“Nothing!” he shouted, and suddenly he was on his feet, pacing, his cheeks bright red. Anger? Resurfaced grief? “None of them told me a damn thing. They just wanted to know when my flight would get in. When I could be there for the funeral. And I—”
His voice broke.
Nolan cleared his throat and looked right at me. Heglaredat me. “And I had to tell my family—mymother—that I couldn’t come to my own sister’s funeral. She lived out east, you know? Near Knoxville. That’s the goddamn Appalachian Pride, and they don’t let strays in.”
Which meant that Tucker had expanded his search beyond our zone too. I spared a moment to be proud of my guys for going above and beyond what I’d asked of them.
“Did you apply for travel?” I asked Nolan.
“Hell yes, I applied. And back then, I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. Or how to get help. It took me hours just to figure out who to call. And all they’d say was that it would take a month or more to process my application. A goddamn month!”
He sank onto his bunk, his head cradled in both hands. “Emily had been in the ground for nearly six weeks when I got an email telling me my application to cross the territorial line had been denied.”
Good god.
“I didn’t get to say goodbye. I’ve never even seen her headstone. And my family won’t speak to me. I had to tell them I couldn’t get off work for my own sister’s funeral, and now not one of them will even take my calls. I have to stalk my brother’s fucking Facebook page for pictures of my niece and nephew.”
Anger swelled within me on his behalf. “I’m so sorry.” And I was. I was really, really sorry. And…I believed him. I believed his grief, anyway. That kind of pain couldn’t be faked.
But that didn’t make him innocent. And that didn’t rule out anything he may have done afterward, out of some twisted need for revenge. Or to process his loss.
I’d seen weirder, in my time as Marshal.
“I am sorry. But I still have questions.”
“About Emily?”
“About how she died.”
“I told you, I don’tknow!” Nolan sat up straight on the bunk, meeting my gaze as if he had nothing to hide. Baring his soul.
“Okay, then, when was the last time you saw her? That week, maybe? I know you couldn’t go to the Appalachian territory, but had she come to see you?”
“No, not in more than a year. Why—?” Nolan’s mouth snapped shut. “You think she died of scratch-fever. That’s what this is about. And you think thatI…? You think I killed my ownsister?”
“No,” I told him. “I don’t think that.” And by then, I really didn’t. “But I still need to hear you say it. For the record. Did you see your sister at all in the days before her death?”
“No. Like I said. It had been a year or so since she came out this way.”
“Did she know you’re a shifter? Did she know we exist?”
“No. Andno! None of them knew. I wouldn’t have had to lie to them if they’d known!” Nolan’s expression crumpled. “Look, you have to understand what you’re doing, right now. You’re telling me, in one breath, that you think my sister was murdered, fuckin’ three years ago, out of nowhere, and you think I did it. Can you see how that might be unearthin’ some trauma for me?”
“Yes. I can.” Of course I could.
“Do youknowthat? That she was infected? Or are you just guessing? Trying to make puzzle pieces fit?”
“We’re still investigating. Following all the leads.” Trying tounearthleads, so they could be followed. “And it would be helpful if you could get some information for us, from your family.”
“What kind of information?”
“About her illness. What she was doing in the day or so before she got sick. Who she saw. Where she went.”
“I can try. But I’m telling you, Charley, they’re not speaking to me. Not for years. That’s what happens when you skip your own sister’s funeral.”
I wanted to believe that things were different now. That in the years since Titus and Jace had formed Mississippi Valley Pride, we’d gained some standing in the eyes of the greater shifter community. That if Davey did move out to Florida, and—god forbid—she died, I’d be allowed into the Southeast Territory for her funeral. To grieve with and comfort my parents.
But I couldn’t swear that was true.
