76. Anna
76
Anna
“Murder? You’re fucking kidding me!” I stared at Amelia in shock. It had only been two hours since our cellphones had gone down. Finn had gone out looking for Amelia and Jax and returned one hour ago to report that they weren’t in any of the stores.
Two hours of agony, of thinking that Amelia might be dead. Finn was ready to lose his mind, but my mating bond was bright and throbbing. I just couldn’t figure out how to use it to communicate to Jax. To figure out what the hell was happening with them.
Turns out, he was in police custody. Human police custody.
“Who the hell do they think he murdered?”
“You. And Janelle,” Amelia said quietly. “They don’t have any evidence, but they’re going to hold him for the longest amount of time possible. That’s three days. He’s requested a lawyer, but conveniently, the only criminal lawyer in town is on vacation. They said it’ll take two days to get someone here. We’ll never get our pack lawyer down in time either.”
“They have to have bodies to be investigating a murder charge. Janelle and I are clearly not dead. We just need to go show this lawyer that we aren’t dead.”
Amelia shook her head. “You can’t do that. It’ll look even worse for him because it’ll provide a connection. Two women who happen to look identical to two women that Jax is traveling with end up dead? Plus, you and Janelle will be exposed if you leave the motel. You’re safer here. Jax said to not do anything. If he doesn’t get out in time, we’re to leave him here.”
“No,” I snarled. “We are not fucking leaving him here, and right now, he’s not your goddamn alpha, so you don’t have to listen.”
There was no response from anyone else in the room, and I whirled around. “You can’t be fucking serious. You can’t leave him here!”
“If they don’t have any evidence, they have to let him go,” Amelia said softly. “I think we should keep our heads down and let the law do its job. If we make too much noise, this detective might take an interest in our little community, and that wouldn’t be good.”
“Emerson won’t just leave it at that. Jax is in a fucking cage. Emerson will find a way to kill him while he’s in there. If you walk away, you could be signing his death warrant,” I hissed.
“And I’m not going anywhere without him. If you get on that boat, you do it without me.”
Amelia’s eyes widened. “Shit, I didn’t even think of that. Janelle, is there anything you can do to give him some extra protection?”
Pale, Janelle shook her head. “I’m sorry. I don’t know that I can, but if I can confer with your witch, she might have some ideas. It would need to be something on his person. A spell bag, but I don’t know what would even help him.”
“Fine. You talk to Irene. Saul, will you contact our pack lawyer? If they can confer over video, they might be able to help get him out faster.” My mind whirled. “How much like us do they look?”
Amelia shook her head. “I don’t know. Does it matter?”
“I find it hard to believe that Emerson just had two wolves on hand who looked exactly like us that could suddenly be killed and presented as our dead bodies. So either he’s a far more meticulous planner than I thought…”
“Or someone is using glamour magic,” Janelle finished. “Oh, that is brilliant. We’ll need to see the bodies up close and personal. Anna, you can undo any spell. How do we get up close and personal?”
I did have an idea, but no one was going to like it. I opened my mouth, but Kenzi immediately cut me off. “No. You are not doing it. They may not be bound to Jax, but I am, and so are you. You’re my priority, Anna. I’m sorry. You don’t leave this motel. If Janelle wants to waltz up there and claim to be a twin…”
“I may not be able to undo the spell,” Janelle confessed. “I would need Anna.”
I glanced at Kenzi and knew immediately that I would not persuade her differently right now. I’d have to convince her later or sneak out. In the meantime, there was only one thing we could do. It would sure as hell cause some confusion, but without a lawyer pressing them, it might not be enough to convince them to let Jax go because our damn boat left.
“We still need details, and we’ll need magic for that. We need to get our hands on the file.
Find out where they were killed and how. And figure out this witness. If we can get the witness to recant, then they’ll have to let Jax go.”
A knock on the door had us all whipping our heads around. Except for Janelle, everyone stood and positioned themselves between me and the door.
We all knew who was on the other side.
Kenzi opened it. “Let me speak to her,” Emerson demanded.
“No,” she said and started to slam the door. Emerson put his foot in it, and Amelia grabbed my arm and started dragging me to the adjacent door.
“Stop,” I said finally. “Let him in. Just him.”
They all stared at me like I’d lost my mind. I glanced around. “It’s five wolves and a witch against him. He can come in for ten minutes. Let’s hear what he has to say.”
Kenzi glanced at me again and opened the door. “You heard Jax’s mate. You have ten minutes.”
Emerson sneered. “You were so much more delightful when you were his bitch.”
“I’ve never been anyone’s bitch,” she said as she flashed her fangs.
Emerson smoothed his hands over his shirt and took a step toward me. There were suddenly three wolves barring his path. My heart hammered in my chest, but I swallowed down my panic. Hadn’t I just pointed out that we vastly outnumbered him?
“I guess it’s too much to ask to speak to her alone.”
“Obviously,” Kenzi said as she rolled her eyes. “Why don’t you tell us who the dead chicks are.”
Emerson waved his hand. “Just two nobodies. Or maybe they aren’t. Won’t that detective really be in a snit when two additional women get reported missing while you are all in town? It really will not look good for Jax.”
“It’s not like he’s going to be charged,” I said as I gently pushed Amelia and Finn aside so I could see Emerson more clearly. “And the other alphas are going to have a problem with you if you try to kill him while he’s in jail.”
“I don’t really care what the other alphas believe, my dear. I’ve already achieved what I wanted. You won’t leave without him, so now we have more time to chat like civilized wolves.
Why don’t you tell me what you’ve done with my witch?”
Janelle rocked back on her heels, but she didn’t move away. I did my best not to stare at her as I realized what he was implying.
Holy shit, Emerson couldn’t see through Janelle’s glamour? He couldn’t smell her? She really could fuck with wolves.
“You mean the witch that nearly evicted Jax and his entire pack from his land? Why would I have her?” I said darkly. “I’d happily see her dead. Maybe she sensed that about me and ran.”
Emerson grunted and took another step toward me. Kenzi growled, and he sighed. “Very well. I’ve come to make you an offer. I imagine that Jax will be in jail for at least another day.
Perhaps even two or three. I’ll give you one day to go over your options and even say goodbye to your lover. After that, every day that you don’t return to me, I’ll kill, staring with Cindy. She’s such a lovely girl. I will hate to break her neck and throw her limp body into the parking lot for you to see.”