Chapter 19
Alicia didn’t want to screw up in front of the police. She didn’t want to always be a problem for the pack. Lying in the backseat of the SUV in wolf form, she tried to think of something other than the interrogation that awaited her.
But she was having a difficult time thinking of anything else. This time, like when she’d been questioned about the shootings at the Crestview Motel, she’d have to tell the truth, minus the wolf part of the tale. She’d discussed the wolf business with Jake and his brothers—and Peter because he had the mind of a cop. But she knew from past experience that no matter how prepared she might be to tell the police her story, one little bit of evidence she hadn’t known about, one little thing like an eyewitness account could throw her version of what had happened into the sewer.
Instead, she tried to think about her wedding dress—a cream-colored, A-line gown with a corset-type bodice that had asymmetrical swirls wrapped around it, embellished with lace and pearls in a soft, shimmery satin. The full-pleated skirt that swirled out in full opulence below the slim-fitted bodice cupped her derriere and then extended out into an elegant train. The dress made her feel like a fairy princess, and Jake was definitely her fairy-tale knight.
Some of the younger women had clamored to take part in the wedding and would be wearing violet dresses as bridesmaids. Several girls would participate as flower girls, and Lelandi would be the matron of honor. Because of all the teasing Jake was getting over the whole affair, he had selected Tom, Peter, Sam, and four other men to be his groomsmen, while Tom was the best man. Darien would serve as the father of the bride. Others he had tasked to serve as ushers. Alicia had been amused because although most of the men tried to show they didn’t care for the idea of a wedding, she saw another side of them—a sense of family, of celebration, of belonging—and their enthusiasm didn’t go unnoticed.
The men participating would wear black tuxes with gray satin cravats and tuxedo vests. The best part? The woman in charge of the bridal shop said she’d have everything ready to go in a week’s time, which was good because Alicia kept fretting that she might start to show and the gown wouldn’t fit. She groaned. What if she shape-shifted in the middle of the ceremony? First wedding ever for a lupus garou pack and first major disaster. She could see it now. No one would ever allow a wedding ceremony to take place again.
In her wolf form, she lay down on the backseat and closed her eyes. She hadn’t told Lelandi the truth about having had weddings before because she’d been trying to get out of doing anything this formal. But Alicia had never had a wedding dress. Never been married in a church. Never had a bridesmaid or a father to give her away. Just a mother and her boyfriend to serve as her witnesses in front of a judge, twice.
She smiled at the thought of being a beautiful bride for Jake.
Then she sighed. He didn’t want this. He probably wouldn’t be happy with any of it, no matter how nice the ceremony was or how excited the ladies were about having it. She hadn’t been able to read Darien. Apparently, he’d agreed to give her away, but he had seemed distracted, probably over this further police business. She suspected he was worried that she could get all of the pack members who went with her in trouble if she ended up shape-shifting while being questioned. And that’s when she began to worry about the interrogation again.
She must have managed to sleep for a couple of hours. When she finally awoke from a nice wolf nap, she was surprised that her head was in Jake’s lap. When had he climbed into the rear seat with her?
He was stroking her back in a soothing way, and when she lifted her head, he said, “We’re almost there. But if we have to, we’ll just park somewhere until you can shape-shift. We’ll tell the police we were held up because of a flat tire, running out of gas, something.”
She closed her eyes, cursed her inability to shift when she needed to, and tried to convince herself it was time to be a human. A few minutes later, she was hastily getting dressed in the rear seat, hoping the tinted windows were truly tinted enough so that no one could see into the vehicle while they were parked under a shade tree in a park.
Once she was presentable, Peter drove the SUV to Ferdinand Massaro’s condo where the police were supposed to meet them.
“We’re here,” Peter said quietly a few minutes later, as if he was trying not to upset her and cause her to shift again.
She had no idea why the urge to shift came and went like it did. She suspected it had something to do with having not changed in so long since the last time.
“How are you feeling?” Jake asked, running his hand over her stomach.
“I’m all right. At least I hope I’ll be.” But she really wasn’t. Every inch of her body was feeling the tension, and she was terrified she’d get their kind into trouble.
“Let’s go then,” Jake said, sounding like he wanted to get this over in a hurry, just like she did.
