Red (25 page)
“We still know of no motive for these murders,” Al reminded us. “Perhaps he didn’t realize what he’d done until it was too late. I’m sure it’ll all come out when we get his confession recorded.”
“Has anyone talked to him?” Nate asked.
Al shook his head. “No. He says he won’t speak to anyone but Red.”
I felt Nate’s questioning gaze upon me once again, but I kept my composure. “Then let’s go.”
“Red,” Al called sternly to my back as I strode to the door, “he’s guilty. You need to accept that.”
I paused, clenching my jaw, weighing my options. Then I said, “What was the time of death?”
I heard Al sigh. “I don’t see—”
I clenched my fists. “What. Time.”
“We won’t know for certain until Trish can process the evidence we confiscated from the Ordinary authorities,” Al said, “but they were placing the time of death around ten o’clock.”
I turned around. “Then it couldn’t have been Seth.”
Now it was Nate’s turn to console me. “Red, you have to listen to reason. . . .”
“Seth couldn’t have killed Molly at ten o’clock,” I said, closing my eyes. “He was with me.
Chapter 30
When Al finally stopped screaming at me, I opened my mouth to defend myself, but he jabbed an angry finger in my face. “Not a word,” he growled, the vein in his forehead bulging ominously. “Not a single fucking word.”
I was hardly a fan of being berated like a child even on a good day, so seeing as how the last few days had pretty much buried the needle on the suckometer, my ability to quietly take my lumps was rapidly evaporating. “Al—”
“Shut your pie hole, Enforcer!” Al roared. He shoved his furious face in mine. “I’ve put up with a lot of your shit over the years, Red. But you crossed the line on this one. You’re goddamn lucky I don’t arrest you for being an accomplice.”
“Accomplice?” Nate repeated from the shadows where he’d been banished after trying to calm Al down. “If the guy just showed up at her house like she said, it’s not like she willfully went against protocol.”
“No,” Al retorted, “that happened when she let him go!”
I narrowed my eyes, my own anger flaring now. “I
told
you—if I’d had any doubts about Seth’s innocence, I wouldn’t have let him walk out of my house. There’s more going on here than you think, Al. Someone is trying to throw us off the trail by making it look like Seth’s guilty. Hell, he even half believes it himself!”
told
you—if I’d had any doubts about Seth’s innocence, I wouldn’t have let him walk out of my house. There’s more going on here than you think, Al. Someone is trying to throw us off the trail by making it look like Seth’s guilty. Hell, he even half believes it himself!”
Al’s brows lifted. “Is that so?”
I cursed inwardly at the slip, but met Al’s furious glare without flinching. “I can prove it.”
Al sat down on the corner of his desk and crossed his arms. “Oh, well, in that case, show me the evidence you’ve been holding back.”
I shifted a little, the temperature of the hot seat growing uncomfortable. “I don’t have any evidence yet.”
Al nodded. “Uh-huh.”
Now it was my turn to go on the offensive. I launched up from my chair and crossed the ground between us in one stride. “When have I ever let you down?” I demanded. “Name one time that I’ve failed to deliver what I promised.”
Al blinked his eyes once slowly, regarding me in stony silence.
“Give me two days—three, tops,” I pleaded.
Al held my gaze a moment longer, then turned his head toward Nate. “Grimm?”
Nate rose slowly to his feet and came to stand beside me. “It’d take that long to get the execution order anyway,” he pointed out. “You might as well give her the chance to clear him.”
“And you’ll continue on as her partner until this is settled?” Al asked.
I looked up at Nate, familiar enough with his expressions by now to know he was righteously pissed off. I wouldn’t have blamed him if he’d hung me out to dry, but instead he nodded. “Yeah. I’m in.”
“Then get out of my office,” Al ordered. “You have three days, Red. Mary’s filing the paperwork tomorrow. If you don’t have results by the date of Wolf’s audience with the Tribunal, there’ll be nothing I can do to stop his execution.”
Nate said nothing at all to me as we made our way to the holding cells, but I could feel his anger like a palpable force in the air between us.
“Thank you,” I said.
“For what?”
I grabbed his hand and pulled him to a stop. “For backing my play with Al. I appreciate it.”
He shrugged, keeping his gaze trained on the wall above my head. “You’re my partner, right?” He looked down at me and said pointedly, “We’re supposed to be in this together.”
“I’m sorry,” I said sincerely. “I guess I should have called you the minute Seth showed up, but . . .”
Nate stared at me expectantly, waiting for me to continue.
I sighed wearily and ran my hands through my hair. “I needed to talk to him, Nate. And not just about the murders. There were some things I needed to say, things I needed for him to hear.”
Nate’s expression became less haughty. “And?”
I dropped my gaze, the intensity of his making me suddenly nervous. Noticing his tie was askew, I reached out and adjusted it, smoothing my fingertips down the silk. “And I think I’ve finally made peace with things.”
Nate’s hand covered mine, his fingers curling around my own. “I’m glad.”
I looked up at him cautiously through my lashes. “Me, too.”
Nate’s arm slid around my shoulders and pulled me close as he led me forward. “Go talk to Seth,” he said. “I’ll be here when you’re finished.”
I was grateful for Nate’s arm around me when we arrived at Seth’s cell. Otherwise I don’t know that I would have been able to bear the heartbreaking sight before me. Seth sat on the cot, his wrists securely shackled, the cuffs attached to a chain that led down to the shackles around his ankles. His face was blank, his eyes vacant from shock. His clothes were splattered with crimson stains that had darkened as they dried into the fabric. Smudges of blood marked his hands, neck, and face where I supposed he had cradled Molly’s lifeless body in his arms. They hadn’t even bothered to clean him up yet before dumping him in the cold, dank enclosure deep beneath headquarters.
