Page 17 of Unhallowed Murder (A Paranormal Halloween #2)

Chapter Fifteen

Ronnie walked into the interrogation room and met the gaze of her pissed-off murder suspect, dressed in orange, with a black eye blossoming on his left side.

His cheek didn’t look so good either. She hoped she hadn’t broken it, but the video would exonerate her of any claims he made about police brutality.

Her own cheek was blossoming as well, but she’d put makeup on so he wouldn’t see. They needed pictures for court, but he didn’t need the satisfaction of knowing he’d hurt her. Myers stood just inside the door, and she hoped Griffin thought it was just policy.

“I read you your rights, and I’m sure they did so again when they booked you. Do you understand them?”

“Yes, and I still don’t understand why I’m here!”

An absolute lie, but she decided not to point it out .

“Where were you on the night of October thirtieth?”

“The church held a Fall Festival on the thirty-first, and I manned the pumpkin trebuchet. Our youth built three of them, and then competed to see who could get their pumpkins the farthest. The night before, I was at the church helping them with the final touches on their trebuchets.”

“How late were you there?”

“I believe I arrived home around ten. Wendy was supposed to help with the cotton candy machine the next night, but she totally skipped out on us without so much as a phone call.” He sighed.

“I was so mad, I didn’t even call to check on her, and then I felt guilty about being mad at her once I found out she’d been killed. ”

Another lie, but it wasn’t time to call him on it just yet.

“So, you left the church before ten o’clock on the thirtieth. Did you go to Wendy’s house? Or did she come to your house? Had ya’ll had sex? I bet you were pissed when you found out she’d screwed someone else.”

He stared at his hands, and Ronnie kept going. “Not only that, but she had the evil, perverted kind of sex with him, when she was supposed to be clean, for you ! It was like she pissed all over everything the two of you had!”

He shook his head and kept staring at his hands. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Another lie, but Ronnie could almost smell the outburst just under his skin.

“All those nights you were so hard you hurt , but you held off, and she goes and gives it up for a stranger , and then has the nerve to cry and act like she’s the victim, and not you!”

“I was going to ask her to marry me! She’d done penance for her sins, for having sex out of wedlock when she was younger, but she’d been celibate for over two years! And then she lay with someone else! She was unclean!”

“So you had to help her get clean, didn’t you!”

“I did! The bible says a woman should be stoned to death, but I figured bullets are the modern-day equivalent, and…” He sighed. “Where would I have even found stones big enough, that late at night?”

Ronnie glanced at the camera, and Corey knew what she was thinking. “Commander Frost is on the phone about the warrant, Lieutenant.” Ronnie wanted to look over the list of items before it was submitted, but she had to trust her people.

“So, walk me through this,” she told the murdering bastard across the table. “Did you drop by her house? Find her crying?”

He must’ve realized he’d just screwed himself, because he shut down. “I need my lawyer.”

“Yes, sir. I believe you’re right about that.”

Ronnie stood and walked out of the room without looking back. Looked like she was going to get to help create that list, after all.

She sat with her team, worked on the list of items they were looking for, and then called everyone into the conference room. Perry had returned after visiting two more churches, and Carter was back after talking to the ex-wife.

Commander Frost had the assistant DA stop by, and she told them, “We can’t prosecute him for a crime in Cancun.

If you want to try to track down every person he left the country with, we can probably make that happen with the FBI’s help, but it sounds as if he only dated people with no family, until Wendy, anyway.

There aren’t going to be missing person’s reports.

No family or friends looking for closure. ”

“So you’re saying there’s no reason to find them?

” Ronnie sighed. From the standpoint of what the department could do with limited funds, she had a point, but it stung.

It was like saying those women didn’t matter.

However, spending resources on a crime they couldn’t prosecute wasn’t going to go over well with the brass.

She looked at her Commander. “I think we should follow the churches back, on the chance we find another murder that may have happened here .”

“We’re going to put him away for murder without doing that, Ronnie.” He used her name, which meant this was a conversation and not him making an edict as Commander.

“Yes, Sir, we are. I’d still like to make sure there isn’t something important we’re missing. We might solve a cold case while we’re at it — someone with family, before he learned to find people no one cared about. ”

He sighed. “Send your junior detectives out. I want your core team focused on making sure we have him dead to rights on this murder.”

