Nine #2
“Why didn’t the first medical examiner state that my father was murdered? The original cause of death was listed as a car accident.”
“Yes. Since it appeared as though your father had died in a car accident, and your uncle didn’t request an autopsy, one wasn’t performed.
And that made sense as, according to the records, it was a single-vehicle accident, late at night, in a remote area.
There was no reason to question the findings. ”
I could feel the anger rising off of Cole, and the way he was clutching my hand, like I was his lifeline, made a lump form in my throat that I knew I wouldn’t be able to speak through.
Cole understood, in that moment, exactly what had happened, and the betrayal was monstrous.
“I won’t lie to you and tell you it’s going to be easy for us to solve a twenty-year-old case, but we’re going to do our very best, and we have a lot of tools at our disposal that weren’t available back then,” Washington stated.
“Thank you,” Cole replied gruffly.
“We’ll keep you updated every step of the way.”
“Good.”
“Now,” Fuentes said, turning to Abel, “I have questions for you, sir, if you don’t mind answering them.”
“No, of course not. Anything I can do to help.”
“Before that, Captain Soames has an update for you on the report of—what was it again? Multiple dead bodies buried in the woods?”
“We don’t get those in New York,” Washington commented.
Soames, who was standing, along with both his men, all apparently more comfortable on their feet than sitting, coughed softly.
“Mr. Swann, we’ve concluded that for whatever reason, Tuss Haviland made a false complaint against you.
We have closed that inquiry, which he has been informed of.
If you’re contacted by him again for any reason, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me personally. ”
He gave Abel his card, and one to me as well, as his neighbor and a concerned citizen, and then the troopers said their goodbyes, everyone getting up and shaking their hands. Captain Soames complimented my coffee on the way out, as well as The Bower, which he never missed an opportunity to dine in.
I managed to get out a “Thank you.”
Fuentes and Washington had lots of questions for Abel. First, about the night his brother died, then the months leading up to his murder. They got a list of his friends and business associates, and heard how Anson’s construction business had been closed after his death.
“But you’re in construction as well, aren’t you, Cole?” Fuentes asked him.
“I am. It’s called Swann and Sons, because I needed to keep my father with me. We do a lot of charity work.”
“What a lovely way to keep his legacy alive.”
“I think so,” he muttered, and when he looked at his uncle, I felt his rage seething under his calm facade.
“Again, we’re so sorry to bring you such terrible news,” Fuentes said to Cole.
“It’s always best to know the truth, no matter how painful.”
“Yes, it is.” Fuentes nodded. “And even though someone did a very good job of covering their tracks, I’ve found in twenty-five years on this job that what they say about deeds done in darkness always coming to light is true.
Cold cases are tough to crack, but that’s not what this is.
For us, this is a new homicide, and we will work it as such. ”
Cole thanked them again as they stood to leave, and I told them to please stop at my restaurant before they left town, that it would be worth the trip and lunch was on me; I would call ahead.
They appreciated the offer, but they had a plane to catch for home that neither of them wanted to miss. Cole took both their cards, as did Abel, and then they left as well.
Once it was just the five of us standing in the kitchen, no one said a word.
“I’m so sorry about your father,” Abel finally said to Cole. “I miss him every day and—”
“Are you having a Thanksgiving celebration or a hunt on Thursday?” Cole asked flatly, walking to the front door.
Abel didn’t answer, just stared at him.
“Did you hear me?” Cole asked.
“What are you asking me?”
“It seems like a simple enough question, Alpha.”
Abel took a breath. “You can’t possibly think that I—”
Cole scoffed. “But I actually do think you murdered him.”
“He was my brother!”
“He was my father!” Cole roared back, and Justin and Narah both scrambled quickly to stand on either side of Abel. “You killed him, and a piece of him had to stay behind to right that wrong.”
I moved then, taking my place at his side.
“I have no idea what prompted you to move the pack here, but thank God you did, because without Merritt and the magic, I never would have known the truth.”
“I did not kill Anson!” Abel yelled. “I would never have been the one to spill my brother’s blood.”
Cole was quiet for a moment before his face crumpled and his eyes filled. “No. You’re too much of a coward for that. You had Matthias Haviland do it for you.”
“You’re speaking blasphemy right now!”
“It all makes sense. You wanted to be alpha and expand the pack. My father wanted the pack to be small, a family. That’s what he wrote in his journals.”
“Your father didn’t understand that without new members, without an influx of money, without pure-blood wolves, we wouldn’t survive. All he ever wanted was peace, but we had to fight for what we wanted. Always.”
“You always believed it was bad for the pack to have him as alpha,” Cole replied, and it hurt me to see him so broken. “He said you did. That’s in his diary too.”
Abel shook his head.
“Your father was weak and concerned only for you and Evan,” Justin shouted. “What was my father supposed to do when he saw threats from all sides, constantly, and all your father wanted to do was keep his head down?”
Cole nodded before looking at Narah. “Did you know too?”
“Honey, your uncle would never have hurt your father.”
Which, to him, answered that question.
“How could you stand to have me and Evan in your home knowing what you did to him? How could you look at us every day?”
“Anson was deluded,” Abel said. “But you and your brother were innocent, and you were my blood.”
“As well as pure blood,” Cole added. “And you needed wolves who could defend the pack, especially the firstborn son of an alpha.”
“You’ve always thought you were so special,” Justin snarled, and all I heard was rage and jealousy. He seemed so different from the man I had first met and, of course, far more reactive without his power to fall back on.