The Loneliest Alpha (The MacKellen Alphas) (23 page)

“But
why? She’s innocent. Hell, she hadn’t even left the house until last night for
the first time. It doesn’t make any sense.”

Alex
took a long pull on his cigarette, his narrowed eyes hard and honest. “Listen
here, ’cause this isn’t gonna be easy to hear but it’s the truth. If situations
were reversed and I was the one drivin’ that SUV, the only reason why I’d be
doin’ it is to take out your woman to make you hurt.”

Gavin
felt like he’d taken a physical blow to the chest. “How would anyone know that
would make me hurt like that?”

Alex
gave him a look that said
for real, bro?
“Anyone who’s heard you speak
about her, seen how you act around her all hidin’ your face and shit. We all
know it’s because you care about her. If you didn’t, everything would be normal
’round here. Except, once she got here, shit’s been anything but normal with
you. We can all see that. Even some who might want to replace you as alpha.”

“Marcus.”

Alex
shrugged. “He’s a bad seed, got too much anger in him and no place for it go
but at you. You need to deal with him. We all know he’s the one who did that to
ya.” He pointed at Gavin’s face with his cigarette hand.

Gavin
stilled. “Everyone knows? How?”

“We
ain’t stupid, man. The only one who hates you enough to fuck you up like that
is Marcus Graham or one of his stupid brothers. I’d bet my life on it. We may
not have any proof, but the proof’s in our guts, in our instincts, man. Marcus
Graham’s bad news, has been for a long time.”

“I
can’t condemn a man without any evidence.” Gavin was still reeling. They all
knew. He’d kept what had happened that night, that following morning, a secret
all this time. He’d never had any proof that it was Marcus who’d done it, but
hell, everyone suspected the same as he did.

He
started laughing. He couldn’t it help it, it just came out of him. Alex gave
him a strange look and smiled while still clasping that cigarette between his
lips.

“This
whole time, I thought no one knew. I’m the alpha now and I didn’t want to
burden others with my shit.” He shook his head. “I’m an idiot.”

Alex
grinned. “Live and learn, man.”

Gavin’s
phone buzzed in his pocket. He excused himself and answered. “Yeah?”

“We
need to talk.” It was Hart. When Hart said ‘we need to talk’ the news was never
good.

“I’m
over at the construction site.”

“Fine,
I’ll be there in ten.”

Gavin
hung up and Alex must have seen the tight look on his face because he asked, “What’s
up?”

“Hart’s
on in his way over with some news.”

Shaking
his head, Alex nodded at the half-built house. “The rest of the crew will be
pouring in soon. Let me know if you need anything.”

Gavin
nodded, but his thoughts were already turning sour. By time Hart arrived, Gavin
had deduced the worst. Another dead body, no leads on the case, there was a
damn killer in his pack and there wasn’t shit he could do about it. Not good.
Not good at all.

The
muscles along his spine stiffened as Gavin spotted Hart’s human partner,
Elizabeth Peterson. Pack matters were just that, matters to be concluded by
pack members. Elizabeth was human but Hart said he trusted her.

She
strode forward, her orange-red hair pulled back into a fuzzy ponytail and a
tight, professional smile on her face. She shook his hand. “Gavin, I won’t ask
how you’re doing as I can see the answer. Hart and I have some news for you.”

Never
good words to hear. “What is it?”

Hart
opened a folder and handed it to him. It was a picture of an SUV with a
seriously busted front-end. His skin prickled. This was the car that had hit Jo
and Alicia. It took effort not to crush the thick stack of papers in his fist.

“We
found the vehicle,” Hart said. “It was rented from a rental car dealer by one
Michael Givens a human who lives on the other side of the city.”

“He’s
the one who did this?”

Hart
shook his head. “Stopped by his place to interview him this morning. He, the
wife, and the kids were upset at my news that someone using his name had
purchased a rental the night before. After doing some searching around, it
turns out his wallet’s missing. His credit card and ID were in it. Someone
could have taken it and purchased the rental.”

“How
did they get his wallet?”

“He’s
a lawyer and had to meet a client yesterday at the court house just twenty
minutes from here. He also stopped and ate at one of the local restaurants. My
guess is he got pick-pocketed there and didn’t even realize it.”

Elizabeth
nodded. “Whoever took the wallet probably had similar features, or enough so to
pass as Michael Givens, but that could be false. Most businesses don’t study ID
pictures that well especially since people dye their hair, wear colored eye
contacts and everything when they check an ID. According to the rental company,
the rental was purchased a little after seven that night.”

“Kind
of late to be getting a rental,” Gavin said.

Hart
nodded. “My guess is the person who did this saw Alicia leave the house, then
planned this out. They already had the wallet from earlier that day. Michael
said he ate lunch around 1:30. This looks pre-meditated. They grabbed the
wallet, rented the car using Michael Givens’ ID and credit card later that
evening. But judging by the fact they seemed to hurry out and buy the rental
late at night seems like they were targeting Alicia. Could be because it was
the first time she left the house,” Hart said.

“A
patrolman found the rental abandoned at a gas station parking lot about fifteen
minutes outside of the pack, headed south. It looks like a random drop off.
Whoever did this was not Michael Givens,” Elizabeth said.

Gavin
found his gaze sorting through the pictures they had of the car. It was amazing
the vehicle had been able to run after sustaining that much damage. No surprise
it made it fifteen minutes out of the pack before the driver ditched it.

“Did
the rental place have a security camera?”

