Page 62 of Bitter Discord

“Leave it,” I snarled, my temper flaring. “I’m trying to solve a murder and make sure no one else gets hurt. To make sure no one else gets hurt, I have to keep them happy, which means I need to be careful. Outing the werecats didn’t happen the same way as it did for werewolves. The other werecats didn’t get a choice in the matter. If I did this the way it’s been done for years, I would have secured the body and burned it immediately to keep it out of the wrong hands. Instead, the BSA has it in a secured morgue under lock and key. I’m doing the best I can, Heath!” I knocked the ice blue right out of his eyes, leaving him stunned.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

“Don’t be. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply you did something wrong,” he said, rubbing his face before standing. “I’m going to check on Fenris.”

“Okay.” I started walking for my office, looking down to text Bethany as I went. I went to close the door and wasn’t able to. I looked around the door to see Heath there.

“I’m sorry,” he repeated in a soft whisper, shoulder on the door frame as he pinned me with an intense stare. He’d stopped the door with his foot, his hands shoved in his pocket.

I leaned in and kissed his cheek.

“We’re stressed. I’m sorry for snapping,” I replied. “Go check on Fenris. I’ll see if the BSA can tell us anything new.”

“Okay.”

He stepped back and kept his eyes on me for three steps before turning around. I watched him head outside from my office door, staying there until his truck was out of the range of my hearing.

I looked at my phone as I sat down, sighing.

Arlo, where are you? We need you to come home.

23

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

The BSA did as I asked. Bethany coordinated with me as she watched the handling of the body on a video feed. While we were on that video call, I gave the BSA total control over the crime scene in the park to case the area properly since I wouldn’t be taking the werewolves there. When Carey tried to walk in and check on me, I had to quickly usher her out to prevent her from seeing it. The careful autopsy took just over four hours, going longer than average thanks to Bethany’s strict protocols about the waste material. With me on, there seemed to be no improper keeping of the remains. When it was over, I asked Teagan to come into my office, letting him read the findings. Heath still wasn’t home from his visit with Fenris, which left the Beta werewolf under my watch, not that I minded.

“It’s the same,” he said softly. “It could have been the one missing…”

“Teagan, it’s not your—”

“That’s all I needed.” He walked back out of my office, leaving me alone once again.

“Okay.” With a heavy sigh, I texted Zuri, telling her I believed it was time to incinerate the body. She sent back a quick confirmation. While I was dealing with the werewolves and the BSA, she was questioning our visiting werecats—still. I knew she was down to the last few. She was leaving the loudest and most troublesome for last, Hannah, Marcia, and Lonan, in that order. With her approval, I called Bethany back.

“Hey, Jacky. Ready to submit the paperwork for cremation?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’m ready. You have it all filled out and ready, right?”

“Yup. We can put in the body in thirty minutes. It’ll take two to three hours for the process to finish. The morgue will have the ashes prepared tomorrow.”

“Thank you. Did the BSA find anything of interest when I let them go over the scene?”

“Brass that matched the bullets, giving us the place the shooter was standing, about six and a half feet from the body. Someone had kicked the leaf and other debris over them. They were actually one of the last finds.”

“Zuri and I smelled nothing even close to the body. I don’t know how the killer has done it, but we’re blind to their scent.” I hated that. To know Zuri and I had been standing pretty much on top of where this asshole had been and had no idea. “We talked about how there were a lot of human scents because it’s a park. Generally, humans don’t get the drop on werecats, but if it was a witch… they smell human until they do magic.”

But can a human track Arlo and take him hostage without no one noticing or Arlo trying to fight? If they have magic, no one can smell…

“So, this could be related to April, one of the witches who hide the smell of magic, and you would be none the wiser,” Bethany said.

“Well, there are other ways of knowing when magic was done, but it’s definitely a possibility. One of many.”

“Is everyone in a safe location? The last thing anyone needs is another body.”

No, everyone is not in a safe location.

I wanted so badly to tell her to put everyone in her building on finding Arlo. I wanted to beg her to find him and bring him to me safely.

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