“Yes.” So long as no one truly studied the tapes to see that Aeron and Slash had been close behind me and then his son when he left, we would be fine. “We spent the night together. Chief—”
He held up a hand and shook his head. “I don’t trust the officers out there, not like I do you but I’m beginning to regret that sentiment. What I do know is that he’ll talk to you in a way he won’t to anyone else. I’m sending you and Victor to question him. Protect my son but Goddamnit, if he did this…”
I narrowed my gaze at the man who was supposed to be upholding the law. “Chief, are you asking me to shield your son? Do you think he did something?”
“I don’t know what to think.” His face twisted up in despair as he plopped into his chair. “Finn has always been reckless, dangerous to those around him and himself. But he’s still my son. Prod gently but get to the bottom of this. Primrose, our city, deserves to be safe. Even if it’s from Finn. It’s a slippery slope.”
A slippery slope?
There hadn’t been any other reports involving Finn’s criminal activities so either he had learned to pull everything under the radar or Chief Matthews was referring to something else.
“Meet him for lunch, question him, and then tell him to come home so we can have a conversation. He needs to know that things will be different this time around.”
Now, I was even more confused. “What are you talking about?”
“I know you looked him up but most of it was concealed. He needed a new lease on life. His mother’s health was failing and I owed it to my son to give him everything, especially when after he was officially diagnosed.” He tapped the table, inches from the folder. “I need you to know everything, to know who you’re dealing with. Finn came home to me, to the life he used to live and I have to believe he wants to change. After all, he told me he’s quitting that damn newspaper and going back to school.”
None of that was going to happen. Chief Matthews’ hopes were going to be dashed the moment Finn’s plan was truly enacted. I sighed and flipped through a few more pages, frowning as more of Finn’s history was made present to me. Just skimming through the file gave me a glimpse into a man that we thought we could handle.
“Who the fuck is Runo?” The name popped up a few times in one of Finn’s medical reports.
“He hasn’t mentioned him? He used to talk about him all the time. Constantly. Incessantly. If Finnevermentions Runo, letme know.” Fear passed through Chief Matthews’ expression as his jaw pulled tight.
Who is Runo, Finn?
I added that to the list of things to research, right before I found a way to tell Finn that he’d be spending lunch with me and my new partner, Victor.
KILLIAN
Finn so graciously handed me the reins when we stepped into the office but it had a lot more to do with the existential crisis he was dealing with, rather than his desire to have me drive. He didn’t even try adding to that stupid tally board, the fucker wandering our head like a lost puppy. Granted, finding out that he wasn’t the original had to be a blow to his inflated ego.
Dark and Daemon weren’t too happy with the progression of events but no one was more pissed off than I was finding out that Runo was getting released. He did not belong out in the world, not after the shit he tried to pull. His idea of wrong and right was warped, so fucking twisted that a means to an end meant everything to him.
Dark and Daemon thoughtthat Slash and Samael were ruthless. Runo was on a completely different level, even more unhinged than Finn, with less morals and way more energy. This was going to be a disaster onallfronts.
It can’t be that bad.
It’s definitely that bad.
You’re just mad because you don’t like him.
No, it’s because he’s unpredictable. You think you are but you’re just chaotic. Our men’s wet dream. Runo is something else entirely. He does not belong in society or anywhere else.
None of the alters responded to that but I didn’t expect them to. We were toeing a dangerous line with Runo days away from release. Someone tapped the table, drawing me out of my head as I came face to face with Jamie. “What have you got for me? You came in saying you were going to give us the scoop and now you’re sitting here, doe-eyed, twirling around in a chair.”
I grinned and slid a paper toward him before taking an obnoxious slurp of the coffee prepared from the breakroom. It was just as shitty as that café but it was free. “Project Pearl has been completed. Wrote it up this morning. A tell-all from my weekend with Merchant. He’s a beautiful,beautifulman.” Memories flashed through my head, bringing back that weekend we had spent in bed.
My little article embellished a lot of moments, left out pertinent details, and made Samael into a lover for the ages. Nodoubt, they would reach out to ask Samael for a comment but the story would be published, heightening his status as one of the most eligible bachelors.
Jamie flipped through the papers I had printed out before chucking them back onto the table. “This has to be fucking bullshit.”
“It’s not. It’s very personal, okay? Write it up however you like but he’s a very nice man.”
Nice isn’t the word I would have used to describe him.
Rough. Passionate. Raw. Protective, but nice?
Samael is going to kill you for that story.
