6. Lucy
CHAPTER 6
Lucy
Frankie looked at me and I kept my eyes on the sketchpad as I worked so I didn’t have to think too much about the way Valor and Cassius were watching her now – not me.
I cleared my throat and refocused on the task at hand. “Do you want us to work independently of the police, or would you like us to share our findings with them?”
“You’re working for Valor, not the police,” Liam reminded us. “But if you need to work with them to get us the results we want faster, then so be it.”
That made things a thousand times easier.
“All right.” I set down my pencil and gave Liam my full attention since that’s what people usually preferred when someone was speaking to them. “My partner and I will privately discuss our findings from this interview and ensure we’re on the same page. Then we will spend the first day narrowing down the list of suspects while trying to get access to the body and the crime scene. If we can get access to those, we’ll deal with that first.”
That was the best-case scenario though. Unless we were working with the police, they usually shafted us when it came to things like that. Every once in a while, a contact could make an exception for us, but that was few and far between.
We couldn’t rely on that method in this case when so many eyes would be watching us.
“Once we have a better idea of what happened, Frankie will question everyone on my list as well as those who were here during the time of the murder. Since time is of the essence, she’ll record each and every one of them so I can listen to them later. While she’s doing that, I’ll be going through all the files on the Valor computers that you’ll let me have access to.”
Liam shared a look with Cassius when I started jiggling my leg again. “We can get you access to both the body and the crime scene today.”
“Could you also order a separate autopsy done by a third party?” Frankie asked, typing more notes into her tablet. “It’s always a good idea in case whoever did this has the money and power to pay off the police.”
It was Cassius who nodded this time, tapping his own tablet just as furiously as Frankie.
“That sounds like a good start,” Liam said, his eyes narrowing slightly.
What the fuck was it now? This guy kept making problems, and for what? Maybe I was wrong and he really was the murderer making my life more difficult than it needed to be.
“But there’s no way I’m letting either of you run around unsupervised. Either I, or Cassius, will be with you at all times until this is solved.”
Fuck me sideways. Why were the rich ones always like this? They had an awful tendency to micromanage and it was exhausting. Not just that, but it slowed us down.
“We’re an armed agency,” Frankie reminded him. “We don’t need you following us around.”
“It’s not for your safety.” Those garnet eyes glittered dangerously at my partner. “It’s for the safety of my pack and territory. ”
Meaning he really didn’t trust us.
Great. Just great.
What the fuck were we even doing here then?
“Actually, I was thinking we should keep the fact that we even hired you two a secret.” The way Liam was suddenly smirking made me nervous for some reason. “It would be safer for everyone to assume I was dating one of you to explain why you’re here all the time.”
Excuse me?
What in the actual fuck was happening right now?
I looked to Frankie to see if she knew, but she looked just as fucking clueless as I felt.
“I’m sorry, can you expand on that a bit?” my partner asked, desperately trying to understand how we’d gotten here.
“If I’m going to be bringing you into my home, and inviting you to interrogate my pack and family, it would be easier to fly under the radar for as long as possible and simply tell the press we’re dating,” Liam explained, that smirk on his gorgeous, stupid face getting wider.
“Both of us?” I asked, wrinkling my nose as I imagined the shitstorm that would fall down on us the moment Frankie’s father caught wind of that. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Cassius snorted and shook his head. “No, obviously not. She’s an alpha. Weren’t you just saying how that would be impossible for him?”
“Right, but she can still get pregnant,” I reminded him. “Frankie is female and from—” A sharp elbow drove into my ribs, and I winced when I realized my mistake. “She’s from a family with a lot of tall people.”
They all looked at me like I was insane, but I didn’t know what else to say that wouldn’t out Frankie to this legacy asshole who hadn’t recognized her yet.
“You know, because being tall implies good genetics,” I muttered, rubbing at my ribs to ease the ache.
“Right.” Liam didn’t look convinced though. “No, I don’t think that would be the best idea either. The press would have a field day if they found out I was dating another alpha and I wouldn’t want to put Ms. James in any unnecessary danger, but an omega? No one would think twice about it.”
It was my turn to stare at him as if he were insane. “Me?”
“Are there any other omegas in this room?” Cassius asked, his tone so dry and judgmental I wanted to wring his fucking neck.
“No. I won’t do it.” I shoved the sketchpad into my messenger bag, ready to leave because fuck that ?—
“Lucy.”
Frankie’s fingers gently encircled my wrist as I stood, holding me in place without even really touching me. The warmth from her hand seeped into mine and I tried not to make it obvious I was trembling.
I almost never went on dates, and even if I did, it was never with alphas. I’ve only ever been with betas. There was no way on this fucking earth I’d ever be able to please an alpha, and I was definitely not going to have my failure documented in real time and then splashed all over the internet.
Not to mention the other reason I avoided them.
“He’s got a point,” Frankie murmured, wincing when I yanked out of her grip – absolutely furious.
“I said no .”
Grabbing my coat, I made for the door, but Cassius was suddenly there, blocking the way.
