Tate wanted to jump in and snarl at her in defense of his cousin, but he knew that emotions were running hot, and he’d just end up making things worse.
Aurora turned and swept from the room with an angry, wounded air. Quincy waited until Aurora slammed the door with a loud bang, then turned back to Loch. “Our family has a reputation to uphold, and we do not air our dirty linen in private. While I am concerned, Portia does have…well…a flair for the dramatic would be the best way to put it. She’s actually left home before when things didn’t go her way, and made a big point of turning off her phone and not coming home until she was good and ready. She does it for the attention. We will not be filing a missing persons report on her yet.”
“You’re kidding.” Tate was shocked.
“You don’t know Portia the way we do,” Quincy said loftily. “She will turn up. This is Portia having a temper tantrum, and nothing more.”
“What about her leaving behind her suitcases and not feeding her cat?” Loch asked.
“She is unusually upset, which is not surprising under the circumstances. When she first met you, she immediately began telling everyone that she and you would marry. Portia has always been ardently pursued by men, and she had no reason to believe that you would not want to enter into a marriage agreement with the most prestigious and well-respected pack in North Florida.”
Loch and Tate both let out low growls at that, but Loch didn’t bother to challenge Quincy, and Tate followed his lead. Quincy was known as a braggart and a bully.
“So,” Quincy said, sounding aggrieved, “Portia had every reason to believe that you and she would be married, and she was very humiliated when you—”
Loch let out a louder growl this time, his eyes glowing with anger. Tate knew he’d had enough of the Sinclair family spreading false stories that he’d proposed to Portia and then dumped her for Ginger.
“When you chose not to continue the relationship,” Quincy finished in a sullen tone.
“There was no relationship,” Loch said coldly. “She asked me out on a date, I went out with her twice, while making it very clear that I was not interested in anything permanent.”
Quincy scowled, but Tate doubted he’d say another word. Quincy had pushed Loch as far as he dared.
“We have more information,” Loch continued. “We’ve been told that Meyer Schofield placed a call to someone on Saturday night, threatening to reveal that Portia had broken into the store if the person he was talking to didn’t pay him hush money. Would you happen to know anything about that?”
Quincy’s ears briefly turned pointy and hairy. “I sincerely hope you’re not implying that I or anyone in my family had anything to do with that.”
“I have to ask,” Loch said.
“No, I do not know anything about that.” Quincy pinched out the words. “I will provide you with a list of Portia’s friends and acquaintances, but we’ve already checked with them and she hasn’t been seen or heard from by anyone.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to report her as a missing person?” Loch asked.
“I don’t intend to repeat myself on this matter,” Quincy said in a snippy tone. He turned to go, then paused and glanced at Loch. “If you hear anything about Portia, you will inform me immediately before talking to anyone else.”
“I’m in charge here, Quincy, not you.”
Quincy stood there for a moment, his breathing deep and angry. Tate stood, ready to step in if the Alpha failed to control himself, but Quincy reined himself in. “I will be acting as her attorney in the matter of the tiara, and any other criminal charges.”
“Duly noted,” Loch said. “If we pick her up somewhere, and she chooses to invoke her right to have an attorney present, I’ll call you.”
Quincy left the office without another word.
“Damn, you could have gone a lot more Alpha on him,” Tate said.
“I would have, but I have a feeling that something bad has happened to Portia, so I’m trying to be a little sensitive.”
“A sensitive Alpha? Isn’t that an oxymoron? But yeah, you’re right, I don’t have a good feeling about this. New theory. She broke in to steal the tiara, someone caught her in the act, she attacked the person, and ended up dead.”
“But why wouldn’t the person tell us, in that case?” Loch asked. “The other person could claim self-defense.”
“Maybe, but the Sinclairs are a wealthy and vindictive family, and everyone in the area knows it. They’d harass and terrorize whoever did it, and with Quincy being a lawyer, they could make life miserable for that person.” Tate frowned in thought. “Can you have Ginger go to her house, try to communicate with her, see if she’s dead?”
“Legally, we can’t do that, unless the Sinclairs file a missing persons report. Ginger is certified as an After-Death Communications facilitator. She can testify in court, but only if she follows very specific procedure, unfortunately. We don’t have a body, so we don’t legally have a reason to start the after-death communication process.”