Alistaire shook his head. “We got their description but still haven’t found them.”
“What about the man that helped them?”
“LaMarkus spoke to Mister James, and according to the report, he dropped them off at the station. But no one remembers that happening.”
“Strange,” Dilen said.
Alistaire shrugged his shoulders. “Yeah, it is. But until we can find evidence of them being dead, they’re just missing right now.”
“This fucking sucks.”
“In more ways than one.” Alistaire looked at Dilen seriously. “Do me a favor, get one of those wines tested.”
“Do you think whoever sent them could have put something in them?”
“It’s a crazy idea, but I think Euan is somehow using Crevan to get to me. Other than that time in the forest, I don’t know when he would’ve had contact with Crevan.”
“This guy,” Dilen said, shaking his head. “What will it take to get him off the streets? On paper, he seems like an upstanding businessman. Then you look at the fine print and realize he is so damn shady you won’t be able to see your way out of his darkness.”
Alistaire didn’t answer Dilen’s question, because telling him he would have literally taken the man’s head from his body might be too much for the other man to handle. He enjoyed working with Dilen.
Lately, he’d been thinking about the job offer in Valleywood and was leaning towards taking it. But before he said yes, Alistaire had a few stipulations of his own. One was, he wanted to bring someone with him he could trust.
“I got offered a job in Valleywood.”
“I heard,” Dilen said. “Police commissioner. That’s a big ass promotion.”
“Let me guess, LaMarkus told you.”
Dilen smiled. “He mentioned it. So, are you going to take it?”
“That depends on you.”
“Me?” Dilen looked at Alistaire in shock. “What does this have to do with me?”
“I want you to be my Assistant Chief of Police.”
“You’re kidding me right?” Dilen ran his hands through his hair.
“Do I look like I’m kidding? Look, I’m asking you to be my right hand man for a few different reasons—the first one is because of Crevan. If I take the job he’d have to leave his family, and I get that Valleywood is two hours away. But he’s never been away from home before. If he knew a family member was going with him I know he’d feel good about that.”
“And what’s the second?”
“You’re damn good at your job, Dilen. I don’t want to have a yes man working alongside me. I plan on making a shit ton of changes to the department. I want someone I can trust to speak their minds—damn the consequences.”
Dilen nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Do you mind giving me some time to think about it?”
“Take all the time you need. I get the feeling Loki Boroson isn’t going to offer anyone else the job.”
“Cool and thanks for thinking of me.”
“No problem.”
They walked out of Barret’s study and went back to the family room, where everyone was gathered. Ava was always on her phone, and Genesis was on her baby gym drawing all the adults’ attention. Alistaire got on the floor with her, peppering kisses on her cheeks and making her smile. He looked around the room and spotted Moressa was on the couch with Corbin and Zev rubbing her stomach. Since the incident with his bookie, Corbin had been on his best behavior and had even started painting again. Also, Zev and Moressa refused to let him out of their sight. The trust between them was broken, and Alistaire knew it would take some time for them to trust their mate again.
Speaking of mates.“Where’s Crevan?” Alistaire asked the thruple.
“He had a guest and went outside to speak with him,” Corbin pointed in the direction of the foyer. “I think it was that guy he was talking with at Thanksgiving.”
