Page 8 of Midnight Whispers (Forbidden Entanglements #1)

Chapter Eight

C ass knew something was wrong the second Iven walked into the station. All he wanted to do was talk about the case to avoid whatever was bothering him.

Iven sat behind his desk with Cass across from him. He had the case file in front of him, reading the interview with the victim. “Give me your impressions.”

“He’s scared enough to hold something back, and I can’t blame him. It’s not too often that a wolf shifter gets kidnapped, with our reflexes and senses being better than most others. He’s a college student. He had our former alpha’s permission to be in the area. As long as he remained a student, he didn’t have to become a part of the clan. But he’s from Timeston.”

“Why would that matter?” Iven being a warlock and not part of the pack, made him na?ve to pack politics some of the time.

“You know about the alpha wanting our numbers to increase to keep up with the Timeston pack.”

“Why is that relevant to our case?”

“It isn’t all by itself, but the dead kid, Gregory May, and the Timeston wolf were fucking. I’m unsure if they were mates, but they smelled like each other. It’s relevant because our vic didn’t join the Fortune Falls pack. And the dead wolf was pack.”

“What about the third wolf?”

“I don’t have much. The vic isn’t talking, which tells me the third wolf is our perp. It’s a pack member.” Cass couldn’t blame him for not trusting him enough to tell him what happened. If the killer was pack, then the victim had a right to be cautious. The victim didn’t know where Cass’s loyalties lay.

“Do we have a list of pack members?”

“I can get one.” There were hundreds of members. Some Cass only knew in passing. They might live in a small town where everyone knew each other, but sometimes all that meant was that you recognized someone’s face while shopping at the local grocery store.

“We need the vic to talk.” Iven’s wheels were turning. He talked to himself a lot when that happened. “Let’s look into your alpha but do it discreetly. I don’t want to alert him yet.”

“I’m already one step ahead of you.” And so far, Cass had found nothing. It was as if Porter Miller didn’t exist before coming to the Fortune Falls pack. But he wanted to get a full workup on the guy before he gave the information to Iven.

“What else?”

“A dead girl owns the house. And when I say dead, I mean a few decades gone. Alice Newman was nine years old when she died in a drowning accident in 1967.”

“Someone used her identity.” He’d checked in every database they had. She was a ghost.

“Yeah. It sounds like it.” Cass sighed. “So that’s a dead end.”

Iven picked up his phone. “I’ll call the boys and ask if they want lunch at the diner. We’ll get a discrete look at who’s eating there. Maybe we’ll get lucky and you’ll sniff out our guy. At the very least we can question Darlene. She may know something.”

Cass’s heart rate increased at the thought of seeing Riley again. He tried to focus on work so he wouldn’t give himself away. “I’ll talk to Gregory’s family and friends. Find out why no one reported him missing.”

****

As soon as Cass walked into the diner, he caught Riley’s scent. His eyes shifted and his fangs dropped. He was glad he was behind Iven as they approached the table.

But Griffin noticed. He drew his eyebrows together as if in confusion.

Riley sat in a booth next to Griffin. He bit his lip and glanced at something in his lap. His hand, maybe. But if that was the case, did he know what it meant? Did his body know Cass was his mate?

Griffin glanced at Riley’s hand. Of course, Riley noticed and shook his head while he widened his eyes. Griffin met Cass’s gaze with that same wide-eyed expression.

Iven sat down first, across from Riley, and then Cass slid into the seat next to Iven.

“Holy shit,” Griffin mumbled under his breath.

Cass hoped his expression told Griffin to keep his mouth shut.

Griffin rolled his eyes and put his arm on the back of the seat behind Riley as if in a protective gesture, which made Cass’s wolf growl. As far as his wolf was concerned, Riley was his.

The only problem was that Iven noticed Cass’s behavior mostly because he was making it obvious. Thankfully, Riley kept his head down and his hands in his lap under the table. Iven was oblivious to what was really happening.

“What’s up, man? Do you sense something?”

“Nothing. It’s frustrating. But I’ll talk to Darlene.” Cass walked to the farthest corner of the room. The whole time, he heard Iven dodging Griffin and Riley’s questions.

The diner was the old-fashioned type. The soda machine and coffee makers were on a counter against the far wall. They had a bar. Three guys from the road construction crew sat on stools next to each other, drinking coffee and eating burgers.

There was a jukebox in one corner. It played nothing but oldies. The songs spanned several decades. Still, nothing within the past twenty years. The Chordettes sang Lollipop. Between the music and the vinyl seats, the Diner was a blast from the past. The locals liked it more than the college kids because the Diner hadn’t changed beyond some minor repairs. The citizens of Fortune Falls didn’t like change.

Darlene pressed the button on the soda machine. She was an older lady whose family had owned the Diner for three generations.

