Page 15 of Midnight Whispers
“Why is that relevant to our case?”
“It isn’t all by itself, but the dead kid, Gregory May, and the Timeston wolf were fucking. I’m unsure if they were mates, butthey smelled like each other. It’s relevant because our vic didn’t join the Fortune Falls pack. And the dead wolf was pack.”
“What about the third wolf?”
“I don’t have much. The vic isn’t talking, which tells me the third wolf is our perp. It’s a pack member.” Cass couldn’t blame him for not trusting him enough to tell him what happened. If the killer was pack, then the victim had a right to be cautious. The victim didn’t know where Cass’s loyalties lay.
“Do we have a list of pack members?”
“I can get one.” There were hundreds of members. Some Cass only knew in passing. They might live in a small town where everyone knew each other, but sometimes all that meant was that you recognized someone’s face while shopping at the local grocery store.
“We need the vic to talk.” Iven’s wheels were turning. He talked to himself a lot when that happened. “Let’s look into your alpha but do it discreetly. I don’t want to alert him yet.”
“I’m already one step ahead of you.” And so far, Cass had found nothing. It was as if Porter Miller didn’t exist before coming to the Fortune Falls pack. But he wanted to get a full workup on the guy before he gave the information to Iven.
“What else?”
“A dead girl owns the house. And when I say dead, I mean a few decades gone. Alice Newman was nine years old when she died in a drowning accident in 1967.”
“Someone used her identity.” He’d checked in every database they had. She was a ghost.
“Yeah. It sounds like it.” Cass sighed. “So that’s a dead end.”
Iven picked up his phone. “I’ll call the boys and ask if they want lunch at the diner. We’ll get a discrete look at who’s eating there. Maybe we’ll get lucky and you’ll sniff out our guy. At the very least we can question Darlene. She may know something.”
Cass’s heart rate increased at the thought of seeing Riley again. He tried to focus on work so he wouldn’t give himself away. “I’ll talk to Gregory’s family and friends. Find out why no one reported him missing.”
****
As soon as Cass walked into the diner, he caught Riley’s scent. His eyes shifted and his fangs dropped. He was glad he was behind Iven as they approached the table.
But Griffin noticed. He drew his eyebrows together as if in confusion.
Riley sat in a booth next to Griffin. He bit his lip and glanced at something in his lap. His hand, maybe. But if that was the case, did he know what it meant? Did his body know Cass was his mate?
Griffin glanced at Riley’s hand. Of course, Riley noticed and shook his head while he widened his eyes. Griffin met Cass’s gaze with that same wide-eyed expression.
Iven sat down first, across from Riley, and then Cass slid into the seat next to Iven.
“Holy shit,” Griffin mumbled under his breath.
Cass hoped his expression told Griffin to keep his mouth shut.
Griffin rolled his eyes and put his arm on the back of the seat behind Riley as if in a protective gesture, which made Cass’s wolf growl. As far as his wolf was concerned, Riley was his.
The only problem was that Iven noticed Cass’s behavior mostly because he was making it obvious. Thankfully, Riley kept his head down and his hands in his lap under the table. Iven was oblivious to what was really happening.
“What’s up, man? Do you sense something?”
“Nothing. It’s frustrating. But I’ll talk to Darlene.” Cass walked to the farthest corner of the room. The whole time, he heard Iven dodging Griffin and Riley’s questions.
The diner was the old-fashioned type. The soda machine and coffee makers were on a counter against the far wall. They had a bar. Three guys from the road construction crew sat on stools next to each other, drinking coffee and eating burgers.
There was a jukebox in one corner. It played nothing but oldies. The songs spanned several decades. Still, nothing within the past twenty years. The Chordettes sang Lollipop. Between the music and the vinyl seats, the Diner was a blast from the past. The locals liked it more than the college kids because the Diner hadn’t changed beyond some minor repairs. The citizens of Fortune Falls didn’t like change.
Darlene pressed the button on the soda machine. She was an older lady whose family had owned the Diner for three generations.
Cass tapped the bar, getting her attention. When she turned, he said, “I need to ask you a few questions.”
