Chapter Twenty-Five

I strode past Tony's old room without pausing. Wilhelmina Murray's room was only five doors away and I made a beeline for it. It was almost three o'clock in the morning; I could easily use Kennard's keycard to sneak in unannounced.

Anna wasn't a suspect, though; not yet. I weighed up my options before reminding myself that I was on the right side of the law, then I raised my fist and knocked.

‘Who is it?' called a nervous female voice with such speed that I knew she'd not been sleeping. ‘Who's there?'

I exhaled and chose my words carefully. ‘My name is Emma Bellamy. I work with Tony Brown. Detective Constable Tony Brown. I'm with the police.' I steeled myself. ‘Anna, I just want to talk to you.'

‘You've got the wrong room.' She sounded even more anxious now. ‘My name isn't Anna.'

‘I'm not a threat. I promise.'

‘Go away!'

‘I only want to talk.'

‘I said, go AWAY!'

I couldn't do that. I tensed then pressed the keycard against the lock. A second later, I burst through the door – but unfortunately Anna was ready for me.

There was a blur of movement. I caught a glimpse of smooth skin exploding into dark red fur before she was on me. Her jaws snapped open and grabbed hold of my arm. She sank in her teeth, and I cried out as hot pain flashed through me. I lashed out, not to hurt her but to free myself. I heard a brief whine, but she still wouldn't let go.

‘Anna…' Involuntary tears sprang to my eyes. Fuck, that hurt. I tried to shake her off. It was only then, with sudden clarity, that I realised I already had the power to do what I needed to. I gritted my teeth. ‘Anna, you will let go.'

Lukas had asked me if I'd felt a thrum when I'd used Gregory's name. I hadn't – but then I'd not been panicking. Neither had I been aware of what I was doing. This time the power flooded me, trembling through my body like an electric shock.

Anna's sharp wolf teeth immediately released me, my blood staining their white enamel.

‘Back up,' I growled. When she didn't react, I repeated, ‘Anna, back up.'

Every hackle along her spine was raised and she snarled at me, but her tail had already dropped between her legs. I was dominant – and she knew it.

I snagged a towel from the bathroom and wrapped it around my injured arm, hoping it would stem the blood even if it didn't do anything for the pain.

I pointed at the bed. ‘I am going to sit down,' I said. ‘Don't move, Anna.'

I sidled past her four-legged body and perched on the edge of the bed. I was still wary of her, but it was imperative that I got her on side as quickly as I could. I had no idea how long my hold over her would last.

‘As I already told you,' I said, ‘my name is Emma Bellamy. I'm a trainee detective. I was sent to Supe Squad on Monday to work with Tony, but he was murdered just along the corridor from here. I've been tracking down his killer ever since, and everything I've found suggests that you and your sister are involved. I need to get to the bottom of what's going on.' I tightened my makeshift bandage; blood was already seeping through the towel. ‘I think you're in danger, Anna. I think we're both in danger.'

She stared at me with baleful yellow eyes. When she opened her mouth, I tensed and prepared for another attack. Instead her muzzle twisted, her fur yielding to smooth skin and human features. Even her eyes changed colour, darkening from pale yellow to cornflower blue.

She wrapped her arms around her body. ‘What did he call you?'

I blinked. ‘Pardon?'

‘What did Tony call you?'

‘Uh, D'Artagnan. He called me D'Artagnan.'

Anna's face crumpled. Then she sank to the floor and started to cry. ‘Thank … God…'

***

Anna dressed in a fresh set of clothes then sat down opposite to me, her hands turning over and over in her lap. The beaming young woman with sparkles in her eyes had completely gone; this Anna was a pale shadow, wracked with fear, guilt and more besides.

‘He told me about you,' she said. ‘I think he was worried that you'd interfere and get in the way, but he seemed to like you.'

‘I liked Tony too,' I said quietly. ‘I only knew him for a day, but he seemed like a good guy.'

‘He was.' She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. ‘I only knew him for a day too, but he still came here to protect me. All that did was end up getting him killed.' Her head rose. ‘He is dead, isn't he?'

I nodded.

