Chapter 3 #2
“Not if you know anything about that building and how thin the walls are. Watching me for even a week, you’d know Emrys and I are... cordial.”
That last word looks like it pains him, like he wants more but hasn’t gotten there yet.
“I need the records tied to those approaches,” I tell him.
“Every name used, number, email, document, company name, and whatever trace work your people already did. Even if it looks useless. Especially if it looks useless.”
“You’ll have it.”
“Can you get it tonight?”
“If I can get someone at my office awake, yes.”
I hate how easily I believe him, even more so because I know the chief isn’t just going to let Kade walk out of here. It’s clear to me Kade isn’t the suspect we should be looking for but Ansdale police sometimes like to grab and ask questions later.
I push to my feet, trying to form the right argument I’ll deliver to the chief later. “Before I step out, is there anything else about the attacker that felt too small to mention?”
Kade thinks again, and the pause works through the room slowly.
“He kept his left hand close to his pocket after I pulled him off Emrys. I thought knife at first, but he didn’t draw one.
His gloves were fitted and black, not winter gloves.
He didn’t swear when I grabbed him, which stood out once I thought about it.
Most people make noise when a confrontation turns physical, even if they’re trying to get away. He made a sound, but he didn’t yell.”
“He stayed in control.”
“Yes. Either he’s used to violence, or he’s used to being interrupted while doing something he shouldn’t be doing.”
I gather up the file and my notes, offering him a small nod.
“I’m going to check on Emrys, then review the footage.
Unfortunately, until I get it cleared, you’ll have to stay here.
” I walk around the table. “However, there’s no point in having you sit here in those, and you won’t be processed into holding unless something changes. ”
“How is he?” Kade asks.
I manage a smile. “As best as he can be considering the circumstances.” I pat the table once and leave, shooting the two officers there a glance. I almost tell them to figure out what it’ll take to get Kade walking out the door, but my heart needs to check on Emrys first.
Part of me is annoyed Emrys is still here, although there’s now a small bandage by his lip. Someone should have fucking taken him home.
“Detective Grayson,” he says, voice rougher than before as I stop a few steps from him.
“Skylar is fine when I’m not actively threatening someone with paperwork.” I keep to the doorway at first, letting him decide how much of me he wants in the room. Reyes stands near the far wall with her arms loose at her sides. “You going to be alright?”
His mouth twitches, but exhaustion swallows it quickly. “How’s Kade?”
“He’s okay,” I tell him. “I’m trying to figure out what happened and why everything seemed to go sideways so fast.”
Emrys’s shoulders drop under the blanket, a small release that makes him look younger for half a second. “Do you believe him?”
I shouldn’t say anything. Years of training tell me not to go down this road but god, I need to see Emrys smile again.
“Yes, but there’s some evidence that needs to be worked through and discounting officers’ statements, unfortunately takes a little time.
” Hopefully, with a conversation to the right person, it’ll only take a few hours.
His eyes search mine. “That’s not the same.”
“No, but it’s better than where we started. Funny thing is, he was more worried about you,” I add, softer this time.
Emrys looks down, and the tips of his ears color faintly despite the bruise. “He shouldn’t be.”
“Seems like he disagrees.”
That gets the smallest breath out of him, something that comes close enough to a laugh for the room to ease around it.
I watch him for another half-second before twisting around to Reyes.
“Can we find someone to take him home? I honestly don’t even fucking know why they brought him in.
” I turn back to Emrys and hand him my card.
“Should you need anything, you give me a call, alright?” I wait until he nods before heading to my desk.
Officer Miles plops his ass on the corner of my desk, my gaze narrowing in his direction as he slips a disk into my computer. “Seeing as you’re the only one who believes Kade Rourke’s story, I thought you should see this.”
“Are you saying that because you believe it too or think I’m crazy?”
Miles snorts. “I’m saying it because the chief has already branded Rourke as an abusive Alpha but I know love when I see it and those two?
They’re seconds away from falling into each other’s arms.” Miles leans a little closer.
“And you’re bothered by it. It’s not all that noticeable but us Betas see things. ”
Great. Wonderful.
The disk loads, a folder popping up with three files. “Okay, what am I looking at?”
“The landlord sent us the camera footage pretty fucking fast. The problem is that it doesn’t answer many questions.”
I click the first file and immediately close it.
That’s an hour before the incident. I find the second file starting nearly fifteen minutes before the officers showed up, confused when I see nothing.
The footage moves, Emrys coming into view before he pauses and then keeps moving, the attacker moving out of the shadows.
“Wait, what the fuck?”
I scroll back to the beginning and then reopen the first file. Miles fast forwards and then pauses twenty minutes in, nearly two hours before Emrys showed up. “See? Weird as fuck, right? That’s no fucking accident.”
“Then why is Kade still here? Like...”
Miles cuts me off, tapping a few keys to continue playing the second file.
It cuts off just as Emrys screams and is pushed into the wall.
Then it resumes where Kade’s arms are wrapped around Emrys, the officers bursting in a few moments later.
It can’t be more than a few minutes cut, but it feels deliberate.
“You see,” Miles drawls. “The footage skipped, or at least that’s what the landlord says. The rest of the tapes are shaky as fuck but the guy is nearly the same build as Rourke, just a bit smaller. And as grainy as the videos are... it’s not great.”
Someone really wanted to fuck with Kade Rourke today.
I huff and lean back in my chair, reaching for the cold coffee when Miles pulls up another folder.
“But check this out. There was another camera in the corridor.” He presses play on a file, showing Rourke step out of his apartment and rush down the stairs.
“The problem is that there’s no timestamp on that camera. ”
A growl vibrates up from my chest, replaying the video a few times. There are two minutes between Kade’s descent and the sound of sirens, but without a timestamp, it’s impossible to prove that those overlap.
Though it does feed into the idea that someone called the police before Emrys was even attacked.
“Anything else, Miles? I think I need to see all of the upstairs camera footage. Kade was wearing the same thing in the video as he is now. Also, are there any other cameras through the area?”
Miles nods. “Already on it, but it’s kind of late, so it’ll be a minute before we get anything.
I’ll let you know if we see the hooded guy on any of them.
” He grabs the disk and yanks it from my computer before letting out a small sigh.
“Chief’s adamant about cleaning up the trash on the streets or some bullshit.
She’s putting in a temporary protective order against Kade until the investigation is complete. ”
“What the fuck? If anyone had just talked to these guys for two seconds, they would know—”
Reyes pops up on my right. “Sky, deep breaths. I did talk to the chief. Miles too and a few other officers but she’s adamant that she’s right and that Rourke’s previous track record isn’t enough to clear him.”
I shake my head. “It’s the lawyer thing, isn’t it? She always fucking thinks someone’s guilty when they call their lawyer.” The chief is amazing at her job, well, most of it but she has a weird way of going about it.
“I figure this means that no one’s really going to be looking into the truth except for us, will they?” No one answers but that’s answer enough.