Chapter Two
I hissed a breath. Murder? Ronald Ellis—good-natured, sweet, unassuming Ronald Ellis—had been charged by the were council for the murder of Zinnia Hutchins?
That was like saying Winnie the Pooh ran a drug ring for the cartel.
Blinking, I took Hollis’s hand again. “Hollis, how did you find this out? Did Dad tell you? Does he know you’re here?”
Keegan, in all his protective fatherly love for our only child, would never have allowed her to come all this way in such a state. Not in a million years.
Nina quietly tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to the email, making it larger so I could see that Keegan had no idea where Hollis was, and he was frantic.
“I’ll text him,” Wanda offered, rising to go to her desk. “You take care of our girl.”
But Hollis shook her head vehemently, the lush waves of her raven hair falling around her shoulders and down along her back. “No! Daddy doesn’t even know I’m here. I was so panicked when Charmaine called me, the first thing I thought to do was find you and my aunties.”
While that warmed my heart to its very cockles, and it still wasn’t time to give her hell for running so far from home, I needed to know where Charmaine was first.
“Where’s Charmaine, Nugget?” Nina asked, squeezing Hollis’s shoulder, virtually reading my mind.
Hollis visibly gulped and shuddered. “She’s at the council headquarters. Oh, Mom, it must be so awful for her. God, it’s so gross there.”
Hollis knew because it was a mandatory eighth grade trip for all little werewolves to visit the council clink—sort of like a scared-straight effort to teach them what happens when you step out of line as a werewolf.
I’m sure that sounds harsh to most humans, but weres took the possibility of exposure very seriously. Because we mingled with humans on the daily, the punishments they meted out were ten times worse for the smallest of infractions compared to what a human might receive.
“Are Rafe and Eve with her?”
Now she made a face I was familiar with. The one that said I was a moron for not being able to read her mind. “Mrs. Ellis two-point-O is, but you know how much she hates Eve, Mom. She needs me to be there with her! You have to take me. You have to help them! Pleeease!”
Wanda slipped back into our reception area and gave me a nod. We mostly didn’t need to speak in times where it was best we kept our traps shut. Without a word, I knew she’d relayed to Keegan that Hollis was safe.
I shot her a smile of appreciation before I turned to Nina, who was setting fire to her phone, texting someone. I cocked my head, another silent signal of inquiry.
“Texting with Darnell. He’s got a guy he plays darts with who works at the council. Ellis is definitely there, and so is Charmaine. No word on charges yet, though. Just the accusation.”
My head popped up as I jumped of the sofa and tugged her by the arm out of the reception area. “That being?”
Nina popped her lips. “That he killed Zinnia. The council police found her with her head smashed in by a statue, in the room where the vault’s located. And get this—Ronald Elis is the one who called the council.”
I cringed. “But why would he kill Zinnia?” I couldn’t even fathom it. I didn’t know a lot about the girl. As far as I knew, she was in college and came home during breaks to see her mother.
She was a sweet young woman who often helped her mom clean the Ellis household or organize an event with Ron’s new wife when she was home from school. I couldn’t imagine how Pearl must be feeling, but I made a mental note to reach out to her as soon as I figured the rest of this out.
“I have no fucking idea. He’s a pretty tame dude, but Darnell says his contact told him Ellis confessed to killing her. Literally told the council police when they showed up that it was him.”
My eyes flew open wide. “ He what?”
Nina bounced her head, rocking back on her heels. “Ronald Ellis confessed to killing Zinnia Hutchins.”
We needed to get to council headquarters STAT.
Pulling Hollis upward, I pointed to the door leading to the driveway. “You’re right. We need to get there ASAP, but I’m not sure it’s a good idea that you go with us. You’re not wrong when you say it’s gross.”
Council headquarters, located in a crazy-remote area of Buffalo, looked like a rundown factory, but it’s been around for hundreds of years.
They had “restricted area” signs posted everywhere, and mostly humans paid it no mind due to the fact that it was so hard to find. Local government didn’t appear to care about it much, either, as long as the tax bills were paid on time.
But it was a disgusting, outdated dump that I didn’t want my daughter anywhere near. I didn’t love that Charmaine was there, either.
Almost instantly, Hollis began a protest. “But Mom?—”
“Nope and nope, Nugget. I know you wanna see your girl, and I promise you we’ll take care of her, but that joint’s no place for a kid. And you are a kid. If you want us to focus on figuring out what’s going on, we can’t be worried about you. Now, if you go upstairs with Grampa Arch and Tater Tot—and behave yourself—I’ll do that viral dance thing with you that you’ve been bugging me about for your Insta. The condo dance or whatever it’s called. M’kay?”
Nina, surprisingly enough, was a terrific dancer. I thought I knew everything about my BFF. I never expected to find out she had rhythm for days, but one afternoon when Hollis was fooling around with a friend, trying to do Beyonce’s “Texas Hold ’Em” dance, and Nina saw them struggling to get a move right, she helped.
I mean, I always knew she loved music. We’d often catch her, headphones on, head thrown back, singing her heart out to “Can’t Smile Without You” or “Copacabana”.