Cass tapped the bar, getting her attention. When she turned, he said, “I need to ask you a few questions.”

“All right. Give me a second. My servers are in between shifts.” She set the glass of full soda on a tray and then filled another empty one with ice. “What’s this about?”

“Gregory May. Do you know him?”

“Yeah. He works in the kitchen. Or used to.” That explained the grilled meat scent. Cass thought it had belonged to their murderer. She stared at the glass, watching it fill with her lips pursed as she scowled. “Oh, it’s been about a month since he’s been into the diner. He said he was leaving town and had to quit. Hadn’t heard from him since. Figured he’d just lit on out of here. If you’re asking about him, I’m guessing that isn’t the case.”

Cass shook his head. “He was murdered four days ago.”

Darlene seemed genuinely distraught. She had to stop filling the glass with soda. And she had tears in her eyes. She pulled a tissue from her pocket and dabbed at her eyes.

“Do you remember anything that didn’t seem normal? An argument he might have had or someone hanging around him. Anything at all might be helpful. No matter how small.”

She shook her head but then halted. She came closer, leaning over the counter toward him. “He had a new friend. Started coming around about four months ago. Smallish guy. Dark hair. I think his name was Quincy. Carried a backpack, so he might have been from the college. Greg had stars in his eyes for that kid. No doubt about it.”

Cass nodded and patted the counter. “Thanks, Darlene. That’s helpful.” It gave Cass a timeline. “If you think of anything else, let me know.”

Riley met Cass’s gaze as he returned to their booth. Riley smiled. He was a little shy about it, which was cute.

Cass winked.

When he sat, Iven handed him a menu, but Cass already knew what he wanted, so he put it down.

Darlene’s afternoon server came over and took their drink orders.

When the server left, Iven filled the silence. “I know you two met already, but I’ll make a formal introduction.”

Riley’s eyes widened. “That’s unnecessary. Cass was very nice and let me warm up in his car the other night. We talked for a bit.”

Why did it sound dirty when Riley said that?

Iven nodded. “You can count on Cass.”

Cass tried to smile, but he couldn’t accept the praise. Not when he wanted to do all sorts of naughty things to his best friend’s son. All other thoughts went out of his head, including the case he should be working on since that was part of the reason they were in the diner today.

Griff stood. “Gotta piss. Order me a burger and fries, will ya?”

Griff headed toward the back of the room at about the same time the server dropped off their drinks and took their orders.

Iven nudged Cass. “I’ll talk to the server and the cook since it’s making your wolf aggressive.”

Cass let Iven out and then scooted over until he sat across from Riley.

“My dad thinks you’re aggressive. What does that mean?”

“My eyes are like this for only two reasons. If I’m upset or if I’m around my mate.”

Riley bit his lip. He played with the straw on his soda momentarily and then showed Cass his hand. In the center of his palm appeared to be a tattoo that glowed. The tattoo consisted of tangled vines in the shape of a circle. “I have an overwhelming urge to touch you with this.”

Cass took his hand, putting his over it on the table. “Not here.”

Riley rolled his eyes. “I know.”

Cass smiled. He liked Riley’s sassy attitude.

Griffin started back to the table, so Cass took his hand away.

“Can we talk later?” Riley held his glass to cover up his palm.

“Yeah. I’ll come over later. Leave your window open.”

“Seriously. We’re doing that.” Riley shook his head and sighed. “Fine. But I’ve never had to sneak a boyfriend into my room before. I guess there’s a first time for everything.”

Cass grinned, but it only lasted a moment. “I don’t want you running around town at night. It’s dangerous.”

Riley snorted. “If you think Fortune Falls is dangerous, come to the city.”

Cass grabbed Riley’s wrist at the same time Griffin sat.

Griffin lifted his eyebrows but didn’t comment.

“It is, Riley. You need to be careful.” Cass let him go and met Griffin’s gaze. “You both do.”

“What’s going on? And I’m not talking about whatever the fuck the two of you are doing. I won’t tell Dad, by the way. I wouldn’t want him to die of a heart attack. But holy shit.” Griffin let out a deep sigh. “There. That’s the full extent of my freak-out. Now, what’s this about danger in Fortune Falls?”

“We’re investigating a murder—young guys, like you. We haven’t caught the killer yet. So be careful.”

Riley swallowed. “That’s awful. I hope you catch whoever did it.”

“Me too, baby.” The endearment slipped out.

Griffin shook his head. “Yeah, you don’t have to worry about me telling Dad. The two of you will fuck it up in no time at all.”

“Shut up, Griff.” Cass and Riley said it at the same time. Only Riley didn’t shorten Griffin’s name.

Riley chuckled, which made Cass smile.

Griffin was right about one thing. Cass needed to figure out what he wanted. His best friend and his job or Riley. He had to prepare himself for the eventuality of being unable to have both.