“We picked up food from the Thai place on the corner.” Rowan continues building the fiction, brick by careful brick. “We watched a movie with Lena to help her calm down. What was it again, precious? The sci-fi one you’d been wanting to watch?”
The familiarity of the endearment in front of these strangers makes me blush, as I’m sure he intended. “Event Horizon.”
Officer Ramirez scribbles in his notebook, his penscratching across paper. “And neither of you saw Daniel Humphry that night? Or any night after?”
“No.” The single syllable drops from my lips with finality.
Officer Park studies me, her eyes narrowed. “Your sister mentioned he left his number with her. Did you ever call him?”
Finally, an easy truth. “Absolutely not.”
“Well, if you do hear from him, we’d appreciate a call.” Officer Ramirez takes a card from his notebook and places it on our coffee table. “It’s possible he just took off, but his landlord reported some concerning findings in his apartment.”
My heart stutters, then resumes its calm rhythm. “What kind of findings?”
“Nothing we can discuss at this time.” Officer Park’s radio crackles at her hip, static and coded numbers breaking the tension. “Thank you both for your cooperation.”
I walk them to the door, and my hand closes around the doorknob.
“One more thing.” Officer Ramirez pauses on the threshold. “We may need to speak with your sister again for a formal statement.”
“She’s a minor,” I say, spine stiffening. “I’ll need to be present for any questioning.”
Officer Ramirez responds without surprise. “Yep. Same arrangement as last time.”
A cold weight settles in my gut as his face clicks into place, dragging up a memory I’ve spent years keeping buried. The night the Lena called from the police station after our parents were found dead. He had been one of the officers on duty, and had given me a hard time.
There were two bodies, and they were looking to pin it on someone. As the disgruntled son, I made an easy target for their questioning.
My jaw tightens. “Yes.”
“Well, you might want to track down any receipts to back up your whereabouts, just to be safe,” Ramirez says, tucking his notebook away. “We’ll be in touch.”
The soft click of the door closing behind them echoes in the sudden silence of the apartment. I rest my forehead on the wood and count my breaths until the rushing in my ears subsides.
When I turn, Rowan still sits on my couch, watching me with an unreadable expression. The sound of Lena’s shallow breaths drifts from the hallway, but I ignore her for now to focus on the Alpha.
My hands ball into fists. “What the hell are you doing here?”
My body vibrates with the effort of restraint, muscles locked to keep me from crossing the room and throwing him out of my space.
Rowan opens his mouth to respond, but another voice cuts him off.
“I called him,” Lena says, stepping into the light. Her chin lifts, defiance in the set of her shoulders despite the tremble in her hands. “I had his number.”
My eyes snap from her to Rowan and back. “You gave her your number?”
We had only exchanged contact info a couple of days ago, and the betrayal stings.
Rowan rises from the couch, his height forcing me to tilt my head to maintain eye contact. “It was a safety precaution.”
“In case of what?” My fists tighten, nails cutting half-moons into my palms.
“In case something happened and you weren’t here.” He gestures toward the door where the police just left. “Like today.”
Lena steps forward, her sock feet silent on the worn carpet. “The police showed up asking for you, Ash. They wanted to know where you were, when you’d be back. I panicked.”
“So you called him instead of me?” The hurt beneath my anger bubbles to the surface, threatening to crack the stranglehold I have on my self-control.
