"Me?" He laughed, a hollow sound. "Why would I have anything to do with that?"
"Cut the act," Beth said. "We know about your interest in the Durgins' land. Makes you a pretty convenient suspect."
"Is that right?" He leaned against his car, arms crossed. "And what exactly do you plan to do about it?"
"Whatever it takes," Beth replied without missing a beat. "Nam didn't deserve what happened to him, and we're not going to let it slide."
"Good luck with that." His tone was casual, but his gaze flickered to Beth, a hint of respect—or was it caution?—briefly crossing his features.
"Trust me," Beth said, her voice low, "we won't need luck."
His laughter cut through the tension like a knife. "A werewolf did him in, not me. And as you can see, I'm no werewolf."
I tried not to react. How did he know about werewolves? Wasn’t he human?
"Really?" Beth's voice was laced with skepticism. "You expect us to believe it’s as simple as that?"
"Believe it or not, sweetheart," he said with a smirk. His eyes flicked to me then back to Beth. "Surprised I know about the supernatural?"
Beth didn't flinch. "Should we be?"
"Most humans are clueless." He shrugged. "But I'm not most humans."
"Clearly." I stepped forward. "What's your angle then?"
"Deals," he said. "My family's been in this game for generations."
"Game?" Carol stepped up beside me. "You call this a game?"
"Life's a game, darlin'," he drawled, lazily pushing off from his car. "And my family plays it well. All sorts of beings, vampires, shifters, you name 'em, we've dealt with 'em."
"How cozy," I muttered, but my mind raced. His casual mention of the supernatural world was unsettling.
"Cozy enough to know why the lands are so precious," he continued, catching my gaze. "It's not just about real estate or power."
"Then what?" I asked, although a part of me wasn't sure I wanted to know.
"Unicorns," he said simply.
"Unicorns?" Beth repeated, sounding like she had no idea what he was talking about. She was a halfway decent actress.
"Exactly." He brushed a hand through his hair. "The committee wants to protect those lands because they're exploiting unicorns. Can you imagine? Those rare creatures being used for their own shady purposes."
Somehow, I couldn’t imagine Nam exploiting unicorns. I didn’t know about the other community members, but I felt sure he wouldn’t be involved in a plot that would hurt innocent creatures. This guy was trying to throw us off the real trail. He had to be.
"Exploiting how?" Beth pressed, her stance defensive. I had a feeling she didn’t believe him either.
He grinned, a mirthless twist of his lips. "Oh, the usual ways. But that's their secret to keep."
"Or to expose," I said through gritted teeth.
He shrugged.
"Do you have any proof of what you’re saying?” I asked.
Again, he shrugged. "I don’t really need proof, because it doesn’t matter to me if you believe me or not.”
I squared my shoulders, glaring at the man who was so nonchalantly dangling the fate of an entire species. "So, what's your plan with those lands? If that ancient paperwork checks out? Do you mean to tell us you have some noble reason for wanting that property?"
