***
When he heard the confession, Aidan stilled. He’d caught up to Jane’s guards and he’d put his hands on their shoulders, stopping them from closing in.
Jane seemed to have the situation well under control. She gets pissed when I keep rushing into her life.
She was already pissed enough. He didn’t want to get even deeper into her bad graces.
Jane’s body was poised to attack. Her gun was held securely in her hand. And her eyes were on the crying man at her feet.
“Looks like she’s got this,” Aidan said to the werewolf guards he’d assigned to Jane. “Go back to the bar. I’ll…linger.” Just to make sure.
Just…because it was Jane.
And because I need to hear what happens next.
The werewolves hurried away. Aidan eased a bit closer to Jane and the human…the sobbing human.
***
“I left him fucking alone,” Travis said, rubbing his hands over his face. “I was his wingman. I was supposed to stay with him. Instead, I hit on some girl I met at the bar, and I never looked back.”
Guilt. Yes, Jane knew it when she heard it.
“He left the bar alone.” Travis pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes. “I did that. If I’d been with him, he wouldn’t have died. No one would have messed with us. Not the two of us. But Thatch was by himself. Easier pickings. And some sonofabitch killed my best friend.”
Jane didn’t lower her weapon, not yet. Her heart ached for the guy, yes, but she wasn’t going to take a chance on being played.
“It’s my fault,” he whispered.
Time to wrap this up. “My name is Jane Hart, and I’m the homicide detective in charge of Alan Thatcher’s case.”
His hands lowered. He blinked up at her.
“I could have told you that sooner, but as soon as you saw my badge, you cut and ran.”
“I-I…I thought you were coming about the weed.” He winced. “I…had some in my apartment. I swear, I was just holding it for a friend, and I—”
“My job is to find the person who killed Alan Thatcher.”
He licked his lips. “You…you have leads?”
Yeah, I’m after a werewolf. Only Aidan has fifty werewolves in the city at last count. “I have leads.”
He pushed himself to his feet. “You—you were going to Hell’s Gate.”
Jane lifted her brows. So?
“That guy who runs the place—shit, I don’t know his name. But the one who has that big, fancy office upstairs…he called me up there, was asking me all kinds of questions about Thatch.” He raked a hand through his hair. “I…know he asked the questions, but I can’t remember exactly what he said.”
Her eyes narrowed. She just bet he couldn’t “remember”—courtesy of Aidan. “You had a lot to drink tonight,” she murmured. “That’s obvious by the smell.”
“Thought it would make…him being gone easier.”
“Nothing makes it easier to deal with the dead.” No, that wasn’t true. Giving them justice—that made things a little easier. “Let me call you a cab. Get you home safe.”
“No.” He shook his head. Weaved. “I’m walking. Clear my…clear my fucking head that way.”
Fine. She handed him her card. “When you’re sober, we’ll talk more. I need to know if you saw anyone suspicious around Thatch last night. I need to know why he was heading up to Aidan’s office at Hell’s Gate.”
“Can tell you now…” His hand fisted around her card. “Didn’t see anyone. Fucking terrible wingman. And don’t know any Aidan…”
Yeah, he did. “He’s got the fancy office.”
Travis just frowned harder at her. “What?”
He is no help to me now. She needed a sober chat with Travis, not this drunken insanity. “Are you sure you don’t want that cab?”
But he’d already started to stumble away. Jane watched him, her body tense, until he vanished around the side of a nearby building. Then she put her gun back in the holster, she straightened her jacket, and she turned to face the dark shadows. “Are you going to keep skulking all night or are you coming out, Aidan?”
Silence. She tapped her foot. Seriously? What was he waiting for? Christmas wasn’t coming soon.
He stalked out—looking all menacing and strong and dangerous. Typical Aidan.
“How did you know I was there?”
She rolled her eyes. “Because I saw you on the balcony at Hell’s Gate. And I know you. When I gave chase after Travis, it didn’t take a huge leap of logic to realize you’d be right behind me.”
“Because I have your back.” He took a few more slow steps toward her.
“Because you’re a semi-stalker.”
He stopped. “I’m…not. I wanted you safe.”
“And I’ve got a gun with wooden bullets in it to stop vamps and a silver knife strapped to not one, but two ankles tonight. I am safe.” She put her hands on her hips. “You used your power on that guy, didn’t you?”
“I wanted answers, same as you.”
“Did you get those answers?”