Page 57 of Alpha Rising (Secrets of the Northland Shifters)

An hour later, I’d worked my way backward through my father’s ledgers to those dated one year ago. I flipped through the pages, reviewing the columns that had never added up, recalling the missing money and all the other line items that had baffled me since becoming alpha.

And that’s when I saw it. The small blue-ink notation in the margin:H-m-H.

I flipped forward a few more pages, and there it was again. And then again several pages later, though this last time there was a question mark at the end of the notation.H-m-H?Was it shorthand for Hook em’ Horns, LLC?

“Sarah!”

The sound of a drawer slamming shut came through the shared wall between our offices, and a few seconds later she was standing in my doorway.

Her lips quirked. “You bellowed?”

“Come look at this.”

She drew her eyebrows together in a question. “What is it?”

I raised my hand and scooped at the air, summoning her to hurry.

Her curiosity piqued, she came to stand behind my desk. “What am I supposed to be looking at?”

I jabbed my finger at the notation in the margin.

She leaned down to inspect the ledger, letting her long, light brown hair brush the surface of my desk. “H-m-H?”

“My dad wrote that. Could it be referring to Hook ‘em Horns, LLC? As in, the biggest shareholder of Lady Luck?”

“I suppose it could be.” She didn’t sound as excited or convinced as I’d hoped.

I swiveled my chair to face her, and she straightened.

“You think it could mean something else?” I’d been so sure I’d found the smoking gun that cemented the connection between my father and his killer.

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I certainly wouldn’t rule it out. Have you looked for anything more?”

“Same notation three times but never written out as words.”

She leaned against my desk, and I grabbed her hips with both hands, jerking her forward so she stood between my spread legs.

She smiled, even though the conversation remained serious. “Let’s assume your father had some knowledge of the Hook-em-Horns group. What would that tell us?”

“For one, it would confirm that your fae friend, the deputy marshal, was right. What happened to you had nothing to do with DaBruzzi.”

“Myfae friend?” she repeated, clearly still discombobulated by the recent revelation.

“Second, Lady Luck left evidence of its presence by my father’s dead body in the form of that ripped patch. If my father was familiar with Hook ‘em Horns, LLC—Lady Luck’sbiggest shareholder—then that would mean…” I had to take a breath before I could come to my conclusion. “That would mean my dad likely knew his killer. His death wasn’t an accident.”

Sarah’s face went a shade paler. “Add that to the fact the kidnappers knewmyname.”

I shook my head. It was the one piece of the puzzle I’d been trying to avoid. I didn’t like the idea of the enemy being someone who had personal knowledge of our employees. “I know where you’re going with that, and the answer is no.”

“Are you so sure?” she pressed.

“There must be another explanation for how someone associated with Lady Luck would know our employees by name. My father’s murder wasnotan inside job.”

Sympathy shimmered in her eyes, but there was no need. She was absolutely wrong.

“Our employees are loyal,” I insisted, my voice coming out harsher than I’d intended.

Sarah flinched away.

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