Muffled conversation renewed.
“She saw not Trevor in the vision, but another man, who shoved the chair out from under Larissa’s feet, allowing her to strangle until she was dead.”
Darien held onto Lelandi when she felt ready to collapse, but she had to remain strong as the pack leader’s mate, and she bit back the tears, willing them to stay at bay.
“Carol’s visions aren’t clear all the time, she explained to me. But one thing was—he wore a police uniform.”
“Trevor,” Sheridan said, his voice booming.
“At first, that’s what Carol thought since all evidence pointed to him. But she touched the rope the murderer had tied into a noose. That man was you, Uncle Sheridan. You went on vacation, thinking you’d committed the perfect crime—murdered my mate, who was a disgrace to the pack because she was already mated and now having another gray’s offspring. But you hadn’t planned on Larissa having a family. A sister, who would come to avenge her. Ritka must have notified you when she was at the tavern that Lelandi had arrived, and you hurried home to take care of the mess.”
“But Trevor’s gun fired the fatal bullet that killed the gunman. He was the shooter.” Sheridan said.
“My brothers and I investigated your house when you searched for evidence at Trevor’s. We had already inspected his home first and found nothing to connect him with the crimes. However, at your home, we discovered the hunter’s spray that makes an individual smell like decaying leaves. At Angelina’s home, we found the kind that makes a person invisible to other animals. Why would either of you need hunter’s sprays to hide your scent?”
Sheridan gave a coy smile. “I have no idea why Angelina would have such a thing, but the stuff I have was evidence.”
“Hidden underneath your bathroom sink? And the GHB? Used to drug so many at the hospital? We found it in the same location.”
“More evidence. I couldn’t keep it at the jailhouse. Trevor might have destroyed it. Besides, I was drugged, too, remember?”
“Conveniently, yes. To counter suspicion. And you were the one in charge of so many of the investigations. You could ‘find’ whatever suited your purposes. If you had ‘found’ the GHB used in the crime at the hospital, why hadn’t you reported it? We checked the area where we discovered Lelandi after she’d been shot. No decaying leaves like you’d said.”
Lelandi shivered, realizing how close she’d come to death at Darien’s uncle’s hands.
“I must have gone to the wrong location. At the time of the shooting, I was at a hotel—”
“We investigated the hotel already. You checked in, but you disappeared in a hurry. One of the maids said you left several items in the bathroom and on the desk. You grabbed your bag, threw it in the truck, and roared out of there like the devil was after you. Even the manager said she noticed because you nearly hit another vehicle and the driver laid on the horn,” Darien said.
“So I left in a hurry. Mason called me and said several shootings had occurred, and I needed to return at once.”
“He called you on your cell phone well after you’d left the hotel. Time enough for you to have heard from Ritka, hired a gunman, and return so you could strangle Lelandi.”
Uncle Sheridan turned his murderous glower on Trevor. “He has no alibi for the night of the shootings. He lied. And if I was strangling Lelandi, who shot the gunman?”
Darien offered a sinister smile. “You admit there had to be two of you? That the time was such that someone else had to have shot and killed the gunman? Only Jake and I knew this.”
Sheridan’s Jaw ticked in restrained anger.
“True. Trevor lied about where he was. But he does have an alibi. He’s been having an affair with an underage lupus garou.”
Ohmigod, was it Caitlin?
Sheridan looked smug. “Then the girl lied. To give him an alibi,”
“Her mother told me about her daughter’s condition. She found them in bed together in a hotel on the outskirts of town. She was giving them the riot act for an hour at the same time when the shooting of the gunman occurred. Angelina used Trevor’s gun to murder the gunman. You and she are without alibis.”
“She’s conveniently dead so she can’t defend herself. But then again, she hated Larissa and Lelandi, so maybe she did hire the gunman. She did have the blackmail money.”
Darien snorted. “You said Trevor had it.” He waved a diary in the air. “Ritka was your lover. Doc Featherston examined the body and learned she’d been mated. Ritka wrote how you’d set up the blackmail scheme and when Larissa discovered you were the mastermind, you killed her. You were obsessed with keeping the pack line clean, and Ritka feared you, although you continued to come to her night after night. She was your partner in crime, along with Hosstene and Angelina, who you conveniently disposed of. But, you, damn it, you are my own flesh and blood.”
“Your mate was a whore and brought shame to both the pack and our family’s good name. It was only a matter of time before she took off with Joe. He’d been stealing from the silver mine so he and his lover could leave here. You would have gone after her, killed Joe, and brought her and her bastard children back to the pack as your own, while she remained the female pack leader, weak and disloyal. With her lover dead, do you think she would have changed her ways? Bah! She would have been more depressed. bringing the whole pack down with her. I couldn’t allow it.” Uncle Sheridan tore at his shirt. “You want me to fight Trevor. I will.”
Lelandi hated Sheridan, but his words tore at her heart. He was probably right about everything he said. The pack would have suffered. But she couldn’t agree her sister should have died because she had loved the wrong man.
Darien grunted. “No. I only wanted to draw the truth from you. You’ve shamed the family and our pack. You’ll fight me.”
Several of the pack members patted Trevor on the back, although some gave him dirty looks. Taking an underage lupus garou was unacceptable in their society, and Lelandi wondered again if it was Caitlin.
She glanced at Doc Mitchell and his gaze met hers. Caitlin’s parents were absent. In fact, no underage lupus garou were present. When Bruin had such a gathering, everyone from the pack, regardless of age, was required to attend.
Darien kissed Lelandi’s lips. “I’m sorry, Lelandi. I had to be sure.”
“You’ve always done right by me. You will for Larissa as well.”
Darien took a deep breath and nodded. ‘It ends here and now.” He turned to face his pack. “To the field.”
The battlefield.
Chapter 26
As SOON AS LELANDI SAW SHERIDAN IN HIS WOLF COAT, SHE knew he was the one who’d stalked her in the woods. Too bad the pickup hadn’t run him over on the road.
Nearly everyone loped out into the winter setting in their wolf forms where the upper crust of snow was crisp and giant snowflakes fluttered earthward. Wolves have the advantage over larger animals on deep-crusted snow, although Lelandi figured Sheridan wouldn’t fall through the snow like a moose or elk might, slowing him down. despite his heftier size. Though she could hope.
Carol, not ready to join the wolf pack to watch another killing fight, didn’t shapeshift. Maybe because she was afraid to turn wolf or the fear another wolf would attack her again. Lelandi’s father, who remained in his wheelchair, watched out the sunroom window with Carol at his side. Since the accident, he hadn’t been able to shapeshift, and she knew he felt like less of a lupus garou and battled depression, wishing often he had died with his people. Although she was certain he wanted desperately to be the one to avenge Larissa s death.
Both grays and reds alike formed a circle while Darien and his uncle faced off. Sheridan was taller by four inches and stockier built, but Darien had youth and strength on his side.