“Yeah.” He shrugged. “I don’t know. Just that she couldn’t get a track on it. Kanon and I, we wanted to be the ones to tell Caro... So Lennox took us.”
“She was there when you found Carolyn Hale?”
He gave another nod. “We weren’t even allowed in the house. The moment we got there you could smell it.”
Tegan dropped his head to the cool table, suddenly sick. Damn.
“And if I say I don’t believe you?”
Before he could even think of how to respond to that a knock sounded at the door. Bree made a frustrated sound at the back of her throat, but she left him to go answer it. Tegan rolled his head to see who was standing outside. Brandt...and Walker.
He buried his face back against the table. At least Walker Hennessy could confirm part of his story. The door clicked shut, leaving Tegan alone in the room. It should have been a relief, except all he could see was Tristan and Caro, each brutally slashed open. Kanon’s name written in blood.
The cool metal against his forehead didn’t even begin to ease the swirling nausea in his gut. Lennox could be dead now too. Slashed open. Brutalized. With a ragged sigh, Tegan pulled himself up, leaning back against his arms, the knot in his shoulders tightening. He reveled in the pings of pain racing up and down his arms. His fingers were beginning to go numb.
The door swung open again, revealing Bree. She looked calmer. She shut the door behind her, but this time she didn’t lean against it, or stand towering over him. Instead, she shoved a hand through her hair, raking fingers through the long red strands and then moved up behind him.
“Lean forward and I’ll undo the cuffs. Then, me and you, we have some talking to do.”
The moment the silver was away from his skin, Tegan let out a relieved breath, it hissing between his teeth. He rubbed the red marks over his skin and watched as Bree took the seat across from him, bracing her elbows against the table so she could look at him.
“That was Walker Hennessy; he’s from the Shifter Town Enforcement in Utah. You know him?”
Tegan nodded. “He was the one who let Lennox in on the case.”
The muscle in her jaw jumped. The first sign that she was still angry since she’d come back in. Instantly, Tegan felt his whole body go on alert. “He confirms your story. Lennox looked like she was there willingly. If anything, she seemed to have control of the both of you.”
Tegan forced a wry smile to his lips. “Do you really think we could boss her around?”
That earned him a soft crinkling of the skin around her eyes. “He also says that Lennox was lying to him at the second crime scene.”
Every muscle in Tegan’s body went utterly still. That had to be what Walker had found, had to be why Lennox had made them come back, but she hadn’t seen anything. She must have messed up...shit.
Bree leaned closer to him, her gaze level. “Be straight with me, Tegan. All the way. What happened in Utah? What made you flee?”
Yeah. Easier said than done. Tegan pursed his lips and looked at her. She wasn’t the vibrating, raging Hound she’d been when she’d left the room a second ago. She was angry, but willing to listen. He blew out a small breath and inclined his head slightly.
“First. Let me say a few things.”
Her eyes narrowed but she didn’t stop him.
“One. Lennox, hell.” He glanced at the ceiling, trying to find the words. “She’s not the kind of woman you can force. Kanon and I, we never once forced her. We
asked
her for help that first night.”
“What are you getting at?”
“The second murder... Caro’s. She let us in the house.” He turned back to Bree and she’d gone very still. That obviously wasn’t what Walker had shared with her. Whoops. Still, straight with her all the way. “You have to understand, we were there with her the night they were murdered. The whole night. When we left Metro after she met with the witnesses, we were with her. Ask Hennessy if you don’t believe me, but we ended up in a drunken puppy pile on the bed. That’s how we got to the first scene.”
He leveled her a look and she nodded. She didn’t look happy, especially not at the part about a ‘drunken puppy pile’ but she let him continue. “Hennessy let her bring us along to when Hennessy asked her to have a look at Tristan’s... The scenes were…”
“Walker filled me in. Someone was magickally wiping them. A lion-shifter alone lacks magick. Even the average Hound lacks the power to do that kind of wipe. But witches can be hired. There are plenty out there willing to work magick for some side cash.”
