Dex was right about that. They didn’t know a whole lot about what Austen did working for TIN, but Sloane had watched the kid grow up. Austen wouldn’t deceive him.
This conversation was far from over, but Sloane knew when it was time to move on. For now. He returned to his chair and took Dex’s hand again. “Okay, what about your parents?”
Dex frowned. “I don’t think I want to talk about that.”
“Hey, look at me.” Sloane opened his stance so he could pull Dex’s chair closer to him. He reached out and cupped Dex’s face. They’d reached the source of his partner’s true pain. It wasn’t just Wolf; it wasn’t whatever was happening inside Dex. It was about his parents.
“I know it’s stupid. They died when I was five. I mourned their death. I moved on. And it’s not even finding out they were killed. Deep down, I knew that. I knew something wasn’t right. Kids pick up on a lot of things, more than adults realize. Yet despite all that, I told myself they were ordinary people leading ordinary lives who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Dex’s eyes grew glassy. He pushed away from Sloane and stood, pacing the office.
“What are you afraid of?” Sloane asked gently.
Dex worried his bottom lip with his teeth. His brows furrowed, and he rubbed at his eyes. He turned to face Sloane, and Sloane could see how hard he was fighting his emotions.
“What if they weren’t the people I thought they were? My dad was my hero. My mom, she was….” A tear rolled down his cheek, and he quickly brushed it aside. “What if everything I remember about them is a lie? What if it was all bullshit?”
“Dex….”
“I’ve been thinking a lot about this. About TIN, Shultzon, my joining the THIRDS when I did. Don’t you think it’s all a little suspect?”
Sloane stared at him. “What are you talking about?”
“It’s like everything I’ve done has led me here to this moment, to these exact events. I can’t explain it, but I feel like there’s something bigger going on. My first case with the THIRDS concerned Pearce, who happened to lead us to Shultzon, who ran the First Gen Research Facility where you grew up, and for some reason Shultzon deemed my parents enough of a threat to have them killed. My mom had some kind of file that no one seems to know anything about. What if everything is somehow connected?”
“What if it is?” Sloane asked, standing. He walked over to Dex and pulled him close. “That’s not going to mean your parents loved you any less. From what I’ve heard about them from you, from Maddock, they adored you, Dex. Whatever happened to them, whatever the reason behind their deaths, you were their son, and they loved you.”
Dex closed his eyes and nodded, allowing Sloane to pull him into his arms. Sloane held him, offering comfort. Family was important to Dex. It was the one thing he felt the strongest about. His family meant everything to him. It drove him.
“You’re afraid to find out the truth. Afraid of what it might mean for you now.” Sloane pulled back enough to plant a kiss on Dex’s cheek. “Listen to me. Whatever you find out, it won’t change how they loved you. It won’t change the amazing man you are, and it certainly won’t change how much I, Tony, or Cael love you. We’re your family, Dex, and we’ll be here to face whatever comes our way, right at your side. You’re the bravest man I know. You can do this.”
Dex nodded, a small smile coming onto his face. “You’re right.”
“Of course I am. I’m always right, remember?”
Dex laughed, and Sloane brushed his thumb across his cheek before kissing his lips. It was a sweet, tender kiss, one he wished could go on for much longer. When he pulled away, his heart swelled at the vibrant light in those amazing eyes.
“There you are.”
Dex smiled warmly, causing little wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. “Hi.”
As much as Sloane wished they could stay like this all day, they had to get back to work. As if sensing his thoughts, Dex nodded toward the door.
“It’s okay. Duty calls. I’m good. Promise.”
“If at any point you’re not, you tell me, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Dex resumed his seat behind his desk, and Sloane took their office off privacy mode. He’d wheeled his chair back to his desk when Maddock’s voice came over his earpiece.
“Sloane?”
“Yes, Sarge.”
“Reynolds is ready for you. Interrogation room A7. Send Dex down to Hudson’s lab. He has some results for us.”
“Copy that. On my way. I’ll relay the information to Dex.” He disconnected with Maddock and motioned toward the door. “Reynolds is ready for questioning. Hudson’s got some results for us. Sarge wants you to pick it up from the lab.”
