“Go to hell,” Angelina spat.
“Whoever your mastermind is will kill you. Seems a shame you’ll die and the murderer will get away with not only eliminating your spiteful hide, but abscond with the money.”
Angelina glowered at her, the flecks of gold in her amber eyes like burning embers.
“Who’s your accomplice? Who tried to kill you?”
Angelina crinkled the bed linens in her good hand. “I don’t know who it is. Ritka dealt with him.”
Lelandi’s heart missed a beat. “But it’s a he?”
“Yes. He orchestrated the whole setup. At least I’m pretty sure it’s a he.” Angelina glowered. “Your sister was despicably weak. We all knew it. She should never have been the pack leader’s bitch.”
Lelandi opened her mouth to retort, but Darien entered the room and shook his head at her, his look dark, but sympathetic. “Let my men and me question her, Lelandi.” He ran his hand over her shoulder and down her arm, taking hold of her hand and kissing it. “Silva wants to talk to you at the nurse’s station.”
Lelandi kissed Darien’s cheek, and quickly wiped away a tear rolling down hers. “She admitted to blackmailing Larissa. Another orchestrated the whole sorry affair. She said Joe stole the silver from the mine.” Before she gave in to her darker wolf instincts and broke Angelina’s other arm for good measure. Lelandi stormed out of the room.
Standing beside Peter, Sam growled. “I was supposed to be watching you.”
“Peter had the job. I’m going to speak to Silva. Right down there. All right?” She glanced down the hall at Carol’s room. Tom guarded her now. “Where did Trevor go?”
“He’s helping the sheriff with the train derailment,” Sam said. “This town’s never going to be the same.”
“You didn’t get any flak, did you?” Lelandi asked Peter.
“No, ma’am.”
Sam ground his teeth. “I did, for not knowing where you were when I called Darien.”
Lelandi smiled at the rough and tumble bartender and patted his shoulder. “You can handle it.” Then she joined Silva at the unmanned nurse’s desk. “Did you find out anything?”
“Nurse Grey said no one was brought in for injuries sustained in a mudslide during the night of the shootings.”
“Which could mean none of the injuries were severe enough to require hospital care.”
“Right. So I checked with the Silver Town Express staff. None were aware of the mudslide, but because of the shootings they had concentrated on that news.”
“What about the guys who have to clear the roads during a storm?”
“My next thought exactly.” Silva waved a slip of paper, showing each of the points she’d checked off. “I called the road-clearing crew supervisor. On the night the gunman shot you, no mudslides had been reported, but several of his crew were searching for you in the woods. All were on call, so if a mudslide had occurred, they would have been notified.”
“What about when Trevor was supposed to be with the sheriff at Hastings Bed and Breakfast and didn’t show up to help in the fight against my red pack?”
“One way to find out.” Silva grabbed the phone off the nurse’s desk and punched in some numbers. She handed the phone to Lelandi.
“Hastings Bed and Breakfast. This is Bertha Hastings. How may I help you?”
“Mrs. Hastings? This is Lelandi. Was Trevor there when the reds came to take me home?”
“The sheriff sent him on an errand. When he didn’t return, Sheridan left some men to watch the reds, and he searched for the deputy. He found him and had him guard the prisoner at the jailhouse.” Mrs. Hastings paused, then added, “Many thought Darien would take Trevor’s sister as his mate, but then he made it clear he was looking for someone outside the pack. Rumors began to circulate that Darien had a dream and the visions changed his mind. Trevor’s sister left Silver Town, joined another pack. and mated with a beta male. Too loyal to the pack, Trevor won’t leave, but he resented Larissa because his sister didn’t share the bed of the alpha pack leader. His position would have been elevated if Darien had taken his sister as his mate. Trevor figured he’d be sheriff when Sheridan retired.”
“Do you think he could have masterminded blackmailing my sister?”
“I doubt it. He might not like that your sister stole Darien’s affections, but he’s not that underhanded. He huffs and puffs and can be disagreeable, but that’s as far as It goes.”
“When the gunman shot Tom, Sam, and me, there had been no mudslide, no injured victims. He said he was taking care of that mess instead of searching for me.”
Mrs. Hastings took a deep breath and exhaled. “Obviously, he’s guilty of a dereliction of his duties. Ask him. Whatever I can do to shed any light on this, please, anytime. call me.”
“I will. Thanks.” Lelandi hung up the phone. If Trevor was not doing his duty and tried to cover it up, what was he doing?”
The sound of footfalls headed in their direction and they turned. Darien stalked toward them with Jake at his side. Neither looked happy.
Darien slipped his hand around Lelandi’s arm, escorting her in the direction of the front doors while Jake shadowed them. “I’m taking you home.”
“What did Angelina say?”
“She doesn’t know who the mastermind is. Rltka knew, but wouldn’t say. Since Hosstene was my accountant at the factory, she cleared Larissa’s checks without a word to me.”
“If Ritka was the only one dealing with this guy, do you think they had sexual relations?”
“Doc Featherston conducted an autopsy and confirmed she wasn’t a virgin, yet officially, she’d never been mated.”
Lelandi let out her breath. “So he might have been her lover, too. But no male seems to be unduly upset at her passing.” She glanced back at Silva, looking abandoned. “Can Silva come with us?”
“Later. I want her to stay with Carol for now and keep her company. She needs someone to talk to until she can settle into her new life.”
“Hrumpf,” Lelandi said. “She’ll brainwash her.”
Darien stared down at Lelandi as he walked her to his new SUV. “Brainwash her?”
“Sure, tell her that the grays were the first lupus garous.”
Darien laughed. “I’m staying out of this one.”
“Can Trevor guard the house?”
“Carol thinks he’s involved. She told Tom all that she suspected. I have Uncle Sheridan checking Trevor’s story out, and in the meantime, he’s got jailhouse duty.”
“I think he’s being set up. Why not have him guard me, and you can have someone watch him just in case. When you’re not around.”
“What are you up to, Lelandi?” He helped her into the SUV,
“I just want to talk to him.”
Jake climbed into the backseat.
“I was seeing his sister,” Darien said, sounding tired.
“I know.” She took his hand and kissed it. “But then you had a vision. But not exactly a vision.”
“The dream where I first found you. I knew then I had to have you, no other. Trevor was angry, his sister heartbroken. He didn’t care so much about how his sister felt, but that he would have had more leverage with me had I mated her. When Larissa came to Silver Town and we were mated, Annie took off for Green Valley and mated with a gray there. I understand she’s happy and due to have twins in the spring.”
“‘Do you think Trevor could have been blackmailing Larissa?”
“Anything’s possible.”
Surprised Darien would permit it, Lelandi sat on one of the sofas, waiting for Trevor to join her in the sunroom, ready to question him about his mudslide story. The snow fell steadily outside the windows and a fire blazed in a rock fireplace centered in the room, giving it a homey, comfortable ambience—which didn’t fit the mood of what she was about to do. Trevor’s face couldn’t have been any stonier and his icy glare held her gaze when he stalked into the room. But she steeled her resolve while Jake remained outside within earshot.