‘I thought so,' Anna said. ‘I tried to go to his room on Tuesday to talk to him, and I saw that something terrible had happened.' She choked back a sob. ‘It was my fault. He was only trying to help me.'

‘It wasn't your fault. The blame for this lies solely at the door of his killer. This isn't on you, Anna.' I gazed at her and another terrible thought struck me. Oh no. ‘Anna, have you been in touch with anyone in the last couple of days? Any werewolves?'

A single tear rolled down her cheek. ‘I already know.' Her voice was barely audible. ‘I know what happened to Becca. I tried to call her after I saw what had happened to Tony, and someone else answered.'

‘I'm so sorry.'

Anna's eyes met mine, a sudden ferocity blazing in their blue depths. ‘She didn't kill herself. She would never have done that.'

‘I know.'

‘Becca didn't do it!'

‘I know,' I repeated. I reached for her hands. It was a pathetic reassurance, given what she was going through, but it was all I could do. ‘This will be difficult for you,' I said, ‘but I need to know everything. I need you tell me exactly what's happened from the very beginning.'

Anna closed her eyes for a beat. When she opened them again, she seemed calmer. ‘That much I can do.' She didn't relax, but I knew she wanted to tell her story. She needed to get it off her chest.

‘I went to a club called Crystal on Saturday night. I got chatting to a wolf there and we ended up at his place. Becca had been getting on my nerves. She hadn't wanted me to go out – she seemed to think that I should be meditating, or some kind of shit like that, so I could prepare for the full moon. All I wanted to do was blow off steam.'

I nodded understandingly. And then, because I had to be sure, ‘Gregory, right? Did he hurt you? Or threaten you? Or do anything at all?'

Anna smiled faintly. ‘No. The sex was kinda dull, but he was nice enough. The next morning, though, I felt guilty. I knew he'd want me to stick around, but I also knew I'd used him to piss off Becca. I left early and headed home to talk to her. I'd hardly drunk anything the night before but I felt terrible. It was like I had a bad hangover.'

She grimaced. ‘I tried to walk it off and clear my head, but it kept getting worse. I had something to eat and ended up spewing all over the pavement in front of two tourists.' She shook her head. ‘I knew if I went back to Becca, she'd tell me off even more for getting into that sort of state. She'd say I was irresponsible and stupid. I only made zeta last full moon, and new ranks often have to deal with challenges from other werewolves during the lunar change. I'm not stupid. I wouldn't risk my ranking after I'd worked so hard for it. But Becca took everything so seriously. She never allowed herself to have fun. It was all work, work, work.'

Her expression was downcast. ‘She'll never have fun now,' she whispered sadly to herself.

My heart went out to her, but I had to keep her on track. ‘So what happened?'

‘I ended up at St James's Park. I was so woozy.' Her brow furrowed. ‘I could hardly keep myself upright. I stumbled around for a bit and then … and then…' She shook her head, unable to continue.

‘What? What happened, Anna?'

‘A wolf.' She flinched. ‘A werewolf attacked me. She came out of nowhere and—'

‘She?'

Anna nodded. ‘It was definitely a female. I didn't recognise her, but everything was blurry by that point.' Her hand went to her throat. ‘I thought she was going to kill me. She went for my throat. She would have ripped it out – I'm certain she wanted to. But then,' Anna swallowed, ‘she spun me round and forced me down to the ground. She held me there while she changed.'

‘Back to her human form?' I asked, surprised.

‘Yes.' Anna tried and failed to smile. ‘You have to be able to speak if you're going to make an effective threat.'

I leaned forward. ‘What did she say?'

‘That she'd see me on Friday night during the full moon at St James's Park. That she'd challenge me, and she'd win.' She wrung her hands. ‘She laughed. It was like she knew she'd already won. She said that I'd better start saying my goodbyes to my family because she'd make sure I wouldn't see Saturday. Then she took off. She left me in the dirt and took off.'

Anna took another deep breath. ‘I couldn't go home after that. I couldn't face Becca. I came here to the hotel instead. I thought that if I could recover from whatever was wrong with me, everything would be alright. But,' her voice dropped, ‘it wasn't. It really wasn't.'

