Harrison narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean when you say the sheriff had little involvement?”
“Sheriff Johnson didn’t hold the boys for more than an hour. He seemed skeptical when he took Andie’s statement, he didn’t do a drug test to corroborate or even dismiss her story, he didn’t take photos of her injuries, and he wouldn’t have even taken my statement to support her story if I hadn’t insisted on it. He was also of no help to her when Brandt and his friends terrorized her, harassing her into altering her statement. Finally, she did.”
“As did you,” Emilio pointed out. “And you say it was to keep your family safe?”
“Brandt and his friends harassed me to change my statement.” She told them how the harassment had begun as pranks and steadily got worse. “Brandt didn’t once plead his innocence to me or insist that I’d seen someone else that night. Brandt confessed that he wasn’t sorry for what he’d done and that, in his view, Andie’s nothing more than an animal.
“After one particular night when Brandt almost assaulted me with a bat, his father showed up at my house and tried to bribe me into changing my statement. Like his son, he’s very much anti-shifter. When I refused, he threatened to make me pay.”
Landon flicked Ezra a brief glance. “And did he?”
“A couple of weeks later, I was attacked by a flock of goshawk shifters.”
From his seat, Ezra snickered. “I don’t associate with shifters. How can I have had anything to do with that attack?”
Parker shot him a hard look. “When I want to hear from you, I will say so.” His eyes returned to Gwen. “Please continue, Miss Miller.”
“They came out of nowhere. Knocked me to the ground. Descended on me. Clawed and bit at me. If it wasn’t for the Mercury wolves, I don’t know if the goshawks would have stopped. I believe Ezra Moore hired them. I’ve heard many goshawk flocks are happy to sell their services.”
Harrison rolled a pen between his fingers. “Yes, that is true.”
“I didn’t just fear for myself, I feared for my family and for the Mercury wolves who were living with us to offer protection. So I altered my statement to keep us safe.”
After a long moment, Harrison said, “You may sit down, Miss Miller.”
Well, thank God for that. Ignoring the glares that she could feel coming from Moore’s side of the gallery, Gwen returned to her seat beside Zander. He kissed her temple and rubbed her nape, and she leaned into the contact, needing it.
Parker looked at Brandt. “Please take a seat over here, Mr. Moore.”
Brandt’s stride was cocky as he made his way to the chair. He didn’t sit on it; he lounged on it like it was a park bench or something.
“Tell us your account of what happened.”
“Me and my friends found the cougar crawling through the marsh on Miller land. We tried to help her, but she seemed confused and scared. Looked at us like we’d been the ones who’d hurt her. When Gwen shot at us, we ran—who wouldn’t when bullets are flying? I’m not saying the cougar was lying when she pointed fingers at me; I think the drugs just muddled up her mind, and she confused me with the person who’d hurt her. I think she later realized she was wrong and that’s why she changed her story. She herself says it wasn’t me. There’s really no reason for this hearing.”
“There is every reason for this hearing,” clipped Parker. “Don’t make the mistake of thinking this operates like a human hearing. If we believe a matter needs exploring, we’ll explore it.”
The door opened, and the beefy-looking guy from earlier crossed to the panel. He whispered something to the council members.
Gwen leaned into Zander. “Did you catch that?” He shook his head.
Once Beefy was gone, Parker spoke again to Brandt, “So, you believe that the cougar was possibly so confused by the drug that she mistakenly blamed you.”
Brandt nodded. “It’s what makes most sense to me.”
Harrison sighed. “I won’t deny it’s possible that Miss Windsor was confused by the drugs, but it wouldn’t account for Miss Miller seeing the accused beating the cougar with a pole. From what I understand, Miss Miller wasn’t drugged.”
“Considering that Miss Miller changes her mind so often and feels it is no problem to do so, I would say it’s obvious that she’s not a credible witness,” said Moira, Brandt’s mother. A harsh look from Parker made her mouth snap shut.
“Mr. Moore, you may return to your seat,” said Parker. “Sheriff Johnson, I would like to hear from you.” Once the human was seated, Parker said, “You questioned Mr. Moore and his friends, but you didn’t feel it necessary to charge them. Why?”
Colt lifted his chin. “There was no evidence that Brandt was the cougar’s attacker.”
“There was a pole, which I’m assuming had fingerprints on it.”
“Brandt admitted to picking up the pole when he found it on the ground, but he maintained that he didn’t strike her with it.”
Emilio’s brow lifted. “And you believed that?”
Colt’s jaw hardened. “Two witnesses upheld that Brandt was not the attacker. The cougar said she’d been drugged, so I couldn’t be sure if her testimony was reliable. It was also very dark out there, so I couldn’t be sure that Gwen truly did see Brandt attacking anyone. The bottom line is, there was no evidence.”
“Did you make any effort to find out who the attacker might be?” asked Parker.
Colt’s mouth opened and closed like a landed fish.
Ezra slowly rose. “May I please speak?”
Parker sighed. “Fine.”
“I know exactly why Miss Miller claims my son was the cougar’s attacker. She is trying to pin the attack on Brandt to get back at him for ending their relationship.”
“What?” Gwen burst out. She looked at Zander. “He can’t be for real.”
Even as a growl of rage built in his throat and his wolf swiped his claws in anger, Zander clasped her nape as he whispered, “Shh. You don’t want the council throwing you out of the room, and you definitely don’t want to give the Moores the satisfaction of seeing you pissed off.”
No, Gwen definitely didn’t want either of those things. Feeling her nails stabbing her palms, she relaxed her clenched hands and took a deep breath.
Ezra continued, “I asked him to end it because, since she is much older than he is, I felt their relationship was quite inappropriate. She is angry with me for that.” Ezra spared her a brief glance. “She claims our family is anti-shifter, but it is in fact she who is prejudiced.”
Landyn slowly lifted a disbelieving brow. “You believe Miss Miller is anti-shifter?”
Ezra jutted out his chin. “I can prove that she has connections to the extremists. Kenny Cogman—a man who we all know is rumored to sponsor extremists—is her biological father.”
Well, shit. Gwen somehow kept her expression blank and held her tongue. Zander went rigid beside her, and a low growl rumbled out of him.