She adored Barry Manilow, mostly due to her mother’s love for him, but her dancing was, as Hollis said, on point.
Hollis’s face immediately went from dark to light as she gripped Nina’s arm. “It’s called the apartment dance—and really? I bet that would cheer Charmaine up.”
Kids were so optimistic. I’m not sure the apartment dance, or whatever it was called, would make Charmaine feel better about her father killing Zinnia, but if it gave Hollis hope, that’s all that mattered to me.
“Whatever, and yeah, really. Now scoot. No arguments with your mom. Do as you’re told, kiddo. Give your mother a hug and hit the bricks.” She planted a kiss on Hollis’s forehead and pointed to the stairs.
Hollis gave her aunt a hard hug before turning to me and throwing her arms around my waist. “Please help Charmaine,” she whispered.
“I’ll do whatever it takes. Promise.” I gave her a kiss on the top of her head and sent her on her way.
While I watched her scurry up the stairs, my heart constricted in my chest. She was so beautiful, tall and slender, her ribbons of almost waist-length hair streaming down her back. I hated that her innocence had been compromised, that the ugliness of the world had intruded on it and now, nothing would ever be the same.
I know that sounds ridiculous. Some would say tragedy helps you grow and learn—and it does—but it doesn’t mean any parent wants to see their child experience it.
Squeezing Nina’s arm, I silently thanked her for taking over as Wanda wrapped her arms around our shoulders. “So to the gross were council we go, yes?”
I smiled vaguely and nodded. I don’t know how I got as lucky as I did when it comes to best friends. I was alone in the world, with no family to speak of when I met them, but I hit the lottery with two women who would do anything for me and mine, as much as they’d do for their own.
And in case you’re wondering, for all the grief Nina gives me, I mean her, too.
Nina jammed her hands into the pockets of her hoodie. “Christ on a cracker, Hollis is right. It’s gross in here.” Her eyes scanned the interior of the council’s waiting room, where everyone and their mother sat around, slouched in chairs, waiting to see the council police.
The entire place smelled of urine and sweat. So much so, Wanda kept pulling her cute sky-blue coat over her nose and inhaling.
To say the were council/jail was a bit archaic wasn’t an understatement. They didn’t believe in aesthetics for criminals. There were no calming walls painted in a soothing blue to tame the savage beast. No good cop/bad cop interrogations. All the were cops were snarling and angry, period.
The area where people waited to speak to the council about trivial things, like complaints against another were for their bushes leaning on their property line, was the same place where they hauled in the worst of the worst in our culture. Drunks, rabble-rousers, thieves, all packed into one room filled with turmoil.
Few attempts had been made to make any changes or progress with the times, and it showed, from the dirty concrete floors to the messy desks where the council officers sat. Phones rang, officers shouted, and in general, chaos ensued.
My eyes searched the dregs of were-manity for Charmaine. When I saw her, my heart clenched so hard, I thought it might break in two. She sat in a corner, making herself as small as possible, smushed between two unsavory-looking men in dirty clothes.
She looked so tiny, so fragile with her hands tucked inside her red jacket, I almost cried out, but Wanda and Nina were there to help me keep it together.
They bracketed me, each taking one of my arms, ushering me toward Charmaine. When she saw me, she struggled her way out from between the two haggard-looking men and fell into my arms with a ragged sob.
“Mrs. Flaherty!”
“Hey, sweetheart, where ya goin’?” one of the vagrants snarled, the stench of alcohol rife as he reached out a beefy, dirty hand to grab her.
Nina was suddenly there, looming over him, flashing her fangs in a second flat. “I’m gonna suggest you back right the fuck off, scumbag. Pretty sure the council won’t like it if you’re tryin’ to fuck with a minor, and if they don’t care, I do, Weirdo.” She crammed a finger into his doughy chest. “Now sit the fuck back down before I make paté from your intestines.”
With that, she gave him a shove, knocking him back into his seat.
He grunted an angry sound, sniffing the air, likely to see if Nina was a fellow were, but Wanda leaned into him, pulling off her faux leather driving gloves—a sign she meant business.
“Sit. Now . Or I’ll make you look like the smarmy skunk of a coward you are. And stay away from children, you ratty piece of garbage,” she hissed, swatting his face with her gloves.
Charmaine clung to me as I pulled her slight frame close, and she began to cry. “I hate it here! They have my dad in some room. He’s been there for hours and hours, but nobody will tell me anything about what’s happening.”
I set her from me and wiped the tears streaming down her cheeks. “Where’s Eve, honey? I thought she was here with you.”
Her nose wrinkled a little, but she made an obvious fight to hide her distaste. “They’re questioning her, too, Mrs. Flaherty.”
That made complete sense. Didn’t they always question family members in the human world? Naturally, they’d want to know what Eve knew because she was intimately connected to Ronald.
I gripped her shoulders, shaking beneath her velvety jacket. “What about Rafe? Is he here somewhere?”
The misery on her face, deepened, her pretty green eyes, red from crying, tearing back up. “He’s on his way back from school right now. He should be here soon.”
