Eye witness in gripping Monroe murder trial uncovered: Jaime Lamont saw everything!
Finn tried to read the rest of the article, but his eyes kept circling back to the name. The picture. Jaime’s goddamn picture—beautiful freckled cheeks and pink smile and mossy green eyes on full display.
It had been his profile picture before the account went dark.
One year ago, Jaime stood Finn up in his favorite restaurant, stomping all over the fragile hope that had bloomed in his chest at the possibility of something real between them. One year ago, Finn had sent several embarrassingly frantic messages askingJaime if he was ok, if he was hurt, or stuck on the side of the road somewhere.
It turned out that Jaime just hadn’t been interested in him.
Finn had received confirmation of that the next day, when Jaime sent him a single short, pointed text replying to the several from the night before.
Don’t contact me again.
It had hit him like a punch to the gut, making it difficult to take a full breath. No explanations or apologies, no hint as to how they could go from late night video calls and flirty texts and plans to… nothing.
One fucking year ago. Right around the time of the murder.
Oh God.
Finn tried to focus on the article, and not the yawning pit of guilt that threatened to swallow him. He leaned onto his elbows, head in his hands, and read:
Sources say Lamont, known in public filings only as ‘JL’, is the prosecution’s key witness set to testify in the upcoming trial of Jackson Bishop, who has been charged for the murder of Vera Novikova-Dugan, heiress of the Novikov Corporation and wife of Jeffrey Dugan. Until now, the prosecution has kept Lamont’s identity secret, our sources say, “…to protect his safety and the integrity of the case.” Novikova-Dugan was found murdered in her home on April 9th of last year, after a previously-unidentified witness (Lamont) called emergency services…
All thought of risk management plans forgotten, he sat in stunned silence for a few minutes, passing back Silas’s phone without really hearing what he was saying.
April 9th. The day they were meant to have their first date. Jaime had texted that he was running into Monroe to drop something off for work before heading out to Silver Rapids, and then he went silent.
While Finn had sat in that booth, hot with embarrassment and anger and so hurt, his wolf whining and pacing in his mind, restless like it had never been before, Jaime had witnessed a brutal murder.
Jaime had been in danger.
What if he didn’t just see it? What if he was also hurt?
Fuck. Fuck. Growling, he pulled the article back up on his own phone and scanned every word, but they only ever referred to him as a “witness.” He wasn’t identified as a victim.
Still… Jaime had, at minimum, witnessed and would testify to the brutal murder of a woman allegedly committed by a Salt Creek shifter, landing him right in the crosshairs of one of the most violent packs in the state. In the country, even.
Certainlythatwas why his identity had been kept a secret for so long. The other paranormals in Monroe PD would know the track record of who Jaime was about to testify against and tried their best to protect him, maybe hoping the Salt Creek shifters on the force wouldn’t be able to make a move without outing their involvement when only a select number of people knew who Jaime was.
But now, the world knew his name. He had no protection at all.
Fuck.
He wasn’t safe. Not from the general public, and not from the bigger players in all of this. Ones he probably knew nothing about.
Finn needed to find him. To tell him—something. Somehow, he needed to help Jaime without revealing too much about himself. He just needed to find him first, and then?—
“Finn. Finn!” Silas was waving his hand in front of Finn’s face, trying to catch his attention. “Are you alright? You zoned out there for a bit.”
He cleared his throat. “Yeah, sorry. I’m fine, just tired.” He gave a half smile, one he knew Silas saw right through, but thankfully he didn’t push.
Resting his elbows on his desk, Finn leaned his head back into his hands and sighed. He couldn’t just track the man down and barge into his life, uninvited. In fact, Jaime had specifically told him to leave him alone. And yes, even if Finn assumed the circumstances around witnessing a horrific murder were the instigating factors of Jaime dropping all contact with him, it had still been his choice to do so, and he hadn’t reached out since. He didn’t want Finn back in his life.
He’s not safe. Find him.
Go.
Go.
