I leaned forward, elbows on my knees. “Finally. Now we can speak freely. What on earth was Zac doing here at Pemberley? I’m so freaked out. He couldn’t have been up to anything good.”
Henry looked over his shoulder, like he worried Darcy was still listening. “I know, right? This day is getting stranger and stranger… first, just being in the area, finding you in the middle of the road… the blizzard… a murder… knowing the victim.”
“Yep.” I nodded and rested my chin on my hand. “You didn’t kill him, did you?”
Dan’s eyes widened.
Henry’s jaw dropped. Then he snapped it shut and shook his head. “No, really. I didn’t even know he was in the area.”
“Good. I had to check, and I believe you. Honestly, if you had, I’m sure it would have beenfor some noble reason—protecting the innocent or whatnot—not that I condone murder by any means. And I do feel absolutely horrible about Zac. I just, well you never know, I suppose.” At school, Henry was a bit of a golden boy. He was athletic and good-looking, but most of all, he was kindhearted. When we were lab partners in chemistry, he noticed another student with a disability who didn't have a lab partner. He invited him to join us and patiently explained our experiment several times over.
"I'm glad you believe me." Henry blinked in response to the verbal battery I'd delivered.
I nodded and leaned back in the armchair. "Henry, I've known you long enough to understand your character. To be honest, with the way you show empathy to people, I think killing someone would irreparably break you. Remember when we were little, and we caught a butterfly and tried to show it how to swim in the birdbath? You cried more than I did when we realized what we'd done."
Henry pulled in his bottom lip, then shook his head. "You remember that? It was a summer day, and you wore a white sundress. The butterfly had white and yellow wings and reminded me of you. I think that was why I was so upset."
"You see. You're good inside." I gazed at Henry for a moment and wondered if the secret notes could've been from him. A jolt of electric energy shot through me, and I froze, stunned at how much I hoped they were. I pulled back, changing the subject. "Anyway, the gunshot came from deep in the forest when I fell. You were driving at that time."
“Definitely. But you’re certain what you heard wasthegunshot that killed Zac?” Henry shifted on the leather sofa, looking at the floor, brows knit tightly together.
I pondered, glad to focus on the investigation instead of my romantic whims. The question held validity. “Well, no one has reported any others, and it fits with the timeline. However, you’re right. There’s no way to know for sure.”
Henry glanced at Dan, who was doing his best to appear invisible in the corner. “Not to speak ill of the dead, but Zac could be awful to people. I worry that he may have pushed someone to their limit.”
“That’s one reason I don’t think we’re in serious danger. I suspect Zac backed the killer into an impossible corner. He probably bribed or blackmailed himself into his current situation. So as long as we don't spook anyone, we shouldbe alright.”
Henry had a familiar twinkle in his eye that appeared when he was facetious. “Clever. You know, I used to think you could see right through people with all your fae magicalness—if that’s a word. And you probably can. Just be careful who you trust. Everyone has some kind of secret.”
I shrugged. “Zac seemed like a bit of a bully, or at least a prankster. He was the kind of person who laughed if someone got hurt instead of checking to see if they were okay. But neither of us is the type of person he would target.”
“No one is immune to bullies.” Henry leaned closer to me, his elbow on the armrest. “But you described him well. Remember when we took the trip to the Louvre? He nearly ruined the outing because he thought he was so cool for stepping around the ropes to take selfies with the artwork.”
The staff at Pemberley would have thrown him out if he had tried to pull that here. “I remember. He was annoying, but I hope no one would shoot him over that. Something else must’ve happened.”
Henry leaned back in his seat, pondering. “Maybe one of his pranks went too far. He could also be… sneaky… for lack of a better word, and he had a tendency to swipe things that weren’t his. Maybe he stole something from this place?”
Henry failed to understand our security system. To an outsider, it might appear nonexistent, but as high fae royalty, we were in one of the most secure locations on the planet. “From Pemberley? Good luck. Our security is top of the line. He had to be here for something else, and I doubt he made it anywhere near the house until after he’d been shot. Do you have him on any of your social media accounts? I wonder what he’s been up to lately.”
“I think so.” Henry pulled out his phone and flipped through his screens, then showed me some photos. “Found him. Looks like he came into money recently. He’s got a nice car, but he was always broke at school.”
College de Synthese was ultraexpensive, so I suspected no one there had financial difficulties. “If he struggled with money, I wonder how he was able to afford school?”
“Oh, his grandparents paid for it. Don’t ask me how I know that… probably something someone said in the locker room.” Henry set his phone down. “Apparently he’d gotten in trouble here in the States enough that they sent him to College de Synthese, hoping itwould straighten him out. I’m sure his death will be devastating for his family.”
“Sad.” It really was tragic that Zac had been alive earlier this afternoon, and now all of his future plans and dreams were over. I sat still for a minute, thinking about his family. “He was so young. Even if he was obnoxious, his death is heartbreaking. I feel so bad for them.”
“I do too,” Henry agreed. “But why on earth was he on your property?”
“He hadn’t contacted me.” I shrugged, wishing the blizzard didn't trap us inside. “No one should be out in the woods unless they live here. It’s not public land, and only the area near the house was open for tours. Of course, there are the old cottages. If the weather allowed, we'd be able to inspect them.”
Henry broke our eye contact. “Hmm. Well, we're stuck here for now. I wonder how he bought that car. It doesn't look like he suddenly found a lucrative career.”
I twisted a long blonde strand through my fingertips, a nervous habit I'd tried to stop for years. “There are a lot of ways of getting money, and not all are legal. I hope he wasn’t dealing drugs or something.”
"Pemberley and money are certainly connected. Did he ever flirt with you at school or anything? Maybe he thought he could get money from you or your family,” Henry mused.
I’m sure I blushed, and I wondered again about the mystery letters. If Zac really was the con artist he seemed to be, staging the letters and coming to me with confessions of love hoping to extort money wouldn’t be beyond him. My heart dropped. They probably were from him. It made perfect sense. Of course, Zac had flirted with me at school. But most guys did because of my royal connections and all. “He didn't single me out or anything. He was flirtatious with everyone, I think.”
