Max was still giving me a funny look, so I shrugged. “Best friends,” I mouthed before coming to stand next to him.
“So,” Zane said, gesturing for us to follow him. “I keep all the security footage for a month. Then it gets overwritten. What days are you interested in?”
Max took the seat next to Zane and I stood behind them, leaning in close to see the screen.
“Callum’s mum said the last time he came here was Saturday, so let’s start there.”
It was also when Axel said he saw him, but Max didn’t mention that. When the video started playing, I understood why.
“That’s Axel tending bar, right?” Max asked, pointing at a slim guy with short silver hair.
Zane nodded. “Yeah, he helps out some nights. He wasn’t working Saturday, but it was busy. They must have asked him to give them a hand.”
We watched as Axel served customers for a while before taking a rest on the other side of the bar when the rush died off. About ten minutes later, Callum appeared on-screen. He greeted Axel with a bright smile and took the seat next to him.
I shared a glance with Max.
Looked like they knew each other pretty well.
The coming afternoon’s interview just got a whole lot more interesting.
GABRIEL
We watchedfour hours of club footage. I was yawning by the end of it, even though it was only one o’clock. When we came to the end, Max thanked Zane for his time and told him we’d be in touch if we needed any more information from him. With copies of the footage in hand, we left to head back to the station.
“What are your thoughts?” I said as we got back in the car. Max and I had made copious notes as we’d watched, and even though I was more than a little eager to compare them, I was pretty sure we were not on the same page.
Max waited until he’d pulled out onto the road before replying. “Callum and Axel appear to be more than just casual acquaintances. We didn’t see anything to suggest Axel was supplying him with drugs, but there were plenty of instances they were off-camera, and also, he could’ve done it elsewhere.”
“True. But Callum also chatted to a lot of people Saturday night. Without knowing who and what they talked about, any one of them could be involved.”
“Or none of them,” Max offered.
Which would leave us right back where we started.
“But,” he said, glancing at me, “we have Axel coming in later, so I suggest we start there. I don’t relish interviewing one of Rys’s pack, but it is what it is.”
By the time we got back to the station, Axel Molhieth was waiting for us. And he wasn’t on his own.
In hindsight, I should’ve anticipated Rys being with him—Max said Axel was part of his pack, after all—but I hadn’t. Seeing him sat on the bench near the front desk took me totally by surprise and I stumbled over my own feet. Only Max’s lightning reflexes kept me from taking a header. And wouldn’t that have been mortifying.
My ancestors would be horrified at my sudden lack of grace and stealth.
And none of it escaped Rys’s notice. His expression was a mix of amusement and disdain as he looked at me. “Gabriel,” he muttered, inclining his head the tiniest amount in acknowledgement.
I should’ve reminded him to call me Mase or Mr Mason since I didn’t actually have an official police title, but I liked the way he said my name, always had.
Max, however, had other ideas. He stood beside me and looked down at his cousin and Axel sat next to him. “I think for the purposes of this interview, we keep things strictly professional.” Gesturing to me, he addressed Axel. “This is Special Consultant Gabriel Mason. He’s assisting us with the case.”
Oh, well I guess I did have a title after all. I puffed up my chest a little.
Axel gave me a once-over, eyebrows rising a little when he met my gaze.
He knows.
Or suspected at the very least.
“Shall we?” Rys said, standing up. “I have things I need to do today after this.” He did nonchalance very well, but Axel didn’t look anywhere near as unaffected.
