“Do you know where he worked?” Braxton turned his full attention to the bartender.
“Yeah, he worked for that builder that’s been putting up those cheap hotels around here. Bigsby is his name.”
“Did he start some trouble in here?” Damon pushed his shot glass to the bartender and was quickly given a refill.
“He tried hitting on the females and they didn’t exactly like it. After that he stayed to his own kind, the low-life human bars.”
Damon snickered.
Braxton scratched his cheek with his middle finger. He judged people by their own actions. Not on what race they were.
“Easy.” Damon chuckled. “I’m sure Kate’s different.”
“Kate? You talking about Kate Wolph?” The bartender gave him an astonished look.
Braxton growled and jealousy tightened his chest. “How do you know her?”
The bartender, sensing Braxton’s anger, held his hands up and fought a grin. “We went to the same school together. “
Braxton narrowed his eyes. “You two ever date?”
“Nah. Kate was too good for me. Besides, she was always too busy helping her mom out at the bed and breakfast to date anyone.”
A tiny pain zinged to his gut. It sounded like Kate didn’t have much time for fun growing up. He could understand that. He’d spent most of his youth trying to either avoid his dad’s drunken wrath or protect his mom.
“What the hell?” Damon glared at the back of the bar. The rising sound of angry voices had Braxton bristling, ready to fight. The bartender grabbed a baseball bat from under the bar.
“Look, man, I can’t help it if the lady can’t keep her hands off me.” A blonde-haired Were grinned at a bunch of rough-looking locals, while a pretty little brunette clung to his muscled arm.
“What the fuck? Jayden?” Damon yelled across the bar. Jayden looked up from his seat.
The bartender scowled at Braxton. “You two know him?”
“Yeah. “ Damon rubbed his hand down his face as Jayden made his way over with the female hanging off him like a vine, refusing to let go. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Jayden gave the female a panty-dropping grin and unwound himself from her. “Braxton said he needed some intel.” Jayden jerked a thumb in Braxton’s direction.
Braxton grinned and shook Jayden’s hand. “Thanks for coming, man. I have to say you look a lot better than the last time I saw you.” The last time he’d seen Jayden, the Were had just been rescued by the unlikely duo of Ava and Granny. A pack of rogue Weres had kidnapped Jayden when he’d gotten too close to discovering the female they’d kidnapped and planned on using as a sex slave. The rogue pack had beaten Jayden with a baseball bat until he looked like hamburger meat.
Jayden shrugged. “Quick healer.” He raised his eyebrows at Damon. “Didn’t know you were here, brother.”
Though not brothers by blood, Jayden and Damon had both been raised by Granny.
“Barrett sent me to get Braxton.”
Jayden snorted. “Looks to me that Braxton’s too damn big to be fetched up for Barrett.”
“I get all the shitty jobs.” Damon narrowed his eyes.
Jayden laughed. “Well, you did luck out when you got Ava.”
Damon grinned, his white teeth flashing against his five o’clock shadow. “Yeah, I did.”
Braxton had learned that Damon had been sent out on a mission to rescue Ava from a pack of rogue wolves. The two had spent a lot of time in close quarters and one thing led to another.
The image of Kate naked and under him flashed through Braxton’s mind. It made his chest ache as he wondered what it would be like to be mated to your one and only lover.
Braxton shook his head to clear his thoughts. “Do you have some information for me?”
“Well, after you escaped the cops…”
“Fuck. You didn’t tell me the cops arrested you,” Damon growled at Braxton.
“I thought you knew. Didn’t Barrett tell you?”
“He told me that the Assassins were after you. Nothing about the cops.”
Braxton shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. Get back to what you were saying, Jayden.”
“The cops found the murder weapon.” Jayden leaned in closer and lowered his voice. “It was thrown in the culvert outside the driveway.”
Braxton couldn’t breathe. “What was it? A knife?”
“No. A hammer.”
“Damn,” Damon breathed out. “Takes a lot of anger to beat someone to death with a hammer.”
“That’s not all.” Jayden leaned closer. “His neck was slit with the claw of the hammer. Apparently they knew he was a Were and wanted to make sure he was dead.”
Braxton’s stomach lurched. What a fucking way to go.
“Wouldn’t one of the neighbors have heard someone being beaten with a hammer?” Damon glared at Braxton.
“They did. The neighbors called me thinking it was my dad beating my mom. Again.” Braxton gritted his teeth. “That’s why I went over there.”
Damon gave him an understanding nod. “And that’s how the cops assumed you were guilty.”