Page 23 of Patrick’s Seduction (Scanguards Vampires #19)

23

I t was early afternoon when Patrick entered his home accompanied by Anita. He found Fallon in the dining room, a half-empty plate in front of her. Lydia sat across from her, with only a glass of water in front of her.

“You’re back,” Fallon said, a relieved expression washing over her face. “Oh, hi Anita.”

“Hey, Fallon,” Anita replied.

Patrick pulled the chair next to Fallon out from under the table and sat down on the edge of it, his body turned toward Fallon. He took a breath, not knowing how to start. Anita remained silent, and Lydia cast them a worrying look. She knew him well, and clearly sensed that he had important news to share.

“What’s wrong?” Fallon said into the silence, dropping her fork onto the plate, where it made a clanging noise.

“It’s about Cameron,” Patrick started.

He noticed Fallon holding her breath.

“The Marin County Sheriff’s Office told us that he died in a car crash about two months ago.”

A loud gasp tore from Fallon’s throat, and her eyes widened in disbelief. “That can’t be! It’s impossible. I saw him, I spoke to him.”

Patrick put his hand on hers, noticing how it trembled.

“They’re lying,” Fallon insisted. “Why would they lie about that?” Her gaze shifted to Anita.

Anita stepped closer to the table. “We don’t know why.”

“First, we have to confirm that we’re talking about the same person, or whether the man you know is an imposter,” Patrick said, although he didn’t believe it, but he needed to be thorough before they could move on to the next steps. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and tapped on the driver’s license he’d downloaded earlier.

“What do you mean?” Fallon asked.

He turned the display of his cell phone toward her so she could see the photo. “Is that the Cameron Gallagher you were dating?”

Fallon stared at the photo and instantly nodded. “Yes, that’s him.” She lifted her eyes to meet his. “What is going on?”

Patrick glanced at his two colleagues, then looked back at Fallon. “We don’t know yet, but according to the sheriff, Cameron died in a car crash about eight weeks ago. His body was so badly burned that the only way he could be identified was by dental records.”

“They must be wrong!” Fallon cried out. “He’s alive. He attacked me in my lab only two nights ago. And you said you saw him.” The more she spoke, the more agitated she sounded.

Patrick took her hand in his. “Fallon, please, take a breath. I saw Cameron, too. Somebody faked his death, either he himself or his family. I don’t know yet.”

“But why? Why would he fake his own death?”

“There could be many reasons. And we’ll find out why.” He exchanged a look with Lydia. “I’ve gotta go back to the office. I need you to stay with Fallon.”

“No problem,” Lydia replied.

“What are you gonna do?” Fallon asked, anxiety visibly wrapping around her.

“We need to figure out what he was trying to hide that made him feel it was necessary to fake his own death.” And he knew it had something to do with the fact that Cameron was a werewolf. But he couldn’t tell Fallon that. She would freak out.

He had his suspicions as to why Cameron saw the need to fake his own death, but he needed to speak to his colleagues to confirm he was on the right track.

“Once we know,” Patrick added, “we can take him down, and you’ll never have to see him again.”

Fallon nodded, her jaw locked, her expression grim.

Patrick reluctantly let go of Fallon’s hand and rose. He wanted to take her into his arms to reassure her that everything would turn out alright, but he couldn’t do it for two reasons: he didn’t want to openly show his feelings for Fallon, and he wasn’t entirely sure that everything would be alright. After all, they were dealing with werewolves. Any number of things could go wrong. And a werewolf like Cameron, who’d most likely killed before, was unpredictable.

“Anita, let’s go. They’re waiting for us at HQ.”