Dex gave him a nod, and Sloane left their office to head to the elevator. The interrogation rooms were on the first floor near processing. Cael and Rosa were out questioning the Reynoldses’ coworkers, friends, and family. The information would appear on the file as they filed it. By now Sloane should have a better idea about the kind of man Dylan Reynolds was and what might prompt him to kill his wife in such a brutal manner.
Reaching the assigned interrogation room, Sloane nodded to the two Defense agents from Unit Beta keeping guard on either side before he went into the room. Dylan Reynolds looked like he was barely holding it together. Sloane took a seat across from him. It was hard for Sloane to picture the man as a murderer, seeing him looking so shattered. He’d clearly been crying. His nose was red, his face flushed, his eyes bloodshot and puffy.
“Dylan, my name is Sloane Brodie. I’m the Team Leader for Destructive Delta, the team that brought you in. I’d like to ask you a few questions.”
“I didn’t kill her,” Dylan murmured. He appeared dazed, his head lowered and his gaze on nothing in particular.
“Why don’t you tell me what happened?” Sloane drew his tablet out from his tac pants, logged in, and brought up the case file, along with Dylan’s personal file and his wife’s. Dylan was a college graduate. He studied architecture, had a good job, excellent salary, and no debt. His parents lived in Philly, wife’s parents lived in Virginia. On screen they looked like any other couple.
“I already told those other four or five agents. I didn’t kill my wife.”
“I want to help you, Dylan, but I need you to tell me what happened.” Sloane tapped the screen, placed the tablet on the table, and tapped Record. “From the beginning.”
Dylan let out a heavy sigh. “Around noon, Alicia sent me a text saying she wasn’t going to yoga because she wasn’t feeling well. I was worried. I called her up to see how she was and if she wanted me to bring her something on my way home from work. She didn’t answer. I tried texting, calling, e-mailing, everything. I started to panic. Something was wrong. I could feel it.”
Sloane frowned. “How?”
“I just knew. It was like this ache deep in my soul. It got worse and worse until I felt like it was trying to tear me apart from the inside out. And after the seizure she had a couple of weeks before, I was terrified she was about to have another episode.”
Sloane’s head shot up. “Seizure?”
Dylan nodded. “Yes. A few weeks ago, she suffered a seizure with convulsions. I’d never been so scared in my life. I called 911, and they rushed her to the hospital. The doctors ran all kinds of tests but said the results might take some time.”
Was it possible? Sloane pushed back the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. “Dylan, did you mark your wife? Were you two bonded?”
Dylan swallowed hard before nodding. “A few months ago. On our honeymoon. I was afraid to. I didn’t want to hurt her, but she wanted to so bad. I wanted it too.” He looked up at Sloane, the agony in his green eyes hard to ignore. “I would have given my life for her, Agent Brodie. She was everything to me. My whole life.” His bottom lip trembled, and a tear rolled down his cheek.
Sloane brought up his interoffice messenger and sent a message to Hudson asking him to request Alicia Reynolds’s test results for the seizure she had a few weeks ago. Hudson replied with an acknowledgment. Maybe it was just a coincidence. Except Sloane had a hard time believing in coincidences lately. Alicia Reynolds was a Human, marked and bonded by her Therian husband. Not long after being marked, she had a seizure. Why? What the hell happened? Then there was the fact that Dylan had supposedly mauled his wife to death.
Either Dylan Reynolds was an exceptional actor, or something wasn’t right. Could someone who’d marked their mate truly murder them? There were times when Sloane feared he’d lose control, but his fear came with the possibility of hurting someone else, never Dex. Sloane would turn his claws on himself before he hurt Dex. The thought startled him, and he was grateful for the knock that jolted him out of his thoughts.
Dex walked in, his expression stoic as he leaned to whisper in Sloane’s ear.
Alicia Reynolds had been pregnant.
Sloane closed his eyes for a moment, getting his bearings before nodding to Dex.
“Thanks.”
Dex nodded. He turned to leave when Dylan sniffed the air. His gaze darted to Dex as he left the room before Dylan turned his wide eyes back to Sloane. He leaned forward, his voice quiet.
“Tell me, Agent Brodie. Would you ever hurt him?”
Sloane cleared his throat and tapped away at his tablet. “You said something was wrong with your wife. What happened then?”
“You’d sooner die than hurt him, wouldn’t you? The thought of him in pain tears at your heart, like your feral half is sinking its claws into you, as if it would rather destroy you than physically harm him.”