“They murders were also staged. Caro had written Kanon’s name in blood.”
Bree’s eyes narrowed but Tegan shook his head, hurrying on before she could interrupt him. Hell, before she could shoot him. “Lennox wiped it. Altered the scene, erased our presence.”
He waited for the snap and snarl, the instant denial. Instead, Bree gave a slow nod, not quite happy, but not surprised either.
“That at least fits Walker’s testimony. He said there were places outside that smelled like you’d been there a lot longer than the rest of the place did. He felt she was messing with his crime scenes.”
“She was protecting Kanon. We’d been with her. She knew he didn’t do it. Then, we went to Aiby’s and she parked us down the street and this time she really didn’t let us in the house. We weren’t even allowed out of the car. Didn’t matter. Aiby was dead too.”
“There was no sign of Lennox there, but go on. She was a good enough Hound to hide her trail.”
“Is.” Tegan’s jaw flexed. She wasn’t dead yet.
“Excuse me?”
“Lennox
is
a good enough Hound. You have no proof that she’s dead.”
Bree gave a small jerk of her head, the corner of her lips twitching in the hint of a smile. “Fine. Go on.”
Tegan lifted his shoulders in a small shrug. “We bailed. Stayed with Mel for the past few weeks. Everything was fine until...”
“The kids. Yeah.” Bree scrubbed a hand over her face, a heavy sigh slipping from her.
Tegan could sympathize. “She went to investigate, check it out. See if this time, the killer had left a trail. She didn’t come back and then we had Hounds at our door.”
He tilted his head towards the building surrounding him. She knew the rest. Bree nodded, her whole face suddenly tired. “We got an anonymous tip. Or well, Brandt did.”
Her breath rushed out of her nose in a sharp burst. Frustrated. The killer most likely then, Tegan decided. How the bastard had found them, he had no flipping clue, but it was obvious they’d been made.
He glanced up at the Hound in front of him. Her shoulders hunched, frustration and sadness plastered over her face. She looked like a beaten dog, which might not have been that far from the truth. “So we have a psycho madman on the loose, though we have a few suspects and profiles, a Hound who won’t check in and is quite possibly in danger and...” She shook her head.
Tegan sank forward a notch, angling his head so he could catch her gaze. “Lennox, she was only ever trying to find the truth.”
“And obviously she didn’t think she could come to me.” Bree braced both hands on the table and started to rise, but Tegan shook his head.
“She was sleeping with
lions.
Well not then, not really, but she was definitely helping us. I think she kept hoping she could get everything back under control first...then, at Mel’s when everything was so quiet, we were just enjoying ourselves. Enjoying the peace.”
Bree met his gaze and held it. “Several of the ridgebacks out there think you raped her. A ridgeback wouldn’t sleep with a lion.”
Tegan felt his eyes go hard the moment the words had left her lips. “And you show you don’t know her at all, if you think for a second—”
She held up a hand. “She’d have gutted you. And for the record, so far, you and your partner have handled yourself with grace, manners, and compliance. A first for your kind as far as I’m concerned.”
“I love her. Kanon does too.”
Bree gave him a grim smile. “The sad part? I think I believe you. About all of this. Even about loving her. Now, let’s go grab your partner.”
What she didn’t say, but it still hung heavy in the air between them as Tegan followed her out, was that they still had a killer on the loose and no one knew who it was. Except for maybe Lennox.
And she wasn’t here to help them.
***
Lennox stiffened, her whole body tensing for a fight. Soft footfalls sounded over the wood, no doubt Torres, with the little girl scuffling her feet behind him as he lugged her forward. Another foot closer, then two. If she leapt now she might have a chance at shoving the child away. Lennox took a deep breath through her nose and waited.
“You little bitch,” Torres said, still coming closer. She could feel the anger pouring out of him. The floorboards creaked as his weight shifted forward, leaning down to talk right in her face.
