Apparently, Francisco Lopez had offered us some of his guards, but I didn’t feel comfortable with that. I didn’t want to go anywhere without at least one of my alphas, and Nathan kept telling me that was a normal feeling with a brand-new bond although it still made me feel stupid.
There was a chance it wouldn’t ever go away either. I tucked my phone into the back pocket of my jeans and knew that with my personality, it wasn’t likely I’d ever want to be separated from them.
For any reason.
I headed down the stairs and studied the living room, but there were no signs of them just like there hadn’t been this morning either. It was almost dinner and I’d only seen Cas at lunch because they insisted I eat at regular intervals, but Liam hadn’t joined us.
Whatever they thought they could learn from Dane had either been confessed or he wasn’t going to tell us. They needed to be done with this now. I couldn’t stay in this house another day and accomplish nothing when there were other ways to get the information we needed.
Grabbing my shoes from the front door, I slipped on my steel-toed boots and made sure to tie the laces before tucking them in and covering the tops with my jeans. I didn’t want to get them soaked in blood while I was down there and I definitely didn’t want to be barefoot.
I went into the office and through the open Murphy door. This time I didn’t try to sneak down, but I did make sure to stay as silent as possible. I didn’t want one of them rushing up to kick me out before I could say my piece.
Taking the hair tie off my wrist, I pulled my hair up and tied it in a messy bun so there wouldn’t be anything for either of them to tug on. I didn’t want blood getting in my hair either.
Ignoring the monitors displaying all their private surveillance, I was pleased to see the second secret door was open as well. They weren’t trying to hide anything from me anymore or keep me out.
But they weren’t going to like the fact that I was down here either.
I cleared my throat and pushed my shoulders back. “Liam? Could I speak with you for a moment?”
Cas was the first one to come through the door, his blue eyes dark as he glowered at me. “What are you doing down here, Lucy?”
I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms over my chest. “Is your name Liam?”
One side of Cas’s mouth lifted in a hint of a smile and he disappeared for a second before pushing Liam through the door. Once they were in the surveillance room, Cas closed the door behind him and leaned against the metal shelving unit to glare at me.
Liam ran his hand through his hair, smearing blood through it like it was gel. “You know we don’t like you down here, Lucy. What did you need to talk to me about? Is it time-sensitive? Did you find something new?”
I studied my legacy alpha under the harsh fluorescent lights and decided he was too tired to even realize what I was feeling right now, so I stopped burying it all down and let them both feel just how anxious and worried and angry I felt.
Both their eyes widened and I put up a hand to stop their inevitable flood of questions. “Do you have any idea what time it is?”
Liam checked his watch and grimaced. “Lucy, I?—”
“Have you learned anything new in the last five hours, or are you just torturing him because it makes you feel better?”
Cas winced, but his blue eyes sparkled and I could feel his amusement and gratitude through the bond. He didn’t like it when Liam hurt himself either, but the asshole was stubborn and never listened to anyone.
Guess we’d see if he listened to me.
“We were able to confirm all the dates he was with Melinda,” Liam told me. He crossed his arms over his chest, looking more defensive than angry but it was hard to tell when he was still hiding his emotions from me.
“Fantastic. Super important information.” I narrowed my eyes, and Liam shifted his weight ever so slightly like he was nervous. “You do remember that you hired two private investigators, and that you ordered them to stay put while you questioned a potential suspect…right?”
Liam sighed and looked away from me. “What do you want me to do, Lucy? I’m trying to get the confession you need but he won’t budge.”
I reached up and pinched the bridge of my nose, irritated that he was doing all this for me when it wasn’t helping either of us. “Liam…you’re not being a very good assistant right now.”
Cas’s cough sounded suspiciously like a laugh but I didn’t look at him. Not when Liam’s arms dropped to his sides and I finally felt a flicker of his emotions.
Before he could get too depressed, I sighed and refocused on the alpha that would never understand when to quit. It just wasn’t in his nature. He had to win or he’d never stop, so I had to redefine that win for him while getting what I wanted out of this.
“It’s been three days and you’ve gotten everything you could from him, which I appreciate. You did a good job,” I told him, remembering that Frankie had explained once that I had to make sure to compliment people when giving criticism or it wouldn’t work. “But now it’s my turn. Let me and Frankie ask him a few questions before putting him in a holding cell somewhere. There’s nothing more we can get from him, but having access to him as we make more connections will be vital. He just needs to be in a state where he can even answer those questions.”
Cas shut down his emotions again, but I felt his displeasure at the idea of letting me in there. I didn’t care. This was my job. Not his.
“Liam…” I studied him from head to toe, hating how drained he looked. “You need to eat something and get some rest. My questions won’t take long. I’ll talk to him tonight and then tomorrow we’ll go see Melinda. This source has been exhausted but that doesn’t mean you failed. It just means we need more evidence. Okay?”