Chapter 148

My heart pounded against my ribs. My breathing grew shallow. All I could see was the end of the gun’s barrel.

“You don’t want to do this,” I said, raising my hands in a passive gesture.

“You don’t understand,” the man said, gripping his gun so tightly that his hand shook. “I have to do this. He said that I do.”

I blinked in confusion.

“Who said that you have to?”

“I-I’m sorry. I can’t tell you.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jeffrey sneaking up on the gunman. I just needed to keep him distracted for a little longer.

“Yes, you can. You’re going to kill me anyway, right? I deserve to know who wants me dead.”

The man growled in frustration and ran his free hand through his hair.

“You don’t understand!”

Just as the homeless werewolf cocked his gun, Jeffrey pounced on him. He pinned the other man’s arms down with his legs and ripped the pistol out of his hand, throwing it far out of his reach.

“Call the police!” he yelled over his shoulder.

• * *

Andrew paced the length of the interrogation room at the police station. His anger grew with each step he took, and he had to take deep breaths through his nostrils to keep himself from launching at Crystal’s attacker. His fists clenched and unclenched behind his back so quickly that his arms nearly cramped.

He knew that he should let the cops handle this, that he was too close to the case, but he couldn’t leave Crystal’s safety in just anybody’s hands. After they failed to find who had arranged her kidnapping, he didn’t trust the police with these investigations anymore.

Andrew stopped in front of the table directly across from the gunman. The mangy man’s eyes darted nervously about the room. He wrung his calloused hands and swayed back and forth slightly.

“So, in addition to trying to shoot Crystal, you say that you planted the bomb in her car,” Andrew said.

The homeless werewolf nodded.

“And no one else was involved at all?”

The homeless werewolf shook his head.

“Are you sure about that?”

The homeless werewolf nodded again.

Andrew leaned forward, planting his palms on the metal table, and stared into the other man’s eyes. His eyes narrowed, and the gunman fidgeted. Even when the gunman looked away, Andrew’s eyes did not move until he was done with his search of the homeless werewolf’s mind.

His assessment finished, Andrew stood up straight and began to pace once more.

“I know that you’re lying,” he said firmly.

“N-no, I’m not lying!” the gunman declared. “It was all me, I swear. No one else.”

Andrew shook his head.

“I know that you did not plant the bomb in Crystal’s car. I also know that you did not try to shoot her of your own accord. What I don’t know is whom you’re covering for.”

Andrew stopped pacing and faced the homeless werewolf again.

“So, why don’t you make this easier for both of us and just tell me who it is?”

The gunman shook his head violently.

“You don’t understand. I had to do it!”

Andrew arched a brow at him.

“What do you mean, you had to do it?”

“He said that he’d kill me if I didn’t!”

“Who?”

The homeless werewolf ran both his hands through his hair and clutched it tightly, as though he were going to pull clumps of it out.

“I can’t tell you,” he said as he rocked back and forth. “I can’t.”

Andrew frowned, realizing that this poor man was nothing but a tormented pawn in someone else’s sick game. He had an idea of whose game it probably was, but he needed confirmation.

“You don’t need to worry about this other person,” he assured the other man. “I have the resources to protect you from him. You just need to tell me who he is.”

The homeless werewolf stared up at him with desperate, bloodshot eyes. It was clear to Andrew now that this man had not gotten sleep in days. This plot had eaten away at his conscience, and now that might be enough for him to flip on his employer.

The gunman cast his eyes down and shook his head again.

“I can’t. I can’t. I can’t.”

• * *

I waited at the front of the police station for Andrew as he interrogated the gunman. It unnerved me to be there again, after having so recently been there to identify my kidnappers and as a suspect in Mr. Brown’s murder. The officers treated me kindly, when they bothered to acknowledge my existence, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had been there far too often for my liking.

I was texting all the details to Lily when a gust of Andrew’s scent caught my attention. I looked up and saw him approaching me. He held himself as tall as ever, but a weariness tinged his eyes.

I stood up and hugged him.

“How did it go?” I asked, though I already had a feeling.

“Let’s head for the car,” he said, his voice flat.

I didn’t question him.

We went out to the gold Aston Martin and situated ourselves in our seats before Andrew spoke again.

“He said that he acted alone, both on the car bomb and with the shooting,” he said, facing out the windshield.

“But you don’t think he was telling the truth?”

Andrew shook his head.

“I read his mind. He wasn’t. I just couldn’t find for certain why or for whom he was covering. Then…”

I swallowed.

“Then what?”

“Then he said that ‘he’ would kill him.”

“‘He’? Who’s ‘he’?”

Andrew shrugged.

“I don’t know for sure. He wouldn’t say. However…”

I waited for him to continue. When he didn’t, I said, “You have a hunch?”

Andrew nodded.

“Bob?” I asked timidly.

He nodded again. His hand curled into a fist.

“I’m certain of it, but I don’t have enough evidence yet. I need to keep pressing on this gunman until he admits that Bob is the one who sent him after you.”

I thought about what this could mean for me, for us. If Andrew could get this man to admit that Bob hired or blackmailed him in some capacity to kill me, then Bob could be sent to jail for a long time. Andrew would remain Alpha King, and I wouldn’t have to look over my shoulder all the time.

Then I thought about what it would do to Andrew and Lisa’s relationship. Lisa would never forgive Andrew for getting Bob into trouble. She might even be in on his plot to get rid of me, and she could go away for a long time as well.

I couldn’t let any of that happen, not if I really cared about Andrew.

I reached over and grabbed Andrew’s hand.

“Andrew, please, don’t pursue this any further,” I said.

Andrew’s brows furrowed.

“What are you saying? This is your safety that we’re talking about! I’m going to follow it through until I know there are no more threats to you.”

I squeezed his hand gently.

“Lisa will never forgive you if you get evidence that Bob is actually a bad guy. Please, for the sake of your relationship with her, don’t go down that path.”