บททั้งหมดของ His Contract Luna Says Goodbye : บทที่ 61 - บทที่ 70

ARREN. I was in my office at the pack house when Kade walked in with a file folder. The doctors had cleared me for release that morning with strict instructions to take it easy. I’d listened to about half of what they’d said before walking out. Ellaria hadn’t been happy about it but she hadn’t tried to stop me either. Now I was sitting behind my desk waiting for the interrogation that had been three days in the making. Kade dropped the folder in front of me. “Caught you up on everything you missed while you were unconscious.” I opened it and started reading. Marcus Webb. Thirty-four years old. No official pack registration. Last known address was in the Western Sector but he’d moved around frequently over the past few years. He had a record. Minor offenses mostly. Theft. Assault. Nothing that screamed professional kidnapper. “He’s small time,” I said. “That’s what I thought too.” Kade leaned against the desk. “Which makes it interesting that someone hired him for somethi

ARREN. The silence after they left was deafening. I stood there staring at the empty doorway and tried to process what had just happened. Kade broke the silence first. “I’m sorry.” His voice was rough. “I shouldn’t have lost it like that.” “No you shouldn’t have.” I turned to look at him. “But I understand why you did.” He ran a hand over his face. “It’s just too convenient. All of it. The cars disappearing. The driver turning up dead right before we can question him.” He gestured at Webb’s body. “Someone’s playing us and I don’t like it.” “Neither do I.” I looked down at the corpse. “But going after Caden without proof isn’t going to help anything. It just makes us look desperate.” “Are we sure he’s not involved?” “No.” I said it honestly. “But Ellaria’s right. We need evidence. Not assumptions.” Kade nodded slowly. “So what now?” “Now we figure out who did this.” I stepped closer to the body and crouched down beside it. “Someone got into this cell. Someone with access to

ELLARIA. Tatum was in bed when I got there. Mirela had darkened the room and cooled it down. The curtains were drawn and there was a damp cloth on his forehead. He looked so small lying there with his eyes closed and his face flushed from the fever. I sat beside him and pressed my hand to his cheek. He was warm but not burning the way Mirela had described on the phone. “Hey baby,” I said softly. His eyes opened and he looked at me. “Mom.” “How are you feeling?” “Tired.” His voice was small. “My head hurts.” “I know.” I smoothed his hair back from his face. “We’re going to get you feeling better okay?” He nodded and closed his eyes again. I stayed there for hours. Checking his temperature. Making sure he drank water. Watching the rise and fall of his chest and trying not to think about what it would mean if this was something worse than a fever. But as the hours passed he seemed to stabilize. The fever came down slowly. His breathing stayed steady. By evening I was star

ARREN.I’d been interrogating people for six hours straight.Six hours of the same questions asked different ways while I watched faces for tells and got absolutely nowhere.The guards who’d been on duty when Webb was killed were sitting across from me now.I’d already suspended them and gone through their initial statements but I needed to hear it again. I needed to make sure their stories stayed consistent.Inconsistencies were how you found liars.“Walk me through your morning one more time,” I said. “Start from when you arrived for your shift.”The first guard nodded. “We got there at oh five hundred sir. We checked in with the overnight rotation and they said the prisoner had been quiet all night.”“And after that?”“We took our posts outside the cell following standard protocol.” The second guard spoke up. “At oh five thirty we did a wellness check. The prisoner was awake and asked for water.”“Which one of you brought it to him?”“I did sir.” The second guard kept his eyes on m

ARREN.The meeting with Kade and my top generals had run longer than I’d planned.We’d gone over the contaminated medication and the supply chain and every possible point where someone could have intercepted the shipments. The list of suspects was still too long and the answers were still too vague.By the time I walked out of that room my head was pounding and my patience was gone.My workday was done.I climbed into my car and sat there with my hands on the wheel staring at nothing.I knew I shouldn’t.I knew it was a bad idea.But knowing that Ellaria wouldn’t be heading back to the faction tonight made me want to resume one of my newer rituals.Parking my car outside her house and watching the building for any glimpses I could get of her.It was stalkerish. I knew that.I sighed and turned on the ignition.Then I chose to drive back to the faction instead of stalking my ex-wife.The guards at the faction gates waved me through and I was too tired to give them anything but a nod.I