“Good. Now we need to get you out of here. This is no place for a young lady. Let’s go back to my friend Nina’s house, where Hollis is waiting. Okay?”
I needed to find out if Ron was going to be granted bail. He’d confessed to murder, so that might not be in the cards, but I still needed to speak to him. How I’d do that was beyond me. We couldn’t fool these people into believing we were lawyers—most of them knew who we were. And we couldn’t fake our way as Bobbie Sue sales reps with this one, like we did in our last case.
But Charmaine pulled away from me, shaking her sandy-blonde head, her cheeks bright red. “No! We have to wait for my dad! He could come out at any minute, and I don’t want him to think I just left him here. He feels bad enough as it is. I can’t leave him alone!”
Darnell appeared out of nowhere and clamped a hand on my shoulder, his quiet presence reassuring amongst the dregs of society.
Nina stood behind Charmaine, planting her hands on her shoulders. “What if my friend Darnell takes you back to the castle to be with Hollis, and Mrs. Flaherty waits here for your dad? You remember Darnell, right? He plays Santa Claus at the Flahertys’ Christmas parties. Besides, you don’t want to sit around this dump with these jokers, do you?”
Charmaine’s eyes pleaded with me. “You promise you’ll wait?”
I pulled her into a hug, resting my cheek on top of her head. “I promise, honey. Now go. I’ll wait to see your dad and tell Eve where you are. Hollis is worried sick about you. She’ll be glad to see you.”
With a small nod, she let Darnell lead her away, leaving us looking at each other to decide what to do next.
Wanda blew out a breath, tugging her jacket off. “How the heck are we going to get in to see Ronald? Every official in the council knows who we are. It’s not like we can pretend to have law degrees.”
If I didn’t think that very thing before, the sentiment was confirmed by the way council police kept turning around in their seats and glaring at us.
Nina, being Nina, glared right back and planted her hands on her hips. “Hey!” she shouted with a growl. “What the fuck are you all lookin’ at? Anybody who’s got a problem with us, put your adult panties on and come see me. Otherwise, turn your asses around and fight crime.”
Nothing but phones ringing and the sound of chests heaving in anger were heard before they all turned back to what they were doing. Even the highest ranking of the council police looked down at their feet.
Nina clucked her tongue, jutting her chin out. “Yeah. That’s what I thought.”
While the heat of their glares was gone, and that was all well and good…what next?
Nina grabbed my hand and tugged me toward a desk where a man wasn’t hiding his disinterest as he took complaints from the people waiting in line.
Wanda and I gave her a strange look, but she held up a finger as she pushed her way through the line, me in tow, and clapped a hand on the counter to get his attention.
A gnarled were with a shaggy beard and a shaggier uniform (I use that word loosely, by the by), gave her the old eyeball of doom.
He cocked his graying head. “You gotta wait in line like everybody else, lady.”
Nina leaned over the desk, her eyes on fire as she looked at his tarnished name tag. “Do I, Murray?”
He sat up straight, his eyes glazing over. “No,” was the wooden reply.
“Now take me to wherever you’re keeping Ronald Ellis in this shithole, and take me now.”
He abruptly pushed away from his desk, rounded the corner and motioned for us to follow. He waddled his way down the hall while Nina focused her eyes on his back.
“What’s happening?” I whispered to Wanda, as we followed behind them.
Wanda patted my arm. “Shhh, don’t break her concentration. She’s inside his head.”
I’d forgotten she could do the Vulcan mind meld. Again, I try never to forget how well we all work together, how valuable the skills we each brought to the table were, despite our disagreements.
Murray stopped at a dark brown door with peeling paint and a small viewing window, jammed a key into the lock, and popped it open.
I peered around at the dismal room with nothing more than a couple of metal chairs, as rusted as the dirty table smack in the middle.
And there sat Ronald, his pudgy hands folded together, chained to the desk with silver-lined handcuffs made especially to contain a werewolf, his face weary, his eyes desperate, almost dazed. He didn’t even look up at us.
How odd? I get that he was probably exhausted, but surely, he should at least be curious about what was going on. Yet, he looked… Dead inside, for lack of a better description.
Nina turned to Murray and slapped him on the shoulder, her jaw tight. “Go back to your desk, Murray, and forget this ever happened. You never saw us.”
Like a robot, Murray turned back around and left us with Ronald, closing the door behind him.
I gripped Nina’s hands. “Thanks, friend.”
She blinked, shaking off the effort it took to get inside someone’s head. “You bet.”
Then, so she wouldn’t think I was going soft, I teased, “Gosh, Nina. Your hands are like sandpaper. There’s this thing called moisturizer, you know.”
“Gosh, Blondie, your mouth is open. There’s this thing called shut up.”
“Knock it off, you two. Let’s get down to business,” Wanda chided, pointing to a bedraggled Ronald.
I crossed the drably painted room and put a hand on Ronald’s shoulder. “Ron, it’s Marty. Are you okay?”
That’s when he turned to me, his eyes wide and wild as he screamed, “I did it! I killed Zinnia! Lock me up!”