The bearcat nodded.
Just then, Sam came striding their way. “I hear a healer is needed.” He frowned at the sight outside. “What’s on fire?”
Aspen weakly lifted her hand. “My car.”
Sam, always cool and calm, merely said, “Then I guess it’s a good thing you weren’t in it.”
“I’d have to agree,” said Bailey.
Camden hovered as Sam healed both females. The lobby was soon full of people—most of whom came over to the sofa, both nosy and concerned. Joaquin kept them at bay even as he answered their questions. Which was a good thing, because Camden did not like having so many people near Aspen right now. He was too on edge, too uneasy. He didn’t want anyone touching or crowding or getting too close to her.
It didn’t take long for Havana, Tate, and Luke to arrive. All three were as tense as they were furious. By that point, the flames had been put out, but the fire within Camden continued to rage.
Soon, they were all gathered in Bailey’s apartment to privately discuss the matter.
Camden stiffly stood beside the sofa on which his bearcat sat. He couldn’t sit. Couldn’t settle. He was barely keeping a lid on the anger that buzzed beneath his skin.
Havana paced up and down, her eyes glittering. “How the hell does someone go from insulting you online to attaching a bomb to your car?” she asked Aspen. “That’s a seriously huge elevation.”
Aspen bit her lower lip. “I don’t know if it was the same person. But I’m pretty sure it’s the same person who’s been up to … other things.”
The devil shifter’s eyes narrowed. “What other things?”
Aspen flicked Camden a look.
Forcing his back teeth to unlock, he explained, “According to my old pride, someone has desecrated my parents’ graves, set my old home on fire, and destroyed a bench my father bought as a gift for someone.” He didn’t mention the cabin Esme was kept prisoner in—that wasn’t anything that needed to be shared.
“We suspect it was my mother’s brother, Julius. He’s … unstable. She was the only person he cared about, but he was angry with her for mating my father and switching prides. I have no idea why Julius has crawled out of the woodwork and decided to make himself a problem, but it seems that he’s set on doing so. I saw him standing outside the parking lot a few days ago, smirking.”
Beside Havana, Tate folded his arms. “And you think this is linked to the bombing somehow?”
“Julius sprayed ‘For T’ on my mother’s grave—he called her ‘Tink’ when they were children,” Camden explained. “It was also scrawled on Aspen’s car.”
“That’s why I backed away from it,” she said. “And it was a good thing I did.”
“So,” began Bailey, sat on an armchair, “your uncle targeted Aspen because of her connection to you?”
“I wouldn’t have thought so, but yes,” he replied. “I knew there was a chance he’d come after me—he hates me. He holds me partially responsible for my mother’s death. I didn’t think he’d target Aspen, though. Evidently, I was wrong.” And he was pissed at himself for making such assumptions.
“There’s a chance that he’s also her keyboard warrior, isn’t there?” asked Tate.
Camden nodded. “I dismissed the idea at first because, as I told Aspen, it’s out of character for him. He’s all about getting up close and personal. Online harassment, editing photos, messaging and sending Jerome her way—that’s not his style.
“Even the use of a bomb surprises me. He likes to do damage with his own bare hands—such as with the vandalism. Aspen did nothing to activate the bomb, so it must have been set off remotely. For him, that’s very impersonal. Still, given the ‘For T’ element, there’s no denying that it was him. It doesn’t ring true for me, though.” Camden looked at Aspen. “He had to have been watching you earlier. It’s no coincidence that the bomb went off when you neared it.”
“I had some people check the perimeter of the lot,” Luke announced, standing in front of the TV. “They found no one hanging around. If Julius was there, he split fast. I also had every other vehicle in the lot checked. None were wired to blow.”
Staring at Camden, Havana worried her lower lip. “This isn’t making sense to me. Julius didn’t set off the bomb when she was next to the car. Now, granted, he could have been waiting until she hopped inside. But he would have noticed that she’d seen the ‘For T.’ He would have seen that she was going to back up. Still, he didn’t immediately set it off. He gave her a few precious seconds to get out of the range of the blast. Why? Why would he do that?”
Camden thought on that for a moment. “Maybe he never intended to kill her. If he had, he wouldn’t have marked the vehicle and risked tipping her off.”