“Dylan,” Sloane insisted. “What happened next?”
Dylan pressed his lips together before letting out a heart-wrenching sigh. “I left work early. When I got home, her car was parked out front, and everything looked normal. The door was locked, windows closed. The moment I stepped foot inside the house I tore at my clothes. I couldn’t… I couldn’t control my Therian half. I went feral.”
“What did you see?”
“It wasn’t what I saw, Agent Brodie. It was what I smelled. Alicia’s blood. So much blood. Enough for my feral half to know she was dead, but my Human side refused to believe it. My vision grew sharp, and I tried to fight it, but when I entered the kitchen and saw the trail of blood, I… I shifted. I followed the blood and found—”
Dylan broke down, tears streaming down his cheeks. Sloane swallowed hard, feeling a lump in his throat. Could Dylan be telling the truth? The guy was distraught, on the verge of losing his grasp on the fine thread of his sanity. It was either the greatest performance Sloane had ever seen, or Dylan Reynolds was telling the truth, which then brought up the question. If Dylan didn’t kill his wife, who did? And why were they trying to frame Dylan?
Once Dylan got a hold of himself enough to speak, he continued. “I found what was left of her in the living room. For a split second, I considered joining her.” He looked up at Sloane. “You have no idea what the loss feels like, and I hope you never find out, Agent Brodie.”
Sloane couldn’t bring himself to respond, so he continued. “Then what happened?”
“I lost track of time. I was numb. At a loss. In my Felid state, I couldn’t think of what to do, so I just stood there, over her, wailing like the wounded animal I was.”
“Do you know of any Therians who might have wanted to hurt your wife?”
Dylan shook his head. “Everyone loved Alicia. She was the sweetest, kindest person. She was a therapist, working with Therian children down at the hospital. Those kids loved her.” He shut his eyes tight and wiped at his nose. “They’re going to be devastated.”
“Was she having an affair?”
Dylan looked offended by the question. “Of course not. We were just married. We wanted to start a family. She asked me to mark her. You all of all people should know that’s not something that’s taken lightly.”
“Were you having an affair?”
“No,” Dylan replied through his teeth. “How could you ask me that?”
“I’m sorry, Dylan, but I have to ask these questions. I need to understand why—”
“Why I would kill her? I
didn’t
kill her!”
Sloane asked a few more questions, satisfied with the answers. He told Dylan what would happen next, but Dylan didn’t seem to care. He was only half of a whole now. Sloane made to get up when Dylan threw a hand out.
“Agent Brodie, please find out who killed my wife. I don’t care what happens to me, but I need to know. I need to know who would do this to her. To us.”
Sloane swallowed hard and nodded. “Your lawyer will keep you informed. I’ll do my best, Dylan.”
Dylan nodded before he dropped his face into his hands and cried. It was hard. Sloane hadn’t had a case this bad in a while. He left the room and went into the observation room next door, where Maddock sat, his jaw clenched tight.
“You think he’s innocent.”
“I think there’s some credit to his story.”
“Dental records identify the victim is indeed Alicia Reynolds. She was five weeks pregnant. Dylan’s blood, fur, and saliva has been found on the body. A claw analysis shows Dylan’s claws are a match for the tears in the skin.” Maddock continued to scroll through the information on his tablet, including new evidence recently added by the forensics team. “Although his employer confirms the time Dylan left work, and phone records show he spoke to his wife minutes before, no one saw him go into the house. Hudson puts the time of death at roughly half an hour before we arrived.”
Maddock looked up at Sloane, his dark eyes searching for something. Sloane had no idea what.
“It doesn’t look good.”
There had to be more. “Why would he have stayed? Why not run?”
“Maybe he only realized what he’d done when she was dead. It could have been an accident, and he’s trying to cover it up. It wouldn’t be the first time, Sloane.”
“What’s the motive?” Sloane looked through the information himself. “Everyone who was questioned by Recon said the same thing. He was a good man who loved her with all his heart. They never fought. No marital problems that anyone knew of.” Sloane met Maddock’s gaze. “She was pregnant with his child and either didn’t know or was waiting to tell him. There’s no motive.”
“Yet. Do you really believe he’s innocent? Or do you want to believe there’s no way a Therian can harm his marked mate?”