Her bodyguard detail stayed in the second vehicle, figuring that with the police here, she’d have no trouble. Jake took Alicia’s hand and led her to the front door of the brick two-story condo, while Tom and Peter followed. An officer let them in while two others watched them, and then introductions were shared around the living room. Helm Sanderson was tall and stout and looked down at her like she was in for real trouble. John Kohn looked like he’d slept in his clothes, his face wearing a couple of days’ growth of blond stubble, his eyes bloodshot. The last detective, Arthur Connelly, was younger than the other two and kept looking at them as if reading their cues on what to do.
“Have a seat, Miss Greiston,” Sanderson said, motioning to the couch where she’d seen Ferdinand’s dead body.
If the detectives had wanted to see her reaction, to see if she’d actually witnessed Massaro sitting dead on that couch, they hadn’t needed to do anything further.
“I… I don’t feel well,” she suddenly said, a cold sweat breaking out across her skin, her vision blurring as a fresh wave of nausea struck. She rushed for what she hoped was the kitchen.
She could smell the death in the room although they’d cleaned the place up. She could smell the colognes of the men who’d murdered Ferdinand. The odors were making her gag, bringing back the terror she’d experienced when the one man had come looking for her and she’d barely breathed beneath the bed.
She made it in time to throw up in the sink, as Jake drew close and rubbed her back gently. She noticed the youngest detective watching her, while the other two remained in the living room with Tom and Peter. Had Detective Connelly come to see if she was truly sick or just faking it? Or was he just not as jaded as the older detectives? She halfway suspected he was checking on her to see if she was faking being sick.
Jake got a paper towel and offered it to her. She cupped her hands under the faucet and rinsed out her mouth, not wanting to touch anything else in the condo, although they would have already dusted everything for fingerprints. And yes, had found her prints on the front door. Not that she had been thinking very clearly that night. Not when she had found Massaro dead, was afraid for her own life, and was trying to get over the fact she’d turned into a wolf.
“Are you all right, Miss Greiston?” Detective Connelly asked.
“Yes,” she managed feebly, feeling horrible.
“She’s pregnant with triplets,” Jake explained.
The detective quickly looked at Alicia’s waist, back to her face, and turned pale. He put his hands out and motioned back to the living room. “Please, come in and sit down, if you think you can manage now.”
Jake took her arm and led her back into the room. Once they were in the living area, he let her guide him to where she wanted to sit. When she was seated on a couch at a right angle to the one where Massaro had been murdered, Sanderson sat down only inches from where Massaro had been sitting and said, “Tell us what happened. From the beginning. Don’t leave any detail out.”
“I want a lawyer,” Alicia said, tilting her chin up and staring Sanderson down.
Everyone stared at her in surprise.
“I don’t feel well,” she continued. “I haven’t committed any crime, yet I feel I may be incriminating myself if I don’t have a lawyer present.”
“You’re not a suspect, Miss Greiston. If you have nothing to hide…” Detective Sanderson said, spreading his arms wide as if trying to reassure her that talking to him wouldn’t be a problem.
She shook her head. “I want a lawyer.”
***
Jake could tell something was wrong with Alicia, more than just the pregnancy. He was worried she was fighting shape-shifting again. “Is she free to go until we can get hold of a lawyer?”
Detective Sanderson looked pissed off as he folded his arms. “We need to know what happened. She was in the condo. We have a warrant to get a blood sample from her. We have her prints on the inside doorknob. So what happened when Massaro was murdered? We want to know what she saw or heard, who was here, anything that could help us piece together what happened so we can catch whoever did this.”
“And if she was here? And didn’t report a murder? Then she could be charged with a crime,” Jake said. “Is she free until we can obtain legal representation?”
“She’s not a suspect. Just a person of interest. In fact, we suspect she was a victim, if the bloodstains are hers,” Sanderson insisted. “We know she was here. We know she’s afraid of them. That she was afraid they might learn she was here and would kill her for it. But whatever she can tell us can help us to nail them.”
Jake helped Alicia to her feet. “We’ll be in touch as soon as we get a lawyer.”
“I could hold her for obstructing justice,” Sanderson said, playing hardball.
“She’s sick,” Jake said.
“Pregnant with triplets,” Detective Connelly said urgently, looking as though he was afraid she’d expire on the spot.
Sanderson looked at him as if the guy couldn’t be that naive.
“If she were to miscarry,” Jake said with dark promise, “every media source would hear about it.”
For the longest time, Jake and Sanderson measured each other with steely gazes in a showdown of wills. Then Sanderson said, “All right. Get your lawyer. You’ve got twenty-four hours. Just let us know where you’re staying until then.”