‘What happened next, Anna?'

‘I couldn't tell Becca I'd let myself get attacked, and I didn't know who else I could trust. I didn't know if it was someone from my own clan who'd hurt me or someone else. I didn't know what to do.' She hung her head. ‘I went to see Tony. I thought that if he could find who'd attacked me, I'd be able to speak to Becca and we could confront them together. Tony was in Supe Squad and he wasn't a wolf – he wasn't even a supe. He seemed like the perfect person to help. He told me that everything would be alright and I should lay low for a couple of days until I felt better. He promised that he'd find out who'd hurt me.'

She licked her lips. I indicated that she should take her time. She nodded and continued. ‘He came here on Monday night and said he thought he knew who was responsible, but I should stay here until he'd sorted it out. I was really scared. I didn't want to be left alone so I begged him to stay. I begged him. He got a room down the hall and then … and then…' She gulped, her sobs preventing her from speaking further.

I thought about her story. All the pieces of the puzzle were starting to fall into place. Tony had found Anna's attacker. He'd probably told Becca what had happened, and that had set her off too. But whoever had attacked Anna had realised what Tony had discovered, followed him here then killed him to keep him quiet. She'd done the same to Becca, no doubt incapacitating her in the same way she'd incapacitated Tony – and Anna. She'd obviously thought I wasn't strong enough to need to be drugged first, and had slit my throat on the mere off-chance that Tony had also confided in me.

‘I bet your drink was spiked in Crystal,' I murmured. ‘Some sort of poison or drug to weaken you.'

Anna was pale. ‘Whatever it was, it worked. I still don't feel well. I can't keep any food down. I still have to go to St James's Park tomorrow night, but I feel as weak as a kitten.' She met my eyes. ‘I can't not go. We have to be there. I can't control my wolf at full moon. If I'm not in the park when I change, anything might happen – I could end up killing someone. It would be devastating for my clan if I did that.' She swallowed. ‘It would be devastating for all werewolves.'

And vampires, too, I imagined. In the last few days I'd come across more than one human who was looking for an excuse to get rid of the supes. ‘Let's not worry about that right now,' I said briskly. ‘Let's focus on who your attacker was. We need to find them before the moon turns.'

‘Tony didn't tell me who it was,' Anna said. ‘I asked him, but he refused to say. I think he was afraid that I'd go and find her myself.'

Either that, I thought sourly, or Tony wanted to deal with the mystery woman so he could prove to DSI Barnes that he was keeping his end of the bargain. I ran a hand through my hair. What a fucking mess.

‘Do you have anything to drink in here?' I asked. After all that alcohol, my mouth was dry and my tongue felt furry. I needed to rehydrate myself while I thought about what to do next.

‘There's water and juice in the mini fridge,' Anna said.

I walked over and opened it. As I reached for a bottle of water, I spotted the sandwich on the bottom shelf. ‘What's this? Where did this come from?'

‘The sandwich?' Anna shrugged. ‘Tony gave it to me. Not to eat but to store. He put it in there when he first arrived. He was planning to pick it up after he'd checked into his room, but then he called me and said there was a problem with his fridge. He made me promise not to touch it – but even when it was fresh there were no worries on that score. Just the thought of it turns my stomach. I've not been near it.'

I pulled it out gingerly. The sandwich was unwrapped, but it had been sealed inside an evidence bag. I held it to the light to examine it more closely. It looked like roast beef and sauerkraut.

‘Oh,' I said faintly. I sank down onto the floor. Oh.

‘What is it?'

‘What did you eat after you left Gregory's place on Sunday morning?' I asked.

There was a beat of silence before Anna answered. ‘A roast-beef sandwich,' she said in a small voice. ‘From Sullivan's Sandwich Shop. It's my favourite. I grab a sandwich from there pretty much every day.'

‘Did you tell Tony that?' I swung my head towards her. ‘Did he know?'

Anna bit her lip and stared at me wide-eyed. ‘Yes. He asked me about it.'

I stared at the sandwich in my hands. Bingo.