needed to cover his tracks.” Gabe picked up one of the files off the floor, checked the name and then set it on the desk. “That doesn’t feel right either.”

“They’re probably just screwing with us. Doing whatever they can to throw us off the scent.” I scanned the room for anything I may have missed the first time.

There had to be something we overlooked.

“I don’t suppose you can get us access to the evidence the trackers collected?” Gabe wore a skeptical look even as he asked the question.

“My father has the authority, but …” Lucas met my gaze. “He’s not going to do us any favors. He’ll be acting as the alpha not our ally.”

“I know and I don’t blame him. He’s given me a wide berth which is more than my father would have done. I won’t hold it against him.” I drew the symbol of a cross over my heart with my finger. “I promise.”

“So, what we see is what we’ve got.” Gabe moved to the back of Dr. Bennett’s desk and rifled through the drawers.

“Which is a whole lot of nothing.” Lucas opened the storage closet and ransacked its contents.

Boxes of bandages, bottles of antiseptic, and other medical supplies littered the floor by the time he reached the back of the closet.

“We still have the silver.” I said, dodging a shrink-wrapped bundle of ACE bandages. “It may turn out to be nothing, but aside from the flowers, it’s the only lead we have and we’re going to follow it.”

The killer had claimed two lives and I had no intentions of sitting around waiting for the next body to drop.

“Where’s the evidence locker?” Gabe closed the desk drawers and rolled the chair back into place.

“Basement of the council building. Why?” Lucas’ voice was laced with suspicion.

“You want to break-in. Risky.” I cocked one hip against the side of the desk and crossed my arms over my chest. “I like it.”

“I can’t believe I’m considering this. I could get shitcanned.” Lucas shook his head. “You really think we’ll find something worth taking the risk?”

“Would it be so bad if you got fired?” I had learned to dislike trackers over the course of the past twelve months. “You could always do something else.”

Lucas had the potential to be more than just another dog on a leash for the council—like alpha potential.

“Like what, Lina?” Lucas seemed surprised that I had asked him that. “It’s all I know. It’s what I do.”

“You’re right.” I apologized.

As much as I wanted to find even the smallest shred of evidence that would lead us to the killer, it wasn’t fair to jeopardize Lucas’ standing within the pack.

Or force his father’s hand into punishing his own son.

“Listen, I get why the two of you aren’t huge fans of trackers, but we don’t live in a utopia.” Lucas gestured to the disarray of the crime scene. “We exist for a reason.”

The more I thought about it, the more I realized he was right. The outside world didn’t have a clue about our existence. Wolves and humans were better off with trackers like Lucas who ensured it stayed that way. The one silver lining was that the murders had been confined to the packs.

And that train of thought raised a new question in my mind.

“What if someone found out?” The thought hadn’t fully formed in my mind before it tumbled out of my mouth.

“Who found out what?” Lucas and Gabe asked in near unison.

“About us.” I pushed myself off the desk and made a sweeping gesture that signified the pack lands. “What if someone figured out what’s happening around here and who their neighbors really are?”

“I wish that didn’t make sense.” Lucas twisted the ends of his beard as he followed my line of thinking. “But the choice of victims … The leader and the healer. Someone without a working knowledge of werewolves might think that was enough to destabilize a pack.”

“So, we’ve got two working theories. One, my father’s politics rubbed someone the wrong way and a coup is under way.” I said, holding up my index finger, followed by my middle finger. “Or two, our secret’s out.”

“Let’s hope it’s a coup.” Lucas ran his fingers along the edge of his beard and smoothed out the twirled ends. “Because if it’s the second option, the pack lands aren’t safe. For any of us.”

“Agreed.” Goosebumps broke out over my skin when I thought about the possibility of losing our homes, our land, and the safety it had provided us for generations.

“We’ll keep the evidence locker as our last resort and stick to following the silver.” Gabe seemed quick to dismiss the idea of locals uncovering who and what we were. “If that leads us to humans, we bring in your dad and the council.”

I appreciated the fact that he had included himself in that scenario. I knew firsthand how much an offer to go before the council cost—everything. Gabe would be trapped just like me if the council ever got their clutches into him.

“Do you hear that?” Gabe turned toward the door and pulled in a deep breath through his nose. “Someone’s outside.”

I picked up the scent at the same time Gabe had. He bolted out the office door before I had a chance to tell him that I knew who it was.

My brother.

Mitchell had managed to sneak up to Dr. Bennett’s office, but he couldn’t stay hidden from us for long.

“Got him.” Gabe came back inside, carrying my brother by the scruff of his neck. “You think he’s with the council?”

“Allow me to introduce my brother.” I pointed to the wolf that dangled from his grip.

“Your brother?” Gabe positioned himself out of the reach of Mitchell’s jaw as he waited for an explanation as to why my brother would be eavesdropping on our conversation and investigation.

“He’s probably here to deliver a message from our mother.” I rolled my eyes. “More insults peppered with veiled threats, no doubt.”

Gabe dropped him on the floor at my feet.

“Hey, Mitch.” I said, greeting him as he gave himself over to the shift. “Here to do mom’s bidding?”

“I was really hoping the familiar sights and smells of home would throw you off your game.” Mitch explained why he was spying on us, and it was exactly as I predicted. “Mom wanted to know how much progress you made … and how much longer you were staying.”

“Anything else?” I asked, chuckling to myself. So predictable . “I find it hard to believe that was the whole message.”

“I may have paraphrased a bit.” Mitchell shrugged. “You don’t really think humans are involved, do you?”

“You heard that, huh?” I shoved my hands in the front pockets of my jeans and rocked back on my heels. “I was really hoping you hadn’t.”

From the corner of my eye, I watched Lucas’ expression darken until it turned downright menacing.

“Mitchell.” Lucas sounded animalistic, his wolf stalking just below the surface threatened to come out. “If word of that spreads before we have proof, I will call you out in a challenge for your place in the Redford pack. Do you understand?”

“I have kids, Lucas.” Mitchell’s eyes partially shifted, with amber rings around his irises.

“All you have to do is keep your mouth shut.” Lucas doubled down on his warning.

“That’s not what I mean.” Mitchell backed down first, his eyes returning to their natural color in his human form. “My kids live on the pack lands. I’m not going to do anything to jeopardize their safety.”

Mitchell and I had been close once, but that all changed when I left. He had become Marianne Redford’s lackey while I went in search of my independence.

Still, whatever I thought of him, no matter what he agreed to do for our mother, Mitchell was a good father and a far better husband than his wife deserved.

“Let him go, Lucas.” I stepped in between my brother and my ex. “He isn’t going to say anything about humans. Not to his pretty little wife or our mother, right?”

“Humans? I don’t even know what you’re talking about.” Mitchell back peddled his way out of the doctor’s office and the conversation. “I never heard anything about humans.”

“Good boy, Mitch.” I followed him out, leaning on the door jamb as I watched him shift and dart off into the woods.

I may not have had the best relationship— or any relationship— with my family, but they were still my family, and I didn’t want to bury any more of them.

The best way to keep them safe was to keep everything under wraps. I couldn’t help but wonder who would keep us safe while we rooted out a killer?

We had limited resources and contacts. Which meant our threesome carried a great burden and an even greater risk.