19. Paul
Paul
Two Strikes and You’re Out
I was already socially frayed, yet here I was, holding another giant basket as we approached the gate of yet another great house.
I still wasn’t sold on us needing to drop in with no warning, but Cherry insisted that having the surprise on the McElroys would stop them from being able to prepare anything if they had something to hide.
There was logic to that, so I rolled with it. Besides, too much of my mind was already taken up with trying not to remember the night we’d just shared to argue.
I really had no idea how Cherry managed to act like everything was normal, because for me, it wasn’t.
I wanted to be closer to her. I wanted her around me at all times.
When she’d disappeared at the Chevalier estate, it was like my literal skin was itching, threatening to get up and follow her without the rest of my musculature.
I was pointedly trying to ignore that sensation, because I knew it wasn’t the time, and I knew my trauma was likely influencing me, but my wolf didn’t give a shit about either of those reasons, which in turn, made it hard for me to care.
“State your name and the nature of your business,” the speaker crackled, and I shook my head back to reality.
I hadn’t even realized we’d reached the front gates of the McElroy estate.
I needed to get my shit together. I couldn’t risk being moony-eyed over a free-spirited and wonderful woman during a murder investigation.
I honestly wished we could just trust the detectives to do it, but when I spoke to them at the funeral, they hadn’t believed that it was my brother or that he was an assassin. They were looking into a shapeshifter who had a vendetta against my family.
“Agatha Fletcher, social media manager for the VanMarche heirs,” Cherry said smoothly.
I probably should have been disquieted at how easily she could lie—?especially considering she’d already done it once to me—but I just…
wasn’t. Who knew, maybe I was broken when it came to her.
“We’re here to give our thanks to your intrepid eldest son, Tadgh-Darragh, as well as the rest of the family. ”
How did Cherry know the McElroy alpha-heir’s name?
I couldn’t even remember it, considering the family’s impressive brood.
While my father had five children and might have ended up with six or seven had my mother not died, I was pretty sure that every single fertile McElroy had no less than ten spawn—some had as many as fifteen—and a startling recurrence of triplets.
They were truly massive, and the only reason the Marchendi pack was bigger was because we had more sub-communities spread through different states.
As far as I knew, all the members of the McElroys were either blood-related or brought in by marriage.
No adopting packless shifters or communities for them.
“The VanMarches?” the security guard questioned, and while she sounded much less suspicious than the last guard, it didn’t seem like she was buying it right off the bat either. “I don’t have anything in my guest logs about this.”
Considering the absolute chicanery that had gone down at my father’s funeral, I couldn’t blame the security for being cautious. So, taking a page out of Cherry’s book, I stepped closer to the speaker and decided to do as she would: improvise that shit.
“Deepest apologies on behalf of my family, but since we are still uncertain of the motivations of whoever attacked during my family’s funeral, we thought keeping our visit clandestine would be most prudent.
However, I understand your reticence to believe us sight unseen, so we are more than willing to wait while you secure someone who will be able to recognize me.
Such as many of the McElroys themselves, or perhaps even a Parracida, if they’re currently on the premises. ”
“Parracida,” Cherry whispered beside me. “You said that name before…”
I didn’t have time to answer her, because the speaker crackled offline, then almost immediately back on again, grating against my hearing.
“That won’t be necessary, sir. One of my superiors will be arriving soon to verify your identity and ensure you are safely transported to where the family can meet with you.
My condolences for your loss, Mr. VanMarche.
And if this is somehow a trick, rest assured that Pack McElroy will have no problem meting out justice on behalf of their longtime ally. ”
A veiled threat that was both professional and polite. This security guard had a great career ahead of her if she stayed on track.
“Thank you. We will be most happy to wait here for your supervisor.”
“We appreciate your patience.”
The speaker crackled off again, leaving me and Cherry alone.
I wish that we could speak freely, but we were far too close to no doubt dozens of cameras and other surveillance equipment.
But even if we had to be silent, the smile she gave me made me feel like she was verbally complimenting me.
