Chapter 48 Chapter 48

Chapter 48 Chapter 48

Misty

After a much needed release I lay awake, wondering why I had asked him that. Why I had let my thoughts slip knowing they would cross a line. Or why even knowing he would know exactly what was happening just down the hall I had done it, not out of spite but to make a point. The door to more was cracked open just a bit. Trusting Beck from the beginning hadn’t been the easiest thing for me. Now he owned my trust fully, and that realization had cracked open another door I wasn’t willing to wrench open. A woman had needs, and I’d rather fulfill them with someone I didn’t find at a random bar. We were adults, he may be older than I was, but I was done with little boys playing games. At least with Beck it could be straight forward, no doubt the man had needs himself. I mentally pushed the door I wasn’t ready for closed with my foot, not willing to hold onto the thought much longer than that moment but instead of locking it down and throwing away the key, I left it like that and was dozing off when my phone buzzed. I grabbed it off the nightstand and suddenly sat up, realizing it was an alert I had linked to her lawyer. Scanning over the information, I threw the sheets off and got out of bed. The bastard wolf had left a brutal crime scene in his wake by the information I was reading. Beck stirred as I walked through the living space to my computer. He was shirtless but still in his pants as he roused and walked over to where I was already sitting and typing away at my computer. I began the string of commands to mask my IP address and encrypt my data before I launched into the local police station’s files.

“Whats going on?” Beck asked.

“The lawyer, and his secretary were murdered,” I filled him in. Beck whistled lowly and plopped down beside me. It didn’t take long to find the only murder file in the town's recent logs. I forced it open after a few tries and found myself looking at a series of thumbnail photos I couldn’t decipher due to their size so I clicked on one, and instantly wished I hadn’t. My hand covered my mouth as I let out a gasp. The bodies were torn apart, blood spattering every surface and papers strewn everywhere.

Beck let a rumble out that seemed to vibrate the air. His expression instantly darkened. I’d hate to be anyone he directed that vehemence towards.

My phone rang startling me, but when I looked down I immediately snatched it up and swiped to answer on speaker.

“Adelaide are you okay?” I rushed out.

“I’m okay for now,” her tone was hesitant, nervous even.

“What happened?” I questioned throwing off the sheets and getting out of bed.

“He left me a ‘gift’ on my doorstep, the same flowers he left in my bedroom window when I left, when he found my apartment.”

My heart hammered in my chest. “Is Carter with you?”

“Yes, I’m at his place.”

I sagged in relief that she wasn’t alone, letting out a breath. Then I explained to her what we had just found out about the lawyer.

Carter’s voice came across the line in the background. “I’ll go check the property.”

“Don’t you dare leave her alone,” I snapped.

“She won’t be,” was all he said, before there was some movement and the sounds of guns cocking in the background found my ears. Thank fuck. He was taking this seriously.

“Call me back with whatever you find, I’m going to work on his transactions to see if he sent flowers anywhere else. He's supposed to be at a press conference tomorrow so I doubt he has people in your area,” I let them know before Adelaide assured us they would call when Carter returned. After hanging up, I logged into Creedon’s financials looking for clues but also opened a window to the cart where I had the cameras I was choosing of the ones statistics preferred. One was unavailable and another on backorder; however the last one had just enough in stock to cover what was needed at bare minimum to cover all the places needed to keep an eye on things. I hadn’t bought them sooner because they had all initially been out of stock and no cameras for Creedon's men to tap into was safer than putting something they could hack in place. I ignored the price using the account with my savings to check out and sent them to her address. Beck had sat watching but stood and went over to his bag riffling through it before he came back with a stack of money that would more than replace what I had just spent.

“What’s this?”

“Adelaide, left me with a sum of money, despite my best efforts to insist otherwise. I’ve been holding onto it in case I needed it to get her out. Now it could get you and Cricket out if things go south. I’m sure she wouldn’t be opposed to the expense. This, however, seems like a necessity to her safety and you shouldn’t have to drain your account when funds are available,” he insisted.

I bit my lip thinking as I typed up Sheriff Carter’s name on the internet search. Something was bothering me. The quick search I had done on him before seemed straight forward enough.

“What are you doing now?” Beck asked.

“Something doesn't sit right. It’s probably nothing. I’m just looking for reasons to discredit this guy because I really feel like the safest place for Briar is some place this dick will never find her. He’s almost too perfect.” I clicked through social media noting pictures of him in high school. With Briar’s uncle, his kids? A few clicks later I realized they were his sister’s kids. My fingers drummed on the desk top when I got the random notion to look into the town. Divide was an unincorporated city. I looked into what that meant. They were under county jurisdiction as opposed to having their own city municipal services. I went into the county sheriff website and searched for Carter. Nothing. I looked at Beck who was studying what I was doing, just as curious, himself.

“The man is a fucking fraud,” I said, leaning back in my seat pointing at the screen waiting for Beck to come to the same realization.

He sighed. “Not necessarily. He’s a wolf, he may not be a sheriff sworn in by the state or county, but he very well may be part of the pack’s own policing. It keeps the real cops out of pack business,” he explained. “Some packs call them enforcers, but others will treat them like police. Some even have entire levels of military-like forces that only show up out of their daily lives when there is a significant threat.”

I gave Beck a displeased look. I’d vie for Adelaide to run.