I’d kick him right in the dick if I had to. There was no fucking way I was going to get talked into this.
“If you’re right, the police are going to take me in for questioning,” Cassius said, his tone almost imploring as he put both his hands up, like I had a gun pointed at him. “They may even hold me indefinitely or charge me with a different crime just to get me away from Liam. If that happens, you’re the only one who would be close enough to protect him. ”
My jaw dropped.
I couldn’t believe he was saying this shit. This overqualified secretary was going to beg me to stay by his alpha’s side as his bodyguard? Not only that, but he trusted me – an omega , to protect him?
“You’re an armed agency, right?” Cassius took a step closer, but kept his hands up. “You wore a loaded gun into Valor Enterprises so you clearly have a concealed carry license, and the skill to back it up considering the requirements for that.”
“What’s your point?” I snapped, feeling vulnerable for some reason.
This jerk was going to get me to cave, wasn’t he? Jesus fucking Christ. I was the biggest schmuck on the planet. A little sweet talk from a pretty alpha and my omega instincts were suddenly falling all over themselves to please him.
“You don’t have to believe me, but I didn’t kill Gideon Valor.” Before I could blink, Cassius was reaching for me.
My gun was out before I could stop myself, my sights on him the moment my bag and coat hit the floor. The gun pressed into his shoulder and Cassius gave me the tiniest smile, as if he were pleased with my reaction.
“Glad to see you don’t hesitate,” he murmured, wrapping his hand around the barrel of the gun and yanking me closer. “But next time you should shoot first and ask questions later.”
I didn’t like being this close to him.
Cassius wasn’t just warm, he was scorching hot. I tried to put some distance between us, but he wouldn’t let go of the gun and I refused to lose it to a civilian so I struggled against him uselessly while he looked calm as a fucking cucumber.
“On the off chance that I’m telling the truth, there could be a different motive for Gideon’s murder,” Cassius warned me. “And if that’s the case, Liam could be next.”
This jerk wasn’t wrong, but I didn’t understand how this was my problem .
“I was hired to be a detective, not a call girl,” I hissed, pinching Cassius’s chest hard until he let go of my gun.
“ Damn, that stung.” Those blue eyes flashed at me as he rubbed his pec. “Are you always this violent?”
“Yes, she is.” Frankie sighed and ran her hand through her red curls, instantly making me feel guilty. “If you don’t want to do it, that’s fine. I will.”
Every single muscle in my body stiffened as I considered the ramifications of that – of what her pack alpha would do to her if he found out she was dating another alpha…what he might tell the world.
“ No . You will not.” My heart tried to gallop away, but I swallowed it back down and slid the safety back on the gun. “Is there really no other way?”
There had to be another way.
“The infamous Lou Parker and Frank James?” Liam raised an eyebrow at me. “Pictures of you will be all over the internet once they find out Valor hired you. Then it will only be a matter of time before they figure out you’re an omega. Wouldn’t you rather work on the case in peace for as long as possible?”
I narrowed my eyes, annoyed he’d somehow picked up on that part of my personality so quickly. “I would, actually.”
“Then pretend to be my girlfriend.”
Was I really the only one who heard how fucking ridiculous that sounded? There was no way. It sounded insane .
Liam Valor wasn’t just a wealthy alpha from a good pack. He was a fucking legacy alpha. His special pheromones had other alphas acting like omegas around him if he felt like reminding them of what kind of power he wielded.
Everyone knew Valor Enterprises and their various different branches. There was no pie they didn’t have at least a single slice of. Half the skyscrapers downtown had been built by Valor Construction, and there was a Valor clothing line that always ended up in Slay .
That barely even scratched the surface of what they produced – who they knew…
I was no one in comparison – an omega from the streets who didn’t bother dressing like a professional for her biggest job since entering this field. My entire career would be made or broken by this one case.
So, I couldn’t mess this up by getting all desperate for an alpha like they all expected me to.
But…
If we set up ground rules, there was a chance we could solve the murder before the press got out of control.
“Fine, but I have conditions.” Scooping up my coat and bag, I shoved the gun in my holster and made my way back to the table. “And there’s going to be no makeover. What you see is what you get, and I’m not changing a single thing to better accommodate you.”
“I would never dream of it.”
Dumping my shit on the chair, I glared at the new heir to Valor and silently dared him to say something about my bare midriff and tattoos. If I didn’t cover those up this was going to be so much worse than finding out Valor had hired private detectives to solve their golden child’s murder.
But Liam just gave me this cocky smirk like he’d somehow won something intangible.
How the hell was I supposed to concentrate on work when he kept looking at me like that? It was really fucking distracting.
Liam held out his hand and that smirk transformed into a boyish grin. “I’m looking forward to working with you, Parker.”
I took it and squeezed, trying to ignore just how warm his skin felt against mine. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to see the crime scene now.”
He stood, forcing me to look up at him. “Anything for my sweetheart, isn’t that right? ”
I decided to ignore the idiot who was way too pretty for his own good instead of acknowledging that inane and insulting question.
But if he called me that shit again, there were going to be two murders in the Valor pack.