Chapter 12
Sebastian and I march into the police headquarters, the air thick with tension. I square my shoulders, ready to confront Nathan. My voice rings out, steady and unwavering. ”Nathan, we need to talk.”
He looks up from his desk, eyes narrowing. ”Ava, Detective Parker. What can I do for you?”
I take a deep breath, channeling my inner strength. ”We know what you”ve done, Nathan. The murders, the shifter database... it was all you.”
Nathan”s face pales but recovers quickly. He adopts an air of innocence. ”I don”t know what you”re talking about.”
Sebastian steps forward, his voice firm. ”Cut the crap, Nathan. The shifter database is illegal. There are protocols in place for the human DNA database, but you bypassed them for shifters. How did you get Zane Blackwood”s blood sample?”
”How do you know Blackwood didn”t supply it voluntarily?” Nathan quirks an eyebrow as though he”s trapped us. If we admit having asked Zane if he volunteered a sample, then we”re guilty of aiding and abetting a criminal with an arrest warrant.
”Because the Blackwood Pack have lived separately since the Pact was signed. Their Alpha isn”t going to walk into town and offer his blood for a database—especially a database my unit knows nothing about,” Sebastian responds.
”I never said that the shifters came to town to supply their samples,” Nathan said.
”You want me to believe you visited the Blackwood Pack to get a sample from the Alpha?” Sebastian asked.
”I never said I collected the samples. I had help—”
”From?” I asked.
”Aiden wanted to improve human-shifter relations. I told him that collecting samples from his Packmates would help clear them in an unsolved case—”
”What unsolved case?” Sebastian asked. ”Because I haven”t been told of any unsolved case you”re investigating that could involve a shifter.”
”How about this unsolved case?”
My heart sinks. Aiden, always eager to help, had been manipulated by Nathan. ”You want to use Aiden”s own murder as justification for the database you lied to him about?” I couldn”t keep the contempt out of my voice.
”My database helped—”
”To condemn an innocent man?” I asked.
”Shifter—not man,” Nathan said. ”The purpose of the database was to solve crimes.”
”And the only confirmation we have that the samples have been attributed to the correct shifter is your word?” Sebastian said. ”The human database has multiple checks and balances to ensure that the samples are all properly assigned to the correct people. Let me guess, Zane”s ”samples” were blood-stained cloths that may have contained at least one other sample because they came from a challenge between an Alpha and Pack member?”
Nathan blanched slightly.
”And what about the murders? Did you kill those people just to make your database look like the solution?” Sebastian asked.
Nathan”s eyes flash with anger. ”No! I wanted to create a fair system. Humans get caught and get added to a database. We can use that to catch criminals and stop crimes. Shifters get a pass. It isn”t fair.”
”Did Aiden die to test your database?” I ask.
”No. He got a conscience. Wanted to tell his Alpha. I couldn”t let him do that.”
”How did it happen?” I ask.
”After he gave me more samples, he told me his plan. I took a gun from evidence—”
”The gun from that poaching case from last year?” Sebastian interrupts.
”Yes, that gun. I knew he”d pass through the land by the Old Mill to get back home. I took him out there.”
”How did you get the pendants?”
”Tony needed a favor. One of his victims refused to drop the charges. He offered me two pieces of jewelry to make the charge disappear. But then I found out they were shifter shit. I told him that it wasn”t enough. He threatened to tell the chief about our past dealings. I couldn”t let that happen.”
”So you killed him and tried to frame a shifter?”
”Not a ”shifter.” I wanted to get that damned Alpha that Ava was still hung up on. I thought if she saw what a scumbag he was, she”d finally give me a chance.”
My jaw drops. ”You did all of this—you thought—” I can”t finish any thought. He”d started this as some twisted way to get my attention. Aiden had died as a way to get my attention. The guilt almost swallowed me whole.
Sebastian shakes his head, disgust etched on his face. ”I don”t know that I”ve ever heard anything more twisted or disgusting. You killed an innocent kid who did nothing but try to help you.”
Nathan”s expression crumbles. A part of me wants to walk over and slap him across the face like I”ve seen them do in the movies. But I know that won”t help. Instead, I clear my throat. In a clear and firm voice, I say, ”Nathan Price. You are under arrest for the murder of Aiden Martin of the Blackwood Pack and Tony Bianchi. You have the right to remain silent—” I read him the rest of his rights. Then I walk him over to booking without a single reservation.