“What did Angelina say?”
“She doesn’t know who the mastermind is. Ritka 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.
“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.
“Please, have a seat.”
Not removing his jacket, Trevor shoved his hands in his pockets and ignored her.
Fine. “You lied about the mudslide when Tom and I were shot. You said you were taking care of accident victims.”
Trevor continued to glower at her.
“Deputy, I don’t believe you did anything malicious to contribute to my sister’s death. I know you hated her. That you wanted Darien to marry your sister, hoping she could convince Darien to make you sheriff some day and not Peter.”
“You have no authority questioning me. You’re just Darien’s bitch.”
“Yes. And Larissa was my sister. You’re right. You don’t have to tell me anything. But how long do you think it’ll be before Darien discovers you lied about the mudslide? Do you want to die for someone else’s crime?”
“I was seeing someone,” he mumbled under his breath, his gaze shifting to the fire.
Ohmigod, no wonder he hadn’t been interested in Silva. He was already hung up on someone else. But why keep it a secret? “Someone Darien didn’t approve of?”
Trevor refused to look at her.
“Someone who was already mated?”
He jerked his head around and cast her a chilling glare. “No, damn you. Just because your sister hooked up with three different mates, doesn’t mean any of the rest of us do.”
Needing his cooperation, Lelandi stamped down a hasty response. She hated the shameful way her sister had carried on with another male when she was mated to Darien, yet she couldn’t help feeling Larissa was the victim of her circumstances. If her people had allowed for divorce, she would have been fine. “Then who?”
“You don’t need to know who she is.”
“You’ll need her alibi.”
“Why? Silva was the shooter. Ritka and her friends were the blackmailers.”
“But Silva wasn’t the shooter.”
Trevor’s eyes widened.“Who was the mastermind who killed Hosstene?”
“You can’t pin that on me. I had nothing to do with it.”
“What happened to you when you were supposed to aid Darien in his fight against my red pack?”
“He had me replace Wilkerson pulling guard duty at the jailhouse. Later, I heard Darien said I was supposed to be at the house protecting you. But no one ever told me. Then here come two blasted reds, taller than any I’ve ever seen. They knock me out, tie me up, and free the prisoner. I’ll tell you another thing, the sheriff told Darien he was looking for me as if he had no idea where I was. Hell, he sent me to the jailhouse.”
Miscommunication? Or was Trevor lying again? “You said there were only six males from the pack who arrived. But there were several more.”
“That’s all I saw. Apparently, more sneaked in without our knowledge.”
“Who told them about the guest room where I was staying? That’s where they entered the second floor.”
“I knew you were staying with Darien by then.”
Lelandi was beginning to wonder about Darien’s uncle. “Did the sheriff know I had moved to Darien’s bedroom?”
“You’d have to ask him.”
Trevor yanked his keys out of his pocket, but before he could leave, Lelandi asked, “What happened to you at the hospital when Ritka and Doc were shot? You were guarding Ural. Or supposed to be. Ritka screamed for you, but you never came.”
The tips of Trevor’s ears reddened. “I don’t need to explain anything more to you.” He stormed out of the sunroom.
Jake immediately peeked in on Lelandi. Assured she was all right, he lifted his phone from his belt and shut the door.
Lelandi took a deep breath. Next, she had to have a word with the sheriff. She was certain that would go over as well as the talk with his deputy. But she had to ask Darien if he knew what had happened to Trevor when Joe killed Doc and Ritka.
An hour later, Darien arrived home and Lelandi, anxious to get an audience with his uncle, dropped the salad fixings in the bowl and hurried to see her mate while Tom was preparing lasagna in the kitchen. She blurted, “Can you arrange for me to speak with Sheridan?”
Tom served up the lasagna and Jake finished the salad and set it on the table, both casting them a sideways glance. She assumed it was a sore subject.
Darien kissed Lelandi’s mouth, then smiled and hugged her tight. “Let’s eat.”
She frowned at the dismissal. “What about your uncle? He might be the key to knowing what Trevor was doing the night he said he was working a mudslide.”
Darien pulled out her chair. “We’ll discuss it later. This afternoon, we’ll have a memorial service for Doc.”
“What about for Ritka?” Tom asked.
Darien cast him an annoyed look like he shouldn’t have mentioned it. “Her family wants a private ceremony. Immediate family only.”
Jake and Tom exchanged glances but neither said a word.
Lelandi hated it when the brothers knew something she didn’t and were bent on keeping it from her. “Okay, so why do they want a private ceremony? Is this done regularly here?”
Back home pack members buried their kind. No one had a simple, family ceremony, although humans were excluded. She assumed humans would come to Doc’s funeral since his work had impacted so many in the community.
“That’s what the family agreed upon,” Darien said casually, giving her a look like he wanted her to leave it at that.
“But it’s not normal. Which means something. Care to speculate?”
“No.”
“It means,” Lelandi said, clenching her teeth, “since Ritka was involved in my sister’s death, her family’s too ashamed to have the pack witness the burial.”
None of them said anything.
“Right?”
“It means the family wanted it. Nothing more to it than that.” Darien’s voice had a warning edge to it.
“Sorry, if I don’t agree.”
Darien let out a harsh breath. “They feel your sister contributed to her death.”
Lelandi’s jaw tightened and she fought tears welling up deep inside.
“They know they can’t exclude you from the funeral without offending me, but they look at you and are reminded of Larissa. So they are having a private funeral. Most likely she was involved in the blackmail. But we have no hard evidence to support this theory.”
Lelandi got up abruptly from the table. “There’s no need. You and the rest of the pack can go. I wouldn’t want to deprive them of their leader’s presence.”
Darien seized her wrist and made her sit back down. “They made their decision. Under the circumstances, it’s best for all concerned.”
Because Ritka was involved in Larissa’s death.
“All right,” she said, “so tell me—when Ritka screamed for Trevor at the hospital, why didn’t he stop Joe?”
Jake and Tom concentrated on their lasagna while Darien placed his fork on his plate and leaned away from the table. “When Joe saw Trevor was guarding Ural, he knocked him out.”
“Really,” Lelandi said, rolling her eyes.