“I don’t like this,” Silas growled.
“Nice to hear from you, big brother.”
“Make an excuse and get back to Monty’s.”
“I’ll do no such thing. I gave Kyle my word. I’m going to do what I said I would do. Anyway, the accommodations here are much more comfortable.”
“It turns out the wolf that was murdered wasn’t taken from the wild. She was stolen from the Carlton City Zoo.”
“That bastard. Not even brave enough to give his victim a fighting chance.”
“The good news is, his cowardice left us a clue. I found a fingerprint on the gate to her cage that didn’t match any of the zookeepers’ prints. Turns out Jonah has a record. I was able to track him to his last apartment.”
“Did you apprehend him?”
“No, he was gone. But Laina, there were pictures of the three of us all over that place. He’d been taking pictures of you at Four Paws for months. There are pictures of me at Valentine’s and Jason at the gym. Jonah’s been following us since before Alex was killed.”
“Where is he now?”
“I don’t know, but his landlord hasn’t seen him in three weeks. He’s out there somewhere.”
“We covered every footprint. This is the last place he’d expect us to go.”
“True, but as an ogre, Monty can help protect you. He has enchantments to ward off dark magic. You’re on your own at Hunt Club. Frankly, I’m concerned. Jason says the place is filled with strangers from all over the country every night. You’re too vulnerable.”
“No. Kyle has me staying in his private wing.” She looked down at Milo. “The security here is top-notch.”
“I’d feel better if you and Jason were together.”
“Give me some time to do what I promised. I’ll be back at Monty’s before you know it. Before the next shift, for sure.”
He groaned. “Be careful, Laina. Jonah is a master of disguise. He’s an accomplished actor and fraud. Add that particular skill set to the fact that we are certain he’s working with a member of the magical community, and it’s entirely possible he looks drastically different. He could have a different skin color, be a different gender. Don’t trust anyone. Stay out of sight. No one can know who you really are.”
She thought of Kyle. Should she tell Silas he knew her true identity? Her first instinct was to keep it a secret, but then she remembered telling Jason. It would get back around to Silas sooner or later. She’d rather he heard it from her.
“Silas, there’s something you should know.”
“I don’t like the sound of that.”
“Remember how I told you I had a date the night of the ball, and you ordered me to go to Rivergate instead?”
“Yes.”
“That date was with Kyle Kingsley.”
There was a long silence on the other end of the line, lengthy enough for her to question whether the call disconnected.
“I don’t like this, Laina. It’s too much of a coincidence. This guy asks you out the night of the murder? Think about it. Becca didn’t remember the exact time Jonah knocked her out and murdered the wolf in your operating room, but based on the time the plug was pulled on your security cameras, it was sometime after the ball started and before we found the body. The ball started the same hour as your date with Kyle. What if Jonah got wind of the ball at Rivergate and posed as Kyle?”
“Why would he do that? Why not just attack me at Four Paws Clinic?”
“Too public during the day. Too much visibility. If you went on the date, he’d kill you there, maybe poison your food. If you went to the ball, he’d lie in wait for you at your apartment. He murdered the wolf at your clinic. Jonah would know I’d send you home after the murder. Have you ever stopped to consider the heart on your surgical table was meant for me, for after I found your body at your apartment?”
“Jonah would suspect Stephanie was my Zafka.”
“Exactly. Don’t you think it’s suspicious that then Kyle mysteriously ends up where you’re hiding and wants you to play house with him?”
She could see where he was going with this, but it couldn’t be true. “Kyle can’t be Jonah. He’s a public figure, Silas. Everyone knows who he is and what he looks like.”
