Page 15 of Midnight Rules
Watching the coffee drip into the pot allowed Iven to contemplate why someone like Marric Ransome would break into people’s houses in Fortune Falls. “Can you call the Timeston sheriff’s office and find out if they have any break-ins there?”
Cass nodded and went into the main room to make the call, leaving Iven to his thoughts.
Cass had said that Kinnison Ransome was hiding something. What if Kinnison was protecting his son? What if it was related to the break-ins?
As soon as the coffee brewed, Iven filled two cups. He took one to Cass.
Cass was just finishing up his phone call. He hung up the phone and met Iven’s gaze. “Timeston hasn’t had any break-ins. But the sheriff is also a shady asshole, so he could be lying. Ransome’s kid must think that the thing he wants is in Fortune Falls.”
Did he find what he was looking for within the pages of a book filled with healing spells? Iven hoped so because he would hate to have to arrest him.
Chapter Nine
Marric slinked in through a basement window. The air smelled damp. The concrete blocks felt rough even with gloves on. He lowered himself onto the floor as quietly as possible. Marric smelled blood as soon as he entered the witch’s house.
It was in the middle of the night and the house was dark. He let his eyes shift to his wolf’s so he could see better. Almost as soon as he could see, he wished he hadn’t.
The body at the bottom of the stairs had to be the homeowner. Marric had done his homework. He’d been thorough. He even knew the woman had seven children who were all grown. Most were his father’s age. She’d had a dragon shifter for a mate, but he’d died twelve years ago. She lived alone. More important to Marric was the fact she was one of the best healers in three counties.
She was supposed to be in her bed, fast asleep on the top floor of the house. Not lying face down at the base of the staircase. Anyone who saw her might think she had fallen. Many would think it had been just her luck that she landed wrong. But Marricknew better. He didn’t need to be a cop or a forensic specialist to see the hole in her skull. No way did she get that by falling.
Marric’s brain went into overdrive, trying to think if he had touched anything. He wasn’t worried about his hands. If any other part of him touched something, then he was in for a real treat in the form of a jail cell.
Gods, did Marric brush against the wall? Did he leave clothing fibers behind?
Marric took a deep breath and then looked at the woman again. She didn’t deserve what had happened it her. It didn’t matter if his clothing fibers were on anything. It wasn’t about him. He wasn’t going to just leave her lying there. Whoever hurt her deserved to go to prison.
Maybe people would think he did it and it might buy him 20 years to life in the state penitentiary, which scared the crap out of him. But maybe the sheriff would believe him when he told him the truth, since they might be mates.
Marric took a deep breath again and then another one to calm his racing heart. When it didn’t work, he repeated the process.
Marric began pacing.
Maybe he should call his dad. His dad had a lot of influence because he was the alpha of the Timeston pack. But Emery and Regan needed Dad. He was their only caregiver while Marric searched for a cure. Marric couldn’t take him away from them. Calling Dad was a last resort.
Oh gods. He would go to prison and never see Emery and Regan again. And he was not prison material. How did he make friends with murderers, rapists, and fraudsters when it was difficult enough to make friends with regular people? He was a thief, technically. Hehadstolen a book. A useless book, but hedidsteal it.
He’d been a criminal for a few weeks and so far, he kind of sucked at it. He could research the homeowners better than hethought, though. That part was simple. It was the part where he found a dead body in the basement where he panicked. His only move was to call the one person who would put him in prison, which was the opposite thing a hardened criminal would do.
Marric took another deep breath and shored up his courage. His hands shook when he took his phone out of his pocket and turned it on. It seemed to take forever for his home screen to come on.
He looked up the number for the Fortune Falls police department and then pressed the call button.
When the dispatcher asked him what his emergency was, he said, “I need to talk to sheriff Palmer.”
“Well, he isn’t in right now. Why don’t you tell me about your emergency, and I’ll help you.”
“Tell him Marric Ransome called. Give him my number.” Marric rattled off his number and then he ended the call.
It didn’t even take the sheriff two minutes to call him back.
“Marric.” The sheriff said his name as though he knew they were mates, too. But how could he? They had never officially met. Unless the sheriff knew Marric had watched him after every break-in. Marric didn’t know if the intimacy was real or imagined.
“What’s your first name?” Marric felt ridiculous asking, but he honestly didn’t know it. Marric just knew his last name was Palmer because everyone only ever referred to him as Sheriff Palmer.
“It’s Iven.” His voice was deep and a little raspy. It held tones of distrust, which didn’t bode well for Marric’s chances of escaping a prison sentence.
“Iven. That’s a nice name.”