Jake took Alicia’s arm and started to lead her to the door.
“Who’s her doctor, by the way?” Detective Sanderson asked. “Just in case we need to get in touch with him.” He gave a sardonic smile.
“Dr. Weber can fax you a copy of her pregnancy test, if you need it,” Jake said sharply, then walked her out the door as Tom and Peter followed close behind.
“What’s wrong, Alicia?” Jake asked, as he took her out of the building and toward the SUV.
“The smells in there were overwhelming. And the memories. I’m so sorry, but I had to get away. The wolf senses felt as though they were crushing me. I just couldn’t think straight.”
“Sanderson’s a real bastard,” Tom said. “I could smell that Massaro had died on that couch where he was sitting, the location where he had motioned for you to sit initially.”
“Same ploy I would have used as a detective,” Peter said. “Rattle the witness. Secure any kind of statement that would help me to solve my case.”
Alicia cast him an annoyed look, but as green around the gills as she felt, she doubted her look was as annoyed as she wished to appear. “I don’t believe you could be that mean.”
He gave her a small smile. “Only with a nonwolf type who was involved up to her hairline. In your case, no, I wouldn’t have stooped so low. But then, I wouldn’t have needed to.”
She raised her brows at him in question.
“I’m not out to solve this crime for the city of Denver, but to solve this crime so we can go after the killers themselves and stop them from getting to you.”
She sighed and reached over to squeeze his arm. “Thanks, Peter. I didn’t mean to say you were like Sanderson. You’ve been nothing but kind to me.”
“It’s been my pleasure, ma’am.”
“What do we do now?” Tom asked. “We have no idea who might be a wolf lawyer who could represent us the way we need him to.”
Alicia noted that Jake was awfully quiet as he opened the SUV door for her. He cleared his throat. “I know a lawyer.”
Both Tom and Peter looked surprised. Alicia wondered if the man didn’t like newly turned wolves. Why else would Jake seem so reluctant to mention him?
“Who?” Tom asked.
“Sherry Slate.”
The only reason he could be reluctant about mentioning the woman was because she’d meant something to Jake. An awkward silence stretched between them.
Finally, Jake closed the door and looked at Tom, who was staring at him with incredulity. Alicia guessed Jake must have been seeing some women without his family knowing it. Peter looked just as surprised.
When he got in the SUV, Jake said to Tom, “Take us to Hill and Sanders. It’s a law firm.”
Peter set the GPS, and they were off.
Everything was so quiet in the vehicle that Alicia could hear everyone’s heartbeats. She finally took Jake’s arm and draped it over her, snuggling close to him as he tightened his arm around her. If she understood the ways of the werewolves, she knew he couldn’t have been seriously involved with Sherry. They didn’t have any sexual intimacy unless they planned to mate for life. Still, maybe this Sherry had expected something more of the relationship. And now instead of being Alicia’s advocate, Sherry could seal her fate.
But she couldn’t, could she? As werewolves, wouldn’t doing something like that hurt all of their kind?
She relaxed a little as Jake’s hand caressed her shoulder. She didn’t question him about the woman, figuring he didn’t want to talk about her in front of Tom and Peter. But then he must have decided it was more important to get this out in the open before they met with the woman.
“We’ve seen each other a couple of times. Lelandi had talked me into coming here first to drop off some of my photographs at one of the art galleries, as you recall.” He was speaking to Tom and Peter. “Sherry collects modern art. I was here alone, not knowing anyone. She was a wolf.” Jake shrugged. “We had lunch. Took in a movie.”
“Drive-in?” Alicia asked, hating that she sounded so suspicious.
He chuckled. “No. Nothing happened between us. She’s very much in charge and loves her job, her life here in the city, and her pack. She wouldn’t have ever considered moving to a small place like Silver Town. There was never any spark between us. It was just a mutual friendship.”
So why had Jake been reluctant to mention her to anyone?
“She thought it was more than that?” Alicia asked.
“Let’s say she wanted more than that. But her fascination with me was more that I was someone new, an alpha, a challenge. I let her know I wasn’t interested in anything more than friendship. She didn’t like being turned down. I felt it was akin to her losing a case.”
“You don’t happen to know any male attorneys who could help me out, do you?” Alicia asked wistfully.
“She knows her role in our society. Protect the wolf kind. She won’t do anything to get you into any kind of trouble.”