Hart
nodded. “They do and I’m currently waiting on a search warrant before I can
check that the film out.” He clasped Gavin’s shoulder. “We’re close, brother.
It won’t be long now. Whoever did this didn’t plan this out well, they fucked
up. There were cameras and we still have others to interview—the gas station
attendants, the waitresses at the restaurant where Michael was at—whoever stole
his wallet will be found. It’s only a matter of time now.”

Elizabeth’s
phone rang and she answered it, turning away for a minute.

“We’re
close, Gavin. I can feel it. Whoever did this to Alicia and Jo most likely
killed those kids.”

“No
progress on that?” Gavin asked.

Hart
shook his head. “No murder weapons found, no one’s seen anything. So far all we
have is Marcus Graham finding Emma’s body.”

“He
had something to do with this,” Gavin said.

“Have
any proof of that?”

“No,
but I can feel it in my gut.”

“We
need evidence and I’m finding it. This accident was a big break for us, Gavin.”

“It
doesn’t feel like it. My woman’s at home with bruises and a cut up face.”

“If
Marcus had anything to do with this, I’ll nail his ass. You can bet your money
on that.”

Elizabeth
came back, closing her phone. “Just got a call. One of the waitresses working
yesterday thinks she saw a man nab a wallet from someone matching Michael
Givens’ description.”

Hart
smiled, the smile of a man on the hunt—a predator’s smile. They took off with a
hurried wave.

It
wasn’t easy making himself get some work done, but he had to do something. He
couldn’t just go back home. Alicia would be there and he wasn’t ready yet for
that. And he couldn’t go pay Marcus a visit like he wanted to. If he did, he
might end up committing murder. Hart was right, they had to do this the right
way. And that way was with absolute proof.

They
were going to get the bastards who did this one way or another. And then it
would be pack justice for little Emma and Anthony and for Alicia and Jo.

Gavin
lost himself in work, in the jokes his crew launched at him as they all
arrived. They knew he was tense and their smiles helped him to relax. The buzz
of the saw and punching power of the nail gun all soothed him like a mother’s
sweet song.

That
was until later that evening when he sat in front of his house with sweat
drying on his clothes, his hands covered in grime. Through the living room
curtains he watched her shadow move around hurriedly in the kitchen and
wondered what she was doing. Cooking something else that’d taste good, maybe.
His stomach gave a deep rumble and he grimaced.

He
felt torn between wanting to stride in there for the first time with his face
open to her…and going straight upstairs to shower then crash in bed with his
door locked. In his bed that didn’t smell like soft flowery woman. Hell, she
slept in it last night so tonight’s sleep would probably be ruined as well.

He
bit his fingertip, lost in morose thoughts, staring at his house like a damn
stalker.

Well,
he decided, getting out of the truck, time to figure it out.

Stepping
inside the front door, the smell of meat, potatoes, and something sweet hit him
like a punch to the empty stomach.

He
could still see her shadow moving around in the kitchen. She was talking under
her breath and chuffing.

The
decision had been made the moment he smelled food.

Before
he knew it, he stood in the kitchen doorway. The sight that greeted him felt
familiar yet odd at the same time. Alicia was setting the kitchen table for
two. Her eyes were excited, lips muttering as she made notes that she had
everything done. She still hadn’t noticed him.

The
scene was familiar because he’d done this before with his previous… He paused,
not even sure what to call his exes. His girlfriends, his partners, his lovers?
They were all of that but Alicia wasn’t any of those things.

That
raised the question, just what was she?

She
turned then and spotted him.

Dammit
all, but what was his first reaction? Tensing. His face was right there with
the bright overhead lights exposing every ugly flaw. His jaw twitched and he
found himself swallowing over a nervous lump in his throat.

Her
eyes flitted over his face a moment before she clapped her hands. “Dinner is
almost ready. Go wash up. You can shower too but I’ll need you back down here
in twenty.”

He
stood there for a minute, like a baffled deer caught in someone’s headlights. “What?”

Her
eyebrows rose. “Dinner. Here. You and me, steaks. Go clean up.”

Then
she turned her back on him and proceeded to toss a salad in a big green bowl he
didn’t remember owning.

Feeling
oddly out of place in his own home, Gavin headed upstairs and showered just
like she’d told him to.

All
the while, his mind worked to figure out just what he was supposed to say to
her when he went down for dinner.

I’m
sorry for being a dick?

I’m
not sorry because what you did was wrong.

Just
let me kiss you one more time.

Stay
here with me.

I
care too much to let you go.

* * * * *

The
shower kicked on upstairs.

Alicia
bit down on her fingernail, gnawing it.
What am I supposed to do now?

“Not
freaking out would be a good start.”

Okay,
she thought, letting out a shuddering breath. That hadn’t gone so bad. It could
have been far worse. He could have gone straight upstairs without stopping here
or told her to fuck off or any number of things after what she did last night.
But he hadn’t done any of those things which gave her hope.

So she
finished cutting wedges of tomato for the salad, checked the potatoes, and
started the whipped cream for the strawberry shortcake—only to come up short.

“You’ve
got to be kidding me.” She blinked at his empty pantry. “He doesn’t own a hand
mixer.”

Oh
lordy, this man needed a woman in his life.

Alicia
came up short at the wayward thought. What the hell did that even mean, she
thought in a panic. That she should be that woman or that he just needed one?

The
shower shut off upstairs. She checked the time; he was done in less than six
minutes.

“Shoot!”

She
started rushing around the kitchen, turning the broiler off on the oven and
removing the steaks so they wouldn’t overcook. She poured two glasses of ice
tea then stared at his place setting, biting her lip. What if he didn’t drink
tea?
What if he did?

She
poured a glass of water too and put that at his plate.