Maybe I didn’t have the same magical powers of being able to see people’s deepest emotions, but I had picked up at least a couple of things from the chaotic woman.
I was no stranger to silence. Before my life had turned upside down, I’d often longed for days when I could sit in my office without having to talk to anyone or make a single phone call.
Back then, it had been a respite from the onslaught of responsibilities with my position.
But now, as I was standing with Cherry, the quiet was different.
It was almost restful. Cozy. Which was probably entirely inappropriate to feel while in the middle of an unauthorized, hardly professional murder investigation.
I was not allowed much time to dwell on that, however, because this time it was not a golf cart that approached us, but rather a Porsche. It certainly was not what I had anticipated at all, and neither was seeing none other than the McElroy alpha-heir stepping out of it.
“Tadgh,” I said, allowing my surprise to filter through my voice. “Didn’t think you would be the one coming to verify us.”
Cherry had tried to impart a lot of rapid subterfuge lessons before we headed off on our faux-apology and thank you tour, and one of the things I remembered her saying was that deception worked best when it was built on a solid foundation of facts.
Again, probably another red flag about her character, but at this rate I might as well have welded rose-colored glasses to my face.
“As luck would have it, I just so happened to be around.”
I was all set to nod along, but to my surprise, Cherry piped up. “If by around, you mean practicing sparring with members of your security?”
Tadgh’s expression turned more than a bit surprised as he looked at my supposed assistant.
While I liked to think I had gotten used to Cherry’s unpredictable way of observing things most people missed, I couldn’t help but wonder what the hell she was doing.
She wasn’t supposed to be a psychic in this situation, but rather, a social media manager.
“What—”
But she was already stepping forward and offering her hand. I was certain Cherry knew that was incredibly gauche for a civilian to do that with one of our shifter elite, and also just as certain that she was doing it on purpose to keep everyone off-kilter.
Thank God she was on the good side, because if someone like her had decided my family should die, I was sure our entire line would have already met our maker.
“Because of the fight at the funeral, right? You’re preparing just in case the VanMarches are lying to you. You don’t want them to be lying to you, but you can’t deny the worry that’s there, lingering in the back of your mind.”
“How did you?—”
“Being adept at social media requires a keen understanding of the human psyche, or in this case, shifter psyche. That and a huge advertising budget.”
Tadgh shot me a dubious look, but I knew better than to interrupt.
Cherry was laying down a thread that I was sure would lead to something.
“Also, your second, third, and half cousins have completely open social media accounts. I believe it was, oh, what was the handle?” She pulled out her phone from her purse and scrolled.
“Ah, yes, LittleRedRidingWolf posted a picture of you wrestling in your human form in what I assume is your personal gym yesterday. You might want to talk to her about that; it does come across as a bit incestuous.”
Damn. I knew Cherry loved her internet rabbit holes, but when had she had time to discover all that? It had nothing to do with her emotional abilities, so it had to be raw ADHD hyperfixation. For all that I knew she genuinely struggled with it, sometimes it seemed like a superpower.
“I…I…” Tadgh’s dark eyes flicked from me and back to her before he shook his head, seeming to come to terms with the bizarre direction his day had taken. “I’ll have a talk to her about that.”
“Perfect! For now, shall we get inside where we’re not all so… publicly exposed?”
“Yeah, let’s do that.” He glanced at the massive basket in my arms. “I hope that’s not all for me.”
“Well, not entirely for you,” I admitted.
Although I had been the one to supply my card for the purchasing, Cherry had been in charge of directing the staff on what to buy.
I didn’t really get the point of it, since all three of the great families on the East Coast were plenty wealthy, but she’d said it was the thought that counted.
The McElroy heir just shook his head and crossed to his passenger door, which he opened for Cherry.
“Hope you don’t mind,” he said to me. “Ladies first, after all.”
“Naturally,” I agreed. “I hope you don’t think me paranoid when I remind you that allies do not poach employees.”
“Why, I wouldn’t dream of it!” he said, like someone who had very much been contemplating it. Or maybe I really was just paranoid. Funny how a murder investigation could do that to someone.