Page 219 of Claiming the Pack's Omega

Next to a body.

A dead body.

No way someone can survive a gunshot to the head like that. His eyes are bugging out from his skull, bloodshot and unseeing. Underneath him on the pavement is a pool of blood and broken shards of bone and bits of gray matter.

I've seen a lot during my time on the internet, but seeing a dead body in real life? Smelling the metallic scent of blood in the air?

That's different.

I'm dry heaving right next to Killian. If I had anything in my system, I would've thrown it right back up.

"Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit," Killian gasps, running his hands through his hair. He can't tear his eyes away from the body.

The exit door slams open behind me.

"Oh, fuck," Stone hisses. He pulls his phone out and starts yelling into it. "We've got a dead body on the scene, I repeat, we've got a dead body on the scene."

Stone grips both of our arms and tugs us away. Probably because he can see that neither of us is in the headspace to do so ourselves.

He's the most composed of the three of us right now. Which makes sense, considering his job. I think this is the first time Killian and I have ever seen a dead person in real life. Or at least a dead body in this condition.

"Are you guys okay?" Stone asks, gripping us by the shoulder. "I remember my first time seeing something like this. It shook me up for a while."

"You—you do this kinda thing on the regular?" I ask him, my eyes wide. "You're so—you're so calm."

"I'd say you get used to it, but you never really do. You just get a little more numb each time," Stone shrugs.

Sirens sound in the background, and a couple of cop cars pull into the back parking lot.

"I should go and debrief them on the situation," Stone says, pulling away from us.

"No. Wait," Killian says, his voice strained. He grabs Stone's arm with an almost desperate grip. "I know him. I can identify the body."

"You do? Fuck, I'm sorry, man, that sucks," he says, rubbing a hand over his hair.

"His name is Carleton. Carleton Davenport. He's one of Maximus's friends. They go way back."

Stone and I both inhale sharply.

"And he's connected to Reyna's disappearance," Stone growls. "Somehow, at the very least. Which means?—"

"Which means my brother is involved somehow, too," Killian hisses.

"Fuck, okay, I'll tell my men that," Stone nods. "We'll get to the bottom of this. I'll send some people to investigate Maximus. If he's a part of this bullshit, he's not getting away with it."

"We need someone to go tell Theo," Killian says, scrubbing his hand over his face. "The courthouse will probably shut down for the rest of the day."

I wipe my clammy forehead with the back of my hand and take a shaky breath. I have to pull myself together. Everyone here has something they can do to help. I need to step up to the plate, too.

"I'll go see if I can get access to the security footage. There should be cameras that caught part of what happened," I add.

"Perfect," Stone says, clapping a hand on both of our shoulders. "We'll come meet you in the security room when we're ready to reconvene."

The courthouse is in chaos. There are bailiffs and police everywhere, trying to keep people calm. Shootings like that don't happen. Not here. People are unprepared for this sort of thing.

I'm sure the courtroom where Theo was working is going absolutely crazy right now, especially with the amount of media and the number of reporters in that room.

I try and wipe the image of that man, lying in a pool of his own blood, out of my mind.