What he watched for was the subtle tells. Tells that most people couldn’t hide or master. The darting of the eyes away during a lie, the look of the eyes while describing parts of that night—were they dilating in pleasure? Many guilty people, when pressed, expressed a load of bodily ticks. A twitching foot, twitching hands and fingers, sagging shoulders with guilt. King Brunes expressed none of those tells.
He held his shoulders high, his chin up, and kept on smiling. His crossed leg didn’t bounce or fidget under his questioning. But what Brunes didn’t realize was that by not showing any of those tells, he still expressed one in great abundance—confidence. Arrogance. The first time he’d interviewed Brunes two years ago, the man had sat with both feet on the floor, his hands steepled together, a look of lost remembrance and thoughtfulness on his face. The man knew he had nothing new to go on and his over-confidence shone like a blinking pink neon sign screaming ‘See me, I’m not hiding anything!’
“When the Givens’ family fished your dead wife out of the water that night, they claimed they saw bruising on the side of her face like she’d been struck. Do you have any idea why that might be?” He watched for a reaction. He hadn’t brought this up in the previous interview.
Brunes didn’t lose his smile. “Perhaps she hit her head when she fell over the railing. You know, Justicar Brayden, this was a long, long time ago. Time I’ve spent moving on and putting the past behind me.”
I’m sure you have. “I spoke with the lead Justicar from the investigation. You remember Daniel Cuthwright, don’t you?”
Brunes smile fell into a perfect frown. “Ah, Daniel. Damn shame what happened to him.”
Brayden didn’t move, but his heart skipped a beat. “And what happened to him?”
Brunes shook his head side to side. “Hit by a car while crossing the street. Damn, damn shame. He was a good man.”
“Interesting. It’s rare that a car can kill a vampire.”
“Well, he wasn’t just hit once. After the initial car claimed him, another behind him drove right over him. Didn’t have time to stop. Crushed his skull like a watermelon. Terrible way to go.”
Brayden’s next question was interrupted when the doors flew open and a panicked, wide-eyed, nearly in tears Vanessa flew to him. “H-he was here. He was here, Brayden.”
Brunes stood. “What kind of trouble do you bring here, Justicar?”
Brayden shot him a hard look to shut him up. “What are you talking about? What happened?” he asked Vanessa.
She sucked in an unsteady breath, but still didn’t have her ragged breathing under control. “The mating wrap. It was here. On the car.”
Brayden blinked. “Mating wrap?”
Her wet eyes darted around and she started speaking animatedly with her hands waving all around. “Yes, the mating wrap. The binding between two mates. The symbol of our bonds. My hair and his. Hello, does any of this mean anything to you? It’s here at the car!”
“Just a moment,” Brayden shot to Brunes, then grabbed Vanessa and took her outside. He walked up to the car, unlocked it and scanned inside. “What are you talking about?”
She didn’t answer. Jerking his head over his shoulder, he found her frozen in place, a look of utter disbelief on her face. “It was right there. On the door handle. It was right here!” she screamed.”
“Vanessa—”
“Don’t!” she said in a hard voice then leaned down to peer under the car. She searched all around it, then gazed off into the grass. “It was wrapped around,” she said softly as if speaking to herself. “Maybe it blew off. Maybe it...”
Brayden’s heart squeezed tight and he pulled her into his arms to ease it. “Tell me what you saw.”
She told him again and he stared at the passenger door handle. “Hold on.” Leaning down, he studied the door handle. Pulling it out and searching.
“What are you doing?” she whispered.
“Looking for any strands of hair that might have gotten stuck.” After a second, he stood and looked at her. Not a single piece of hair was there.
Stray tears fell down her face. Her hands wound together then wrapped around her body. “You don’t believe me. You don’t believe me.”
He scanned the thick expanse of forest surrounding the house. “I believe you, Vanessa.”
He could hear the breath she sucked in. “You do?”
So much hope hung in her words it clenched like a fist tight around his chest. “Yeah, baby, of course I do. Why wouldn’t I?” True enough. He did believe her.
A sob left her then she flung herself into his arms. He braced barely a second before he caught her.
Someone cleared his throat and Brayden looked over his shoulder. The butler stood there, his gaze on the ground. “King Brunes has a busy schedule. If you wish to finish your interview it must be now, sir.”
Brayden opened the passenger door then pushed Vanessa into the seat. He buckled her in, then reached across her to turn on the car’s A/C. “Stay here. I’ll be back in a few minutes, okay?”
Her eyes opened wide and scared. “Don’t leave me. He’s out there right now.”
He leaned in close to her and cupped her cheek. “He won’t do anything with me around, and I won’t let anything happen to you. I’ll be just a minute. Lock the doors after me.” Then he pressed a quick kiss across her lips and shut the door.
He found Brunes in his office. “Everything all right?” Brunes asked in a voice that clearly said he didn’t care.
Brayden marched right up to him and got in his face. For the first time, Brunes’ temper flashed in his eyes. “You had something to do with her death, I know it. Maybe you even straight-up beat her and threw her off the boat like a piece of trash. Either way, I’m gonna find out. Then I’m taking you down.”
“Be careful whom you threaten, Justicar.”
“I’m also going to find out if you had anything to do with Justicar Daniel’s death. Be sure, if I do, you’re going down for that, too. You got me?”
Brunes’ cheek clenched, then he smiled. “The case is closed, Justicar. Let it go. Everyone else has.”
“Not everyone,” he said.
A flicker of emotion, anger, flashed in Brunes’ eyes. “Sarina never did adjust to her mother’s death. She’s got a bit of a soft side.”
“Maybe, because you killed her mother.”
Brunes’ smiled broader. “It’ll take more than your puny questions to break through me, Justicar. I have nothing to hide. Good luck with your investigation. I have a feeling you’ll be needing it.”
Brayden swung on his heel and headed toward the door. At the last second, he turned around. “Do you know what my track record is for catching murderers?”
Brunes lifted a bored eyebrow.
“One hundred per cent. Just think on that, why don't you?”
He slammed the door behind him.
Chapter 10
“Sit down and drink this.” Brayden shoved a cold can of Coke under her nose until she took it.
She popped the tab with a fizzy hiss and sipped the sweet syrupy drink. Her eyes searched his office. “Why are we here? Shouldn’t we be doing something about Joseph?” God, he knows where I am.
“We can’t do anything about Joseph except keep you away from him. I’m going to call your father and see if he’ll void the contract. If not...then we’ll move on from there.”
She set the cold can on the desk and dug her palms into her eyes. “And why are we here?” she asked again. She didn’t want to talk about Joseph now. Every time they did, the road led to a dead end with no possible out except to go back from where she came. And she couldn’t do that.