“Thank you, Commander.”

* * * *

Ronnie slid into her car at nearly six — earlier than normal, but she hoped to return after dark with a vampire who’d tell her every crime Mick Griffin had committed.

She texted Josef she was on her way, and he called her back on the encoded app she used to talk to Nathan about supernatural issues. She was glad most criminals hadn’t figured this little trick out.

“ Bellula . I hope you’ve had a productive day.”

“Most would say I did. How are you this evening?” Her inner tiger yowled in annoyance, and Ronnie agreed. “Crap, sorry. I hate small talk and I was starting it. I don’t know what to say to you. I mean, asking how you slept is stupid because it isn’t sleep.”

“I am wonderful this evening, with a smile on my face that’s made everyone I’ve been on video chat with a nervous Nelly.”

“Do you need me to bring anything? Should I grab something to eat before I come?”

“Please don’t. I enjoy feeding you.”

“Okay, and I tried not to feel awkward last night, but it’s odd, eating when you aren’t. ”

“I’ve already fed this evening. I will drink wine with you.”

“Is it rude for me to ask how you pick your meals? Do you have someone who stays there?”

“At different times in my life, I’ve had different options.

A team of wolves is nearly always close at hand when I awaken, and I’m welcome to any of them.

Abbott often sends a breakfast treat, someone from his flock.

I occasionally hunt for my own food, when I want a specific flavor or energy, or I’m just in the mood to hunt. ”

She wanted to ask how often he had sex when he fed, but it seemed rude.

Before she could think of something else to say, he told her, “Your Amakhosi paid me a visit shortly after I awakened.”

She sighed. “I’m sorry. He was waiting for me when I arrived home this morning.”

“No need to apologize. As I told him, one usually only has to check in with him before engaging in a friendship — or more — with one of his lionesses. He agreed with me, and there wasn’t a problem.

He gave me the green light, with the usual threats should I harm a single hair on your head, or cause you an ounce of emotional pain. ”

She laughed through her embarrassment. “I really am sorry. He’s a little over-protective, sometimes.”

“Having the Amakhosi protecting you is a good thing, Bellula . I’m glad you have people in your life who love you. ”

Love ? Did Nathan love her? Yes, she supposed he did, but it wasn’t romantic.

Not really fatherly, either. He was her King — her Liege — and she loved him, but she’d never considered his reciprocation, which was silly, in retrospect.

He took time to keep up with her life, and he showed up at her house when he discovered she was involved with a powerful vampire.

Of course these things showed he cared about her as a person and not merely a subject.

“I suppose you’re right. I have my team at work, the friends I was with the other night, Nathan, and even his primary Pride. I mean, I’m not part of the Pride, but I feel close to the women.”

“And your family?”

She sighed. “That’s much too deep a subject for our evening.”

“When you are ready to share it with me, I shall listen.”

After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, he said, “Martin has never expected people to come to him before forming a relationship with one of his tigers. I’m assuming this is still the case?”

“Yes. I’m Martin’s tiger, but since Nathan is king of all cats, I also belong to him.”

“Okay, Bellula . One of my wolves will bring you to me when you arrive. I regret that I cannot meet you aboveground.”

She took a breath. “Are you still open to helping me with my investigation? ”

“I am. Please don’t sound so nervous about asking. I told you — I wish to see this case come to a satisfying conclusion.”

“That isn’t likely, but he’ll at least spend the rest of his life in prison, I hope.”

“You hope?”

“Yes. As it stands now, he might get out when he’s an old man. I need help making sure he comes out in a bodybag.”

“Then I shall help you.”

“I’m pulling into your neighborhood. I’ll let you go. See you in a few minutes.”

Josef lived on a different road than the coterie house, but if he went through the backyards, he was actually quite close. A female werewolf met her in the driveway and motioned her to pull into the six-car garage.

It didn’t escape Ronnie’s notice that the doors leading downstairs were open before she came into the living room. He wasn’t ready for her to know how to open those doors, which was understandable. The old ones didn’t get that way by taking chances with their hidey-holes.