It was as good as it was going to get.
Lennox launched herself forward and upwards. She yanked the blindfold up over her head just as she connected with his midsection. Torres gave a low, pained grunt. The little girl screamed, but Lennox caught her arm and wrenched her away, sending the child stumbling out into the barn. Torres hit the ground and rolled, his legs scissoring around her waist and sending her spiraling through the air.
Lennox hit the ground and rolled, catching herself before she hit the far wall. She was on her feet again before she could take a breath. Torres stood not too far off, his body tense, ready.
“Uncle Rulon,” a little voice cried in the background and Lennox stepped towards it, trying to put herself between the child and Torres. The other Hound snarled, his lips curling back to reveal blunt human teeth.
He looked tired, haggard. There were dark bags under his eyes, he’d lost weight. Gaunt hollows marred his cheeks, the thick, stocky build ridgebacks were known for—both in human and dog form—had turned wiry. His lean muscle mass had begun to fade. Lennox raked her gaze over him in a fast pull, tracking every weakness she could wrap her mind around.
The Torres before he’d lost it, he’d have kicked her ass without trying. He
had
on more than one occasion. Both in the training rings and after missteps on the job. He was a ruthless fighter, perfectly in control. The man standing in front of her now had lost a lot of ground. He lacked the extra weight and bulk, he moved slower. Lennox remembered the amount of magick she’d used covering her tracks at the crime scenes, covering for Kanon.
Torres had used a heck of a lot more and judging by Rulon, the dead kids, and now a lioness and a cub...he had to be running low on reserves. Torres flashed her a grim smile in the dim light of the barn, his wild eyes still sharp. “Don’t get cocky, Lennox. I can still beat you.”
She tilted her head. “Maybe. Maybe not.”
“Sawyer,” Rulon called out behind her, his voice raw.
The rot of silver clung to the air, making it hard to breathe. Her shoulders ached from being tied down all day. She wasn’t exactly coming fresh to the fight. Lennox licked her lips. She needed to get them out of here, just in case.
“Sawyer,” Rulon called again, somewhere behind her. She needed to look. To wake the damn lioness up and get them all running. But Lennox didn’t dare take her eyes of Torres.
Torres smiled. He knew.
“Rulon,” Lennox said, her gaze not once leaving Torres. “They need to go. Now.”
A growl snaked through the room, low and long. Furious. Torres hunched his shoulders and took a step towards her, like a dog stalking low in the grass. Lennox stiffened. “Any time now, Rulon.”
“Tilly, get your Aunt Sawyer. Go wake her up.”
The girl gave a small hiccupping sob behind her, but Lennox heard her move. Torres started for her and Lennox moved to keep herself between the lions behind her, and the Hound in front of her. “Gotta fight me first, Torres.”
He jerked to a stop, his body drawn straight and tall. The man that looked down at her had been her boss for years. She’d taken orders from him without ever once questioning the reasoning behind it. His gaze fixed on hers and she felt the stirring of magick rise through him, his Hound coming to the fore. Lennox pulled back a step, fear trickling down her spine like hackles.
The bastard would
not
pull rank here.
Shoulders bunched, Torres took a step towards her, his gaze locked on hers. “Back off.”
She felt the magick behind those words down to her gut, and the Hound staring back out at her was someone she trusted. Respected. Lennox swayed under the impact, but she didn’t move. Instead, she blew out a hard breath and roused the magick deep inside her. Her dog came willingly, confident.
“You’re not as good as me.”
“Maybe not. But I haven’t been running around the past few days killing people and covering my tracks.”
“I did it because of
them!”
He lashed out in the direction of the lions behind her.
The girl gave a startled whimper. “Aunt Sawyer, you gotta wake up. Please.”
She sounded so frail, frantic, behind Lennox, and when Torres took another step towards her, Lennox moved into him. She’d meet the son of a bitch half way if she had to, but he was not getting anywhere near those lions.