Behind him, a woman screamed.
“I’ve got this. Just go,” Jaycee hissed at the two large wolves standing in her living room. Neither moved. “I said you need to go or we’re all going to be in the shitter explaining this.”
The two of them turned and jumped through the broken glass, quickly shifting, and taking the stairs up to the roof. Thad stood at the edge, contemplating how to lift himself back up to the roof or if he should just stay here.
“Come on,” Barron told him, walking toward the back of the balcony and pulling down a ladder to the roof. They climbed it and crept back across the way he had come.
“I wish I’d have known about that damned ladder earlier. I saw my life flash in front of me hurling myself over the edge of the roof.”
“Sorry I missed that,” Barron chuckled, climbing down the ladder and dropping to the ground once he reached the bottom. Thad dropped right after him. “You’ve got blood all over you. Stay right here while I get us some clothes.”
“You just going to walk across the lobby naked?”
“No. I picked up our new suits from the dry cleaners today. They’re still in the car. I’ve got a key fob hidden for emergencies.”
“You’re like an overgrown boy scout.”
“Yep.”
Barron retrieved the clothes and they both dressed by the building. Thad wiped the blood from his mouth with a wet nap and they went to the car to talk, deciding if they should stay or go. Was it going to be harder for her to explain what happened with them there? Thad wasn’t sure, but he hated just leaving her to deal with it.
“Just trust her, man. She’s a smart girl and she’ll manage it.”
“Maybe, but I want one of us near.”
“Come on. You can come up with me and we’ll wait in my apartment. The cameras will catch us coming in for the first time together and it won’t be tied to her.”
“Good thinking.”
The two of them walked in as if nothing had happened and went to Barron’s apartment. Thad paced the floor like a cat. He could hear sirens approaching and stopping outside the building. More than two hours passed. By the time his phone rang, he jumped a mile in his seat. Barron laughed.
“Never seen an Alpha jump like that.”
“Fuck off,” Thad growled, answering the phone.
“Come up here - alone,” Jaycee said from the other end.CHAPTER TWENTY-ONEJaycee
Her apartment was empty. No cops. No forensics teams. They had come and gone quickly after she had called. The blood remained on the floor, but she was working to clean what remained. Her door was already back up on its hinges.
“How did you get them in and out of here so quickly?”
“I moved the crime scene.”
“What?”
“I moved the crime scene, mostly. I told them he broke into the door and attacked me. We fought. I tried to stab him with a knitting needle, but it wasn’t hard enough to get him off me. I tried to get away by getting to the balcony and using the stairs to access the roof, but he came out after me and threw me back in. I managed to lock him out, so he launched himself back in through the windows. He dragged me out there, threatened to throw me over, but I wriggled free. Somehow, in the struggle, he went over.”
“And they bought all that?”
“I think so. If they evaluate DNA, they’ll just be confused. You came in as a wolf and didn’t shift while you were here. It’ll just come up as contaminated. The knitting needle will explain the puncture where you bit him, and the fall will explain his broken neck.”
“That’s some fast thinking.”
“I’m a smart girl.”
“So I see.”
“I doubt they will investigate it much, especially since I told them he confessed to killing Nasteau.”
“He did?”
“Yes. I knew he was a little needy lately, but I had no idea he was so unhinged.”
“I did.”
“What?”
“We had a run-in years ago. He went out with Barron’s wife, before they met and realized they were natural mates. When she rejected him, he stalked her for weeks. Some of us took care of him. He has a series of scars on his back that we left there, but we decided to let him live - just teach him a lesson. I guess I should have finished him back then.”
“Well, you had no way of knowing. Question, though, how did you and Barron know he would be here? How did the two of you know to come here?”
“I didn’t. I came over to talk to you about Nasteau. The police visited me, and I needed to see you.”
“You thought I did it.”
“No, I -.,” he started to say.
“Don’t lie to me. You did.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No. Don’t be. I think I kind of like that you think I could be so badass. What about Barron?”