Page 56 of Bitter Discord

“Bethany sent me everything the BSA had from last night, including a recording and transcript of the anonymous call made to report the body.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them again, her eyes were gold. “Heath,hewas the one who made the call.”

He didn’t know how to approach that information. Didn’t want to. If things could go from bad to worse, that was certainly the thing that could do it. Until this point, he didn’t know if Arlo and the dead werecat had even run into each other.

“What else?” he asked, the words rough.

“Based on the timing, the warmth of the body and all that… he has to at least be a witness. He was there or right behind it. I can… Let’s listen to the recording before going down there. After this, I’m going to head home with you to see if I can figure anything out. It is my territory.”

“Definitely,” he agreed. She took his hand and started leading him into the mansion. He needed something else to talk about besides Arlo… anything but Arlo. He wasn’t sure how to process what she’d said, so he found something else. “You met me outside to stop something from happening, didn’t you?”

“I figured it would stop two strange things from possibly happening. You could have walked in without knocking, which I wouldn’t mind, but a werecat could have thought it was too familiar. Leaving you outside to knock like a guest felt wrong, too,” she said with a weary sigh. He reached for the front door, but Landon beat him, opening it. “Zuri is interrogating a werecat named Abraham right now. He’s the third one. Once they’re done, we’ll meet them in the basement. She doesn’t want me down there with the others without her, not right now.”

Heath resisted the urge to ask how the last two days had gone, who everyone was, and how she felt about them. He wanted to know how she was doing and who he was about to deal with. He wanted to know everything, but couldn’t ask because it would look terrible for her if she answered.

“They now know she’s a witch. They learned that yesterday, and it’s kept them from outright disobeying us, but she’s a witch, not me. So, I don’t go down there without her, not since they learned what happened,” Jacky explained, leading them into an office close to the front door. Heath knew it was Shamus’s old office, and before Shamus, it had been Tywin’s as his own third. The mansion had history, not too much, but enough to bother Heath today. Once she closed them in, Heath knew it was time to ask about Arlo.

“Can I listen to his call?” Heath asked, seeing everything she had on the desk. “You were putting together a timeline, huh?”

“Zuri needed it for when she questioned the werecats. Here…” Jacky put her phone down on the desk and turned up the volume. Landon moved to stand across from him, his eyes going wide as they both heard Arlo tell someone where to find a werecat body.

“He’s terrified,” Landon said softly, leaning in. “Pa…”

“I know.” That much was certain. “Heat-of-the-moment violence instead of the scared regret of a teenager? Or something worse?”

“Could be either,” Landon said, shrugging, but Heath was glad to know his son was as disturbed as he was by the recording.

“I think he was kidnapped and is being used to implicate the pack and make everyone look bad,” Jacky said, her back turned on them. “Who and where they are, I couldn’t begin to guess. How they picked Arlo to kidnap, I have no idea.”

“I do,” Heath said softly, the pieces easily falling into place for him. “Say… someone knows about this gathering and where it will be located. They’re planning something. They watch the premises, learning the ins and outs. They want to cause you problems, so they’ll be watchful, hoping for the right pieces to reveal themselves as they make their plan.

“I handed them Teagan, Benjamin, and Arlo on a silver platter by sending them here. Shamus would be too dominant and strong to be an easy mark, which protects his adult children as well. A Beta like Teagan has a softer scent and clearly isn’t aggressive. A couple of teenage boys, though… a lot of possible reckless behavior.”

“I would have known if someone came on this property between their visit and Zuri coming here with me,” Jacky said, shaking her head.

“Whoever it is wouldn’t have needed to come into the building or even on the property, Jacky.” Heath frowned at her; she knew that. There were plenty of ways to catch the scent of someone without leaving behind your own. “They clearly know how we work, specifically us and moon cursed in general.”

“It’s another moon cursed, doesn’t matter which kind,” Landon said, his nostrils flaring in anger. “Knew to be off-property and downwind. While others might know that, in theory, we’re effective because we know exactly how far a good scent can carry on the breeze. This was another moon cursed. A witch would have left magical evidence, though… we can ask your sister to look into that.”

“We found no evidence of magic at the murder scene, but we know what that could mean,” Jacky said, audibly swallowing. “Nothing to indicate how the murderer left no scent. It fits with how Arlo disappeared. You say his trail just ended, then went cold.”

“Yeah,” Heath confirmed. “So, we have a moon cursed with a way to cover their entire scent. A Talent.”

“Or other magic,” Jacky countered. “Remember, we have witches able to cover the scent of their spells. That fucking family sold that information to other people. If they can cover the scent of magic, why wouldn’t they know how to hide their own?”

He hated how tired she sounded. He wanted to resolve this if only to make sure she got a good night’s rest.

“Fair point,” Landon agreed, shrugging. “Pa, does Teagan have access to track Arlo’s phone?”

“I don’t know. Text him and see. If he does, get him on it. It’ll help him feel better. He’s been scattered and worried all morning. He’s not thinking as clearly as he could be.” As Landon nodded and pulled out his phone, Heath looked at Jacky, but she seemed lost in thought. “Jacky?”

She suddenly looked at the door and without saying a word, pulled it open and looked out. A moment later, he could finally hear the footsteps coming down the hall. She stepped back as Zuri came into view, looking just as tired as Jacky.

“Abraham is clear. So far, he, Everett, and Tokabi are all innocent.” Zuri walked around Jacky, who closed the door again. “I felt you two arrive. Welcome. I hope the drive was uneventful.”

“It was, thank you,” Heath said. “So, you want us to talk to the werecats downstairs?”

“Yes, but only after you tell me what you were talking about in here. We need to be on the same page.”

Heath looked at Landon, nodding to tell Zuri their theory. The old werecat listened with a clear-eyed focus that reminded Heath of Corissa. Even exhausted, there was professional experience there, something that told him Zuri had dealt with these things before. When Landon was finished with their theory on this being a moon cursed, Zuri nodded.

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