“Seth,” I said softly, leaving the warmth of Nate’s arm to move toward the steel bars. “Seth? Can you hear me?”
When he didn’t answer, I looked over my shoulder at Nate. “I need to get in there. Could you get a guard to open this up?”
A few minutes later, a yawning guard appeared with a heavy set of keys in his hands. “You’ve got five minutes,” he said sleepily, opening the door for me.
The ominous clank behind me as I approached Seth assured me I was locked inside the cell with him.
“Seth, honey,” I tried again. When he still didn’t respond, I sat down on the cot next to him and gently touched his arm. “It’s me. It’s Red. Do you know what happened?”
At this he finally turned his head toward me. “Molly’s dead.”
I nodded. “I’m so sorry.”
“Did I kill her?”
The pain in his eyes devastated me. “No,” I assured him, shaking my head vehemently. “I know it wasn’t you. I’m going to prove it.”
Seth looked away. “Don’t bother.”
“Seth—”
“I don’t care anymore, Red,” he interrupted. “I only bring suffering to the people I care about. It’s better this way.”
“But you’re innocent!” I insisted.
He lifted a shoulder and let it drop again. “Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, Molly’s dead because of me.”
“No,” I said sternly, taking his face in my hands and forcing him to look at me. “She’s dead because some sick bastard wanted to make you look guilty. I’m sure of it. I think you were right about the familiar. I think whoever sent it heard our conversation and knew I was determined to prove your innocence. I think that person had to do something drastic so you’d take the fall and divert attention away from the truth.”
Seth’s eyes began to glisten as he looked at me. “I was going to take her with me,” he said, his voice strained. “I was going to go to the Northwest, hide out for a while in the mountains, give things a go with her and see what happened.”
Unable to speak past the lump in my throat, I pulled him close and held him tightly, rocking just a little while his shoulders shook with silent sobs. I pressed my trembling lips against his hair, wishing there was more I could do to alleviate his pain. All too soon, I heard a polite cough behind me and saw the guard and Nate standing outside the door.
“I’m sorry, Enforcer,” the guard said. “Time’s up.”
I lowered my head and pressed another kiss to Seth’s hair. “I’ll see you soon,” I murmured. “Everything will be okay. I promise.”
I tore myself away and strode quickly from the cell before I changed my mind about going quietly. I was in enough trouble as it was. If I was going to help Seth and bring the real killer to justice, I needed to get moving.
“Let’s go,” I said when I heard Nate’s footsteps keeping time with mine.
“You going to be okay?” he asked.
“Yep,” I replied too quickly.
“Red—”
“Just drive me home,” I said, cutting him off. “These frigging boots are killing me.”
Thankfully, Nate didn’t bother trying to talk to me on the drive to Gran’s. And when he pulled into the driveway, he turned the car off without a word. He even walked me up to the front door in complete silence.
It was only when I reached for the door that he finally said, “Hey.”
When I turned around, he traced some kind of design on his shoulder with his finger.
I frowned, not understanding. “What was that?”
“Your name,” he said with a sad smile. “Whenever you need it, this shoulder’s yours to cry on.”
I nodded, so touched I wasn’t even sure what to say. So I just said, “Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.”
He gave me a wink, then tossed my keys in a low arc. “See you tomorrow.”
He vanished before the keys even landed in my hand. Sighing, I went inside, wanting nothing more than to get out of my clothes and fall into bed.
“Red, is that you, my darling?”
I heard Gran’s jaunty footsteps hurrying toward the foyer, but I kept moving toward the stairs.
“Dearest, I met with young Alice,” Gran rattled cheerfully. “She’s a dear girl. I’ve set her up with a job at the library. She seemed eager—” I heard Gran gasp a little when she saw me. “What’s happened?”
I paused on the steps. “I’m fine. I just need to get some sleep,” I told her. Then I frowned, noticing that Eddie wasn’t with her. “Where’s Eddie?”
She came toward me, joining me on the stairs. “He’s sleeping,” she said, her forehead creasing with concern. “Why do you ask?”
“I just want to make sure you’re safe,” I told her. “There was a rat in here earlier tonight.”
Gran’s eyes widened. “Oh my! I’ll set out some traps first thing tomorrow.”
“Good,” I said, even though I knew it wouldn’t matter a damn if another familiar came calling. “If you see any, though, just leave the house and let me know. I’ll handle it.”
“Of course, dearest,” she said. “But I get the distinct impression the rat isn’t the only thing troubling you. Will you share willingly or shall I pry it out of you?”
Knowing I was too worn and weary to evade her inquiries if she decided to really start laying it on, I dropped down onto the steps and put my head in my hands. “I screwed up, Gran,” I told her. “I screwed up big time.”
She sat down beside me and ran a tender hand down my hair. “Oh, my dear,” she said softly. “We all make mistakes. You are too hard on yourself.”
I shook my head. “Not this time. I’ll be lucky if I can keep my job after this one.”
Gran clucked her tongue. “Al Addin lets you do whatever you want and then gets angry if you make a mess of things. His management style is both a blessing and a curse to you, I’m afraid. However, if anyone can set things to rights, it’s you, my girl. You will prevail in the end.”
I lifted my head. “How is it you have so much faith in me?”
She offered me a loving smile. “I could tell you were a fighter when I found you clinging to life that day in the woods,” she said. “I don’t think you could give up if you tried.”
I laughed a little, wondering if that was always a good thing. Sometimes it would have been nice to just say, “To hell with it.” And maybe someday I would.
But not today.
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