At least not more than Alicia was already. Wait until Sherry Slate learned Alicia was pregnant with Jake’s triplets!
***
As soon as Jake called Sherry, she cleared her schedule for the afternoon, but when he told her what it was about, he could tell she was ready to rethink her afternoon plans.
“She needs your help,” Jake said, pleading. Hell, Sherry was a professional. He wanted to tell her to act like it. “Unless you know another lawyer in the Denver area that might be able to help her.” Like one of Sherry’s partners, if any were werewolf types and had the time.
He swore he could hear Sherry’s spine stiffening. He imagined she did not easily give up difficult cases.
“I’ll speak with her.” Sherry’s tone was clipped.
Jake was afraid Alicia was in for an even rougher time of it. But they didn’t have a whole lot of choice.
When they arrived at the office, Jake assumed from the waiting room that the law firm was doing well. The luxurious seating was on leather couches and chairs, much more ostentatious than at the law offices in Silver Town. A pretty receptionist sat at the counter, with blond hair in curls down to her shoulders and bright green eyes. She smiled at Jake and Tom, raised her brow at Peter, undoubtedly because he was wearing his uniform, and gave a cursory glance in Alicia’s direction.
The first thing Jake noticed about her was her feminine wolf smell. Plus a number of wolf scents had been left in the reception area. Just the place Alicia needed to be, among their own kind where they would protect her with whatever they could.
“You’re here to see Ms. Slate? She’ll be out in just a moment. If you’d like to take a seat…” The receptionist motioned to the chairs.
Jake sat with Alicia on one of the couches while Peter and Tom took seats in nearby chairs. And then they waited. And waited. And waited.
After half an hour, Jake rose and walked over to the counter. “Maybe there’s someone else who has more time and could see us?”
The woman glanced back at the door that led to the offices down the hall. “Let me check with Ms. Slate and see if that’s acceptable.” She punched in some numbers and said, “Ms. Slate, Mr. Jake Silver was asking if it would be much longer.”
He was amused the receptionist didn’t tell Sherry that he would seek another lawyer in her place if she didn’t get her butt in gear.
“I’ll be there,” Sherry snapped over the phone.
Jake was afraid the animosity in her voice spelled more trouble for Alicia.
After a few more minutes, Sherry walked into the reception area, looking professional and long-legged and wearing an expensive-looking black skirt and jacket and black high-heeled shoes. A smile was pasted on her face for Jake. She took hold of his hand and held on as if momentarily claiming him and said, “So good of you to see me again.” Then she glanced at Tom and her smile broadened.
Someone new to switch her attention to?
Her gaze slid to Peter, her smile never changing, and then she shifted her attention to the object of her annoyance, no doubt.
“Miss Greiston, I presume,” Sherry said with chilly politeness, her smile instantly fading. She looked Alicia over as if trying to figure out why Jake had picked her over herself. “Come on back to my office, if you would.”
Jake took Alicia’s ice-cold hand and followed Sherry, who he swore swayed her hips more than she’d done the last couple of times he’d seen her. In fact, his impression of her had always been one of professional detachment, as if she was trying to maintain a businesswoman’s appearance no matter where she was or what she was doing.
In sharp contrast, Alicia wore a robin’s egg blue skirt that softly swirled below her knees with her every step and a matching top of some kind of silky fabric that he enjoyed touching and sliding his fingers over. She wore heels, but not as high as Sherry’s, and they were strappy, sexy, and much more appealing. And while Sherry’s hair was pulled back in a severe twist of curls at the back of her head, Alicia’s softly caressed her shoulders in an inviting way. Sherry was elegant in a professional way, while Alicia was enticing in a feminine way.
When they reached Sherry’s office, she motioned to a chair in front of her desk and Alicia took the seat as Jake sat beside her.
“Well, as you probably know, Jake filled me in on your story. Quite a tale,” Sherry said, with a biting edge to her words as she took a seat behind her desk.
“Your partners in the law firm are wolves,” Jake said. Having smelled several in the reception area, he assumed the law firm was made up of werewolves. But it was also a way of letting Sherry know that if she couldn’t deal with this on a strictly professional basis, he’d look elsewhere for help.
She smiled coyly, immediately getting his drift. “For our friendship, Jake, I won’t charge anything for my services.” She focused again on Alicia. “So exactly how did you get yourself into this mess?” She held a hand up, stopping Alicia before she could say a word. “Tell me from the beginning what happened.”