Page 44 of White Raven
Foley had spent almost twenty minutes in his office alone since Rhaena pulled the redacted paperwork out and showed him everything she had. The longer she watched the horror and pain unfold on his face, the more she realized that she had beenwrong. He didn’t know about it. But it also gave her the distinct impression that he knewwhyhe didn’t know about it. And whatever reason that was…really bothered him. Before he asked her for a few moments alone to process what she’d shown him, he gave her something in return—and not the file that Rhaena had kept close for years. It was a copy of the file Rhaena had requested from the medical examiner regarding the body Sarah left in the terminal. Foley’s way of letting her know that he knew exactly who was responsible for that murder, and was going to let Rhaena explain it before jumping off the deep end.
The bloody feather was listed as belonging to a ‘Corvus corax’…or more commonly known as a raven. The injuries sustained in the victim’s eyes also matched that description. A DNA workup was attached to the report, and just when Rhaena thought this shit couldn’t get any more complicated…the only DNA found in the wound that caused his death…wasSarah’s.
“Fuck,” Rhaena whispered, pulling the file and stashing it in her laptop bag under her desk. She pulled out her phone and dialed Athan’s number, but he didn’t answer. Foley had sat back down in his chair and looked like he was about to break. Either way, this conversation would have to be had. Time to explain away another vampire attack. How in the hell would she even do it? At least this time, her captain already knew what caused the death, and hiding it from him wouldn’t be necessary. But was it worth ringing in his favor of helping her cover up a murder on Sarah’s behalf? Rhaena stood and made her way back to his office.
“St. James is a vampire,” he said before she could even start coming up with a lie. She was at least glad she’d shut the door behind her.
“Yes,” Rhaena sighed.
“It’s not my business how, or why she became that way. I don’t really care to know. But…what I can’t figure out is why thatDNA doesn’t match every other attack you and Kane covered in the past. Those bites carried so many strands we couldn’t even keep them all together to single out the murderer.”
“I noticed that, too.” Rhaena sat this time, crossing her leg over her knee. “I tried to call him to see if he could tell me why. All Icansay is that she couldn’t help it. She never—” Rhaena paused, widening her eyes. Foley narrowed his on her.
“What is it?” he asked.
“She never fed on a human before that. I remember Athan telling me that once a vampire claims the life of their host, it leaves a mark against them that they carry with them their whole life. Every strand of DNA in those wounds is from a person they’ve fed from. That’s why. Sarah never fed before that night. This was the first person she killed.”
Foley shook his head. “That presents one hell of a problem, Rhaena.”
“It does.” She watched him drag his palm down his face and his deep sigh was more than unnerving. “Talk to me. What’s got you so spooked about Lindsay?”
“What I’m about to tell you, doesn’t leave this room.”
“Okay. You have my word.”
He leaned his elbows on his desk and blew out a frustrated breath. “You remember me telling you that getting involved with your partner was a bad move?” Rhaena nodded. “When we were first partnered…things happened. I knew Lindsay was married. I knew it was wrong, but…I loved her. Rhaena, I thought—” Foley pinched the bridge of his nose and slowly shut his eyes. “I thought she’d leave. But I felt responsible for her leaving that little girl. Being the homewrecker I was…I didn’t deserve her, and her family didn’t deserve to be torn apart like that. I was a selfish piece ofshit.”
Rhaena swallowed, pressing herself into the chair. “What happened?”
“I acted on my anger. I felt like everything was falling apart, and even if itwasmy fault…I forced her to make those decisions on her own. I didn’t make it easy on her, either. I was hurt. Pissed off. I knew in the end she’d never choose me. So, I chose the job. I got ambitious, and I put all my effort and rage into being better than her. I tried to get ahead. Tried to make a name for myself. I was too blind to realize she was doing the same thing.”
“She took these cases behind your back? To get promoted and leave you behind?”
“Yeah.”
Rhaena pondered that for a moment, and then her brows knotted, and she looked back at him. “Why didn’t either of you just request a transfer? Or request a new partner?”
Foley chuckled through his nose, staring up at Lindsay’s flag. “You didn’t know us. We were almost unstoppable together, but apart? We were just petty and ruthless. And it’s clear to me now, that in the end…it killed usboth. She lost her life…and I lost my dignity.”
“But you made captain, Malcolm. You earned it.”
Foley dropped his hand to the desk. “Did I?” Tears welled in his eyes. “All I really earned was a hard lesson. As a cop, and as a man. Being what I was got me absolutely nowhere. Being in the military only made me mistrustful and bitter. Being a captain has made me a liar. I’m a failure, Rhaena. Now I’m a failure turned werewolf, and I’m even drawing the short straw onthat. Maybe that’s my punishment. I’ll spend the rest of my life paying for all the wrong I’ve done.”
“You can’t mean that—”
“I do mean that!” He slapped a palm on the desk, startling Rhaena. His eyes flashed, and for a split-second…Rhaena saw that familiar beast within him. One that she shared.His face drew up like he’d just realized something, and she held her breath. “You didn’t take off last cycle.”
Fuck…
Rhaena cleared her throat. “No…I didn’t.”
“Why?”
Guess there was no hiding it. “I—we tried something. The last time I turned, we took a chance, and…it seemed to work. I’m not sure if it’s permanent, and honestly…I still feel my wolf in there hibernating. But for now…I’m just Rhaena.”
Hope gleamed in his eyes, and he leaned back, stunned. “What did you do?”
“I let Sarah inject me with her blood while I was still in wolf form.”
