“Got you. Fast but precise.”
Maddox nods. “I worked through the bookshelves on the left side of the room already, whenever I could, which wasn’t often. I was only able to do a couple of minutes every few weeks. And I did the cupboard right next to the door. What’s missing is the second wall with shelves and…” he pauses. “His desk.”
“Alright, I will do his desk, then.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. If we get busted, it’s much less risky if I‘m the one snooping through it.”
Maddox nods, wordlessly handing me a spray bottle before turning to his task. Oh, we went back to being quiet again. The bottle carries a scent diffuser – perfect. Silent or not, this guy has been thinking things through.
He must have put some effort into snooping around, meaning hedidtry to find the truth. The shelves he goes through have books and various folders, while the desk’s drawers are stuffed with a variety of things.
“Since when have you been looking for proof?” I ask while opening the first drawer.
“A year.”
“That’s around the time Marina returned,” I mutter.
Maddox nods.
Silence ensues again, but the little he just told me carries much more weight than he probably thinks it does. It means hedidworry about Marina and Faye; it also means he saw the injustice and tried to push for the truth. It also means he does care for the pack and its members… in his own way.
For a while neither of us talks. We are completely engrossed in our task, well aware we have to be quick. I might have bought us some time, but we certainly can’t stay here the whole evening.
Something drops on the floor. Lifting my eyes, I spot Maddox picking up a photo. “A picture,” he mutters, a deep frown on his face. He walks over to me. “Look, that is Marina.”
When I study the picture, I notice the person Marina once was. Horror fills me. Until now, the only Marina I knew was the broken young woman who was only a shell of a person. But this woman here, this is the real Marina. Gwen said once that she was full of life.
“By the goddess,” I whisper. “She was so… she is laughing. She is…”
“Yes,” Maddox mutters. “I was a young teen back then, but Marina was very popular in the pack. She was pretty and fun to be around, and she was a genuinely kind person.”
“When is that picture from?”
“Look at the flower-crown she is wearing. It must have been our summer festival,” he pauses. “My dad’s in the picture, too.”
“And the beta and gamma,” I say. “Who’s the guy next to Marina? On her left side?”
Maddox’s frown grows. “I don’t know him.”
“What?”
“I… I haven’t seen him before. I know all our allies and business partners. He is not one of them.” Maddox pauses. “Could it be…” He looks up at me in shock. “Could this be her mate? From what I know, she met her mate during one of our summer festivals.”
“Fuck! If that’s true, it’s definitely worth investigating!”
Maddox turns the picture, but there is nothing written on the back of it. “I will take a photo of it,” he says. I watch him take his phone, snapping a couple of pictures before putting the photo back where it was.
Meanwhile, I continue my task. The stuff in the drawers is mostly letters, old bills, pens, and lists of the members of the pack. The schedule is here, too. In the last drawer, however, I find a small notebook.
“Do you know what this is?” I ask Maddox.
Maddox stares at me before his eyes grow wide. “It’s his notebook! He usually carries it around with him all the time. Must have placed it here during dinner!”
“Wait, so this is important?”
“I believe so. He never hands it to anyone. I have wanted to get a glimpse of it for the longest time.”
